January 2009 Archives

Pub 44 Judging Liveblog: Day 1

The day has finally arrived. SPD Pub 44 judging weekend kicked off this morning; more than 60 of the industry's brightest lights started the three-day process of winnowing more than 6,100 entries down to the very best work of 2008.  … MORE

NOW & THEN: Paula Scher for SPD@FIT

For our inaugural SPD@FIT event for 2009, we knew we needed something big enough to keep pace with the other big inaugural events of 2009. Join us on Tuesday, February 10th for an evening with Paula Scher, Partner at Pentagram, for an evening Paula describes in this way:

As a child of the sixties I was always rebellious. It came with the decade. I found that a form of rebelliousness is always present in my best work, and my work suffers when it is widely accepted and it becomes a part of the establishment.
This talk will show how I have rebelled against Helvetica, expectations of others, and mostly rebelled against myself.

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The Last Domino

We hate it when the phone-tree is put into action this way, but the word spread yesterday like wildfire. Sad news again this week, this time for our friends at the Condé shelter title Domino; this coming March issue will be their last, and Friday, for most everyone, the final day in the office. Breaking with recent magazine-folding-tradition, even the website (and all our Deco Files! -- ES) will be going dark. In farewell, some of the recent work from the Domino team, including what will be the final cover of March 2009: Ines de la Fressange, photographed by Pascal Chevallier and designed by Stella Bugbee. A few more spreads after the jump...
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Inked

From Todd Weinberger, Creative Director at Inked:

We shot Jaime King for our latest cover and feature story. I worked with photographer Warwick Saint and we both immediately knew what the shot would be for the opening spread: she has the word "King" tattooed on the back of her neck, and back tattoos are always a challenge to shoot. When our prop stylist set up the shot and Jaime sat down in front of the mirror, Warwick and I immediately knew that this would be a good opening photo and a great way to show her King tattoo. I happen to instantly come up with a title, ran it by my editor, and cranked out the layout on the flight home from L.A.

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Dianas and Holgas and Lomos, oh my!

Hi all, if you're a shooter, printer or collector like me...tonight in NY begins an exciting move from the crazy Austrian kids at Lomography. I visited their canyons of images in their Dumbo loft a few years back, as well as the downtown pop-up store over the holidays ...and glad to hear they will be here permanently. The store on 8th street has their grand opening tonight, with over 35,000 Lomographs, music, drinks and displaying all the deadstock Russian outfits, fisheyes, glow in the dark kits, and more. I tested the Horizon panoramic last year and its moving lens is super cool, and the Fuji underwater set is supposed to be top notch. More info on the jump. Shoot away! … MORE

Say It Loud.

As some of you may had noticed, back in September I'd posted an animation displaying my design process based on a feature about Anne Hathaway. Below is another short vid documenting my typographic design movements for a fashion story photographed by David Sims in the current (February 2009) issue of W featuring French soprano, Alexandra Deshorties as she channels the gamut of extreme human emotions that are represented in opera.

Video after the jump...

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R.I.P. tDR

Sad news from across the pond: The Creative Review Blog is reporting that The Designers Republic is closing its doors after 23 years of groundbreaking work. Founder Ian Anderson blamed a number of factors, but noted a potential silver lining:

"I want to go back to what DR was," he says of future plans. "Working hands-on and not through account managers. I've never liked that agency model - it's not where creativity lies. DR accidentally ended up there in order to service bigger clients. I'm not being ungrateful to the people who ran the business side at DR - it wasn't their fault. I'm glad we did it - it took getting there to make me realise that it wasn't where I wanted to be."

TV Guide

Change is in the air, and it's affecting everyone! From Glen Karpowich, Assistant AD at TV Guide, a report about their cover story on stands now:

We feature President Obama and his wife, Michelle on the cover and the issue includes a 7-page story on how President Obama and his Presidency will impact America, and possibly even change TV.

