The idea behind this journal is to provide a medium for those interested in ‘looking back’ at New Zealand’s art, media and design history. These are the stories that lie behind current media, art and design production and practice in this country. BackStory provides an opportunity to explore our rich heritage in these fields.

The editorial team for BackStory is drawn from the Schools of Communication Studies, Art & Design and the Business Faculty at the Auckland University of Technology (AUT) with an Editorial Advisory Board. The editor is Alan Cocker, an adjunct Professor in AUT’S Faculty of Design and Creative Technologies with an editorial team of Peter Hoar of the School of Communication Studies, Rosemary Brewer, formerly with that School, Peter Gilderdale from the School of Art & Design and Simon Mowatt from the Faculty of Business. The journal’s design is by Minna Pesonen, a graduate of the School of Art & Design with design input from the design consultancy DDMMYY.

It is the hope of this team that BackStory has an appeal beyond academia and we invite contributions from those working in this country’s libraries, galleries and museums as well as others who have an interest in the history of New Zealand art, design, photography and media.

Submissions will be blind peer reviewed by two reviewers to conform to university research publication standards but we also include commentaries and persoanal reflections which are not peer reviewed. In an age of ‘online publication’ the decision to publish a printed issue as well as offering a later online edition is deliberate. The editorial team are seeking the highest design and print production standards conscious of the artefact value of this journal.