‘Tis the Season!

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Faithful followers may have noticed that we haven’t posted since the death of Gourmet magazine. No, we’ve not been in a state of prolonged public mourning. While we hate to see magazines whither, we have just been too busy to post. Yes, busy!

The office has been humming with new work, responding to (and winning) RFPs, and hiring. Yes, hiring! In the New Year, we’ll send out our quarterly news, @Leibowitz, with all the details about our new work from clients, old and new, as well introduce you to the new people at Leibowitz Communications.

Truly faithful followers may have noticed that we’re not having our holiday blowout. This year, we’re focusing on team building and keeping it low-key with an employee only dinner. Our business certainly felt the pinch of the recession this past year and our team buckled down and pulled for each other. Time to party as a family. Next year, we will bring back the DJ and 200 of our closest clients and supporters!

Look for our holiday card in the mail. It’s a very fun look at what we love about the season. You remember mail, right?

Peace!

Paul

The End of an Era: Magazine of Big Eats Eaten

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With a heavy heart, I, and the entire media world, report that the truffle of a magazine, Gourmet, The Magazine of Good Living and food porn, has succumbed to the tragic, yet predicted, fate of most big-budget print publications. Keeping with past and current market trends (the previous losses of  Portfolio, Mogue and even popularity queen Domino), the outcome should have been obvious, but, after years of Gourmet’s consistent servitude on my mother’s coffee table and my own skepticism towards glossy print, I must admit, that even I was shocked. I’m not going to go into the economic downturn blahblahblah, but suffice it to say that it wasn’t that the magazine wasn’t widely subscribed to; Its overall profitability was called into question after it failed to produce adequate advertising revenues. Gourmet Magazine, we barely knew ye.

With the popularity of DVR and Firefox no-ad plugins, today’s users, movers and shakers don’t need to look at advertisements they don’t want to see. To pace and outwit the new and improved cynical and savvy consumer of today, advertising has gone forward with digital, viral, and subliminal methods. In short, ads are progressing with smarter, more efficient ways of getting into the psyche, which no longer include increasingly-dated print (see: kindle).

The New York Times said it best when they observed, “The age of the big, bold new magazine to fill a hole in the printed marketplace is over. Publishers will now spend their days cutting costs at remaining titles to compete in a new world of commoditized advertising, no matter how luxurious the context, doing battle against digital upstarts that have none of the legacy costs of traditional publishers. Older titles need to justify their existence, and new ones? There may not be any.”

As much as I would love it to be, now is not the time for nostalgia, but for embracing the future and all the possibility that lay ahead. Dry those tears; For the moment, print still has a place in advertising and journalism. But the inevitable fall of this 68 year old juggernaut is enough to get one pondering: Where, if anywhere, has the print-journalism-as-entertainment industry gone wrong? Did it run its natural course? What is the future of advertising? What lies ahead for print?

I, for one, am not adverse to finding the answers over Greek-Spiced Lamb Chops with Creamy Dill Spinach and an old copy of the magazine. However, don’t be surprised if all we end up with is question mark tea and speculation krumpets. Gourmet Magazine was too beautiful for this world. RIP, Gourmet.

Uppercase Magazine

As a self-professed magazine addict, this past year (which included the folding of some of my favorite publications, like Domino for example) has been a pretty huge disappointment. However, the silver lining has Uppercase Magazine, a new quarterly art and design publication. Created and published by Uppercase, a design studio/blog/gallery/shop based out of Calgary, the magazine features written and photo essays, DIY projects, artist and designer profiles and lots of other features that appeal to the “creative and curious”. Over the last several months it’s definitely become a publication whose arrival I look forward to, and each issue has greatly improved upon the last. If it sounds like something you’d be interested in, you can purchase single issues or a subscription right here.

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Soft-Maps

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Now that is FREEZING in the city there is no better time to invest in a new quilt. Soft-Maps are quilted maps of neighborhoods, parks and cities. These maps are meant to be used and kept close to your heart. You can purchase Brooklyn neighborhoods of Fort Greene, Brooklyn Heights, Dumbo, Williamsburg, Carroll Gardens/Cobble Hill, Boerum Hill, Red Hook, and Park Slope a la carte at the Brooklyn Flea or have your own town, neighborhood, college campus, state, country, etc. designed and custom made just for you!

The Daily Heller

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Every day I receive an email from one of my favorite writers about design and design history, Steven Heller. Steven Heller has been writing for Print Magazine for a long time and even though he had written that he was not interested in a blog, he’s been blogging daily for Print for over two years.