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Eggleston at the Whitney...Last Chance

William Eggleston: Democratic Camera, Photographs and Video, 1961-2008 will be on view at the Whitney through this weekend, closing on the 25th--your last opportunity to view this incredibly dense and varied retrospective of Eggleston's work of the last 50 years.  Eggleston's mark on color photography and influence on both the art and commercial worlds is undeniable.  His images are consistently raw and potent, beautiful and trashy.  Take the time this weekend to head uptown and take in this memorable show. 

Other notables currently at the Whitney:  Alexander Calder: The Paris Years, 1926-1933 which is simply amazing.  And don't miss the buttermilk pancakes at Sarabeth's!

ABOVE: William Eggleston, "Untitled", n.d, from "Los Alamos", 1965-68 and 1972-74 (published 2003). Dye transfer print, 12 x 17 3/4 in. (30.5 x 45.1 cm). Private Collection © Eggleston Artistic Trust. Courtesy Cheim & Read Gallery.

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Texas Monthly

A few goodies from the cowpokes down in Austin, headed to a newsstand near you. T.J. Tucker, art director; Caleb Bennett, associate art director/designer.
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OK is not OK

By GREG POND

Photo editor: I have the pictures we shot for the Death of a Steel Town story.
Editor: How are they? Not too dark, right? I mean, not too depressing?
Photo Editor: They're great. A little dark, but dark in the right way. Really powerful.
Editor: We shot in color, right?
Photo editor: We shot it in color and black and white, but I think the black and white is stronger. I want you to see them.
Editor: I'll look at them, but I think I'll want color. I don't want to run dark pictures.
Photo editor: OK.
Editor: They're not too down, are they? I mean, not too depressing and dark?
Photo editor: We should look at them. Probably better to talk after we've seen them.
Editor: All right, but make sure they're not too dark and down. Make sure we have some smiles. We need smiles.
Photo editor: OK.
Editor: Smiles!
Photo Editor: It's pictures of laid-off workers, so I'm wondering if smiles are ... well, you know. But, sure, yeah, OK.
Editor: [Walking away] Smiles! Color! Energy!
Photo Editor: OK.

The above conversation didn't actually happen, but similar ones have. In fact, they happen all the time these days. I'm the photo editor in question and I admit it, I've become guilty of the sin of saying OK. I'm not fighting it out with editors as much as I should be. Not the ugly fighting of course, but the great back and forth that leads to exciting stories and strong layouts, brilliant pictures, and award-winning illustrations. OK is the safe choice. OK is business as usual. OK is sticking with what you know. OK is not taking chances. OK is not asking that one time too many for the extra spread you think your story deserves. OK is not risking the black eye you might get if you push back with your boss about that opener you believe in.
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Sharing Paula

If you haven't heard, Paula Scher is our first speaker for SPD@FIT in February, for her talk titled "Now and Then." To get ourselves ready, we've been watching this clip from her TED talk at the 2008 Design Center Conference -- we're going to have great questions for Paula! More info about tickets for Tuesday, February 10th here.

Video after the jump...
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From Croatia: AMZ News

Nikola Mileta, Art Director for AMZ News in Croatia sends along some work from a project intended to reach out with love to the advertisers:

These are few spreads from out latest free business magazine that we are sending to our partners and advertisers. This issue's main topic was [the] online advertising that's starting to grow over here in Croatia (yes, we are a bit late from you guys). It was hard to find a good cover image so finally I decided to use a billboard as general symbol of advertising. On it I placed the web page of our celebrity magazine and headline "Online advertising." The rest of the headlines perfectly fit the building below the billboard.

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Backpacker

Ask and ye shall receive: from Matthew Bates, Design Director at Backpacker, some work from their Adventure Travel issue.

We just finished up our Adventure Travel issue here at Backpacker. Because we are primarily a magazine that focuses on North American travel, it was a rare treat for us on the photography side to have the the entire world to explore. Berne Broudy (Iceland), Christopher Thomas (Austria), and Andreas Strauss (Austria) brought shot some of the worlds best unknown treks while Matthieu Paley traveled with a Chinese hiking club through the backcountry of China for us. I was also able to work with a great illustrator named Dushan Milic on a fun story about finding adventure right in your own backyard.

Can't wait to see what others are working on.

