CONCEPT: 1000 Words

Here's a magazine concept. I would love to link original art with original prose in some sort of publication. 1000 Words would be a cross between a photography mag and a lit mag. Each page can either be 1000 words of prose (well, i suppose 1000 words of poetry would be OK too) or a photograph/artwork.

No exceptions.

Well, that's a lie. I envision a split page, where the top is 500 words and the bottom is 500 words. Or the top is 500 words and the bottom is half of a photo. The crop is arbitrary — it crops off the top half of a photo if it resides on the bottom, the bottom half if it resides on the top. (I'm envisioning something like Nikki S. Lee's "Parts" series, though done en masse.)

But doesn't that privilege a writer, who gets to shape his or her writing for for the 500 word limit? I think not. Photographers would know ahead of time that their work would be a half-photo, so they'd use the crop to enhance their work. Plus, the cut can be interesting and artistic. It adds a bit of randomness into the photo.

The page could further be split into 250 words / 1/4 photo, but I don't have a mockup of that. 

Every page must reside within a pre-determined margin. 

Since we know that each page is one (or two) new photos or stories, all information can be put into the page folios. If it's a two-fer, there's enough space in the margins on the bottom to give the same information. I haven't figured out the four-fer.

Covers and ads must also fit these requirements.

Here are a couple of cover ideas:

And a mockup of a Prada ad (with a photo of the Prada Marfa project for kicks).

Oh, and it would to be a bigger mag so that words are still legible — 12" by 10".

(Yes, it would be extremely hard to fund something like this.)

CONCEPT: Automatic CD Names

My good friend Bradley M. Colquitt rejected this idea for his band's new CD, so I feel totally OK putting this concept out there.

(I'm also working a brief little paper on function and design. This idea is sort of an aside to that paper.)

It seems ridiculous for bands to have to find names for CDs and tracks. It is assumed that the meaning of the song is not dependent on the track name. Musicians shouldn't have to take on additional responsibilities beyond Additionally, it seems ridiculous for listeners to have to remember track names in addition to album names. Ridiculous.

For this band, their first CD should be named "A." Their next CD should be named "B." So on, and so forth, until the twenty-sixth album is named "Z." Then, their twenty-seventh album should be "AA."

On each CD, each track should be named numerically, with a placeholder "0" for the first nine tracks.

For example, the band's second CD would have this tracklisting:

Ellipsis. B.
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11

If the band hits it big and has a huge discography, the time saved using this scheme could be enormous. We all know this scenario:

Me:
"I love Norwegian Wood. Amazing song. Sounds almost Indian, like Ravi Shankar or something."

Random person who doesn't know the Beatles very well:
"Oh. Hrm. Isn't that a Beatles song?"

Random person has absolutely NO IDEA where to find Norwegian Wood. He or she probably has no idea that its on Rubber Soul. Now say that the Beatles had used my numerical system:

Me:
"I love F02. Amazing song. Sounds almost Indian, like Ravi Shankar or something."

Random Person:
"Oh. Hrm. Isn't that a Beatles song?"

But now, Random person knows what CD the song is on, and also where exactly on the CD it is on. He doesn't have to remember that Norwegian Wood is the second track on Rubber soul. More functional information is conveyed through communication than before.

Here are a couple of quick drafts of the cover and back of the first album for a band called Ellipsis. Helvetica Neue (Neue Die Neue Haas Grotesk! A post about this to come.) is used for the both cover and back, at 36 pt for the first line, 120 for the cover's second line, and 60 for the back's second line. More to come.