Cover by Adam Goldberg
Photograph by Fabian Martinez 
Photograph by Daniela Velasco
Photographs by Adam Goldberg
Photograph by Adam Goldberg
Photograph by Daniela Velasco
Drift Magazine
Creative Director: Daniela Velasco
Editor: Adam Goldberg
Heidi: How does Drift decide which city to feature?
Daniela: It’s a combination of a few factors. We have a running list of cities we feel have either an established or developing coffee culture. We then look at the list and make an assessment as to which city has the best “coffee story” to tell right now. Feedback from our readers is particularly valuable to us: when there’s overlap in the cities readers suggest, we tend to emphasize those cities. It also helps if we have a personal interest in visiting and learning more about the particular city since we spend so much time there putting together each issue. We also try to vary regions so each Volume of Drift feels very different from the previous one.
Once a city is determined, is all the photography assigned?
Generally, we first plan and assign the written content, using it as a guide to direct the photography. But there are exceptions, for example in Volume 5: Melbourne we ran a piece about the interior design of Australian coffee shops. This piece began with photographs we shot in-house, reaching out to writers afterwards. We love receiving pitches from both photographers and writers, each can lead to interesting, well-developed content.
What do you look for in someone’s work in order to be considered?
We try to hire as many photographers local to the city we are covering as possible. The local perspective is particularly interesting to us. Many contributors are ones who have previously reached out to us. Others are ones we’ve stumbled across on Instagram, who we feel could show a particularly interesting angle. We take photographers’ work seriously: their portfolios should show good use of light, a subtle editing process, an understanding of unique perspectives, creativity, and a strength in the type of coffee and travel lifestyle photos we are looking for.
Do you art direct the shoots and go on location?
We used to take almost all photos in the magazine therefore we would always be on location but as we’ve been growing we’ve been able to hire more local photographers that plan their own shoots following the creative direction we provide in the brief for each city.
What’s been your most memorable cup of coffee thus far?
Probably the “Angel Stain” at Bear Pond Espresso in Tokyo–espresso as thick as maple syrup and dark as ebony. Or perhaps the Natural-process coffees coming out of Yemen, roasted by Oakland’s “Port of Mokha” – but you’ll have to wait for our next issue to read more about that!