CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS // Hand-Typed, Letter-Pressed Journal Harlequin Creature Seeks All Kinds Of Print Media

 

There are tons of literary and cultural journals out there asking for submissions, but you won't find many that'll treat your work with the same level of hands-on care as Harlequin Creature. The journal's cover is crafted by letter press, and every page of every copy is hand-typed on a vintage typewriter. No photocopying or inkjets here. The Harlequin Creature crew produces each copy of their journals through "typing bees," where Smith Coronas, Underwoods and Royals bang away and carefully placed keystrokes forge every letter.

After selling out of their first issue, which came out back in the fall, Harlequin Creature is looking for submissions for the followup. They welcome "any printable media is welcome, i.e. prose, poetry, sheet music, collage work, etc.," and are asking for prose between 500 and 1,500 words and no more than 3 poems. The deadline is February 10, or January 13 if you'd like them to return your piece with suggested changes by January 27.

For a little more info on the spirit of Harlequin Creature, here's a quote from their website:

this is a journal sure to be unconventional in today's overwhelmingly digital age, and i think, at the same time, very much in touch with a nostalgia for an earlier era, when the factories of pittsburgh and detroit were still bumpin' and steel was in. with a circle of friends that spans from los angeles to new york, every single journal is hand typed on high quality paper, and the covers will all be set by a heavy, centuries old letter press in ann arbor, michigan. each copy is then hand bound, and a limited number include artwork by a featured artist.

Check out some more images of their first issue and army of typewriters after the jump.

-- John Ruscher

MIXED MEDIA OPPORTUNITY // NYCEDC Seeks Creative Proposals For Downtown Light Installation

A light installation under the Brooklyn Bridge in DUMBO - photo by Jules Antonio

Think you have an idea that could illuminate Lower Manhattan? The New York City Economic Development Corporation wants to hear it!

The organization, which promotes economic growth throughout the city, is calling for proposals "for the development and implementation of an innovative and engaging lighting and placemaking initiative aimed at increasing Lower Manhattan’s exposure, expanding its appeal in the evening hours, and spurring more diverse business activity by using the area's buildings and public spaces to create a strong neighborhood identifier visible to viewers from both near and far."

NYCEDC is looking for a proposal that embraces and enhances Lower Manhattan's identity as a vibrant, 24/7 community:

This project should occur on a regular basis (i.e., weekly, monthly) and be able to be implemented by the end of 2012, and ideally have a guaranteed life span of at least three years. The lighting project may include, and is not limited to, projection-mapping including 3D effects, interactive elements and opportunities for interaction, up/downlighting and pedestrian or kinetic motion-activated lighting.

The project is scheduled to kick off by the end of 2012 and will continue for at least three years. The selected team will receive up to $1 million from NYCEDC, along with other potential funding sources, to realize their proposal.

The deadline for submitting a proposal is February 13, 2012, and you can find out more information from the official press release as well as the project's procurement page.

-- John Ruscher

CALL FOR CONTENT // 3W Web Design Teacher Looking For Model Content For New Book

Feel like having your work published and distributed around the world? Listen up:

3rd Ward's Web Design teacher David Karlins is the author of dozens of popular graphic and web design books--from The Complete Idiot's Guide to Macromedia Flash 5 to Illustrator CS3 How-Tos: 100 Essential Techniques. He's obviously got a knack for explaining things clearly and concisely, but that's even easier to do with some great examples. Karlins is currently looking for "model content" to help illustrate different techniques in his upcoming Web Design For Dummies book.

Specifically? The content can be pretty much anything; craftwork, services, portfolios, product lines, performances, causes and so on—you just have to be willing to see it reframed, presented in different ways and truncated. Karlins promises though that he'll do his best to respect your work.

Check out the image above for an example of how your work might appear--that's Danish jeweler Eric Geist as featured in one of Karlins' most recent books, Adobe Creative Suite 5 Web Premium How-Tos: 100 Essential Techniques.

Interested? Get in touch ASAP with David Karlins at dkarlins@davidkarlins.com.

CALL FOR ENTRIES // Curate NYC Seeks Artists for Second Annual Citywide Competition

Visual artists, listen up:

Are you interested in exhibiting your work in NYC galleries and getting in front of the eyes of curators? Then you might want to submit your work to Curate NYC, a city-wide competition presented by the New York City Economic Development Corporation and the nonprofit arts organization Full Spectrum Experience, Inc.

Last year Curate NYC's inaugural competition received close to 1,200 submissions and recognized the work of artists like painter Jennifer Delilah and photographer Alexandra Henry. This year's competition will expand to showcase artwork in even more venues around the city and allow artists to sell their work through the Curate NYC website. A juried selection of the top 150 entries will be exhibited as museum-quality postcard reproductions at the Rush Art Gallery & Resource Center in Manhattan from December 1-10. After that, selected postcards, along with actual artwork by additional Curate NYC artists, will be exhibited at galleries in all of five boroughs, including Like the Spice in Williamsburg and Crossing Art in Queens.

In addition to those exhibitions, the artwork, profile and weblink for every applicant will be published on the Curate NYC website, where art professionals and the general public can check it out. There will also be a series of special online exhibitions selected by curators like Kevin Stayton of the Brooklyn Museum, Eric C. Shiner of The Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, and Lowery Stokes Sims of The Museum of Arts and Design.

The submission deadline is October 31. For more info, head on over to the Curate NYC website now.

-- John Ruscher

CALL FOR ENTRIES // Designers, Prove Your Mettle In The 2011 Cut&Paste Digital Design Tournament

OK, designers, you officially have this week to apply for this year's Cut&Paste Digital Design Competition--you've got until October 7 to enter. "This is not a passive, submission-based contest," the Cut&Paste folks warn. And they mean it. The tournament is more a combination of a grueling work day and a night of going hard at the club:

Competitors perform live, onstage, before big-name brands and a raucous audience fueled by bartenders, with a deejay cranking out music and an emcee narrating events. Cut&Paste expects competitors to put on a show not only onscreen, but onstage, bringing props, friends, social media tie-ins - anything they can to draw in the judges and audience and stamp their personal style on their work.

Cut&Paste's NYC competition will take place on October 28 at the Angel Orensanz Foundation, where 16 designers will compete in 2D, 3D and motion design. Judges will include Jeff Staple of Staple Design, Tristan Eaton of Thunderdog Studios, Benjamin Palmer of the Barbarian Group and artist, product designer and author Jeremyville.

Then Cut&Paste will head to 11 other cities around the world, and the Grand Prize winners of each competition will be flown to the global championship right here in NYC in March 2012. That gives you the edge, New Yorkers—no jet lag.

-- John Ruscher