Image taken at approximately

6:15am on January 1st, 2007.

Location: Bethnal Green looking
towards Whitechapel Hospital.
Blog Entries from Boicozine for October, November, December 2006.
First published as ‘Zine #1’ in July 2007.
Revised edition published November 2008.
Visit Boicozine at [blog.boico.net].
All contents © Michael Bojkowski / Press Publish 2008
flickr.com/photos/mooski/319083165
Editorial, Design & Production
Michael Bojkowski (Boico) for Press Publish
Thanks to
Benjamin Tidd-Cooper, Simon Whybray,
Nick Defty @ YCN, Jeremy Leslie,
Andrew Losowsky, Marcus Piper, Mia Ridge
and all contributors and friends of Boicozine.
Zine uses and recommends
Drexler, a typeface by Rian Hughes
from Device Fonts
Boicozine is powered by Wordpress.
Zine is printed using the Lulu POD system.
First Published
July 2007 as ‘Zine #1’. This revised edition
published November 2008.
All contents © 2006, 2007 & 2008. Copyright
remains with the originator at all times. If you
have any issues regarding copyright control
please contact the editor at zine@boico.net
flickr.com/photos/mooski/319095324
content
The numbers refer to the blog post
numbers. You can use these to access
the online version of each blog post.
Simply go to blog.boico.net and it to the
end, for example: blog.boico.net/24

October 2006 November 2006

24 Vents no Dummy! 1077 Material World

26 Cornball Antics
1062 It’s Rippin’ Time
1065 Science Milk Clown
438 He did it with Mirrors
1067 Un-Marked Machine
1071 Covet thy Covers
1069 Wooden City
1079 Penguin Donkey
1081 Paper or Plastic?
1089 Breathe Out & Relax
1085 Mouldy Old Macarons
141 Lost Classics #1: CQ
1091 Save Milton Court
1094 Modern Commercial Art
142 Trend! Nihilism
1096 What Sup Dummy
1135 Draw your own furniture
1100 Rant #1: Grafik
1098 Have your Cake
1102 W hoever Dies with the Best Tshirt Wins #1
143 Reading List #1
1104 KDDI calling
1106 Posh Modernism
1108 Room with a Vujj
1110 New Improved Direct Action
47 Magazine Houses
314 Premium Bond
1112 Trés Exclusive Tees
1114 No Tell Hotel
1121 Melbourne Malarkey
1118 Poster Havana
December 2006
1126 That’s So Arcade Mode
1129 Adventures in Interface Design
1131 None Sharper
1133 For it is He
1075 Stickin’ it to the Worst 25
1073 Grindhouse A-Go-Go
1139 Pop Wrap
intro—

