For a little while I’ve been mulling over how I might dip my toes into the world of zine/art book fairs and festivals, especially now that I’ve amassed a decent catalog of original books, zines, prints, and other objects.So when the call went out a couple months back for applications for the annual SF Zine Fest, it seemed like the opportunity I was looking for. Local. One day. A bit more chill than the SF Art Book Fair. Perfect, really.
Although initially waitlisted, earlier this week I got word that a spot had opened up and am now confirmed to exhibit at the event on Sunday, September 6th at The Hibernia in San Francisco. I’m equal parts excited and nervous, but as they say — nothing ventured, nothing gained.
If you happen to be around the Bay Area that weekend, come on by. I’ll have the full shop available — and, with a little luck, at least one or two new exclusives.
And of course a big pile of shiny Matter Editions stickers :)
Reply via e-mail or follow me at @scottboms@typo.social on Mastodon.
]]>I’d like to think of printed publications, posters or zines as not necessarily the end product trying to convince anyone of anything, but rather as “working towards establishing conditions for the co-production of meaning.”
Eva Weinmayr
I was caught totally off-guard when I encountered this quote from Eva Weinmayr’s brief essay, One Publishes to Find Comrades1. It succinctly states the underlying premise that ties together my work from the Analog Lab — and effectively everything I’ve produced since. It’s right at the heart of what I’m trying to imbue in everything from Matter Editions.
For me, the opportunity in making things is to create conditions for someone else to want to take that thing and reflect on it to find their own meaning and conclusions through it; to become equally involved in the process of creation, assigning their own value to the object or artifact.
I found a comrade in Eva’s writing. And each time someone connects with something I’ve made, I find yet more.
Footnotes
- Weinmayr, Eva. One Publishes to Find Comrades*, 2014. ↩
Reply via e-mail or follow me at @scottboms@typo.social on Mastodon.
]]>Art & Design
Creating the space and ecosystem for play takes a massive effort and a light touch at the same time. You can’t engineer it. You can only forget about trying to play, and then it happens.
It works whether you’re on your own or working with someone else, and boy howdy, when I get them, those moments are the always best part of my day.The Japanese are just — they’re better at being human.
This quote from comedian Jim Gaffigan rings very true for me having just returned from Japan recently. Evidence of genuine care is deeply broken in this country, and certainly in how tech companies treat those who keep them afloat.- I’m surprised to not know of an equivalent place as the Media Archaeology Lab in the Bay Area since that seems like such a logical fit, but maybe it’s the general lack of self-awareness and introspection in much of tech…
- ColorSym is really quite clever though I’ve so far struggled to figure out where or how I might use a system like this in a real-world situation.
- Kelli Anderson is working on a new book. Unsurprisingly it’s a paper pop-up book, but one that builds on an old project of hers that is slowly becoming something substantial and deeply impressive.
- I’m patiently waiting for the Open Printer project to, ahem, open up. I’d love a solution for roll printing in this kind of format.
- I’m losing faith in PRINT between lackluster writing and an uptick in its usage of Dickbars, but Doug Wilson wrote a thing that is absolutely worth your time — and much more enjoyable in Reader Mode. How ALL CAPS Lost It's Voice.
- On the other hand, I’m pleased there seems to be signs of life in Flat File from the Herb Lubalin Study Center.
- Rob is a (I believe the term is) mensch and the archive he’s built continues to be an immense resource for designers that are both local to its brick and mortar space and able to engage with it remotely.
- I probably need a subscription to Pencil Magazine.
Type of Note
- Lingo’s gentle and generous curves embody classical traditions with unexpected idiosyncratic treatments in the simple, unassuming form of a workhorse serif.
- Upon seeing Monoform, my mind immediately went to the SF MUNI logo, yet this is something more. Like stackable parts, you can see how the design is built from what came before in the 60s and 70s. A lot of fun to be had.
- Carrying on from Monoform, you can’t go wrong with the psychedellic 70’s vibe captured perfectly in Franke.
- Rizo has some hutzpah, and maybe not entirely my cup of tea, I appreciate it’s distinctly contemporary style that no doubt millennials will fall all over.
- Jamie Clarke’s Reel mixes its upper- and lower-case characters together, creating a lovely crisp, square-ish, but still human family of sans-serif letterforms that would feel just right in packaging, posters, or expressive editorial layouts.
- The liquid-like strokes throughout Constrictor by Fred Shallcrass is refreshing and elegantly calm. It feels loose yet has purpose and direction.
- Onica cuts like a knife, full of sharp edges, wedges, and extreme calligraphic angles in a tight little 2 style package. I hope we see expansion beyond a single regular weight.
- I can’t say I’ve ever really loved Optima, or at least never found a great use for it myself, but DualType’s take on sign painter Mike Steven’s interpretation called San José, has me searching for something to use their version in.
- John Downer’s newly released Franglais somehow feels like the most John Downer typeface possible. I can feel his painterly hand in every little bit of it.
- Look out Trajan, GD Trio is coming for the crown.
One More Thing
I can’t say I ever expected to see Gillian Anderson do an ad for LEGO, yet here we are in the year 2026 — and I want to believe. The Truth is (Still) Out There.
