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Scooped about my own project. How embarrassing.
But yes, tis true, many of those deadlines I cryptically tweeted while not blogging here were indeed related to this forthcoming book published by Die Gestalten, in which I was invited to write about, well, the stuff listed on the top corner of the cover:
Out in September, people.
It’s been deadline craziness over here, hence the relative silence over the last few weeks. However, I’m back, and with a table groaning full of overdue things to write about.
I’m going to work through them systematically, by which I mean unsystematically. Let’s start by calling my catchup Ten Things, that’ll give me some kind of structure. Strap yourselves in, and stop flirting with the support staff. We’re going in.
Meanwhile, apropos of nothing very much, this is the worst case of low magazine self esteem I’ve ever seen. Why bother with a logo at all?
If any of you happen to be of a South Eastern European persuasion, or perhaps fancy an exotic few days away, why not come to the glorious Bulgarian capital for Sofia Design Week?
I’ll be there speaking, and also on display (from the end of this month until mid June) will be an expanded and updated version of my Objects as Magazines exhibition.
This year’s theme is More or Less. Just about, anyway.
I mentioned before that I’ve been partaking of a little three-dimensional storytelling in Providence, RI. We emptied out the window this morning, but not before we took the information gathered and turned two blocks of a downtown street into a museum about itself.
Here’s what happened.
So I’m now officially on Twitter, @twitsplosion. Hunt me down, follow me, say hello.
I say ‘officially on Twitter’ because, well, I’ve been lurking there for a while, as well as using it for various other means.
I have my own method of dealing with new social media: I join it straight away, peer under the bonnet, poke at it with a stick, figure out what I think it does and why, calculate how much time it threatens to bleed from me, and then leave my account in a drawer somewhere to gather dust, until I’m persuaded to give it another prod. Come, join my group on Orkut, and list me on Friendster, why don’t you.
So why Tweet properly, and why now? Three reasons, really.
Read the rest of this entry »
Shameless, I know, but time is running out to be a founder subscriber of Stack America. Or to sign up a loved one, for that matter.
What better gift for any designer, writer, story-lover based west of the Azores? I know of at least one professional waiting room that will be supplied, from January, with some of the best in independent magazines – so why not buy a subscription for the doctor/psychiatrist/Thai massage therapist in your life?
(NB It’s also available all over the world, for those that want it – and is guaranteed to be different from Stack Original flavour, with no repeat titles between the two for at least a year. Here’s an idea: sign up to both!)
Your regular programming will now continue. Thank you.
Apologies for the radio silence. I’ve been up to my eyeballs in a rather fun project that isn’t a magazine, but does have a lot in common with them.
One of my many other hats proclaims that I’m the co-founder of an organization called The Museum On Site. We create site-specific, free experiences in places where people already are (in other words, not museums or galleries), to enhance people’s understanding of the world around them.
And this is what we’ve just created:
Photos don’t really do it justice. Called Westminster Stories, it’s a huge 3D diorama of two blocks of Westminster Street in downtown Providence, RI, situated inside an empty shop window on the street itself. And here’s the periodical kicker: though the 14 foot by five foot model remains the same, every week we change the thematic labels on view.
The label texts are based on more than 130 interviews we’ve conducted with passers-by on that street, with local politicians and property owners, and with those who work in the buildings featured, as well as outreach to community groups and historical research in the city archives. Think of it as a weekly, hyper-local magazine about the street, except one with a single, huge image, in a window instead of on paper.
A small section what we sent to the printer
In our first week, we told stories about coffee, and this morning we installed ‘music‘. It’ll continue for 14 weeks, and will also feature other events, including a special life-size museum of the street next year, and a free, public conversation about the area and people’s hopes for the future. Oh and there’s also the obligatory website, Twitter feed, and Facebook group. The Westminster Stories website in particular is worth a look – it’s a stand-alone retelling of the stories and our research, updated daily.
It’s already causing a bit of a stir downtown, among office workers, smokers, clubbers, Christmas shoppers, students and everyone else that passes by. Which is just how we like it.
Fun. And exhausting. Still, I’m close to resurfacing, which means finally taking a look at the huge pile of print that has gathered around my desk in the Blogsplosion’s absence. Some of it is really, really lovely. More on that very soon. Did you miss me?
(Top photo by Paul Nickerson)
