Many of you may remember the Design Book series. The last one, No. 7, was published in 1996. We’re going to resurrect the concept, but with a sharper focus — contemporary furniture. For it to be a success, we need you to help out. Details below.
We look forward to seeing your work.
–Anatole Burkin
Publisher
Fine Woodworking
CALL FOR ENTRIES
Fine Woodworking is planning a special publication on contemporary furniture design to be published in 2008. We’re looking for functional pieces that reflect an imaginative approach to design and materials selection. Categories include tables, chairs, desks, cabinets, bookcases, bureaus, beds, and cabinetry for home entertainment and computers. The emphasis will be on contemporary forms, not period reproductions. Makers must provide professional-quality photography in digital or transparency formats and include a brief statement of design intent along with dimensions and material specifications, drawings, and brief construction notes that seem relevant. All entries must be postmarked by Nov. 16, 2007. For return of entry materials, include a prepaid mailing envelope. Send entries to: <!—-><!—-> <!—->
DESIGN, Fine Woodworking Magazine, <!—-><!—-><!—->63 S. Main St.<!—->, <!—->Newtown <!—->, <!—->CT<!—-> <!—->06470<!—-> <!—->.<!—-> <!—->
For more information, go to www.finewoodworking.com/design
Replies
Bravo.
David Ring
http://www.touchwood.co.il/?id=1&lang=e
OK so I am a OLD MAN that thinks Amy Devers ( Yes from DIY ) is about as contemporary furniture as you can get! She is a brunette so has to be special! But then again I am not really sure what contemporary furniture REALLY is?
To me contemporary furniture is ANY design using different materials. I have been wrong before.
For our purposes, "contemporary" is defined as having stylistic roots in 20th and 21st century work. That said, some makers like Timothy Philbrick have taken period furniture ideas and reformed them into what could be considered contemporary . Take a look at the back cover of FWW 179, which features a modern take on a Newport secretary, to see what I mean.
Anatole,
Resurrecting the Design Books is a great idea. Go for it. Good luck. Unfortunately for me, I am a hobbyist who doesn't have the talent to design things that will make it into a Design Book. But that gave me an idea that I have been kicking around for a while. It seems to me that there are more people like me (hobbyists) on Knots than like Ray Pine and Richard Jones (super professionals). I believe that most of the hobbyists do not post photos of their work on Knots because the stuff we turn out doesn't compare with what folks like Rob Millard does.
I LOVE to see what other "real" hobbyists are working on. I would like to see another Folder on Knots that is for hobbyists to post photos of their "normal" work. What do hobbyists turn out? Of course, there are a wide range of answers to that. But I believe that all of us hobbyists would like to know what the rest of us are doing, but we are hesitant to post our stuff, because "fine woodwork" is what we are aiming at, but haven't fully achieved yet.
You just might be able to sell an occassional volume of "The Work of Fine Woodworking's Hobbyists". Yup, you'd see bookshelves, built-ins, simple tables, etc, but I will bet that you will be surprised to see some of them making tools, doing decoratively painted furniture, etc etc etc.
I think I have a pretty good idea of what the pros are doing. I see it on their websites, and there are lots of magazines that feature their work, including FWW, of course. But I have a great desire to find out what my "peers" are doing. I'd pay far more money for a book of "normal" work by my peers than for yet another book of stuff that i will not be able to do for another ten years.
Please do not take this as a complaint. Of course, I will buy the new design book when it comes out, in spite of the fact that I don't have much interest in modern designs. I really like to see what the "best of the best" are doing. Take my message as an "added opportunity" that you might consider for the future. I am fairly sure that if you bring it up at a staff meeting, you will be roundly and soundly laughed at -- but remember -- most innovators who are rich now, once were laughed at. Now they laugh on the way to the bank.
Have fun. and Good luck with your project.
Mel
Measure your output in smiles per board foot.
Mel,
You are married to the finest critic (a person who offers reasoned judgement or analysis, value judgement, interpretation, or observation) one could ever want. Perhaps you're being a bit harsh on yourself?
