Author Archives: Laura Whipple

Book Report

Good Ink: American Shorts

By Laura Whipple | Published: January 4, 2012

You may have noticed that we took a break this fall from regular posting at Bangback. One big reason for this is that in August of 2011, the Pinball team started an endeavor to publish content in our Scout Book format. We are so thrilled to be working with the Scout Book format in this new way, that it is absorbing much of our extra publishing energies at the Pinball HQ.

The first series from our Good Ink imprint was edited by François Vigneault, and it features the following classic authors paired with contemporary illustrators.

Vol. 1 “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” by Ambrose Bierce, illustrated by François Vigneault
Vol. 2 “Rip Van Winkle” by Washington Irving, illustrated by Bwana Spoons
Vol. 3 “The Jelly-Bean” by F. Scott Fitzgerald, illustrated by Vanessa Davis
Vol. 4 “The Story of an Hour” and Other Stories by Kate Chopin, illustrated by Gemma Correll
Vol. 5 “Eve’s Diary” by Mark Twain, illustrated by Meg Hunt
Vol. 6 “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, illustrated by Aaron Renier
Vol. 7 “Young Goodman Brown” by Nathaniel Hawthorne, illustrated by Zack Soto
Vol. 8 “The Fall of the House of Usher” by Edgar Allan Poe, illustrated by Tom Neely
Vol. 9 “To Build a Fire” by Jack London, illustrated by Michael Hsiung
Vol. 10 “The Gift of the Magi” and Other Stories by O. Henry, illustrated by Kate Bingaman-Burt

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Fresh Ink

APAK, Little Otsu, and a Pop-Up Shop at Reading Frenzy

By Laura Whipple | Published: August 4, 2011

A trio of wonderfully Portland things: APAK!, Little Otsu, and Reading Frenzy.

And lucky for all of us (residing here in PDX or passing through), the month of August will combine the three in a triumphant line-up of events.

Tonight, there will be an art show opening at Reading Frenzy featuring APAK and Martine Workman, both long-time collaborators with Little Otsu. And all month long, Reading Frenzy will be hosting a special Pop-Up Shop for Little Otsu. The shop will include all five issues of the ongoing Living Things Series (the fifth, just released, is by Apak!), along with a plethora of wonderful journals, diaries, art prints and cards all published by LO. It will be charming and lovely. You should go.

More about the Living Series after the break!

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Print Matters

The Newspaper Club

By Laura Whipple | Published: July 7, 2011


My formal journalism training happened in my junior high newspaper club. Within its lo-fi confines, we learned graphic design by pasting up our hand-drawn, hand-cut page layouts with metal rulers and rubber cement. We interviewed the janitor and winning wrestling team, focusing on the five Ws. Most memorably, we took a field trip to the city newspaper, where I was completely mesmerized by the web printing presses, giant rolls of paper, and the immense power of it all, mechanically and metaphorically.

The newspaper industry has certainly seen major changes in the two decades since I toured that printing plant, but the magic of the newspaper format continues to inspire.

Enter a new kind of Newspaper Club. The Creative Kind.

Founded on a whim three years ago by the British Design firm, Really Interesting Group, The Newspaper Club allows anyone to create and produce their own newspaper, and it has gained quite a following in the past few years.

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Print Matters

Documenta 13: 100 Notes, 100 Thoughts

By Laura Whipple | Published: June 30, 2011

As a build-up to next year’s Documenta 13, German publisher Hatje Cantz and Documenta will be releasing a series of one hundred booklets all about notes and notetaking. Drawing from authors, artists, academics and more, the series will be available in August. Each release is $10, and the first is an essay from anthropologist Michael Taussig about fieldwork notebooks and how notebooks become fetishized by their users. What irony,” he posits, “that the anthropologist, namely myself, given to studying fetishism, should have unwittingly developed with his notebooks a fetish all of his own and become not only a slave to that fetish but enamored of it!”

Wow, theory and inspiration about notebooks for a notebook geek who loves theory and inspiration. I do believe I want them all!

 

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Fresh Ink

The Heads of State & Studio on Fire: FPO Best in Show

By Laura Whipple | Published: June 21, 2011

Great Gatsby Business Card Print

For Print Only (FPO) is a division of Underconsideration that aims to showcase the most compelling work being designed and produced for print. By doing so, they also celebrate the (not-always-so) simple truth that print is alive and kicking. This year they launched their first ever FPO print awards, and we love the chance to see all the beautiful work being honored in the process.

The grand prize went to the Great Gatsby letterpress poster designed by The Heads of State. Inspired by F. Scott Fitzgerald’s who’s who list of the jazz age, Jason Kernevich and Dustin Summers decided to produce an imagined catalog of all the business and personal cards for the VIPs that attended Gatsby’s parties. The result is a stunning array of forty-eight beautifully designed and printed calling cards. Each one unique, clever, and evocative of the glamourous “roaring twenties” era.

