Mr. Magazine

“There is no such thing as a “best,” because best only applies based on what we’re looking for. If you’re looking for a way to get timely information, then you cannot beat digital. However, if you’re looking for quality and beauty, and certain human elements, such as touching the paper for that physical connection, print provides that. There is no human connection like an organic texture of a good quality paper. With a monitor this is not possible, because we’re on the outside of that connection.” Alie Oz…

“With print, you’re much more connected to those pages. And there are different fundamentals for people. Some want to be in control, so they want to sit down in front of the monitor and click here or there. But many people are tired of making decisions all of the time. They want to just sit back and be entertained. With each page they flip, they want to see something surprising. They don’t want to know beforehand what they will be looking at. They just want to relax and be entertained.” Alie Oz…

Call him a dreamer, call him a theorizer; call him anything you can think of that would describe a true visionary, and Alie Oz will most probably explain to you why you think that. The man is a deep-thinker and truly sincere and concerned about this planet, the cultures that influence people’s behavior and the choices they make and the arts and artists who bring beauty and consciousness into our lives. And he has a plan to revolutionize the present-day business models that most publishers use. According to Alie, it’s a very simple approach, nevertheless, a very comprehensive one.

Alie described it in this way, “In the pursuit of creating a vision for new age philanthropy to help Artists and Children in need, the process inspired me to a vision that will revolutionize print publishing in its entirety. From its purpose, its new entity, its definition, its look, its products, its production, its publishing and its business model; it will be transformed in such a way that the print magazine world will go from what it is today, to a desirable, profitable and honorable art form, that is unimaginable by today’s standards and reality.”

Between art, sports and the beauty of both, 0-15 ArtBook Magazines were born. And the philanthropic influence of Alie himself isn’t lost on this new business model; in fact, at one point during our conversation, he described it as a new vision for the “Philanthropic Business Model.”

Alie said that we have to change everything about print magazines, beginning with the definition and identity to “ArtBook Magazines.” That they have to be created as an art form (artwork) by real artists. Timeless, collectible ArtBooks that reflect the artistic side of any given subject, or subjects, like a moderately printed coffee table book.

He added that the production process had to be changed as well, by eliminating the unnecessary waste, and by replacing old ways of doing things with clever and intelligent thinking, and unique methods of creativity and production process. And that publishers then needed to be innovative and introduce a completely new vision for the publishing business model to the equation, to make this vision so profitable (equal or more profitable than the Internet publishing business model), so that it becomes one of the most desirable new age businesses for entrepreneurs, with its new role of how ArtBook Magazines can serve us and our business in our cultures. While all of this might sound like a pipe dream to some, to Alie Oz it’s not only possible; it’s achievable.

So, come along with Mr. Magazine™ as we take a walk down a visionary’s path and possibly discover that the Philanthropic Business Model is here to rescue us all, the Mr. Magazine™ interview with Alie Oz, director, Art Sports International.

But first, the sound-bites:

On the idea behind 0-15 ArtBook Magazines: There are two parts of this. On the one hand, there is the philanthropic part; how can we help people, children in need, and this is worldwide. And redefine art and artists and understand their responsibility and their effect; how they can influence the cultures and therefore our behavior changes and we become more sensible people, and in turn world problems seem not so insurmountable, because the world’s problems have become more and more senseless. We’ve become robotic and driven by greed; greed is run by fear, etc.

On why he is starting this new business model overseas and bring it into the U.S.: I discovered that the East follows the West, because of Colonialism and everything else, and they are so much more receptive to new ideas. Even by their nature they’re more open to innovations, because of their freshness and virginity when it comes to these high-end developments. If you can break down that Colonialism stage, they can be original and unique, and that allows creative minds to be so much fresher, and in turn, creates creativeness within the platform. In the West, new ideas have to convince people that their old ways are not good enough, which most people are reluctant to believe, and also to give up their old ways to adapt the new ways.

On whether he thinks print is the best medium to implement his creative vision: There is no such thing as a “best,” because best only applies based on what we’re looking for. If you’re looking for a way to get timely information, then you cannot beat digital. However, if you’re looking for quality and beauty, and certain human elements, such as touching the paper for that physical connection, print provides that. There is no human connection with a monitor; we’re on the outside of it. Also, this vision is the beginning of the one that will follow next, which will bring all three media (Print+TV+Internet III) together and make them function like one organism. After this vision is in place, I am willing to introduce the next vision for the more future-oriented players.