I met Mr. Heller when I was fresh out of school. He was one of my first interviews and I was very nervous to have this prolific writer and observer of design review my portfolio. It turned out to be an amazing experience. I was pleasantly shocked that he was spending so much time with me, listening intently as I presented every piece. I had no idea how the interview would end up. When I was done, he flipped through the pages one more time, zipped up my portfolio and said something like “Don’t ever use Benguiat again, it’s a silly typeface and you have good portfolio, you’ll soon get a good job.” I was elated and the experience was a huge, huge confidence builder.

I had scheduled two interviews that day. The second was with Irving Miller, a very accomplished designer who had worked at CBS with Bill Golden, designer of the CBS Eye logo. After CBS, Irving went on to have a great solo career and I admired his work. One hour after Steven Heller said I would get a good job, I did. Irving hired me on the spot and I was on my way. Thank you Mr. Heller!

Knitting Inspiration

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One of my favorite knitting blogs is Brooklyn Tweed, by the talented knitter Jared Flood. His photos are beautiful and a great source of inspiration. Admittedly I’m hesitant to try out his patterns myself, just because of the incredible detail and intricacy, but it’s something to aspire to…

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He’s recently teamed up with Classic Elite Yarns to publish a collection of original patterns, Made in Brooklyn. I have to say, I really like them all! I love the softness of his photography, and the way his color palette blends so well with the Brooklyn backdrop. I’m excited to check out the book!

Fall at the Met

I’ve written about exhibitions at the Met in the past, and I think another trip to the Met in the near future is a good idea. Before Maelstrom and Vermeer are over November 29th, head uptown and check them out. Start with the Vermeer exhibit, which is located on the bottom floor. The Milkmaid, the highlight of the exhibition, is here on loan from Amsterdam for the first time since the World’s Fair in 1939. It’s quite a remarkable piece and well worth the trip to see it. After all, it might not be back in the U.S. for another 70 years.

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Next, head up the elevator to the roof garden and have a drink amidst Roxy Paine’s Maelstrom. The experience is meant to emerge the viewer in what seems like a storm or force of nature. When walking through, it’s also apparent that the sculpture could also be tree roots or industrial piping.

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For those of you who haven’t been to the Met in awhile, the American wing is now reopened, and looking quite different.

New and coming soon: Time your trip right and you can see all of the above, as well as this years annual Christmas tree, on display starting November 24th. Next year, gear up for the Met’s first exclusively Picasso exhibition with over 150 works from the museum’s permanent collection, starting April 20th.

Daily Drop Cap

Who doesn’t love a good drop cap? Daily Drop Cap is a project created by designer, typographer and illustrator, Jessica Hische. Each day she will post a new hand-crafted initial cap with instructions on how to use it in your website or blog. Check out some of my favorites below!

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Pioneers of Change

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Last weekend I visited Pioneers of Change in Governors Island. This art/design show that went through for 2 weekends, showcased a modern interpretation on Dutch art and design. Exhibits were everything from a hands-on fix-your-own-clothes workshop to a Go Slow cafe that aimed to criticize the modern fast paced society we live in nowadays, where details and processes are not appreciated.

It was conceived and Curated by Renny Ramakers, co-founder and director of Droog, which had the obvious pop-up store where I got this fantastic set of porcelain glasses :)!

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Mad Men - The Real Story

Like most people, I am very excited that Mad Men is well into its third season. I got the first season for Christmas and have been hooked ever since. Aside from the gorgeous styling and art direction, the excellent acting and the great looking cast, by most counts, it’s a pretty realistic glimpse into a creative agency in 1960s New York City. The layered story lines manage to look deeply into the characters’ lives and their environments. Much of the hype is over the clothes or the extremely detailed styling. I myself find it interesting that, unlike a lot of shows set in the workplace, they actually do talk about the work and its challenges.

This slideshow from FastCompany.com outlined a bunch of real life campaigns that were discussed on Mad Men in previous episodes. Many of these brands served as the backbone for arcs within the show (either using the real product or a similar stand in). The Mad Men writers have taken liberties with the actual campaigns - some are very similar to their real life counterparts (a lipstick brand, Lucky Strike cigarettes), while others take new, different approaches (Utz, Playtex).

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It’s impressive that the writers not only craft the plots for the shows but also have mini-branding projects as part of the process. Everything is painstakingly researched and it’s beginning to get even more interesting as the political and social environment of the 1960s shifts as the story continues.