La Loupe Lech Zürs No. 14 - Summer Edition

L.L. Meanwhile the magazine and the
books that go with it have become very
successful. Were there still phases in the
past where you had doubts and maybe
thought the topic was too niche?
S.B. The magazine is so niche, it couldn’t
be more so. A car magazine without
cars? There were three meetings where I
seriously hit a wall with it. But at some
point, somebody found the idea equally
interesting.
Back then it started out as a holiday
project. Meanwhile I’ve sold my shares
in the agency and all I do is the magazine and my own design
projects. At the beginning I thought we’d sell between 100 and
1,000 Curve magazines. I never anticipated being this
successful, that surprised me – even though, of course, deep
down, I’d hoped. Since every edition comes out in German
and English the concept works all over the world, even in
Tokyo, for example. The main product is print, surely, but
social media and the website round off the concept.
Stefan Bogner was born in Munich in
1968 and after his industrial design
studies he founded the design Sport agency & Freizeit
fpm (factor product münchen) with
two partners and during that time he
worked as manager and creative director
with renowned clients such as Porsche
and Alois Dallmayr – his works were
honoured with national and international
awards. In 2011 he launched the special
interest magazine Curves and since 2013
the magazine has a strong partner in
Porsche. In 2016 followed the foundation
of Stefan Bogner Creative Studios with
which the owner decided to focus on
automotive, travel, food, and hospitality.
I am still surprised though, that the magazine’s success keeps
increasing year after year. We print a first edition of 15,000
copies per edition, after 9 months they’re sold out. So, we
have another 5,000 or 10,000 copies printed. Up until now
we’ve published nine editions of which we’ve printed a 5th
or 6th edition, even. And the books are super popular, too.
We have the advantage of a comparatively low price of 15
Euros per magazine, so you get a lot for your money and it’s
easy to buy another copy for your best friend, too.
L.L. You often photograph the pure beauty of mountain
passes from a helicopter. What makes a good image? How
do you get the perfect shot of both, nature and the vehicle,
and what is your artistic concept?
S.B. When the first magazine sold so well I knew the car
industry would soon be all over the concept. Which is why I
thought: I’ll take all the money I made from the first edition
“All my favourite
pictures were taken
from a helicopter.”
“The Flexenpass
became one of
the most beautiful
picture series”
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