Self-Publishing

Even though book-publishing is going through rough times like most sectors of the printing industry, there is also a revolution that has has been going on for the past ten years or so.The change that I am referring to is the new reality of self-publishing. 


BLURB

YouTube link: youtu.be/Dz6JmmOL_SE

Credit: www.youtube.com/user/calumetphotonews
Website: www.blurb.com




Here are some links to websites where you can self-publish a book and have it printed in a small quantity. 

http://www.blurb.com/

http://www.lulu.com/

http://www.diggypod.com/

http://www.nobrow.net/

The possibilities are quite endless. You could publish a book of your vacation photos, you could use the best content from your online blog and have it printed, or you could even use it as a very professional piece for interviews and presentations. 

Helvetica

YouTube link: youtu.be/wkoX0pEwSCw

Credit: www.youtube.com/user/NewVideoDigital
Website: www.helveticafilm.com


Remember those old advertisements, "I wanna be like Mike?" Pretty much every typeface desires to be as popular and long-standing in our culture as Helvetica is. It is the superstar of the typography world! This documentary explores how this typeface has permeated our culture. Of course, the popularity of the Helvetica typeface has resulted in many foundries producing their own version of the font and invariably there are sometimes problems with multiple definitions of Helvetica clashing with one another. Such is life. Don't you hate it when your Helveticas clash?!? haha! 

Rounded Corners with InDesign CS5

The rounded corners options changed a bit in Adobe InDesign CS5. I found this great tutorial on the Layers magazine website:

layersmagazine.com

Street Art

The advent of street art has been one of the most exciting artistic movements in the past few decades. Of course, it has plenty of its roots in graffiti. However the game has been elevated far beyond the hobby of tagging a wall with a can of spray-paint. The new street artist might incorporate stickers, glue, and pre-prepared stencils to apply the work to the wall or object.

Here are some trailers for a couple of films that reveal some of what the street art movement is all about.

EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP
Banksy

YouTube link: youtu.be/a0b90YppquE
Credit: www.youtube.com/banksyfilm9
Website: www.banksyfilm.com

BEAUTIFUL LOSERS
Shepard Fairey, Ed Templeton, Jo Jackson,
Mike Mills, Margaret Kilgallen. . . 

This is a great documentary about Street Art and its roots in the DIY punk rock culture. Features a wide-array of artists.

YouTube link: www.youtube.com/beautifullosersfilm
Credit: www.youtube.com/beautifullosersfilm
Website: http://www.beautifullosers.com/

Here's some links to some well-known (or not) street artists. . . 

http://www.banksy.co.uk/

http://obeygiant.com/

http://www.space-invaders.com/

http://roadsworth.com

http://endlesscanvas.com/?tag=ras-terms

Property Trademarks

Property Trademarks are quite easy to overlook. However, they are very real and should be taken into consideration when selecting location photography.

One of the best examples is the Eiffel Tower. Any shot of it during the day time is fine to publish. During the night-time, the tower is illuminated, and the lighting scheme is copyrighted. But you can't publish photos of the illuminated Eiffel Tower in a for-profit/commercial manner. Editorial use is fine (like for the descriptive purposes of this blog). 

Ayers Rock is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Australia. But there are property rights owned by the indiginous Aboriginee tribes. Some commercial photography is allowed, but you must go through the application process to be allowed to do so.


Here's a short list of property trademarks:

1. Eiffel Tower (with lights on at night)
2. The Louvre in Paris (including the glass pyramids)
3. Ayers Rock in Australia
4. Inside the New York Stock Exchange
5. Any property owned by Disney
6. The Hollywood sign
7. Hollywood walk of stars
8. The Beverly Hills sign
9. The Lone Cypress Tree at Pebble Beach, CA
10. Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, OH
11. Stone Mountain in Georgia
12. The Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, TN
13. Chrysler Building in NYC
14. FlatIron Building in NYC
15. TransAmerica building in San Francisco, CA
16. Any specific property on the Las Vegas strip
17. The London Roundel logo for their subways


There are many, many more locations around the world that are property trademarked. It would be difficult to compile a comprehensive list. In general, a graphic designer (or anyone in the field of publishing) should become aware of this legal aspect to protect themselves and their clients. If you have a photo of a specific location, then it might be worth a little bit of research to find out if there is anything in the composition of the photo that is possibly licensed, copyrighted, or trademarked.

LinoType

The LinoType was a revolutionary machine at the time of its invention (1884). 
It allowed the user to set type by using a keyboard instead of setting the type manually. 

Vimeo link: www.vimeo.com/15032988
Credit: /www.vimeo.com/user4747369
Website: linotypefilm.com
Website: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linotype_machine

iStock

iStock has changed the world of stock photography. Recently it has started to do the same with video & audio. If you had asked me about iStock five years ago, my opinion was that it was a collection of peoples' vacation photos, and sometimes you could find a good  photo like a diamond in the rough. 

But times have changed, and iStock has grown up. In fact, the rise in popularity of iStock has threatened and/or re-defined the industry model of how stock photos are sourced and purchased.

Youtube link: http://youtu.be/kbsNaP1VyVw
Credit: http://www.youtube.com/user/iStockvideo


However, iStock has now been absorbed by Getty Images. The prices have gone up (but so has the quality). And Getty has made a big effort to reign-in some of the lax ethics of publishing and copyright laws that were occurring at iStock during its formative years.

In iStock's past, many photographers were allowed to sell images of people (where their likeness is distinguishable) without model releases. Similarly, many photos of famous landmarks were being sold, but the problem was that some of these sites were property trademarked and could not be published in a for-profit manner (only editorial use). Getty has definitely come in and applied some order to iStock. 

But the reason that Getty purchased iStock was because this new business model was threatening the way that the big three (Getty, Corbis, Superstock) do their business. In addition to owning iStock, Getty also owns another stock agency called Thinkstock. They are the other "microstock" site that has gained some traction in the marketplace. There is also a portion of iStock's collection that is available through Thinkstock. So as you can see, these upstarts are changing the face of the industry, but Getty is still king of the mountain because it has a hand in whatever plays out.

Will Corbis or Superstock rally their troops and come up with an answer to iStock & Thinkstock? Or is there another grassroots stock website that will challenge the model again, just like iStock did? And if so, will that start-up be bought-out by Getty as well.

And so it continues. . .