CHRIS JOHNSON
communications specialist
THE PIPELINE
Seven years of professional and personal growth told through a pamphlet.
Begun in 1990 by 30 consumers of public behavioral health services in Georgia, at the first gathering of what would become the Georgia Mental Health Consumer Network, "The Pipeline" newsletter was seen as a way to share information across the state without paying the high costs of in-state long distance. One of each of the thirty put a dollar in a hat and "The Pipeline" was born, and has been in publication ever since, at times with different intent and purpose, varied attention to quality writing, sometimes trifling, sometimes significant, with virtually no formal design consideration at most times, but always the voice of the people of Georgia living with mental health concerns.
Before Me
Over the course of the 18-odd years of publication prior to me taking over as editor of The Pipeline, it had what is likely the most inconsistent quality (and quantity) of writing in it of any periodical not published by students. It was, however, almost uniformly handled with care, and passion for the mental health peer community, if not for publishing in general, or readers in particular.
2018 - A Beginning
Take That, Rothko!
One of the happiest days of my life was when "The New York Times" began printing in color (and not just because my hands were 70% less filthy after reading the paper than before they started printing in color).
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I love color. I want it everywhere. And here, given the chance to live out a lesser dream of an undergraduate English major with an MFA in design, I did so: Too much color and too many words in every issue, guaranteed, as a result of me being the editor, writer, and designer of the thing. My only constraint was my boss, Sherry Jenkins Tucker, who occasionally pulled back on the reins but was mostly thrilled someone else was dealing with it.
2019 - Into the Groove
2019 was, in hindsight, a cakewalk at a year-long festival, especially for The Pipeline. I got authorization to use non-green color in the title banner! I got permission to use a separate printer to print the non-mailed version so I could now include a graphic or more writing or whatever instead of having a big blank space where a mailing label was obviosly meant to be.
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2020 - It's the Only REM Song My Mom Knows the Lyrics To
Birthday party, cheesecake, jellybean, vermouth.
We began our move (from offices where self-described packrats had been officing for almost 30 years) in January 2020, and were almost finished unpacking the old stuff and putting together the new furniture when Covid happened.
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If you're wondering whether or not all that furniture ever got put together, the answer is "no." And I s0mehow doubt it ever will.
2021 - Well That Was Certainly Not Anticipated.
A year that should have come with popcorn.
The high drama of the shenanigans going on at the Capitol was not reflected in the The Pipeline because (a) it would have served no purpose and (b) no one would have believed it. Some days my colleagues and I would regroup on the phone to confirm "did [X truly absurd thing] happen today," and we would all concur, and hang up our phones, still wondering.
2021 - Ouch
They could have warned us.
