The Epica Award is Europe's leading creative award. The 2006 Gold winner in the Publications category was Taylor Lane for "Studio Pin-Ups", a typographical conquering of the pin-up calendar.Here is Miss Bembo:As you can imagine in this day and age it was controversial, though it really has much more to do with creativity than controversy, and it was good for business creating a 25% increase in turnover from existing and new clients.and over at Typophile.com there is an ongoing discussion to come up with a list of the 20 most important type designers of all time. Guaranteed interesting thread.Why not...
The Meltdown of Big Media
Tremendous post by Eddie A. Tejeda over at The Institute for the Future of the Book on the end of media industries.The gist:We will soon be in the midst of a culture whose tastes will not be dictated by media corporations. The giants are all shrinking. Their purse strings have been clipped by the new technologies that have put the power of production and distribution in almost every home.From Richard Parsons, the CEO of Time Warner, via Siva Vaidhyanathan's book "The Anarchist in the Library", comes this corporate slur:This is a very profound moment historically. This isn't just about a...
American Idol Does Publishing or Gather.com Gathers Steam
The story seems innocent enough. A new contest for writers. Send in a book length manuscript get chosen and receive a publishing contract. An age old, time tested marketing theme.The problem is this story is not about publishing, books or publishers this story is about a social networking site that has turned up its pr engine.These days social networking is a hot play, publishing is not. With the recent mega-payment buy outs of MySpace and YouTube the social network sector is a blaze with websites trying to follow the formula and cash out.There is a good chance Gather.com is one...
Bookselling 2.0 : The Bookseller Manifesto. Part II
In Part I one of Book Patrol’s Bookseller Manifesto we talked about the shifting landscape of bookselling and the challenges that both the new book and non-new book industry face. We also talked about the need for new definitions for the various guises of bookselling. In Part II we offer some thoughts and ideas on what needs to be done for bookselling to prosper in the 21st Century.Step 1Our first order of business is to accept the fact that independent bookselling as we know it is on its death bed. Period. The model has been severely disturbed by the changes...
Take My Library, Please
Talk about wanting to move onArtist Robin Pacific has had a tough couple of years and is doing away with her library as a way to sever herself from her past.A biblo-cleanse if you will.Pacific, a former professor of English, Canadian literature, Theatre and Women's Studies, is exorcising her library of 30 years through an exhibit/installation at the Red Head Gallery in Toronto.Details:-All the books are free-Collection of 1670 books-Includes rare, out-of-print and general books-Books are hung laundry-like from their spines on string-Each book bears the inscription: "This book is a gift for you from Robin Pacific."-Disposable cameras available to...