--Matthew

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New Work for the New Year

Well, we're knee-deep over here at Union Square West. And not just in snow! Now begins the work of unpacking the boxes and boxes of Pub 44 entries in preparation for Judging Weekend, set for January 30-February 1. There's little doubt it's going to be a great competition; thanks to one and all for getting your submissions in.

But what are you working on now? Most of us are already sweating our March, April, and May issues, which is virtually half a magazine-year gone by (hello, Pub 45!). So while we're thrilled about celebrating last year's design and photography stand outs, we here at SPD.org are looking for great work getting published this very minute.

So email us a recent layout or two! We'll welcome anything that's gone to the printer recently, something you're especially proud of and think might be inspiring to the membership and readers of Grids. We'll note the credits and the publication and shine a little light on the latest and greatest in publication design.

Please reduce your layouts to no larger than 1200 pixels wide and don't forget to include all relevant credits and a little background (if you feel like). Send your submissions to tips@spd.org and we'll post them as we get them.

Video: The Green Panel

Watch the video.  Reach us at SPDgoesgreen@gmail.com .



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Making the Move

I must be a lunatic. In the most tumultuous, cost-cutting, sky-is-falling era in our industry, I left my comfortable and salaried job at The Boston Globe Magazine and put myself on the chopping block in NYC. If I was going to become a better designer and start climbing that ladder, it would have to be in New York, and it would have to be now.

So armed with the phone numbers of a few contacts that I'd met over the years, I packed my U-Haul and said goodbye to my job of 7 years and all of my beloved colleagues (not to mention a big 2 bedroom condo--with a yard!).

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Heavy Metal Band Names Infographic

Fürther proof that infographics need not be a 3-D extravaganza. 

THE FINAL COUNTDOWN...

As you can see from the clock in upper right corner, time is flying by and you have some (though very little) time to send in your entries before the first deadline on the 9th. That's TOMORROW, people!

Tick. Tock.

>New Year! >New You!! >New Emoticons!!!

: )   ; )   :-)   Are you yawning yet?

~*_*~               Now THAT'S better!


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MAGAZINE OF THE YEAR: Can You Honestly Afford NOT to Have Your Best Work Seen By a Roomful of Today's Top Creatives?!

There. I've brazenly pointed out something so obvious that many of us may have missed it. … MORE

"Are You Doing the Makeup On My Page?"

It's been over 15 years since I worked with and "designed" Nat Hentoff's often controversial column at the Village Voice, but I was still very saddened to hear that he was laid off last week after 50 years of service. Hentoff, Robert Christgau, Stan Mack, and an army of other giant writer-editors there made it such an exciting office to work in.

I'll never forget the first words he said to me, shortly after I had been hired. "Are you doing the makeup on my page?"

In some ways, I always thought that term was better than "layout".

Good luck Nat.


(Yeah, yeah, I know: that's not a Voice cover -- but it's just so perfect!)

Even Fido Votes! (If he's a member, of course.)

Don't forget about the Members' Choice award! It's the only Gold Medal where every member of SPD gets to vote. The creative directors, art directors, designers, photo editors, assistants, terriers, spaniels, sheepdogs: ALL VOTE. It's another $35 SPD gives you as a member. So choose your fave, burn it on a disc, and don't forget to add it to your entries package! Download the entry form here.

Second Act

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PUB 44: FINAL Deadline Friday, January 16th at 5PM

Ah yes. It happens to the best of us: time keeps on slippin' away, and some deadlines just can't be met. Don't lose hope! With a tiny late fee, you can still submit your wonderful work for PUB 44.

Download instructions, entry & payment forms here. Click on the following links for info about the Magazine of the Year (FREE!), Members' Choice (FREE! to members) and Creature Feature (think of the doggies!) entries, and SPD membership. SPD office map here (yes, we moved to Union Square!).

Best of luck to everyone!!

Nazis, Alcoholics and Potty-mouthed Rats: It's the Best Comics of 2008!

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Member vs Non Member

Question: If I were entering PUB 44 (and I am)--would I want to pay for my entries as a non member, or get smart and save lots of $$ as a member?