I for one (peer) am making what I call a Queen Anne interpretation piece that you can bet your bottom dollar will appear in The Gallery, cause I want to show it off and get critique from all the super progessionals in here. We're all Masters, remember!
That way, hopefully the next piece will be better.
My critic already likes it and she's only seen a drawing of it!
Regards,Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
Bob,
You are right.
I forgot that "We are all Masters."MelMeasure your output in smiles per board foot.
We're all Masters, remember! Me too! My wife and I raised four wonderful children that a 'nice to other folks' and nice to us.Yes we had some problems as all parents do BUT never 'really' out of line. Wish I could say that about me when growing up! I smoke and drink but at least my family came first and I never killed anybody!As far as a Master in my work as a woodworker. I see SO MANY things I could have made better or at least taken more time at BUT overall I am usually happy with my work and not afraid to show if off.. Even if others think it stinks!
Bob, you are one of the many thinkers in this crowd with no particular axe to grind other than "play nice kids". Thus I bring my quandary to your table on this post.
I will set my stage. I will probably not have a major piece of contemporary work in my rustic cedar ranch house with horses to the left of my 4 acres, chickens, hogs and crops to the right of me and herds of black Angus across the road in the 30 acres in front of me. I would just be a poor mix, like sippin premium home made corn likker with pate on sesame crispbrod dressed with a chiffanaud of young shallot.
I do however highly respect and enjoy the artistic creativity when working in a minimalist style where the wood is almost as important than the form. I will be one of the first to exclaim "WOW" upon seeing the demanding very precise (no where to cheat) joinery and the required flawless finishing . One assumes that the form and function will meld.
To my issue, I thought I was seeing things as FWW just did a survey of this august body of friends and foes to find that only 10% favor contemporary. WHY?
This request is for the beginners AND the Pros , not a level playing field considering the pros have full shops, wood. resources and skills to execute in a trice what a novice or even advanced ww could produce IN PERHAPS A MONTH OR TWO. WHY the 5 week time frame. ....................just the wood search alone could take a month.
My other concerns are financial and legal. Assume some one busts their butt to produce a stunning design, measured drawings and construction notes, (read copyright), provides pro pics, (read costly) and other copy on design concepts. What is their compensation? What are their ownership rights? None of this is mentioned except that if you want your stuff back please enclose the envelope and postage.
If you send your stuff do you give up your rights to future use? What do you think? Paddy
Hi Paddy,
I think Richard has it pretty well covered. The one thing that seems to permeate most of the posts in this discussion is the feeling of competition.
I don't see it that way. If one is in a competitive mode then I feel that dulls their creative process. I see these as possible opportunities to get advertisement?
I'm a hobbiest not a professional woodworker so my interests are quite different than those of the professional.
Many years ago I used to write a column for a computer periodical. They paid me $100 for each monthly writing. I got such a thrill just seeing my words in the magazine that if they hadn't paid me anything I likely would have written it anyway!
Now I have only one critic to answer to, ME! If I don't like it I either fix, change it into something else or use it to stoke the fire on a cold night! I have made pieces in the past that I didn't like, but the wife did so those managed to escape the inferno.
Regards,Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
I am a hobbyist who doesn't have the talent to design things that will make it into a Design Book.Right on! HOWEVER, I make some pretty nice project and I have to admit some of my designs are based on something I saw in a picture.I do not 'copy' the work.. The picture or whatever just gives me the 'idea' of where to take 'my' version of it. I guess that is why I do not like plans. Not that there is ANYTHING wrong with that but not my style.I'd bet most of you could come up with a good design and that all the 'parts fit well'. However, my opinion is most of us have no place to do proper finishing which 'makes or breaks the final outcome' as far as GREAT work.Yes, I could send my projects out for 'proper' finishing BUT then it would NOT ME MINE!OK, I got that off my chest...
WG,
OK. Let's form a partnership.
I'll finish your pieces.
