A Week On Monday: Say hello to Andrew Diprose of Wired and The Ride Journal

Date
21 October 2013

Right then Monday morning, despite the horrible rain, autumnal chill and stacks of work we – It’s Nice That and all who sail in her – stand toe-to-toe with you, steely-gazed and dry-palmed to say, as one, “We are ready!” And with that in mind, standing shoulder to shoulder with us is Andrew Diprose, art director of Wired and one of the brains behind the brilliant Ride Journal. Take it away Andrew…

What’s the best way of getting over Monday morning blues?

Small treats keep me happy. Nipping along a ribbon of dusty singletrack through Regents Park on my way into the office. Visiting a new coffee shop before work and cinnamon buns at the Nordic Bakery on Golden Square. Pretty much all of the interviews I’ve done recruiting for Wired have been done over a coffee and bun, I’m blessed working with some very clever, creative folk (and I’ve eaten a lot of cinnamon buns in the process).

What song will you be listening to most this week?

Forbidden by Special Request. My brother (who I work with on The Ride Journal) got me a copy of Paul Woolford’s Special Request album, Soul Music. The mix of vintage hardcore breaks, sparse compositions and “brown note” (excuse me) basslines, bring a tear to the eye of a proud old raver like myself.

Most of the music for the Wired art department comes through my machine, so I feel I have a responsibility to keep it a bit office friendly. When I have to get something done fast though I’ll put my headphones on and play some old Suburban Base recordings.

What was the best thing you read this morning?

I read (and looked at) Transport by Alain Gréé (with Bella my three year old daughter). The illustrations are just beautiful. 

Through necessity I’ve been reading a lot of children’s picture books and it’s lovely to see some of the greatest illustration right now is being done by these kind of artists. Books like Frank Viva’s Along A Long Road and A Bit Lost by Chris Haughton are a real pleasure whether you’re a toddler or a 40- year-old art director. It’s exciting when I get to work with artists like these on Wired or The Ride.

Send us a picture of something you’ll use a lot this week…

Here’s my Condor commute bike. I’ll be riding this bike everywhere, all week, all weathers. It’s probably London’s least practical town bike; all carbon fibre and I can’t lock it up anywhere. Luckily we have a rack in the Wired office for the bike lovers. I feel like the “dad” of the office now actually having a brake on my track bike (and yes, I need to sweep up those leaves in the back garden).

If you could have a midweek night out with anyone, doing anything what would it be?

My brother and I used to do a midweek camp out. We’d both chip off work at 6pm, get the train to Guildford or Dorking and ride the Surrey Hills into the night (with lights on the mountain bikes) then have a pint, find a field and break out the sleeping bags.
 
We’d be back on the train and at our desks by 9am the next morning. Last time we did it though was riding the ’cross bikes in (the not 100% legal) Richmond Park. We returned with plenty of ticks from the deers still attached. Never again.

What do you hope to have achieved come Friday?

Last week was Wired 2013, the Wired conference. It was a massive success, and a lot of work (especially for David Rowan the editor). It’s so exhilarating and exhausting to see the Wired brand come to life at an event. This week we’ll be catching up on editorial and working on the December issue for the iPhone, very exciting!

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About the Author

Rob Alderson

Rob joined It’s Nice That as Online Editor in July 2011 before becoming Editor-in-Chief and working across all editorial projects including itsnicethat.com, Printed Pages, Here and Nicer Tuesdays. Rob left It’s Nice That in June 2015.

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