News

Opium Magazine Issue 5 "Bad Company" is now on sale on this site and at Opium Magazine online. It's a beautiful thing. A series of spreads inside contrast photography and art with aphorisms on celebrity. The issue features "Dead Boys," the title story of Richard Lange's book, an interview with William Gibson, and winners of the 500-word-memoir contest judged by Daniel Handler, author of the book series, A Series of Unfortunate Events. Visit Opium's site to submit for the next issue.

An anthology I edited and designed will be available any minute from So New Publishing. The book is What Happened to Us These Last Couple Years? It includes personal essays, diaries, emails, short fiction, poetry, photography, art, and more from 33 contributors. Notably, the book will be a handmade hardcover, assembled by obsession, bound with love.

Thanks to a January posting on Boing Boing, my Dead Bug Funeral Kit has infested the blogosphere, even popping up on Make Magazine's blog. Thanks to all those bought a kit!

I have written essays for AIGA's Voice: Designer Snakes, Forever Skull, X for All or Nothing, A Scanner and a Mission, Carnage for Kids, Man and WIHF. Don't worry if you don't read them now. I'm collecting my design writing and design humor and much more into a new book. Read it all then.

Recent interviews, one from December 2007 about the creative life, and one from fall 2007 about being an at-home dad and writer at Metro Parent.

American Mutt (Emigre, 2005) has been excerpted in Looking Closer 5 and the Uncertain States of America Reader.

Coming soon for sale on this site will be 8x10 Art Prints. The Art Prints are inspired by suburban home life (no surprise there). They pay homage to those homey maxims people put up in kitchen, laundry, and bathroom, which is still where these are intended, but they have been updated with wit and sass for today. How's that sound? Well, wait and see anyway. At right is an example: "Laugh once a day! But wait until something's funny!"

There might also be some new projects in the realm of the handmade, the zine, the kit. Ideas are in. Execution is in process....

Reader Response

"Great article. I read Emigre 68 and it was awesome! You are certifiably nuts... and I mean that in the best way possible! I hope everything goes well; you are a very talented individual!"_Nick Cottrell

"I read your novel of a letter to the editor in Emigre and loved every bit of it."_Wade Sherrard

"Reading Writing Isn't Fun and I'm blown away. This thing is sooooo good, so well put together. It really should be required reading for everyone who wants to be a writer. Great stuff."_Bob Sassone

"You're doing a great job with Opium! I love the design, the material, all of it!"_Kim Chinquee

"Did any of the type nerds out there receive Emigre's latest type catalog? I've always adored their quarterly mailings, but The Little Book of Love Letters was so phenomenal I carry it around with me in my purse."_Jordan Hale, posting on MetaFilter.

"Great writing. Real. Humorous. Creative. Full of the energy of life. And so current. Loved this sentence: 'I wish I could go to Costco or Wal-Mart and buy a family setup like that, something like one of those party canopies you unzip and toss in the air and, by the time it hits, the thing has unfolded its legs and landed squarely on the bright green lawn of your expectations, shading you and yours from the harsh glare of freakin’ reality.' Awesome. Keep it up!"_Rosemary W.

"Brilliant article. It warms my heart to hear there are still down-to-earth people in this world!"_Robin K.

"What a thoughtful, well-written post. Kudos to you for framing this argument so well."_Smarmy

"Holy ... cow! I don't know what to say, except what a wonderful post. It's refergraphalicious!"_Marian Bantjes

"The coupons and catalog pages and the aphorisms were all brilliant, all so very good. And most of all, incredibly original. You laid down the groundwork for a different aesthetic and followed it completely. Congratulations on making something so cool that people are going to love."_John L.

"I got the most amazing package in the mail today. I was standing at my kitchen table for a good 45 minutes in one spot just looking over all of the stuff, skimming and flipping. This is outstanding. You are the coolest underground celebrity ever! Why are you so cool? You're not allowed to be. You're supposed to be stuck up!"_Ghazaleh Etezal

"Todd and I have not forgotten that you were the pioneer visionary and action man of this issue. You are a mad genius on jet fuel. Thank you for keeping us inspired."_Elizabeth Koch

"Good for you for doing what so many people dream of doing."_Cheryl Y.

"The number of people who took this story so personally fascinates me. I think the whole thing is very well put together. My comment to the author is: Well done!"_Lorenzo

"I love the first line of your article."_Fernando

"I was recently going over the Lathrup Village 50th Anniversary Yearbook. Ever since we delivered the last copies to residents two years ago, I haven't spent such quiet, quality time with the book. I found it gratifying that it was so well done! This year we ran into friends who used to live in Lathrup, and I was happy to give copies to their bridge club. They all reported back that they loved it and were so happy to have a copy. So it's appropriate to again tell you of our appreciation and gratitude for your help and professional talents in designing and creating such a wonderful keepsake. Thank you for your part in our successful adventure."_Jerald D. Stone