flickr.com/photos/mooski/319100305
—duction
Blog is not an elegant word.
It sounds kind of derogatory.
‘Blog.’ That why I refuse
to call the links list on
Boicozine a ‘blogroll’.
It could also be the reason
you used get ‘journalists’
making random statements
like “blogging is not
journalism”. Wierd, since
the term ‘Journalism’
has the word ‘Journal’
in it, and what is a blog if
not a journal of sorts.
I’m actually happy to avoid
the whole issue of ‘citizen
journalism’. That term
suggests something has
been laboured over, that
‘truth’ and ‘facts’ have been
manipulated to tell a story.
The rapid and haphazard
nature of writing a blog
feels more honest
because there’s no time
to labour over anything.
In it’s essence it’s simply
‘making known’.
As the author of said blog,
I’m happiest when it simply
seeks to document the
cultural bumph floating
around us. It gives me
the warm fuzzies to add
something to the online
hivemind that might not
have been there before or
uncover something that
has been hidden away.
Most of all I love the sharing
of information. So my intro
has turned into a kind of
ode to blogging. Without
it I would have nothing to
print, which opens up
a whole other discussion.
So without further ado here
are the posts. Enjoy. — Ed
•
Updated November 2008
 24 Vent Haven
Posted on This was the very first post to appear on Boicozine. It’s a little odd...
1st October 2006 ‘Looking for a chilling experience to bother your brain. Then Vent Haven
in Ventriloquy, is the place for you (the Museum, not the event although both look equally
USA as eerie). Two words: Ventriloquist Dummies, loads of them. Almost 700
of the fuckers at the last count. And you don’t have to go all the way to
Kentucky to experience the icy chill of a room full of retired ‘vent figures’
just pop along to their website. You can nominate a ‘Figure of the Month’,
visit the convention website and make sure you don’t miss the ‘Tour
Tape’ in the Multimedia section. It makes the whole thing worthwhile.
Final word before you scurry off to check it out (go on, you know you
want to), apparently at night, in the dark, when all the visitors have left
and the staff have gone home, you hear the sound of the dummie’s joints
shifting and even the occasional mouth snapping shut... bbrrrrr!’
 26 Cornball Antics
Posted on
1st October 2006 More than just a tasty snack
in Japan, Snacks
that pleases before you even
open this packet, in 2006
Caramel Corn became the
one of the latest sensations
to rock the Japanese nation.
It’s a spookily addictive
concoction of puffed corn,
sticky flavouring and
random peanuts with the
cutest packaging alive. We
suggested installing at least
one Tohato snack bar per
country in spread the word.
1062 It’s Rippin’ Time
Posted on Remember Ren & Stimpy? Sure you do. It was the odd-ball cartoon
1st October 2006 show that never should have existed. Produced at a time when everyone
Comics, TV was looking for the next Simpsons. Excellent as it was, it was too quirky
to compete with the global phenomenon that The Simpsons became
(others that tried and failed to meet their might included Family Guy,
King of the Hill and Beavis and Butthead). Ren & Stimpy soon went ‘tits
up’, as network execs proceeded to batter the thing to death. Luckily
founding father, John Kricfalusi, and his company Spümcø didn’t throw
the towel in and, although none of their later projects could match
the appeal of Ren & Stimpy, they came up with some pretty cool by-
products. By far, my fave has to be Ripping Friends... 4 superheroes,
Jimmy the Idiot Boy and their Mum battling mutant chewing gum,
spine-stealing flatworms and more. Almost impossible to find on
DVD or your telly schedule, you can also find them on GameBoy (?!).
 1065 Science Milk Clown
Posted on With the demise of Relax and the rarity and random publishing dates
1st October 2006 of titles such as Beikoku Ongaku and OK Fred (Can I recommend
in Magazines the Radio OK Fred Podcast to you? Oh, I just did), Boicozine’s interest
in Japanese magazines had started to wane. That was until Special
Photography by
magazine came along. ¶ We decided it was a contender for our favorite
Michael Bojkowski
new magazine of the year, mainly for devoting most of the front
section to amazing treehouses – how cool is that. Special seemed to
have been put together to promote clothing label, ‘Normal’ but goes
way beyond being another glamorous catalogue, with well thought
out and executed features and organic craft related imagery. There is
some text in English too, so you won’t feel totally left out. I’d love to
know what the feature titled ‘Science Milk Clown’ is about though.
 438 He did it with Mirrors
Posted on Tom Adams provided illustrations for the covers of over 60 Agatha
3rd October 2006 Christie book jackets in the 60s and 70s. Always pushing his distinctive
in Illustration, style into newly twisted forms, his covers were both elegant and
Publications deeply sinister — the perfect complement to the writer’s vision. If you
stumble across a copy of the picture book ‘The Art of Her Crimes’, it’s
well worth grabbing (rare as hen’s teeth at the moment, here’s hoping
it’s re-released soon). The book features almost all the Agatha Christie
covers Tom Adams completed plus an insight into his techniques.
Most of the objects in his images were drawn from real life.
 1067 Un-marked Machine
Posted on Sad to see Amsterdam based Designers, Machine have parted ways
3rd October 2006 with Mark Magazine after only three awesome issues. A hard act
in Architecture, to follow, the new bimonthly version of the magazine looks... well...
Magazines a little drab, but what wouldn’t. If you didn’t catch Mark Magazine
in it’s earlier incarnation (and with a price tag of around £25 an
Photography by
issue, that’s totally understandable), it’s worth looking it up for a
Michael Bojkowski
fresh take on the current and future architectural landscape, it’s
just a shame it’s now looking a bit like a poor man’s Archis.
 1071 Covet thy Covers
Posted on Put simply, this is a collection of CD Covers we uploaded to Flickr
4th October 2006 and rate as being pretty cool. They are Denim’s ‘Novelty Rock’, Luke
in Music, Graphics Vibert’s ‘Yoseph’, Escalator Record’s ‘We are Escalator Records #6’
compilation, Stereolab’s ‘Peng!’, Teenbeat’s ‘Teenbeat 50’ compilation,
Director’s Cut’s ‘Suspense’ library, Colette’s ‘Colette 7’ compilation,
Unrest’s ‘B.P.M [1991-1994]’, Turn On’s self titled release, The Chap’s
‘Ham’, Unrest’s ‘Cath Carroll EP’ and Corduroy’s ‘Mötörhead EP’.
 1069 Wooden City
Posted on
6th October 2006
After visiting Melbourne earlier this year I
in Architecture,noticed a growing trend for buildings seemingly
Magazines
made of wood. It had been a while since I’d
visited and one of the big shopping centres in town, Melbourne
Central (below) had been re-clad in planks of the stuff. It
made the building look kind of heavy, like a massive crate. It
looked okay. ¶ When I got back to London I noticed someone
had erected an apartment block whose structure was entirely
made of large sheets of tree stuck together. There is even a
plaque outside the front door to let you know that is building
is ‘made of wood’. ¶ Recently I checked out (on the internet
highway) the City of Melbourne’s new building, ‘Council House
2 (CS2)’. Supposedly the greenest office building in the world
(or something...). It’s clad in recycled timber (ie looks likes it’s
made of wood). I started imagining whole future cities clad in
bits of trees and nature, even skyscapers... the city as a living
jungle. ¶ Meanwhile, across the Fitzroy Gardens and not
entirely made of wood (was any wood involved? I dunno), the
City of Melbourne have just financed and completed another
new civic building, The East Melbourne Library. According to
the [City of Melbourne website] “The temperature inside the
library is controlled by a weather station on the roof and sensors
inside the building. Air vents in the floor allow fresh air into
the building and roof vents regulate the air flow. Rainwater
is harvested for garden irrigation and flushing toilets. Light
sensors switch off artificial lights when the natural light reaches
a suitable level to save energy.” Essentially, a building that
heats, cools and supplies it’s own water and looks good doing
it. Makes you wonder why your own house seems so lazy.
 1079 Penguin Donkey
