Book By Its Cover

Todos Fazemos Tudo

julia — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 15:09:56 +0000

This book couldn’t be more awesome. The illustrations are fantastic, the colors are bright and then the flipping is astonishing. Each new flip is so impressive – so many scenes, so many ideas, so many shapes that can turn into other objects. I can spend hours turning the pages and seeing all the different clever variations. Another beauty from Planeta Tangerina.

Como É Que Uma Galinha…

Leah — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 21:09:13 +0000

Como É Que Uma Galinha…, by Isabel Minhós Martins and Yara Kono was recently released by Portugese publisher Planeta Tangerina. The title translates to “How does a chicken…” and the book uncovers what makes the chicken truly special. “A chicken is known as being a silly and ugly bird,” Planeta Tangerina writes, “But the truth, the real truth is told in this book …”

Sketchbook Series: Danielle Kroll

Leah — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 20:14:07 +0000

Danielle Kroll is a designer and illustrator living in Philadelphia, PA. She attended Tyler School of Art and is currently an in-house designer for Anthropologie. Danielle’s design and typography work is highly illustrative, and her sketchbook is a beautiful indication of this. Her paintings are bright and whimsical; an alphabet wears hats and shoes, plates are adorned with intricate decorations, and even the pickle jar rests on a pretty pink backdrop. Danielle’s blog often features more of the dresses and shoes seen in her sketchbook. Illustrated “What I Wore” posts are a wonderful part of her blog, as are other bits of illustration and typography projects.

The First In Line: From the Sketchbooks of Mattias Adolfsson

Leah — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 20:46:40 +0000

We were excited back in May to share a peek into Mattias Adolfsson’s fantastically imaginary, obsessively detailed, sketchbooks. Now, his new book The First In Line, published by Sanatorium, compiles numerous drawings from his sketchbooks. There is even a gorgeous limited edition that includes an original drawing. The First In Line begins with a Q & A with Mattias, and includes prints of full sketchbooks spreads and well as close-ups on the insane detail.

Rue de L’Articho

Leah — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 20:42:46 +0000

For Editions Thierry Magnier’s latest book, they asked 16 illustrators to each create an shop for an imaginary street. Rue de L’Articho then came to life, packed with a flower shop, joke shop, fruit stand, and everything in between. It even comes with a shopping list on the front cover, inviting readers to search for items as they visit each shop, page by page. Rue de L’Articho is entirely in French, so I can’t read a word, but each bright illustration is as clear as if you’re walking down the street yourself.

Sketchbook Series: Ana Montiel

Leah — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 21:37:29 +0000

Pretty patterns and flowers are some of my favorite things in the world, and Ana Montiel paints some of the prettiest I’ve ever seen, in dreamy watercolor and beautiful color harmonies. I’m thrilled that Ana is sharing her sketchbooks with us now, filled with bits and pieces of her patterns, flowers, and decorative lettering.

Ana is a London-based Spanish illustrator and designer who has worked for brands including Nina Ricci, Jo Malone, and Carolina Herrera. Her watercolor florals adorn Nina Ricci’s new Cristal Collection, and the numerous drafts for the same project are equally breathtaking. Some of Ana’s other work, “Visual Mantras” explores repetitive, meditative geometric patterns that, in her words, are “based upon the cyclical and rhythmic flow of life”. You can see more of Ana’s work on her website and her blog, and purchase prints and wallpaper of her patterns in her online shop. She also has released a limited edition book, Visual Mantras, compiling the patterns in the series.

Islands & Between Here and Here

julia — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 14:58:47 +0000

These two very beautiful comics/zines are by artist Brendan Monroe. So much of his work deals with science themes whether he is painting cells or collaborating with Evah Fan on a piece about soil layers. His abstract work is so stunning, I can imagine it being very hypnotizing in person. This is a wall mural! This comic Islands doesn’t steer from his common theme. It’s the wordless story of a man who goes on a journey through time and space “based on a fusion of astrophysics and recurring dreams”. Between Here and Here is a lovely collection of abstract drawings and words. You can pick up both these books and lots of other really nice stuff at Brendan’s etsy shop right here.

A Graphic Cosmogony

julia — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 17:30:42 +0000

You may have heard through the grapevine (or from an artists site) that my ALSO partners and I are working on a new book that combines science and art. We are super excited about it and I’ll be sharing more as soon as I am allowed. So with science mixed with art on the mind, I couldn’t help but be intrigued by this comic compilation created by my new favorite publisher Nobrow (How is it that everything they make so beautiful?). This book proposes the creation question wondered by all, “how did we get here?”. Twenty four artists made seven page comics explaining their own rendition of how it all began from legends to magic to a cyclops vacuum, there are a lot of crazy tales in here that I want to believe. The artwork is gorgeous, the printing is top-notch but I guess I wasn’t expecting anything less from these guys.

Noun

julia — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 16:57:52 +0000

Book artist and printmaker Yuka Petz created this fun book of mix and match words. By flipping the each side of the book, you can create a new nouns with crazy new meanings. Yuka started with 27 real English words and their definitions but then divided into two parts. Each time one side of the book is flipped, the word and definition changes. There are so many variations and many of them seem like they might be real words. Some funny examples are: muffin + tyrant = muffrant: A quick bread made of batter unrestrained by law or constitution, or whisper + umbrella = whisbrella: A low sibilant utterance for sheltering one from rain and sun. Learn more about Yuka’s work from her site here.

Prism Index

julia — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 16:56:04 +0000

I think this art compilation may have been the first Kickstarter project I funded. It’s a handmade mixed-media book called Prism Index and this is the second issue. There are only 500 hand numbered copies made and each has silkscreened cover on handmade paper, has a hand-sewn binding and includes a cd of music. Some of the artists included are Chris Johanson, Mel Kadel, Matt Furie… but see the long list of artists, writers, poets involved right here. This book is a real treasure and I hope this project continues to get funding and gets made. See more about it here and get a copy here.