Only 20 days to go! Colophon 2009 – International Magazine Symposium opens in less than 3 weeks. Now it’s really, really time to register: get your Flash Pass right away.

This international event celebrates excellence and innovation, and promotes exchanges between key players within the independent magazine industry.

Come to Luxembourg and attend 40 hours of talks, 16 exhibitions + cocktails, parties, workshops, etc, etc. More to be announced next week.

(Above: S Magazine exhibition during Colophon 2007 – Photo : Eric Chenal)

Forward Ever, Backwards Never: On the Histories and Ambitions of 032c
From humble limited edition newspaper print to high-profile cultural commentary, Berlin-based magazine 032c has propelled itself into the vanguard of publishing while remaining determinedly independent. Since its inception in 2000, 032c has evolved through several different forms and designs, but never to compromise its vision of innovating print and the culture surrounding it. According to the New York Times, "the magazine fuses art and architecture, literature, and urban studies in ways that can make one forget how depressing a visit to the newsstand has become." Now, nine years since its founding, 032c continues to succeed in breaking the rules of the disciplines it covers, activating future trends in the media and energizing new platforms for communication.

By Joerg Koch (Berlin)

« Five Golden Rules of Publishing for Clients »
Client publishing is one of the best ways to guarantee income and distribution, while creating a product that fulfills your client’s needs. It can also be one of the most creative forms of publishing - with the right attitude and the right client.
Featuring Jeremy Leslie (Group Creative Director, John Brown Group; Crystallized, etc.), Becky Smith (Lula, Ferrari’s Customer Magazine), plus others tbc.

Friday March 13th, 12 (noon), Casino Luxembourg – Forum d’art contemporain

« Five Golden Rules of Digital Magazines »
Magazines aren’t just paper and ink. With virtually free distribution and no pulp and printing costs, many are turning to pixels instead of print to create their masterpiece. However, there’s no guarantees of success or revenue in the digital universe. Featuring René Lönngren (le cool publishing), plus others tbc.
Panel moderated by David Renard (author of The Last Magazine, former head of Mu Inc. Distribution)
Friday March 13th, 7 PM, Casino Luxembourg – Forum d’art contemporain

« Five Golden Rules of Distribution »
You can make the most incredible magazine in the world, but if it doesn’t find its readers, then it will fail. Experts help untangle the distribution net.
Featuring Ravi Pathare (MagNation), Steven Watson (stackmagazines.com), Alexis Zavialoff (Motto Distribution), plus others tbc.
Panel moderated by David Renard (author of The Last Magazine, former head of Mu Inc. Distribution)
Saturday March 14th, 12 (noon), Casino Luxembourg – Forum d’art contemporain

« Five Golden Rules to Attract Advertising »
If your publication survives on advertising revenue, it is more important than ever to create the perfect offering for your advertisers. Your publication’s survival depends on it.
Featuring Christopher Lockwood (Distill, formerly Dazed & Confused, Wallpaper*), Lothar Eckstein (Qvest, Sleek, Luna; formerly Saatchi and Saatchi), Matthias Ver Eecke (Vice Magazine) plus others tbc

Sunday March 15th, 12 (noon), Casino Luxembourg – Forum d’art contemporain

« Getting back our independence » The team at Eye magazine bought their magazine back from a larger publisher. That was a year ago... By Simon Esterson (London).

«Stacking up» Steven Watson started Stack in December 2008 as an independent magazine club. He speaks about why he started Stack, and how the independents can gain from strength in numbers. By Steven Watson (London).

«Feel type, breathe shapes, taste letters.» The search for the unexpected: the typeblog and magazine Slanted. Slanted was a blog that became an award-winning typography and design magazine. Today, neither would be so successful without the other (www.slanted.de). By Lars Harmsen (Slanted, Germany).

« Lula loves » Independent publishing. By Becky Smith (London).

«Generation Create - inspiring the creative elite» Changes in the needs of the post-modern creative professional and Distill’s journey aggregating sophisticated visual content intelligent fashion. By Christopher Lockwood (London).

«Doing invisible things together» The German independent publishing scene has evolved late and is still small compared with the UK or France. Few publications earn money. b20 publishing is an effort to get some of the economies of scale effects of conventional, large publishers without having to trade in what makes independent publishing strong. Ideally, we manage to combine the best of both worlds. By Lothar Eckstein (Berlin).