You finish mine. You know, Will, it never occurred to me that anyone would answer my post on this issue. I have gotten three responses so far. So my original ideas must have been wrong. I borrow design ideas just like you do. I don't think it will bother anyone in the woodworking world because no one sees my work except my family, who take all of my pieces (at no charge of course). I like my work. I keep getting better. I keep learning more techniques and my "taste" in design improves (IMHO). But my self evaluation is that my current pieces are not going to be selected for a design book. Probably the reason is that things that go into the design book are usually either extremely difficult or very very different than "normal" stuff. My taste are not that far out, and my skills are not up there with the best of the best hobbyists. It was in that spirit that I thought about a book for hobbyists. But like so many of my ideas, it was both "different" and flawed.
I concede.
I will try to design and make something that could be accepted.
Unfortunately, I don't think I'll have enough time to make the deadline on this book.
Thanks for writing.
MelMeasure your output in smiles per board foot.
WG,
OK. Let's form a partnership.
I'll finish your pieces.
You finish mine. LOL... LOL.. I'm fallin' on the floor in a belly laugh! BOTH will be somehow less than desirable!I had my laugh for the day SO it was a good day!
WG,
I love your attitude.
If I ever decide to become a stand-up comic, I will pay you to be in the audience. I can make you laugh easier than I can Adam, Charles, Lataxe or Glaucon. So let's see how good a finisher you are.
Here is a TOUGH question,and a real one.I decided to do an experiment. I wanted to make a jewelry box out of a 6"x6"x3" chunk of Big Leaf Maple Burl that I bought for $12. I didn't want to veneer a substrate. That is too easy, and the process is too well known. I wanted to do something that I had no information on. I wanted to slice the block into 1/2" slices and make a box out of "boards" of burl. I started by making the top. I sliced off the top half inch, giving me a 6"x6"x 1/2" slice for the top. Then I took the remaining piece and made nine slices of 1/2" x 3 1/2" x 6". I took four of those slices and mitred the edges, and then I had the top and four sides.I routed the insides of the sides for a 1/8" birch ply bottom, and I lipped the top to sit in the box made out of the sides. When you see this, it looks much like the original block that I bought. (just hollow and a bit smaller).I glued it up and all is fine.
Now I have to finish it.
BUT the burl is burl, so some places are soft, and some have little pieces that are falling out. A friend who is a turner, told me to get a bottle of superglue (the watery version) and coat all of the burl. I did. Wow. It got hard, just like he said. I sanded down with 220 sandpaper and the wood is now hard (at least on its skin).So I have a burl box that is almost "finished" with super glue. Now I want to put a nice finish on top of it.
WHAT CAN I USE that will be compatible with super glue?
Tung oil (Waterlox) ((I love that stuff))
Watco
BLO
Polyurathane
??????
Any suggestions.
After all, we are partners, and I have designated you as the expert in finishing.
PLease let me know.
This may be the first box ever made in this fashion.
If it comes out nice after I put the final finish on it, I may submit it to the Design Book.. HaHaHaHa (seee, I can laugh too.)MelMeasure your output in smiles per board foot.
Will & Mel,
HA!
You two old farts should design something together! That way it would take half the time and you could co-enter it in the next Design Book.
I'm but a youngster of 61........... :-)
Seriously Mel, I don't think your first post was necessarily wrong, but felt that you might be a little intimidated by the request from the almighty host of this here forum.
And I think you and Will are way too critical of yourselves. Just ask your clients!
I'd submit an entry but I don't have a design that could be considered contemporary, unless an adaptation of a Queen Anne style entertainment center would qualify. Besides, I don't have access to a professional photographer nor the time to meet the Nov. 16th deadline.
Alls I've got are 4 partially finished legs (the ones that scare Lataxe in the night), panels for the sides/ends and the top. Plus the rough sketch that's tacked on the wall in my woodshop.
I did make a contemporary cathouse for the cat though......... Hmmmmmmmmmmm Should I hop over the fence and see if Fine Homebuilding is looking for something?