Item: Poster
Printing: 4-color letterpress
Printing by: Studio on Fire
Dimensions: 18″ x 24″
Paper: 20pt. 140 lb French Poptone Sweet Tooth
Available: $60, Hand signed and sealed from The Heads of State

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Print Matters

Little Blue Books

By Laura Whipple | Published: June 14, 2011

Pocket sized reads from yesteryear

Though faded by time, and worn by use, these Little Blue Books still astonish modern-day me with their ability to deliver such a hefty dose of information in the compact 3.5″ X 5″ format. The series was devised by Emanuel and Marcet Haldeman-Julius in 1919, and the name changed (along with the color of the cover paper) from the People’s Pocket Series, to Appeal Pocket Series, then Ten Cent Pocket Series, finally hitting its stride in 1923 with Little Blue Books. Their lofty goal was to distribute literature, ideas, and information to as wide an audience as possible via the affordable and approachable pocket-sized format. They strove to create a “University in Print.”

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Print Matters

Seeds on Hard Ground: A Chapbook

By Laura Whipple | Published: May 25, 2011

By Tom Waits

I will be the first to admit, the power of print continues to blow my mind.

But every once in a while, it REALLY blows my mind. Let’s take for example, a poem that raises nearly $90,000 for assistance to the homeless, and does it prior to actually being printed and released. Simply the promise of the printed piece was enough to kickstart the fundraising.

Of course, it’s not any poem. It’s Seeds on Hard Ground, by Tom Waits. And, it’s not any method of distribution, the two chapbook editions were beautifully designed by Johnny Brewton of X-Ray Book Co., carefully crafted by Pinball and expertly released by the team at Anti-Records. But it still raised $90,000 for people who really needed it. And the chapbooks will endure in collections around the world as tangible reminders of the intellect and generosity of Tom Waits. It’s more than the power of print. It’s the power of print in tandem with great content, big hearts, and a very worthy cause.

The poem was inspired by Michael O’Brien’s photographs of the homeless. A re-arranged version of the poem appears alongside O’Brien’s portraits in his book Hard Ground.

The chapbooks are completely sold out. But you can still donate to charities selected by Tom Waits, The Redwood Empire Food Bank, and Sonoma County’s Homeless Referral Services and Family Support Center operated by Catholic Charities.

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Fresh Ink

Bridge & Burn: Chipboard Hangtags

By Laura Whipple | Published: May 23, 2011

Naturally. A Perfect Fit.

Quality Garments are the specialty of Portland, Oregon based clothing line Bridge & Burn. Founded in 2009, and inspired by its Pacific Northwest environs, their outwear and shirting designs are simply gorgeous. Well-tailored, and functionally stylish, the line offers men’s and women’s options that work well for work, play, and heading out. Pinball had the pleasure to print the hangtags for Bridge & Burn earlier this year, and I for one, love the pairing of chipboard, nicely-set type and this handsome plaid in their product shot. The back of the tag has space for the specifics about the clothing item, and a helpful directive to “Never Look Back.”

Item: Hangtag
Printing: 1-color offset
Printing by: Pinball Publishing
Dimensions: 2″ x 3″
Paper: 20pt. Chipboard
Available: Online & select stores, with the purchase of a shirt or jacket.

Collaborating is a Portland Mantra, and true to its origins, Bridge & Burn has partnered this year with photographer Randall Garcia on his 52 Weeks Project. Each week he uses his grandfather’s camera (a 1962 Mamiya C3) to capture portraits of really lovely-looking people wearing really lovely Bridge & Burn jackets. The rules are one photographer, one designer, one camera, 52 models, and 52 weeks. The results are beautiful.

 

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Print Matters

Plazm Magazine, Issue #30, Kickstart it!

By Laura Whipple | Published: May 19, 2011

Support the 20th Anniversary Issue

Plazm Magazine is celebrating 20 years of existence. Wow! That is two decades of award-winning coverage of design, art, music, literature, and culture. You can help take the 30th issue to print by supporting their Kickstarter campaign. I really wish I had $1000 to give, because that pledge level would be super helpful for the campaign and get my name in Jon Raymond’s next book or screenplay. Of course, there are many other donation levels and all help support Plazm Magazine’s awesome legacy of Print Culture.

Watch the video below to learn more.

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Print Matters

The Vulnerable Power of the Public Library

By Laura Whipple | Published: May 18, 2011

From the exhibit Public Library: An American Commons, by Robert Dawson

“I don’t know of anything more disheartening than the sight of a shut down library.” writes the poet Charles Simic today in his essay, “A Country Without Libraries.”

I’m inclined to agree.

Posted this morning in response to news of closing libraries across the US, Simic speaks of the larger losses that come with shuttering our libraries, primarily our free access to information. He also reminds us of the magical qualities found in these public spaces; books in large quantities on every imaginable subject, and a welcoming zone for adults and young people alike. A rare combination, and one that he argues is part of the foundation of our democracy and also part of the creation of well-rounded people.

Simic says, “It’s not that I started out life being interested in everything; it was spending time in my local, extraordinarily well-stacked public library that made me so.”

Image courtesy of Robert Dawson.

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