«Building MagNation» At a time when magazines aren’t an easy sell, MagNation makes it look a breeze. Ravi Pathare and his nephew have created an award-winning chain of five independent magazine stores in Australia and New Zealand, selling more than 4,000 titles alongside a variety of original features to encourage people to buy more magazines. By Ravi Pathare (Australia and New Zealand).

«onlab redesigns domus – the magazine as a score» Founded and edited by the Milanese architect Gio Ponti, the first issue of the monthly magazine domus came out on 15 January 1928. Over the course of its over eighty-year history, the magazine has changed regularly to reflect the demands and interest of the times, but the aim of domus has always remained that of creating a privileged insight into identifying the style of a particular age. onlab launched the latest new domus with its April 2008 issue. As the magazine’s editor in chief, Flavio Albanese, notes in that issue’s editorial, “With its new formal appearance, Domus has finally attained its objective of being a publication on the same wavelength as the Zeitgeist, the spirit of our times, that no longer accepts information and knowledge divided into water-tight compartments Presentation by Nicolas Bourquin (Switzerland).

« This should be made public – Grande Finale » ‘This should be made public’ is a project by the publication ‘shift!’ from Berlin. The project was originally developed for Colophon 2007 where it met with a very vivid response and interaction. It then also traveled to Cairo, Milan and Bangkok, where it gathered several hundred responses in various workshops and public interventions. The project has span two years of exciting events, experiences and much food for thought, to now come full circle with a final publication and presentation at Colophon 2009. By Anja Lutz (Berlin).

“From local happy to global happy” How putting happy first has taken le cool publishing from being a small Spanish publisher to become a niche leader in Europe, with the world around the corner. By René Lönngren (Barcelona).

«Contemporary Art Reviews, between paper and the web. Temporary Autonomous Zone or cultural industry ?» by Christian Gattinoni, Aica France. Introduced by Paul di Felice. In collaboration with the University of Luxembourg.

In the framework of the exhibition « Beyond Kiosk – Modes of Multiplication»: Christophe Keller (Revolver, publisher and designer) in discussion with Christophe Gallois (Mudam, head of programmes).

10 live Interviews

In three one-hour-sessions, the people behind the Colophon2009, 10 magazine exhibitions are interviewed on stage by Mike Koedinger, Jeremy Leslie and Andrew Losowsky. Listen to the makers of BabyBabyBaby (Mexico), Good (Los Angeles), IdN (Hong Kong), Karen (London), Kasino A4 (Helsinki), La Mas Bella (Madrid), Liebling (Berlin), Nuke (Paris), Sang Bleu (Lausanne) and Volume (Amsterdam).

9 events only for Flash Passers and Speakers Thursday night (exhibition preview tour followed by exhibitions opening at Carré Rotondes: “Design Backstage” and “Tribute to Café Crème”), Friday night (Exhibition opening in Casino Luxembourg followed by a party at Exit07), Saturday Night (Exhibition opening in Mudam followed by a first party in a secret venue where “J+E will juggle the songs” and, finally, the Luxuriant party at Byblos), Sunday Night (Closing Ceremony followed by a cocktail and an official dinner).

Call for Entries 1 : Magazines, send in your playlists and be part of the musical programme of the symposium’s main venue. Before February 27th. Read more.

Call for Entries 2 : Photographers, Illustrators and Graphic Designers, show your portfolio to our visitors. Before February 27th. Register asap and get selected. Read more.

Call for Entries 3 : Pecha Kucha presentations In three one-hour-sessions, twenty-one creatives will broadcast their thoughts on the themes «What is a Magazine?», «The perfect magazine» and «My Colophon 2009». Read more.

Exhibition: “Design Backstage”

For many people, design is something purely visual and superficial. But good design is not superficial. Based on strategic thinking and thorough analyses, it can solve problems, create new solutions and add value to products, brands and services. Design Luxembourg brings together Luxembourg designers from the various branches of visual communication and design – both independent designers and agencies. “Design Backstage” is an exhibition that communicates the value of design for business and society. It is about the translation of visions into strategies, and the power of ideas.

Under the Patronage of Mr Paul Helminger, Mayor of Luxembourg-City

Under the Patronage of Mr Jean-Louis Schiltz, Luxembourg’s Minister for Communications

With the kind support of the Ministry of the Economy & Foreign Trade

And the Minister of Tourism

National Office of Tourism

Luxembourg City Tourist Office

University of Luxembourg