Bust in Media & Publishing - Boom in Books?

Today, the Publishing Industry is clearly operating under a different economic model than is was in the past, and most people are inclined to believe that the downturn we are seeing is primarily the result of new technologies that are leveling and shifting the playing field. Quality content is available almost instantly in digital formats, at low or no cost, via computer or phone-based ebooks and audio podcasts. Printed books as we know them, professionally printed in black & white or full color, are within reach of almost every author. Most importantly perhaps, the means to distribute and promote new works is globally manifest in the incredible reach and speed of the Internet. Through websites, blogs, forums--and most of all--social media tools--the Internet now providers authors and readers with a wide range of intimate venues to promote, comment, critique, debate, exchange ideas and raise awareness of an almost limitless selection of creative works. Many are good. More are bad. But the Internet provides almost equal access to all in terms of distribution and the theoretical possibility of having a book reach its maximum potential.

Wishing I Had a Local Resource Like This.

I had come across a link to their upcoming conference - "The Form of The Book" about a week ago, and downloaded the program brochure, even though I am not able to attend. But a closer look at the website of The St Bride Library reveals an incredible resource for anyone interested in printing and the graphic arts. The London-based organization rightly promotes itself as the world's foremost printing and graphic arts library, offering over 50,000 books on printing technique visual style, typography, graphic design, calligraphy and more.

Re-formatting Content. But Not Like You Think...

Back in 2002, I was looking at a project to take some public-domain material and create something that was useful, trying to update some ancient texts in a new and interesting way. I managed to gather together some historical works, essentially covering the period from the end of the Roman Occupation to the Saxon invasions. These included Nennius, Gildas and Caradoc of Llancarfan. I also threw in an outline of Clovis' ancient Salic Law, as kind of a bonus. Whoooweee!

Time Magazine Ruminates on the Future of Publishing

A couple of days ago I pointed out Gareth Powell's insightful post on Blorge regarding the impact that reading books on iPhones and iPods is already having on the publishing industry. Now, Time Magazine is weighing in on the subject, with a timely article on how new technologies and even social changes are affecting the traditional practices of the book trade.

Web Design for The CSS-Challenged

Though I do know how to create a passable web page, I do not consider myself by any means a Web Designer. For those who have the training and experience to utilize all of the latest tools and technologies in the advancement of this art, I can only offer my deepest admiration and profess my sincere envy.

iPod, iPhones the "Smiler with the Knyf?"

Personally, I think the increasing worry that reading on the iPod and the iPhone will soon lead to the "death of the book" is somewhat overstated. But this does not keep me from investigating the devices' potential, and how they might best be used to distribute various types of written and visual communication.

I must admit, however, that Gareth Powell's insights in this Blorge article - iPods and IPhones: Death for the Book Trade provides some interesting thoughts on this subject, particularly the example he uses regarding iPhone: The Missing Manual - available in print for about $20 or so, but (for a brief time) available in the iTunes store for $3.50 - on special. That deal may have been too good, since the iTunes edition seems to have been pulled.

Like other recent writers, Powell agrees that there will always "be a market for superbly produced books which are a pleasure to read," but for content more appropriately and conveniently suited to portable formats like the iPhone, the future of the printed page may be slightly more in doubt. Do you think this new type of delivery represents more than just a niche market?

Graphical Blast from the Past

Things have certainly changed a lot since the first edition of this book by Jan V. White came out in 1980, but the 1991 edition of Graphic Idea Notebook was updated to reflect the fact that people were beginning to use computers exclusively to perform graphic design and layout, and that the days of hand paste-up had clearly passed. Along with White's well-known Editing by Design, the books provide some essential principles of good design, and are still highly relevant today.

With everything going on in Washington tomorrow, perhaps it was the image of Lincoln on the cover of this book that grabbed my attention as I was cleaning up the basement and getting books back on the shelves. While the graphics and layout of the book do have some retro charm, I have to admit that the principles contained within its pages are quite sound. Pages on image manipulation point toward the future use of Photoshop filters, and though directed toward print design, many of the ideas and suggestions would apply equally well to the web. If you can find a copy on Ebay, or at a local used bookstore (like I did) grab it.

In Praise of the Big, Big Book

Here is Volume One in the pride of my own book collection, a two-volume set from Thomas Garner and Aurthur Stratton, entitled The Domestic Architecture of England During the Tudor Period. I think I picked these up about twelve years ago from Zubal in Cleveland; if you love this style of architecture, then having one of these books in your lap is an indescribable experience. And they are definitely lap books...at 12" x 16" inches, these big folios books weigh in at about 6-7 lbs each, I would estimate.

