A new arts institution comes to Portland's Eastside.
Something momentous is quietly building steam in Portland’s inner Southeast Industrial district, something that will transform our city’s arts and culture landscape and contribute to the creative culture already humming in the Pacific Northwest.
That momentous something is YU Contemporary.
"These words shaped history. They belong to you. Know them."
This Scout Book is the synthesis of many things we get very excited about: metallic inks, historical documents, recycled paper, democracy…the list goes on.
Scout Books is proud to introduce a pocket-sized edition of the Constitution of the United States of America. Containing the Preamble, the seven Articles and the twenty-seven Amendments, this tiny book packs the content into 32 pages and is wrapped in a two-color chipboard cover printed in black and metallic gold inks.
Hello, Death (Magazine).
Death Magazine strikes out from the standard mold of popular-interest publications and muses instead on a topic that is essentially universal though seldom addressed in mainstream media. You got it. Death.
The irony of a publication about death springing up in in the ashes of rapidly vanishing print periodicals is not beyond me. When we talk about death in relation to publishing, it’s usually in phrases like “print is dead” and “the slow death of newspapers.” In fact, a quick Google search for “Death Magazine” yields an alarmist site called Magazine Death Pool that tracks periodical publications as they fold, one by one.
Yet Death Magazine has just put out a second issue, released using print-on-demand technology and featuring a star cast of contributors who include Lynda Barry, Experimental Jetset and Mirah Yom Tov Zeitlyn. Publisher and editor Forrest Martin sent us a copy of the new issue, which sparked a conversation about publishing as we know it (or maybe don’t know it.) Read below for Forrest’s thoughtful (and often hilarious) responses to my questions about print-on-demand, the accessibility of self-publishing, mortality, and running a magazine in a time where people aren’t willing to pay for content.
The Chicago Manual of Style's 16th edition, a new handbook for a changing publishing environment.
The word “book” appears 753 times in the recently released 16th edition of the Chicago Manual of Style. The 15th edition, published in 2003, only contains 715 instances of the same word. Michael Erand, who wrote a contrast-and-compare review over on Design Observer, suggests this may be evidence that “as the book wanes, it becomes even more prominent in its absence.”
The Chicago Manual of Style has been a stronghold on the reference bookshelf of writers, students, researchers and editors for years. Add bloggers and online publishers to that list of content creators, because the newest edition addresses a plethora of digital usages and style rules, Erand notes. It would be an understatement to say that a lot has happened in the world of content creation and publishing since 2003. To read more about how the University of Chicago Press addressed shifting technology and new contexts, see Erand’s review.
Image from Bold Type.
"The future of journalism is not happening online, but on stage." –Flavorpill Magazine
Pop-Up Magazine does not have a typical production schedule. No word counts, no ad builds, no kerning. But instead, when the newest issue of the magazine hits the streets, there is an auditorium full of “readers” watching, laughing out loud and applauding after each article comes to a close.
Pop-Up Magazine is the world’s first live magazine. Bringing together a talented cast of writers, photographers, filmmakers and radio producers, the magazine is performed in front of a studio audience. Though the format unfolds much like a typical magazine–short pieces in the front, features towards the end–the creators of Pop-Up are working in a new model of publishing that, well, doesn’t really feel like publishing at all.
But that’s how innovation works. It’s tricky. It’s unfamiliar. It’s new and it’s exciting.
Follow Pop-Up Magazine on Twitter and Facebook to stay in the loop. The next issue will be released–er, performed–on September 9 in San Francisco.
Container Corps HQ
Container Corps is powered by Gary Robbins, a print master and publication wonder. Located in a tiny storefront in North Portland, Container Corps has been quietly making moves in the local publishing world, generating new publications and experimental printing projects. When we caught up with Gary to hear his thoughts on starting Container Corps, we had no idea we’d be so moved by his responses. His eloquent, thoughtful explanation of his intentions with his creative publishing project got us jazzed. If entities like Container Corps are the future of print, we’re all going to be okay.
Read below for an interview with Gary. We’re impressed. We think you will be too.
Give Your Big Ideas A Little Room To Grow
Scout Books: pocket-friendly notebooks for your biggest ideas!
Phil Elverum: Print Pioneer of the Pacific Northwe...:
Phil Elverum is best known for his work as the bands Mount Eerie and The Microphones, as well as... 
Hatch Show Print:
Hatch Show Print is one of the oldest print shops in America. For a hundred years Hatch was a si... 
Carson Ellis, Illustrator Extraordinaire:
It is important to have heroes. It is also helpful when they are real people. I have my share of... 
Eco-friendly CD Packaging:
Printer: Pinball Publishing
Item: Pinball Pak (CD Packaging)
Paper: 20 pt. Chipboard
Inks: Pa... 
Field Notes and Fifty States:
Item: Field Notes Colors "County Fair" 50 Editions
Paper: 100# linen cover stock (Blue, Red, Ye... 
Coffee Common, Scout Books, TED 2011:
"The people serving you coffee today come from a movement, not a company."
So reads the first... Pinball Publishing is a creative publishing company located in Portland, Oregon. We are fueled by a love for print, collaboration, and the manufacture of meaningful things. Pinball powers a growing web of interconnected projects, including Scout Books, Bangback, and Print Pinball.
Bangback is a place for print. Here we share our own print projects as well as expanded coverage of print culture at large.
Print is dead. Long live print!
