More information about Distance.

Distance is a full-throttle attempt at publishing serious, well-researched writing about design: graphic design, product design, interaction design, architecture, urban planning… any process that makes stuff that's beautiful and worth having. It comes in different forms because we figure people value reading on different terms. We do what we can to make each issue great, we charge readers a fair price, we pay writers a fair price, and we try not to be a jerk to anybody. Hopefully you like this. We think it makes sense; we think it's the right thing to do.

Distance is all about constraints because we believe that a big part of design is about selecting the best constraints. So there are only three writers in every issue; every issue comes out every three months; the book's size is small enough to comfortably fit in one's pocket; and there isn't anything else to distract from the writing, which is always, always the most important thing.

We believe that good design is reserved, economical, and confident in its execution. We have a track record of making designed objects that are internal exemplars of their principles, and we are hellbent on applying the same jam econo beliefs to Distance. The final product is small, and constrained to remain small, so that we can do an exceptional job on it and feel comfortable with the product that we put out the door.

Awesome. Where can I buy copies of Distance?

You can also subscribe to Distance on Memberly, and you can buy single issues on Shopify. Distance is also available in a few shops around Chicago: at Uncharted Books in Logan Square, Quimby's in Wicker Park, and The Chicagoan's offices in the Inland Steel Building downtown. And, of course, if you can track the right people down, you'll be able to purchase copies with Square.

Who's responsible?

Distance is published and edited by Nick Disabato, a designer from Chicago. Most recently, he designed and published Cadence & Slang, a small book about interaction design, copies of which sold out in April 2011.

But each issue of Distance wouldn't exist if not for its authors, who play a tremendously influential part in shaping the final product. If you're interested in writing for Distance, you can learn more about the process.

What's “ePub?”

That's the book publishing format that works with iBooks, the Kindle, the Nook, and other e-readers. It's an open standard, which means it's made out of technologies like HTML and CSS that have been proven to make the web what it is for almost 20 years. Now it's making our books. Because of all this, ePub should be reasonably future-proof. And because we don't like to treat our customers as potential thieves, we're really happy that it's not encumbered by any sort of digital rights management, which means you can pass copies of Distance on to your friends and colleagues.

If you're having any troubles with getting your copy of Distance to load on your e-reader, contact us with the links down there ☟ and we'll help you get it sorted out.

Why “Distance?”

We think your answer is better than any we could offer.

That can't be it.

You're right; that is not it. People have a habit of writing about the stuff that they read. And Distance's articles are meant to last; our hope is that folks may talk about them in the coming years, possibly in a nice bar with a fireplace. We are paying careful attention to what will be written about every article in every issue of Distance, and whenever we find something that looks interesting (even if we disagree with it!), we will add their feedback to a nice-looking, continually-updated PDF. People quoted in that fashion will, of course, be credited and linked back, and owed high-fives at a later time.

Then, the original authors of each article can respond to these if need be, and we'll include those thoughts, too. The document may well evolve into something resembling a civil, thoughtful conversation, which is a terrifying prospect to us. We'll continually update the document for as long as folks talk about our essays, which we hope is going to be a very long time. So, the longer an issue is out, the more stuff that will accumulate about it, which sounds fairly awesome to us.

One final thought.

We are honored that you have read this far. Thanks for your time.