say it ain’t so!

To say I’m bummed that Domino is closing is kind of an understatement. To me, Domino is the only shelter mag worth subscribing to. The others fall short in that they feature homes that are too fancy/expensive, or just plain not my taste.

I’m not saying Domino is the be all end all (I mean, the February issue was a bit disappointing) but there is something to be said for books and magazines.

One Coco + Kelley commenter wondered if the fall of all these shelter mags is a result of all the fabulous design blogs we have to choose from. I suppose it might be true (although Conde Nast reports the closing of Domino is a result of falling ad sales in a terrible economy), but to me having design books and magazines is so valuable. When you find something you love on the internet, you can bookmark it, but who is to say the site won’t be updated or gone the next time you want to review it?

At the design firm where I work, we have a small selection of design books. I’ve poured through them so many times that I am 100% familiar with each and every page. But seeing the same well-done projects over and over teaches me something that a glimpse of a constantly updated blog never can. It’s looking at something for the one hundredth time that you say, “Oh, now I understand why that color trim works with that room” or why that typography looked great on that poster but isn’t cutting it in my brochure mockup.

My bookshelves are becoming filled with design magazines, the pages marked as inspiration for some future bedroom redesign or edgy graphic design project. My online bookmarks are fabulous, but they’re no replacement.

Thoughts?

12 Responses to “say it ain’t so!”

lauren

January 28, 2009 at 4:47 pm

noooo! I just received their book for christmas which came with a free subscrip. that I was SO excited about … dangit. I still don’t understand why blueprint can’t compete in the blog arena with the guns of MSOmnimedia behind it!

Yellowgoat

January 28, 2009 at 10:27 pm

I do agree with coco + kelley’s commenter.

With all the home design blogs out there, people are getting excellent information and images for free. While internet may be flaky, but you can just save up the images. Plus there are people who scan the Domino pages and put it online. (there’s a flickr group just for that)

As a personal taste, I only buy magazines I can’t find the information else where, eventually, I have to scan them, and store the image on my computer also, because I have limited space.

They say it’s the sales of ad, but if they have a very good subscriber base, companies will place ad, bad economy or not.

Kristy

January 28, 2009 at 10:57 pm

I was only a begrudging skimmer of Domino-sometimes it seemed so messy to me, but it was sooooo cheap and at least one out of five times you got something great to tear out. Maybe the “newness” of online content will die down a bit and let only the greatest and best words and pics on paper survive? Who knows. All I know is that all the rags in town are being told “do more with less.” How stupid is that?

knack

January 29, 2009 at 9:02 am

I’m with you Ellie ……. I am so sad to hear about all of the magazines closing especially Domino! I am a HUGE magazine reader ….. go to Barnes and Noble every week to check out the latest ……. I will miss having the touchable inspiration of the paper/ pictures….

amy

January 29, 2009 at 10:35 am

also in agreement! long live the printed page! who doesn’t love the smell of a new magazine, no matter the value of the pictures & words on it?

Terry

January 31, 2009 at 8:13 am

Sad. But just a note about saving information. I used to (OK, still have) tons of binders full of clippings. I love saving things I like. I have always feared things going only online because how can I save things then?

There are programs out there like Evernote where you -can- save things you find online as a custom screen capture. It puts it into a notebook where you can write notes and tag things. There are other programs as well, like Journler, just look around and try. I have to say I’m growing a fantastic binder with evernote and can pull all of it up on my iphone even. I’ll always miss actually holding a clipping, feeling it, though…!

Terry

January 31, 2009 at 12:33 pm

I was a Journler fan for a long time and switched to evernote about 3 weeks ago – I’m still in the OMG it can do that? phase, but tell me what you think!

Still sad about Domino. Even Martha Stewart is laying off creatives. Is this just the tip of the iceberg? sigh -

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