Regards,
Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
things that go into the design book are usually either extremely difficult or very very different than "normal" stuff.OR more likely they use woods most of us CANNOT afford unless we sell the wife and kids!By the way.. Richard Jones with some strange number for a name in this post make some REALLY wonderful projects.Maybe he taught some of the so called Masters!
Maybe Taunton should come out with a book "How to Photograph Furniture and Get it Published in a Woodworking Magazine". Help us slouches who can make nice pieces but have no idea how to make it look nice on paper. I know I'd buy it. : )
Edited 10/5/2007 6:48 pm ET by mvflaim
Some of the best work is done by amateurs Mel. They have the idea, the design, the patience and, crucially, they quite frequently have an ever receding deadline to meet which gives them the licence to get it 'right', whatever that may be. Slainte.Richard Jones Furniture
Richard,
It is always good to hear from you. Your messages always make my spirit fly even higher. (translation into English - "you know, Richard, you can sling it pretty good. :-)"You are absolutely right about the great amateurs in the woodworking world. They have more of a chance to do great designs than professionals who have to make a living at it. I certainly won't argue that point with you. I now know more what I really meant to say in my original post (thanks to you and to WillGeorge). I meant to say that there are a lot of hobbyists who are in my "range". My range can be defined as "pretty good technically but not great", and my taste is rather "normal". What I mean by the latter is that if I tried to design something that is far out enough to be selected for a design book, my wife would stop me from making it. Here I am referring to something like a chair with wings that have feathers and actually flap, and are colored purple. My furniture is "simple" because I get pressure to keep it that way.If you ever get to my house, and I hope you do, you might say, "Gee, Mel, the stuff you design and make could be found in any department store." I wouldn't take that as a criticism. My response would be that I design for my clients (wife and three grown children and the spouses of my three grown children). They get to tell me what to make. I make it and I pay for it. They take it. And I love that arrangement. It buys me "love" but will get me no awards in the world of international design.Please note that I am not complaining. (I never complain, although my wife sometimes mistakenly says that I do.) I was merely thinking, and I stupidly wrote down what I was thinking before I thought it out completely. (By the way, I notice that others have done that on Knots too.).Anyway, this has been fun, and I really appreciate your writing back. The thing that Knots does best for me is to help me reformulate and refine my woodworking ideas.Thank you.
MelMeasure your output in smiles per board foot.
I was merely thinking, and I stupidly wrote down what I was thinking before I thought it out completely.I think we men do that to keep the women thinkin'!
While Stanford didn't say it very politely, I agree with his point: a five week deadline is too short. A minimum of 6 months would seem more appropriate, especially if you hoped to inspire folks to design and build an "entry" as opposed to just taking pictures of things they've already done that might fir the bill.
Mr B,
I'm afraid that Charles and Samson have a point - your deadline is too short.
This little exercise would have been a great stimulus to the likes of me, who has never designed anything but would like to try. Charles is always telling us off and saying we should stop copying other folk and their styles. (Gawd, he has another good point, the roughian)!
We hobbyists have other things to do besides going in the shed, you know. There is the daughter's dog to take up the fells three times a week, for a start. This tires a chap out. Also I must wash dishes, hoover up and get the ladywife's tea ready for when she returns from work (spit).
And the professionals must find it even harder to create time to make something for a book rather than for a customer.
That's another thing: who gets the finished product? I don't know anyone who wants a contemporary thang (conservative folk around here). And no guarantee of getting in your book, even. Hmmmmm.
Lataxe, wondering how the stuff for previous Design Books was got.
telling us off and saying we should stop copying other folk and their styles....Damn! Then a child would never learn a thing! I thought THAT was WHAT knowledge was all about!Not OK if you say it is 'your idea!'
Will,
We have done the copying thang to death in Knots, many times. Many, many times. Many, many, many times.
Me, I copy anything and laugh at the idea of copyright (unless the rozzers are likely to call). But someone must have original ideas now and then, so why not me, once out of ten zillion doings?
Of course, I will discover my unique and novel design is really an unconscious memory of something I saw in 1987, probably made by Richard Jones. :-)
Lataxe, just a plaything of the memes.
