Few people make an effort to sniff out interesting stationery, handmade books, and zines when they travel, but get Chad, Kate Bingaman-Burt & I in a car together and apparently that’s all we want to do all the day long day. In fairness we did stop by the Portland Museum of Contemporary Craft to take in the last day of Nikki McClure’s show. Other stops in our meanderings: Reading Frenzy, Ampersand Vintage, Monograph Bookwerks, Pearl Bakery, Grüner for dinner w/ Eli van Zoeren, followed by a quick breeze through Mark Warren Jacques’ studio for dessert. Other new friends I got to see: Meg Hunt, Mary Kate McDevitt, the kind folks from Scribble Tone, Always with Honor, Clifton Burt, and even some Chicago folks like Sage Brown, Elaine Fong, and Simple Scott. I can’t believe we crammed so much into 5 days and I miss it already. Portland, when can I come baaack??

This is going to be fuuuuun. And yes, print does ♥ digital.

Printer’s Ball 2010

Whoa. Hold the phone dudes. This is one hell of an epic design magazine. Written and produced in the UK, it features content by world-class international talent. There’s a total of ten contributors to the first issue including Steven Heller, Supermundane, Anthony Burill,and Julien Vallee. Broadsheet style, it ships wordwide via Paypal for £10. As more and more magazines die, the more casual zine/magazine hybrid format of publications like these become more and more relevant to me. If you’re at all interested in graphic design/print-related culture this is absolutely a must. Also couldn’t resist posting a screenshot of their website too, for obvious reasons. :-)

Happy weekend!!

After working on Proximity magazine, it’s especially important to me to support local & smaller publications because I know the extra amount of effort it takes to them pull off, particularly financially. And now there’s this week’s news that ID is folding, on top of all our other countess magazine friends that have folded in the last year or two. With each subsequent closing announcement, of course I cling further to my beloved small-time zines & mags. That’s why I got so excited when I heard about At Your Leisure which will be a series of 4 issues and sounds like it’s pretty much the same concept as a blog, but in that delectable print form… “it’s page after page of ideas, images, concepts, & colors. An homage to those that inspire and a desire to do the same. A visual train of thought. A celebration of individuals that live what they love…”

Are you drooling yet? Get yours here for 10 bones. Oh, did I mention it’s an edition of 250? So go NOW.

And in case you need some more publication love in your life, here are some of my most favorites:
Proximity, Pyramid Power, Featherproof books, Uppercase, Lumpen, New Work, Lines & Shapes, Pie Paper, Jettison, Glasses Glasses, Anorak, and Esopus. And better still, go to Quimby’s, Golden Age, or Printed Matter and find your own new ones.

Self-promotional Book by Nikolaus Schmidt

Bermuda Pantaloons zine by Evah Fan available on Etsy. ) It’s only $5, wow!

Paul Hekkert by Chris van Diemen

I’ve been noticing folded books like these lately. I just think they are so beautiful, really adds a lot of dimension to the whole experience of a book. Also, they remind me of how much I used to love those paper fortune tellers my friends & I used to make as kids. Does anyone remember those?

I just love this zine from Andrew Neyer. It’s cereal box, printed by hand, filled with actual cereal but THEN his 64 page comic is shrink-wrapped inside. Just like a prize! Great work, great concept & great execution. More photos & review at Book By Its Cover.