universal positive » Publishing

NYC, where will you watch the World Cup?

Roger Darnell — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 16:18:36 +0000

With soccer (er, football) now reigning as our planet’s most popular sport, beginning tomorrow, the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa will take center stage as its most prominent sports event. According to Jeremy Hollister at creative ideas studio We Are Plus, as a tribute to New York City’s vibrant international diversity, World Cup fever is greater there than nearly anywhere else in America.

We Are Plus is applying the power of social networking software to tap into this native enthusiasm with its World Cup Game Finder, a free mobile app — now available at iTunes — that helps NYC-based fans find local venues screening games featuring their favorite teams, and offering the easiest way to find the best spot in the city to join your fellow fans and support your favorite team. For more information, please visit www.nycgamefinder.com, and please help spread the word!

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Jeremy Hollister – Zink Magazine “The Color Issue”

Roger Darnell — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 01:02:27 +0000

Talented agency owner/creative director… and photographer, artist, curator, and mover Jeremy Hollister of We Are Plus recently photographed these images for February’s Color Issue for Zink Magazine, and launched www.jeremyhollister.com.

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N.A.S.A. NSFW 2010 (adult content)

Roger Darnell — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 01:20:45 +0000

Last February, N.A.S.A. (North America/South America) debuted “The Spirit of Apollo” on Anti- Records. I’ve written before about the ongoing creative collaboration between lifelong music aficionados Squeak E. Clean (aka Sam Spiegel) and DJ Zegon, and their friends, friends of friends and musical heroes. Today, “The Spirit of Apollo” continues involving many superstar artists from both U.S. coasts in bringing people together through music and art. I hope you enjoy the updated playlist, featuring the talents of N.A.S.A.’s many fine-artist friends.
Squeak E. Clean Productions is Sam’s award-winning commercial music and sound design venture. Well known in the advertising world, this team has scored dozens of spots through collaborations with top commercial directors including Mark Romanek, Michel Gondry, Tarsem Singh, the Malloy Brothers, and Spike Jonze. In his free time, Sam produces and remixes music for Santigold, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, for N.A.S.A. and others.

Among many prestigious business media mentions of the project for Sam, he has been interviewed by Jeff Beer for Creativity Magazine, and further discussed in the pages of Advertising Age.

If you’re interested, here’s where to find more information on N.A.S.A., Squeak E. Clean Productions and upcoming tour dates:
. www.myspace.com/nasa
. www.squeakeclean.com/blog

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Lessons on professionalism, persistence and “Endurance” from artist Theresa Ortolani

Roger Darnell — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 23:33:14 +0000

Two years ago, I attended a publishing workshop hosted by Kiki Bauer, senior designer for powerHouse Books, at the powerHouse Arena in Brooklyn. Six of us attended, each eager to discuss our very specific idea for a brilliantly conceived, beautiful and riveting coffee-table book like those famously published by powerHouse. Theresa, Lori, Brad, Debra, John-Michael and I all presented our pet projects to Kiki on that day, and I’ll bet the rest of our classmates are as proud as I am to see that Theresa has persevered in seeing hers through, and getting it into print: “Endurance” published by powerHouse Books, is now available for purchase. In fact, the official launch party is happening at powerHouse Arena on Thurs., Dec. 3. More information on Theresa Ortolani, “Endurance” and this very cool upcoming event follow below.

Nathan Kanney and Theresa Ortolani. Photo by Ryan Zimmerman.

Brooklyn-based photographer Theresa Ortolani is a BFA graduate from the School of Visual Arts at Boston University who earned the Sojourner Truth Fellowship for Graduate Studies in Fine Art Photography. She has developed and directed photography programs in conjunction with the Ansel Adams Center, the San Francisco Art Institute, NYU, and SUNY. When not dodging dirt bikes or setting stuntmen aflame for her upcoming release, “Don’t Try This at Home,” she spends time in New Paltz, NY.

Nathan “Nate” Kanney, the main subject of “Endurance,” crashed his dirt bike and ruptured his spleen during the 2004 International Six Days Enduro race in Poland, but kept on riding until he was pulled from the race and rushed to a local hospital for emergency surgery. Though he narrowly escaped with his life on that day, Kanney was undaunted in his quest. Theresa was on-hand two years later to capture Nate winning a Grand National Cross Country race as a privateer, where he rode against world champions riding bikes three times costlier than his. Over the three years that followed, Theresa traveled thousands of miles across the U.S. and Europe to document Nate’s remarkable ascent from underdog privateer to Husqvarna and KTM Factory Team rider.