Posted on For those of you who missed the Penguin 70th Anniversary exhibition
10th October 2006 at the V&A a few years ago (it was pretty good but tiny — you could have
in Shopping, blinked on the way through and missed it). You not only missed loads of
Reading book covers, logo designs and letters from the Penguin archive, but you
also missed catching a rare sight of the elusive Penguin Donkey. ¶ What is
it? The Penguin Donkey is the cutest bookcase you’ll ever see. Designed to
sit along side you favourite comfy chair, it holds 80 paperback books with
a centre slot for magazines and newspapers. It first appeared in 1939 and
was available through an ad in the back of Penguin paperbacks. Of course,
now they’re impossible to get hold of... unless you have a spare £400 (no,
me neither). Isokon Plus produce three versions of the Penguin Donkey
in a variety of finishes. There is the original version, a version redesigned
for Penguin in 1963 and a bang up-to-date version of their own creation.
“It used to be said... it is
better that 100 criminals
escape punishment,
than one innocent person
be jailed. Being a relatively
innocent person, I am all
in favour of this...”
1081 Paper of Plastic?
Posted on
10th October 2006
Seeing Repo Man on telly the other week,
in Cinephile, and being a big fan of the movie, I thought it was
Politicosis
about time I stopped messing about and actually
saw a few more of the films Alex Cox has made
since (as I’d meant to do so many times before).
I watched Three Businessmen and El Patrullero
(Highway Patrolman) and thought both were
excellent (Three Businessmen was deliberately
slow to start but a rollicking good ride once it got
going). Then I found Alex Cox’s official website
which blew my mind (just a little, not too much).
Surely the most comprehensive website put
together by and about a film director ever! I
was particularly stirred by his thoughts on the
current state of the world’s political agenda:
“Bush, Blair, and the rest of these anti-democratic
rascals would like to keep us in a permanent
frenzy of fear, punctuated by shopping...”
 1089 Breathe Out and Relax
Posted on Just as I was slagging off poor old Relax Magazine for it’s recent
13th October 2006 change in (art) direction it’s goes and closes. Seems I wasn’t the only
in Magazines one doing it... Of course Jean Snow mentioned this on his blog back in
June, but several issues were released after this which made us think
Photography by
it may have had a reprieve. Alas, no. So we bid farewell to the coolest
Michael Bojkowski
and most accessible Japanese magazine to date and thank Relax for
supporting some of the best contemporary image makers around.
 1085 Mouldy Old Macarons
Posted on Macarons are old. Like way old... think 18th century and you’re getting
13th October 2006 there. According to legend, a French bakery known as Ladurée re-
in Cake invented the macaron in the early 1900s helping create the meringue-
like sandwich with creamy filling we know today. Sofia Coppola turned
Photography by
to Ladurée when she needed French fancies for Marie Antoinette. The
Michael Bojkowski
Marie Antoinette issue of Little White Lies magazine details a gorgeous
version of the classic macaron with rose flavoured biscuit and cream
with raspberries and lychees. ¶ The evolution of the macaron continues
today. Visit Yauatcha in London’s Soho and you can sample, amongst
many other oriental influenced delights, Raspberry, Lychee, Fig, Lemon,
Cashew, Black Tea and Champagne and loads of crazy flavours.
 141 Lost Modern
Posted on
16th October 2006
Classics #1: CQ
in Cinephile
Back in 2001 Roman Coppola made a film
called CQ. I really liked it (but then my all-
time favourite film is Modesty Blaise). It’s
a typically quirky mixture of the clever and
aware film making of the new wave era re-
interpreted, and the frothy, escapist fun of 60s
Sci-Fi Psychedelia (think Barbarella, Danger:
Diabolik and the aforementioned Modesty
Blaise). ¶ It also features the usual high quality
Coppola siblings collaborations, this time with
Graphic Artist, Laurent Fetis who, not only
supplied various marketing materials for the
film, but worked with Coppola Jr on the titles,
on screen graphics and props. ¶ If you pick up
the DVD you’ll also find documentary by Mom
and Sis and loads of really cool featurettes and
even new wave style films about the film.
 1091 Long Live Milton Court
Posted on Lately, the City of London seems to have taken it upon themselves to rid
17th October 2006 the City District of all examples of recent 20th century architecture,
in Architecture replacing them with innocuous glass and steel edifices. This is Britain’s
allergy to modern architecture blown up to ludicrous proportions. Rather
Photography by
than harbouring a culturally rich and extensive overview of architectural
Michael Bojkowski
trends throughout the 20th century the city has seen fit to simply erase
vast swathes of London’s modern heritage. ¶ Many of the charming,
multistory office buildings built in the 50s and 60s around London
Wall have fallen under the wreaker’s ball as has Mondial House, which
previously sat like a massive alien spacecraft on the banks of the Thames,
sadly no more due to the imagination deficit currently sweeping through
the City. ¶ Of all this recent unwarranted destruction (City of London
currently boasts on their website that they have more office space than
the Docklands - Joy), the saddest architectural news to break in 2006
was that Milton Court was next to go. ¶ Milton Court was quite literally
attached to the Barbican (as part of the Barbican Highwalk), Milton Court
was built shortly before the Barbican and is, therefore, not considered a
protected building by English Heritage (a group that recently came under
fire for giving up it’s own headquarters on Saville Row to yet another rabid
developer). Previously the building housed a Fire Station and Coroner’s
Office. Guildhall School of Music and Dance then took over part of the
building and supported the demolition in exchange for new facilities to be
incorporated into a new 43 storey residential development. ¶ Boicozine
humbly suggested moving the lack-lustre Design Museum to the site and
use that to create a National Centre for Design at the Barbican including
workshop spaces and stuff. It fell on deaf ears, as did the innumerable
complaints levelled at the City for out manoeuvring English Heritage
in securing a listing for this highly architecturally significant site.
1094 New Commercial Art
Posted on
17th October 2006
Yes Studio are a couple of ex-Blue Source
in Graphics designers/art directors who set out to carve
their own niche in ideas-led design for clients
in the music industry and various fields. What
sets Yes apart is their attention to detail and
process. For band, The Stands, each bit of
flat artwork was screen printed before being
photographed to separate it from the usual
digitally-led sleeve designs. You’ve probably
seen their work for Maximo Park and Dirty
Vegas. If you haven’t, you can now see a selection
from their ever-growing portfolio online.
 142 Trend! Nihilism
Posted on Okay, so it’s not super catchy and doesn’t seem to have any
20th October 2006 discernible dress codes (apart from wearing loads of black, but
in Cinephile that’s a bit obvious really) but if you’re feeling a bit ‘Children of
Men’ or can’t stop listening to Jarvis Cocker’s ‘Running the World’
then may I recommend a handful of other dark delights:
Jean-Luc Godard’s ‘Weekend’
Prepare yourself for this one. Once you get past the scene with the car
jam that seems to go on forever you’ve still got to contend with hippies
killing pigs in the woods, car wreaks that turn into flocks of sheep
and an old lady’s pet skinned sheep... eeww!
‘La Grande Bouffe’
A bunch of Italian guys get together with a few prostitutes to eat and
shag themselves to death and that’s pretty much it. A bleaker concept
for a film is hard to find and I found this hard enough to watch (I think I
turned off half way through). Let me know how you fare with this one.
‘V for Vendetta’
From Godard to the Wachowski Brothers. Yikes! Still this has to be
Children of Men’s closest modern relative (if you can think of another
let me know). It’s dystopian (well to start with anyway), set in Britain
after the seeming collapse of the United States and the lead
actress is bald... er, just kidding about the last one. Sorry.
Comments