On how his business model will allow publishers to offer their product for free and still make money: The answer to this will be explained to certain chosen ones to give them a heads up in this visionary business plan.

On whether he’s on to something that’s possible or he’s merely a dreamer: It is very much real and with proof of concept, all details will be explained to seriously interested players.

On the biggest stumbling block facing him in launching this business model: There are no stumbling blocks at all, because as I said, we’re doing this as a part of our philanthropy vision. In our vision, we give this licensing to retired tennis players or young tennis families, or even players as a supporting source. So, philanthropists can have this magazine and have children educated from it. The economics are so attractive that the objective is never compromised. Of course, we’ll add more of the art and the nobility and the consciousness into the product, and it will be an art platform. We’re doing this in our philanthropy business, and once the magazine is established, we’ll be introducing many other products and businesses and services. The way we use this publishing vision is unique, and as our base to introduce other new ideas and boutique business to help the needy

On the possibility that the publishing world will understand his vision and get excited by it; what would then stop him from doing it on his own and becoming that multi-billionaire: Anything is possible, however today my focus is on the broader picture. I’m interested in changing the art and artists, fundamentally, culturally, practically, and effectively. And I’m just a single human being who has a vision that could change things from a fundamental level. If I meet the right people/publishers, I will make plans to take actions to implement this vision in a larger scale to lead all. With our philanthropy business model and the platform that we’ve created with 0-15 ArtBook Magazine, we have so many other products that will start small businesses and help everybody. So, me creating many ArtBook Magazines and storming the publishing world means I would rather work with someone and achieve that goal under special conditions. It’s not the money that motivates me, it’s doing the right thing and getting the publishing business to the right stage. And to get the publishing world to where they belong by influencing our lives in the right ways by creating the right products and awarding our artists and influencing people the way true artists should. I would like to make the publishing business a very attractive, lucrative and desirable business for young entrepreneurs by making publishing an art form.

On what keeps him up at night: Well, I am worried about what’s going on in America, in our senseless behavior, the choices we make because of our cultures that affect our decisions; our thought processes that lack taste, class, reasoning and consciousness, that senseless lack of understanding and disconnection. Why did we become this way? What causes this senselessness? Who and how can help make these corrections?

And now the lightly edited transcript of the Mr. Magazine™ interview with Alie Oz, director, Arts Sports International.

Samir Husni: Give me some background on the idea behind 0-15 Artbook Magazines and the company.

Alie Oz: There are two parts of this. On the one hand, there is the philanthropic part; how can we help people, children in need, by connecting many forces altogether, such as the sports world, artists, corporations, governments, philanthropists, new entrepreneurs, etc., and this is worldwide. And redefine art and artists and understand their responsibility and their effect; how they can influence the cultures and therefore our behavior changes and we become more sensible people, and in turn world problems seem not so insurmountable, because the world’s problems have become more and more senseless. We’ve become robotic and driven by greed; greed is run by fear, etc.

So, our senses are designed to protect us and give us rationale and give us an understanding of everything that’s supposed to help us to survive in the best conditions. So, the artist’s job should be that, because human beings who are in touch with their senses fully are the best part of ourselves. And that should be an artist, which we have an obligation to redefine, protect and help them to perform their best.

But overtime, like everything else, art and artists have become business components and instead of a true meaning and purpose of what art and artists should be, they become just another tool for the middleman to make more profit for all costs. It becomes another game. So, that question is very important to me personally, because I’m an artist by birth. I had my first exhibition when I was 12-years-old and I dedicated myself to question everything to make them better through arts. In this process I became an art director at 18.

Let’s say, we have these wonderful ideas and wonderful talents, but how can humankind benefit from this, instead of becoming a tool for the rich and famous? So, the idea of art and the artist is very important. And we have to reanalyze and redefine that, in order to help more humankind to influence their behavior and make them more sensible and conscious creatures.

So, the classic question is: how do you save the world? Well, everyone has their own answer. In my humble opinion, the answer is by changing the proportion of the world. Having more artists, with the right definition of the word artist, is how you can save the world. In order to do that, we have to be open to art. And we must make it so organic and so pure, and make it a part of our lives and in all business.

