The Issues Project:
An Experiment in Participatory Publishing

Graduate Thesis

Pratt Institute, 2007

 

My thesis project for the Pratt Institute’s Graduate Communications Design program began as a look into do-it-yourself culture and its effects on the professional designer.

 

To test my theories, I conducted a real-world experiment in participatory publishing. Visitors to a website submitted spreads for periodic “issues” for which I provided inspirational cover designs, themes, rules and guidelines. Four issues were filled over the course of one semester, and I presented my defending research in four companion volumes.

 

All eight hardcover pocket-sized books were hand-bound.

The Issues Project:
An Experiment in Participatory Publishing

Graduate Thesis

Pratt Institute, 2007

 

Selected submissions from each of the four Issues.

 

Issue 1 Rules:

• Use PMS 7525

• Use the word 'Sunday'

 

Issue 2 Rules:

"The theme is Music. Use any colors and any words you like, as long as you make use of Helvetica Bold at 60pt in some way."

(Inspired by the movie Helvetica)

 

Issue 3 Rules:

"Celebrate Halloween for issue 3. The theme is Supernatural. Show us unexplained phenomena, spectral creatures, and other things that go bump in the night. But use only black, white and gray, and handwritten type."

 

Issue 4 Rules:

"You must include, but are not limited to, photography, a face, and a serif font. You should also say something about the person(s) behind the faces."

 

The Issues Project:
An Experiment in Participatory Publishing

Graduate Thesis

Pratt Institute, 2007

 

Part I: Then

Socialism, Craftsmanship, and the rise of D.I.Y. Culture

 

Part II: Now:

Open-Source Publishing, Crowdsourcing and the D.I.Y Debate

 

Part III: Talks:

Interviews

The Educator
Ellen Lupton

The Journalist
Rob Walker

The Designer
Caroline Okun

The Non-Designer
Jacquie Osman

 

Part IV: Thesis

The Issues Project:
The Making Of and
Behind-the-Screens