Nihilism rules OK! I’d recommend Malle’s Feu Follet (man commits suicide;
bit whiny) and Fassbinder’s Warum läuft Herr R. Amok (man kills his family;
one of my favourite films ever, though it’s generally considered as one of
Fassbinder’s lesser works). Be warned, you’ll feel bad afterwards.
Comment by Tim

“Nihilism rules OK!” I want a Tshirt that says that!

In black... with black writing...
Comment by Michael
 1096 What Sup Dummy
Posted on Sometimes, it seems as though no sooner has one genre of magazine
20th October 2006 died a messy death than a new version springs up in it’s place. For
in Magazines us UK indie dinosaurs, many mourned the passing of Lime Lizard,
Select and Melody Maker (and many more were compelled to express
Photography by
their sadness at the recent ‘re-invention’ of the NME). Of course,
Michael Bojkowski
the Indie Music magazine never went away, it was just having a
snooze. I’d like to say it’s back! Back!, BACK! But that’s seems a little
grandiose a statement for this new breed of ‘quiet achievers’. Enter
Dummy, ‘Sup, Spex, Artrocker, OK Fred... dig the new breed.
Dummy ’s premiere issue looked more fashion mag than music zine,
with loads of lush full page commissioned photography that seemed to
over shadow the writing. After a brief disappearance Dummy came back
with a sharper look thanks to current i-D art director, Dean Langley,
that bought the bands and the writing into focus. It’s a stripped back
and slightly retro look that seems to directly reference the underground
fanzine idea and is already bleeding out into other magazines such as...
‘Sup Magazine is free but you can’t tell by looking at it. Mostly, one
colour throughout (with the rare burst of CMYK), the choice of coloured
stock and minimal variation in fonts lends it an air of authority music
magazines have been lacking for some time (apart from the always
excellent ‘The Wire’, of course). ‘Sup seem to follow a similar notion of
keeping the design to a minimum and showcasing the music and writing.
For now this all seems totally fresh and interesting (and lord knows
Artrocker could only improve with a bit less ‘ornamentation’) but I
wonder how long before indie fans crave a bit of colour and craziness.
 1135 Draw Your
Posted on
31st October 2006
Own Furniture
in Furniture, Rapid Prototyping is the technologist’s dream of sending three
Technology dimensional objects electronically to magically materialise wherever
you like. In actuality, current Rapid Prototyping involves utilising
digital imaging software and a type of ‘3D Printer’. Boicozine
noted Front Design’s Sketch Furniture as early pioneers of the
technology... ‘you too can sketch out a chair, a couch, a lamp...
whatever you need. Just make sure you get all the legs even... actually
there’s loads of stuff that could go wrong. Looks cool but.’
 1100 Rant: Grafik
Posted on
30th October 2006
The world needs Grafik magazine. It’s ace.
in Rants, It’s critical. It ‘loves design’. It has lush foil
Magazines
blocked, special colour covers. It’s everything
a modern Graphic Design magazine should be. Which is why
it’s so painful to witness when it starts going a bit wrong... ¶ I’m
for robust, opinionated and critical journalism. I’ve enjoyed
editor Caroline Roberts editorials, even when I haven’t entirely
agreed with stuff she’s said (you can’t please all the people
etc etc) but seems lately she’s just lashing out with no good
reason. First Grafik gets a redesign so she sees fit to criticise
the previous designer’s efforts (“yup, it really pissed us off too”,
she assumed), now she’s having a go at blogging. Huh? Okay,
I’m obviously biased, but I wonder what type of ‘weblogs’ she’s
been reading (It can’t be the Creative Review blog, can it? Do
they ever mention what they got up to on the weekend?). I
know it’s fashionable in certain journalistic circles to consider
‘blogs’ to be faddish and a bit ‘rubbish’, but for me, it’s become
an excellent way for professionals and friends to communicate
on a level a few fathoms above a three line email or a message
on MySpace. ¶ Okay... This is where I offer my humble opinion
on the recent re-design since Grafik doesn’t have a letters page
(I’m actually quite happy about that, it doesn’t really need
one)... Avant Guard does not make for a happy text reading
experience, especially with such tight kerning and leading. I
thought this was a given. As someone on Newstoday mentioned,
“I’m surprised Sea didn’t do it all in Helvetica”, I kind of wish
they had... anything other than Avant Garde. My eyes hurt.
The new logo (’masthead’, surely) looks clunky and hard to read. I
know we’re all meant to be design professionals and up for being
challenged but it just doesn’t gel with the idea that this
is a “simplified and stream lined” version of the magazine.
In my mind, there is little that speaks ‘inclusive’ about cutting
your name in half, flipping it round and jamming it back
together... but maybe that’s just me. ¶ Last gripe I promise. The
latest issue includes Special Report on Editorial Design. They
have done this before and it’s always been quite good. This
edition is dismal. As if a four page feature on Vice magazine
wasn’t enough (Vice makes money because advertisers looking
to reach a young, ‘bleeding edge’ audience believe it fills this
gap. End of story. Ask how many Vice readers would actually
pay to get their copy and I’m sure you’d get a much bleaker
picture of their popularity), Grafik’s deputy editor then parades
a sad, bedraggled collection of “favourite fellow independent
publishers”. Saddest has to be The Chap. Hurrah for independent
publishing but does The Chap really deserve a place in a
magazine that claims to ‘love design’ ? The editor freely admits
that he doesn’t use a permanent designer, relying occasionally
on “students on work experience”. One look and it’s immediately
obvious that this is where the magazine falls down. Likewise,
Karen and Amelia’s Magazine are pretty sporadic with their
moments of brilliance. At least Wonderland take magazine
design seriously enough to understand you have to employ a
creative team to develop any sort of following. Remember kids,
people always look at a magazine before they read it. ¶ End Rant
 1077 Material World
Posted on If you find Cassette Playa’s fluro-tastic creations and little... er...
1st November 2006 garish (Not me, I luv em) but still want to rock a bit of regressive
in Labels, rave wear (there’s a compliment coming, I promise) then you might
Shopping want to consider investing in Material Boy. It’s dead good (there
you go). Pieces range from bizarre ‘trackie dacks’ that are all crutch
with skinny little legs to oversized singlets emblazoned with 80s
memphis-esque prints to rather neat black and white cardies. Have
a geeze at the Material Boy website or, if you’re in London have a
nose about in Kokon to Zai to see these fashions in the flesh.
 1098 Have Your Cake
Posted on Cake. God knows Boicozine loves it. Possibly too much. Tea and cake
7th November 2006 is what’s helped make the U.K. great and it’s nice to see a number of
in Cake ‘boutique’... um... producers of cake, taking a step back in time to look
at this fine tradition. ¶ What has stirred this particular (and slightly
saccharin) ‘Ode to Cake’ has to be Peyton & Byrne’s Banana Cake
Loaf (or Loaf Cake... I forget). Available from the new, freshly delivered
and piping hot Peyton and Byrne store on Tottenham Court Road
(sandwiched – pardon the pun – between Habitat and Heals). To give you
an idea of how good it was it took three of us one and a half days to finish
the lot off (I think I even had some for breakfast – that’s not good).
 1102 Whoever dies with
Posted on
7th November 2006
the Best Tshirt wins
in Labels, Shopping Graniph. No that’s not a misspelling, is the name given to a chain of
‘Design Tshirts Stores’ originally from Japan. Prolific is not the word!
For the week that I visited Tokyo, there was new stock almost every day
appearing in their tiny little chocolate box like stores. Now, it appears
they are also stocking parkas, lighters and accessories! Where are they
putting all this stock? With a price that means you can pick up designs by
creatives types such as Elisabeth Arkhipoff, Paul Willoughby, Deanne
Cheuk, Michael C. Place (Build) and loads more without spending loads
of moolah, it seems stuff doesn’t stay on the shelves for long anyways.
 143
Posted on
8th November 2006
in Magazines

