Alright, looking for a bit of archinect-charity here.
I'm working with a group of students that are interested in starting a school publication at my institute of employment. I'd like to collect some examples to show as precedent, but have limited funds of my own to purchase them with. I was hoping anyone with older examples that are worth looking at would like to donate them to the cause... all I can really offer is the thanks of myself and approx. 15 students and maybe a thanks in the first issue when it comes out eventually.
Advice (for either myself or the students) would be greatly appreciated also!
If anyone is interested, drop me an email and I can send you a mailing address. Thanks in advance for even reading this.
Pixel glad to see you are still alive. I'll see if I can get a copy of AXIS - Journal of the Caribbean School of Architecture sent your way, the editor is always keen to extend the knowledge
still alive, just busy with a variety of things. kinda nice to know that someone noticed I wasn't around.
I'd love to get a copy of Axis, that would be great! I want to make sure the students understand that there is a tradition in architecture magazines to take into consideration.
i had this thought after reading this last night, for what it's worth:
an institution may want their student publication to be an attractive representation of the work produced at the school. there's nothing wrong with that. if the college or school is funding the publication, you may be bound to make something that has the primary motive of being a public relations tool. again, those kinds of things are needed, but i'm not certain that a student-run publication is the best place for it...unless of course that's what the students want to make.
that said, if a student magazine attempts to be a critical document that tries to participate in architectural discourse (through the curation of content, theme, general character etc), it may seem naive in the end. this is true especially if the content is directed by undergraduate students (even of the highest caliber).
my opinion - although the attempt to be critical in this way can be clumsy, it's a useful exercise. the students involved will get more out of it, and the dialogue it creates will be meaningful, not superficial.
...
that aside...
who's paying for it? do they have an interest in the nature of the content, appearance, etc.?
will you have ads in the magazine?
what will be the driving force / main source of content? studio work? if so, getting students to submit their stuff on time, in the proper format etc. is a challenge. we would go to the weekly gallery installation to check studio work out, and go directly to the students that had the best stuff, asking them to submit. this was in addition to asking professors to get the best projects from their studio together. we also put posters and stuff up...actually, we had a 'propagandist' that was solely responsible for generating interest and excitement via posters and other less expected media events.
for images - we had a person on the crew that was responsible for taking crappy scans and photographs of work and using photoshop to make them look their best.
for text - we had a script editor that checked all text for grammar, spelling, and overall clarity. in some cases, she worked with authors to improve their submissions.
soliciting submissions, managing them, deciding what you want to use, and making it magazine-ready takes a lot of effort.
Yea I'd have to second AP advice there. AXIS has about 50/50 input from staff/students but is controlled by an editor and board. The board has one student on it who also handles formating and initial work selection. It takes alot of work, that unless you have a committed crew can go to high hell fast
All great points that I'll pass along to the students. This is still very much up in the air: a professor was approached by a group of interested students and I was pulled in for various reasons. Right now the students are organizing themselves and starting to form ideas on what exactly the publication should be. I'd personally like it to be a critical document, but I'm not a student involved in the project. As far as funding, editors, sources etc. that is still undecided since we're extremely early in the process - one meeting last week. I just would like to open some eyes to the possibilities through examples of what others have done.
remember to ask the university if there are funds available (not just the school of architecture / art). oftentimes if you are a "student organization" there is money that can be used to "enrich the university as a whole". these projects usually qualify.
good point emaze. Architrave was primarily funded by student government through a previously established student organization. that involved some bureaucratic process, but we had someone within the school that was already involved in student government, so he gladly took on those responsibilities. the rest of our funds came from selling ad-space. in one instance, the school 'bought' issues from us, both to help fund a particularly expensive issue, and to have dibs on a few boxes for pr.
i help run a student publication/newsletter. i'm not sure it really falls into the category you're looking for, but it may help. we just are provided with free copies from the school each month and print on 11x17s, manually folding every paper. trace
we're actually in the works of producing an actual publication along the lines of what you speak of. it's still in brainstorming, but i will inform you of anything. if you're interested in how we structure the process of trace, let me know.
pixel. i know that Wentworth puts out their slick newsletter, so they may already have the resources, or the contacts set up to make this happen at an affordable price.
i like your idea that the publication being a critical document (at least partially) as i feel that might serve to fill a gap at the institution.
reading AP's post, i am inclined to think of the Harvard Design Magazine, which i know is not put out by the students, but it is a perfect example of a collegiate newsletter engaging in a critical discourse.
One thought i had, which may or may not be good is:
instead of engaging only the top students, perhaps there could be an entire studio set up around this publication... such as: a discourse is identified and project formulated - students not only draw / design, but are required to write... The instructor will write the introduction to the article, and frame the arguement, which is supplemented by the students writings, drawings and designs.
the guest critics could also write / contribute to the discourse, perhaps writing conclusions and/or even the publication of their comments on students work...
This would require the critics to be somewhat involved in the studio, making several visits - and could be a way for the institution to attract higher profile critics. (maybe
cln1:
thanks for the feedback. seeing if we can get support from other areas of the school and if we can turn it into an elective are all things that are being considered. you seem to be familiar with and have opinions on the school, care to elaborate?
Arch. school publications
Alright, looking for a bit of archinect-charity here.
I'm working with a group of students that are interested in starting a school publication at my institute of employment. I'd like to collect some examples to show as precedent, but have limited funds of my own to purchase them with. I was hoping anyone with older examples that are worth looking at would like to donate them to the cause... all I can really offer is the thanks of myself and approx. 15 students and maybe a thanks in the first issue when it comes out eventually.
