"Bound by Ink"

[gougetheeyes]

Anyone know anything about this magazine? Other than that it looks super douchey? And is named BOUND BY INK. Someone's asked me to do a piece for it, which I feel very honored about, though the magazine looks like... this.

Last thing I did in a magazine, the staff were fantastic but the owners/publishers were terrible and shady and should not have been supported in any way. So. Anyone?

Thanks

[RoryQ]

I bought two issues. The first was pretty good - I bought it because it had a multi-page feature on Chris Crooks of White Dragon Tattoo in Belfast. The same issue had a good interview with Tim Hendricks.

The second issue I got seemed to be more about interviewing alternative models... ? Not really for me.

[gougetheeyes]

Thanks, Rory. Gonna see if I can find a copy to flip through today.

[Mel Noir]

I'm not too sure which copy I have, but by the sounds of what Rory said it might be the second- WAY too much on alternative models. I don't have the issue right here to check, but I'm sure they spelled an artist's name wrong too, after giving him a feature, which was pretty bad.

The magazine isn't TOO bad, it has a nice quality feel to it and the photography in it is better than a lot of magazines. However, the writing needs to be kicked up a notch, and the "tattoo culture" theme should be toned down, in my opinion.

[gougetheeyes]

Yeah, I am really flattered to be asked by a tattooer to write something up, just want to be sure I'm not contributing to a publication I'll later regret being associated with.

[Mel Noir]

I definitely see what you mean, like- sometimes I feel like I have to really think about this too, despite being flattered. At the minute, I don't think it would do you any harm to write for them, as long as you be a slight diva and say from the start it's all on your terms. I feel sometimes it's best to have an informal chat with the editor to try to get a feel for their attitude. If they mention anything about money or popularity, I personally pass on it, because it means they're likely to piss off a few people down the line, I've found.

Judging by the issue I have, and your blog (which I really love, by the way), they could be pushing for a better direction by asking you, so if you feel positive about it I would say to go for it :)

[AlannaCA]

i have read a couple issues of this magazine as well. it was in the jan-feb issue that they spelt Nick Hurtado's name wrong in title of the article. i bought it because i recognized his name on the cover and then in the same issue there was an interview with Tim Hendricks that was really awesome. yea i agree that there are too many interviews with alternative models, it seems to outnumber the amount of interviews with actually artists. besides that the photos are really awesome and so far i have found that the articles are really well written and go really in depth with the artists compared to some other magazines ive purchased.

[Mel Noir]

they spelt Nick Hurtado's name wrong in title of the article.

This is still pissing me off! Who's this Nick Furtado kid?! :P

[dari]

Didn't Skin and Ink have an issue with "Sate of Grace" on the cover?

[RoryQ]

I think they spelled Shige's name wrong in one of those issues too? Hard to tell whether it was a typo or not.

There's a magazine we get here which is translated from another language and sometimes reading the interviews is a matter of puzzling out what they mean. There was an interview with the guys from East Tattoo in Taiwan and one of them, Ching, explained that before tattooing he had been a "soldier tart". Good luck figuring that one out!

In 'Bound By Ink''s favour, I do think they have some of the best photography of any of the magazines - really big shots, mutli-page spreads on whatever artist they're looking at. And like I said, some of the interviews are really good. Tim Hendricks talked a lot about tattooing and ethics - it felt like a more in-depth interview than the usual "Who are your influences", "What was your first tattoo?" type of thing.

Plus if you do an article for them I'm sure we'll all buy it ...

[gougetheeyes]

Went to check it out and it was sealed up in plastic! I didn't buy it but Mel gave me a pretty good critique. Keep you all posted with this thing.

[Mel Noir]

Haha, I think my critique was more like, "and then another load of pages on one model, then we get to some Nikko Furtado guy!", but I'm glad you found it helpful.

I agree with you though Rory, about the photography and interviews. The photography is brilliant, but at the same time doesn't try too hard. I've seen some photography in magazines where the photographer has put in loads of black and white images which are unnecessary, too many "fancy shots" you didn't need to see and shots where you can't see the tattooer or the tattoo, so to see such a high standard in that magazine was really nice. The interviews are pretty insightful at times- I hate ones which are so generic, and I'll be the first to admit I think I need to still work at that myself (I do keep the boring questions to a minimum though- you only really need two at most, often only one!).

I think the magazine still has a way to go with errors and things like that, and they need to stop focusing so much on the models, but to be honest one of my favourite European magazines used to be riddled with mistakes. After working things out, it's brilliant these days.

[gougetheeyes]

Well since the damn thing was in plastic, I couldn't open it to realize it was some special edition with only photos. Along the same lines of what Inked does with its "Inked Girls"... obviously important to tattooing. But that's a whole other thread/rant. So that's $10 down the drain.

On the upside, I'm doing the article. Keep you all posted when the thing comes out.