horn-tooting

The Alberta Magazine Publishers Association hosted the Alberta Magazine Awards last Thursday. UPPERCASE received recognition for Best Art Direction of a Single Issue. GOLD for Issue 13 and SILVER for issue 15! The Judges had nice things to say:

ON ISSUE 13:

  • This magazine is well suited for its audience. The variety and creativity in imagery and content works well to keep interest throughout.
  • Uppercase is a visual treat from first page to last. The design is simple, engaging, and colorful, and provides the perfect counterpoint to the lush and diverse collection of imagery. There's a rich texture to the ever-changing selection of story presentations. Everything about Uppercase's design, from the paper selection, format size, to the delicate use of metallic ink on the cover, is in perfect harmony with the magazine's editorial mission.
 
  • A well curated collection of photos, illustrations, people and stories that remain true to the issue's theme, while still being fresh in approach.
  • Uppercase's design is the complete package: smart, thoughtful, engaging design, great paper, a beautiful, graphic cover, and a rich treasury of imagery. Best of all, the design all works in harmony with the content and the magazine's crafty, DIY aesthetic.

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all the luck in the world

Jane Schouten is a wonderful artist and craftswoman... with an ability to style beautiful things that is beyond compare. I first came across Jane's work via Flickr and her website, All the Luck in the World. Later, Tif Fussell included Jane as one of her "fine folks" in our book, The Suitcase Series Volume 2: dottie angel. Recently, Victoria Smith wrote an article about Jane Schouten in issue #13 of UPPERCASE magazine. With all these connections I couldn't come all this way without meeting. Jane and her daughter Nina (a goldsmith) have just opened a storefront in Amsterdam. Though they're fighting some noisy construction just outside their door, in the long term the neighbourhood will be thriving with new residents... and they can all visit All the Luck in the World to furnish their homes with upholstered and embroidered stools, vintage typewriters and lots of pretty tins.

I covet the stool on the right in the picture at the top of this post. Instead, I purchased an exquisite pin cushion made by Jane. I have some old stools at home that I am inspired to make over when I get home.

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start your subscription today!

If you'd like your subscription to start with issue #14, please place your order today! Issue #15 is almost ready to ship, so we will send them both at the same time. After today, subscriptions will automatically start with #15 and you will have to buy #14 separately. thank you!

By the way, our pigeon-covered issue #12 is down to just 10 copies, so if you need it to complete your set, fly on over to our online shop.

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contributor: Adrienne Breaux

We are very appreciative of our contributors. They generously lend their time and talents towards making UPPERCASE a visually rich and well-written publication. Here's a little interview to get to know Austin, Texas-based writer and photographer Adrienne Breaux, regular contributor to UPPERCASE magazine's Beginnings column. 

"I still remember fondly how my love of architecture almost got me arrested."

What creative project are you most proud of? Such a tough question to ask a blogger! Our pride comes in the total bulk of the work we do, I dare say. But, certainly I'm proud of a few key freelance pieces I've had the pleasure to do for various publications. If I had to pick my very favorite creative project that I've done so far in my life, though, it would probably be my senior thesis project book in college. Seriously, that thing was a monster. A lot of people don't know that I went to school for interior design. In our last year we had to tackle this giant interior design project individually and then put it all into this book and get it bound. It's not my favorite creative project in terms of the actual look or scope of the work, mind you. I'm not saying I peaked creatively at age 22 by any means. To flip through it now is borderline embarrassing—there are so many things I'd change and I question so many of my design decisions, my style being wildly different now than it was then—but any time I'm down or stressed or overwhelmed, I dust that puppy off, flip through it and realize that at one point in my life I finished all of that. And on time! If I could have done that surely I can finish whatever deadline is looming in front of me. 

What is your favourite word and why? "Bold." I'm going to go with bold. I believe the universe rewards boldness. I don't know that I'm always amazingly bold in every single aspect of my life, but I sure try to be that way. I attempt to not shy away from boldness, at least. It also happens to play an important part in a favorite phrase with a science fiction origin: "To boldly go...where no one has gone before."

What is your preferred creative tool? I want so much to give a real clever answer, like maybe Austin's Greenbelt on a Saturday morning, during a head-clearing trail run. Or perhaps the city of Austin itself, with its ample avenues of inspiration. But if I'm being entirely honest, it's my laptop. It's these keys and their familiar clack and their give under my fingertips and the glow of my screen that everyone can see through my window at night, every night, that has been a trusty partner on many a personal and professional project. 

Tell us about a time that your curiosity got you into trouble? Oh boy. I'm always getting into trouble. My favorite thing in the entire world is taking a walk by myself and seeing where I end up. Sometimes that means wandering into an abandoned building or sometimes that means accidentally walking onto land I'm not supposed to be on. I've always been a loner, and I feel happiest when I'm discovering things I've never seen before. Though I always try to respect the law, occasionally I've been politely removed from places I wasn't supposed to be. More than a few times I probably came fairly close to some serious trouble when I used to visit this geodesic dome designed by (my favorite) Buckminster Fuller that was located just outside Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where I went to college at LSU. You definitely had to shimmy under a fence to catch a glimpse of this stunning architecture, but it was totally worth it. They ended up tearing down that dome (the Golden Dome, my friends and I used to call it) but I still remember fondly how my love of architecture almost got me arrested.

Do you have any particular projects that you'd like to share with us? I would just love to point people in the direction of all the places I get to write for on a regular basis. Apartment Therapy allows me the opportunity to photograph the gorgeous homes of strangers. I get to become inspired everyday through the blog at 2Modern. I write copy for really awesome websites and catalogs. I am also working on the next great American science fiction novel. I try to keep my website updated with everything I do (but I'm totally missing like the last four awesome things I've done).

adriennebreaux.com
@adriennebreaux
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