This was a Second Edition, plublished in 1929. The two volumes are a superb reference, featuring excellent written descriptions as well as a number of beautiful measured drawings of some of England's best known Tudor houses. There are a lot of gorgeous photographs as well; though they are, of course, in black and white and not in color, they are wonderful to look at. In many cases, I actually prefer gazing at these old B&W photos, since they seem to convey the appropriate feeling of "Olde England." The printing is wonderful as well, and the graphic richness these books display--even with two-color printing--is quite remarkable.

Books like these are one of the reasons you see so many "stockbroker" tudors on the streets of our older neighborhoods. Nostalgia was a big draw early in the last century, and a host of revival style homes were being built all over America, with builders and architects inspired by books such as these. So was I, when I built my own home. Sadly, most builders today clumsily try to ape these historical styles with very unfortunate results.

It's also interesting to note that these books were published in 1929. While they were being prepared for print, I doubt that anyone would have seen the Great Depression coming, and that the period of building these great, expensive and majestic piles was pretty much over. During the coming years, the moderne age would gradually take over. Not only was there less money to build, but let's face it--the smooth, spare styles of the 30's and 40's, with their comparable lack of detail--was cheaper to build. In today's economy, the effect we will see on design overall will be interesting to contemplate.

By the way, I believe Zubal has another set of these. Even if you are not into architecture, they are superb examples of the bookmaker's art. I'd love to be able to do something like them at some point.

For the Love of Tiki

With it being about ZERO degrees outside right now, I suppose it's not too early to start dreaming of warmer times to come...relaxing around the pool, or sitting around the backyard tiki bar, sipping Coronas. A great way to start is with Sven Kirsten's Tiki Modern, a great follow-up to his 2003 book, The Book of Tiki. The latter was a real inspiration to me, providing the impetus to build a tiki bar and generally turn my backyard into a summertime Bali Hai playground. Or at least as much as our Ohio climate would allow--my wife drew the line at fake palm trees, but we'll see.

Any fan of mid-century modern would appreciate this work, which, in combination with Sven's other books, provides about as comprehensive a look as you could ever want at this remarkable cultural phenomenon. It may seem strange to us now, but for hundreds of thousands of American servicemen who served in the South Pacific during WWII, the tiki style provided an idyllic reminder of the region's natural beauty--even as it was experienced in the midst of a brutal war. Tiki Modern, like it's predecessors, is more than just a dip into nostalgia, it's an in-depth study of pop culture, and it's a great escape from our current sub-zero reality.

Inspired? You can also head over to the Eastsde Tiki store and get yourself a shirt, or a cool clock. It's just the thing to get your friends talking about their summer plans.

My Mickey Mouse Breakfast

One of the projects I've talked about with one of my friends is a guy-oriented cookbook. I know there are lots of them out there, especially regarding barbecuing and grilling, but I'm thinking more along something very basic. It's hard to believe there are still guys out there who expect a woman to "cook for them" -- as if the ability to prepare food for oneself was somehow unmanly. Well, my father was an ex-marine, and his attitude was that you should know your way around a stove at least as well as you know a lawnmower, and if you could not manage to feed yourself, you weren't much of a man. I tend to lean that way, too.

That said, I will now present my Mickey Mouse breakfast, a Saturday morning favorite. Just an omelette and a sliced english muffin. I'm not too skilled at flipping the eggs over, so I just cover the 8" pan with a skillet cover til it's done. Works for me.

I suppose if a book ever happens, I will need a professional food photographer and a food sylist. I used to think that would be a cool job -- but after doing a pizza shoot for a client about 12 years ago, I realized that there were few if any fringe benefits. After those guys are done, nobody wants to eat that stuff...

Book...booklet...whatever. It's inexpensive.

Another project we did for Summit Academy Institute ...this was a small 44 page booklet called The Asperger Toolbox, which was designed primarily as a handy resource guide for teachers in the classroom. It wasn't designed as a comprehensive guide to Asperger's Syndrome (a form of high-functioning autism) but it does give teachers a quick reference to the observable behaviors that can help identify the condition, as well as some solid strategies for helping Asperger students function more comfortably in a school environment.

