Stiletto NYC’s contribution to Re:think
As part of the London Design Festival, Wardour Publishing & Design has put together a nice little book/project called Re:think, launched last Thursday in Clerkenwell. Self-proclaimed as ‘a collection of visual trifles designed to amuse and inspire’, Re:think asks contributors to redesign anything they want. The results are beautifully odd (Stiletto NYC‘s designs for new creatures), sometimes predictable (Damien Weighill’s Queen wearing a moustache) and altogether entertaining (Laura Fountain’s hybrid words, including ‘glossip‘, meaning scandalous information or rumour that attracts such high levels of interest that it would be fitting of publication in a glossy magazine). The limited edition book is £3.50, and there’s talk that the project will continue in the form of an online magazine. Interested parties should check them out via the Facebook group here.
Quark has just announced that Quark Xpress 8 is now available for purchase. Is anyone still using Quark? Will anyone who has switched to InDesign really go back?
In the Canadian editorial industry, many big companies have made the switch in the past three years. Some still linger on with dated versions of Quark, mainly because of CopyDesk, or the cost of updating several or even hundreds of workstations. Others are just stubborn, afraid that learning a new software will affect production.
Recently, I worked with a small publishing house, which was still using Quark Xpress 7. Having been working with InDesign for about a year, going back to Quark was a complete nightmare. I watched them struggle with preferences across workstations, waste time on unnecessary clipping paths, use ill-represented colours… And these are good designers who know what they’re doing. They’ve just been working in Quark for 20 years. A designers relationship to Quark is an abusive one— We know Quark loves us, we really do. And when it works, it works and we’re happy. But so often, (almost always in the middle of production), we experience its tragic flaws that ultimately hurt us.
Our creative energy shouldn’t be wasted on managing a software’s shortcomings. Using Quark means we lose valuable design time. And why would I go back to that when InDesign does everything I need to do, exactly how I want it to? Maybe I shouldn’t judge before downloading Quark’s generous 60-day trial version. But to be honest, even if I had the time and inclination t0, it would have to be bloody spectacular. Am I wrong?
Le Corbusier’s Villa Savoye, France. Photo by Patrick 3.14
The Design Museum in London has a whole line-up of upcoming shows and event that look great. The first, Design Cities, starts on September 5th, and runs for the rest of the year. If focuses on contemporary design happening in international cities at a key point in time, beginning and ending with London. It will showcase works from WIlliam Morris, Le Corbusier and Issey Miyake among others. I like this idea. I feel like it will be an elaborated version of the MoMA design room, somewhere I could happily spend several hours before leaving feeling utterly insignificant.
The second is a one-night stand entitled Design Overtime, taking place on the evening of September 19th.
The third is a complete retrospective of Alan Aldridge’s iconic illustrations, from Beatles lyrics to children’s books. Starts on October 10th and runs into January.
Check the Design Museum website for details.
