Scott Boms: Notebook Dispatches

Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson as teenagers It’s funny how much things change, and yet, also don’t. This shirt made me smile immediately, as does the thought of seeing these two again, along with Anika, this weekend in Seattle with Luke — and then again the following week closer to home in San Jose. Despite the underlying sadness of missing The Professor 1, everything else about seeing these two together, doing the thing they love the most is a balm for all the nonsense that engulfs much of my…

There is nothing more revealing than to see a thinking person walking, just as there is nothing more revealing than to see a walking person thinking… Walking and thinking are in a perpetual relationship that is based on trust. Thomas Bernhard I spend a considerable amount of time every week walking the same routes, leaving my mind free to think, wander, and wonder. I value that time greatly because it’s where so much creative problem solving happens for me. Bernhard, Thomas. Walking. University…

Considerable work goes into making the cultural icon that is a Blackwing pencil. I had no idea the journey to making them crossed international boundaries between Japan and California, but given their impeccable quality, that really shouldn’t have come as much of a surprise. Art & Design Giorgia Lupi’s opinion piece, In Defense of the Detour, so perfectly captures my own thoughts and feelings about the risks of AI on creative exploration. Do not skip the messy middle because that’s where the…

Whereas a public notice distributes information to interested or alert citizens, a poster reaches out to grab those who might otherwise pass it by. Posters are aggressive because they appear in the context of other posters. […] The form of the poster depends on the fact that many posters exist — competing with (and sometimes reinforcing) each other. Thus posters also presuppose the modern concept of public space — as a theater of persuasion. Susan Sontag And perhaps also as a slightly…

The utility cover with the blue paint splotch on the right side of the photo is what got me I had a good long run on the bike without a crash, but unfortunately my luck ran out last weekend after decideding to add a detour up into the Emerald Hills neighborhood — all hills and mostly narrow single lane roads that I’m only casually familiar with. I had made it through the worst of the uphill part (around 1000 ft of elevation) and was starting to descend, using a mix of memory and instinct to…

I’m in the throes of reviewing the checklist for SF Zine Fest (today, opening less than 2 hours from now in fact) before we load up the car and head north to San Francisco. I’m a mix of excited and nervous, not knowing what to expect at all today — and just generally hoping I’ve remembered to do all the things I need to do actually be ready. Do I have enough of everything? Should I leave something back? Should I have made a few more things? And maybe most importantly: how will people respond to…

For a little while I’ve been mulling over how I might dip my toes into the world of zine/art book fairs and festivals, especially now that I’ve amassed a decent catalog of original books, zines, prints, and other objects.So when the call went out a couple months back for applications for the annual SF Zine Fest, it seemed like the opportunity I was looking for. Local. One day. A bit more chill than the SF Art Book Fair. Perfect, really. Although initially waitlisted, earlier this week I got…

I’d like to think of printed publications, posters or zines as not necessarily the end product trying to convince anyone of anything, but rather as “working towards establishing conditions for the co-production of meaning.” Eva Weinmayr I was caught totally off-guard when I encountered this quote from Eva Weinmayr’s brief essay, One Publishes to Find Comrades1. It succinctly states the underlying premise that ties together my work from the Analog Lab — and effectively everything I’ve produced…

Right out of the gate, A Matter of Form proves to be an ingenious illustration of colorful and creative wizardry. A single point becomes an endless number of forms. Art & Design Creating the space and ecosystem for play takes a massive effort and a light touch at the same time. You can’t engineer it. You can only forget about trying to play, and then it happens. It works whether you’re on your own or working with someone else, and boy howdy, when I get them, those moments are the always best…

I had an idea for a zine that would capture my collection of failed Polaroids. Failed for numerous reasons — outright bad film packs (it happens, or rather used to back in the more experimental Impossible days), expired film, or even mechanical camera issues with my SX-70 at the time. It’s taken almost 3 years to find its form after numerous failed attempts and going in circles with approaches that didn’t work or just didn’t make sense. Of course, the minimalist approach which I must have…

