Stef Grindley has designed a book:
I have recently procured a preview copy of Concrete 2 Canvas, which I designed and have a section in. This is a little bit late now news-wise, but since the book is not out until October I thought I’d still post a quick shot of the cover and say how stoked I am with the outcome. Hopefully it’ll sell millions of copies and make Laurence King happy people. Maybe they’ll hire me again…
In the interest of being fair and balanced!
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While I am it, what other glossy style-type magazines are there that come out of Birmingham / West Mids? Being a web-head I don’t tend to check the newsstands much.
Here’s the cover for issue 32 of Fused, the arts and culture mag produced in Birmingham.
You can pick it up for free in the usual arts venues in the city, buy it from enlightened magazine stands nationwide or by mail order and read most of the articles online.
Here’s the cover to Clutter issue 11, due out in a few weeks.
Clutter was the first English language magazine to concentrate on the designer toy phenomenon and is produced by Miranda O’Brien & Nick Carroll in Uttoxeter. Which is close enough for my purposes. They were part of Ten4′s Creative Class 2006/7 and there’s a neat little interview here.
BLINK is a new West Mids-centric magazine launching in October.
WHAT IS BLINK
BLINK is a new title brought to you by the publishers of Fused Magazine that focuses on design, interiors, architecture, and art with fashion at its core. BLINK will be a fresh take on the current trend in city lifestyle publications using original photography and informative articles all wrapped in high quality editorial, design and print.With a national feel but regional distribution, BLINK will set itself apart from the rest with a unique voice and contemporary edge.
WHO IS BLINK FOR
BLINK is for male and female professionals who have a keen interest in fashion, art, interiors and design. Individuals that want to know more about stylish new products and be kept informed on current trends in lifestyle living.DISTRIBUTION
BLINK will be distributed throughout the West Midlands using carefully considered and specifically targeted channels. We will only go to the best bars, shops and galleries.
They’re looking for contributors, namely writers, photographer and illustrators.
More details as they emerge.
Bearded is a new music magazine coming out of Birmingham this month.
In the independent music industry, there is a dedicated voice emerging for artists and labels alike to give their wares prominence in an industry stagnated with sub-standard songs and even worse band names.
Birmingham’s Misty’s Big Adventure recently summed it up quite aptly in their independent chart hit ‘Fashion Parade’ – labelling the recent shoddy state of affairs a “bland age†– and it is from Birmingham where the next push of the independent scene nationwide is originating.
Launching on the 20 August, Bearded magazine is set to avoid newsstands nationwide and plant itself in independent record stores and alternative music venues, bars and clubs around the country every month.
A joint project bringing together the writing and PR pool Fleeing from Pigeons and West Yorkshire based, award-winning design agency This is Make Believe, Bearded is the cut-off from the traditional music press – dedicating itself solely to independent labels and independent artists whilst matching the alternative nature of its content with a high quality feel and design – made from thick, superb paper and delivering itself to the alternative subculture of Britain’s youth absolutely free.
via B:INS
Début are a publishing house based in Wolverhampton who specialise in art and design books. They’ve currently got two releases, 99 Silhouettes exploring the medium of the shadow “from signage on toilet doors to Japanese shadow puppet theatre” and Free?Fonts listing some of the many shareware and freeware fonts available and putting the culture of free fonts into some context.
Their next project is Branded consisting of logos submitted by 130 Artists, Agencies and Designers. This is due out later this Summer.
Presumably to raise funds for the printing of Branded they’re currently selling 99 Silhouettes and Free?Fonts at 50% off retail in their shop.
What I find interesting about Début is their open submissions system where anyone can enter a contribution for their books. Presumably this gives them a greater depth and range is content. I’ll be watching them with interest.
Hat tip to Creative Wolverhampton.
Tindal Street Press are having a launch for Mick Scully’s new crime novel Little Moscow next Tuesday 12th June from 7.30pm onwards at the Bond Company, 180–182 Fazeley Street, Digbeth, B5 5SE.
The event will feature author Mick Scully reading from Little Moscow and discussing his fiction with Nicola Monaghan, creative writing fellow at Birmingham’s National Academy of Writing, based at UCE and author of The Killing Jar. There will also be drinks.
The Little Moscow, a shady basement bar at the side of the Grand Union canal in Birmingham, stamping ground for thieves, gangsters and conmen – plus some of the city’s more glamorous creatures. Blue-skinned Nathan, a hardknock tattooist, refuses to pay Crawford’s protection racket. Nearby, a refugee from Middle Eastern wars finds a body hanging from a lamppost and becomes entangled with a goodtime girl called Veronica and an apartment decorated with abstract art. Roles get reversed, debts get claimed and colours collide – while two would-be Andy Warhols make away with incriminating evidence.
These stories revolve around the Little Moscow bar in subtle, surprising ways to form a powerfully impressionistic whole. Scully brings a literary virtuosity to the landscapes of urban realism, fueling a noir mythology with dreams of power, riches and sex. This auspicious collection draws darkly criminal tales from a modern city’s mix of cultures.
If you can’t find it in our local book emporiums Amazon have it at 20% off.