I extract the art and artist from the talent and the taste; not even from perfection. The consciousness has to be the guiding force of what art and the artist should be. And the artist is the ambassador of that energy. Everything is made of that energy; consciousness is the source, so the artist should be the one who brings that consciousness to our lives.

Now, true talents, true tastes, true craft; yes, of course, that is a part. In my opinion, the first artists that we know are our mothers. And they’re the ones creating something incredible with the hope that eventually wonderful things will follow.

I’ve been involved with many different projects, this being a growth process of ourselves. At one point, with a dear friend of mine, Caroline Newhouse, her family is in the publishing business, we were discussing magazines. Why are magazines so important? In those discussions, I was always arguing that those pages were being wasted and because there was no challenge to the magazine world, magazine publishers did nothing to improve them. They were basically sleeping and enjoying the glory and benefits of the publishing world.

But once they were challenged, the problems began to rise to the surface. And very quickly, some fell apart, because their models fell apart. So, these problems have been around since a couple of decades ago and I promised my friend that I was going to do something. In fact, at one point Caroline wanted to hire me for Condé Nast, although she wasn’t in charge. But I was very busy with other projects at that time, nevertheless, I promised her that I was going to do something about it, because we’d had this wonderful conversation. And she was an artist.

But going back to how we can help people using all of the elements together, because all energies have to connect to each other and then to consciousness. Everything we do has to connect to each other; our purpose of helping people, media, the arts, just everything. I realized that the best way to do this was to implement art and artists into consciousness, was into business models. I always hated it when, as a child, I would hear people say, “Don’t take it personally; it’s just business.” We have to be conscious of everything we do, even in business.

So, one after another these ideas would come in, so I decided to create an organization where we can connect these powerful elements together; to redefine art and artists and inject the idea of art and artists into businesses and connect the sports world, because that’s very much needed and they’re a very powerful group of people. And then create a business model that will help the children and artists by connecting publishing and small businesses, government and philanthropy; everything. So, the idea of helping people really motivated me to start developing the organization.

And this is a part of my passion already, as a platform, I put print publishing in the center of it. So, with the publishing we create a platform to help children, artists, the sports world; and allow governments and philanthropists to become involved and create a new vision for philanthropy. Since I wanted to revolutionize the publishing world, it has to be improved in order to do that. And the purpose of our publishing platform is to develop a vision for philanthropy, and at the same time revolutionize the publishing world.

In my vision, everything about publishing will change. Only two things will remain the same in the publishing process: the paper and distributing monthly. Besides those two elements, everything changes, because that’s my nature, I do not accept things they way they are, I like to change and improve things. Because I believe anything and everything can be improved, and that is the way civilization moves forward and true human capacity develops.

Now, I have an opportunity for a couple of years, while we are going forward with the philanthropic vision, I can start focusing on the publishing as well. I realize from my research how to develop this vision; how to improve everything. The publishing world works in a very old-thinking way. If you look at the columns and the text and the graphics, things haven’t changed very much over the years since Gutenberg. Everything else has changed in the world; why hasn’t publishing changed? Through the process of shortsightedness, the publishing world has been left behind.

When the Internet started challenging the publishing world, then everything fell apart. What I want to do with the publishing business involves three elements: the products, the production, and the publishing. In this process, in my opinion, the products have to be an artwork, because the publishing itself, touching the paper, it shouldn’t be taken for granted. There is something very natural and human about that.

In this out of control development; for the most part I agree with the world development, but if you lose connection from one to another, it creates big gaps. And those gaps are taken advantage of by either opportunists or by dysfunctional behavior that is created within those gaps. It’s like if you don’t brush your teeth, plaque will build up in your mouth. So, every idea has to connect to the previous one in such a way that there will be no gaps in between to break the system. All developments should be based on our needs, they have to serve us, not the other way around. We should not become a robot, just simply because the development of robotic ideas are in full swing.

In the process of developing this vision for a new product, it has to be an art platform; a form of art that I see for publishing. The production part has to be in such a way that it’s a healthy business, and the publishing part has to also be done in a way that it will award the publishing world as it deserves. So, it will be a very healthy business and therefore the idea of publishing will impact people’s lives properly.