Reading List #1
The Architect’s Journal Recently, I’ve been concerned about the
rapid redevelopment going on around the City of London as the
council and developers seem intent on demolishing every last vestige
of mid to late 20th Century Architecture. This is where I found out
Milton Court was in for the chop. AJ, as it’s written on the cover, is
worth picking up if you you are concerned about the current state of
architecture in Britain, and you should be, especially with the deluge
of rash decisions going on in the lead up to the London Olympics.
Little White Lies The Marie Antoinette issue. If you haven’t checked
out this mag, it’s worth it just for the concept, and the editor’s don’t
necessarily love every film they feature but try to pick the most ‘zeitgiesty’
film at the time the issue comes out. Includes lush pictures of Macarons.
Dazed & Confused Okay, so I only really bought this for the
Sofia Coppola special designed by Peter Miles (there an interesting
article about the designer in the International Herald Tribune).
The rest of the magazine is as typically out-of-step and shoddily
designed as ever and I kind of wished it hadn’t come in a envelope
so I could have seen it first. Nevermind. It came with that rubbish
CoolBrands book too which I flicked through and then ‘recycled’.
British Vogue I love Vogue. I don’t know why and I’m trying not to
buy too many issues because it’s such a rubbish read (have a look at
the page on ‘Rave’ in the The List supplement if you fancy a giggle...
it’s even got a picture of a Prodigy CD stuck on there), but this is
one of those specials I had to own... if only for a month or two.
The Observer Music Monthly Jarvis Cocker edited this one
and I intend to read it from cover to cover so it’s probably going
to sit in this pile for a while cause I’m rubbish at reading these
days... see, it’s my attention span... I blame the internet :)
i-D I love i-D more. I almost always buy this even I
consider an issue to be ‘below par’. I can’t help it.
 1104 KDDI calling
Posted on
14th November 2006
Okay, this phone has been around for some
in Technology, time now but I’m still hoping the mobile phone
Shopping, Japan
industry outside of Japan will catch up to it’s
sleek and rational design aesthetic. Have a look
at the now very familiar Neon phone designed
by Naoto Fukasawa for the ‘au by KDDI’
design project and experience gadget envy.
 1106 Posh Modernism
Posted on Established & Sons take their online magazine very seriously. Twice
14th November 2006 now they’ve fooled me into searching about their website to see if there
in Magazines, is a printed version. Alas, it’s nowhere to be seen, but it’s interesting to
Furniture see the sort of concessions design agency, Made Thought have had to
make to promote online readability. For a start the text is huge (but not
unwieldy). The whole site is reassuringly slick and worth having a look
as is Mr Tom Dixon’s website. Not as flash (or flashy) as Established
& Sons, the Tom Dixon website presents projects and products from
the man that helped shake up Habitat and bought it bang up to date.
 1108 Room with a Vujj
Posted on Still on a furniture tip but this time from further afield comes Vujj
14th November 2006 (just don’t ask me how to say it). A frisky young brand from Sweden
in Products (close to it’s border with Denmark, they hasten to add in their Bio),
with a whip-smart identity from the house of PMKFA. ¶ I can’t tell you
what the comfort factor is on these pieces although anyone who visited
100% Design in 2006 would have been able to get a preview of their
range and if you have a very slight leaning towards form over function
(hey, it’s the modern dilemma) then they may just look lush enough to
win you over (‘you’, being someone who can afford designer furniture;
‘me’, being someone who can only paw at it in posh showrooms).
 1110 New Improved
Posted on
16th November 2006
Direct Action
in Politicosis
Coming from packaging weary Melbourne,
where although there is probably just as much wasteful over
packaging as anywhere else, many a suburban household
has been ostracised for not wearing it’s recycling ‘badge of
honour’ with pride. (I still wonder where all the recycling in
Australia goes, I imagine there is a pile of the stuff the size of
Britain somewhere in China). I’ve been following Britain’s
love affair with the plastic bag and similar over packaged
goods for sometime now so it’s nice to see the media and the
government finally reacting to what is probably a problem
that shouldn’t be too hard to fix. ¶ In typical New Labour
style, they have managed to display their complete lack of
control of British industry (think runaway train) and put the
onus on the consumer to let supermarkets know what they
need to do. Surely a little legislation and it’s fixed. I wonder
too if the government is suggesting Direct Action as the new
way to get things done, in which case we can look forward to
storming parliament, unimpeded, in the near future. Sounds
like fun, just let us know when you’re ready. Cheers.
 47 Magazine Houses
Posted on It seems that there has been a resurgence in magazines on the subject
18th November 2006 of Architecture. I don’t know if it’s some sort of ‘Mark Effect’ (see below)
in Magazines or if architecture has suddenly become ‘hip’ or sheer coincidence, but
new magazines seem to be cropping up every few months. I have a few
favourites already (if you’ve been following this blog you’ll already
know how excited I was about Mark Magazine) so I thought it was
worth noting a few down if you were feeling like checking any out:
A10 I found this on the shelves of the Tate Modern bookstore and
instantly became a fan. It’s designed and art directed by Arjun Groot, who
has already lent his witty and typically dutch style to magazines such as
Blvd. and Credits and features a ‘noteboard’ style approach where articles
seem to run on from page to page with features denoted by scale of images
etc. It also includes a quirky selection of fonts that should fight one another
but here they add energy to what could, otherwise, be a bit of a staid read.
Volume Archis was a somewhat bewildering mixture of features about
and around the subject of architecture with bizarre and seemingly
random page layouts including perforated sections on the bottom of
pages so you could tear bits of them off. Volume is a project by the same
team and, although some of the quirk has been knocked out of the
format, it’s is still no less intriguing, with a different theme per issue.
(inside) Niche publishing are probably Australia’s premiere creative
magazine publishers. Having said that, it’s disappointing to note
that they have never seen fit to try and push any of their titles to a
wider, international audience, which seems to betray a certain lack
of confidence that is common to Australian design in general. This is
not to say they don’t produce some excellent titles. Niche’s ‘Interior
Architecture’ magazine, (inside) is particularly good (sort of like
an Australian ‘Frame’), if not just for the lush covers they produce.
Architectural Review Australia is also worth having a look at.
Comments

