You want to see a very smart use of great design, photography and the technology of Blurb? I thought you might. Meet Nate Matos and Serif & Silver. I’m going to say this now, and I’m going to say this again and again. I CAN’T BELIEVE MORE PHOTOGRAPHERS AREN’T DOING THIS. Now, Nate is not your average bear. He can design, he can photograph, and clearly he is a man of purpose, but what he is doing is a taste of what is possible in the new age of visual storytelling. Now, if you look closely, I got copy 97 of 100. I almost missed out and would have had to wait for the subsequent issue had I not hit “BUY.” I love this. Just a set of 100. That’s it. And now that I KNOW there are only 100 copies, the next time I buy one of these things you KNOW I’m going to do it early. Nate also offers a copy with a print, for a bit more cashish, all done through his website, which is so easy and great. For the love of all things Holy I just keeping waiting for the “creative” industry to show a little creativity and do something like this on a far more common scale. There are a lot of people waiting for traditional media channels to give them so called validation, but I respect those who just do it and do it well. Do you think ANY publication out there would have afforded Nate this layout? Ah….no.
I did this exact same thing back in 2012 and sold 100 copies of my own magazine, and they sold all over the world. I remember thinking “Hmm, if I put some effort into this I think I could really do anything I want.” And this is ME people. I can’t design. I had no slick website to utilize. Still did it. What Nate is doing also screams for collaboration. Imagine putting out a call to your friends, “Hey, send me images about “X” and let’s do a magazine.”
Hopefully this post will not fall silent. Hopefully the torch has been passed. Well done Nate. Also, for those of you who love my high-pitched voice, you can listen to a podcast with Nate. here.
Comments 8
What a great find. I missed out on the final three copies but hope to catch up on the next quarterly issue.
Author
Larry(Alcatran),
Gotta move quick!
How timely – last Friday I was pitching the idea of starting a series of collaborative digests to our Visual Narratives critique group, including inviting guest artists for some issues. I’m sending this link to the group so they can get a better idea of what’s possible.
Author
Paul,
Magazine is PERFECT for that. And groups make a perfect setting for these babies. Printing forces you to think critically about your work. Makes you better, at least in my opinion.
Hey Daniel,
do you know is this blurb “economy magazine” with matte cover? I was bit disappointed when i ordered the premium one and there is this “semi gloss finish” for cover and it was waaay too glossy. So i was wondering how is the economy one.?For me the premium magazine looked even bit too smooth and it could be more ruff for the story. Or do you have some other place in mind that might have better options for photo magazine? My story is around 55-60 pages. Anyway this Serif & Silver looks dope!
Cheers.
Author
Jonne,
There are no matte covers, at least currently. Serif and Silver is premium paper with the standard cover, which is the semi-gloss looking style. Some people think it’s too glossy, others not glossy enough. Just know the matte cover will typically wear very quickly. It shows any type of abrasion, but some people like it. I saw a matte cover recently that was really marked up and it still looked good, at least in my mind.
Author
Jonne,
Not to confuse anyone. The economy mag comes with matte cover, but that matte may or may not be the matte you are asking for. Each person seems to have their own definition of matte, same for semi-gloss, pearl, luster, etc. Maybe this is why there are a hundred different types of inkjet paper.
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