Christopher Murphy · 6 April, 2020
INQUE is a fascinating new periodical – by perennial publishers Matt Willey and Dan Crowe ¹ – that will be published, one issue per year for a decade. As they put it:
Ten issues, then we stop.
I love this idea. Conceptually it's unusual and it sets expectations – focused on a long-term trajectory – at the outset. It also establishes a finite set of boundaries, "Ten issues, then we stop." That focuses the mind.
When I run my design workshops, I always include (seemingly bizarre and extreme) timelines when I ask participants to consider the frequency of an object's publication, for example: What would an email newsletter look like if it was published at the following frequencies:
I find that introducing suggestions at the extremes – 'Every Second'… 'Every Millennium' – helps to change the conversation and surface more interesting ideas. It also helps to frame interesting conversations, establishing more interesting boundaries.
Imagine a newsletter delivered once a millennium. What might that be?