Hasta La Ideas

In this movie made as part of our print-on-demand project, Blurb founder and CEO Eileen Gittins explains how new technology is transforming book and magazine publishing and we visit the Dutch factory where our Print Shift magazine is produced.

Unlike traditional books or magazines, which are printed in bulk, a single copy of Print Shift is only produced when somebody orders it. Gittins believes this approach makes high-quality publishing much more accessible. “Blurb is a creative publishing platform that enables anyone in the world to make a proper book,” she says.

As a keen photographer, Gittins says her “number one criteria” when she set up Blurb was image quality. “Could we, as a business, faithfully reproduce the intention of the artist, whether you’re a photographer, a designer, an architect? I mean, that work needs to look beautiful, right?”

In Europe, Blurb’s books and magazines are printed by RPI Paro in a factory in Eindhoven. Jan van Baar, vice president of sales and marketing for RPI Paro, explains that print-on-demand publishing is made possible by advances in digital printing technology. “We are in the middle of a digital revolution,” he says. “Print-on-demand is a part of this. It is taking over the market from the older ways of printing because people won’t need large numbers in one time. They want to have it tailor-made, one by one.”

Gittins agrees. “A book is no longer as precious a thing as we used to think of it,” she says. “If you’re an architect and you’ve done a new project and you’ve got a book on file, just add the new project to it, maybe edit something old out, and you’ve got your latest and greatest work. It’s always available, you can always get it printed on demand.”

She continues: “I think it has completely changed how we think about books. They used to be permanent. You might make it once and maybe you’d make a second edition. Now you can make an edition a week if you wanted to.”

Buy your copy of Print Shift for £8.95 plus postage and packing »

For more information about Print Shift and to see additional content, visit www.dezeen.com/printshift.

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the way we think about books” appeared first on Dezeen.

Today Dezeen launches Print Shift, a print-on-demand magazine about 3D printing produced in collaboration with cutting-edge publisher Blurb (+ slideshow).

The 60-page, advert-free magazine explores the fast changing world of additive manufacturing and examines how it is transforming architecture, design, fashion and other disciplines. It is one of the first ever magazines to be printed on demand and can only be bought online via the Blurb bookstore.

Written by the Dezeen editorial team, Print Shift is the result of extensive research into a technology that is developing at exhilarating speed. We have spoken to architects, designers, scientists and researchers around the world, travelled across Europe and visited some of the leading studios and factories at the cutting edge of a technological revolution.

The printing of the magazine is equally revolutionary and uses Blurb’s print-on-demand technology, meaning that the magazine is only printed when a customer buys a copy.

Features in the magazine include a report on the race to build the world’s first printed house; an investigation into the impact additive manufacturing is having on the fashion industry; and a look into the future of printed food.

Other subjects being transformed by 3D printing that are covered in Print Shift include archaeology, the medical industry and weaponry. The magazine also features a guide to buying a desktop 3D printer, a roundup of online printing services for designers and an explanation of how the Dezeen team got their heads scanned and printed.

“We’re incredibly honoured to be partnering with Dezeen on their first foray into print-on-demand,” said Charles Davies, Blurb’s MD for Europe. “Creating a distinctive publication used to mean printing thousands of copies and take weeks to turnaround. Print Shift was printed-on-demand at our state-of-the-art print facility in Eindhoven in the Netherlands in a matter of days.”

He added: “By linking together new developments in both 3D and book and magazine publishing, we hope to showcase the potential of on-demand-printing and inspire people to create their own high-quality books and magazines using Blurb.”

Dezeen editor in chief Marcus Fairs said:  “It struck us that there was a strong synergy between 3D printing, which has become one of the most popular topics on Dezeen, and what Blurb is doing. Both are democratising their respective industries by putting advanced technology in the hands of ordinary people at an affordable price; both are facilitating the production of high-quality, customised products, in low production runs with short lead times.”

The magazine is available to buy now from the Blurb bookstore at £8.95 plus postage and packing.

For more details about Print Shift and to read additional content, visit www.dezeen.com/printshift.

Below is a press release from Blurb about the project:

Blurb and leading design blog Dezeen partner to create print-on-demand magazine: Print Shift

Limited edition magazine uncovers the fascinating future of 3D printing

London, UK — 16 April, 2013 — Blurb, the global creative publishing platform, has teamed up with one of the world’s most influential architecture, interiors and design blogs, Dezeen, to create Print Shift, a print-on-demand magazine, that showcases how technology is transforming both the publishing industry and the design world. The magazine, launched today, is available to buy now from the Blurb online bookstore priced at £8.95.