In our business plan, we have to create these art books, and right now they’re part of the sports world, tennis, 0-15 is a tennis score, so part of the vision is also part of our philanthropy, the art and sports part. But within that, the publishing itself is revolutionized. Making publications as an art form and created by artists, and published in such a way that we make a perfect business model and a very successful business model is what we’re talking about.

Samir Husni: Why overseas? Why are you starting this outside the U.S. and then bringing it in?

Alie Oz: A long time ago, Caroline tried to put my ideas into place at Condé Nast. She set up a meeting for me and I went there to talk to the creative director. Now, I was never in the corporate world, I am an artist by birth. After a weird energy filled the room for a while, he told me that I should not be telling him my ideas, because he would steal them. And I didn’t know how to respond to that. And I have to ad that in his own little mind, he was respecting my friendship with Caroline Newhouse.

In America, we are very much driven by corporate principles. I don’t even believe in the Wall Street model. I don’t believe humans should be described as winners or losers. We can all be winners. With the Wall Street models, which is the backbone of our business, it’s okay to steal, cheat and lie, as long as you win. I don’t believe in that. I have a problem with Picasso when he said, “Good artists borrow, great artists steal.” Nobody questions why do you steal; you only steal if you don’t have it. Well, if you don’t have it, you don’t deserve it. So, in America, this has become a big part of our business principles. Everywhere else has their problems as well, but if we accept this principle that it’s okay to steal, cheat and lie as long as we succeed, no original ideas will ever be born from that. Then you’re trapped in that psyche. Then you focus your energies on that, rather than being innovative.

And I discovered that the East follows the West, because of Colonialism and everything else, and they are so much more receptive to new ideas. Even by their nature they’re more open to innovations, because of their freshness and virginity when it comes to these high-end developments. If you can break down that Colonialism stage, they can be original and unique, and that allows creative minds to be so much fresher, and in turn, creates creativeness within the platform.

In the West, first you have to convince people that what they’re doing is wrong. And if you achieve that, then you have to explain to them what else they can do; how they can progress. That’s why it became much more difficult to explain how things could be more progressive to people in the West. In the advertising world that I was a part of; the difference between European and American behavior is for one, in Europe we select creative directors and we ask them to lead us. In America, we’re always afraid of our job security, and we ask the public constantly what they want to see. And the public is busy with their own daily lives, their own careers, so it’s not their job to analyze and understand.

So, we tell our bosses this is what the public wants, let’s go with that. This to me is a plague that stops progress. We’re not progressing well. Everything has to be created outside first, then America can take it and make a business out of it. And yes, make it big business. Also, in Asia, the children have a bigger need; in India and in China.

In China especially, I was interested because they need a vision. China is losing their artists and by nature, they don’t have that many to begin with. So, I had to give them a vision. For those reasons, I was in Asia.

But I’m interested in America if we can build a trusted relationship with a powerhouse. Then I would be able to introduce this vision and the entire publishing world could change because of it.

Samir Husni: Is it because it’s your vision that you’re focusing on print as the vehicle to spread this vision, or is it that in this digital age print is still the best medium for implementing this innovation?

Alie Oz: There is no such thing as a “best,” because best only applies based on what we’re looking for. If you’re looking for a way to get timely information, then you cannot beat digital. However, if you’re looking for quality and beauty, and certain human elements, such as touching the paper for that physical connection, print provides that. There is no human connection with a monitor; we’re on the outside of it. And to me that’s also the failure of the arts in the West. In the East, the arts are a part of life. If they create a beautiful piece of art, such as a bowl, it becomes a part of their life. In the West, we create a bowl and then we put it in a museum and watch it. And call it art. No, that’s not art, you’re outside of it. You have to be inside of it.

And print is the same thing. With print, you’re much more connected to those pages, if they are created in the right ways. And there are different fundamentals for people. Some want to be in control, so they want to sit down in front of the monitor and click here or there. But many people are tired of making decisions all of the time. They want to just sit back and be entertained. With each page they flip, they want to see something surprising. They don’t want to know beforehand what they will be looking at. They just want to relax. And I don’t believe in losing or wasting things, especially print. We owe so much to print. Print has an opportunity to lead our culture.