Advice (for either myself or the students) would be greatly appreciated also!
If anyone is interested, drop me an email and I can send you a mailing address. Thanks in advance for even reading this.
PS- I have the 2 issues of Pidgin already.
Pixel glad to see you are still alive. I'll see if I can get a copy of AXIS - Journal of the Caribbean School of Architecture sent your way, the editor is always keen to extend the knowledge
architechnophilia:
still alive, just busy with a variety of things. kinda nice to know that someone noticed I wasn't around.
I'd love to get a copy of Axis, that would be great! I want to make sure the students understand that there is a tradition in architecture magazines to take into consideration.
already been in touch with AP, but thanks!
hey pixel,
i had this thought after reading this last night, for what it's worth:
an institution may want their student publication to be an attractive representation of the work produced at the school. there's nothing wrong with that. if the college or school is funding the publication, you may be bound to make something that has the primary motive of being a public relations tool. again, those kinds of things are needed, but i'm not certain that a student-run publication is the best place for it...unless of course that's what the students want to make.
that said, if a student magazine attempts to be a critical document that tries to participate in architectural discourse (through the curation of content, theme, general character etc), it may seem naive in the end. this is true especially if the content is directed by undergraduate students (even of the highest caliber).
my opinion - although the attempt to be critical in this way can be clumsy, it's a useful exercise. the students involved will get more out of it, and the dialogue it creates will be meaningful, not superficial.
...
that aside...
who's paying for it? do they have an interest in the nature of the content, appearance, etc.?
will you have ads in the magazine?
what will be the driving force / main source of content? studio work? if so, getting students to submit their stuff on time, in the proper format etc. is a challenge. we would go to the weekly gallery installation to check studio work out, and go directly to the students that had the best stuff, asking them to submit. this was in addition to asking professors to get the best projects from their studio together. we also put posters and stuff up...actually, we had a 'propagandist' that was solely responsible for generating interest and excitement via posters and other less expected media events.
for images - we had a person on the crew that was responsible for taking crappy scans and photographs of work and using photoshop to make them look their best.
for text - we had a script editor that checked all text for grammar, spelling, and overall clarity. in some cases, she worked with authors to improve their submissions.
soliciting submissions, managing them, deciding what you want to use, and making it magazine-ready takes a lot of effort.
...
Yea I'd have to second AP advice there. AXIS has about 50/50 input from staff/students but is controlled by an editor and board. The board has one student on it who also handles formating and initial work selection. It takes alot of work, that unless you have a committed crew can go to high hell fast
All great points that I'll pass along to the students. This is still very much up in the air: a professor was approached by a group of interested students and I was pulled in for various reasons. Right now the students are organizing themselves and starting to form ideas on what exactly the publication should be. I'd personally like it to be a critical document, but I'm not a student involved in the project. As far as funding, editors, sources etc. that is still undecided since we're extremely early in the process - one meeting last week. I just would like to open some eyes to the possibilities through examples of what others have done.
remember to ask the university if there are funds available (not just the school of architecture / art). oftentimes if you are a "student organization" there is money that can be used to "enrich the university as a whole". these projects usually qualify.
good point emaze.
Architrave was primarily funded by student government through a previously established student organization. that involved some bureaucratic process, but we had someone within the school that was already involved in student government, so he gladly took on those responsibilities. the rest of our funds came from selling ad-space. in one instance, the school 'bought' issues from us, both to help fund a particularly expensive issue, and to have dibs on a few boxes for pr.
Here are digital copies of past issues of NJIT's Studio Magazine:
http://web.njit.edu/~studio/
thanks Medusa!
I worked a bit on this [my good friends were the editors of vol 28] at Kansas State University.
oz journal
i help run a student publication/newsletter. i'm not sure it really falls into the category you're looking for, but it may help. we just are provided with free copies from the school each month and print on 11x17s, manually folding every paper. trace
we're actually in the works of producing an actual publication along the lines of what you speak of. it's still in brainstorming, but i will inform you of anything. if you're interested in how we structure the process of trace, let me know.
as always, thanks! links to sites are great because I can just email them out.
pixel. i know that Wentworth puts out their slick newsletter, so they may already have the resources, or the contacts set up to make this happen at an affordable price.
i like your idea that the publication being a critical document (at least partially) as i feel that might serve to fill a gap at the institution.
reading AP's post, i am inclined to think of the Harvard Design Magazine, which i know is not put out by the students, but it is a perfect example of a collegiate newsletter engaging in a critical discourse.
One thought i had, which may or may not be good is:
instead of engaging only the top students, perhaps there could be an entire studio set up around this publication... such as: a discourse is identified and project formulated - students not only draw / design, but are required to write... The instructor will write the introduction to the article, and frame the arguement, which is supplemented by the students writings, drawings and designs.
the guest critics could also write / contribute to the discourse, perhaps writing conclusions and/or even the publication of their comments on students work...
This would require the critics to be somewhat involved in the studio, making several visits - and could be a way for the institution to attract higher profile critics. (maybe
just a thought.
cln1:
thanks for the feedback. seeing if we can get support from other areas of the school and if we can turn it into an elective are all things that are being considered. you seem to be familiar with and have opinions on the school, care to elaborate?
i am an alumni.
2000
and..... ill email you
pixel.
i sent you an email and it bounced back as 'undeliverable' if you didnt receive, send me your address
hmmmm.... interesting. I know the account is working, not sure whats up.
Block this user
Are you sure you want to block this user and hide all related comments throughout the site?
Archinect
This is your first comment on Archinect. Your comment will be visible once approved.