Craft (magazine)
Encyclopedia
Craft: was a quarterly magazine
published by O'Reilly Media
which focused on do it yourself (DIY)
projects involving knitting
, sewing
, jewelry, metalworking
, woodworking
and other disciplines. The magazine was marketed to people who enjoy "crafting" things and features projects which can often be completed with cheap materials, including household items.
books, Craft: projects were aimed at a younger (18-35) audience. Projects in the first issue included making a stitched robot doll, a silver-thread and microprocessor-based programmable LED
tank top
, knit slouch boots, a minimalist 'catnip castle,' and an ant-farm room divider. Articles with names like "Subversive Cross Stitch
," "Battle Chic - craft a wardrobe of medieval armor with DIY chainmail
," and "The Lost Ipu
Art of Ni‘ihau
" are typical of the magazine's eclectic indie
themes.
items and crafts, but also the philosophy and politics inherent in recycling
, DIY clothing, and ecology
. The ads featured in Craft: targeted a readership that is largely liberal
, and interested in locally produced, handmade
, ecological, and organic
goods and craft supplies. The demographic also is heavily computer literate, and blogs about their crafts and the crafts of their peers, thus ads for services such as web hosting and flickr
were also found in the magazine's pages.
. The website for Craft: included the following announcement from publisher Dale Dougherty
:
Under the "Craft Print FAQ", he added the following:
Magazine
Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...
published by O'Reilly Media
O'Reilly Media
O'Reilly Media is an American media company established by Tim O'Reilly that publishes books and Web sites and produces conferences on computer technology topics...
which focused on do it yourself (DIY)
Do it yourself
Do it yourself is a term used to describe building, modifying, or repairing of something without the aid of experts or professionals...
projects involving knitting
Knitting
Knitting is a method by which thread or yarn may be turned into cloth or other fine crafts. Knitted fabric consists of consecutive rows of loops, called stitches. As each row progresses, a new loop is pulled through an existing loop. The active stitches are held on a needle until another loop can...
, sewing
Sewing
Sewing is the craft of fastening or attaching objects using stitches made with a needle and thread. Sewing is one of the oldest of the textile arts, arising in the Paleolithic era...
, jewelry, metalworking
Metalworking
Metalworking is the process of working with metals to create individual parts, assemblies, or large scale structures. The term covers a wide range of work from large ships and bridges to precise engine parts and delicate jewelry. It therefore includes a correspondingly wide range of skills,...
, woodworking
Woodworking
Woodworking is the process of building, making or carving something using wood.-History:Along with stone, mud, and animal parts, wood was one of the first materials worked by early humans. Microwear analysis of the Mousterian stone tools used by the Neanderthals show that many were used to work wood...
and other disciplines. The magazine was marketed to people who enjoy "crafting" things and features projects which can often be completed with cheap materials, including household items.
Subjects
Unlike more traditional craft magazines and how-toHow-to
A how-to or a how to is an informal, often short, description of how to accomplish some specific task. A how-to is usually meant to help non-experts, may leave out details that are only important to experts, and may also be greatly simplified from an overall discussion of the topic...
books, Craft: projects were aimed at a younger (18-35) audience. Projects in the first issue included making a stitched robot doll, a silver-thread and microprocessor-based programmable LED
LEd
LEd is a TeX/LaTeX editing software working under Microsoft Windows. It is a freeware product....
tank top
Tank top
Tank top may refer to:* a type of sleeveless shirt worn by men and women * a sleeveless sweater, also known as a sweater vest * the plating forming the inner bottom of a ship hull...
, knit slouch boots, a minimalist 'catnip castle,' and an ant-farm room divider. Articles with names like "Subversive Cross Stitch
Cross-stitch
Cross-stitch is a popular form of counted-thread embroidery in which X-shaped stitches in a tiled, raster-like pattern are used to form a picture. Cross-stitch is often executed on easily countable evenweave fabric called aida cloth. The stitcher counts the threads in each direction so that the...
," "Battle Chic - craft a wardrobe of medieval armor with DIY chainmail
Chainmail
Mail is a type of armour consisting of small metal rings linked together in a pattern to form a mesh.-History:Mail was a highly successful type of armour and was used by nearly every metalworking culture....
," and "The Lost Ipu
Ipu
Ipu is a percussion instrument made from gourds that is often used to provide a beat for hula dancing.There are two types of ipu, the ipu heke and the ipu heke ole . Both are made from gourds that have been cut off at the neck and hollowed. The ipu heke is two such gourds joined together with a...
