Matthew Sheret

Pride and joy

Across its seven issues Paper Science has comfortably and consistently produced some great works, introduced me to some wonderful artists, shown me some old favourites… As a showcase, it’s been a success, and its format has been a continual joy for me. I do so love these newspaper comics, and trust we’ll see the format continue to be used long after Paper Science finishes.

Very kind words from Richard over on the Forbidden Planet blog as Paper Science 7 hits the stands.

They also carried a string of contributor interviews this week, as Marc Ellerby, Philippa Rice, David O’Connell and Josceline Fenton all took time to chat about what made their pieces tick.

The King of Things joined in too. His description of how we met might well be my single favourite thing about 2012 so far. A tip of the hat to his ~~creator~~ biographer Adam Cadwell for bringing him to life.

February 2, 2012

Public

There’s nothing quite like putting your work in front of a disinterested public. WAW+P’s best moments have always involved people who ‘don’t read comics’ reading our comics, watching reactions good and bad bombard you. It’s ace.

We had a user-testing session today, involving only people who weren’t familiar with Last.fm. It was humiliating. And wonderful. Wonderful and humiliating. I can’t recommend it enough.

January 30, 2012

Long live Paper Science!

Paper Science 7 is out today, heralding the end of a project that’s played some part in my life for the last two and a half years.

I’m immensely proud of how Paper Science has grown in that time. The last four issues in particular are a snapshot of why British comics are flourishing right now. They’re available as a collection for just £8.

I’ll probably write up some of the lessons when issue 7′s had a bit of time to settle. Until then I’m just enjoying looking at Adam‘s lovely cover.

If you’ve been involved in any way – from spending hours slaving over panels to just coming up at a show and just picking up a copy – thank you. It’s been ace.

January 25, 2012

Buzzing and clattering

On Sunday I spent a few hours playing sound-man for Anne as she shot some interviews at the London Model Engineering Exhibition. It was exactly the kind of show you’re picturing in your head; finely detailed replicas all measured with laser precision (they actually use lasers to measure the parts) and presented by chaps (and a few chapettes) clutching cups of tea.

It was wonderful. Alexandra Palace was filled with buzzing and clattering as trains, planes and ships, displayed with pride and… well, just lots of pride actually. The good kind.

I realised wandering round that the setup was incredibly familiar; it shared all the smells and murmurs and chatter of a comic convention. But the beaming faces and eagerness to talk about work with new people felt a world away. Very few were tucked behind tables and those that were were busy making things whirr about, delighting people.

Maybe it was a generational thing; by and large the exhibitors were in their 50s and 60s, a lot more confident of their abilities than the (generally) younger comics crowd I’m around so much. But I got the sense that it wasn’t just that.

Speaking to Mitch from SMEE was a treat. He beamed about the work of his friends and fellows, proud to show the work he’d spent many thousands of hours on. He was humble about his achievements as a model maker, but not entirely self-effacing, understandably proud of work he’d contributed not just to the show, but to films like X-Men First Class, Lost In Space and Harry Potter. He was brilliant. Even better, he was brilliant while wearing a SMEE-branded workshop coat.

It was a welcome reminder that it’s not impossible to talk about print and storytelling with that kind of passion.

Anyway, I didn’t get many good photos but Anne’s film will make up for that when it’s ready.

January 23, 2012

Hamburg!

I’m heading to Hamburg next month, where I’ll be chatting to the local IxDA community about Storytelling.

I’ll be developing some of the themes that came up during my Playful talk, namely how the veneer of narrative is becoming increasingly important to even the sketchiest and most impulsive of hacks. Which is a verbose way of saying ‘I’ll be talking about words and whimsy’.

I’ve been invited by Birgit Geiberger, one of the wonderful people who made Utrecht such a delight last autumn, and the good folk at XING. It’s going to be fun!

January 13, 2012

If you don’t like it, you can turn it off

Cafe. Amsterdam Schiphol train station. I have ordered a tea and am sat at a tall table in the corner to write a few notes and wait for a train. The screen, positioned at head height by the table, is buzzing and I find it an irritating distraction. So I switch it off.

