February 2009

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Ultimately frisbee

February 23, 2009 in Clever ideas, New launches | 1 comment

freestyle_cover

A strange format can focus the mind wonderfully. Kilimanjaro has to be designed around its unusual size, as does iLove. Timothy McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern is regularly rethought depending on the demands of each issue’s format, as is the Colophon-selected La Más Bella. In fact, regular readers will know that I curated an entire exhibition about such object lessons in strange formats, so it’s hardly surprising that I’m looking forward to spinning a copy of Freestyle, the forthcoming design / lifestyle magazine designed to fit inside a frisbee. Y’know, for grown-up kids.

News from the Magosphere 12th Feb ’09

February 12, 2009 in News round-up | No comments

spektacle

Colophon is now Twittering!
Follow us all the way to Luxembourg – and then receive updates on talks and events during the festival. Also some early spreads from our forthcoming book are now viewable (click on the small images)

Docu recalls the love behind legendary New Orleans independent mag
I can’t imagine anything more opposite to The September Issue

Designer returns to his pet project: Diamante magazine
John describes it as “printed using letterpress, screen-print, lithography, die-cut, foil-block, a range of materials, inks and whatever I feel appropriate at the time.” He’s creating 6 issues a year, printing only 300 of each issue and selling them for (I think) £12 each. You can see some pics of the lovely-looking first edition here (PDF). A handful of subscriptions remain – email him for more information

Another online photography magazine launches
A great start, too. Following on from 1000 Words, and others, it seems that love of great photography is leading to some of the most interesting online magazines so far

Prada asks fashion editors to decorate their windows
Who’s doing product placement now?

Digimag Spektacle cryptically returns
It’s not a real suburban village, I promise. Somewhere I have their first edition from 2001, that came on a mini CD-Rom. They’re still experimenting with the strange combination of fashion and QR codes, now with iPhone reader. I can just never be bothered to take the picture and do the searching

Great magazine covers, daily
Not sure who we have to thank, but thanks (and thanks René for the heads-up)

Crisis roundup

Craft closes
Make survives. The spin-offs keep on spinning away

Guardian prints a publishers’ report card
I know things are bad, but there’s no need for those unfunny puns

“Fifty percent of the distribution market just evaporated”

February 5, 2009 in News round-up, Trend | No comments

Troubled times in the USA magazine market. A few weeks ago, publishers rebelled against a 7% hike in prices from two of the country’s biggest magazine distributors. Today, the distributors have reacted by… well, according to some reports, by stopping doing any distribution. Ever again.

Jim Gillis, the head of one of the two companies, Source Interlink, denies his firm is quitting distribution, but he will be dropping all the magazines from those clients he couldn’t get an agreement with.

“I’m shipping magazines,” Gillis said. “And my retailers are not accepting product from anyone but me. So I don’t know what Anderson and News Group are doing and I don’t really give a sh*t. In my footprint, nobody is delivering magazines but me. So that means that AMI, Curtis, Bauer and Time Warner are out.”

The other company involved, Anderson News, has yet to comment. There’s going to be some market adjustment on this one, and how. FOLIO is all over the story, which continues to change as more news comes in.

News from the Magosphere February 3rd ’09

February 3, 2009 in News round-up | No comments

morph_2

Esquire UK features plasticine clothes
Very lucky with the timing, as Morph’s creator died recently and reruns have been everywhere. Lovely idea gets its rewards

Fanzines refuse to die
“What’s going on here is what academics describe as ‘slippage of the auratic’”- in other words, people like things

Gallery launches magazine for “the creative and curious”
Looks interesting/fun

Another iPhone magazine launches
Still looks crap

Music magazine goes online, then online spins off into print
Next up: TV series creates radio spin-off, radio retreats into Morse Code

British firm tried to buy Google’s Print Ad service
Good publicity either way

Inside a small independent Japanese magazine company
Their name means “two beers”, which is enough for me

Harper’s Bazaar gets bigger
Getting ready for Love

Intern drunk-dials editor, gets arrested mid rant
Editor gets even

Crisis watch

Arthur refolds, puts last issue online
Two writers refuse to release the digital rights of their work, demand cash for copies of their unedited text. “Remember: these yokels are self-proclaimed potheads, so buyer beware, etc”
UPDATE: Ralph points out: “Arthur isn’t officially folded, they just don’t have enough money to print the current issue… also, they never pay writers – the reviewers just don’t want their writing used unless printed first.”

Magazine goes up for sale on eBay
Stunt finds private buyer, magazine survives

Vanity Fair runs same cover image twice
Sorry Annie, you’ve been replaced by your own back catalogue