Prototype for the putative Design Rock City Times, a self-commissioned and self-published broadsheet publication on design criticism. This first issue was produced during a visiting designers' weekend workshop with Project Projects. The Design Rock City Times will move the work from my Writing Design Criticism blog into the physical world of print.
Did you know that you can get a run of something like 5000 of your one- or two-color folded broadsheet paper from places like this? Newsprint is an ideal physical medium in which I can situate my critical work: the format doesn't necessitate the preciousness that traditional book work commands, making it ideal for commentary on design events and trends in the here-now. Aesthetically, my explorations with halftones (e.g. the dialogic poster remix and the F2 and OFR posters) play into this strategy.
This prototype edition makes use of Marian Bantjes' Restraint pattern/typeface system. It is mocked up as a two-color job with a four-color process central spread — the pictured copy was printed on an Epson 7000 inkjet. The features consist of an interview with textile designer Michael Radyk, and On Just, Awesomeness, and ™, an essay previously published on SpeakUp.
A downloadable PDF is available at DesignRockCity.com, which will eventually house the online component of the project.
