Want something like this in Edinburgh.
TAM, or The Amazing Meeting is now an annual fundraising conference
that raises money for the James Randi Educational Foundation, which
promotes;
critical thinking by reaching out to the public and media with
reliable information about pseudoscientific, paranormal and
supernatural ideas so widespread in our society today.
This is a really interesting insight into the future of print/books etcetera from the blog of the graphic designer Frank Chimero:
• Question: What is the future of print design? How will the tangible, ink-on-paper pieces that designers love coexist with design on digital platforms in the years to come?
Things are changing. We want to know where it’s going. But, hell if I know, or any one else has more than a hunch. Craig Mod calls it the PRE/POST era and I think he’s right. As I’ve said before, we break stuff before we know what replaces it, and we invent things before we know what they are for. Maybe we’re now living in the future tense.
Next thing to clear up: Books are not music, so I’d stop looking to apply the patterns from that experience to ink on paper at a high level. (Though, it could work at a smaller level.) Music lacks a physical form, gained a physical form for a short while, and some people made loads of cash selling that artifact. Some people made bookoos of bucks selling stacks of vinyl and cassette tapes and CDs. But now music is moving back to the vaporous state from whence it came. Neat. Wait. Magazines are like that. Just sub out reams of paper. Damn it.
But not so much books. Literature requires an artifact, whether it’s ink on paper or e-ink on e-paper. We have to see the words with our eyes, which means they need to exist in meat-space. Maybe I’m overly romanticizing this. Books could be considered to be vaporous (storytelling has its roots in the oral tradition), but the idea of “story” is bigger than the idea of “ink on paper,” so you’d spread yourself too thin to think about where story is going to live in the future. (I’d say television is just as good a receptacle now for some stories. In fact, in some instances it’s better.) And, I’d say, really good literature requires an artifact. But that’s just me. I think quality creative work deserves a physical form that achieves some sort of permanence. It’s the reward for producing something good. I know reading Infinite Jest wouldn’t be the same if you didn’t have to pay the penance of carrying around that monolithic paper slab on the bus, and risk being judged terribly bookish by your neighbors sharing the ride. (Still haven’t read it. Going to give it a go again this summer. We can do this Frank, we can do this. This time!)
So let’s talk about ink on paper. I don’t know what’s going to happen, but here is what I want to see: I want to see things earn the privilege to be objects. If we have the option of things being “real” and “not real,” I want the real stuff to be really good. I want the times when ink hits paper to always be beautiful, useful, and desirable. It seems like such a shame to cut down a tree to print this Land’s End catalog, with the thin model coyly smiling at me on the back in her awkward swimsuit. I bet it bunches up in the wrong spots. It seems silly to give permanence to a thing that was meant to be ephemeral to begin with. This goes for junk mail, beach-books, handouts for students, whatever. If your shelf-life is shorter than forever and ever amen, I think we need to think about whether or not it needs to be printed. (Although, it is so damn nice to print something to proof-read it. But that’s a different story.)
If I’m thinking as a normal consumer, I don’t really care terribly much about what the future of ink on paper is going to be. I care about what the future of content is going to be. I want fuller, more thoughtful, more substantial, more enriching, more nourishing content. I want good stuff. I want stuff that doesn’t feel like a chew toy. I’d suppose that the only people who care about the future of ink on paper are the people who make their money (or not) selling the paper that has the ink on it. (Or if your magazine is named PRINT.) Those of us who consume the content, I’d suppose, don’t give much of a rat’s ass. We want convenience and access, and then after that quality.
It’s easy to think of a future where the predominance of ink on paper is minimized. And, as a designer who practices the kung fu of deciding how that ink gets slathered on that paper, it’s scary. But, here is my tip to you: stop thinking of yourself as a print designer. You’re not designing for print. You’re designing for content.
Also on CarrollBlog
Mmmmm... dried zombie meat: http://pinktentacle.com/2010/05/zombie-meat/
Kim Alsbrooks White Trash series: http://juxtapoz.com/Meighan+OToole/22138-kim-alsbrooks
A partial map of the TARDIS. Which might come in handy in the future: http://community.livejournal.com/dwfiction/2794749.html?view=2658301#t2658301
I’m suffering from a cold which might be partially the fault of strong Belgian beer and the lack of sleep I’ve had over the last few weekends. Anyway, as I spend my Sunday snotting and hawking up the odd lung, you’ll be glad to know that, “Juvie” is now with my agent and I’m waiting to hear back.
As is the way of many small publishers, Libros has gone into liquidation which means copies of ‘The Missing’ are now no longer available. If you have one you hold something quite rare. That said I think I know where I can get hold of six remaining copies. So if you don’t already have one, drop me a line and I’ll see what can be arranged.
I’ve spent most of this week sketching and writing my brother’s best man speech in time for the wedding next weekend. I might need to sacrifice some more virgins to ensure travel (I’m running low in Edinburgh).
Links galore:
Online magazines with Zinio and Yudu
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And Another Thing is the Eoin Colfer written part six of Douglas Adams’ The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. It’s not bad, but (and this wasn’t a surprise) it’s no patch on the original. It’s like the concept was passed through an Adams-o-matic machine. It’s essence of Douglas, and I’m not sure whether anyone should have bothered. Colfer is a pretty good author in his own right, but Adams was something else, a once in human history writer.
