The original concept of Knock Knock included something we were calling a “catazine” or “magalog”—at the time, we didn’t realize this was a real thing. In addition to creating product for sale, we were going to put out a magazine, a publication that had only one advertiser: us. I quickly realized that (a) creating and distributing products might be a lot of work; (b) creating and distributing a magazine might be a lot of work; (c) doing both might kill us, or at least me, because I’m just that weak; and (d) it might be better to start with the money-making endeavor (and lord knows that wasn’t going to be the magazine, no matter the hybrid word).
The compromise was that we included content in our catalogs, from quotations to false facts and stats to—gasp, I know this will surprise you based on this blog—essays. Of course in around 2007 or 2008 we stopped doing that because we got jaded and it was kind of too much work. But before that? I think our catalogs had some extra-special pleasure in them.
Our Spring 2004 catalog may be my favorite catalog we’ve ever done. It was horizontal in format and oh-so-cute. We won some design awards for it. It had three full pages of something for nothing: a history of the phrase “Have a nice day” and a special Knock Knock Kidz Korner. Enjoy!
