Monday, October 30, 2006
What is the STYLEPRESS
The stylepress have at their source the presentation of creativity led by the editor’s/creator’s vision. They transcend the boundaries of traditional publications in four fundamental ways: through their physicality (format, materials, and packaging), unusual design, provocative and timeless content, and dedication to particular communities. They are part coffee-table book, part photography and art show, part object and part magazine. These are not the throwaway kind of periodical, but the one you keep exposed to draw the attention of your visitors, as a symbol of status and adherence to a particular social “tribe.”
Since at least the mid-1990s, this new wave of independent magazines has arisen with explosive force because of their low conception costs, due to affordable and accessible design software and a developed communications infrastructure essential for sharing and collaborating, and their growing acceptance as a respectable medium in which to showcase artistic ideas and experiment with concepts. Self Service and I Don’t Understand from France, Another Magazine and Kilimanjaro from the UK, Addict and Volume form The Netherlands, Werk from Singapore, Made from Canada, and North Drive Press and Gum from the US are just a few of the titles that have made and are making a mark in this category.
Since at least the mid-1990s, this new wave of independent magazines has arisen with explosive force because of their low conception costs, due to affordable and accessible design software and a developed communications infrastructure essential for sharing and collaborating, and their growing acceptance as a respectable medium in which to showcase artistic ideas and experiment with concepts. Self Service and I Don’t Understand from France, Another Magazine and Kilimanjaro from the UK, Addict and Volume form The Netherlands, Werk from Singapore, Made from Canada, and North Drive Press and Gum from the US are just a few of the titles that have made and are making a mark in this category.
The Last Magazine - Press Release
AUTHOR: DAVID RENARD • CONTRIBUTORS: ANGELO CIRIMELE, JAN-WILLEM DIKKERS, NICK HAMPSHIRE, STEVEN HELLER, JAN VAN MOL, RANKIN, AND BOB SACKS • PUBLISHER: UNIVERSE • ISBN: 0-7893-1497-5 Comming out in December...
Published in association with the traveling exhibition, Magazines in Transition,
visiting museums and galleries throughout 2007 in ten cities worldwide.
USA—The market for printed periodicals will decrease by 15% through 2016 in North America and Europe. Author David Renard convincingly supports this provocative statistic in Last Magazine, coming this fall from Rizzoli. Renard posits that the public’s ever-increasing hunger for immediate information delivery, coupled with the laborious and archaic distribution system for printed matter, and rising awareness of the ecological impact of printed mass media will ultimately force publishers to completely rethink the concept of the “magazine”. He predicts an evolution—or more pointedly, a revolution—in the magazine industry from the paper form to a digital delivery system. A major catalyst in this evolution will be the development of e-paper, a portable, flexible (unlike a computer screen), updatable, and searchable medium that combines the immediacy and breadth of the Internet with the tactile experience still sought after by the inveterate book or magazine consumer. Within twenty-five years only 10% of the paper-based magazine industry will remain, sustained by the so-called stylepress: physically and aesthetically engaging creative chroniclers of trends. These will be the last printed magazines.
David Renard offers a visual anthology showcasing how the stylepress differs from traditional publications with uncommon design, challenging content and a cultural commentary that may very well challenge the future of magazines as we know them, but may also—for the most astute from the world of mass-market periodicals—provide a key to holding on to print a little longer.
The Last Magazine features a selection of 150 of the best independent magazines from over twenty countries including 032C, Doingbird, Kilimanjaro, Permanent Food, Purple, Uovo, and Werk, with essays from top industry thinkers such as Steven Heller (The New York Times Book Review, School of Visual Arts), Rankin (Dazed & Confused, Another Magazine), Bob Sacks (Time Inc., Ziff-Davis, Precision Media Group), and Nick Hampshire (leading technology writer and publisher). The Last Magazine is a visual call to arms for both professionals—from designers to advertisers to publishers—to magazine aficionados worldwide.
Published in association with the traveling exhibition, Magazines in Transition,
visiting museums and galleries throughout 2007 in ten cities worldwide.
USA—The market for printed periodicals will decrease by 15% through 2016 in North America and Europe. Author David Renard convincingly supports this provocative statistic in Last Magazine, coming this fall from Rizzoli. Renard posits that the public’s ever-increasing hunger for immediate information delivery, coupled with the laborious and archaic distribution system for printed matter, and rising awareness of the ecological impact of printed mass media will ultimately force publishers to completely rethink the concept of the “magazine”. He predicts an evolution—or more pointedly, a revolution—in the magazine industry from the paper form to a digital delivery system. A major catalyst in this evolution will be the development of e-paper, a portable, flexible (unlike a computer screen), updatable, and searchable medium that combines the immediacy and breadth of the Internet with the tactile experience still sought after by the inveterate book or magazine consumer. Within twenty-five years only 10% of the paper-based magazine industry will remain, sustained by the so-called stylepress: physically and aesthetically engaging creative chroniclers of trends. These will be the last printed magazines.
David Renard offers a visual anthology showcasing how the stylepress differs from traditional publications with uncommon design, challenging content and a cultural commentary that may very well challenge the future of magazines as we know them, but may also—for the most astute from the world of mass-market periodicals—provide a key to holding on to print a little longer.
The Last Magazine features a selection of 150 of the best independent magazines from over twenty countries including 032C, Doingbird, Kilimanjaro, Permanent Food, Purple, Uovo, and Werk, with essays from top industry thinkers such as Steven Heller (The New York Times Book Review, School of Visual Arts), Rankin (Dazed & Confused, Another Magazine), Bob Sacks (Time Inc., Ziff-Davis, Precision Media Group), and Nick Hampshire (leading technology writer and publisher). The Last Magazine is a visual call to arms for both professionals—from designers to advertisers to publishers—to magazine aficionados worldwide.
