The ABSTRACT Maine 2011 conference this Friday is a great opportunity for designers and publishers of all kinds to come to Portland and get a glimpse of the future of the presentation of content from six creative directors on the forefront of what was, until recently, considered the magazine business in New York. Magazines are morphing into multi-channel, multi-screen streams of branded content, but they still are about telling stories. So consider Abstract to be a kind of 21st century Chautauqua: story-tellers telling stories about how to tell stories. Of course, at LiveWork Portland, we try to tell the story about how smart, independently-minded creative people find Portland to be the perfect place to develop their talents and enjoy their lives. We didn't really think that Fast Company creative director Florian Bachleda was thinking of relocating to Portland, but we thought we would ask anyway...

1) The emphasis of the ABSTRACT conference seems to be about the ways that technology has transformed the presentation of media. Where on the tech spectrum do you fall personally, from card-carrying Luddite to bleeding edge geek?
I've sometimes been a card carrying Luddite who finally tasted geekdom and now I can't get enough of it. The different options we now have as story-tellers is intoxicating.

2) With all of the additional demands and opportunities that multi-channel publishing presents, do you still consider yourself a designer, or have you become something more hybrid and hyphenated?
I still consider myself a designer, it's just that the job description for being a designer in 2011 and beyond has radically changed. I see this in my colleagues also: Arem Duplessis at the the NY Sunday Times Magazine has been directing his digital and motion graphics team. Dirk Barnett at Newsweek is about to tackle that side of his new gig. Luke Hayman at Pentagram is always out in front with things like this.

3) What are the specific skills that this new world of media requires, have you been able to develop all of those skills yourself, and if not, has your process become more collaborative?
I have not been able to develop as many of those skills as I'd like, but you realize (again) that as long as you have a team of people with those skills, your job as the creative director is to direct. Understanding what everyone does, what's possible, and being able to give direction is the key, not so much mastering those skill sets yourself. In a perfect world, I would have the time to do that. But even if I did, there's no way I'm going to be as good as my team that have those specific skill sets. We've all heard this before: You're the conductor and you write the music, but you need a great orchestra to play the individual instruments.

4) Based on your own experiences in the magazine publishing world of New York, what kinds of businesses, design studios, creative communities, etc. will best be able to take advantage of the kinds of cross-platform workflow solutions that you will discuss at the conference?
Any type of company or community that is willing to embrace the future and not always attach a P&L to it. Especially organizations with leaders that are willing to champion new technology. From our crew, you see Scott Dadich at Conde Nast and Gael Towey at Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia taking the lead on this within their companies, and the way they've been able to move mountains is so impressive. At Fast Company, we're pushing forward with a tablet app for our annual 100 Most Creative People package because we think it will be a value to our readers, not because it will be some huge money-maker. We're a magazine about progress and innovation, and there's never a line item for that.

5) And this is for our local angle: To the extent that technology allows you to move your life and work to another city, which ones would you consider? What are the most important factors for you about the geographic location of where you live and work? And if you didn't answer Portland, Maine, what factors (other than moving it to Brooklyn!) would make you consider relocating here?
Sorry, it might be impossible for me to leave New York right now. My cat loves it here too much...

Two Fat Cats Bakery sign photo from PeaceLoveandFood blog

Tags: design, entrepreneurs, live in portland, Media, non-profit, photography, relocation, tech, video, work in portland