What's going on here? Why are you jokers referring to me in too many messages here? Is it my turn for the mickey taking session? Slainte.Richard Jones Furniture
Richard,
You need to say controversial thangs to get your mickey taken. You are too quiet of late. Speak forth, old chap; and in a contentious fashion! It is not hard to get Charles to snap and jibe, for instance.
Or you could berate the silly practices and beliefs of certain naive hobbyists (here sir, me sir)! Then mickey could be taken in all directions and degrees.
The sport is not illegal, as far as I know. (Not sure about Charles-baiting). Pull that wee dagger oot yer sock and have a stab or two.
Lataxe
Edited 10/6/2007 1:32 pm ET by Lataxe
Lataxe,
Please stop whining about not having enough time to get ready for the Design Book. Life is easier if you let your friends help. I have made a number of pieces. I will send you and the others photos of the pieces and you can each claim one of them. Next year it is your turn to do the work.
:-)
Nek (which spells Mel if I move my fingers over one key each on the keyboard)PS this is NOT stealing. It is "borrowing with payback". It is done in business all the time. "You scratch my back and I'll scratch yours." This way each person has to work really hard only one year out of every five.Measure your output in smiles per board foot.
You said; "And the professionals must find it even harder to create time to make something for a book rather than for a customer."Why do you think there's any difference in working for a customer vs. a publication?
Sap,
Taunton seem unlikely to pay you for an entry in their book, assuming they pick yourn as worthy enough. They might even want you to pay them, for the privilege! After all, it would be an advert.
Perhaps you will have a tame customer that will buy your modernist piece anyway, even if it does have whimsy, garish colours or whatever Taunton deem to be modern these days. (I am thinking of the car thingy and the clock staircase they prized in the last issue).
Lataxe
I don't really grasp the meaning of what you last addressed to me. I wouldn't expect Taunton to be paying folk to have their work published. But actually, why shouldn't they? Recording artists get a royalty each time their song is played..... Unfortunately we all are not there yet.But..... my point was that I make no distinction between what I, as a professional, make for a client and what I would submit for publication. Indeed, the pieces I plan to enter have all been made, paid for, and delivered, save the current one that will be finishedand photographed by the deadline. Your rant regarding "modernist" work would indicate a bit of sour grapes on your part. Since you apparently can't stomach contemporary design you'd not be able to force yourself to execute a piece in that vein. Well, cheer up. I'm sure they'll do a future book dealing with old timey furniture in the future. Gosh, I guess it'll then be extra old timey.By the way..... there is a distinct difference between modernist work and contemporary work.
Sap,
Don't fret - I am always cheerful. :-)
You mention: "But..... my point was that I make no distinction between what I, as a professional, make for a client and what I would submit for publication".
How can a professional afford to make pieces that aren't for sale to a client? Perhaps those submitted for publication are in fact written off as adverts? Perhaps you hope to sell them later on? In all events, I can't see Taunton paying you for them, published or not (and there is no guarantee in this instance that they will be published).
Anyway, I admit I have little idea of the distinction between "contemporary" and "modernist". These terms seem to be be thrown about in all kinds of contexts and are often difficult for a ranting logic chopper like moi to distinguish.
Still, if you like to make them, whatever they are, I don't mind. I want you to be content with life so you don't have to snap and snarl to feel better. ;-)
Lataxe, rank amateur.
Lataxe, I find it interesting that you suppose those that create things for this particular publication wouldn't or couldn't expect payment.
I have a diametrically opposite philosophy: anything I create for publication in a magazine, book, etc, generally doesn't get into print unless I'm paid for it, and I'm also very fussy about what rights I'll sell. For instance, I've never yet agreed to granting world rights to a publisher.
Writing about furniture and related topics to me includes my original text, any sketches or working drawings I create and any photograph that illustrates the text, eg, photographs of the finished piece or the work in progress.