The funny thing about You and I are obviously There are some great For those of you
Australian magazines biased but it does Australian creatives, interested in Australian
and Australian design in seem that Australian I think the presence design here are two
general is, if you create design is hugely of Frost Design down links Australian inFront,
something that is at an underrepresented at under and his exhibition a web portal for
international level, or a time when it seems at the Sydney Opera Australian creatives,
with an international Australian designers are House have really which I contribute to
focus - the market finding their feet and made people within from time to time,
takes the view that it exploiting the creative the industry and the and the new online
isn’t Australian. Why freedom working in public see what graphic version of Australian
they/we don’t have the such a young country design can be, not to Creative magazine.
confidence to expect can have. POL Oxygen mention raising the bar.
Comment by Marcus
Australian creatives seems to be the only I also see a few other
22 November 2006
can stand up at an magazine to realise this mags about like Vogue
international level from so far, here’s hoping Living, Black+White
their home country is a few more cotton on and inDesign. We are
beyond me. Australian soon. BTW OFR have also represented on this
music, architecture just started stocking years D&AD judging
and art seem to be Poster magazine in panel by James deVries
painted with same London, which is good of Sydney’s De Luxe.
brush of community to see. Doingbird is
Comment by Marcus
un-expectation, whilst another Aussie mag
21 November 2006
in reality there is that you can get at OFR
some amazing work that’s worth a flick.
being produced at an
Comment by Michael
international standard.
21 November 2006
Comment by Marcus
20th November 2006
 314 Premium Bond
Posted on
18th November 2006
Following on from a International Herald
in Cinephile, Tribune’s article on film poster designers
Typography
Boicozine couldn’t help having a bit of a go at
Casino Royale. Not the film, mind. I saw the film last night and
am happy to report that Daniel Craig makes poor old Pierce
Brosnon and Roger Moore look proper scrappy; particularly
cruel was coming home and switching on the telly to find ‘For
Your Eyes Only’ on the telly. Yikes! My only criticisms are that
most of the women still look like painted monsters stuck in
1989 and the Chris Cornell theme song made me bolt from
the cinema at the end. It’s dire. ¶ No, my real criticism is a lot
pettier than that. It’s the ruddy font they have used for the title
‘Casino Royale’. I know a lot of people shrug off this sort of thing
but getting the right font adds quality to your film and James
Bond has to be about quality, right. James Bond is expensive.
Century Gothic is not. In fact, if you have a look, it’s probably
lurking about on your computer as we speak. ¶ Why is it free
for anyone to use without, necessarily, having to pay for it? Why
do they have a to give it away? Well, for the same reason you
didn’t pay for Arial or Impact. It’s another shoddy redraw of a
classic font made to avoid having to pay for licensing the real
thing. Shame Daniel Kleinman (whose new titles are pretty fab
but still not a patch on Robert Brownjohn), when you had the
choice of a well cut classic or one the latest crop of rigorously
developed cut geometric style typefaces currently available
(there’s a few suggestions above). Would Bond have approved?
 1112 Trés Exclusive Tees
Posted on You know you’re pretty exclusive when you only have one store on your
18th November 2006 stockists list... either that or the To-Orist website needs updating
in Shopping, (here’s hoping it’s the later). Still, if you are anywhere near West
Labels London’s Portobello Market, check in at Supra to see some of the
brightest, most cock-sure and generally pretty darn ace tshirts and
sweatshirts around at the moment. Neue Rave ain’t even in it.
 1114 No Tell Hotel
Posted on Fancy crawling through a tunnel dug out from underneath a grotty old
21st November 2006 warehouse in East London after climbing down through a fridge that was
in Events sitting in the corner of a porn den/makeshift boxing club? Thought you
might and, I have to say, although it took me a couple of circuits round
the installation before getting the guts up to climb into the fridge, the
whole experience was well worth it. ¶ What the heck am I on about?
Christoph Büchel’s massive installation entitled ‘Simply Botiful’ which
was at Hauser & Wirth Coppermill in Bethnal Green. The exhibition
marked the launch of Hauser & Wirth’s temporary space (it has since
been flattened to be turned into flats). You can see images of the empty
space here. There was a walkthrough on the Hauser & Wirth website. I
can’t guarantee you’ll recognise the space from these pictures though.
 1121 Melbourne Malarkey
Posted on Following on from the ‘Magazine Houses’ discussion about Australian
22nd November 2006 design, Boicozine purchased a copy of the first eva Melbourne Design
in Travelogue, Guide. Three Thousand describes it as... “Covering built design, product
Publications design, fashion design, graphic design, craft, arts, food and nightlife,
festivals and events, tours, day trips. The guide is not only comprehensive
Photography by
but also easy to navigate. Editors Ewan McEoin and Viviane Stappmans
Michael Bojkowski
have worked with lab.3000 and Studio Round to create something that
Melbourne is in need of – actual proof to ‘outsiders’ that the city is Australia’s
creative capital.” No in built lack of confidence there then. Hurrah!
 1118 Poster Havana
Posted on After doing a bit of research into foreign movie posters, Cuba kept
27th November 2006 coming up again and again. Turns out Cuba have their own poster
in Graphic, Design, design superstars (if this is totally old news to you please feel fre to
Posters, Cuba berate me for my lack of historical... er... thingy). I guess it makes
sense when you consider how iconic that image of Ché has become.
Here’s a few (digitally enhanced) examples for your perusal by René
