Presenting Jeff Minthorn - Editor of Verge Magazine

A little while ago I mentioned that I stumbled across Verge Magazine by accident and that I planned to interview its editor, Jeff Minthorn.

1. Tell us a little bit about your educational background.

At university, I began studying geography in the Environmental Studies faculty but after my second year, I felt like I was covering the same material over and over again. I transferred into Urban Planning and completed the required courses for the first two years, all in one year, but just before I was about to finish my second term that year, I came to the conclusion that I really wasn't all that interested in what I was doing.

I decided to take a year off to think about what I did want to do. During that year I worked a lot, did some travelling, and applied for architecture school. Architecture programs are extremely demanding, but it's also a very broadly based education. I was able to learn a bit about everything from art history to engineering. I think that's the main reason I actually stuck it out for five years to finish the degree. Although it was demanding, it was also very engaging.

2. You have also done quite a bit of traveling. During university you took a year off to live in Rome. How was that? What were your major learning experiences?

I've done a bit of travelling, I guess - more than some people and a lot less than others. I was fortunate that part of my architecture degree involved studying in Rome. Definitely one of the most important lessons that I learned while I was there was about balance and priorities.

I tended to be very single minded - maybe even obsessive for the first few years in architecture school. While I was in Rome, I came to the realization that it wasn't going to be the hours and hours that I spent holed up in the studio with the rest of my classmates that I would remember. What I would remember would be the afternoons that I spent exploring and painting and drawing the architecture that I was there to study. I made a point of getting into the studio very early in the morning - before anyone else was there - so that I could really be productive. Then I would pack up my sketch books and watercolours in the early afternoon - just when the studio was getting good and noisy - and go out exploring.

3. What other types of traveling have you done?

Part of the year that I was away from university, I spent travelling through Europe. It was the usual student-backpacking-through-Europe experience, but you know, as easy as travelling there is, it really opened my eyes and was a real confidence builder for me. Prior to that, I had never left North America.

A couple of years later, I found work in London, England and lived there for 8 months. That was a bit of an adventure. I had very little money, a working holiday-maker visa, some resum