As you’ll see if you visit the book’s official website at www.TheresaOrtolani.com/Endurance, through Theresa’s artistry, the high-adrenaline international sport of dirt bike racing is shown to be beautiful – and inescapably brutal. When she showed her images to Kiki and the rest of us in 2007, and told us about the project, her professionalism and talents were impressive, and so was her focus. Clearly, she found the right track to success in publishing what is obviously an amazing book.

Endurance is an 8.5 x 11, 160 page hardcover book with expertly crafted four-color photographs – featuring world champion off-road motorcycle legends, rising stars and celebrity announcers including: Nathan Kanney, David Knight, Travis Pastrana, Kailub Russell, Corey Buttrick, Homero Diaz, Ryan Mills, Anders Eriksson, Bartosz Oblucki, Ezra Dyer, Jerry Bernardo, Carrie Coombs Russell and Jason Weigandt.

“Ortolani applies an artist’s eye to this unforgiving sport and the riders who pursue it, resulting in an unprecedented, behind-the-scenes window into this punishing competition.” – Ezra Dyer
“The same experiences we’ve poured out of our boots and tried in vain to relate to concerned family members come alive on the pages of Endurance, making it like no other moto-photo book I’ve seen.” – Dan Paris, Direct Motocross
“….the best off-road lifestyle photography I’ve seen. Theresa Ortolani has captured the essence of an off-road racer’s pain and glory in a great looking, great reading book.” – Jesse Ziegler, Dirt Rider 12/09

The powerHouse Arena and reBar are pleased to invite you to the launch party for the book and exhibition: ENDURANCE: Down and Dirty Off-Road Racing by Theresa Ortolani. Set for Thursday, Dec. 3, the book release party and signing at powerHouse Arena featuring Nate Kanney in attendance and James Mulry on the decks will be followed by an after party at reBar. A custom art installation by IMStunts, Inc. will debut that evening and stay on display at powerHouse Arena through Dec. 6. Please click here to RSVP for the event, or by sending an email to BK@theresaortolani.com.

You can become a fan of the project on Facebook by visiting this link.

Congratulations on your well earned success, Theresa, and thank you for showing us all how it’s done.

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Brought to you by deep love and appreciation for local libraries

Roger Darnell — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 21:08:36 +0000

Growing up in Illinois, Tennessee, and Florida, I am extremely indebted to many local libraries and librarians who helped encourage me to learn and grow as an individual. This week’s posting is short and sweet, inviting you to visit the American Library Association’s great ilovelibraries.org site where you can learn a lot about local libraries across America and sign up for their informative newsletter, their Facebook fan page, and more. Happy learning!

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Honorable Murray Silver, on Rev. Martin Luther “Daddy” King, Senior

Roger Darnell — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 21:25:12 +0000

My dear friend, the Honorable Murray Silver, Esquire, was recorded during a June 2008 presentation for students and faculty of Hilton Head Preparatory School, honoring Rev. Martin Luther “Daddy” King, Senior. A world-famous trial lawyer, former Atlanta Municipal Court Judge and long-serving advisor to the Martin Luther King, Jr., Center for Non-Violent Social Change, Mr. Silver had a close personal friendship with Daddy King that lasted for many years, and intertwines their fates to this very day.Mr. Silver’s latest book, entitled “Daddy King and Me” and featuring an introduction by Martin Luther King, III, is now available from Bonaventture Books. A limited number of signed first editions are currently available; to reserve your copy, please email Mr. Silver at this address.

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Business ventures of your dreams…

Roger Darnell — Wed, 06 May 2009 13:59:00 +0000

I remember being 12 years old and being very impressed by a young guy I met, Tommy Ewasko, who at that time (1978) was well on his way to becoming a professional photographer. Tommy was the first professional creative person I ever crossed paths with, and after getting to know him a bit better, I began to see the world in a different way. Last month, my successful English entrepreneurial comrade Rob Ford of Favourite Website Awards (TheFWA.com) shared a story with his friends on Facebook where he was included in a 10steps.sg feature by Johnson Koh entitled “Interviews of Ten Accomplished Founders.” If you have not visited TheFWA.com before, I can easily imagine you having a kind of epiphany when you do, and there are other domains within Rob’s empire which are equally inspirational, including FWATheater.com and FWAPhoto.com.

