Communication Arts is a very, very cool magazine

Years ago, when I was learning English as a second language by reading books, in which I understood 70%, guessed 20% and guessed correctly 10% of the text, I made up a rule that if I saw an unfamiliar word for the third time I had to look it up in the dictionary.

Similarly, when I heard Communication Arts mentioned for the third time in as many days, and had no clear idea what it was, I had to look it up at the local bookstore.

Let me say it again. It is a very, very impressive publication. And it comes at a very impressive price of twenty-four dollars an issue (it is spelled out on the cover, too, just so that there aren't any doubts about it). There are six issues a year, and the subscription runs $53 (fifty-three dollars), which is 63% off the cover price, which is nice, though expected.

Several things impressed me about CommArts as their website proposes to abbreviate the name.

One, it is such a cool name.  When asked what photography magazines one reads, doesn't "Communication Arts" just roll off the tongue better than, I don't know, "Digital DSL Photography" to pick a publication at random?  It makes one sound sophisticated in an unpretentious kind of way.  Kind of like what the magazine looks and feels.  It just conveys that air of superiority without being arrogant.

Two, it is very, very well made. I am just talking paper and printing here. It is a pleasure to hold, to turn the pages, put on the shelf and pick it up a week, a month or a year later. It would feel at home on a coffee table, too.

And three, it has great photography in it.  You will not find the "howto", "Photoshop by numbers" or "before and after" type of images. Just finished works, again, very unassumingly but authoritatively laid out a few to a page, categorized and annotated with relevant data. Almost every shot has a "wow" quality to it and lives up to the distinction between photography and art that the magazine's title not so subtly implies.

And I didn't even get to the articles.

If I were to subscribe to one photography magazine, I guess I know what it would be.