July 1, 2009—New York, New York—The Art Directors Club (www.adcglobal.org), the premier organization for integrated media and the first global creative collective of its kind, presents—in collaboration with Colophon—a unique presentation and discussion about independent magazines entitled “The Future of Print”.

In recent years, an explosion of independent magazines has reinvigorated the medium of print. Freed from the constraints of the mainstream, independent magazines continually innovate and experiment for their devoted readers around the world. Energetic, groundbreaking, and unafraid these are magazines for readers who believe that print is still a vibrant medium. Colophon, in collaboration with the Art Directors Club investigates The Future of Print through a panel discussion featuring editors and publishers from Capricious, Print, Woooooo!, and The Nation. The Future of Print will be held on Wednesday, July 8th at the ADC in New York City.

To celebrate the launch of the new book We Make Magazines—Inside The Independents, published in conjunction with the Colophon Independent Magazine Biennale (www.colophon2009.com), Colophon and the Art Directors Club in New York presents a unique discussion event, exploring key issues around independent publishing with major figures from New York’s independent publishing scene. It’s an essential event for anyone interested in creative exploration, the future of print and the development of independent media brands.

The speakers include Sophie Mörner, founder and publisher, Capricious; Emily Gordon, editor-in-chief, Print, and Jason Crombie, editor and founder, Woooooo!. The panel led by Andrew Losowsky, Co-curator, Colophon and Editor, We Make Magazines, will discuss what makes magazines special, the secrets to publishing success, the importance of creative independence, whether you can make money from a passion project, and what’s next for print.

The Future of Print will be held on Wednesday July 8 from 6:30-8:30 pm in the ADC Gallery located at 104 West 29th Street in New York City.

Admission for The Future of Print is as follows:

- ADC Members: Free

- Non-Members: $5 at the door

Please visit http://www.adcglobal.org/adc/events/calendar

The Art Directors Club (www.adcglobal.org) is the premier organization for integrated media and the first international creative collective of its kind.  Founded in New York in 1920, the ADC is a non-profit membership organization whose mission is to connect creative visual communications professionals around the globe, and to provoke and elevate world-changing ideas.  It focuses on the highest standards of excellence in visual communications for the industry, and encourages students and young professionals entering the field.  ADC provides a forum for creatives in Advertising, Design, Interactive Media and Communications to explore the direction of these rapidly converging industries.

Two and a half years after the new Rendez-Vous City Magazine Luxembourg was first published, with MKE in charge of production, the Ville de Luxembourg is preparing to launch a new look city magazine. “The idea behind the city magazine was three-fold,” says Mayor Paul Helminger. “To communicate with city residents and those from outside who work in the capital or visit for leisure, to enhance integration and to promote the image of the City of Luxembourg.”

Rendez-Vous took its name from the city’s well-established, but rather dated, cultural listings publication. That allowed for some continuity, although the new magazine encompassed a far wider range of content than its predecessor. Furthermore, the magazine was not only well-received by readers and decision-makers in Luxembourg but also gained international recognition when it won the Gold Award at the Best of Corporate Publishing awards in Germany in 2008. “Rendez-Vous mirrors the diversity and dynamism of society in the capital city,” says Helminger. “So why should we change what is a successful format?”

Reflecting innovation

The answer to that question, says the mayor, is that the city wants to even further develop the professionalism of its public relations, and improve the symbiosis between the image it wants to communicate and the publication. In addition to feedback from the first two and a half years of Rendez-Vous City Magazine Luxembourg, the team around City Manager Geraldine Knudson conducted analyses, via a questionnaire, of how the magazine could better meet their needs of its broad target readership. New values for the magazine were also established during a creative workshop involving the participation of experts from both the Ville de Luxembourg and MKE. The result was a firm conviction that the magazine should have a strong identity and reflect the city’s general aim to be innovative. “The plan was not to re-design the existing magazine, but to create a new one. Many important changes were necessary,” says Mike Koedinger.

The new publication will continue to provide information, identity and integration, but with what Knudson calls “less glitz; with a more humble approach.” The new magazine will feature more succinct articles and people profiles, as well as a fresh layout, format and structure. Knudson also says that a change of name was also necessary. “Because even after two and a half years, many people still thought that Rendez-Vous was a purely cultural magazine.” The teams from the Ville de Luxembourg and MKE say the new publication will help readers – be they long-term residents, new arrivals or visitors – understand the complexity of the city, as well as take advantage of its rich cultural programme. “Luxembourg is a very cosmopolitan city, especially for its size, and too many people, both inside and outside of the country, don’t know this,” says Knudson.

We Make Magazines - Window Display in Amsterdam

Our favourite Amsterdam magazine store -Athenaeum Nieuwscentre- dedicates a window display to “We Make Magazines”, our book published in the framework of Colophon 2009.

Athenaeum Nieuwscentre, Spui 14-16 – http://www.athenaeum.nl

How does it work?

1. Send a mail to Nathalie Brocker, paperJam Business Club project manager: nathalie.brocker@paperJam.lu and tell her that your organisation is creating new jobs in march 2009.

