The Future of Nightingale
By: Jason Forrest
Tags: Print, Skills Development, Data Visualization, Writing, Community

Ok, the big news: we are expanding into a print version this year!

There are many ideas that we are exploring on the format and content, but creating a printed version of Nightingale helps to change the perception of our collective ideas.

Moving to print allows Nightingale to become its own entity. We will have more options to control how and where people interact with our content. While it is likely that we continue some kind of relationship with Medium (and their support, generosity, and commitment to launching Nightingale was necessary and pivotal), we will expand our digital footprint and create new ways to bridge the print <> digital formats. We gain the ability to write our own rules with greater flexibility and autonomy.

Mockup of article by Amanda Makulec and Katherine Haugh.

A magazine would transcend search engines and optimize chance interactions. While a print publication would need a limited print-run, its distribution in shops and booksellers opens our potential influence and creates many new opportunities.

Just as professional societies have done in the past, creating a print journal helps to legitimize who we are, and establishes a more archival version of our work into the printed record. We keep magazines for longer. We leave them in places to be chanced upon. We loan them to our friends. Physical objects hold a different place in our homes and in our lives. They are tangible in a way that the digital world can never replace.

Creating a print version also allows us our archive our thoughts in a more lasting way. One of our focuses will be to ensure that print issues of Nightingale can be available in libraries and schools. This will help to spread our ideas and influence outside of our professional bubble and it will provide students and researchers a way to access our work in a new format. Additionally, materials can be developed to spread these ideas more organically and in collaboration with the DVS educational and knowledge mission.

Mockup of the printed version of Nightingale, diagram by Ladislav Sutnar, 1948

We want to hear from you!

To get this off the ground, we will need a lot of help!

Get in touch to explore the possibilities with us! This could be in advertising, supporting, editorial, design, distribution — you name it! We will need your help!

Our team is looking to establish a sustainable operating structure with an expanded paid staff and equitable distribution of funding. If your foundation or granting organization is interested in supporting Nightingale, please reach out!

We have been so fortunate to be part of the growth of the DVS as well as the establishment of a new generation of practitioners. We look forward to evolving and expanding and supporting the DVS globally.

The attention to global inclusivity by the Outlier team has certainly inspired all of us. Exploring multilingual support and global distribution will be fundamental issues that we will need to explore together. Adding your voice to our team to figure out the challenges will be really important. All it takes is emailing us to start the conversation.

LET’S DO THIS!