PUBLISHER’S LETTER
TIME TO RE-BRAND.
“You re-branded yourself,” he said. “I barely
recognized you.”
He was a guy that I see in the gym quite
of ten. We rarely speak. I guess my new
“brand” was reason enough to strike up a
conversation.
The fact that my new look—a shaved head
in honor St. Baldrick’s Day—was never intended to be a personal branding statement
didn’t matter. I was really warming up to my
leaner, meaner image. Hair is highly overrated.
The happy truth is that aside from my shorn
locks (skillfully done by Rob Horton of Rob’s
Salon), the entire South crew, dubbed South
Baldzine, re-branded the same way and raised
over $10,000 f or the f ight against pediatric
cancer. Even my wif e f orsook her lovely
Publisher, Michael Brooks and wife Frankie "re-branded" by Rob Horton
tresses to join us chrome-domes (se e page
28). A strange-but-happy day.
It was such a simple and seemingly insignificant gesture. But it meant a lot to St. Baldrick’s
goals and its staff, lead by Dr. Yael Elfassy, who, you may recall, graced our January cover with an
immaculately buffed scalp. We owed her one. And, of course, the kids always deserve our support.
But as I was standing there in the gym, I was thinking of me. I was reminded of how simple
changes can make large and far-reaching waves. It was already working for me. People took notice.
They looked closely, as if they were seeing a new side of me. It was time to do the same for South.
Just like an old hairstyle, our design, look and feel had grown on me. It was comfortable and
familiar. We knew how it to keep it neatly groomed. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, for
many businesses, it’s a very good thing. But not for us. Much of our mission involves reinvention
and reinterpretation. Worse, others in our region were starting to look and feel a lot like us. It was
time to do some of that re-stuff. Quick.
So, as promised in our last issue, we have been hard at work tearing down the last eight years
of design and rebuilding a fresh new magazine in its place just in time for our 50th issue. And this
time we have a secret ingredient. Nope, we’re not telling. The Colonel keeps his formula a secret,
and we love and revere the Colonel and his tasty chicken.
What we can tell you is that we think you won’t be able to put this issue down; whether or not
you can work out why is not important. You’ll never know how much heart, soul and downright
hard work went into the pages of this issue, but we know you’ll feel it.
Just relax, kick back and enjoy the changes, the fresh perspective, and the wonderful unfamiliarity of it all; sort of like I’m doing with my head. Many thanks, God Bless & Keep Reading.
–Michael Brooks, Publisher
18
S O U T H M A G A Z I N E .C O M
[1] JUN-JULY FOB.indd 18
ABOUT
THE COVERS
Beauty and the Bees: Our 50th
cover was art directed by Michael
Brooks and photographed by
Jabberpics. Model, Savannah
Christine was wearing a top
from Villa and a bee necklace
by Shelly Smith. Location was
at the Savannah Bee Company
headquarters. The bees are the
makers of wildfl wer honey, aka
Southern gold.
Commemorative Edition: This
special edition cover had a limited
run of only one thousand copies.
Designed by Tom White, this cover
is one you will want to get your
hands on! The symbol of the bee
and honey sticks appear throughout
the design, signifying our goldenanniversary issue.
P h o t o g r a p h b y JA B B E R P I C S
5/11/14 9:13 PM