In light of all the political madness (Go Obama!) and nearly disastrous storms, this book seems very appropriate. It’s a collaboration of artists ideas of the future. Through charts, graphs, maps, illustrations, interviews and comics, designers predict or comment on others predictions about what the world might become hundreds of years from now. I love Julia Hoffman’s Let’s Get Carbon-ated questionaire where you receive points based on your answers that ultimately let you know the magnitude of your carbon footprint. Or how about Paul Sahre’s Gun-brella invention. His page looks like a patent for a gun that doubles as an umbrella for those rather tough days that one might encounter. Oh but then there’s Brian Rea’s Fear- A One Year Inventory which is a page filled to the edges of everything that might scare you from an uncontrolable bladder to asteroids to roofies to big foot- all of which have made the news sometime recently I’m sure. I am definitely not showing my paranoid mother that page- I think she’s worried about half the stuff on there already. Anyway you can get this funny (until you start really thinking about it) and clever book right here. Also check out other NOZONE publications- although mostly out of print- still nice to look at.

© Julia Rothman 2007