Catfish

Which social media do you participate in? After LinkedIn and Twitter I never felt the need to become a member of Facebook, but after seeing the film Social Network from director David Fincher (Fight Club) I made myself a half account and a lot of friends richer.

A few days ago I saw Catfish, a heart touching documentary that shows another side of the so-called Facebook friends. It's about New York photographer Yaniv 'Nev' Schulman and his intimate Facebook contact Abby (a talented 8 years old painter) & her sister Megan, and uncovers the promise and dangers of a web-connected world. I don't want to reveal much, so go & see it! It's really worthwhile.

Book Trailer (11): Ex

An attractively designed trailer for the Dutch edition of Blood Woman by Helen Fitzgerald.

Coverjunkies Black & Whites

Spotted at Coverjunkie: black & white is the new colour for covers. If you want to be an outstanding magazine, you need at least one black & white cover this year. Okay, one or two spot colours are aloud. See for yourself.
It's very enjoyable to look at all the other covers at Coverjunkie too. www.coverjunkie.com 
 

A Short Lesson in Typography

Want a delightful, short lesson in typography? Watch this video directed & animated by Boca & Ryan Uhrich, students at the Vancouver Film School.

Scrapbook of Newspaper Clippings

Someone sent me this photo of an old scrapbook of newspaper clippings, yellow and brittle with age, compiled by the public relations arm of the University of Utah. According to Continuum, the magazine of the University, the scrapbook is 'a treasure trove of information', cataloguing University events from the turn of the 20th century to the ’50s and ’60s. I like the unusual method of layering and overlapping clippings, it could be book art.

Peek Inside Graphic Designers Sketchbooks

Yes, I like peeking in sketchbooks, in fact, I can never get enough of it (I think this is because I can't draw and I'm jealous at people who can), so that's why I ordered this book the minute I saw it: Graphic: Inside the Sketchbooks of the World's Great Graphic Designers, written by Steven Heller and Lita Talarico. In this book 100 of the worlds leading graphic designers open up their private sketchbooks, giving the reader an unparalleled insight into their creative development, design philosophies and visual influences. Yesterday I got the book by post and I can't stop looking in it. Have a brief look yourself.

If you want to sneak in more sketchbooks, watch these Moleskine Notebook Detour Exhibition Video's, there are some great ones too, like this:

See more at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixQBWfdPsnU

Book Trailer (10): Going West

I love this delightful animated book art trailer of Maurice Gee's Going West, which is totally based on the visual book itself.
By the way, New Zealand Book Council made another amusing book promotion, in the movies. Watch it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-t5vNsPazk

Best of Book Art (1)

Thomas Allen

I love these Thomas Allen's book arts & photographs. Allen cuts the figures from vintage paperbacks and folds them up and out of the cover to create dioramas. Steamy characters embroiled in intrigue stepping out of the book!

 

Book Trailer (9): Head Case

In this, Dennis Cass, Winner of 2010 Moby Award for Best Performance by an Author promote his memoir Head Case - How I Almost Lost My Mind Trying to Understand My Brain. What a great way to launch your new title, just by talking about promoting the book and not even bothering to show it!

Book Trailer (8): Lowboy

This is a nice concept for a book trailer: ask people in the New York Metro to read parts of the book (the first one is author John Wray himself).

Book Trailer (7): I Am in the Air Right Now

This is the winning Best Low Budget Moby Award for book trailers 2010: Kathryn Regina's chapbook I am in the air right now.

Redesigned Posters for Famous Films

More beautiful redesigned graphic work: the posters for famous films from designer Olly Moss, called Films in black and red.

See more: http://www.ollymoss.com/films.html

A New Way To Think About Creativity

In this TEDx speech Eat, Pray, Love-writer Elisabeth Gilbert pleads us to look at creativity like the Romans and Greeks did: with an external genius. Not the internal genius which is the one who gives you the creative ideas, but the external one. That makes you a sort of medium, able to call on the genius when you want, which generates a lot of new opportunities. It's a great thought experiment. Listen to the lecture and try it yourself.

The Powerful Link Between Creativity and Play

This lecture from the designer Tim Brown is a bit too long, but there's one good point he makes: adults lose their ability to play and show their creativity. If you ask a child to draw their neighbour in 30 seconds they do it and show their artwork with great pride. Not adults. If you ask the same question they start drawing and giggle about the outcome and say 'sorry' to the person that they drew. That's the attitude a lot of adults have in the creative profession, so you have to start thinking as a child again. Be proud and show yourself, don't be ashamed. And if you can't? Try harder.