Combining Blurb’s print-on-demand technology with Dezeen’s industry insight and expertise, Print Shift is the first magazine to explore the exciting world of 3D printing, examining the revolutionary developments in architecture, fashion, weaponry, food and health, and featuring interviews with the key pioneers driving this strategic shift, including fashion designer Iris van Herpen and Belgium-based Materialise, through to Janne Kyttanen, co-founder of Freedom of Creation.

Until now, those looking to create high-quality magazines and brochures have been limited by minimum order requirements, long lead times and unattainable upfront costs. Blurb’s on-demand creative publishing platform enables creative professionals to make high-quality business publications from as little as one copy, and fast.

Print Shift has been created using Blurb’s plug-in for Adobe® InDesign® and uploaded to Blurb’s online bookshop. It will be printed only when ordered, using the latest digital presses, then collated, packaged and mailed directly to the customer within a week.

Charles Davies, Blurb’s MD for Europe said:

“We’re incredibly honoured to be partnering with Dezeen on their first foray into print-on-demand. Creating a distinctive publication used to mean printing thousands of copies and take weeks to turnaround. Print Shift was printed-on-demand at our state-of-the-art print facility in Eindhoven in the Netherlands in a matter of days. By linking together new developments in both 3D and book and magazine publishing, we hope to showcase the potential of on-demand-printing and inspire people to create their own high-quality books and magazines using Blurb.

“Whether you’re a creative individual who is looking for a way to monetize their content or a business who wants to create a portfolio, an elegant product catalogue or your very own monthly publication – with Blurb cost and time are no longer a barrier to producing something that is worthy of being displayed on a newsstand or bookshelf.”

Marcus Fairs, Dezeen and Print Shift’s Editor-in-Chief said:

“It struck us that there was a strong synergy between 3D printing, which has become one of the most popular topics on dezeen.com, and what Blurb is doing. Both are democratising their respective industries by putting advanced technology in the hands of ordinary people at an affordable price; both are facilitating the production of high-quality, customised products, in low production runs with short lead times.

“We’re proud to be working with a cutting-edge company like Blurb to produce our first printed-on-demand publication.”

Blurb Magazines are affordable, lighter-weight, perfect-bound, 20- to 240- page publications ideal for creative and editorial content, priced from just £6.99.

For more information on how you can get started with creating your own Blurb book or magazine, please visit www.Blurb.co.uk.

About Blurb®

Blurb® is a creative publishing platform that unleashes the creative genius inside everyone. Blurb’s platform makes it easy to design, publish, market, and sell professional-quality books, catalogs, and magazines in both print and digital forms. Through its bookstore and online marketing tools, Blurb enables its book-makers to sell their work and keep 100% of their profit, while its social and community features allow customers to create and share Blurb books aamong friends and colleagues cross social channels with ease.

Founded by Eileen Gittins in 2005, Blurb includes a team of design, Internet, and software veterans who share a passion for helping people bring their stories to life. To date, Blurb has shipped over 6.5 million books to 70 countries. In 2010, Blurb was ranked the fastest growing media company on the Inc. 500. Blurb is based in San Francisco with offices in London. For more info, visit www.blurb.com.

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with Blurb appeared first on Dezeen.

Next week Dezeen will be at the SXSW technology conference in Austin, Texas, as part of Hackney House Austin, a showcase of the most exciting creative and digital companies from the London borough.

From 8 to 11 March, SXSW attendees will be able to meet representatives from more than 20 companies inside Hackney House Austin, a “capsule” edition of the Shoreditch pop-up space that hosted Dezeen’s Designed in Hackney Day during the London 2012 Olympics.

Between 10am and 2pm, attendees will be able to watch short films by Dezeen, Protein, onedotzero and ITV, pick up pre-ordered business cards from Moo and visit the Sugru repair shop.

Panels and workshops will be hosted by MakieLab and onedotzero in the afternoons, while Protein will relaunch its online video channel Protein TV with a forum discussing the Future of TV featuring speakers from ITV and Vimeo plus the site’s founder and CEO William Rowe.

Other companies exhibiting will include design studios Bare Conductive, Not Tom and Hulger and web designers Poke as well as design consultancy BERG and electronics “haberdashery” Technology Will Save Us, both of whom took part in our Designed in Hackney Day.