The Road is one of those books that I’ve been meaning to read for a long time but never got around to it, which is a shame as it’s brilliant. Beautifully written, sparse, with an undercurrent of approaching sorrow. Sci-fi in the sense it’s set in an unnamed future after something terrible has happened that wipes out most of the human population, the world turned grey in a possible nuclear winter, it tells the continuous journey of a a father and his young son. A mesmerising work of art.
Pandemonium is the new Hellblazer, set in the difficult and challenging world of Iraq, sucide bombers and insurgents. Delano is one of the best Constantine authors around, with tight scripts that bring the old weathered magician to life. The art work by Jock is almost worth buying it for in the first place.
Read this week:
And Another Thing by Eoin Colfer
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
Hellblazer: Pandemonium by Jamir Delano & Jock
Dear Alistair Darling,
Many thanks for your reply to my email dated Sunday 4th April re: the Digital Economy Bill. I know that the Bill has now come been passed but I want you to understand the serious ramifications and implication that the Bill contains. My main points are below:
I really don’t believe that the Bill has been given due consideration and it was pushed through without rigourous debate. We have a great wealth of tech-savvy creators in this country, individuals who understand the future that the net will give us far better than politicians. I don’t believe you’ve listen to these people enough and have instead merely taken into account the wants of big business.
Sincerely yours,
Adam J. Shardlow
***
I'll let you know if he replies.
I’m away from my desk for the next four days and only keeping in touch via the odd twitter (@MiddleManLost) update and Facebook detail.
I’m away down south on my brother’s stag do, which involves several hours running around woodland in khaki green and shooting each other with paint balls in displays of manliness. There will be much in the way of grunting and the scratching of hairy chests and balls as we revert to primal instincts. If you’ve ever met me you will know that me taking part in such an activity is either hilarious or down right scary.
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I’ve been in research mode looking into ‘stuff’ for the follow up to “Juvie,” as well as several other things I have going on in my head at the moment which includes the comic book, a TV show idea and a work of non-fiction. Hopefully at least one of them will get off the ground. I’ve been using Evernote to store stuff ‘on the cloud.’ It’s okay but I’m having trouble linking stuff the way I want it. If anyone has any experience of using it drop me a note on the web link.
Right, I’m off to sharpen my hip knife, check the tension on my choke wire and prime my grenades for action. I leave you with a book review.
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Stephen Smith is a reporter for News Night and his detailed analysis of the world he sees around him often slips into the writing of ‘Underground London.’ This non-fiction work looks at some of the oddities that exist underneath the capital and, whilst in no way is it exhaustive, it does visit some of the better known attractions. At times he does seem to spend an inordinate amount of time above ground and only really descends into the sewers, tube network and the odd basement. He also has a habit of going off at a bit of a tangent but it’s an interesting, thoughtful work with the odd moment of humour.
Read this week:
Underground London by Stephen Smith
Adam J. Shardlow will be signing advance copies of his novel THE MISSING at the Illicit Still, 2 Brougham Street, Edinburgh, EH3 9JH. Wednesday, January 13, 5.30pm to 7.00pm. Pre-ordered copies will be available for collection.
Christmas came and went with a woosh, speeding past in a blur of panicked visits to airports, sitting on planes, much German food (mainly sausage of one sort or another), a long trip down south across a country blanketed white, with frozen windscreen nozzles and long delays for accidents. Visits to hospital to check on my Father-in-law, see my Grandmother, and the rest of the family. Helping to clear a house out, cooking a ham and a long trip back north.
New year came and went with a woosh, speeding past but spending a pleasant evening out for dinner and finding two big boxes filled with copies of my first novel ‘The Missing’ delivered to a neighbour and no contact at all with my publisher.
‘Juvie’ has also been finished.
So all in all, I don’t feel very rested and I’m probably in need of a break, but I have far too much to do and still not enough hours in the day.
I also forgot to make any kind of New Year resolution.
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I did get to do a bit of reading so here’s a quick run down:
God of Clocks, third in the series in ‘The Deepgate Codex’ is complicated by time shifts. Hell is still a fully realised horrific place and Carnival is still the best character, but in other areas I wanted more.
Asterios Polyp is one of best comics I’ve read in a long time. Carefully crafted, whimsical but full of depth and interest. Clever and amazing.
The Facts in the Case of the Departure of Miss Finch, is slight and probably not worthy of being turned into a single comic book. It should have been left as a short story. Though interesting to see Jonathon Ross and his wife in comic book format.
Batman: War Games Act One, is classic Batman with a full cast of character and plenty of punch.
Pictures that Tick is a series of short works by Dave McKean. Here you can see his evolution as an artist and comic book creator as he tries different ways in which to present stories and experiments with the form. A thrilling book.
No Dominion and Half the Blood of Brooklyn, are books two and three in the Joe Pitt saga, vampyre and Chandler-esque bad boy in New York City. Fast paced with cool dialogue and thrilling to the end.
Read this Week:
God of Clocks by Alan Campbell
Asterios Polyp by David Mazzucchelli
The Facts in the Case of the Departure of Miss Finch by Neil Gaiman, Michael Zulli, Todd Klein.
Pictures that Tick by Dave McKean
No Dominion and Half the Blood of Brooklyn by Charlie Huston