2. You’ll receive an access code and be able to publish your job offers during march 2009 on www.paperJam.jobs.

Ingrid, the studio for editorial design got a new ad.

(From left to right: Paul Helminger, Mike Koedinger, Jo Kox, Jean-Louis Schiltz; photo: David Laurent)

Colophon is an international biennial which brings together in Luxembourg, during the weekend of March 13 to 15, 2009, a public from around the world to celebrate excellence and innovation in the independent magazine industry.

With a circuit of fifteen exhibitions spread across Luxembourg City and approximately forty hours of conferences, creative roundtables, presentations and workshops, Colophon reaches out to a number of different audiences. The symposium attracts an international crowd hailing from the four corners of the earth. For this second edition, the organisers are planning to transform the entire city for the duration of this one weekend in March. In addition to the symposium, which addresses both professionals and students, the Luxembourg general public and that of the Greater Region will be able to visit the many exhibitions, participate in the daytime workshops intended for children and attend the nightly festivities.

Initiated in 2005 by Mike Koedinger, Jeremy Leslie and Andrew Losowsky— three media professionals—, Colophon was born within the framework of “Luxembourg and the Greater Region, European Capital of Culture 2007” and in collaboration with Casino Luxembourg – Forum d’art contemporain. Its success was instant with visitors coming from 25 different countries.

Political support

“For the City of Luxembourg, its trades people and its cultural players, Colophon 2009 is set to have an important economic impact, because it will be beneficial for consumption, especially if you consider the 2,000 nights of hotel bookings which it will generate,” says Paul Helminger, Mayor of the capital and ‘patron’ to the symposium. “But beyond this economic impact, it is also the positive impact on our brand image and the promotion of the City of Luxembourg throughout the whole world which is of interest to us.” And promotion there certainly will be, because if the event’s main purpose is to celebrate the independent magazine, the magazines return the favour  with gusto with more than one hundred of them offering up an advertising campaign diffused throughout 35 countries of the world at a value of approximately 450,000 €. To this effort can be added the related reports in the international press, newspapers, blogs and digital magazine sites on the Internet.

“It’s an event that perfectly articulates Luxembourg’s ambition to continue developing its role as a centre of excellence for the associated activities of the media and ICT. Colophon is a fresh illustration of the dynamism of the sector and helps to position Luxembourg on a new and promising axis,” declares Jean-Louis Schiltz, Minister for Communications and ‘patron’, within the Government, of the symposium.

“The independent magazine is at the centre of innovation in the written press”, explains Mike Koedinger, initiator and one of the curators. “It is a place of freedom and excellence in creation; where media professionals can express themselves without constraints. It is here that they create for themselves the trends of the international market.”

Exhibition Circuit

As far as the exhibitions go, a veritable circuit is proposed which winds its way through the capital. First stop is the Luxembourg Casino – Forum of contemporary art, to pick up the Colophon programme (10 € including its map of the city and valid entry to all the venues) and to see the first major exhibition “WE MAKE MAGAZINES” which allows you to discover 110 independent magazines, from 30 countries, in interviews, in pictures, and of course, to flip through.

Next, ten cultural venues – from gallery beaumontpublic to the Chapel of the Abbey Neumünster Cultural Arts Centre while passing by the Museum of the History of Luxembourg City or the kiosk of the AICA — will host the exhibitions for “TEN GUEST MAGAZINES”. From Berlin, Hong Kong, Los Angeles, Paris and even from Mexico, these magazines, originating in ten different countries, will appropriate these Luxembourg cultural venues over the period of one weekend. Here one will find, among other things, Sang Bleu (subcultures and tattoos), Good (a magazine “for people who give a damn”), Kasino A4 (melancholic magazine), Volume (architectural project) or BabyBabyBaby (contemporary cultures).

Direction Mudam for “BEYOND KIOSK – MODES OF MULTIPLICATION” where Christoph Keller assembles 500 selected publications originating from his archives of 6,500 artists’ books, magazines, videos and catalogues. This itinerant and evolutionary show presents “the most relevant independent editions of contemporary art” and has been shown in twenty institutions since 2001. For its passage in Luxembourg, the installation of the publications is entrusted to Italian designer Martino Gamper.

Next, drop in at Extrabold to see the installation of Australian magazine SNEAKER FREAKER before going to the Carré Rotondes for the two “Luxembourg” exhibitions. DESIGN BACKSTAGE where the Design Luxembourg association is showing samples of work from a score of its members to demonstrate the importance of design beyond its aesthetic aspect. “Good design solves problems and adds value to products and services,” underlines president Guido Wolf. And to finish, tribute to CAFÉ CRÈME, the first international magazine published in Luxembourg. “During our ten years of existence, from 1986 to 1995, we displayed the work of approximately 150 contemporary photographers,” explains Paul di Felice and Pierre Stiwer, the founders of Café Crème.

All the exhibitions will be open throughout the weekend, but they can also be visited during the NIGHT OF THE MAGAZINE Friday March 13 when all the locations will welcome visitors until 10 PM, after which the party continues at the Carré Rotondes.