See all Designed in Hackney projects »
See all technology »

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Dezeen promotion: issues of design and architecture magazine Domus can now be read on an app with layout and navigation designed specifically for the iPad.

Domus was founded in 1928 by renowned Italian architect and designer Gio Ponti and features articles on international art, architecture and design, from specific projects to global trends.

Launched in September 2012, the app allows readers to browse the same content as printed editions, with high-resolution images and a layout and navigation tailored specifically to the iPad.

The graphic layout has been designed to make a distinction between art, design and architecture articles to create visual variety while maintaining a distinct identity.

A typographical hierarchy has been set up so users can differentiate between levels of information and architectural drawings are reformatted with standardised line weights to make them easier to read.

The Domus iPad app can be downloaded from the Apple store in a variety of languages, and can be bought as a single issue, monthly or annual subscription.

A number of previous issues are free to download and some are currently priced at € 5,99 (US$6.99). Subscribers to the iPad edition save up to 32% compared to purchasing individual issues, while print subscribers get the iPad editions for free.

Here’s some additional information from Domus:

Domus is one of the most established and influential international magazine about architecture, art and design, founded in 1928 by Gio Ponti. In the past eighty years, Domus has tracked, promoted and anticipated architectural and artistic movements and all creative activity, carrying out the invaluable work of study and dissemination to a general and specialized. The iPad edition of the magazine has been released in September 2012 and since then the excellence of the Domus App has been widely recognized by the Apple’s public comments with a nearly 5 star rating.

The app is specifically designed to work on the iPad, fostering the editorial and visual approach deployed within the printed magazine. With this launch, Domus adds an important element in the creation of a dynamic and multichannel set-up, in which different means of communication—magazine, web, apps and social media—complement and complete each other to offer readers an exceptional panorama of global architecture and design, with the aim of managing a system of information that must function in real time and in a globalised world.

The basic idea behind the graphic project is to transcend the clear distinction between the traditional categories of architecture, design and art, in order to achieve a contents’ structure that is formally not rigid and less repetitive than traditional design magazine, while ensuring an intuitive navigation through a precise and legible visual identity.

A great attention is given to typography and the design of master grids, in order to structure a clear hierarchy between different levels of information. Great care is deployed towards architectural drawings: every plan, section and elevation is entirely redrawn and standardised in its line weights and representation of details. A specific user interface for the navigation of blueprints and diagrams has been designed, paying the utmost care towards the neat visualisation of lines and the perception of the right scale of objects.

Domus iPad wish to experience a rich variety of multimedia and interactive contents with an essential visual language by standing to be one of the most innovative, involving and in-depth digital magazine of architecture and design available on the market.

The Domus iPad edition is available on Apple Store as single issue as well as monthly or annual subscription.

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Opinion: in the first of his bi-weekly columns for our new Opinion section, Sam Jacob describes the way that sites like Dezeen have unleashed a “design tsunami” and discusses how “the endless spewing of design imagery” is affecting design culture.

Contemporary design suffers from a severe case of consumption. Not that wan condition that affects inhabitants of Victorian novels but that thoroughly modern version of consumption brought about by binging on toxic levels of images and information. Its most pressing symptoms present themselves as chronic vomiting and constipation to the point of obstipation. In other words, it can’t hold it down but neither can it pass a movement.

Design’s high-gloss diet is incredibly rich yet gruel-thin and it’s produced a weird physiology: flabby corpulence and stick-thin emaciation as though it were anorexic and obese simultaneously. Contemporary design culture consumes as though it were at a Roman vomitorium where nothing is digested, where everything is swallowed for the fleeting pleasure of consumption itself only to be thrown up to make room for the next course.

The medium, as we well know, is the message. So to try to glimpse the nebulous nature of contemporary design culture we should look to design’s own forms of media. The frames through which we look at design are not transparent; they are mechanisms that construct design culture around the mass of manufactured objects we produce. Perhaps then it’s not contemporary design itself that is the source of its condition but the media that communicates it that is the source of its condition.

There was a time when design could be catalogued. Its objects could be counted and accounted for, arranged in sequences to construct particular narratives. Think of the way in which institutions such as the V&A or MoMA constructed narratives and ideologies of design through the things they collected and exhibited, through their patronage. The museum, like the magazine, functioned as a particular kind of design media. Between the late 19th century and 20th centuries museums and magazines wrote narratives and impulses from Arts and Crafts to Modernism, Brutalism and Postmodernism. They wrote designs narrative so indelibly that we still trace their intent today.

