For me, this weekend is truly one where two of my worlds collide. Last night I had a special PechaKucha event as part of the Magazine Library exhibition in which I invited a few friends (Audrey Fondecave, Mike Abelson, Luis Mendo, Antonin Gaultier, and Ian Lynam) to do presentations on the topic of magazines and print culture. It was a far more intimate audience than what we’re used to seeing at our regular PechaKucha Nights, but in the end I think we had nice attentive crowd who really seemed to enjoy the presentations — and all of these presentations should be popping up on the PechaKucha site over the next week or so.
The second part of this double-header weekend happens tomorrow (Sunday, March 13), with PauseTalk Vol. 60 happening again at the same Magazine Library space (Hillside Terrace in Daikanyama), starting at 15:00. It’ll be the same kind of PauseTalk that I always do, so I do hope that regulars will still want to come despite the change in venue and time. Yes, I’m sure magazines and print culture will come up in our discussion, but I’m open — as always — to talk about whatever. And if you’re a fan of the fantastic Apartamento magazine, then you should stick around as the editor-in-chief and art director will both be there to give a talk from 17:00.
The photos included in this post were taken by Michael Holmes — who most of you will of course recognize as the regular PauseTalk and PechaKucha Night photographer. He was on hand to take some photos during the event, but did a few fun shots outside of the venue after with some of the people on hand. The group shot at the top includes a whole bunch of great peeps, and above you have Rumi Nagata of the Winged Wheel stationery shop, and below that is my board gaming brother (and AQ designer) Ryan Ruel.
Just a reminder that I’ll be having a special PechaKucha event on Friday (May 11) as part of the Magazine Library exhibition at Hillside Terrace in Daikanyama. The theme is of course magazines and print culture, and I’m very happy with the lineup, which will include, among others, TOO MUCH magazine and my fellow Radio OK Fred co-host Audrey Fondecave, De Rigueur‘s Antonin Gaultier, Tokyo-based designer Ian Lynam, Amsterdam-based editorial designer Luis Mendo, and Postalco‘s Mike Abelson.
The event is free to attend, and will kick off at 19:00 (presentations start at that time). Hope to see many of you there, and it’s a good chance to take in the exhibition as well.
Just a reminder that there is no PauseTalk tonight (on the first Monday of the month) and that instead the May edition (Vol. 60) is happening this coming Sunday (the 13th) at Hillside Terrace in Daikanyama, as part of the Magazine Library exhibition. It will kick off at 15:00, and run for an hour or so, as usual.
A new episode of the Codex (53) is up, a tribute to the Beastie Boys, a group I’ve had a great deal of love for throughout my life.
And here is our second live session of Radio OK Fred, recorded earlier tonight at the Magazine Library 10 exhibition in Daikanyama — download yesterday’s episode here. Our guest this time was Luis Mendo, who not only contributed designs and illustrations to the exhibition (flyers, website), but is also participating in the form of a few workshops, in collaboration with TOO MUCH magazine — the first one is tomorrow (Saturday, May 5, from 11:00) and involves the creation of City Reports. You’ll hear the interview we did with Luis later in the episode, and of course there’s music selections throughout. The last live episode of Radio OK Fred will happen next week, on Saturday, May 12 (from around 17:00).
Radio OK Fred 25 (71.4MB)
Yes, after what feels like a hiatus that has gone on forever (since 2010, actually), we were back tonight with a brand new episode of Radio OK Fred, recorded live at Hillside Terrace in Daikanyama, as part of the Magazine Library 10 exhibition. Our special guest was Antonin Gaultier (Digiki) who talked about his recently launched digital magazine De Rigueur, and who also contributed a few musical selections to the mix. It’s a longish episode (about 90 minutes), and you can download it from the link below (I may add the complete tracklist later). We will be back tomorrow night for another live recording (Friday, May 4, from around 17:00 to 19:00), and then again on Saturday, May 12. And yes, our RSS feed is still active, so subscribe to make sure to get the next few episodes.
Radio OK Fred 24 (75MB)
As I teased the other day, after a hiatus of a couple of years, Radio OK Fred is back this week, live! The Magazine Library 10 exhibition runs May 3-13 at Hillside Terrace in Daikanyama, and me, Audrey, and Yoshi are reuniting for 2 live editions of Radio OK Fred this week, on Thursday and Friday evening (May 3 and 4). We will be starting around 17:00-30, and each show will go for 1-2 hours. It will be a mix of music selections and interviews with special guests, so if you’re around please drop by and come say hi, we’d love to chat with you! There are also plans to do an extra edition on Saturday, May 12, and I’m have more details later about the time.
A new episode of the Codex (52) is up, for your listening pleasure. As I mention on the show — which I also did in my post about the next PauseTalk — if you like the Codex, then you’ll probably dig our live sessions of Radio OK Fred, happening next week, on May 3 and 4 at Hillside Terrace in Daikanyama as part of the Magazine Library 10 exhibition.