The symposium

A hyper intensive programme encompassing forty hours of presentations and discussions spread out over the three days of the symposium in two distinct spaces at the Luxembourg Casino – Forum of contemporary art.

And just like any real magazine, the symposium will be informative and diverting at the same time. Thus, it will propose many formats: panel discussions, lectures, on stage interviews-dialogues, Pecha Kucha presentations (presenting an idea in 20 images, each one has the screen for no more, and no less, than 20 seconds) or markets for photography portfolios and graphic illustration that bring together a hundred creatives.

And how, with all these magazine lovers united in one place, could they not want to launch the creation of a new magazine together? The three curators take up the challenge and invite the public to collaborate and carry out, together, a 100 page magazine over the course of the three days. To facilitate this, a “newspaper office – graphic studio” workshop will be installed at the Casino Luxembourg and, through periodic multiple briefings, the missions will be given out to interested parties. At the symposium closing, during a ceremony with the participation of Minister Jean-Louis Schiltz, the digital version of the magazine will be shown on the big screen at the Philharmonie.

To prolong the pleasure, a film cycle dedicated to media is on the programme at the Municipal Cinematheque during the month of March, and a kiosk of magazines of the world will be installed at the Luxembourg Casino in collaboration with Fellner Art Books.

In spite of the fact that the financing is not yet entirely in place, Mike Koedinger remains optimistic a few weeks before the event: “We have succeeded in gaining the confidence of the Government, of the City of Luxembourg, and of many cultural institutions and private cultural players as well as private partners. We have succeeded in getting all its actors to collaborate in making Luxembourg the place of excellence to accommodate this international event. And today we ask that Colophon be perennialised to become ‘Colophon – International Independent Magazine Biennial’ in Luxembourg.”

Colophon 2009 – International Magazine Symposium from March 13 to 15, 2009 in Luxembourg City across fifteen venues. Programme detailed and updated regularly, information and inscriptions on www.colophon2009.com.

You don’t need to have any specific skills, though the ability to speak both French and English would be a bonus. We need motivated, positive people, who are responsible and reliable. Everything else will be shown to you on the day. In return, we’ll give you refreshments and a free ticket to the event and to all its associated parties.

With more than a thousand magazine lovers visiting from around the world, and more than 15 venues to organise, we really need any help you can give us, to help build, maintain and take down our exhibitions, to help welcome the guest speakers, to help run the venues and the workshops, answer questions, guide people to the parties….

We need people for the period 6-16th March, as much availability as you can offer! We ask all volunteers to dedicate a minimum of one full day to helping out, ideally between 13-15th March, when the main event takes place.

Click here to see a video of the 2007 edition of the event.

This year’s will be bigger and better! Come and be a part of it with us.

Mike Koedinger was talking about “World’s best, surprising and innovative independent magazines” at the 3rd Customer Media Congress in Haarlem / Amsterdam in the Netherlands on November 26th 2008.

The Colophon 2009 – International Magazine Symposium is back to the Grand Duchy! The second international biennial, to take place in March and April 2009, will host colloquia, conferences, exhibitions and experimental workshops, gathering worldwide creators of independent magazines and experts.

“The cultural and scientific event  remains also open to everyone, much like a festival,” Didier Damiani, the symposium’s project manager explained.

Initiated in Luxembourg in 2007 and produced by Mike Koedinger in collaboration with the Casino Luxembourg – Forum for contemporary art, the second edition of the event will propose a broad and soaring programme dedicated to independent magazines. This time, Jeremy Leslie, Andrew Losowsky and Mike Koedinger, the curators of Colophon, have chosen to expand the academic conference within the whole capital city.

Among this edition’s highlights, the Colophon 2009 Symposium, held from March 13th to 15th, 2009 at Casino Luxembourg – Forum for contemporary art. Addressing an expected audience of ca 3,000, big-name experts (art directors, publishers, writers, editors, journalists, academics) from the international magazines industry will line-up in conferences, panel discussions and unique interviews. Invited speakers will introduce new topics and take part in innovative debates in this growing and successful industry.

Furthermore, exhibitions, talks, events and one-off publications will be presented, all aiming to celebrate excellence and innovation in the independent magazine industry, by promoting exchanges between key players within the international magazine industry and stimulating exchange and creativity.

Far bigger and more ambitious

The symposium programme includes as well an educational dimension, with a number of experimental workshops led by professionals.

Ten additional exhibitions will create a magazine trail through the City of Luxembourg, with routes featuring special installations by ten specially selected independent magazines.

Museums, the Cinémathèque, art galleries, shops, restaurants and cafes might join the trail and host the event’s attendees.

This second edition will also see the publication of a book “We Love 2 Magazines”, including an international directory of independent magazines and relevant articles about the industry.

The event promised to be far bigger and more ambitious than the previous one, and will surely position Grand Duchy as an internationally significant biennial celebrating the worldwide independent magazines creation. For more information: www.colophon2009.com