Lamenting Domino's Demise

Having difficulty getting over the demise of Domino? You're not alone.

Since the January announcement that the shelter magazine was shuttering, there has been a public outpouring of grief from loyal readers and bloggers.

A week after magazine publisher Conde Nast pulled the plug, Katie Mulinix, a writer and desktop publisher in Minnesota -- who said she got depressed when she received her last issue -- started the blog We Love Domino (http://welovedomino.wordpress.com). "I wanted to provide a cathartic space for people to talk about what they loved about Domino," she says. A recent post was titled "What Will Fill the Void?" The site gets about 300 visitors per day.

Beth Connolly, who writes the design blog Style Redux (http://styleredux.blogspot.com) with her daughter, has been guest-posting on Mulinix's blog. Connolly says she liked the magazine for its fresh approach to accessible design for all ages.

"So many of us were so upset with the decision to cancel Domino," says Connolly, a former lawyer who lives in Alexandria. "I don't know if it's realistic to think that they will bring back the magazine. I guess I like to hope it's possible. A lot of us would like to see at least the Web site stay up."

Over at Save Domino (http://savedomino.blogspot.com), there's a link to a "Save Domino" petition and a poll asking readers how much they would be willing to pay per Domino issue. Choices range from $4.99 to $7.99. Early this week, 51 percent of the poll-takers had picked "Whatever it takes!"

D.C. design blogger Thomas Taylor, the author of My White Shirt (http://mywhiteshirt.blogspot.com), says he was distressed to hear that he would no longer be receiving his monthly dose of magazine. "I hope if the economy turns around, Domino can find its way back into the market," he says.

In the meantime, he's been searching for the only three issues he doesn't own of the magazine's four-year run. He recently blogged about his efforts to buy them on eBay: He has won auctions for two of the issues and is monitoring others in hopes of completing his set. His winning bid in the first auction was $17.02 (with free shipping); the second was $21. But he says he's willing to go as high as $25 for the last one. Maybe more. "I will spend what I need to get my three issues, because I really want a complete collection."

Meg Fielding of Pigtown Design (http://pigtown-design.blogspot.com) sold four issues of Domino on eBay last week, ranging in price from $15.50 to $26.76. Her finally tally for the four: $76.76. "For about an hour's work, it was a nice payoff," Fielding said in an e-mail. "I have a couple more issues I might add later on."

Also recently for sale on eBay: the first 17 issues of the magazine. At press time on Tuesday, the high bid was $350.

Terri Sapienza