I started assembling this issue over a month ago and have found myself either distracted by other work (I released a new zine recently and have 2 more in the works), or life, or just feeling like I needed a break from so much bad news on the internet. The world is kind of a bummer all around right now so it’s tough to feel like any of this actually matters. But here we are, and maybe I should get started on the next one sooner than later.
Reply via e-mail or follow me at @scottboms@typo.social on Mastodon.
]]>
I had an idea for a zine that would capture my collection of failed Polaroids. Failed for numerous reasons — outright bad film packs (it happens, or rather used to back in the more experimental Impossible days), expired film, or even mechanical camera issues with my SX-70 at the time. It’s taken almost 3 years to find its form after numerous failed attempts and going in circles with approaches that didn’t work or just didn’t make sense.
Of course, the minimalist approach which I must have subconsciously been avoiding is what clicked, leaving me now in the enviable position1 of having a weekend’s worth of folding, stapling, and cutting ahead of me to wrap up a small edition, and which frees me up to continue with the other two books that are currently in development.
Footnotes
- Enviable in my mind because it means time away from a screen and working with my hands. ↩
Reply via e-mail or follow me at @scottboms@typo.social on Mastodon.
]]>Once we have surrendered our senses and nervous systems to the private manipulation of those who would try to benefit from taking a lease on our eyes and ears and nerves, we don’t really have any rights left.
Marshall McLuhan
Right now, a good number of companies (I don’t need to name them, you know who they are) seem hell-bent on taking this a step further and going straight for the whole package — eyes, ears, nerves, and ultimately our minds. The real trick will be when these same people come along with the solution to the problems they inflicted on us in the first place. There has to be a way out of this vicious cycle, but if anything feels true, it’s that the cost will increase indefinitely the longer it takes to tell them “enough.”
Footnotes
McLuhan, Marshall. Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man (Critical Edition). Gingko Press, 1994. p 99.
Reply via e-mail or follow me at @scottboms@typo.social on Mastodon.
]]>
I’m working on several zine/book projects at the moment, and now have the first in production. It’s only taken about four years of second guessing, losses of momentum, and restarts to get to here, but it’s finally found a form that works. Of course, stripping the idea back to the bare metal is what helped it finally click. The plan, as much as there is one, is to have this and at least one more ready in time for SF Zine Fest in September, though whether that means anything is contingent on whether I get past the waitlist for a table.
I’m also re-considering a second printing of the long-out-of-print Simple Sabotage Field Manual as well, possibly even the (currently) abandoned redesign and expanded version. The exciting ones (to me at least) are the other two not specifically mentioned.
Reply via e-mail or follow me at @scottboms@typo.social on Mastodon.
]]>
I’ve barely had time to look at the hundreds of photos I took while in Japan since we’ve been back, but my eye caught this one today from the deer park in Nara, one of the most naturally charming places I’ve maybe ever visited. It’s a good reminder that there’s beauty to be found in the little, often and easily ignored moments in a day. You just have to slow down and look.
I needed that today. And come on — look at how beautiful that manhole cover is!
Reply via e-mail or follow me at @scottboms@typo.social on Mastodon.
]]>A tool that shields us from the friction of the work is compelling, but if we don’t experience the friction, we will never change the work.
Rutherford Craze
In my mind, earlier consideration of disruption from digital tools now seems so quaint and naïve by comparison to the effects of so-called “artificial intelligence” on traditional human-centric creative processes. Rutherford makes a clear, cogent case for why keeping humans at the center is critical. He goes on to astutely note, How dare we abandon so many countless traditions and people and ideas and nuances, simply because they are underrepresented in the training data?
While I’ve seen some value in these tools, I can’t help but feel “the ick” in how they’re being used to re-shape the nature of how designers and artists create work — and in who gains the most from the growing entrenchment of these tools. Then there’s the ongoing question of when the bottom will fall out from it all.
Reply via e-mail or follow me at @scottboms@typo.social on Mastodon.
]]>Japanese craft is rooted in specificity. Each object and solution is considered in its own context. That mindset often prioritizes appropriateness over efficiency and precision over scale.
Kyosuke Nishida
Having just returned from 12 days in Japan, immersed in their incredible history and culture, this quote from creative director Kyosuke Nishida feels both apt and also true. Westerners could learn a lot from how the Japanese approach not just design, but infrastructure, community, and shared responsibilities. It might not come as a surprise, but it was an eye-opening, meaningful, and rewarding trip on many levels — and made it hard to return to our adopted home.
It’s a shame that Western companies and governmental priorities are almost entirely driven by efficiency and capitalist ideals, because we all lose out as a result.
Reply via e-mail or follow me at @scottboms@typo.social on Mastodon.
]]>
I suspect I’m going to return from Japan with a lot of photos of temples and little architecture details since that’s what I find myself gravitating towards when traveling. This trip is already proving to be a good source of photos to (finally) start fiddling with the Aphera beta, which immediately made me want to erase all memory of Lightroom from my archives.
Location Info
Senso-ji Temple, first built in 942 AD before being destroyed in 1945 and rebuilt in 1973.
Reply via e-mail or follow me at @scottboms@typo.social on Mastodon.
]]>