And the Internet was created by engineers. But art is missing from the Internet. In contrast, print is all about art. So, they have to exist together. With my model, creating these art books, and by the way, we can create these art books from all topics. So, we can introduce thousands and thousands of them all over the world. But the key with this model, is they have to be free. Art book magazines have to be free. In today’s world, almost everything on the Internet is free. And yes, I have created a business model that brings in hundreds of millions of dollars of profit to publishers, even though the magazines are free. Having said all this, Internet publishing and print publishing doesn’t have to compete, they can co-exist and complete each other.

Samir Husni: But someone will say, Alie, you’re a dreamer. You’re telling us that the present publishing models are based on greed and that you want to change everything and do something completely different, but you’re still depending on advertising, albeit, you’re changing distribution. So, either you’re a genius coming up with this new idea or it’s simply a dream.

Alie Oz: Before anything else I have to say this, even though cynics will be satisfied with proof of concepts, whomever denies progress will be left behind. In contrast, the ones who are looking for opportunities will take advantage of this vision. In order to succeed, this vision, all aspects and all elements, has to be done correctly, no cutting corners. When that has happened the right way, the transformation of the publishing world through this vision will be revolutionary. Again as I said earlier, I am willing to explain all of the details to the right people in the right time.

Samir Husni: What’s the biggest stumbling block that’s facing you in launching this new business model?

Alie Oz: There are no stumbling blocks at all, because as I said, we’re doing this as a part of our philanthropy vision. In our vision, we give this licensing to retired tennis players or young tennis families, or even players. So, philanthropists can have this magazine and have children educated from it. The economics are so attractive that the objective is never compromised. Of course, we’ll add more of the art and the nobility and the consciousness into the product, and it will be an art platform. We’re doing this in our philanthropy business, and once the magazine is established, we’ll be introducing many other products and businesses and services.

With this, philanthropists will be able to help people through sports and through artists. And while we’re doing that, our platform, the print magazine, will become a very visionary concept that could be implemented. One magazine can produce, in the hands of a major publisher, $100,000,000 per year profit after all of the fees and expenses. If you make 10 of them, now we’re talking billions. This is impossible for people to believe, because this is unheard of. But who would have thought a company called Google would become bigger than General Motors? Great ideas start this way.

The problem in the publishing world is that we try and fix things. We’re patching and matching, surviving. And they’re cutting quality in order to survive, which will only speed up the process of going down. So, everything has to change. First, you have to serve the people and their interests. When that happens, with a brilliant business model, success will come in the most satisfying of ways.You can’t just patch and match and put a Band-Aid on the problem. The time element has to be eliminated from the print publishing world, because fundamentally you cannot compete with the speed of the Internet when it comes to delivering information.

Also, not only do we need to eliminate handicaps, but we need to add advantages. The Internet doesn’t have that touch experience or that human connection like paper does. And if you take the time element out of the print media and add the art part to it, the quality part to it, suddenly you’re separating yourself from the Internet and you’re providing what the Internet cannot provide. So, not only are you coexisting; with my business model, you can make equal or more profit than the Internet.

By eliminating print magazines’ handicaps against Internet publishing, in addition to emphasizing its advantages, it will not only create a complimentary partnership and coexistence with each other; it will also totally complete each other in my vision. By changing the perception of what print publishing is today in its entirety and creating a new future for the print publishing era like never before.

At first, it sounds like a utopian idea and a romantic dream for print publishing and its defenders and supporters, but (remembering that in this vision, 98% of everything we know about print publishing has changed, or been altered or replaced by its new evolutionary process), the analysis of all aspects of print publishing adapted to this new vision, making this unimaginable dream a provable reality.

In order to start a revolution, a renaissance of the print publishing world today, we have to abandon what we know, what we think we know, what we think we need to fix, replace or repair. We need to rethink all aspects of print magazine publishing, and replacing the old outdated components with their new counterparts. In addition, we have to add a new purpose, new identity, new look, new definition, new production, publishing and new business model.

Samir Husni: If people see your vision and agree with it and think this is how revolutions start, what will keep you from doing it on your own and becoming that multi-billionaire?

