This morning, Michael Renaud of Pitchfork presented the first keynote of the weekend at SNDLOU, “You Forgot it in Print.”
Renaud also took the keynote opportunity to announce that the music review and feature website will begin publishing Pitchfork Review, a quarterly publication that he hopes people will see as more of a coffee table style book than a one-time read.
Michael Renaud of Pitchfork shows off a feature from the company’s new quartely publication; The Pitchfork Review. Renaud gave the first keynote Friday morning at SNDLOU where he spoke about the importance of basic design theory and how to overcome gettting pulled into technology trends.
The magazine-book hybrid will have features and a back of the book feature called “control p” which will be repurposed content from the company’s website.
“I was surprised,” said Alexandra Sieh of Prairie Mountain Publishing. “A return to print when most seem to be flocking away from it. It seems like a bold move, but an inspiring one. Maybe print has a place after all.”
Pitchfork will also be launching an app within the next few weeks that will focus on weekly reviews and step-back content.
Renaud spoke about the basics, emphasizing the foundations of print design and reminding everyone that keeping those traditions and best practices from print alive on the web is going to be beneficial.
“Elegance is underrated,” Renaud said as an overarching theme during his presentation.
He said that at Pitchfork, the design team thinks about things in simple ways. Why cram all the media onto a page? Let the reader see the story and let the art speak for itself. Let the reader spend time with the story, and let the design around that story be simple and the content speak.
He explained how he feels that people get caught up in trends and that gets people lost in the point of what they’re actually trying to accomplish.
“The glamour of technology is a trend people shouldn’t get caught up in,” he said.
He expressed that the conversations about design that are happening online are something to be engaged, not criticized because it helps everyone get better.
“I wish I could be that cool,” said Chris Carr of the Minneapolis Star Tribune about the session and Renaud. “It was inspiring without being degrading.”
To see a visual representation of the keynote, click here.