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Tag: Print is Dead

Published November 10, 2008

Print Isn’t Quite Dead Yet Apparently

Even though the internet played an unprecedented part in the US presidential election campaign (at least according to Adrianna Huffington), Barak Obama’s historic victory sparked a run on the old-fashioned newspaper the following day. Papers increased their print-runs, but newsstands still sold out, and copies of the New York Times sold on sale ebay at inflated prices. Sam Martin at Design Mind has an facinating take at what this means for print:

“If print is dead – a rumor that has been going around for quite a few years now – why are so many people still interested in it?

It would be folly to say print is relevant because of a single day of big sales. To me it’s more of a testament to the quality, longevity, and emotion that’s still attached to print… True, you can keep a PDF on your computer or bookmark an article to remember later. But nothing compares to the long term impact of something you can hold in your hands.”

Link (via DesignNotes)

(Photograph of Barak Obama seen at The Big Picture)

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Published November 6, 2008

Media’s Last Die Hard?

The full transcript of Victoria Barnsley’s speech ‘Media’s Last Die Hard?’ (mentioned yesterday) is now available on The Bookseller website:

“the pivotal question for publishers, as we confront the opportunities and threats of digitisation, isn’t a reductive one – it isn’t about asking if the physical book is dead.  It’s about asking, what we’re going to be doing, in the next 10 years, to engage with an increasing number of digital natives – writers and readers alike, while at the same time, building rich temples of content, in all their printed or electronic glory.”

Essential reading.

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Published October 15, 2008

Midweek Miscellany Oct 15th, 2008

Are New York publishers going through some kind of existential crisis?

A chill wind is blowing through publishing according to Leon Neyfakh in the New York Observer. He’s marginally less apocalyptic than some, but he’s still pretty gloomy:

“A frost is coming to publishing. And while the much ballyhooed death of the industry this is not, the ecosystem to which our book makers are accustomed is about to be unmistakably disrupted. At hand is the twilight of an era most did not expect to miss, but will.”

On the other hand…

Old-fashioned publishing is booming for Marvel according to Fortune Magazine:

“There’s a few interesting messages in this, not least of which is the reminder that new formats of media don’t necessarily replace old, and that some habits don’t change as quickly as people think.”

Former CEO Peter Olson  discusses his exit from Random House in Portfolio magazine:

“I think concerns about the book business dying are overdone. Storytelling—the generating of content for all kinds of media—is essential. Books play a key role.”

On a more cheery note…

Children’s Books That Designers Love: Kids books with “insanely cool typography” by  Bruni Munari and Cas. Opt. favourite Paul Rand (pictured).

Liz Thomson and Nicholas Clee, former editors of Publishing News and The Bookseller respectively, have launched BookBrunch an “information site and daily news service for the book industry.” (via Me And My Big Mouth)

Designer Stephen Bayley interviewed by his son Bruno for Vice Magazine. I rather liked this line:

“Heritage is important but you must also build the heritage of the future. The best idea ever on history was in an Italian novel The Leopard by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, which was published posthumously. It had this line about the decline of a Sicilian dynasty: “If you want things to stay the same, they are going to have to change”. That is entirely my view. Without change everything is stultified.”

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Published October 1, 2008

Midweek Miscellany Oct 1, 08

Great book covers and  design by pioneering graphic designer Erik Nitsche on Flickr  . (Via Ace Jet 170 who has more Nitsche images).

On the subject of Flickr , the San Francisco Chronicle visits the offices of the popular photo site and talks to Director of Community Heather Champ:

“I can’t think of any successful online community where the nice, quiet, reasonable voices defeat the loud, angry ones on their own.”

Photo District News considers the market for limited edition photography books.

10 Things Epublishers Should Do For Readers : a nice wish list from Dear Reader.

And Kassia Krozser has further thoughts on moving from Print to E on Booksquare:

“eBooks are not going to be the next big thing; they’re going to be a thing. A part of a complex mix of reading choices. With that in mind, let’s think about ways we can blend ebooks into the publishing culture without pain.”

Publishing is Dead, Long Live Publishing:  Hugh McGuire  responds to that New York Magazine article on the Huffington Post:

“There’s been much teeth gnashing and lamenting over the impending collapse of the publishing business… Well, the traditional publishing business might be in for a rough ride, but I think we’re poised to see a flowering of a new kind of independent writing, book-making and reading, driven by the web but rooted in the old-fashioned book.”

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Published September 22, 2008

Monday Miscellany

My favourite response to  New York Magazine’s gossipy  hit-job on the current state of publishing ‘The End’ came from author Jeff Gomez: “even though I wrote a book called Print is Dead, even I don’t think that publishing is over.”

Are book jacket designs more conservative in the UK than in the US? The Bookseller takes a look: “UK designers are saying their creativity is being stifled by commercial concerns. Designers can only attempt new, more daring things if they are given the space to do so, but in the current climate this does not appear to be happening.”

Author Jeanette Winterson wishes all bookstores could be like Shakespeare & Company in The Times:  “[B]ookshops have, or should have, a special place in our culture. We need books, and books are best browsed in the energetic peace of a small store where the owner loves reading, just like we do.”

Variety examines the Kindle: “Amazon’s Kindle is the big kid on the block. With a few improvements, the gadget, which Amazon introduced in November, could well be a game-changer.” Or not.

And finally, there’s a lovely line from comedian Ricky Gervais in this interview with the Globe and Mail’s Joanna Schneller published at the weekend: “I always think, ‘Just aim a bit higher.’ Because even if you fail, you’ve still landed a little bit higher. Aiming low and not quite making it… that’s what I couldn’t stand.” A lesson for all of us  there I think…

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