News: August 2011 Archives

Fast News for August 30, 2011

SPD MEDIA MIX is our regular list of publication design, digital, and media news and updates. Please send your links and news items to SPD at mail@spd.org and we'll add them to the Mix.

>> Art director Laura Baer participated in the 50th reunion of the Freedom Rides, taking the place of her deceased father, Byron Baer, one of the original riders. Mother Jones has a moving collection of photos of Freedom Riders that she took on her journey.

>> Designer Mike Dempsey takes a look at the visual history of legendary UK magazine Radio Times and the state of publication design in general. His post stirred up a storm in the UK publication design community, and there's a deep comments section well worth reading, with contributions from a number of folks, including IPC Magazines Editorial Development Director (and former US Rolling Stone art director) Andy Cowles. Thanks to Magculture and Luke Hayman for the tip...

>> Illustrator Tim O'Brien has a revealing "pull-back-the-curtains" story about the creation of the new Time magazine Gaddafi cover. Our favorite part is the self-portrait he used for hair reference for the Gaddafi illustration!...

Fast News for August 23, 2011

SPD MEDIA MIX is our regular list of publication design, digital, and media news and updates. Please send your links and news items to SPD at mail@spd.org and we'll add them to the Mix.

>> Web Design for the Rest of Us: Print designers: Adobe has heard your cries for help! And their answer is ... Muse. The app, whose beta version is a free download, works much like InDesign or Apple's iWeb--that is almost completely WYSIWYG--and does not require knowledge of HTML coding.

>>Newsstand Woes: Magazine sales at the newsstand continue to suffer, despite otherwise upbeat publishing news recently. The latest numbers show newsstand sales were down nearly 10% in the first half of 2011.

>>c a r s o n Minus Carson: After launching to much ballyhoo last spring, c a r s o n magazine has "imploded." The Venice-based magazine was named for its legendary creative director, David Carson. But word comes that Carson has quit the magazine after a dust up with the editor, Alex Storch. Carson and Storch have carried the feud to Facebook, posting texts, contracts, and emails from each other for everyone to see.

Fast News for August 16, 2011

SPD MEDIA MIX is our regular list of publication design, digital, and media news and updates. Please send your links and news items to SPD at mail@spd.org and we'll add them to the Mix.

>> Apps round-up, pt 1: if you're still in NYC right now and not on vacation, you may need the new app from The New Yorker, a distillation of just their Goings On About Town editorial listings. Gizmodo says, "I'm Sorry Your Crappy City Doesn't Have Something Like the New Yorker's Goings On App" and from what we've seen so far, they're right. Min App Central gave it an A-, high praise around almost every part of the woods. All Things D details some of the extras involved, including audio recordings from critics and highly detailed search function. Free at iTunes here, for Android here...

Behind the scenes with Editions designer David Robinson

Editions, the highly anticipated magazine App produced by AOL, Mobile has just hit the App store boasting the tag line "The Magazine that Reads You". It's the first digital magazine I know of that integrates tagging of a user's interests and maps content to those choices offering up a unique personalized magazine every day. Recently I got to sit down with David Robinson, Head of UX & Mobile Design for AOL to ask him a few questions about the process from a designers point of view.… MORE

Facebook Likes Indie App Publisher Push Pop Press

Facebook--Market value: $80B, Est revenue: $2B (Fortune, 7/25/11)--has aquired one of the hottest iPad book publishers on the market, Push Pop Press. The publisher made a splash recently with its highly acclaimed app Our Choice by Al Gore.

Fast News for August 2, 2011

SPD MEDIA MIX is our regular list of publication design, digital, and media news and updates. Please send your links and news items to SPD at mail@spd.org and we'll add them to the Mix.

>> ESPN Picks Fortune's Pockets: ESPN announced that John Korpics, most recently the Creative Director of Fortune magazine, has been named Vice President/Creative Director for Print & Digital Media, beginning in September.

>> 'Fear' is Major Theme at Yale Publishing Conference: "While not as easily palpable in the speakers, both lecturers and audience members rippled with it. The message was clear: get onboard or get out, because there are plenty of others to take your seat at the publishing table. This, along with the residue of the receding economic downturn and ominous phrases like 'Print is dead' and 'The Web is dead,' seem to be the publishing world's equivalent to the Rapture."

>> Atlantic Debuts Mag App 2.0: The Atlantic debuts a new app that puts a twist on the model other companies have been using. In the works for close to a year, the app shows how publishers have changed in their thinking about charging for content on tablets.

>> On the Cover of the Rolling Stone: An unsigned band from Saskatoon is the big winner of Rolling Stone's "Do You Wanna Be a Rock & Roll Star" contest. The Sheepdogs beat out 15 other bands in online voting to win the chance to be featured on the magazine's cover.