Once we have surrendered our senses and nervous systems to the private manipulation of those who would try to benefit from taking a lease on our eyes and ears and nerves, we don’t really have any rights left. Marshall McLuhan Right now, a good number of companies (I don’t need to name them, you know who they are) seem hell-bent on taking this a step further and going straight for the whole package — eyes, ears, nerves, and ultimately our minds. The real trick will be when these same people come…

Preview detail of a spread from a forthcoming zine project currently in production I’m working on several zine/book projects at the moment, and now have the first in production. It’s only taken about four years of second guessing, losses of momentum, and restarts to get to here, but it’s finally found a form that works. Of course, stripping the idea back to the bare metal is what helped it finally click. The plan, as much as there is one, is to have this and at least one more ready in time for…

I’ve barely had time to look at the hundreds of photos I took while in Japan since we’ve been back, but my eye caught this one today from the deer park in Nara, one of the most naturally charming places I’ve maybe ever visited. It’s a good reminder that there’s beauty to be found in the little, often and easily ignored moments in a day. You just have to slow down and look. I needed that today. And come on — look at how beautiful that manhole cover is! Reply via e-mail or follow me at…

A tool that shields us from the friction of the work is compelling, but if we don’t experience the friction, we will never change the work. Rutherford Craze In my mind, earlier consideration of disruption from digital tools now seems so quaint and naïve by comparison to the effects of so-called “artificial intelligence” on traditional human-centric creative processes. Rutherford makes a clear, cogent case for why keeping humans at the center is critical. He goes on to astutely note, How dare we…

Japanese craft is rooted in specificity. Each object and solution is considered in its own context. That mindset often prioritizes appropriateness over efficiency and precision over scale. Kyosuke Nishida Having just returned from 12 days in Japan, immersed in their incredible history and culture, this quote from creative director Kyosuke Nishida feels both apt and also true. Westerners could learn a lot from how the Japanese approach not just design, but infrastructure, community, and shared…

I suspect I’m going to return from Japan with a lot of photos of temples and little architecture details since that’s what I find myself gravitating towards when traveling. This trip is already proving to be a good source of photos to (finally) start fiddling with the Aphera beta, which immediately made me want to erase all memory of Lightroom from my archives. Location Info Senso-ji Temple, first built in 942 AD before being destroyed in 1945 and rebuilt in 1973. Reply via e-mail or follow me…

Behind the storm of daily conflict and crisis, the dramatic confrontations, the tumult of political struggle, the poet, the artist, the musician continues the quiet work of centuries, building bridges and experience between peoples, reminding man of the universality of his feelings and desires and despairs, and reminding him that the forces that unite are deeper than those that divide… John F. Kennedy From a moving speech by former president John F. Kennedy on November 29th, 1962 as part of a…

Early in my career (another life really), the company I worked at was doing a lot of work for Canada Post so I got to see firsthand what would go into producing new stamps. Those little rectangular pieces of art require so much care and consideration to get right, something that I think has stayed with me and influences how I work. Art & Design Culture can give birth to something that hasn’t been seen, hasn’t been appropriated, hasn’t been followed to death. Naz nails what the real untouchable…

A myriad of mostly painted signs in the studio. Although I’ve hung up my brushes, I’m lucky to have amassed a nice little collection of painted signs of my own making and from esteemed artists such as Caitlyn Galloway, Damon Styer, Heather Hardison, Kristin Farr, David A. Smith MBE, and Jeff Meadows that now adorn the walls throughout the studio alongside prints and other ephemeral items in my collection. That didn’t stop me from making a little studio sign1 yesterday afternoon. This was mostly…

If things have been unusually quiet here for the last several weeks it’s because I’ve been occupied with rebuilding the studio to make it better arranged to support the type of work that most often happens within its walls. At the same time, I’ve been working on a long-gestating idea to rename the imprint through which my studio output enters the world. The new Risograph ME9450U in the Matter Editions production studio. When I acquired my first Risograph in 2020, there was no plan. I didn’t…

