Soft Skull News

So one of the many areas of anxiety surrounding the impending transition from the majority-print to the majority-digital reading culture is a concern that the glories of good book design will fade.

Horsefeathers.

That's about as eloquent and specific as I'm capable of being on the topic, but Jeff from SoroDesign spells it out for us, and in so doing endorses a belief I hold very strongly, and that is starting to feel like it might even become conventional wisdom within a year, that digital downloads will free the print book of its obligation to provide a publisher with volume, permitting it instead to become that beautiful limited edition which provides the readers with extra aesthetic joy, and the publisher with extra non-returnable margin.

As Jeff says rather succinctly: "Book design will diverge down several paths and has a surprisingly healthy future."

He then breaks out five key observations, which I wanted to summarize, but honestly, this guy has a nice economy of expression, so please also go to his site, and check out the good work they're doing (the do covers, interiors, and author websites) so I don't feel bad for cribbing his entire post, eh?:

1) E-books based on a reflow format (i.e., suitable for small devices) will be based on common style sheets and exhibit a fairly uniform appearance. There will be a set of small (in size) firms that customize and refine these style sheets. Publishers will mostly outsource the format conversion since the ever changing variety of devices requires continual reformating of material. There will be some firms that profit very well from providing this service.

2) E-books based on PDFs also will be very popular due to the variety of light-weight computing devices with large screens. (The whole PDF vs reflow format for e-books is misleading unless one assumes that small, palm-sized devices will completely replace all other forms of desktop, notebook, and tablet-sized computers.)

3) Some material traditionally only published in book format will shift to Web delivery and “book” design for this genre actually is Web design. Many challenges for publishers in this segment who have not yet figured out how to monetize Web sites. (If publishers have not figured that out in the last 15 years, will the next 15 years be much different?) Many opportunities for new publishing firms to emerge to fill the gap for producing and monetizing engaging content using digital media. Many opportunities for designers since elegant Web design is neither simple nor cheap.

4) Print-on-demand establishes a significant market operating in bookstores, libraries, big-box retail outlets, and direct shipping to consumers. All those books still need designing and the PDF byproduct can feed directly into pathway #2 above as well as #1 with conversion services offered in pathway #1.

5) Print book designers will still flourish as some publishers will realize that a niche audience is willing to pay a premium for a wonderfully designed book, heralding a surprising renaissance in book design. Also, print book designers can design PDF-based e-books with no problem since PDF is usually a byproduct in the print book design process.

Posted by Richard Eoin Nash at 10:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Two Soft Skull peops are Utne Reader's 50 Visionaries who are changing your world in its November-December issue—Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore and Favianna Rodriguez...

More than Marriage: Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore
We’ve heard just two sides of the gay-marriage debate—conservative talk-radio homophobes versus attractive same-sex couples—because the voices of queer people who are against marriage are consistently drowned out. This perspective is most raucously and frequently espoused by Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore, an outspoken critic of what she calls “gay assimilationists” who cast marriage—with its “1950s model of white-picket-fence ‘we’re just like you’ normalcy”—as the GLBT issue. Sycamore, who writes for the San Francisco Bay Guardian and blogs at nobodypasses.blogspot.com, argues that the GLBT movement’s focus on gay marriage distracts from more pressing issues: Rather than fight for marriage, which helps secure access to benefits like housing and health care, queers should band together to fight for universal access to these basic needs—“I do” (or don’t) be damned. “What I think is so sad about the gay marriage assimilationist agenda is that our dreams have become so limited,” Sycamore says. “And gay marriage is not a dream—the end of marriage is a dream.” Sycamore is also a prolific anthologizer, bringing together radical views on queer identities in books like That’s Revolting! Queer Strategies for Resisting Assimilation (Soft Skull,2008). These perspectives are rarely if ever engaged by marriage advocates. “It’s really easy for gay marriage proponents to argue with foaming-at-the-mouth Christian fundamentalists,” she says, “but it’s very scary for them to argue with anti-marriage queers and actually have a conversation.”

The People’s Artist: Favianna Rodriguez
She’s going to make you shout. Favianna Rodriguez’s political poster art packs revolutionary punch, fused with crackling colors and don’t-mess-with-us mojo. “Gentrification = Predatory Development” thunders a billboard in her Oakland, California, hometown. “We Say Hell No!” In an image-saturated world, Rodriguez’s fearless, frank work is impossible to ignore. “I use art to transform global politics,” Rodriguez says. As the daughter of immigrants and a woman of color who grew up without many role models in the art world, Rodriguez gives voice to the global community, and, stepping in front of the artist’s traditional frame, she’s building infrastructure for next-generation women. Collaborating, educating, organizing, writing books, public speaking, everything—she says—becomes part of the artist’s work. Celebrating the work of other bold souls is also essential to Rodriguez’s vision. She recently coedited Reproduce & Revolt (Soft Skull, 2008), a collection of stunning revolutionary political graphics designed by global artists—all of which are licensed under Creative Commons, free to reproduce. “Favi is doing something that is extremely unusual right now—declarative political art,” says Soft Skull editorial director Richard Nash. “The dominant trend in political art has been ironic, subversive, which can be marvelous except for the slightly creepy feeling one can get that the only viewers who get it are the ones who are already possessed of the framing techniques needed to deconstruct it. The ones who get it, already got it. “Favi’s doing the is-what-it-is thing: gorgeous, direct political statements.”

Posted by Richard Eoin Nash at 11:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Apologies for the slow pace of posting here—I've had a devil of a time having more than 30 seconds to think at any given moment, and so have been spitting out updates via Twitter. So perhaps you'd like to follow us on Twitter? Here's the URL and here's the RSS feed. Alternatively, the Twitter feed also posts as an update to our Facebook page...

More regular posting can be expected in the coming months...

Posted by Richard Eoin Nash at 12:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)