Coilhouse Issue 06 is coming soon, but it’s not quite there yet. With more pages, more contributors, and more articles than any previous issue, it’s been quite a journey to put this one together. Thank you all – readers, friends, collaborators, and advertisers – for your patience. Because this issue is still deep in the production stage, we’d like to share our new Issue 06 advertisers here on the blog. Joining our existing family of small-business advertisers, these guys will appear on the pages of Issue 06. Check them out and support their wonderful creations. Here they are!

Medina Maitreya is a costume designer who crafts unique outfits and accessories by mixing new and vintage materials. Working a palette of vintage lace, beads, coins, feathers, silk, flowers and other “antique bling”,  Medina constructs bespoke items inspired by everything from belly dance to circus arts to Erté. You may have seen some of Medina’s extravagant costumes sported by the Lucent Dossier Vaudeville Cirque, March Fourth Marching Band, Kami Liddle of the Bellydance Superstars, and  Zoe Jakes of Beats Antique. You can see some of Medina’s creations on her blog, and many more on Facebook.

Casual Animation specializes in creating affordable custom animations based on your concepts. You supply the idea, pictures and audio: animator-for-hire Kenneth Sanders will create an original cartoon in your preferred file format (avi, mov, m3v, etc.) based on the assets that you provide. Collaborate on any concept your heart desires: experimental surreal shorts, character sketches, music videos. Plus, an optional DVD of your cartoon could be mailed to you. You also have the option of having your cartoon featured on the Casual Animation website.

Constance is a freelance artist, designer and photographer whose work and blog can be seen at i heart constance. Constance specializes in helping small business craft a unique identity. Recent clients include Blue Betta Media, Big Purple Tree, and Saucy Ladies. A full portfolio of Constance’s 2011 design work can be found here. Constance is available for any design task ranging from a complete brand/identity overhaul to custom type treatments, business cards, package development, logo design, information layout, posters, flyers and much more. She’s also available for photography assignments including commissions portraits, product shots (yum!), compositing and retouching. In her website manifesto, Constance writes, “I write to inspire you to push your creativity / I write to provoke your sense of adventure / I write to motivate you to dream big.”

Dr. Sketchy’s Anti-Art School is a worldwide alternative drawing movement in which art, booze, and burlesque collide. Every month, over 3,500 artists gather in nearly a hundred cities to sketch glamorous alt-culture models and compete in drawing contests in an atmosphere of creative mayhem. Artist, model and oft-Coilhouse collaborator Molly Crabapple (who’s about to embark on a Week in Hell) kicked off the first Dr. Sketchy’s event at a dive bar in 2005 as an antidote to the stiff, sterile life drawing classes she had posed for in the past. Local Dr. Sketchy’s branches are known for outrageous themed nights. At a recent Dr. Sketchy’s event in New York, for example, an elaborately-costumed Stoya and Jiz Lee acted out the story of Jack the Ripper while raising funds for a local sex workers’ rights campaign.

Ember Nomad a clothing company created by fashion designer Danica, and specializes in flowy, fun clothing “for travellers, dancers, and anyone who wants to feel a little bit of magic in their life.” The image above is from Ember Nomad’s 2010 Aphrodisia fashion show; more images can be seen here. Check Ember Nomad’s Facebook Page and Etsy Store for new items. Stripey bloomers, ruffled boleros, leather harnesses, hooded tank tops, and more! The cleavage-enhancing circus vest is hot.

The Pornographic Portrait Project is a series of paintings by artist Molly Peck depicting the intimate orgasmic experience in a lush large-scale format. The current series includes several vibrant portraits of people in the throes of passion, and Molly needs your help to grow the project. “Shortly after embracing the idea of this project,” writes Molly, “I realized that it would be difficult for me to capture source images/photo references myself, which is where the collaborative or subject-submission angle came from. I am asking you to send me an image of the moment you ‘let go’, from which I will create a painting (if it inspires one).” The initial concept for the series focused on people’s faces, but has expanded to include “a more broad representation of release, as the individual sees it or defines it (but sticking in the sexual/erotic arena).” Molly welcomes submissions: check the FAQ for more info!

