The past revisited

He briefly studied journalism and political science at Ryerson in Toronto, before opting for a career in journalism at the BBC in Manchester in 1989. He went on to work for ABC News, Channel Nine Australia and Sky News, as well as writing for various publications, like The Guardian, Stern, The Sunday Times and Vanity Fair.

Since founding Winkreative in 1998, Tyler has been running branding and design agencies with offices in London, New York, Zürich and Tokyo. After selling his stake in Wallpaper, he focused on developing Winkreative, the full-service branding and design agency that works as a subsidiary of the Swiss parent company Winkorp AG that Brûlé founded in 2002. Past and present clients of this award-winning company include Swiss International Airlines, Stella McCartney, TOTO, Tag Heuer, American Express, Porter Airlines, B&B Italia, Sky News and British Airways. In 2005, Brûlé returned to his broadcasting roots with Winkontent, the editorial and TV production part of Winkorp, when he created and hosted two television series for BBC4; The Desk and Counter Culture.

The second ground-breaking publication of Tyler’s career, MONOCLE, came about in February, 2007. Created for an audience that existing media models ignore, MONOCLE is an international media brand that combines print, web, retail and broadcast components. Published ten times a year, with offices in London, New York, Zurich, Tokyo, and soon Hong-Kong, it is a global briefing on current affairs, business, culture and design.

Tyler Brûlé is currently Chairman/Creative Director of Winkreative and Chairman/Editor-in-Chief of MONOCLE. He also writes a regular weekly column for the Financial Times, which can be read in Portuguese every weekend in Diário Económico.

Lifestyle
When is not relaxing on his own private island in Sweden in the summer or his mountain flat in St Moritz in winter, Tyler Brûlé spends around 250 days a year travelling. “When I develop my travel itinerary, I don’t like it to be improvised, it is essential to me to have a paper itinerary. My travel is mainly divided between the UK, where I reside, Switzerland and Sweden. I go to Tokyo once a month and I spend about a week in Japan. In London, I spend an average of two weeks to set up Monocle. Then I spend the rest of my time between New York, Toronto, Los Angeles. In Europe, I travel to Paris, Milan, Munich, Frankfurt and Madrid… essentially.” Although Tyler is a frequent flyer, he likes to walk everywhere whenever he can: “Not having to rely on transportation is a great luxury for me”. His London flat is a five-minute walk from the Monocle offices and shop.

When it comes to air travel, Tyler confesses: “I tend to travel more eastward; Japan is an essential destination for me. I am quite obsessed with my travel and my habits. So, when I’m on a long-haul flight, I like a window seat, preferably at the back of the airplane, in either business or first class.” What’s the best way to deal with jet lag? Once inside the plane, Tyler says: “Don’t eat too much; or even better, eat nothing. I usually have two or three glasses of white wine. Sleep as much as you can. I am lucky because I can sleep anywhere. Go for a run or a swim when you land”. Our traveller is also quite particular with the type of aircraft he flies on and the airports he flies to. Whenever he can, he chooses “the right company”, even if he has to make a stopover instead of catching a direct flight.

Airport secrets
As someone who is constantly in transit between continents and countries, Tyler Brûlé is considered to be an expert when it comes to airports: “A lounge is a place where you should be able to connect on a WiFi free basis; to read your mails in privacy and not have other people looking over your shoulder; to see what is happening in the world in real time. Here, I would highlight Munich Airport, where Lufthansa’s Hon Circle Super-Premium Lounge has made design efforts with a dedicated immigration and baggage screening”.

As a frequent flyer, he also appreciates “the discipline of the Japanese people. They are obsessed with detail. You need to take up the example of the Japanese to educate other passengers. Anglo-Saxons, all they want is to cut back on staff, which means less and less service and less efficiency. All you need is people to make things happen! Take Tokyo’s Haneda Airport. It would not win any architectural prize but, it works! It is the fourth busiest airport in the world, but it is primarily domestic and doesn’t have a massive duty-free area. Instead, there is an amazing grocery store and you can even pre-order your groceries and pick them up after you land! If you look at the Scandinavian architectural high note that is Copenhagen Airport, you realize that it is so uniquely Nordic and exquisite, that there is no mistaking you are in Copenhagen. Singapore’s Changi Airport remains a wonderful hub to connect through.

When it comes to the future of world aviation, he also has a few words to say: “I think there will be major changes in fuel technology. The future of aviation and aircraft is safe but I don’t think everybody will be flying for one Euro or a pound. In a way, we will see travelling becoming a little more elitist in the next 5 to 10 years. People will use trains more and more for short distances and that may become difficult for the easy-jetters and alike. If you look at air travel in North America, you realize that there is nothing interesting. Asia, in contrast, is extraordinarily competitive and keeps developing products.

www.monocle.com

www.winkreative.com