Hat tip to the permalink-free Birmingham Words.
Perfectly Formed, the Spring / Summer anthology from Birmingham Words is available to download from their site. The criteria for this issue was stories (no poetry) under 300 words and features the work of Ann Alexander, Robert Ronsson, Frances Gapper, Emily Eatwell, Tina Freeth and John Welch.
You can download all their issues from here.
Design on this issue is by The Graphic Aware, the creative practice of Birmingham based graphic designer and art director Andy Rouse who has a nice line in typographical work. Check out his portfolio.
Tindal Street Press are offering a “unique 12-month publishing traineeship to degree level applicants from the Black African, Caribbean, Asian, Chinese or Middle Eastern communities.” The following is copied from Birmingham Words (who don’t have permalinks on their blog so I can’t link directly…)
Recent research highlights the under-representation of black and minority ethnic groups in the publishing industry. This forward-looking initiative aims to address the imbalance.
The paid traineeship is split into four 3-month sections and will include hands-on editorial experience at Tindal Street Press, sales and marketing experience at distributors Turnaround Publisher Services, and retail experience at Borders in Birmingham and their Head Office, with a final stint at Tindal Street Press.
External training courses and a mentor are to be provided to guide the successful applicant’s learning. The development of skills in these three crucial areas of the publishing process will provide an unequalled, structured insight into the industry. Tindal Street Press will pay a training bursary of £12,000 to the successful applicant.
Emma Hargrave, Managing Editor, says: ‘This is a superb opportunity for a motivated individual with a passion for contemporary fiction and the ambition to learn how it is marketed and sold.’
The background to the traineeship is the 2007 DipNet Measuring the Industry report, supplemented by the 2004 deciBel research, which concluded that black and minority ethnic groups are currently under-represented in the publishing industry. These traineeships form part of a strategic initiative, under section 37 of the Race Relations Act 1976, aimed at reducing this under-representation.
The closing date for applications is Tuesday 29th May 2007. Further details of the traineeship are available on www.tindalstreet.co.uk and from Emma Hargrave (emma@tindalstreet.co.uk) or Luke Brown on 0121 773 8157.
Mr Silke is one of those collective things that seems to pop out of nowhere and amaze you with its scale and ambition. Whether it lives up to its aims remains to be seen but whatever happens the side effects should be positive and interesting. This is taken from Creative Wolverhampton:
From off the streets of Wolverhampton comes the Silke Collective. A group of like-minded, inspired individuals, working together to lead fulfilling, creative lives. Members of the 200 strong collective share resources, ideas and initiatives in order to gain visibility in a notoriously difficult part of the country. Artists, in particular, find themselves leaving university with huge debts and very little chance of paying them back through the profession for which they trained. The collective hopes to improve this situation.
Anyone can join the collective, as long as they are willing to help in its success. It is currently considering art exhibitions, music promotions, publishing and even a regular bazaar of small businesses, artists and crafts-persons.
They currently use the Wolverhampton Little Civic as their drop-in and the first official but very informal meeting is on May 26 between 10am and 3pm. There will also be a small exhibition of art, film and photography alongside readings and poetry recitals. In the downstairs café-bar there will be a book-sale specialising in literary fiction and books to inspire creativity. Everyone is welcome.
Issue 6 of Ten 4, the magazine of emerging creative talent published by Channel 4 and produced here in Birmingham, is now out. The theme of this issue is “Issues” and as usual a number of the article are online. You can buy Ten 4 in Virgin and Borders stores or pick it up for free at various arty outlets like the Custard Factory or Jibbering Records. Alternatively, if you’re really lazy, they do mail order.
From Birmingham Words:
Local writer Jon Hartless has just had his second novel, An Officer and a Blob, appear at Double Dragon Publishing, an online publisher specialising in science fiction and fantasy. The site offers each of its books in a variety of digital download formats, and has recently added a paperback option to its range of titles, made possible by the advances in print-on-demand technology.
The paperback is actually supplied by Lulu.com who seem to be cornering the POD market. A hard copy of Jon’s novel will set you back £10.46 while a download from Double Dragon is $5.99 (about £3).
The market for ebooks is small right now but will explode in the next few years as technology catches up so aspiring novelists would do well to examine how outfits like Double Dragon operate even if they’re not writing sci-fi.
I was chatting to Fay Goodman of Goodmedia the other night and she’s a nice person. Whether that counts for anything is up to you but I think niceness is an underrated thing these days.
Goodmedia, based in Yardly, are a TV/Film and music production company who’ve put out work about, amongst other things, John Entwistle and martial arts, the latter of which Fay turns out to be something of a master at. Lucky she’s a nice person then!
The Night Times is a free 16 page tabloid covering the Birmingham club scene. I’ve seen this sort of thing before but it’s usually national and therefore quite London-centric. Bars are reviewed, club nights photographed, DJs interviewed, opinions spilt and the centre pages is a pull out calendar.
I picked up my copy at Old Skool Daze in Selly Oak but I’d imagine it’s available city wide.
No website to speak of so email info@thenighttimes.com or call 0121 440 4691 for more info.
