Photo by Matjaz Tancic

"To be leaders, not followers." Beats is keen to understand individuals who push culture forward. Rather than presenting a persona with a made-up name, we were tasked to produce a visually rich Zine consisting of DIFFERENT REAL people that represent the right vibe & mindset.

Since we were looking for the vibe, we did what film directors do. Our recruitment team casted over 50 people to select 16 to enter the digital task phase. Each was asked to film themselves over 1 week's time. After going through hundreds of hours of video footage, 9 people got the tickets for the Zine, including a contemporary dancer, a photography studio founder, an art history PhD student, an Afro music lover and a space designer active in Shanghai and Beijing. Accompanied by award-winning photographer Matjaz Tancic, we spent 4 hours with each at their homes and favorite places with tears and laughter to capture the full picture of who they are.

We hand-picked the most inspiring and deeply touching stories together with emotionally provoking pictures to bring these lovely souls to life. The rich output acts as an aspirational compass for Beats to inspire the team to tailor future product development, content and services.

In collaboration with Forward