If you can count yourself among the lucky ones who’ve met Robert Priest in person, any chance you remember what you were wearing?

Well, fear not: He does. According to his business partner, the designer Grace Lee, Priest possesses a near-photographic memory of how people present themselves. And those first impressions last a lifetime.

To hear him talk, though, it’s not at all about being judgy. Priest is just naturally consumed with all things visual. He has been since childhood. (He gets it from his mother). To him, design is everything.

Priest has dedicated his 50-plus-year career to the relentless pursuit of taste, style, and fashion. And it shows. He has led design teams at all of the big magazines: GQ, House & Garden, InStyle, Newsweek, and Esquire (Twice!)

But there’s another side to Robert Priest. He’s a huge sports fan. And designing magazines is his sport. Indeed, like a head coach, he’s hired to win. And the trophies in this case are readership, advertising, circulation, and buzz—and when that’s all taken care of, the design awards start to pile up—they certainly have for him.

We talked to Priest about his early days in London, when he—and The Beatles and the Rolling Stones—were just getting started, about why soccer is the real football, and the rise and fall of one of the biggest magazine launches in history, Condé Nast Portfolio.

Magazines: The original influencers.

Print Is Dead. (Long Live Print!) is a podcast about magazines and the people who made — and make them. In this series, we talk to the legendary designers, editors, writers, publishers, photographers, illustrators, photo editors, and more, who conceived and produced the publications that have dominated our conversations and covered our desks and coffee tables for decades. And many who still do.

We go deep — beyond the heds & deks, captions, sidebars, pull quotes, and factoids — into the lives and careers of this astonishingly talented group of creators.

If you’re in the magazine business — if you’re in ANY business focused on content creation — this podcast is for you. We hope you’ll join us.

HOSTS

Patrick Mitchell, creator & host, is the principal and creative director at MO.D, an award-winning content design and strategy practice offering bespoke design, consulting, and turnkey solutions for media brands. He is the former creative director at Fast Company (one of the most successful media launches in history), O, The Oprah Magazine, Nylon, and Inc. Winner of two National Magazine Awards as well as SPD’s Magazine of the Year.

Debra Bishop, contributing cohost, is the cofounding art director and visual lead of The New York Times for Kids. She worked with the legendary Fred Woodward at Rolling Stone, designing special issues. She has since lead several redesigns including, More, Whole Living, and Parents. In her 12 years at MSLO, Bishop led teams that launched Martha by Mail, Martha Stewart Baby, Martha Stewart Kids, and Blueprint. Martha Stewart Kids was awarded the prestigous ASME National Magazine Award for Design. Kids and Blueprint were both awarded Magazine of the Year by the Society of Publication Designers (SPD).

Print Is Dead. (Long Live Print!)

Episode 26: Robert Priest (Designer: 8 by 8, Esquire, GQ, Condé Nast Portfolio, more)

Magazines: The original influencers.

SPONSORS

THE SOCIETY OF PUBLICATION DESIGNERS INC.