DIY Publishing Rules OK

After missing out on the V&A Village Fete [scarletprojects.com], I was determined not to miss out on the Publish and Be Damned Fair [publishandbedamned.org.uk]. The organisers are very strict about the nature of the exhibitors. For a start, they must be independent publishers displaying “individual and experimental approaches” to whatever publications they produce. They can’t be too big or flash a publisher (some possible exhibitors were told they were too well established to participate). They must also be able to fill a table full of interesting bits and bobs for people to have a flick or a rummage through. There were some lush publications available for free others ranged from a couple of pounds to 20 plus. This year’s exhibitors came from as far a field as Poland and Turkey. The event was held in one of the old school buildings at The Rochelle School, attached to The Boundry Estate (London’s oldest housing estate, fact fans [myspace.com/boundaryestate]) and managed to leak out into the central garden. The highlight for me, as always, was Mark Pawson’s [mpawson.demon.co.uk] stall with his vast array of Gocco [flickr.com/groups/gocco] prints, Issues of Craphound [zinewiki.com/craphound] and assorted sorties. Overall assessment… DIY Rules OK! Here’s a few pics from the event with a bit of commentary. I may have to break this into two parts…

I got a little over enthusiastic when a guy told me that I could just take a copy of Knight’s Move. He could have been hoping that if I take a copy I’d stop photographing his stall. I did both anyways. The byline reads ‘Writing as Drawing’.

Turps Banana [turpsbanana.com] was one of the more lushly produced publications on show. Designed by Geoff Moore at Studio Gpop [studio-gpop.com].

Fashionriot was one of the more expensive purchases at Publish and Be Damned but with good reason. Every page was a lovingly concocted mash of type, design and materials. Issue three featured a green grid with different stamps splashed over each cover.

Update: I’ve uploaded a bunch of pics over at [flickr].