About five seconds pass before I start to worry that someone will arrest me. Or tell me off. I worry I am somehow breaking the rules. I switch it back on and immediately feel like an idiot. I continue writing my notes, warmed by the glow of a sandwich I will not buy.

January 10, 2012

Objectives

An initially agenda-less meeting of the After School Club for Copywriters this morning turned into a pretty comprehensive ‘What are you going to do with 2012?’ chat.

For my part, I’m hoping to make this year a little bit more about me. Paper Science will come to a natural stop with issue #7 – it won’t be gone forever, but a hiatus feels healthy – and I want to spend the next few months writing pitches for some longer-form comics projects. Whether they’re accepted or not, I want one of those to be robust enough that I take it full-length by the end of the year. That’s one thing.

Secondly I need to remember how to write about what I do. Not things like the club or the Lego stuff, where blogging is an expected output, but things like product launches and documentation. I take too much of what I do for granted.

And I’ve got to get better at collaborative projects. I treat too many things like briefs, and it’s important to get out of that mindset. The Thought Bubble residency only worked because I threw in with the collaboration, and I need to do more of that.

Again, it’s really good to get Quinn‘s and Anne‘s take on how best to develop skills and focus my work. I think there’s a narrow line between these meetings being productive ways to discuss what we’re facing and them simply being an opportunity to whinge, but we’ve kept well clear of anything especially ranty or self-obsessed so far. It feels good.

Stating goals too seems to make the whole process more manageable and more significant. And that’s probably the lesson from this meeting;

Lesson Ten: State your objectives.

December 28, 2011

Eleven

Remember when I said this? I meant it. For a year I’ve been folding references about Doctor Who into talks, essays and chat. I got a sonic screwdriver built, bought a bow tie, and had the finest compliment I could ask for paid to me (thanks Matt!).

These little minifigs were the final part of it. All eleven Doctors, made with Lego. They’re not perfect (One and Ten need better hair, Four’s missing his scarf, Seven is just rubbish) but they do the job, and that job is to be tiny little totems of an incredible year.

A quarterly newspaper, my first large scale talks, the Thought Bubble residency, baking my first banoffi pie… 2011 was great.

But 2012 will be better. I should know – Time Lord, remember. More Lego after the jump…

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December 16, 2011

“Shuttle”

I saw Kevin Fong talk about the design and construction of NASA’s space shuttle at sameAs Space back in October where he told a super-compelling story about how Shuttle came to be.

During the talk he spoke of Shuttle as an ugly, weird thing, a thing ill-equipped for many of its specialised tasks but able to do an okay job of just about anything it was pointed at. I can’t remember the exact turn of phrase, but Kevin spoke about the demands made of Shuttle’s construction by dozens of separate parties to suit tasks from scientists, military tacticians, communications agencies and easily-lobbied politicians; it was always going to be such a doomed and lumpen thing because it was trying to be so many things.*

Shuttle couldn’t move forwards and into the future, Shuttle couldn’t be built on or improved. Shuttle was the servant of too many masters, too many demands. It simply did the jobs it could do for as long a period of time as it made sense for it to, before being mothballed and left to the archivists.

I found myself unconsciously muttering the word the other day. “Shuttle”. I was using it as a watchword for myself, a kind of shorthand. “Shuttle”, the project that lacks focus. The thing that has the capacity to get uglier as time moves forwards, to be too locked and restricted in its delivery to be built on or trimmed. The thing that will maneuver like a brick, take an incredible amount of energy to get going, and will likely offer little return for all involved.

Saying that word to myself is a note to focus the demands being made upon a thing.

* It’s worth noting that Kevin was far more romantic about Shuttle’s memory and purpose than my interpretation/recall implies

December 13, 2011

Something good

Radio Roundabout was fun. Thanks for having me again RIG!
Looks like Dan definitely didn’t bootleg it and upload it to Soundcloud.