Night Flight is an aerial performance and training company based out of Portland, Orgeon. Founded by performers Gemma Adams and Stephanie Lopes, Night Flight performances combine breathtaking aerial artistry and playful storytelling. The Night Flight Aerial Art Studio offers 8-week intensive series classes, drop-ins, and private lessons focusing for aerial arts silks (tissu), static trapeze, hoop (lyra), rope (corde lisse), sling and straps, as well as strength and flexibility training. The next batch of classes starts up in July; check the class schedule for details. Those of you who don’t live in Portland should still check out this breathtakingly sensuous performance by Night Flight on silks and duo hoop, as well as this gorgeous Flickr photo set featuring Night Flight performers shot by Christopher Perez.

Opir is a politically-charged industrial music project by New York-based artists Spencer Thomas and Vivienne Gucwa. Opir’s first album – America: 25 Years in Review (1983-2008) – is a thoughtful reflection on America’s politics from the rise of Reagan to present day. Opir’s polished, caustic soundscapes, rhythmic textures, distorted samples, and dark ambient industrial beats recall Frontline Assembly, Hocico, Mentallo & the Fixer, and Muslimgauze. Beneath the visceral, corrosive auditory assault and dancefloor appeal of each track lies a richly-contextualized political message. Opir’s website provides a breakdown of song lyrics for the first three tracks, referencing economic theorists, social policies, historical events and legislations to help break down each song’s meaning. You can hear three song samples on Soundcloud, and you can get the album on iTunes or on Amazon.

The Idirlion Project is a fusing of chaos magick / sigilization with old school shamanism, all filtered through a future tech approach to altering reality. Readers who enjoyed our Grant Morrison interview in Issue 04 (as well as our articles on Jodorowsky, Larkin Grimm, Kenneth Grant, and other mystics throughout time) will appreciate the services that the Idirlion Project has to offer. Drawing on both Irish and Peruvial traditions, Idirlion will aid the client in the creation, casting and charging of a sigil. “The catchy tagline that we use on the site is ‘Shamanic Sigilzation For A Better Tomorrow.’ Kind of adds a nice silver age, Bradbury-esque touch to what can often be serious work.” Last month, the founders of the Idirlion Project helped launch the Starseed Institute For Shamanic Studies, an intensive four-weekend training program that explores the four aspects of the shamanic medicine wheel.

Jewels by Mouse, created by Valerie Fordham (Mouse) and Jon Boisseau, offers unique handmade jewelry and jewelry boxes. Mouse describes her jewelry as “sparkly, tactile, beautiful, and peculiar.” Tentacles, mixed metal and rivets, unusually shaped stones, spiraling organic forms, iridescent glass beads, cast bones, and “textures that want to be touched.” Mouse only uses sterling or fine silver, never plate, and the copper and brass in her jewelry are backed by sterling. Check out the onyx spiral earrings, Midsummer Vines necklace, copper keyhole bracelet, and spiral dragonfly pin.

Retro-a-Go-Go sells accessories, jewelry and home décoror inspired by the 50s and beyond: hot rods, rockabilly, Irving Klaw, kustom kulture, psychobilly, robots, zombies, monsters, tattoos and pop art. Exclusive lines include Bettie Page, Buck Rodgers, Hot Rod Deluxe, Ken the Flattop, and Mitch O’Connell. There are flasks, bill boxes, parasols, cigarette cases, belt buckles, and lots of retro tees for guys and dolls featuring everything from pin-up starlets to pulp horror novels.

Previously featured on Coilhouse, Miyu Decay is the new jewelry venture by artist Stephanie Inagaki. Since we last covered Miyu Decay, the shop has grown significantly. Whereas previously, some of the jewelry was only available in sterling silver, there are now pewter versions for those of us on a budget. For example, this gorgeous bat skull necklace for $350 is now available in pewter for $50. Other new creations in the Miyu Decay shop include an asymmetrical feather and lace collar, the Scottish tribal queen headdress, and the black chain skull bracelet.

All these companies, along with many of the advertisers we’ve blogged about previously, will appear in our upcoming Issue 06. Stay tuned for more updates!

Tomorrow, April 21st, at 11:59pm PST, our PDF Download Launch Sale concludes. Thank you to everyone who purchased a PDF of Issues 01-05 this month. The sale was a huge success for us, and we’re so grateful. Issue 06 will be bigger and better than ever because of you!