I own the copyright to all those items just listed. Publishing my work without coming to some sort of agreement with me, whether or not money is involved, for the right to do so is an infringement of my intellectual property rights, even if an editor modifies my text extensively to suit that publication's 'house style'. After all, without my original text the editor has nothing to work with. The intellectual property bit is where the agreemements and/or money comes in. Publishers generally buy the rights to use my intellectual property.
I see writing for publication as a job. It's a part-time freelance job in my case, but it's a job. Like almost everyone with an ability to create something that someone else wants I see it as a business opportunity. If you want to publish the things I create when I work, then I usually want you to get your cheque book out. I'll haggle over the fee, but I won't let you use my work until I'm happy with the offer you make. Slainte.
PS. Is that controversial and blunt enough for you, ha, ha?!
Richard Jones Furniture
Edited 10/8/2007 3:41 am by SgianDubh
Richard,
Oww! Stop that stabbin'! :-)
We have been at the copyright discussion before, of course. In a sense, this was what I was getting at with Sapwood - one wonders what Taunton are willing to pay (and what they want in return) concerning these "entries" for their Design Book 8.
Putting aside the silly deadline Taunton have imposed for these submissions, suppose a professional were able to make a piece for entry, between now and 5 weeks hence. How would that person know what Taunton is offering, if anything, in recompense?
I suspect (don't know) that they will offer little. They will offer nowt, of course, if one's entry should fail their acceptance criteria, whatever they might be. Then you will have to try and sell the piece to recoup your outlay, even were it a clock with stairs up the sides.
Like Charles and Samson, I wonder what Taunton are up to with this short deadline. Are they trying to rush people into accidentally foregoing the sort of recompense you mention? Can a professional, who needs to make money from their labour, afford to go into this "competition" blind?
Perhaps there are details of the specific arrangements available elsewhere?
Lataxe
PS I would love to be educated as to what constitutes "modern", "contemporary", etc.. (Free of charge, naturally. I mean, at this rate people will be copyrighting methods of breathing and the processes for speaking words. Babies will inevitably begin life in debt up to their tiny ears). :-) I know you are expert in such matters as "contemporary design" so here I am panhandling for the knowledge. Gizza shillin' fer a cuppa tea, mister.
There's little to debate Lataxe. The creator of the original text and images owns the copyright. Publisher's break the law if they publish that person's work without getting his or her permission to do so.
I haven't heard of Taunton doing anything that is knowingly unethical-- ever. They are an organisation with a reputation for high standards and with high standing in the publishing world. As an author on woodworking subjects, but never for Taunton, I'd have no qualms about negotiating with them for payment if I'd sent something to them for editorial consideration.
I'd never expect to see my work in print if I hadn't negotiated a deal with them, even if they were holding a full copy of my work. I always retain the original of my manuscript and I can always prove that anything published in a magazine, book, etc, is pre-dated by my original.
I don't see anything sinister in their five week deadline. If a designer maker has produced anything in the last few years they want to submit for consideration, submit it. That's all there is to it.
I can't imagine Taunton expect people to knock something out in the next few weeks specifically for this deadline. That seems ridiculous to me. I've got a few pieces I could send in, but I almost certainly won't. The photographs are there and so are the drawings. Many other working furniture designer makers are in a similar position. They create sketches and working drawings and get good photographs of the finished piece taken for publicity purposes. All that's needed is to gather the bits together, bang out a bit of text to describe the piece and the reason for its creation, and they're done. That's surely all Taunton are asking for?
What's contemporary. Well, I suppose for a start it's not an exact or slavish copy of an historical piece. It's a piece that has something original or unique about it that isn't obviously overly derivative-- I do find 'Shaker' and 'Arts'n'Crafts' computer desks and entertainment centres require a lot of eye squinting to accept, ha, ha. That's about as far as I'll go in this thread providing a definition of 'contemporary' or 'modern'. Slainte.
Richard Jones Furniture
Edited 10/8/2007 3:47 am by SgianDubh
Richard,
I looked again at the original post inviting entries; and at the other info available (not much of that) elsewhere on this site. There is also a submission form which asks about who has the copyright to the photos you send in but not the furniture in them!
