By Salina Christmas As readers depend on the internet to consume smaller pieces of information, reading a book – for those who use ‘new’ media alone – could become “a more unusual skill”. Will “reading a book” become a skill associated with taste, and thus, class? Marcus Gilroy-Ware, creator of open source online publishing platform, … Continue reading »
By Zarina Holmes People admire bookshelves, not hard drives, says carpenter Pete Masters. Books inspire conversation by their physical presence, so why would you want to hide them. Masters is also web and multimedia producer for Medicines Sans Frontierés. He was our Inspiration Room guest speaker at London Design Festival 2010 event, “Aesthetics as a … Continue reading »
By Zarina Holmes Self-publishing was “once considered the preserve of eccentric rich show-offs” but now is the authors’ “first and best option for getting work out”, says Niall McDiarmid. McDiarmid is a photographer working on editorial and commercial commissions. His photographs have been featured on the covers of novels and biographies including works by Richard … Continue reading »
By Salina Christmas Pornography and its online formats almost killed the erotica fiction genre. Kindle and the ebook, however, resurrected the craft again, says George Pappas, author of “Monogamy Sucks”, published on Kindle in 2010. The romance genre and its sub-categories which include erotica are now driving the adoption of smartphones and tablets for ebook. … Continue reading »
By Salina Christmas “The digital world is so bent on avoiding accidents that I think sometimes it takes away the possibility for serendipity.” Maggie Nichols is an illustrator based in Portland, Oregon, US. Her distinctive artwork brought to life the book authored by Amber Case, “An Illustrated Dictionary of Cyborg Anthropology”. Nichols blogs for Simply … Continue reading »
By Salina Christmas Jie Qi, designer and a mechanical engineering major at Massachussets Institute of Technology (MIT), US, researches on mechatronics, new media, physical computing and human-computer interaction. While researching with the High-Low Tech Group, she created the Electronic Popables, a pop-up book with electronic interactive elements. Q. What do you think will become of … Continue reading »
By Salina Christmas At the London Design Festival event, “Whatever is to become of books”, digital anthropologists Juliano Spyer and Cosimo Lupo showcased “Homer”, a book scanner constructed of everyday objects – a digital camera, a recycled box and a piece of glass from Poundland shop – powered by an open source software used by … Continue reading »
By Salina Christmas Five Minutes Interview at London Design Festival: “The book industry had the foresight to proceed with a paid model rather than wander blindfold into the digital age as the newspaper industry did. Many media conglomerates are now shored up by the profits of their book publishing wing,” says Fiona Swarbrick, former editor … Continue reading »
By Zarina Holmes & Salina Christmas Five Minutes Interview at London Design Festival: “Ebooks and Kindle, or ebook readers in general, will become ‘the new paperback’.” Emilia Spitz and Linda Uruchurtu, co-founders, The Ballet Bag, observe that despite the digital crossover, digitisation also has encouraged the return to typography and illustrations in book design, and … Continue reading »
By Salina Christmas Five Minutes Interview at London Design Festival: “Novels, romances to the fore, have taken the step from codex to ebook without a hitch.” Paul Duguid, author of “The Social Life of Information” and adjunct professor at the School of Information at the University of California, Berkeley, on what’s to become of books. … Continue reading »
By Salina Christmas Five Minutes Interview at London Design Festival: “I don’t see books disappearing. They will continue to evolve and transform.” Daniela Rosner is a design researcher interested in how new technologies figure into creative production. One of the projects she has been working on is ‘Fine Bookbinding’ which incorporates traditional binds and electronics … Continue reading »
By Salina Christmas Five Minutes Interview at London Design Festival: “Print will be collectible,” says Zarina Holmes, Creative Director of Sojournposse who envisioned the concept “digital storytelling …a digital campfire” for a multimedia event she directed in 2009. Trained in advertising, with a masters degree in Design from the alma mater of punk, Middlesex University, … Continue reading »
By Zarina Holmes Five Minutes Interview at London Design Festival: “Books are alive and well. The debate has moved on from the death of the book.” Angus Phillips is Director of Oxford International Centre for Publishing Studies at Oxford Brookes University. He is also editor-in-chief of publishing journal, Logo, and author of the Future of … Continue reading »
By Salina Christmas Five Minutes Interview at London Design Festival: “They have a book scanner at home and don’t even realise that”. Juliano Spyer, MSc Digital Anthropology, is one-half of the duo that will be presenting “Homer”, a prototype book scanner made of everyday objects and open source software at the event. Currently, he is … Continue reading »
By Salina Christmas Five Minutes Interview at London Design Festival: “Digital publishing will have an embedded element in the printed book”. Matt Johnston, photographer, educator, researcher and co-founder of The Photobook Club, predicts the future of the photobook. He also consults on social media and audience strategies in the UK and the US, for photographers … Continue reading »
