“Get closer to Sydsvenskan with your Ipad”
Funny! But I still believe in the real touch you feel from the book or actual printed magazine though.
Author: J
Book porn!
Bibliophilia or bibliophilism is the love of books. Accordingly a bibliophile is an individual who loves book [wikipedia]
This weeks Swedish culture show talked about “book porn”—the increase in exclusive and limited editions book design (as in contrast to the Ipad and reading pad).
I’ll happily translate the whole story for you if you are interested or want to use it for your major project.
Here is a summary
- The surface seduces
- The sense of touch is becoming a more important part of cover design. It is what separates the actual item from the Ipad. (Also smell is important)
- The book is a way of decorating your home and has been a status symbol for several centuries
- The design of the cover is extremely important
- The book does not have to be limited edition, it can still use nice design. Limited edition and exclusivity means some people are excluded
- PLAY with the shape and design of the book
Q (reporter): Will the book become a collectors item in the age of digitalisation?
A (book designer): Hasen’t it always been?
Q: Yeah, but will it become more of a staus item?
A: Yes, I believe so.
Books covered with exclusive Scottish tartan fabric, covered in Pucci fabrics, stitches on cover…
Find the show here (about 7 min long), 46:30 and onwards http://svtplay.se/t/102834/babel
Speaking of news papers
… Speaking of news papers (see post below) I must admit I find it so hard and challenging to read the English news papers. Not because of the language but because of the layout, design and typography. I find it so hard seeing which picture goes to which heading and text, what to read and what not to read. I can’t see the structure!
Have you noticed this as well?
Here are some Swedish news papers. I also think it would be fun to see how the papers look where you’re from.
RE: Print: the sunset industry
When I did my BA we went to visit Sweden’s biggest paper press. It was such a sad and depressing place. About 90 % of the employers were male and over 45 years of age. The equipment and computers used were over 20 years old! They simply had no visions at all. And guess what they said, first thing when we arrived! “Welcome to the dying business”. No wonder printed papers are declining if that is the state of mind of the business.
And also… Speaking of print; I went to an offset printing office the other day and they gave me this magazine “POP – the Power of Print”. I think that just makes them seem even more desperate. I’ll read it if I have time and post the best parts. 🙂
Everything Ipadable
I was thinking about what’s happening as we move into the digital age of the screen and Ipad. My essay is about record covers and it had me thinking on how all oup pop cultural items are now in our Ipad.
Records, magazines, comics, books, movies, TV shows—even Scrabble is moving to the screen or Ipad. This had me thinking maybe the only “pop cultural-item” never to be transferred to the screen is clothes and fashion?
Then I saw this video, haha!
But, seriously, the thought is interesting. Will these un-padable items matter more to us in the future? I believe so. But maybe I’m wrong.
Hello guys!
Have you all started thinking about what your essay will be about? Maybe if you post it here we’ll be able to help each other with posting different references.
My essay will be about music and graphic design (big interest of mine)—can graphic design and creative solutions make people pay for music and buy albums again? (Inspired by the rhetoric and screen texts).
How about you?
Re: All in words concept
Reading Veras´s post had me remebering this brand that we always had at home when I was younger.
The brand called Blåvitt (Bule and white) was characterized by the fact that its products were sold at a low price and without any type of marketing. There were no photos on the packages, they all looked pretty much the same, just blue text on white, and the products names were always obvious (toothpaste was called toothpaste, for example). Maybe a “crystal goblet-way” of packaging food—do you agree?
Seeing these packages again fills me with nostalgia but I don’t think the hamburger box “looks too appetizing” since the package looks just the same as the package for tampons, haha. And the ketchup bottle could just as well be mistaken for some kind of detergent, I wouldn’t want to put that one out on the table while having dinner with friends. I’m not sure if I would buy this brand today if it still existed but from what I remember, the quality was quite good and the price super cheap.
The interesting thing is… advertising killed the brand. After about 10-15 years the company decided to change their image a bit as they were afraid to come off as too boring. They introduced a red script font to the design (I cant understand why) and also started advertising the series of items on TV. This make over, together with the advertising became the death of the brand. The red, curly letters and the branding and advertising had nothing to do with the concept of Blåvitt (supposed to be cheap, unadvertised and boring) and didn’t (according to me) make the packages more appetizing. A few years later the brand disappeared was replaced by a regular low price brand.
The Blåvitt brand was introduced in the late 70’s.
Products below: Ketchup, coffe, tee, hygiene products, fiskpinnar = fish fingers, ris = rice, burgare = burgers, pasta and much more.
POST TYPOGRAPHIC MANIFESTO
This is a manifesto written by PostTypography.com, find it here (opens in new window).
The manifesto can be linked to a lot of the texts that we have read. It touches on The Crystal Goblet, representing thoughts similar to Keedy´s text and mentions quotes as “the medium is the message”; it brings up the revolution of the computer and by being a manifesto in it self—i guess you can also say that it links to First Things First, as it also (somehow) questions the role of the designer. Read it and see what connections you can find.
This Post Typographic Manifesto strongly critiques Warde´s Crystal Goblet—“We step on your crystal goblet of typography at the marriage of liberty and design.” Referring, i guess, to the way a glass is broken at a jewish wedding and a wish for deign to be free of rules, do:s and don’t:s and limited only to designers (democratic typography).
Some other interesting quotes (feel free to discuss them over this blog):
- “Typography is dead. You have killed it.”
- “If the letters used to construct your words are invisible, does not the message also go unnoticed and unheeded?” (Critiqes Wade)
- “Never forgetting the struggle of the Desktop Publishers and those who came before, we of the Post Typographic movement seek no less than the democratization of typography.”
Here’s a picture I found referring to this manifesto…
http://www.posttypography.com/site/index.php?action=manifesto
PS. Read Andy´s post underneath, this is kind of the contradiction of that one. Talking about democratising design and not being limited to rules. (although Andy has a good point :] )
Discussion of Screen
Posted by: Yuhan, Chuqiao, Josefine
Has the Internet changed the way we read?
We certainly agree that the way we read online is different from the way we read a book. When online, we skim the texts without deep thinking, just like the article states. However, it’s not just the Internet but the multitasking computer actually distract our concentration. For example, from our experience, people can’t help checking e-mail, scanning headlines or just tripping from link to link to link… This is the trend of world development.
Even if Internet is changing the way we read, we still read books.
According to the Amazon website, the sale of books is rising thanks to the Internet. The Internet way of communication information is actually starting to infiltrate other medias, which we find interesting. Which may be seen as proof that our reading pattern has actually changed due to the Internet.
Are we overly dependent of the web?
When were online we’re often looking for quick information. Without an internet connection it would be hard to do our work and we would feel powerless, just as when we’re without our phone we feel naked. But always being connected is stressful and sometimes it’s nice to just relax with a book.
What do you think? Has the Internet changed your way of reading?
LCC MAGD GROUP V 