You may have been wondering what’s going on with the May edition of PauseTalk, which not only is Vol. 60, but also marks the 6th anniversary of the series. It will be a special edition indeed, and not only will it for the first time not be held at Cafe Pause in Ikebukuro, it will also not be on the first Monday of the month. I am very pleased to announce that PauseTalk Vol. 60 will be part of the upcoming Magazine Library 10 exhibition, taking place at Hillside Terrace in Daikanyama on May 3-13. The exhibition is a lovefest for magazines, and so it shouldn’t be a big surprise that I associated myself with it — on top of the PauseTalk, we will have a PechaKucha event (May 11), as well as the return of Radio OK Fred with two live editions (May 3 and 4).
The PauseTalk will cap the exhibition, happening on Sunday, May 13, with a start time of 15:00. Yes, it will be an afternoon edition, and although I’m sure the topic of magazines will pop up a lot, expect a regular session of PauseTalk, with people sharing ideas and opinions on all things creative. I do hope that many of you will be able to make it for this special edition — and yes, like I did for last year’s 50th edition, I do plan on producing a few badges for the first people who arrive.
The latest edition of my “On Design” column is in today’s Japan Times, and it can be read online here. Pictured above, the Hinoki no Hakimono clogs from Mizutori.
I’m heading to Milan! Leaving in just a bit for a trip to the Milano Salone, where we’ll be hosting 4 special PechaKucha events at a temporary club space built by Heineken just for the Salone, designed by a group of up and coming designers we helped find through a series of special PechaKucha Nights in Sao Paulo, Tokyo, New York and Milan last year.
It should be a blast, we’ve got great lineups for each night, including a few PechaKucha Night organizers. The events are happening Tuesday through Friday (April 17-20), from 17:00 to 19:30. I’m afraid the first night (Tuesday) is invitation-only, but all other nights are open to all, so come on down and say hi! The venue is the Heineken Open Design Explorations club space, which is located in Milan’s Tortona area, at the intersection of via Bugatti and via Forcella.
Oh, and we have kept a few slots open (maybe just 1-2 left now I think), so if you are in Milan and have something really cool to present get in touch.
I don’t quite know what happened for April’s PauseTalk Vol. 59, but not only did we beat the attendance of last month (which was already high) with a total of about 30, but it also marked the first visit of PechaKucha co-founder (and my boss) Mark Dytham at the event. I was very happy to hear afterward that he quite enjoyed it — it’s no secret that I was inspired by PK when I started PT, thinking that it would be interesting to have a more intimate kind of event, with the presentations replaced by a group discussion.
The talk moved around various topics as it often does, and I think much fun was had by all — and the “all” was made up of a nice mix of semi-regulars, new faces, and a few returning champions. Again, as with every event, I need to thank everyone who attended and helped make it such a great evening.
On the topic of the next PauseTalk, it will be the Vol. 60, which also marks the 6th anniversary of the series, and I have something a bit special planned. As most of you know, I have a certain fondness for magazines, and so PauseTalk Vol. 60 will be held as part of the upcoming Magazine Library 10 event in Daikanyama, at Hillside Terrace — this will be the first time it isn’t held at Cafe Pause. The full event runs May 3-13, and I’ll soon be able to confirm on what day the PauseTalk will happen, but I can tell you that it won’t be on the first Monday of the month, as usual.
Below, the list of participants who signed the attendance sheet. Michael Holmes was again there and took plenty of photos, but he hasn’t shared those photos yet — the photo at the top of the post is from last month’s Vol. 58 (see the full gallery here).
No, these are not the participants from this month’s PauseTalk — which was a fantastic event, but more on that in another post — these are rather the participants from March’s PauseTalk Vol. 58 (held on March 5) which I hadn’t put online yet. As you’ll see from the rather extensive list — again, these are just the people who actually signed the attendance sheet, but it’s mostly complete I think — it had a great attendance, and I’d like to thank everyone who came out and helped make it such an interesting and fun night of talk.
So below, the list of those who signed the attendance sheet, and here’s another great Facebook gallery of photos taken at the event by the always amazing Michael Holmes – I had to use that photo of me for the post, because I love the crazy angle it puts on my body. I’ll talk more about when the next event will be held in the post with the Vol. 59 attendance.
I’ve quickly become a big fan of Paper, an app for iPad that does a fantastic job of letting you easily draw, sketch, and write things on your iPad. I should also add paint, as it does a beautiful job of replicating water colors on the screen, not just the intensity, but the mixing of colors as well. I’m already having fun sketching things on it, and I now want to get a stylus for it to try and take notes (which is still a bit awkward to do with your finger).
Just your friendly reminder that PauseTalk Vol. 59 takes place tonight (April 2) at Cafe Pause, with the regular start time of 20:00. Come join us for some chittin’ and chattin’, and a bit of drinkin’.
Jean Snow is a contributor to 
He will be contributing to the upcoming fifth editions of 
