Taking a one-month social-media sabbatical. See you in September. 💙❤️
Brian LaRossa
@brianlarossa.com
Executive Art Director at Scholastic (Picture Books). Educator at CCNY (Critical Writing) & Pratt (Typography). Speaker (SCBWI et al.). Writer of Fiction (Agent: @liznealon.bsky.social). 523rd Bluesky account. NYC. He/Him. www.brianlarossa.com. 💙❤️
Oh snap. I just realize I forgot to take July off from social media as has been my custom. Weird that it took me a whole month to realize that. August it is!
I’m going to go out on a limb and say that if you are using AI to write your newsletter, your readers will be able to tell, they won’t like it, and therefore you will neither make nor save money.
Niko Stratis@nikostratis.com · last wk.I loathe the take of “well every writer is using AI and afraid to say it”. Like, that’s only true if your sample group is tech reporters and various hacks. Writers that don’t give a shit about writing, they just know they need a newsletter to make money, use AI. That’s a big fucking difference
Ecstatic to share that I received my copies of SPORTS ZONE! #3 Grand Slam today! ✨⚾ It features black-and-white interior art, plus some action-packed comic spreads! ✨ Written by Andrew Maraniss, illustrated by me. Art direction by @brianlarossa.com & published by Scholastic US! Comes out Tuesday!
A.I. isn’t excellent. It doesn’t make excellent things. It doesn’t even make things that aren’t excellent in an excellent way. Capitalism requires one or the other. Last night we showed the kids The Big Short and now I’m curious, which funds are shorting the A.I. bubble with the largest positions.
The first day of class dreams are starting early this semester.
My latest article for TIME magazine is about four of my heroes: Cher, Dolly, Dionne and Barbra. Free link to read here: time.com/article/2026...
On the use of AI for creative work (type design in this case). “A tool that shields us from the friction of the work is compelling, but if we don’t experience the friction, we will never change the work.” [mass-driver.com]
From human hands.
The letters we write with are not abstract shapes. They are the result of a millennia-long process of evolution. A baton, passed down through a hundred generations, and carrying with it the influence of every one of them.
mass-driver.com
Was searching my photos for something else and stumbled upon this “SP” mark I designed for Scholastic over a decade ago. It was killed and never used. Probably the best mark I ever designed and it never saw the light of day lol.
yesterday my coworker compared AI to the printing press and I’m still shaking with righteous fury
Its difficult to put my my anger over this into words. The modern Backrooms was born from the collective effort of thousands. That collaboration, all that passion/time was freely given because it made people happy. Now its being monetized. Its exactly like Ai and the internet.
“Remember, when it’s gray outside, the sun is still shining.” —Singer on the Q train
🦊 When I redesigned my website, I added a statement about how I use (or don’t use) “AI” on it. I then discovered a TON of similar statements, representing a whole spectrum of approaches and opinions. I learned a lot from them, so I thought I’d share a few faves. ethanmarcotte.com/wrote/folded...
Folded between the pages. — Ethan Marcotte
Some statements about “AI”, and about putting down what you mean.
ethanmarcotte.com
I was lucky enough to get a sneak peek of LOVE, PANDA by @elainesoup.bsky.social & @charlenedraws.bsky.social when I visited Scholastic in Jan. (thanks, @brianlarossa.com). Such a fun story! Congrats librarian/educator Elaine on her *debut* as a pb author! schol.ca/our-books/bo... #KidLitChat
Happy book birthday to LOVE, PANDA by Elaine Su, illus. by me! This loveable story written as a series of letters (from the panda, no less!) is out today from Scholastic! (Special thanks to Brian LaRossa for art directing!) #kidlit #panda #bookbirthday
Working my way through 832 entries has unraveled my opinion on what makes a picture book excellent. It isn’t about top notch book design, the technical competence of the artist, compositional innovation, the medium, or the executional difficultly. A picture book is excellent when it makes us feel.
Brian LaRossa@brianlarossa.com · 3mo agoExcited to share that, thanks to a kind invitation from @mikecurato.bsky.social, the chair of this year’s (46th) @soi128.bsky.social Original Art Show Competition, I’ll be the Art Director on this year’s jury.✨ Submit your picture books here: societyillustrators.org/the-original... 💙❤️ #kidlit
My old twitterbot, Blockcastles, is (finally) resurrected on Bsky.
Blockcastles@blockcastles.tom.party · 4w ago🏰
Yes! Thank you so much @joshuajfriedman.com & Danielle! It was lovely to meet you live for the first time Josh. After all these years hanging out on Bluesky it felt like we are old friends. I so appreciate your willingness to listen. 💙❤️ The Communities feature sounds like a real game changer. ✨
Debbie Ridpath Ohi@debbieohi.com · 4w agoThanks Danielle & @joshuajfriedman.com for giving @brianlarossa.com & me a sneak peek at Bluesky's exciting new Communities spaces feature. LOTS of potential for #KidLit & other communities, wow! Customizable, different privacy options, more. See @alexbenzer.com's thread: bsky.app/profile/alex...
Thanks Danielle & @joshuajfriedman.com for giving @brianlarossa.com & me a sneak peek at Bluesky's exciting new Communities spaces feature. LOTS of potential for #KidLit & other communities, wow! Customizable, different privacy options, more. See @alexbenzer.com's thread: bsky.app/profile/alex...
alex benzer@alexbenzer.com · 2mo agocommunities are coming to Bluesky this year. today, Bluesky is one big space. communities will be smaller spaces inside that where you can go deeper and hang out with people who care about the same stuff.
Been working my way through 800+ entries. 😅
Brian LaRossa@brianlarossa.com · 3mo agoExcited to share that, thanks to a kind invitation from @mikecurato.bsky.social, the chair of this year’s (46th) @soi128.bsky.social Original Art Show Competition, I’ll be the Art Director on this year’s jury.✨ Submit your picture books here: societyillustrators.org/the-original... 💙❤️ #kidlit
I ran an absolutely 100% human, zero AI-involvement at any stage passage of my writing through an "AI detector," curious if it could really tell human from AI work, and it said my own writing was "84% AI written" then asked I wanted to pay to have it "humanized." So there's that to keep in mind.
The thing that always strikes me about the 4th of July is that we don’t mark the birth of the country on the day they won the war we mark it on the day they wrote down the idea.
celebrating the good parts of america today. if you don’t think there are any good parts, just look to all the stuff the fascists are desperate to stifle