To me, because his business model is original, creative, seemingly very fun, and largely self-guided, Rob represents the kind of successful entrepreneur that one only dreams of becoming. Do please read the “Interviews” article linked above to learn more about the origins of Rob’s business, and those of the other talented young gentlemen listed below. There’s enough inspiration here to change many people’s perceptions of the very nature of business… and represent new approaches to how resourceful individuals can build their own unique success stories independently.
. BuySellAds – Todd Garland
. Envato – Colliss Ta’eed
. Good Tutorials – Zach Holman
. Abduzeedo – Fabio Sasso
. Tutorial9 – David Leggett
. DeviantArt – Angelo-Sotira
. iStockPhoto – Bruce LivingStone
. Pixel2Life – Dan Richard
. SmashingMagazine – Vitaly Friedman & Sven Lennartz

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A tale of two FILE Magazines…

Roger Darnell — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 21:11:00 +0000

I am a big fan of the international design industry news and discussion site QBN.com. During a visit there yesterday, I clicked my way into a discussion on the subject of FILE Magazine. What I found there impressed me with the depth of knowledge represented by the site’s membership, and two very different — and yet very cool — magazines, both named FILE. The first, which we’ll call “FILE MAGAZINE (www.file-magazine.com)” is a new DVD/print-based literary/culture/arts magazine from the UK. As someone pointed out in the thread, it features a very old-school approach, in that it is subscription-based, virtually all its contents are offline, and in order to get an issue, would-be readers will need to pick up a copy at one of many retail outlets, or otherwise rely upon the mail. While the person that brought this publication to QBN’s attention took some heat for the mag’s traditional approach, others who have gotten their hands on copies have praised the value based on the £6.50 + p&p; cover price, the high quality of the printed and DVD contents, and even made the point of how much more they’ve enjoyed experiencing the magazine than they would have if it was “just another” online mag featuring online video content.

Oddly, soon after the original announcement for “FILE MAGAZINE” appeared with its link and info, someone wrote, “Not to be confused with filemagazine.com.” This other publication, which we’ll call “FILE Magazine (www.filemagazine.com)” is (ahem) an online publication that presents its own collection of high-quality photographic images which “treat subjects in unexpected ways,” and does a great job of showcasing and appreciating its contributors. Seemingly, this FILE represents a totally different philosophy and approach to its business model — and its way of reaching, engaging and entertaining readers. To me, both projects are very much of interest, and perhaps even moreso because of the contrasting existence of the other. I thought you might enjoy checking them out yourself.

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Freeload: WMIG / The FADER Present We Mix It Good Mix Vol. 7: Crookers

Roger Darnell — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 11:07:00 +0000

The filmmakers from creative production company Shilo (www.shilo.tv), together with We Make It Good‘s creative director Clayton Vomero, have partnered with The FADER to release the next editions of their original mix series, and are very proud to announce the We Make It Good / Fader Mix Series Volume 7 release, featuring Italian DJ duo Crookers. As with all the past We Make It Good Mix Series releases, the artwork for the Crookers release was created by Shilo’s Evan Dennis. Enjoy!

Daily inspiration from the design world’s past and present…

Roger Darnell — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 07:20:00 +0000

Talent impresses me deeply. Too often, I only become aware of some amazingly gifted individual upon reading their obituary… and I’m sorry to say that’s the case with the late graphic designer and poster artist Pierre Mendell. Back on Jan. 9, in carefully selected words from noted design critic and writer Steven Heller in the priceless blog he pens each day for PRINT magazine entitled “The Daily Heller,” and four well-chosen images, a master graphic designer and communicator was clearly revealed, and the news of his passing touchingly conveyed.

Thanks again to Mr. Heller, last year I was educated on the life, accomplishments, importance and humanity of publishing industry iconoclast Clay Felker, the co-founder of New York magazine whom Heller described in his July 8, 2008 edition as, “one of the great pioneers of American magazine publishing.” Here’s to Steven Heller for taking the time to engagingly share the fruits of his knowledge from the forefront of design criticism and education. The full archives of “The Daily Heller” are available here.

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