Elliot Jay Stocks Home
A few of my recent ramblings
Win a special edition of 8 Faces
August 17 2010
Even though issue one of 8 Faces has sold out, there are still ways you can get your hands on a copy. And not just any old copy, either. I’m talking about the Special Edition: a limited run of 50, printed exclusively for (mt) Media Temple, who sponsored the debut issue.
Plus there’s a chance to win a couple of ‘regular’ copies from the original print run (that we intentionally kept aside) at this year’s Build. More on that in a second.
On publishing
July 28 2010
Since launching 8 Faces a couple of weeks ago (pre-orders opened on the 16th and we’ll start shipping next Wednesday), I’ve been wanting to write a post about the whole process; not from a technical point of view, but more from the view of someone who has suddenly found themselves to be a publisher.
8 Faces: very, very soon
July 09 2010
I realise it’s been quite a while since I announced the coming of my magazine project 8 Faces, and I thought it was time to give a quick update. It’s taken a long while to come together (which is inevitable for a side project that only receives the odd week here and there) but the wait is almost over: it’s being printed as we speak and will be released in around two weeks from now.
Starkers 3.0
June 21 2010
For a long time now, people have been asking when I’d update Starkers. The previous version was incompatible with the last few releases of WordPress, but I’d decided to freeze development for a while, knowing that WP3.0 — and with it a new default theme — was just on the horizon. Now that it’s finally out and the Twenty Ten theme has been released into the wild, I’m happy to announce that Starkers has been reborn, now with full 3.0 compatibility.
Pulse news reader for iPad
June 11 2010
I’ve been debating whether or not to blog about something that has already received so much attention in the online press (especially when it was pulled from — and then reinstated on — the App Store last week), but ultimately decided that Pulse is just too good an app for me not to mention. Weirdly, it doesn’t seem to have received that much recognition in the web community (or not as much as it deserves, anyway). In all honesty, I have to say that this is my favourite iPad app so far.
MoviePeg alphabet
August 09 2010
On Friday I received a gift in the post from Brendan and the lovely people at mN: their new MoviePeg for iPad. It’s a great little bit of kit and I was amazed that something so simple can do such a good job of propping up the iPad, whether it’s for movie-watching (its original intention), a marathon email session, or pretty much anything else in between.
However, while fiddling around with the two parts of the MoviePeg over breakfast this morning, I found that it has another, unadvertised function: a revolutionary type design tool!
8 Faces #1 now available to pre-order
July 16 2010
The 8 Faces website is now live and pre-orders are officially open. We’re taking pre-orders from today and will start shipping copies from Wednesday 4th August. UPDATE: After being live for just under two hours, we have completely sold out of the physical edition. The magazine is now available as a PDF.
I really hope you like the look of the magazine and feel inclined to pick up a copy. It’s been an absolute labour of love and I’d like to thank everyone who’s been involved, said nice things about the previews, and contributed to the buzz online. The mailing list is bigger than I ever thought it would be and all signs are pointing toward #1 selling out pretty quickly, so be sure to reserve yours before they all go! Unlike other magazines in the design sphere — and typography magazines in particular, some of which charge up to £17 per issue — we’ve kept the cover price low (just £8) in an attempt to make it accessible to all and bring typographic joy to the masses. This whole project was about love, not profit.
EP 2 is on its way
June 28 2010
Remember when I released EP 1 last April? At the time I’d promised a second EP later in the year, but of course it never materialised due to workload. Since then, people have often asked me, ‘when is EP 2 coming out?’ and I’m happy to say that my answer is now: ‘very soon.’
As of tomorrow, I’ll be back in the studio, writing and recording a whole bunch of new music that will become EP 2 in the not-too-distant future.
Perfect Harmony
June 21 2010
Notice anything different about the site? No? Good. Because, bar a couple of very minor tweaks (more on that in a minute), only one thing has changed and it’s something completely invisible. But it’s also something rather huge:
As of today, this site is no longer powered by WordPress. Say hello to Harmony.
