Woman of today
Anka Wessely is AD at Heute. She has learned that today sometimes lasts until the next day.
Anka Wessely is an AD at Heute. She has learned that today sometimes lasts until the next day.journalists are considered night people. But the makers of the new newspaper at Ringier have to be morning people and night people in one. The Today writers start work at six o'clock in the morning. The graphics department arrives just a little later and tears open the news pages. The "big bottleneck" comes shortly before the end of production. The latest pictures and reports can be included until 1 pm. The production of an evening newspaper also changes the personal rhythm of life. At the moment, Anka Wessely only has her job. "But that's a decision I wanted to make. If you don't want to experience building a new newspaper, you're in the wrong place."
At Heute, either young people or flexible people work, "which doesn't mean that young automatically means flexible," says Wessely and specifies: "You have to be able to come up with an idea quickly and accept an emergency solution from time to time. I enjoy it because it challenges me." It is important to choose this intensity, "then the work can really make you happy". You have to be able to distance yourself from criticism. "We still invest a lot of time in aesthetics."
Tests have shown "that the young target audience doesn't want such wild graphics as many were demanding," reveals Wessely. The concept is now young but classic: "It suits me. I find it interesting when something is broken." The AD wanted to create something lasting and was "not interested in fast-moving design with flyer graphics or computer lettering".
She was brought in because she had experience with magazines. The briefing called for this kind of touch for the newspaper, because people tend to want to read longer articles in the entertainment section in the evening. "In the morning, you get the information. With us, you get some rest."
In order to find reliable values for the new reading behavior, the zero numbers were tested in real time in the early evening. In the beginning, they worked more with unusual ideas. But clear structures were needed. "For me, the question was: how do I make the structures beautiful so that they don't have the character of a prison grid?" At the same time, today has to be feasible in a very short space of time. "That was the challenge that made me love the job in the end." Wessely initially only thought about developing. But now she wants to stay on the project. "I'm proud that I've finally found a job where I can contribute more than just the design. I can identify very well with the concept."
Anka Wessely attended the preliminary course at the School of Applied Arts in Zurich, then spent four years training as a graphic designer at Wirz. She worked as a graphic designer at McCann for six months
Erickson and two years at Publicis. Her last campaigns before switching to magazine design were the Schauspielhaus posters "Schneekönigin" and Amnesty International "get me out of here". She won ADC bronze for Mediabox four years ago for projecting brands onto the street.
Since her apprenticeship, she has also regularly designed illustrations for the SonntagsZeitung, Annabelle and, in the past, the Tagi. Another "side job" was art direction for Faces magazine. "Editorials have always been my goal. I read everything, from the cheapest gossip magazines to glossy Danish magazines."
Wessely has definitely "tasted blood" for this kind of design at Faces. The free newspaper she designed has now made the leap to the newsstand. "Things like that give you retroactive confirmation." But it wasn't until she got a new job in Germany that she dared to give up advertising altogether. "Sometimes I just need a clear cut to be able to change something."
In Munich, the young graphic designer peddled her portfolio and was able to join the Condé Nast publishing house for GQ. She also worked as a freelancer for the fitness magazine Shape. Then came a rejection for another job. The next day, Wessely wondered whether she should be upset or not. Then the phone rang and Ringier was on the line. "There's always a reason why something doesn't happen."
She now has her first job with responsibility at Ringier. "I never wanted to be the boss, but after six months with Daniel Steil and Bernhard Weissberg, where we worked intensively on the concept, we grew together. The two of them were able to take away my fears." Wessely was able to get involved "and was suddenly completely absorbed".
She found discipline and passion. This combination has always attracted the young AD. As a child, Anka competed in top-class sport and made it all the way to the Swiss Figure Skating Championships. Even today, she occasionally goes for a spin on the ice and sometimes jumps a double axel to relax. "That's a joke, of course," she laughs, but you could certainly believe her.
At Heute, either young people or flexible people work, "which doesn't mean that young automatically means flexible," says Wessely and specifies: "You have to be able to come up with an idea quickly and accept an emergency solution from time to time. I enjoy it because it challenges me." It is important to choose this intensity, "then the work can really make you happy". You have to be able to distance yourself from criticism. "We still invest a lot of time in aesthetics."
Tests have shown "that the young target audience doesn't want such wild graphics as many were demanding," reveals Wessely. The concept is now young but classic: "It suits me. I find it interesting when something is broken." The AD wanted to create something lasting and was "not interested in fast-moving design with flyer graphics or computer lettering".
She was brought in because she had experience with magazines. The briefing called for this kind of touch for the newspaper, because people tend to want to read longer articles in the entertainment section in the evening. "In the morning, you get the information. With us, you get some rest."
In order to find reliable values for the new reading behavior, the zero numbers were tested in real time in the early evening. In the beginning, they worked more with unusual ideas. But clear structures were needed. "For me, the question was: how do I make the structures beautiful so that they don't have the character of a prison grid?" At the same time, today has to be feasible in a very short space of time. "That was the challenge that made me love the job in the end." Wessely initially only thought about developing. But now she wants to stay on the project. "I'm proud that I've finally found a job where I can contribute more than just the design. I can identify very well with the concept."
Anka Wessely attended the preliminary course at the School of Applied Arts in Zurich, then spent four years training as a graphic designer at Wirz. She worked as a graphic designer at McCann for six months
Erickson and two years at Publicis. Her last campaigns before switching to magazine design were the Schauspielhaus posters "Schneekönigin" and Amnesty International "get me out of here". She won ADC bronze for Mediabox four years ago for projecting brands onto the street.
Since her apprenticeship, she has also regularly designed illustrations for the SonntagsZeitung, Annabelle and, in the past, the Tagi. Another "side job" was art direction for Faces magazine. "Editorials have always been my goal. I read everything, from the cheapest gossip magazines to glossy Danish magazines."
Wessely has definitely "tasted blood" for this kind of design at Faces. The free newspaper she designed has now made the leap to the newsstand. "Things like that give you retroactive confirmation." But it wasn't until she got a new job in Germany that she dared to give up advertising altogether. "Sometimes I just need a clear cut to be able to change something."
In Munich, the young graphic designer peddled her portfolio and was able to join the Condé Nast publishing house for GQ. She also worked as a freelancer for the fitness magazine Shape. Then came a rejection for another job. The next day, Wessely wondered whether she should be upset or not. Then the phone rang and Ringier was on the line. "There's always a reason why something doesn't happen."
She now has her first job with responsibility at Ringier. "I never wanted to be the boss, but after six months with Daniel Steil and Bernhard Weissberg, where we worked intensively on the concept, we grew together. The two of them were able to take away my fears." Wessely was able to get involved "and was suddenly completely absorbed".
She found discipline and passion. This combination has always attracted the young AD. As a child, Anka competed in top-class sport and made it all the way to the Swiss Figure Skating Championships. Even today, she occasionally goes for a spin on the ice and sometimes jumps a double axel to relax. "That's a joke, of course," she laughs, but you could certainly believe her.
Andreas Panzeri