In the next few weeks, we’ll be reinstating the PDFs in our shop. However, the current special introductory price for our back issues – $5 per issue, and $20 for all five – is only available until tomorrow at midnight. We’ll post an announcement about when the PDFs will be returning to our shop, as well as what their regular price will be, in the weeks to come.

The PDF Shop is still open for a little more than 24 hours. Thank you, everyone, for your support!

Before we close the shop, one more free article for your enjoyment. This is our Neil Gaiman + Amanda Palmer interview from Issue 05:

Oh, HAI, gorgeous!

Our Creative Director, the indelible, unstoppable Courtney Riot, is a quarter-of-a-century old today. It’s been an eventful and revolutionary year for the Most Badass Graphic Designer of Her Generation, so let us take a minute to mark the occasion of her birth with solemnly raised fists, and this animated panda gif:

Should ye be feelin’ extra sinister, you can continue to celebrate Courtney’s relentless Reign of Amazingness with a Coilhouse-curated collection of Riotcentric YouTube clips, embedded below.

We love ya, Art Star. Can’t wait to show the world what you’ve got in the works for Issue 06. Have a fantastic day.

Readers of Coilhouse: our new interview with Karen Meisner at io9 just went live. “Crime, Cryptohistory, Cthulhu, Culture, & Cyberpunk: Inside Coilhouse Magazine“. Check it out!

Readers of io9: WELCOME. Here are some categories you might enjoy: Cyberpunk, Technology, Cthulhu, Uncanny Valley, Gaming, Geekdom, Future, Steampunk, Sci-fi, and End of the World.

Readers of Coilhouse and io9 both: we have a special treat for you. Since we’re now offering DRM-free, downloadable PDFs of our back issues, we’d like to offer a few free samples. In the next two weeks, we’ll be releasing free PDFs of our favorite articles from Issues 01-05 to give you a sense of what the magazine is like. This Friday, we’re publishing our interview with Ron D. Moore, creator of Battlestar Galactica. You can download the entire article for free here. This interview ran in Issue 03, the rest of which can be purchased here for a mere $5, or however much you’d like to pay.

To those of you who already downloaded some of the back issues, thank you. It’s been wonderful to see past editions take on a new life. We hope you’re enjoying them.

Today’s a big day! Coilhouse’s newest media experiment is ready for your delectation and appraisal.

From now through April 21, anyone, anywhere in the world with reasonable internet bandwidth will be able purchase DRM-free, high quality PDFs from the Coilhouse web store. This is the first time back issues of the magazine have been available in a digital format. Here it is: our brand-new PDF Shop.

For $5 USD a pop, you can download And Other Curiosities (01), Beauty Is A Choice (02), The “Hold My Gold” Issue (03), Onaim, Perantes, Rasonastos (04), and Let All the Children Boogie (05) as individual digital issues, or at a discount price of twenty bucks for all five. Also, should ye be feelin’ flush and generous, you’ll have the option to pay a bit more, because this is an important fund raising push for us.

Some thoughts:

As paper gourmands who have been touting the Magazine-As-Art-Object aspects of our production from the get-go, we know there’s nothing quite as scrumptious as holding a tangible, finite paper edition of Coilhouse in your hands.  We also realize that as we’ve continued to grow and evolve from a teeny wee indie publication to a somewhat less teeny (but still wee!) indie publication, there has consistently been more demand than supply of our limited run print issues as well as other merchandise, leaving a lot of forlorn readers crying out, “What do you mean it’s sold out ALREADY?!” And we must acknowledge, with regret, that our as-of-yet limited overseas distribution, combined with high international shipping costs, has made it prohibitively expensive for much of our global readership to afford copies of the Coilhouse print issues. We’re still working out these kinks as we go along. Thank you, comrades, for your continued understanding and kind suggestions on how we can improve.

Rest assured that we remain, first and foremost, resolutely committed to producing high quality print editions. But with your feedback, we’ve ascertained that high res PDFs are the best, most affordable solution we have currently for giving an ever-increasing readership access to our past print content. Depending on the success of this trial run digital sale, we may go in any number of directions: offering perennial PDF downloads, developing multimedia applications for smartphones and iPads, maybe even creating snazzy limited edition print digests for fellow diehard bibliophiles. Full disclosure: in recent weeks, we’ve been in multiple meetings with trusted mentors, friends, and publishers, discussing all of these possibilities, and more. SO EXCITING.

