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Fold of the week

Posted by: Barry Lowenhoff, MCSD
Published: 14th December, 2009 at 6:18 pm in Blog.
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Fold Factory

If you’ve ever been tempted to think that paper folds aren’t important or creative, then it’s time to think again. Here’s the amazing Trish Witkowski from foldfactory.com with her latest Fold of the Week – the stepped double parallel…

You can catch up with earlier Fold of the Week videos by visiting Trish’s archive page.

Posted by: Barry Lowenhoff, MCSD
Published: 16th October, 2009 at 9:17 am in Blog.
Tags: , folding, paper
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Underwater Meadow

If you ever wondered how we came up with our name, it’s from the lush North Meadow near my house in Sudbury, Suffolk. When you look at the views below, it’s difficult to conjure up an image of grazing cows and the occasional rambler following the banks of the normally-docile River Stour.

The recent snow changed all that, especially when it was joined by a huge downpour that lasted for most of Monday. The river banks have burst, and the North Meadow is more suitable for yachting than walking. Luckily — unlike in some other parts of the country — we can keep a safe distance and take bucket loads of snaps whilst chatting to the cheated walkers, who have taken to the roadside paths instead. The ducks and swans are having a field day too, dropping down out of the skies like boat-planes swooping in to land.

And after the deluge? Well, I’m on firm ground with a new website I’m building. Look out for more details on North Meadow very soon.

Posted by: Barry Lowenhoff, MCSD
Published: 13th February, 2009 at 10:49 am in Blog.
Tags: sudbury, suffolk, the north meadow
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Tracing Paper

I was really thrilled to be one of the lucky 1,000 people who received a copy of Things Our Friends Have Written on the Internet 2008. As its name suggests, it’s a collection of stuff that has been written for the web, but collected together in a beautifully designed newspaper. I’ve got copy number 512.

Now, in a lovely twist that gets the format back on the Internet, there’s a Flickr group dedidated to photos of the newspapers. I’ve just added mine. Better still, you can see where else in the world the copies have landed up — so far, three continents and counting. (Photo below pinched from here and hat-tip for the story to I like).

Posted by: Ben Locker
Published: 8th February, 2009 at 12:53 pm in Blog.
Tags: newspaper, things our friends have written on the internet, web
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Snowy Half Nelson

England expects every man to do his duty: i.e. get out in the snow and start fooling about like a nipper. And full credit to the members of the National Maritime Museum’s Historic Photographs & Ship Plans department, based at the Brass Foundry, Royal Arsenal, Woolwich, for creating this spectacular half Nelson. It’s quite the most unexpected snowman I’ve seen this year — save for the snowy Chassidic Jew on Portland Avenue, N16 — and certainly the best sculpted. (Hat tip: Doug M).

Posted by: Ben Locker
Published: 6th February, 2009 at 12:38 pm in Blog.
Tags: national maritime museum, nelson, nmm, snowman
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Point & Shoot: 1925

Some mornings are destined to be good. This one has been brightened by a link to the glorious picture below provided by @zemblamatic on Twitter. It’s the ‘Girls’ rifle team of Drexel Institute’, taken in about 1925, and it comes from Shorpy, a brilliant site which I’ve added to the list of sites we love. The only thing that’s bugging me is the fact there’s only seven of them – when I used to shoot in rifle teams, I’m pretty sure there were eight of us. Maybe the missing member is behind the camera?

Also new to the blogroll/ links list are the following sites, recommended by Barry: Ffffound!, COLOURlovers, Swiss Miss and BB-Blog.

Posted by: Ben Locker
Published: 30th January, 2009 at 9:40 am in Blog.
Tags: Blogroll, drexel institute, History, photography, rifles, shooting, shorpy
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Right Type of Love

Far better than a bunch of blooms from the petrol station: say “I Love You” with one of Uppercase Journal’s Valentine’s posters.

Love letters, if you will…

Posted by: Ben Locker
Published: 24th January, 2009 at 6:21 pm in Blog.
Tags: typography, uppercase journal, valentine's day
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Books with Attitude

Scott Pack, Publisher at The Friday Project, is best known as the former Waterstone’s Head Buyer who was dubbed the “most powerful person in book publishing”. It’s a label that saw him demonised for not promoting the same books favoured by certain newspaper columnists, but there’s no denying that he was good at finding out what people wanted to read and selling to them at attractive prices.

These days, Scott writes an increasingly popular blog called Me and my Big Mouth, which is chock full of book recommendations, games of fantasy tennis, songs he’s fond of and tales of the mad bin woman.

I dropped Scott a line to ask him about the future of e-books, his media reputation, and his ideas for a fantasy book prize. This is what he had to say…

In December you pointed out that the Waterstone’s e-book Bestseller charts had changed — in a couple of months — from a list that was headed by a French-language edition of Dickens, to a place that is “abuzz with major league crime”. Are we really getting more switched on to e-books, or is it just a fad made possible by Sony’s Reader and other hardware?

With the revelation that Waterstone’s have sold 30,000 Sony Readers since the launch late last year then it does look like we are getting more switched on to eBooks and it is more than just a fad. I have had my own Reader for some months now. It was a freebie so my attitude to it is almost certainly different than if I had bought it. I have read lots of submissions and manuscripts on it as well as reviewed some new books from other publishers but, and this is crucial, I haven’t purchased a single eBook. I know I am not alone in this. I think people like the technology but find eBooks to be overpriced. I suspect they will come down in price quite a bit in the year ahead.

Whilst researching your career from the web, I was amused to note the praise you have received from bloggers, little-known writers and small publishers, in complete contrast with the vitriol that’s been poured on you by ‘big names’ who thought you were strangling the book trade as Buying Manager for Waterstone’s. How did you manage to pull that off?

