Category Archives: Publishing

On the Road (original scroll edition) by Jack Kerouac: paper versus oblivion

Posted on 14 May 2013 by Propagandum

What was Kerouac trying to do by typing this early version of his classic novel on 120 feet of long strips of paper joined together with tape? How and why does this strange writing technique change what we feel about … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Media analysis, Publishing, Writing | Tagged Allen Ginsberg, Books, Jack Kerouac, Neal Cassady, On the Road (novel), Publishing, The medium is the message, Theory of publishing, Writing | Leave a comment

Science, publishing and writing style

Posted on 17 March 2013 by Propagandum

Two examples of each today, and some ideas about outreach, power and sustainability: 1. Cambridge, UK, home of Propagandum Towers and a university or two, every year hosts an excellent science festival. For two weeks thousands of people teaching and learning heavy-duty … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Media analysis, Publishing, Writing | Tagged Cambridge UK, Global warming, Helen Moss, Peter Wothers, Public relations, Publishing, Royal Society, Theory of science, Thomas Sprat, World Book and Copyright Day, World Book Day | 2 Comments

The mystery of the covered-up book cover …

Posted on 9 March 2013 by Propagandum

Wandering into my local bookshop the other day, I was shocked to see this: W – as some people say in cyberspace – TF? What’s going on here? How can you buy a book if you can’t read what it … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Media analysis, Publishing, Typography | Tagged Amazon, Books, Commercial, Cover design, Creativity, David Pearson, George Orwell, Marketing, Meaning, Nineteen Eighty-Four, Penguin Books, Publishing | 4 Comments

Have you tried the new reduced whiches and thats diet?

Posted on 8 January 2013 by Propagandum

You don’t have to be a professional writer to benefit from making your writing sound more natural. The words which or that are often stodgy and unnecessary. Following Strunk and White’s helpful suggestion – under their banner ‘Omit needless words’ – … Continue reading →

Posted in Publishing, Words, Writing | Tagged Communication, George Harrison, Meaning, New York Times, Reading, Strunk and White, Which hunts, Writing | Leave a comment

Leonardo da Vinci: Anatomist (exhibition review) #2

Posted on 2 October 2012 by Propagandum

This excellent exhibition (in the Queen’s Gallery, London) has some fascinatingly different stories to tell of Leonardo’s extraordinary anatomical sketches. We can have our interpretations on the surface or we can dig for them, depending on whether we like our versions … Continue reading →

Posted in Art criticism, Business, Media analysis, Medicine, Publishing | Tagged Anatomy, Apps, Information design, iPad, Leonardo da Vinci, Publishing, Queen's Gallery, Royal Collection, Theory of medicine | 2 Comments

Leonardo da Vinci: Anatomist (exhibition review) #1

Posted on 17 September 2012 by Propagandum

This is an unusual start to any review, but the gallery’s beautifully panelled and French-polished rosewood doors and postmodern urinal dividers in the spotless toilets were so unusual in their generosity to the possibility of civilized public behaviour that I … Continue reading →

Posted in Art criticism, Media analysis, Medicine, Publishing | Tagged Art, Communication, Creativity, Diamond Jubilee, Information design, Leonardo da Vinci, Philosophy of science, Theory of medicine, Vesalius | Leave a comment

What is synaesthesia? Why is it important?

Posted on 6 August 2012 by Propagandum

Crikey – the online Random House dictionary says synaesthesia (synesthesia in more search-friendly US English) ‘is a sensation produced in one modality when a stimulus is applied to another modality, as when the hearing of a certain sound induces the visualization … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Media analysis, Publishing, Writing | Tagged Communication, Daniel Tammet, Freud, Memory, Multimodality, Ramachandran, Synaesthesia, Synesthesia | 3 Comments