All proceeds from this initial three-week PDF sale will go directly back into the Coilhouse coffer. As previously mentioned, you’ll have the choice to purchase them at five bucks a pop, twenty for all five, or more if you can afford to and would like to further support our business. Every dollar you spend on them will help ensure that our upcoming Issue Six (currently being designed) is Coilhouse’s most lustrous, densely-packed and gorgeous production yet. Please know how grateful we are for the unflagging support of our beautiful and vibrant grassroots community. We’re still here, and still growing, because of you.

Once more, repeated for emphasis: this initial foray into PDF sales is a limited-time fund raising effort, so if you’re interested, don’t delay! GO GIT ‘EM.

Special thanks to art star Courtney Riot for designing the new shop, and Nicole, Ian, Jacquie, Whittles, Nyx, Steph, Slim and Audrey for countless hours of testing/support.

Image by SHOHEI

We love Japan. A lot. So much that our “Japan” tag contains 77 items. This morning, help we are auctioning off a special merch package fror Japan on Ebay. The package includes the coveted, remedy ultra-soft Coilhouse Inform/Inspire/Infect unisex hoodie, decease available in S, M, L or XL (you specify  the size you want when you win the auction). Also included in this auction: nine Coilhouse buttons, an I/I/I mug, and a mint-condition copy of Issue 05. All proceeds from this auction will go to the Red Cross to support disaster relief efforts to help those affected by the earthquake in Japan and tsunami throughout the Pacific. Click on the images to bid!

More images of the items, after the jump. Many thanks to our Grettkins for coming up with snapshots of the Japan care package on such short notice.

Stay tuned today for more big news.

Thank you, all, for your feedback about our upcoming PDF Download Launch Sale. It was great to hear that there’s a lot of interest, and we look forward to sharing the back issues of Coilhouse with all of you. We’re putting the finishing touches on the download site and the PDFs, and we can’t wait to unveil the new shop this coming Monday. Get ready!

Meanwhile, we noticed that our mailing list was broken. Yikes. It has now been fixed. So please, join our mailing list. The main purpose of this list is to distribute REALLY HUGE NEWS – like this upcoming release of downloadable PDFs, new issues of Coilhouse coming out, crucial new developments, etc. Who knows – you might even get a sneak peek of some upcoming Coilhouse articles before they’re posted on the blog! We may very occasionally email you with other announcements, such as limited-edition new merch releases and Coilhouse events. But it’s not going to be annoying or spammy, we promise. It goes without saying that we will never share your email, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Join the mailing list! DO IT!

Many of you have asked: “will back issues of Coilhouse ever be available again?” We’re well aware (and gratified) that there’s a lot of interest in the now sold-out Issues 01-05. Since we printed Issue 01 in the summer of 2008, thousands more readers have joined us, and we’ve been eager to find a way to share the old content in a way that’s affordable for everyone. While our printing budget remains solely devoted to new issues at this time, we’re delighted to announce that as of next week, we will be offering DRM-free, high-quality PDFs of our back issues for sale on this site.

This coming Monday, March 28th, we’ll begin a special sale offering all of our previous issues of Coilhouse Magazine, available for purchase as separate issues, or at a discount on all five. This post is just a heads-up to let you know it’s happening soon. If you’re potentially interested in buying one or more PDF back issues, now would be a great time to join the mailing list so that you get a reminder when the issues go on sale. The other great reason to join our mailing list right now is to stay informed about the release of print Issue 06, which is coming along nicely.

As always, we’re incredibly curious to get some feedback from our readers! Any opinions or advice for us about about PDFs, e-readers, phone apps, iPad editions, and whether or not we should offer something like this perennially in our online store? Please, by all means, fire away in comments. As always, the Coilbiz’s learning process is greatly enhanced by direct communication with our community.

Join Our Email List Email:

An Egyptian anti-government activist kisses a riot police officer following clashes in Cairo, Egypt, Friday, Jan. 28, 2011. Image by Lefteris Pitarakis/AP.

Shit’s going down in Egypt. Since January 25th, the streets of Cairo have been flooded with protesters demanding the resignation of Hosni Mubarak. For a clear and comprehensive overview of what’s been happening in Egypt these past several days, we recommend Nick Baumann and Siddhartha Mahanta’s post on the Mother Jones blog, titled What’s Happening in Egypt Explained.

