Jack Yan is a New Zealand publisher, designer and businessman, who has run twice for the post of Mayor of Wellington. He is best known as the publisher of Lucire. Yan created over 100 typeface designs himself for the firm, and inspired other local typeface designers such as Kris Sowersby to pursue careers in that industry. His typefaces include Ætna, a revival of Bembo. In 1997, he founded Lucire, a fashion magazine that made the move from web to print, and serves as its publisher. He also helms a consulting firm, and is co-chair of the Medinge Group think-tank. Business 2.0 and the UK's The Daily Telegraph, he is better known outside New Zealand for this work. From 3 March 2006, he began a weekly spot on TV One's Good Morning, discussing men's issues, but resigned from that role in 2007. From 2007 to 2012, he was a judge for Miss Universe New Zealand, and became a director of the licensee firm that took over in 2013. He ran for mayor of Wellington in 2010, and again in 2013, but was unsuccessful in both elections.
Yan was a contributor to Visual Arts Trends in New York, and The Journal of Brand Management in London. Web publications that he has written for include UK-based Fontzone and DZ3. He was a founding contributor to Allaboutbranding.com . Additionally, he writes for his own publications, CAP and Lucire.
In 2007 Yan registered the trademark of the recently-defunct New Zealand magazine Pavement. Yan claimed that the magazine had been "abandoned", saying "If someone throws away something, just like rubbish outside your house, I can legally go and get it". Pavement's publisher, still actively trading as "The Pavement Company", oppose the trademark application.
Books
Beyond Branding: How the New Values of Transparency and Integrity Are Changing the World of Brands, with Nicholas Ind, Malcolm Allan, Simon Anholt, Julie Anixter, John Caswell, Thomas Gad, Sicco van Gelder, Tim Kitchin, Chris Macrae, Denzil Meyers, Alan Mitchell, John Moore, Ian Ryder; 2003, 2004 reprint edition, Kogan Page, ; 2005 paperback edition, Kogan Page,.
Viewpoint: Perspectives on 21st Century Branding: User Seductive; 2004, Wai-te-ata Press.
Typography and Branding; 2004, Natcoll Publishing.
Brands with a Conscience: How to Build a Successful and Responsible Brand, with Nicholas Ind, Malcolm Allan, Enric Bernal, Peter Brown, Giuseppe Cavallo, Thomas Gad, Ava Hakim, Sudhir John Horo, Oriol Iglesias, Philippe Mihailovich, Simon Paterson, Annette Rosencreutz, Cristián Saracco, Nikolaj Stagis, Brigitte Stepputtis, and Erika Uffindell; 2016, Kogan Page,.