These once-strong curatorial frames are now just sieves in a design tsunami. It’s not that the museums got small, it’s that design became monstrously voluminous: uncountable and uncuratable. The sheer volume and scale of design has outgrown any of its previous states, bursting the seams of the definitions that we used to clothe it with, apparently impossible to frame in the gallery or on the page.

Design culture now flows through a new form of media as an endless glut of glossy imagery gushing through super-lubricated digital downpipes. This very site is perhaps the poster child of the new media through which we consume design culture. And so, I would argue, as the new popular form of design media, it is a site within which contemporary design culture is now manufactured. But what, exactly, is this new form of design culture? How can anything like culture exist in this stream of Photoshopped incontinence?

Dezeen is a design media born digital. It’s not an internet shadow of a preceding physical institution but a thing in and of itself. It emerged out of the kind of communication that used to happen backstage of journalism. Its simple trick was to divert the flow of designers mass-mailed press releases addressed to journalists into a publicly accessible form as fast as possible. Free from the formats and obligations of traditional media, Dezeen’s structures and logics emerged out of the protocols of electronic communication themselves: ordered by date, tagged, collated by a content management system.

Scrolling through we quickly become nauseous at the sensation of unrelenting glossy immediacy. We become dumb to the invention and imagination that designers exert. But as we gasp for air, drowning in its infinite shallowness, we should recognise that it is also a product of our collective desire. It is the will of the epoch expressed in an insanely huge slick of stuff. In this slick we find a perfect storm where design’s sense of individuality meets the flattened hierarchy of the digital, multiplied by the superfast churn of content.

Sick as it might make us, the endless spewing of design imagery and ideas down our screens has other effects on design culture. It liberates us from the traditional custodians of curator and editor so that the designer is freer (if they make it through Dezeen’s selection procedure) to talk unhindered directly to the world (for better or worse). Dezeen’s format, speed and volume also, simply through the ravenous nature of the beast, serve to break down traditional disciplinary boundaries – at least within its own terms. Students and graduates rub shoulders with the old and famous with far more regularity than in museums or magazines.

But at the same time we see criticism reduced to metrics of hits, likes and retweets. We see barely legible comments obsessing with old-fashioned, pre-digital (pre-Modern even) ideas of authenticity and originality when they aren’t just plain paranoid-aggressive. Just as it expands our vision of design, it simultaneously shrinks our own ability to understand. Our own conception of design mirrors the media through which we see it.

Dezeen and its digital cousins represent a new form of digital design culture, entities with total and unrelenting equivalence, a narrative with no top, no bottom, no start or end. It is post-curatorial and post-editorial. In other words, it’s a place where everything can happen but nothing ever will.

While it shares some of the native digital qualities of other networked cultures (Wikileaks to Fan/Fic to name but two) Dezeen, its imitators and its users have yet to develop an equivalently sophisticated version of digital design culture. Instead, within their space we see designers caricaturing the role of design, designing things that are familiarly design, talking like we imagine designers talking. We see objects and buildings that seem like characters of objects and buildings we have seen many times over, the kinds of things that fit the narratives of old media. We remain haunted by spectres of design past, unable to give up these rusting professional armatures.

Worse, even, as we have also jettisoned the powers of old media to give shape and meaning to the worlds that design produces. Having abandoned their abilities to develop narratives and direction for design culture we are left with the same image of design, the same boring heroisms, the same banal beauty, the same stale imagination spinning around and around. To paraphrase Orwell, if you want a vision of design’s future, imagine a screen regurgitating images on a human face – forever.

Sam Jacob is a director of internationally acclaimed architecture practice FAT where he has been responsible for award winning projects in the UK and abroad that include cultural, retail, housing and commercial projects for clients including Selfridges, BBC and Igloo.

His work has been exhibited at major institutions such as the Venice Biennale, MAK and the V&A. He is design critic for Art Review, contributing editor for Icon, and contributes to many other publications including co-editing a recent issue of AD, a launch title for the Strelka Press alongside editing strangeharvest.com. Sam is Professor of Architecture at UIC and Director of the forthcoming Night School at the AA.

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of Photoshopped incontinence?” appeared first on Dezeen.