The Institute wanted to use Createspace as a source printer for this item, as the pricing structure for a book this size was better than Lulu, which would have required the book to be priced at a couple of dollars higher. It was really designed to be purchased in quantity, and suitably priced (under $5) as a loss leader...so it follows that the profit margin is very small. The cover design is pretty straightforward, and this should also be the first in a planned series of small handbooks covering practical topics in special education. Availability is scheduled for the end of the month.

Linux Page Layout Setup

One of the the projects I am slowly working on is adding a linux file server and a linux desktop to my network; the file server is of obvious use, but I would really like to set up a combined windows/linux workstation and try open source Scribus out as an alternate page layout program. I have always used and continue to use Quark as my primary page layout and book creation software, but over the past year or so--as I have used and tried to familiarize myself with linux--I am investigating whether I could utilize it as a solid alternative to a windows or mac system.

I have still to settle on a linux distro however; I am not dual booting this workstation setup, rather the idea is to have one windows PC with a dual monitor setup, using a KVM unit to switch one of the monitors over to a older but still functional linux PC I have. This is a pretty straightforward process, except for the fact that the newest versions of Ubuntu/Kubuntu choke on my graphics card, Mandriva refuses to run my wireless card, and Freespire won't add new programs. PCLinuxOS seems to work just fine, however, so while I would prefer Ubuntu, I may just go with that.

As far as Scribus is concerned, it seems to offer most of what I would need. It supports professional publishing features, such as CMYK color, separations, ICC color management and versatile PDF creation, along with useful vector drawing tools, SVG import/export and support for OpenType Fonts. I have read some of the accompanying documentation and comments which mention a "new" approach to page layout; being rather stodgy at times, I'm hoping it isn't too new. All in all, this is really just an experiment, and it will be interesting to learn whether a switch to open source tools is really in the cards for me. As for my approach on evaluating all of this, I will probably just pick an upcoming project and then set to work on it, using this setup.

Apparently FLES Books has just come out with a very comprehensive manual for Scribus (about $43 as I write this, not bad for a 439-page guide) which provides a detailed overview over the hundreds of features it offers, as well as numerous tips and tricks. Also, I found a nice list on the Minuteman Press/San Diego website that lists a number of other page layout and design tools for linux, including GIMP (image editing), Hamster Font Manager and others. I'll update you on how this progresses, but don't hold your breath just yet; I have hardware issues to clear up.

Another interpretation of Book Art

I can't find the book from which I copied these illustrations from King Arthur; they are not from the original edition, but the artist is Louis Rhead. They're also typical of some of my favorite illustrated fiction; I just love the style of late-19th and early 20th century books, often inspired by Pre-Raphaelite art & design.

This example, and another depicting Arthur and Mordred, have been gracing my dining room wall for about 15 years now. However, they are not simply scans of the book illustrations, which are originally black and white. The process used for this (long before I even owned a computer) was to zoom the image on an office copier to about 10 x 14 inches, insert some high, quality, acid-free 11 x 17 paper into the copier and print. Subsequently, I hand-colored the output with colored pencils, then matted and framed them.

The frames are indeed very plain, but the images are so detailed and the wallpaper behind them is rather busy, so I thought it would be a nice contrast. I really think a more ornate frame would be a distraction; then again, I could not afford a more ornate frame at the time, and that may have been a factor.

I've used similar techniques in the past, and you could certainly do this all using today's illustration software, but I like the hand-rendered quality of the colored pencil. In a similar vein, I've scanned some B&W images from old architecture books and hand-tinted them in Photoshop, usually to match a special single color in a room--like a particular wall paint or a bedspread. Of course, I also know some people also cut books apart to use the illustrations as art, but normally I would consider this a high crime, unless the book is damaged beyond repair / incomplete, or still in print, and therefore--easily replaceable. In any case, an example that books are great for lots of things beside reading.

Post-Christmas Purchases

Being both book-lovers, my daughter and I usually exchange Borders or B&N gift cards at Christmas, and I finally used mine this week to get a couple of nice books by Ellen Lupton, which I'm sure will be very useful in my upcoming projects. Thinking with Type (2004) is an excellent basic guide to typography, and her latest book Indie Publishing (2008) is a compact guidebook on the basics of book layout and design. The latter provides the most essential information you need to get started in self-publishing, presented in a very sharp and well-organized package. Both books are from Princeton Architectural Press, which produces some really beautiful, high-quality work.