It still seems a puzzle to me, although perhaps the intent is (as you suggest) to obtain already made pieces rather than instigate us to make one just for this publication, hence the short deadline.
The sparse information and that entry form seem to suggest (as much by omission as by what it says) that submissions published in Design Book 8 will be rewarded by everyone seeing them. "Imagine how you'll feel when you see your design and craftsmanship showcased in this special edition for all to see".
I confess, that would be good enough for me. But I have no suitable photos to send and even now aren't sure what I would make even were there time. Also, there would be 10,000 pieces better than mine. :-)
You know more about publishing work than I do (or ever will) so perhaps you are right to suppose that Taunton would not publish without doing some sort of commercial deal. That form seems to read like a tacit consent, though.
I must go and look at my Betty Norbury again, anyway: "Furniture for the 21st Century". Is that what might be described as current good examples of contemporary? The OneTree book also has a lot of innovative stuff....... The difficulty for me is, trying to classify the pieces in some way to help understand the various design rationales.
Lataxe
"That form seems to read like a tacit consent, though"
Not at all Lataxe. Nowhwere on that form does it say something like, "By submitting your work for our consideration you consent to it being published by Taunton in any way we see fit," or anything else along those lines.
If a furniture maker submits a piece and it's chosen then there will be negotiations of some sort. It could be roughly along the lines of, "We at Taunton want to publish your photograph and your description of your work in our proposd book 'Title'. We are willing to pay you US$0 (or some other dollar amount) for the first time World rights to publish your work. Sign and date both copies of this form below if you find these terms acceptable and return one form to us."
At that point some, many, or most people that submitted their work might agree to those terms. Others perhaps would not.
Yes, you could give the Betty Norbury books a look over to get the general idea of 'contemporary'. Slainte.Richard Jones Furniture
"But..... my point was that I make no distinction between what I, as a professional, make for a client and what I would submit for publication".YOU ARE professional if you satisfy a client. No matter what they want! I'd bet you do that all the time!
How can a professional afford to make pieces that aren't for sale to a client?
Hi Master Lataxe,
I made many a piece on spec. To be sold later on for sure, but without a commission driving the work.
Perhaps those submitted for publication are in fact written off as adverts?
To be sure that's one of the prime reason I would have ever done such a thing--that and being an advert in itself. My customers paid for the pride I had in my work and so didn't need/desire such a thing from merely being in print.
Like mentioned (Richard?), if I had written anything for submission, it would have been a paid thing.
Take care, Mike
Oh, that explains a lot.
Regards,
Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
Stanford, your day job isn't as a diplomat, is it.
The entry "rules" don't mention anything about the piece having to be executed in that period of time. What's to stop one from submitting a piece that was finished and photographed a year ago, or five years ago for that matter?
Taunton press has never offered to pay for submissions to any of there design books in the past and it doesn't seem to be any different now. They did send out complimentry copies of the book to people who were published and an offer to buy more books at a deep discount.
As for making a piece specificly for the magazine or design book I've never meet anybody who did this most were pieces that had been built and photographed before. As a proffesional you should get major pieces photographed to have on hand for publicity and portfolio needs. This doesn't mean evrything you do needs to be shot by a pro but you should get the more spectacular done.
Lots of people do spec work almost all the work you see in galleries is done on spec and placed in there to do two things bring in other orders for custom work and sell the piece. one gallerery I work with feels that most pieces on the floor will generate at a minimum 3 orders before selling.
Who knows what contemporary furniture means one persons definition is way different from anothers, I would think that from what I've seen in FWW it will be a pretty wide definition without much very outlandish furniture.
I see it as free publicity and clients like it if they see there furniture in books and I always make sure I get a copy to the client any time there furniture is featured. It only takes an hour or so to get everything together to send in, the photos are all digital and put on a disk no slides or transparency to deal with a disk is 20 cents and mailing it is a couple of bucks so I'm really out not very much and the benifits sure outway the minuses.
Tom Stockton
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