Outside the David Geffen Galleries building on the LACMA grounds in Los Angeles. I had a plan for last weekend’s brief visit to Los Angeles to attend the opening show of Rush’s Fifty Something tour, but had to adjust those plans to accommodate a dear friend’s wedding which took place the day before the gig (note: this was unquestionably the right move). Our original travel plan was to fly down to LA early Saturday morning and jet around the city for an architectural tour of Frank Gehry…

I’ve more or less finished the studio rebuild other than a smaller secondary project to add a small loft storage space that will help get a few more things out of the way. Improving the space has made it feel more organized, flow better, and just generally be more enjoyable to be in. And — it’s got me back in a mood to be making things, starting with helping a good friend with a few things for their upcoming nuptials tomorrow, and a little mini print for myself that’s ready to go. Footnotes…

Granting the frailty, and no doubt the impermanence, of modern technology as a human contrivance, the man who can keep a fire in a stove or on a hearth is not only more durable, but wiser, closer to the meaning of fire, than the man who can only work a thermostat. Wendell Berry Wendell Berry has become a bit of a spirit guide for me, someone whose writing always teaches me something and opens my mind to things I’ve never considered. Although the book’s central theme is a deeply personal…

… The machine appeared In the distance, singing to itself Of money. Its song was the web They were caught in, men and women Together. The villages were as flies To be sucked empty God secreted A tear. Enough, enough. He commanded, but the machine Looked at him and went on singing. R.S. Thomas Welsh poet R.S. Thomas frequently referred to mechanized and materialistic society as the machine, an apt metaphor that holds up even today despite Thomas passing in 2000 — his life barely glimpsing the…

These classic General Dynamics posters are a thing of beauty and it’s fascinating to watch them expertly repaired and restored. They’re considerably larger than I realized too. Art & Design RYBitten is a fascinating tool (and accompanying visual playground) that filters RGB colors to create various painterly variants based on historical color systems. … The big successes at the moment are the publications that speak to a very specific reader, but that are also galvanizing the influence to bring…

…those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience. C.S. Lewis I seem to be going through a period of “heavy” books at the moment. Currently, Wendell Berry’s The Hidden Wound preceded by Paul Kingsnorth’s Against the Machine, which has less to do with AI than you might think based on the title, though this nugget from C.S. Lewis wouldn’t seem out of place in current conversations about the extractive effects technologies…

The more machines there are to replace men, the more men there will be in society who are nothing but machines. Louis De Bonald I’m currently reading Against the Machine by Paul Kingsnorth which, despite being only 60-odd pages in, is a more personal book than I would have guessed and proving to be interesting, and not unrelated to my continued research for the follow-up to Context Window that will hopefully pick up steam over the next few weeks. This quote from French philosopher and…

Although I didn’t pay much attention to the others, this is now the third or fourth large oak in the neighborhood park to give out during a recent storm. I don’t know why consciously why this one grabbed my attention, but maybe it simply feels representative of that sinking feeling that’s been lingering about how things are going in this country, broadly in the industry I’m a part of — and how I think things are going to continue feeling for a while. The dog and I did enjoy the rest of our…

My weekday ritual almost always starts with making a latte, showering, and then making my way down to the train to journey to San Francisco. Most days I use that time to quietly read or sit with my thoughts. And when I say read, I mean actual paper books — the kind that have defined edges, weight, and where you can visibly gauge when you might finish. I’ve tried eBooks several times and there’s just something about the experience that I find fundamentally off-putting. No comment about audio…

Until recently I’ve had very mixed feelings about what The Mandalorian and Grogu movie might actually be about and how it was being presented in the, until recently, limited marketing. This behind the scenes with Adam Savage and Jon Favreau is increasing my confidence in what I hope will be a fun and inventive new type of Star Wars adventure — in part because of the great care and attention to design details. Art & Design Trees don’t pay off tomorrow. They pay off in a decade. They compound…