two great books

Last week some awsome stuff came in the mail and i've finally had the time to share it with you. two really great books have been launched by princeton architectural press that will change the way you see design today. We all know that the art of doing things by hand in the design world had taken over and these two books show us how it's peaked over the last few years.



Alas, Handmade Nation the book is here (well for you very very soon, i promise...pre-order here)! we can all exhale and enjoy this beautifully executed book about the rise of handmade design. Although i am still reading through it, (i like to read about two people per night!)I can tell you that this book will be the holy grail of the indie arts and crafts movement for years to come.


i don't want to give too much away but i wanted to take a few picks to show you the great layout of the book, everything is thought about even the way they did the page numbers in a great "cross stiched" font.





mike perry, illustrator, designer extraordinar has returned with another great book depicting hand drawn pattern design. love, love, love, this book! i loved his first book "hand job" on the art of hand lettering but now i love this one even more. Over and Over is packed with great designers from all walks of handmade life! lol 

lines and shapes :: vol. 3

L&S, V3, originally uploaded by mav | port2port.

the third book is here folks! entitled gather, it features work by Yu-I Chan, Mat Daly, Gracia Haby & Louise Jennison, Jane & Jeremy and Francesca Tallone. check it out!

lines & shapes vol.2

volume 2 of lines & shapes is out! this book is all about the BLOCK for visual inspiration, features artists jim green, meg mateo ilasco, maditi, rebecca thuss & patrick farrell and stephanie waddell.

how to make books

finally a "how to" book worth looking at for book binding. i love the great whimsical illustrations ( by lindsay stadig) in this one. As a bookbinder who is constantly thinking of new ways to bind, I'm always drawing diagrams and steps to bind so i can go back to and maybe tweek and or if i've forgotten something. Each one of my book collections comes with hand drawn illustrations and measurements by me, i feel like it's a secret formula that i need to document.
In this book you'll find similar illustrations and really well written guides for an easy DIY process. ester smith of purgatory pie press gives us the secrets of book binding beautifully revealed! if your inexperienced or even a seasoned binder, this book is worth looking at.

coffee table review

So I've just finished two fantastic books the other night, one is a historical color and texture exploration and the other is an in depth discovery of ones experiences of bringing craft into modern design. Both books have one thing in common, they both describe a love affair between handmade traditions and modern concept making.


Crafting A Modern World is the story of Antonin and Noemi Raymond and their love affair of design manipulation in turn... the creation of Mid-century modern design in the 1930's. The Raymond duo combined their modern European stylings with traditional craft methods from many divers regions such as Japan and India and bringing them to life in architecture and design.

The book Moderne is very similar in the fact that selected contemporary French designers took on traditional interior design in the 20's by using traditional techniques such as "Pochoir" (the hand application of color to a print buy using various cut stencils), age-old printmaking methods, and combining patterns, materials to give texture and rich colors, boosted the quality and aesthetic of the design. In turn these specific types of renderings became a modern and luxurious approach interior styling.

I really do enjoy reading and learning about the roots of design and by doing so, and comparing it to how design is being inturpreted today I can easily agree on the popular statement that "history repeats it's self" even in the creative world.

lotta does it again

So i was actually working on something else when i stumbled upon this fantastic surprise this afternoon. Yes folks, shes back...Lotta Jansdotter will be launching a new book called Lotta Prints: How to Print With Anything, From Potatoes to Linoleum this spring. I am so overly excited right now that i can hardly contain myself! There will be some pre-ordering of signed copies going on over here.

news and views

yesturday i was a bit under the weather, today i'm trying to bounce back and i think it's helping alot to know that there is some pretty cool things going on within the indie community. this post is about updates (in no particular order).

Julia Rothman has had some pretty exciting projects under her wing recently stemming from new pillows and bed spread for UO's artist series, to magnets for ipop (coming soon), wallpaper (coming soon), new patterns and she even has posted a look into her sketchbook on her sister blog, book by it's cover.

Also, this coming fall we will be delighted by a very lovely book being published by one of my favorite houses, Princeton Architectural Press. The authors are Maria (Mav) of port to port press and Stephanie Congdon. Living 3191 miles apart they developed a blog last year to share pictures they each took every morning. each day one contrasts the other creating a visual estetic so pleasing to the eye. 3191 a year of mornings will definitely adorn my coffee table next fall!

now it's time for me to make some tea and start my day at the office. enjoy.

materials

I do enjoy going over to the pap blog to read about their new releases and reviews of books. One of their posts was to introduce the publications next installment of the MATERIALS series. It's a subscription-based publication that provides hands-on access to state-of-the-art materials, allowing designers to easily build a library that expands and supports their work. Materials Monthly brings you a sampling of new and innovative materials, ten times per year. You can even download a preview of issue 12. it's very interesting.

creature

creature, originally uploaded by freshlyblended.

If I were to be asked what would my one book pick be for holiday gift giving this year, it would be CREATURE by Andrew Zuckerman. I personally am an ultra nerd when it comes to coffee table books. I guess you could call me an enthusiast of sorts (i call it an addiction lol). This book holds some of the most spectacular imagery of the animal kingdom. Andrews work is so aw inspiring and this particular project is a glorious reflection of a 5 year shoot. If your like me and love to hold animals close to your heart, then you must get this book, it explains why within the first paragraph of the epilogue which you can find here.

New from Julia Rothman

Ms. Rothman has been a busy little bee lately. She has been hard at work developing her wonderful and whimsical pattern design for the home design industry. Soon you'll be able to get julias prints in the form of wallpaper! yeahy! Although you'll have to wait just a tad longer of the wallpaper, you'll be able to buy julia's designs in the form of a mug to hold you off. Her mug can be found Urban Outfitters as apart of the Artists series. Julia will also be featured in two newly released books this month: Pattern Design: Applications and Variations, and American Illustration 26. Congrats Julia, everything looks fantastic!