Devon Preston
Age: 22
Hometown: Richmond, VT
Major: Journalism
Graduation Year: December 2016
Clubs/Involvement at Hofstra: Her Campus, Feminist Collective, Transcendance and Power Lifting
Current Position: Junior Editor for Inked Magazine
Did you go into college with a media related major declared, if so how confident were you in that choice and if not, what made you change?
Writing is the only thing I’ve known I’ve been good at. So not to be cliché but I didn’t choose journalism, it chose me.
How did you establish your writers’ voice?
You try to fit your style for whoever you’re writing for so my style has changed. Her Campus was bubbly and fun; writing for Inked is different because you have to write for men a lot of the time. You write like the cool chic or cool girlfriend, it’s the voice I tend to take on.
When asked whether this conflicts with her feminist views she said:
It depends, you could see what I do as un-feminist but it’s choice feminist. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with women showing off their sexy side. I don’t mind writing things in a way that men would enjoy it.
How many internships did you have while at Hofstra and what was your greatest lesson from interning?
I had four and staying in contact was very important; a lot of people just have their internship and never talk to them again.
What was your first job out of college?
At first, I was working at two tattoo shops as an assistant. But in the editorial world, my first job was Inked. I interned at Inked in the fall of 2015 when I was a junior, it was a dream internship because I love tattoos and the magazine. I tried to stand out as the best intern and make an impact on my boss. I did a bit of freelance about three to four times for them from 2016 to 2017. Eventually, I moved to New York and was still in contact with my internship boss. I hinted at my future goals, went in to proofread, did an edit test, pitched a few ideas and social media ideas and then was offered the job.
Can you go through a brief description of a week leading up to print?
Articles and photo shoots are done months in advance. The editor-in-chief and creative director will lay it down in InDesign ahead of time so right before it’s all about the spell and fact-checking.
How would you describe your aesthetic?
Eclectic Originality
Can you sum up your career right now in 3 hashtags?
#uncensored #unorthodox #passion
What has been one of your most memorable moments thus far in your career?
In no particular order, my top three would be getting published in Inked magazine while I was an intern, getting my name and print and the chance to interview the season 6 winner of Ink Master Dave Kruseman.
Second would be writing an article about a tattoo artist who then made a YouTube video of her reading the article about how much she loved it. As a writer I don’t pay attention to comments or reactions to my articles too much online, I just write them. She probably spent an hour editing the video so that was cool.
And lastly I did a cover story on Ryan Ashley Malarkey, the first female winner of Ink Master, which was pretty big since I just started working at Inked and she came in to tattoo Clinton Kelly for ‘The Chew’.
What role does social media have in your professional life?
I usually start work around 9am and use the morning to work on Inked’s social media posting on their Instagram about every hour.
How important do you think bad experiences are to your professional life?
Very – I interviewed Megan Jean Morris but I had a journalistic crisis during it. I used the app Automatic Call Recorder, and it didn’t record. It was an hour long and I lost the entire thing. I was with tech support for two hours trying to fix everything. I then tried to write out everything I could remember to have a skeleton of the interview. Because of media ethics and everything, I texted her about the issue and she was firm that she says things in a very specific way so I re-interviewed her. I Frankenstein’d the two versions together and took it as an opportunity to write it better at least that’s what I told myself through gritted teeth.
For your future goals, what’s next?
I hope to continue working at Inked. I would also like to do some freelancer to have a balanced portfolio at work and to work in women’s media again, like Cosmo or Teen VOGUE or NYLON – fashion, beauty, and health.