Source material: i-D Magazine’s editor in chief is not afraid of visual chaos
Thom Bettridge on which magazines have shaped his taste—and what design rule he breaks the most.
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Welcome to Source Material, a weekly series where the designers and creatives shaping culture share the references that shaped them. Figma’s first guest is Thom Bettridge, editor in chief and chief brand officer of the seminal style publication i-D Magazine, following stints at Interview Magazine, 032c, Highsnobiety, and SSENSE. He recently founded the creative studio Content World.
After the shoot, we caught up with Thom about his creative process:
What were you making when you realized, “This could be my job”?
My first issue working at 032c, which was the Raf Simons retrospective issue. I remember getting that one back from the printer and thinking, “Damn, I helped make this…and it’s really fucking good.”
What’s the first thing you do when you sit down to work?
I can’t do anything resembling work without a) music, and b) Yerba Madre.
What’s a design object you’d take to your grave?
Probably my teddy bear. But it would also be cool to have a Barcelona couch on top of my grave, so people can lie with me for a bit.
Whose work makes you jealous?
Stanley Kubrick. And George Lois.
What current design trend are you tired of seeing?
To be honest, all of them. If anything you’re doing is a “trend,” self-assess and change your game up.
What rule do you break the most?
I like it when text disrupts, blocks, or corrupts an image. We’ve become so precious with images as an industry—probably because it’s so expensive to produce a fashion photograph—that there’s this unwritten rule that graphic design should get out of an image’s way. I love breaking that rule.
What song do you put on to get out of a creative rut?
What’s a piece of feedback you resisted, and later realized was right?
I’ve always been drawn to visual chaos—which I think reflects the inherent turbulence of the world today. But some people don’t like it, and even I’ve learned to mellow out a bit.
What’s a part of your process that most people don’t know about?
I think people are sometimes surprised that I have zero skill at any craft—I can’t draw, take a photograph, design a page. To be honest, I barely know how to use my laptop. But creativity is a team sport, and I’ve had the benefit of working with enormously talented people.
What’s the last thing you came across that made you want to go make something?
A gnome in a forest.
Catch up on previous episodes of Source Material on YouTube.
