The Word Blog
Launched in January 2008, The Word is a luxury and lifestyle bimestrial publication. A fresh and heavy-hitting take on neighbourhood life and global style, its purpose is to present a different facet to our beloved little country Belgium, one which goes beyond chocolate, beer and the Manneken Pis whilst also reporting back on some of the most exciting global goings-on in the world of design, style and ideas.
The magazine caters to an Internationalite and Urbanite audience: internationals living in Belgium, or Belgians with an international itch.
Industry profiles, fashion series, design features, travel guides, neighbourhood institutions, consumerist selections, visual essays and artistic "carte blanches". Crafted by a tight-knit group of writers, photographers, illustrators and designers, The Word is the missing link in today's bland and over-saturated media landscape.
When we first approached her with the idea of launching a magazine, Delphine instantly thought to bring in Pierre and Damien of pleaseletmedesign to complete the skill set brought to the table. She is a La Cambre graduate whilst her males counterparts are luminaries from Liege's Saint-Luc Higher School of Arts. Together, they form an explossive trio of graphic designers with an attitude. Delphine has since partnered up with Flore Van Ryn to create graphic agency face to face design whilst continuing to work with pleaseletmedesign on a wealth of projects - embellishing The Word being only one of them.
Central Design is a small studio founded by interactive designers Geoffroy Delobel and Ali Nassiri. The duo have been designing websites and other interactive stuff ever since the web ran at 28.8kbps.
www.centraldesign.be
Miss Wazen started off as our intern, although she quickly grew tired of making us tea (yeah right, as if that ever happened) so decided it was time for her name to grace the magzine's pages. Of half Turkish half Lebanese descent, this rock-and-rolla chick is pure Word: from the interviews she secures, the 'punch and words' tone and, more important yet, the 'work hard, party even harder' attitude. Although she'll soon be off to London for bigger, and better, things, rest assured her name will still remain a firm staple in The Word's masthead.
We've taken the habit of calling Sarah our cover girl, such is the amount of covers she's nailed. Having captured everything from ailing football clubs and caravan parks to Peter Pan collectors and lazy eyed anti-heroes, she's travelled the country for us, often bringing back much more than we had bargained for.
www.saraheechaut.com
Part of The Word team from day one, 'Gordjin' as he has affectionaly come to be known, seems to have already done it all for the magazine: perched atop a crane to get the perfect highway shot, down on his knees for a beauty shoot or even digging deep underneath Brussels' canal, our man isn't one to back down - although the starting line might at first be difficult to cross. They say half of all good photography is access, and Yassin gets it.
If there ever were a caricature of your archetypical photographer, Sarah would be it: reserved and timid, she's nonetheless steadfast in her vision and uncompromising in her approach. Architecture is where her heart is at, although she's gone beyond that for The Word, documenting everything from places of worship to centres of research.
www.sarahmichielsen.com
Bubbly to the bone, Ulrike has slowly but surely become the missing link in The Word circus. A take-no-prisoners kind of lady, you're as likely to find her in the moshpit of some hardcore concert as you are shooting the next catalogue of some oh-so-trendy fashion brand. For us, she's done everything from charting the making-of a nightshop feast to capturing scared faces.
www.ulrikebiets.com
No issue would be complete without the canny and right-on-the-spot pencil touch of our man of many talents. One day a performer, the same night a DJ and the next day an illustrator, Biche's work inhabits a complex world of fearsome bearded beasts and funky frollicking beats. For The Word, he's reflected upon everything from tri-generational employment claim families to professional leaches. He's a doll, and a genial one at that.
www.jeanbaptistebiche.com
Originally from Bordeaux, Virassamy moved to Paris then Brussels, where we were lucky enough to catch him during his 4-year stay. His distinctive style, shifting from instinctive no-fuss drawings to diligently nervous illustrations, has become a trademark of The Word. Virassamy relocated to Berlin, but his ballpoint penned witty visions will most definitely not leave our pages for now.
www.virassamy.org