Regarding Lupton's Thinking with Type, I must admit I have not spent a lot of time thinking about typography recently, and it made me fondly remember how much I used to enjoy pouring over old issues of ITC's U&lc magazine during my earliest career years. Her book is a great refresher, and one of the later sections, which notes avoidable typography "crimes" was very enjoyable. Helpful, too; I see there were a few things I had forgotten about...

Green or Ghastly Marketing?

Like a lot of people, I have managed to get on a few catalog mailing lists, which is not always a bad thing. But I have to marvel at West Chester, Ohio's own Frontgate, who seem intent on killing as many trees as possible with their non-stop catalog mailings. Along with their sister operation Grandin Road, which seems to carry a lot of the same home products, it seems I get a new one at least every other month, which is about three times too many, assuming you'd allow for a logical summer/fall/holiday season mailing. I looked to see if there was any note of being "printed on recycled paper" anywhere, but I couldn't find anything of that sort.

With the contemporary focus on being "green" and environmentally friendly, this kind of catalog marketing seems like a bit--or maybe a lot--of overkill. Yes, I like to look at some of the things they offer...but I am notoriously cheap, so I generally opt for less-expensive or home-made alternatives. The product photography is nice, and I am sure they are keeping a lot of catolog layout artists and photographers gainfully employed. Of course, I also know these paper catalogs can be recycled, but still...

The Brilliance of Bickford-Smith

Like many, I've also been inspired lately by the work of Penguin's Coralie Bickford-Smith, who's work continues to impress just about everyone. Being a fan of retro-inspired design, I naturally love the work she has done for the Classic Boys Adventures Series and their new range of hard-bound classics. This in-depth interview on design:related provides some great insights into her work, as well as how she got started. Her comments on her early career inspirations, like Quadrille's Tricia Guild books and her current projects involving textile design are reflected in the latest hard bound classic covers-which, when placed together, remind me of colorful bolts of printed cloth found in a fabric store. Simply brilliant.

My First KROY Lettering Machine...

You really do turn into your parents...or grandparents. Especially when you hear yourself telling your children, "well, back when I first started..." This picture of an old KROY Lettering Machine that I recently came across brought back a lot of memories, and made me realize again how much things have changed over the years. In 1978, while at Miami University (Ohio) I took a graphic arts course and actually learned how to set lead type, create screens for screen printing, and actually operate a mimeograph. I suppose that helped a few years later on my first job, when I learned how to make plates for and run an AB Dick offset press and paste up ads and brochures using typewriter-set text, and KROY lettering headlines...supplemented by Letraset rub-on lettering for those oh-so-fancy flourishes.

Flash ahead to the the early-90's...I was the one copywriter at the ad agency that was allowed to learn Quark Xpress page layout on the "new" Macs. As a result, I was able to "help out" the art dept. in a pinch, do a few brochures and print ads when called for, and generally, extend my knowledge base and usefulness. Was I a good designer? I don't know - I remember the Creative Director laughing once and saying that I "knew just enough to be dangerous."

Of course, I also remember a VP at another agency one time, told me in an interview, "I don't have any spots in the creative dept. right now, but I sure could use you as an account executive. I mean--you're portfolio is just OK. But you sure make it sound great!"

Latest Project: The BLT Hypothesis

Our latest project involves a couple of books for the Summit Academy Institute Press. The primary effort involved The BLT Hypothesis, which I think will be a groundbreaking work in the understanding of disabilities like ADHD, Asperger's and related conditions. The authors are some of the country's most knowledgeable experts in educating children with these conditions, and operate the largest group of non-profit schools in the country that are specifically designed for them.

Nina Messina did a very nice job on this cover, and the authors also had some help on the editing from Ruth Dean and Melissa Thomson at The Writing Toolbox. We set up the interior page layout and pagination on this one; Word was used and converted to PDF, which would not be my choice, but time was a big factor and in the end it all turned out fine. I am hoping the Institute can secure distribution through a group like the Autism-Asperger Publishing Company.

Normally I would convert all of this text into separate chapters using Quark, but since Word was used we just flowed the primary book block (front matter was handled separately) as one file. This was rather tricky - especially in the latter stages when Dr. Kaplar was building the index. I also would have liked the illustrations to have been handled differently, and this is a lesson to heed: always have your artist work with the publisher before illustrations are produced. The style was fine, it's just that in this case, the images were not drawn individually on separate pages, and they were really too small--so even when scanned at 300dpi, the results were barely acceptable. We are already talking about a second edition of this book, with better illustrations and a foreward by a nationally-recognized expeert who has read and commented on the book. That should come later in the year.