In with the new!

Got a new gig in December of 2010! Plum TV and my old Ocean Drive crew are starting up Plum Magazine. My dream of working on a magazine from scratch...yup, accomplished!...I can take that off my bucket list! Seriously this is the bomb job. I'm ecstatic to come into work every day. From typography explorations to developing an identity for the magazine, to working with amazing people...be jealous. It's as awesome as it sounds.

And you know what they say..."the best things in life are plum."

Check it out: www.plumtv.com

Goodbyes are never easy

All good things must come to an end. SOBeFit Magazine is officially closed as of October 2010. I am proud to say I was a part in putting together the last issue as associate creative director. I feel like this was one of the most creative jobs I've had the opportunity to have and throughout my year there, worked with an amazing creative director, Hilary Fitch. She really let me explore every part of the creative process and pushed me to think outside the box. There is something really exciting about conceptualizing an idea with an illustrator or photographer, watching the process and seeing what comes out at the end. One of the coolest things about working there was collaborating with illustrators from the agency Debut Art. And Andrew, (el jefe at Debut), although a hardass, is a really cool guy. (Not to mention he has a fantastic British accent...so fab). SOBeFiT, I bid you adieu.

Oh, hi.

So...this is awkward...I've slacked on my blog. I've been busy.
In the spirit of resolutions and getting organized I am starting over in 2011. Here goes...

Decay that is beautiful

I effing love this magazine.

In their words...
Beginning as a hand-photocopied, black and white ‘zine, some ten years ago, Beautiful/Decay has always prided itself on putting artists—and quality content. In keeping with the spirit of our independent, DIY philosophy, we have decided to break the mold of traditional magazines, cut out the (sub)standard print industry and change up the way we do business. Beautiful/Decay has more of the content you love, with none of the filler.

B/D Magazine Features:

-No traditional advertising
-164 pages of pure, unfiltered content
-In depth, full color features, articles and interviews
-Limited edition format of only 1,500 copies—each one hand numbered
-Each issue includes a limited edition sticker designed by one of the issue’s featured artists
-French flaps, multiple printing processes within
-Releases 3 times a year (once every four months)

Beautiful/Decay is only sold on a subscriber basis and a select group of boutiques and bookstores.

Wrap Me Up In Foil

For the holiday issue of SObefit Magazine we decided to do a full foil cover. I love foil for the holidays, I feel they go hand, so I was really excited for this project. To set your file up you still silo everything as a perfect cut, no feathering. It's amazing how much detail shows up and how precise the adhesive was with all the crevices. I had only worked with hot foil stamping in the past so when I did some research on it I came across this info and found it really helpful:

What is Cold Foil?
Cold Foil Printing is an in line process that works on rotary letterpress and rotary flexo presses closely duplicating hot foil stamping, but cold foil printing is faster, more efficient, and does not require the costly dies associated with hot foil stamping.
Regular anilox rollers and photopolymer plates transfer UV curable adhesive onto a wide variety of stocks. It can be applied in spot or solid print matching most artwork or design imaginable.

Process:
The specially formulated UV-curable adhesive is first printed with a standard photopolymer plate onto the web substrate. The adhesive is then cured with a UV dryer, making the adhesive "tacky." The specially formulated foil is then laminated onto the tacky adhesive with a high pressure nip assembly which transfers the foil onto the adhesive. The remaining foil is then removed and wounded onto a waste wind up.

HipHop Weekly, my night job

Hip Hop Weekly Wins "Best Magazine" at Urban Music Awards - Mixtapekings.com News

I design for them. We got an award. Check out the article. Toot!

Build me a letterpress. Do it.

Build a Letterpress & Use It to Print Things - More DIY How To Projects

Creepy can be charming

I have said it before, but I must once again recommend Steven Clay and Rodney Phillips’ A Secret Location on the Lower East Side. I reread it and it is as informative and fascinating as ever. This book, more than any other, shaped my understanding of the little magazine in the post World War II era. The pictures and bibliographies are fantastic, not to mention essential, for the Burroughs collector.
Before Clay’s book, I believed that the magazines and books of the mimeograph revolution were all made on mimeographs. Actually, only roughly half of the magazines in Secret Location were produced with that technology. The introduction states, “Direct access to mimeograph machines, letterpress, and inexpensive offset made these publishing ventures possible, putting the means of production in the hands of the poet.” Secret Location encouraged me to delve more deeply into the technologies behind the little magazine boom.

Figure it out, bitch.

Neville Brody designed the August subscriber cover for Wallpaper*. He says it's a coded reference to how he feels about his work. I can relate! I love that when I look at this I feel like I just opened a refreshing bottle of Mickeys and found the riddle under the bottle cap. P.S. The answer is I HATE DESIGN.

Non-Format, thank you for blowing my mind.

The July issue of Computer Arts has a cover design by Non-Format, featuring embossing and die-cuts that fold out to spell the word ‘BIRTH’. Portfolio: www.non-format.com