Alie Oz: Publishers that are seriously searching to do better, will understand and will get excited by this vision. Anything is possible, however today my focus is on the broader picture. I’m interested in changing the art and artists, fundamentally, culturally, practically, and effectively. And I’m just a single human being who has a vision that could change things from a fundamental level. If I meet the right people/publishers, I will make plans to take actions to implement this vision in a larger scale to lead all. It’s not the money that motivates me, it’s doing the right thing and getting the publishing business to the right stage. And to get the publishing world to where they belong by influencing our lives in the right ways by creating the right products and awarding our artists and influencing people the way true artists should. I would like to make the publishing business a very attractive, lucrative and desirable business for young entrepreneurs by making publishing an art form. Of course, anything is possible, but we have already created one ArtBook Magazine as an example of this vision and as a part of our philanthropic vision-project, to become a centerpiece, a publishing platform for our operation. But publishing revolution doesn’t happen with just one product, it has to be many of them to become the new standard, to become the business inspiration to all, so everybody will be inspired and follow the vision to change their business model and the industry, once and for all.

Samir Husni: My typical last question; what keeps you up at night?

Alie Oz: Well, I am worried about what’s going on in America, in our behavior, the choices we make because of our cultures that affect our decisions; our thought processes that lack taste, class, reasoning and consciousness, that senseless lack of understanding and disconnection. Why did we become this way? What causes this senselessness? Who and how can help make these corrections?

Well, in my opinion, what caused all this senselessness is the lack of senses in our lives, in our actions and our perception of what life is about, which is the essence of true Arts and Artists. Not a self-serving, narrowed purpose and meaningless bullshit, maybe with a little taste, a little talent, but still meaningless bullshit without any real purpose, no consciousness and no service to humankind. “The Art Game” that the rich and famous manipulated for a very long time, without realizing the effects caused in cultures and younger generations.

The Arts have to have a new definition, a new identity, a new purpose that is adjusted to our times, and to provide what is needed, what is missing, with a true and noble, and yet practical and productive, purpose that will make a difference in the world.

The Artists have to have a real purpose for a greater good that is very much needed; a direction and guidelines for our behavior, our senses and in our consciousness. For that “The Arts” have to be in our lives in all forms at all times, and “The Artists” have to have a new defining role in all aspects of our lives and business. New Age Print Magazines with their “new vision of existence” can provide this very much needed function. This new vision of ArtBook Magazines can provide the opportunity to merge in our lives to make a difference by uplifting the human spirit, representing taste, presenting new ideas and becoming the very much needed tool for the real artists to connect to people like never before.

For this, I did my job by creating and developing this vision “The ArtBook Magazines” to be implemented by all who represent the future of our Business-Culture Renaissance, and who want to take the publishing world to its new golden era like never before for the new age, “The Age of Aquarius.”

For many, these things I shared with you might sound like utopian ideas and wishful thinking, but they aren’t. They are true concepts created for practical applications that are tested, executed and proven. They are created based on responsibilities that real artists should have, a greater purpose than just a good idea, guided with consciousness and prepared as great business models and that take new age conscious business to its new heights in print publishing and its new place in our lives and cultures.

I can understand why for some this vision could feel like “A pie in the sky”. It is because most people are not used to creating things from scratch, as a completely brand new idea/vision. Usually, they are used to patch and match, fix or repair old and outdated ideas to make it work and fit into the new realities. Even some of the so-called new ideas are not new; they are a different version of the existing ideas or old ideas that were created in the past. Truly new ideas are rare, and usually difficult to relate to because they require us to forget what we know, and rethink everything without any baggage of our own belief system.

For those who are skeptical, there is a proof of concepts to convince them. For those who are already waiting for something new to change the game, there will be an inspiration like nothing before. Not only for the scale of success for the print publishing industry, which is unimaginable by today’s standards and expectations, but also what the publishing world should be in our future and its new function and responsibility in our cultures.

I will explain all of the details and step by step game/business plan to the right people, starting with those who already dedicated their efforts to improving the publishing business and who care to do the right thing and understand the potential of the “Print Publishing Business”.

We are already using this as part of our revolutionary vision of philanthropy by connecting children, artists, the sports world, corporations, philanthropists, governments etc. as the centerpiece of our publishing platform. But to start a real revolution in print publishing, there should be dozens of examples in action to become an example to all, then everybody will be inspired and understand the virtue, and everything will change after that.

Samir Husni: Thank you.