Art of Ni‘ihau
Niihau
Niihau or Niihau is the seventh largest of the inhabited Hawaiian Islands in the U.S. state of Hawaii, having an area of . Niihau lies southwest of Kauai across the Kaulakahi Channel. Several intermittent playa lakes provide wetland habitats for the Hawaiian Coot, the Black-winged Stilt, and the...
" are typical of the magazine's eclectic indie
Indie design
The indie design movement is made up of independent designers, artists and craftspeople who design and make a wide array of products without being part of large, industrialized businesses....
themes.
Demographic
Craft: was aimed at the emerging DIY culture in North America and Europe, particularly female, that enjoys not only the fashion of handmadeHandmade
Handmade may refer to:* Handmade , 2003* Handmade , 2010* HandMade Films, George Harrison's production company* Rhino Handmade, a record label-See also:...
items and crafts, but also the philosophy and politics inherent in recycling
Recycling
Recycling is processing used materials into new products to prevent waste of potentially useful materials, reduce the consumption of fresh raw materials, reduce energy usage, reduce air pollution and water pollution by reducing the need for "conventional" waste disposal, and lower greenhouse...
, DIY clothing, and ecology
Ecology
Ecology is the scientific study of the relations that living organisms have with respect to each other and their natural environment. Variables of interest to ecologists include the composition, distribution, amount , number, and changing states of organisms within and among ecosystems...
. The ads featured in Craft: targeted a readership that is largely liberal
Liberalism
Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...
, and interested in locally produced, handmade
Handmade
Handmade may refer to:* Handmade , 2003* Handmade , 2010* HandMade Films, George Harrison's production company* Rhino Handmade, a record label-See also:...
, ecological, and organic
Organic product
An organic product is made from organic raw materials. It also requires Organic certification.-Food:*Fruit and vegetables*Meat, dairy, eggs*Nuts and seeds*Flour and Grains*Herbs- Processed foods :*Organic juice*Canned goods*Frozen vegetables...
goods and craft supplies. The demographic also is heavily computer literate, and blogs about their crafts and the crafts of their peers, thus ads for services such as web hosting and flickr
Flickr
Flickr is an image hosting and video hosting website, web services suite, and online community that was created by Ludicorp in 2004 and acquired by Yahoo! in 2005. In addition to being a popular website for users to share and embed personal photographs, the service is widely used by bloggers to...
were also found in the magazine's pages.
Cancellation of the print version
On 11 February 2009, e-mails were sent to Craft: subscribers explaining that due to rising production costs and shrinking ad markets, the print version of Craft: would be discontinued but would remain as an online presence. Also, all further printed content would be incorporated into Make:Make (magazine)
Make is an American quarterly magazine published by O'Reilly Media which focuses on do it yourself and/or DIWO projects involving computers, electronics, robotics, metalworking, woodworking and other disciplines...
. The website for Craft: included the following announcement from publisher Dale Dougherty
Dale Dougherty
Dale Dougherty is one of the co-founders of O'Reilly Media. While not at the company in its earliest stages as a technical documentation consulting company, Dale was instrumental in the development of O'Reilly's publishing business, was the founder of GNN, the Global Network Navigator, the first...
:
"All along, we have noticed that Craftzine.com has been growing steadily. At the same time, we've come to realize that there were more and more challenges in publishing CRAFT as a print magazine, especially with the costs of print and distribution rising, and diminishing interest among advertisers in print. So we've decided that Volume 10, our Celebrate Like Crazy issue, will be our last print issue and that the future of CRAFT is online."
"Creating a print magazine was a great pleasure for all of us on our amazing team, and we've appreciated the many readers who told us how much they enjoyed CRAFT. Our print magazine helped to gain recognition that craft is thriving today, more than ever. We're going online exclusively with CRAFT because that's where we can best reach and serve our audience."
"I also want to assure you that craft and crafters will continue to be an important part of the program for Maker Faire. We have always regarded crafters as we do makers, a creative vanguard who are remaking the world in ways that are especially vital today. Also, we will continue to publish MAKE magazine in print. The closure of CRAFT in print allows us to focus our limited resources on growing a single DIY magazine instead of two."http://craftzine.com/
Under the "Craft Print FAQ", he added the following:
"The CRAFT site will grow to combine its current blog style plus more original content including weekly and bimonthly columns, and tutorials. We hope you'll stick with us and visit often!"http://blog.craftzine.com/archive/2009/02/craft_print_faq.html