Sign O' The Times: Oh So 1991...
My baby steps into magazine design and publishing began with my first zine, Sign O' The Times created 16 years ago! Designed on my Mac SE30 (black and white, 8" monitor) using Pagemaker, Photoshop and Typestyler, it was pure 'Gonzo-journalism', Buffalo-style. With all the articles having a Hunter S. Thompson bent, the SOTT featured satire by the bucketful, DJ lists, comix and stolen, scanned photos from old magazines and newspaper clippings. It was output on stat paper (I worked in a pre-press shop at the time), copied at Kinkos and assembled by hand at a monthly beer drinking event.
Writers included some of Buffalo's brightest stars at the time including Brad Maione, Steven Trask, Strick, Dan Carlson, MKO, Andre Frazier, Cappy, Mike Van Horn and Charlie Quill. The first few issues dealt with the war (Gulf, that is..), an Eva Watch, American excess, Buffalo Summers, greasy spoon diners, the Steam Donkeys, Bills Super Bowl losses, NYC, hip hop music, Pee Wee Herman and giant red ants.
I look back on these issues and remember lugging the heavy-ass SE30 back to and from work, creating and waiting for logo art to render in Typestyler, and staring at the imagesetter as it crunched away at the files, eventually producing shiney white pages to go to Kinkos. Though computer designed (Pagemaker 3.0 anyone?), the SOTT had a 1990's distinctive cut-and-paste feel.
With little to no paid ads, the money was always tight and Kinkos wanted to get paid. After a disastrous fundraiser (RAVE ON! featuring Crucial Vibes) at the VFW post on Franklin-- where the take at the door was minimal and the guy at the post wouldn't let us leave until I went to the Quickbank on Elmwood and withdrew money to pay them-- the bell had tolled for the end of SOTT. The SOTT has truly burned fast & bright!
The publishing bug bit me again two years later in 1993 with the launch of Slack magazine, and again in the late nineties with the BuffaloPOST, Buffalos first online magazine (pre-blog) which I ran with writer Dave Staba. More to come on those two at a later date- stay tuned.
View the Sign O' The Times graphic scrapbook by clicking this link and get a real blast from my past.
9 comments:
ah, an SE30, the graphic artist's original laptop...
Seems like yesterday, guys. As it happens I'm free in case you want to do it again. Wasn't the se30 a sportscar?
...Mess wit yo mind
Hurry before its too late
Fall in love, get married, have a baby,
We'll call him Nate,
if its a boy...
Those were the days, my friend/we thought they'd never end ...
Damn dude...was it really that long ago? It was cool "almost" making it on the Oprah show...just imagine what would be if we lived in our parents basements.....ahhh....we'd be rich right now.
Wow.. I think I'm still playing the same records in the same bar 16 years later!
EVR-
You were just so far ahead of your time that the music you were spinning then (actual records were indeed being used along with CDs)is in style NOW!
Those were good times, good times indeed. But times are good now. Tell me they are, will you?
I had a brief stint as an NYC correspondent. Indeed the good old days. I hope the old Pink is still there. I certainly put in many hours there with some of you. Time well spent I might add.
Wendy C.
Post a Comment