18th February 2025
‘A squeeze of lemon in the eye’ – creative direction with Grazia’s Caz Roberts 🍋
Hello everyone,
This week’s episode of Ask the Expert is a real treat for anyone who wonders how a world-class magazine is put together – from a creative perspective. It’s the fantastic Caz Roberts, Creative Director of Grazia UK.
As Caz explains, her job involves directing fashion shoots, featured celebrity shoots, as well as creating visuals for news content and video. In our interview, Caz tells me about an incredible series of ideas and media that students are without question going to be fascinated by.
- Caz’s favourite podcasts: interested in how professional publications are put together? Caz recommends Print Is Dead (Long Live Print!)’s recent episode with Jake Silverstein, editor of the New York Times Magazine.
– Listen here on Spotify - What visuals can successfully back up a great article? Caz tells us that a surprising or arresting image – “a squeeze of lemon in the eye” – is essential to make a reader stop in their tracks.
- Communicating is key: Caz explains how teams can work together successfully by having a common purpose and understanding of who their audience is. Success is found by “working collaboratively and being open to other people’s ideas as well as being very clear about your own.”
For any student finding their feet with a media project, figuring out what they want to say and the tone of voice they want to use, this episode is unmissable.
Enter Shine 2025!
If you’re keen to enter Shine this year, have questions or need more support, we’re here to answer your questions at shine@stationers.org
Register with the Shine School Media Awards and we can provide guidance and encouragement from now til our entry deadline in May.
Best wishes,
Richard Chapman
Chair, Shine School Media Awards