Most of the time, not all of the time but most of it, the people having a pop had never met me or had any dealings with me at all. The exception is Tim Adams who lied his arse off during the interview and then wasn’t very nice about me when it appeared in print. I think he is a wanker but at least the physical description he gave of me was based on an actual meeting. Nick Cohen was quite unpleasant about me in the New Statesman, calling me bull-necked — the tosser, despite not knowing me from Adam.

I tend to speak my mind and am very direct. That rubs people up the wrong way sometimes. During my time at Waterstone’s I made some observations, often about how old fashioned and clunky the industry was, and there were people who objected to that. That is absolutely fine and both views are valid. There was a perception, false though it was, that I wielded a lot of power and if you think someone can make or break a book and you don’t like the cut of his jib then you are unlikely to be singing his praises across your bangers and mash at The Ivy, in publishing meetings or in print. Fair enough really.

In general though, people who have dealt with me directly are pleasantly surprised that I am not the complete cunt I am sometimes made out to be. I am a bit of an arse but not quite as bad as my press would suggest.

I personally find the independent publishing sector to be a vibrant and exciting source of wonderful books so I was happy to go out of my way to support it when I bought books for a living and am still keen to do so now I have a blog that a few people read. That approach has won me a number of friends and I see that as a wonderful by-product of what I do.

So, after that rant what I really mean is that the people who slagged me off usually didn’t know me and the people that did know me tended to be a bit nicer.

How did your critics in the publishing and media world react when you left to become Commercial Director at web-to-print publisher, The Friday Project?

Initially it garnered a bit of attention but I quickly fell off the radar into obscurity.

You’ve been blogging at Me And My Big Mouth for over two years now. What’s the most unexpected thing that’s happened as a result?

Being sent a free Sony Reader. Receiving a parcel of CDs from John Connolly.

What do you most appreciate in book and cover design?
As a reader I like something tactile and gorgeous. I love the untrimmed pages you often get with American hardbacks.

If you had a few thousand quid spare to set up your own book prize, what would you call it and how would it differ?

I have often been tempted to start my own book prize — only in my head, mind you. I love the idea of creating a huge prize fund and then the shortlisted authors would be invited round my house for tea and cake. All of this televised on BBC4. We would chat about the books on the sofas in my living room and then I would announce the winner. The runners up would receive a freshly baked cake from the Pack kitchens.

Posted by: Ben Locker
Published: 22nd January, 2009 at 10:38 am in Blog, The North Meadow Interview.
Tags: books, e-books, publishing, scott pack, the friday project, waterstone's
Comments: 2 Comments »

Arrested by The Man

I really like Kate Manson’s cartoons. I first discovered her work on her blog, My Pink Half of the Drainpipe (named after the excellent Bonzo Dog Band song of the same name), and was as much attracted by her writing as her art.

Kate’s just set up a new website, and the cartoon above made me laugh so much that I had to buy it. A bargain at £50, I’d recommend snapping up some of her other stuff before it’s too late.

Here’s Burroughs himself reading from Naked Lunch.

Sweet dreams, readers.

Posted by: Ben Locker
Published: 17th January, 2009 at 10:47 am in Blog.
Tags: burroughs, cartoons, kate manson, naked lunch
Comments: 2 Comments »

Colchester Connected

It’s been a while since I’ve had to approve a magazine for press, but I’m extremely glad to say that the first ever issue of Colchester Connected is being printed right now.

The mag is a great example of what happens when people unite behind an idea. Only three months ago I got an email from Palladian Press’s Sales and Marketing Director Steve Green. He wrote:

Hi Ben,
I want to publish a quarterly magazine called “Colchester Connected”.
10,000 copies, A4, full colour, 64pps, high quality, good read.

A few days later, I wrote a promotional flyer for Steve, just to help gauge interest in the idea. It didn’t take long to realise that there was an enormous demand for a publication that was specifically targeted at Colchester’s business community, and which had an emphasis on collaboration and fresh ideas.

The only fly in the ointment was that the magazine needed to be put together on a shoestring if we were to prove its mettle. But so many people chipped in to help that the project was soon sailing on an ocean of goodwill. My contribution was to write or edit all the features free of charge.

It was a massive task, especially as the only adverts were on the back and inside covers. That left a lot of pages to fill with editorial.

We had a good way of working. Local companies would pay for a high-quality feature, and Publishing Director Linda Green would drop by and conduct an interview with her customary charm and finesse. I’d then shape her notes into an article (whilst rocking, in the final fortnight, a newborn’s cradle with my foot) and the finished work would then be sent back to the customer for approval and signing off. They were all delighted.

Editorial wasn’t restricted to local companies, though; and we also included pieces about the Essex Chambers of Commerce, the Federation of Small Businesses, Colchester2020 and other people with an important message for the local business community.

The magazine is launched on 23rd January at the Weston Homes Community Stadium in Colchester, and over 250 people have already confirmed they are coming along. I’ll do a write up after the event, and I’ll also add full details about the project to the North Meadow portfolio pages in due course.

I hope Colchester Connected is hugely successful — and that Issue 2 is an even better read — but the most rewarding part for me has been to learn about the ideas and determination of a cross-section of the local businesspeople. It would be unfair to point out which ones really captured my imagination — especially as, in a garrison town like Colchester, many of them are trained killers — but I’m very much looking forward to meeting every single one.

Posted by: Ben Locker
Published: 15th January, 2009 at 2:57 pm in Blog, News.
Tags: copywriting, editing, journalism, magazines, publications
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