Azcuy, Eduardo Muñoz Bachs and Antonio Pérez (aka Ñiko).
 1126 That’s So Arcade Mode
Posted on
8th December 2006 If you’ve noticed the prolific
in Music,
Illustration work of Ed Banger Records
and their resident designer/
illustrator, ‘So Me’, then
you’ll be dead chuffed when
you visit Arcade Mode.
Arcade Mode is pretty
much the online store for Ed
Banger... and then some. The
website bears the distinctive
stamp of So Me in it’s look
and feel as well as the many
goodies in store as well as
tshirt designs from Akroe
and loads more. Just don’t
mention Parra... alright.
 1129 Adventures in
Posted on
8th December 2006
Interface Design
in Tech Yuji Adachi has been running the 9031 website for as long as I can
remember. It’s a curious collection of experiments in interface design
and quirky little apps and utilities, many reflecting new and retired
formats such as iTunes and Floppy Discs or the act of flipping through
record boxes etc. On 9031 nothing is what it seems and technology is
a constant state of flux (is that an oxymoron?). Some under utilised
but intriguing typefaces are also available to download for free
including a version that mirrors the titles from Stanley Kubrick’s ‘Dr.
Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb‘.
 1131 None Sharper
Posted on To describe The Knife as an oddity is kind of labouring the point.
10th December 2006 Delve a little deeper and you’ll tap into a rich seam of uniquely imaginative
in Music music videos and graphics by collaborators such as Andreas Nilsson.
Their recently released DVD, ‘Silent Shout - An Audio Visual Experience’,
makes for a compelling showcase of said work. Even a rummage through
their press photos yield some pretty idiosyncratic ways of presenting
yourself to the music buying public. It’s a shame more artists aren’t as
imaginative (and intensely enigmatic) about their image as this band.
 1133 For it is He
Posted on Who is He? Where did He come from? He is a Men’s fashion magazine
14th December 2006 from Denmark launched in 2006 (yes, another one, it’s been a great few
in Magazines years for Men’s Fashion and Architecture in magazine launch land).
Why He? Cause it’s art directed by Homework who helped launch
Denmark’s first truly international fashion magazine, Cover, a couple
of years ago. ¶ The December issue (Issue 03) is suitably Danish in it’s
obvious restraint, both design-wise and photographically, but it also
has a spiky edge to it thanks to Homework’s extensive use of a blocky
‘shop deco’ style font throughout. Worth a flick, could be too neat and
orderly for some fashionista’s tastes, but a good sign for things to come.
 1075 Sticking it to the Worst 25
Posted on The staff at Pitchfork Media submitted their picks for 25 of the
15th December 2006 worst album covers of 2006 and, boy, there were some doozies in
in Rants, Music there, as well as a couple of surprise inclusions. I found Whirlwind
Heat’s Types of Wood artwork as shown here particularly baffling,
even after listening to the music. Turn it over and ‘Yikes!’ I
blame Terry Richardson myself, could be an ad for Sisley.
Pitchfork’s Top 25 Worst Album Covers of 2006
Built to Spill ‘You in Reverse’
Cex ‘Actual Fucking’
The Citizens ‘Post Cro-Magnon Drift’
CX Kidtronik ‘Krak Attack EP’
Demolition Doll Rods ‘There Is a Difference’
Eef Barzelay ‘Bitter Honey’
Eminem Presents ‘The Re-Up’
Hella ‘Acoustics’
Ice-T [aka Iceberg] ‘Gangsta Rap’
Incubus ‘Light Grenades’
Liars ‘It Fit When I Was a Kid EP’
Lupe Fiasco ‘Food & Liquor’
Mecca Normal ‘The Observer’
Mew ‘And the Glass-Handed Kites’
The New Cars ‘It’s Alive!’
Paul Simon ‘Surprise’
Pearl Jam ‘Pearl Jam’
Red Hot Chili Peppers ‘Stadium Arcadium’
Richard Butler ‘Richard Butler’
Robin Thicke ‘The Evolution of...’
Rod Stewart ‘Still the Same... Great Rock Classics of Our Time’
The Sleepy Jackson ‘Personality’
TV on the Radio ‘Return to Cookie Mountain’
Whirlwind Heat ‘Types of Wood’
The Who ‘Endless Wire’
 1073 Grindhouse Au-go-go
Posted on Just before Christmas, Boicozine thought the first big cinematic event
23rd December 2006 of 2007 was on the horizon. Who’ are thought it would receive such a
in Cinephile subdued reaction. Or that panicked distributors would divide the film
in two a la Kill Bill only to splice it back together again the year after.
This is how we saw it... ‘The teaser trailer is and it’s looking pretty
wacky but the combination of Robert Rodriguez, Quentin Tarantino
and a homage to the ‘Exploitation’ films of the 70s is too exciting
to have to wait til April for. Watch the teaser trailer to get the low
down on Grindhouse, the movie. Maybe avoid the over-blown flash-
based navigational nightmare that is the ‘online marketing’ site.’
 1139 Pop Wrap
Posted on The Charles S. Anderson Design company has been digging deep
23rd December 2006 and repackaging American Commerical Art of the past since before
in Graphic Design, House Industries inception, so they’ve become pretty darn good at
Shopping re-inventing the ‘midcentury modern’ design for the post-millenial
world. So good, in fact, that they have not only set up CSA Images as
a picture library to support their burgeoning archive of found and
created materials. You can also purchase specially designed products
through their Pop Ink line. The wrapping paper is a personal fave.
The idea behind the Antimix Podcasts
was to create a series of modern
mixtapes. A bunch of tracks are run
together over roughly half an hour
(this usually equates to about 8 or 9
tracks) with a bit of dorky commentary.
The aim was to do one a month with
occasional themes, now it’s more like
bi-annually, but for a while we kept it up,
so here’s a brief record of what we’ve
played so far with the original artwork...
Antimix Jumble Rumble #1
Recorded August 2006
01 Schizo Dancer [Senario Rock]
• scenariorock.com
02 Darlings [Flin Flon] • teenbeat.net
03 Find It [The Carrie Nations] •
myspace.com/theoriginalcarrienations
04 Hold Up [Ladyfuzz] • ladyfuzz.com
05 Grumpy Nymph [Snap Ant] • snapant.com
06 One with the Freaks [The Notwist] •
notwist.com
07 Number One [Ms. John Soda] •
morrmusic.com
08 Naked [Bjorn Synneby] •escalator.co.jp

