As part of an Iowa State University Architecture Faculty Exhibition, I designed the layout for a selected group of books I edited, designed, and published for Culicidae Press and its imprints Culicidae Architectural Press, Hog Press, Handcar Press, Zanzara Press, Musca Press, and Obvious Press.
The design consists of a 1′-wide banner at the top and two bands of covers printed on 132″x36″ posters, plus an artist statement (verbatim below).
From the exhibition description by Mitchell Squire, the organizer:
The 2024 Department of Architecture Faculty Exhibition presents a broad spectrum of scholarly work conducted by current faculty members. Various avenues and forms of scholarship, research, and creative activity will be featured in works by Arvid Osterberg, Natalie Frankowski, Cruz Garcia, Firat Erdim, Peter P. Goché, Mitchell Squire, Mikesch Muecke, Bosuk Hur, Peter Zuroweste, Consuelo Núñez Ciuffa, Ulrike Passe, Victoria Melnyk, Shelby Doyle, Kristen Greteman, and Kevin Lair.
The exhibition is organized by Mitchell Squire, Morrill Professor of Architecture, and sponsored by the 2024 Vernon Stone Fund in Architecture. It is open to the public from August 26 – September 18, 2024, in Gallery 181 in the College of Design at Iowa State University.
Artist Statement
The work shows some of the books (covers only, samples on the table) I have edited, designed, and published since 2005 when I founded Culicidae Press, initially as a self-publishing enterprise. In 2006 I published the first book for another author, and in 2008 I incorporated Culicidae Press as an LLC. Based on external feedback I shifted the business model in 2012 from the-editor-approves-or-rejects to a peer-review process, requiring my publishing decisions to be supported by two independent outside readers. Most incoming manuscripts are rejected at first, but authors are encouraged to rewrite their work based on comments by the outside readers and the editor.
Culicidae Press and its imprints is unique in several ways. I consider the authors I publish as partners rather than a resource to be exploited. Consequently, any net profits from sales of books are shared 50/50 between the press and the author (unheard of in conventional publishing). Every year Culicidae Press shares part of its profits with different causes, giving back to the community, and we give discounts on all books for students with valid .edu emails. Due to the small footprint of the company, I work closely with authors on all aspects of the editing, design, publishing, and marketing process. There are no divisions within this company.
As an expansion of Culicidae Press LLC I added in 2012 the first imprint, Culicidae Architectural Press (peer-reviewed), for which I edit, design, and publish works by other authors writing about the designed environment at all scales. In 2015 I added Hog Press as an independent and non-profit imprint to publish work by cultural institutions, non-profits, and individuals who are interested in sharing their knowledge and ideas with a global audience. The first book published by Hog Press was a collaboration between Westbrook Artists Site (WAS) and the Madison County Historical Society titled Gateway: The Three Rivers Country.
In 2018 I added the Zanzara Press imprint (hard to classify, non-peer-reviewed) and Musca Press (poetry aggregator) to the Culicidae Press family, and finally, in 2023 I expanded once more by creating the imprint Handcar Press, in response to authors working on the edge of mainstream publishing. Handcar Press has also been a place for me to re-publish culturally and socially critical work that is either out of print and/or in the public domain (e.g. Olympe de Gouges’ Declaration of the Rights of Woman). The first Handcar Press book is testimony to this approach: M. Sukoot’s The Scream: Poems from the Outside and from Within, 2013-2023 is a collection of poems by an author struggling with life in an authoritarian country. Other books currently in production include authors from the Renaissance through the 1800s who were thinking (and writing) differently than most authors.
I have edited, designed, and published all work displayed here (some books not in this exhibition have covers and/or interiors designed by others; they can be viewed online), and am personally responsible for the distribution of the different versions of the books which range from paperbacks, hardcovers (case wrap and dust jacket) to Kindle/epubs and audio versions. Distributors include Amazon (KDP), Ingram (for brick-and-mortar bookstores and libraries), Apple (eBooks), Lulu (for dust jacket hardcovers), and Audible/ACX for audio books. A copy of each book published in the United States is held by the Library of Congress through their Cataloging in Publication program. I do marketing through social media, direct mailing campaigns to bookstores and libraries, and through book info sheets I design and share with customers. I also design, host, and update all my business websites (see list below) and pay royalties to my authors quarterly. All books can be ordered through the respective websites below.
Culicidae Press culicidaepress.com (peer reviewed)
Culicidae Architectural Press cularchpress.com (design-related and peer reviewed)
Hog Press hogpress.com (independent and non-profit)
Handcar Press handcarpress.com (culturally critical and historical reprints)
Zanzara Press zanzarapress.com (hard-to-classify books)
Musca Press muscapress.com (poetry-focused)
Obvious Press obviouspress.com (polytekton’s books)