One of the scariest elements of this situation has been the ease with which the Egyptian government was able to wipe out citizens’ access to information and communication nationwide. Last week, one by one, ISPs surrendered to the will of the state, depriving thousands of the Internet access that so many of us take for granted. And through Internet connectivity was restored for many Egyptians today, there remain concerns of surveillance. Eva Galperin writes on the EFF blog, “given the potential dangers, it is absolutely critical that Egyptian protesters take precautions when communicating online. To reiterate, social networking tools have given activists a powerful voice, which can be heard well beyond Egypt, but activists should also remember that the Egyptian government could use these same tools to identify and retaliate against them.” Phobos at the Tor Project blog adds, “we are concerned because it is possible that traffic crossing the Egyptian border is being recorded and possibly saved for future use. Correctly using Tor to and from Egyptian destinations will keep your traffic anonymous.”

The Tor Project, a system to enable online anonymity, has been crucial in aiding activists around the world. Thanks to this week’s fundraiser to help Tor fight the blackout in Egypt, Tor has begun experimenting with ways to improve performance over satellite and mesh networks as well as VSAT and BGAN connections. The results of this research, Tor reports, will “benefit those with little to no Internet access, whether due to political unrest, natural disasters, or remote locations, who nonetheless seek to keep their online activities safe.”

This week, we’ll be donating to support Tor’s efforts. We invite you to do the same. And there’s a way for you to contribute to Tor and receive something from us in return. We’ve just put up one rare, mint-condition copy of Issue 01 on Ebay. The original issue 01, typo on the cover and all. The highly NSFW version that was only sold on our site. Only 1,000 copies of this version were ever printed (an alternate version went to the stores), and we have a mere 10 left in stock for the rest of our lives. It will never be reprinted in its current form. 100% of the proceeds will go to Tor. (Also of interest: Zoetica’s own Tor auction for a tentacle-painted denim jacket.) Bidding starts at $15.00 (not to be confused with this vendor’s $119 auction for Issue 02 – that’s not us – we’re flattered and somewhat appalled). The auction is here. GO!

Coilhouse can be found in over 2,000 retail locations. For specific details of our distribution, click here. Photo by rickiep00h on Flickr.

Coilhouse Magazine Issue 06 is coming. It’s been coming for a long time, and that’s because we’ve challenged ourselves to put more care and effort into this issue than ever before. You won’t have to wait much longer: 06 will be out in early spring! For those of you interested in advertising in Coilhouse, now is the time to get in touch and reserve your spot. The deadline for reserving an ad in Issue 06 is February 1st.

Who’s advertising in Coilhouse?  Increasingly, it’s not just businesses – it’s also artists, writers, filmmakers, musicians, designers, art galleries and publications. Take a look at November’s “Support Our Advertisers” blog post, which outlines the 69 participants in Issue 05’s Small Business Advertising Program. It’s an inspiring, eclectic collection of products and people.

Magazines with production quality on par with Coilhouse are usually chock-full of corporate advertising, but we’ve made it part of our mission to prioritize our cherished community base, enabling less profit-driven entities to appear in our pages. Though we’ve raised all our full-page rates as of 2011, a beautifully-designed ad square in our Small Business Program still costs only $99-149.

Magazine reader response to the catalog style layout has been very positive. We hear a lot of people say that they spend as much time poring over the scrumptious small biz grid pages as they do over the articles themselves. You can see examples of what the ad grid layout looks like in the magazine here and here.

If you’re new to the advertising in Coilhouse, check our Advertising FAQ. For specifics about our distribution, circulation and pricing, check out our 2011 Media Kit. If you’ve made up your mind to take out an ad, all you need to do in order to get the ball rolling is email our wonderful Ad Manager, Samantha.

The Coilhouse venture remains, first and foremost, a labor of love… with lucre a very distant second. Rest assured that when beloved members of this community participate in our Small Business Ad Program, it’s a mutually beneficial partnership that keeps us all striving. (And hey – if you’re a small business, but you still want to take out a full page ad, come talk to us – we’ll be happy work something out.)

As always, thanks for reading. See you in Issue 06!