Antimix Jumble Rumble #2

Recorded September 2006
01 Shopping Bag [The Penetrators]
• penetrators.com
02 A Song About Ping Pong [Operator Please]
• operatorpleaseband.com
03 As You Do [Medicine]
• astralwerks.com/medicine
04 Berimbao [Sovisco] • sovisco.com
05 Darlin [XX Teens] • xxteens.co.uk
06 Hong Kong Garden [Siouxsie and the
Banshees] • marieantoinette-lefilm.com
07 Summer Smash [Denim]
08 Ready 2 Wear [Felix da Housecat]
• felixdahousecat.com

Antimix Jumble Rumble #3

Recorded October 2006
01 Video [Jeff Lynne] • jefflynnesongs.com
02 Let’s Build a Zoo [Saint Etienne]
• saintetienne.com
03 Less and Less [Sportsday Megaphone]
• myspace.com/sportsdaymegaphone
04 Monster Hospital [Metric]
• ilovemetric.com
05 Wrong Time Capsule [Deerhoof]
• deerhoof.killrockstars.com
06 Hot (Ratatat Mix) [Missy Elliot / Ratatat]
• ratatatmusic.com
07 Birds [Vitalic] • vitalic.org
08 The 15th [Fischerspooner]
• fischerspooner.com
09 Where Love and Laughter Go
[Broadcast] • broadcast.uk.net
linkage
24 1085
• www.venthavenmuseum.net/ • www.laduree.fr/
26 • www.yauatcha.com/
• www.tohato.jp/ 141
1062 • www.experiencecq.com/
• wikipedia.org/wiki/the_ripping_friends/ • imdb.com/title/tt0254199/
• imdb.com/title/tt0290117/ 1091
1065 • www.riskybuildings.org.uk/
• www.normalweb.jp/ 1094
• www.specialmagazine.jp/ • www.yesstudio.co.uk/
438 142
• www.tomadamsuncovered.co.uk/ • imdb.com/title/tt0062480/
1067 • imdb.com/title/tt0206634/
• www.ourmachine.com/ • imdb.com/title/tt0070130/
• www.mark-magazine.com/ • imdb.com/title/tt0434409/
1071 1096
• flickr.com/photos/mooski/sets/ • www.supmag.com/
72157594313047311/ • www.dummymag.com/
1069 1135
• www.designinc.com.au/ • www.frontdesign.se/
• www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/ 1100
• www.a-r-m.com.au/ • www.grafikmagazine.co.uk/
1079 • www.seadesign.co.uk/
• www.isokonplus.com/ 1077
1081 • www.materialboy.com.au/
• www.alexcox.com/ • www. kokontozai.co.uk/
1089 1098
• nmca.boico.net/nmca_relax.htm/ • www. peytonandbyrne.com/
1102 • www.007.com/
• www. graniph.com/ 1112
143 • www.to-orist.com/
• www.dummymag.com/ 1114
• www.architectsjournal.co.uk/ • www.hauserwirth.com/exhibitions/
• www.littlewhitelies.co.uk/ index.php?showone=1&exhibition_id=415/
• www.supmag.com/ 1121
• www.dazeddigital.com/ • melbournedesignguide.com/
• www.vogue.co.uk/ 1118
• www.observermusicmonthly.co.uk/ • www.artofcuba.com/
• www.i-dmagazine.com/ 1126
1104 • www.arcademode.com/
• au.kddi.com/english/au_design_project/ • www.coolcats.fr/
product/neon/ 1129
1106 • www.9031.com/
• www.establishedandsons.com/ 1131
• www.madethought.com/ • www.theknife.net/
1108 1133
• www.vujj.se/ • www.he-magazine.com/
• www.pmkfa.com/ • www.homework.dk/
1110 1075
• wikipedia.org/wiki/direct_action/ • www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/
47 feature/40185/
• www.a10.eu/ 1073
• www.archis.org/ • www.grindhousemovie.net/
• www.niche.com.au/pages/view/inside/ 1139
314 • www.mrfrench.com/popink.asp/
• wikipedia.org/wiki/century_gothic/ • www.csadesign.com/
PUBLISHING
IS
MODERN
FUN
This is the Press Publish mantra.
Press Publish is about
generating new ideas, turning
them into real, tangible objects
and then letting people know FYI: Boicozine is the official
about them. We explore Press Publish blog
the point where content
and format meet. We like
‘mooshing’ the boundaries
between content that lives
online and in the physical
realm. Information wants to be
free. So far Press Publish has
manifested in blogs, print media
such as magazines and the
mook you hold in your hands,
various Print-on-Demand
projects, online archives and For enquires contact
more. Contact us to find out Michael Bojkowski
michael@presspublish.info
more about radical forms of or visit us online at
publishing in the modern age. /presspublish.info/
This publication documents the best bits and bytes featured
during the first three months of the Boicozine blog from
October to December 2006. It is also a unique experiment
in giving physical form to an online entity. This is the second
edition of this publication, originally published as ‘Zine #1’.
It has been refreshed, tidied up and made relevant again.
Archive #2 will follow on from this title. You can visit the
Boicozine blog by entering the address below into your browser.
Revised Edition. Published by Press Publish, November 2008.
 www.presspublish.info