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Pssst!
Don't tell anyone, but I've been invited to something secret. Can't tell you where. Or when. Can't tell you anything, it's a secret. Can't tell you who's invited me or what it's all about. Better not tell you what that badge is for or what that invitation card says. Can't tell you why I'm not able to go either. You might not believe me anyway. Can't say anything.
This time last weekend we were up on the north coast. For those not from around here, it's only an hour and a half away (unless you take the long cut like I usually do…by accident). And even if the weather's a bit rough (grim) it's amazing. That's the Giant's Causeway above. Bleak but dramatic.
The latest Pentgram Paper is in. World Trade Centre. Now haunting photographs by Judith Turner. Inspiring preface taken from Man on Wire by Philippe Petit.
I don't know about you but the first thing I do with a jacketed volume is to slip its outer cover off for a sneaky peek at what lies beneath. And who could resist a copy Concise Practical Surveying? It's got a great cover, but undressed not only is that spine type lovely, the inside of the outer hides essential survey samples.
The limited edition 2012 Typotheque diary and sketchbook by Peter Bil'ak is out. Last year's was excellent. The new one is "new and improved". The perfet stocking filler (if your stocking is full, except for a diary sized gap).
You might have seen this if you get the FontShop newsletter: Mark Caneso's psTypes are now available through the FontShop catalog.
Merrick Angle is an English designer, illustrator and print-maker. He lives near some cows in Northern France with his family and other stuff. Every now and then he emails me about his latest print. That's his new one there. The one with the molecular thingy. Good Science. I really like it. And his other prints. Especially the three down there: La Lune, La Terre and Le Soleil.
I'm not sure exactly why, but he operates under the title of "Double Merrick". There's a short film about him here that goes a little way to explain where the name came from. His online shop is here. And you can see more things he's made here.
Last Saturday, and for the second weekend in a row, we found ourselves at Mount Stewart. Thankfully, unlike the previous week when there was a big thing on, it was quiet. Slightly over cast, quite still, not many people around. Lovely.
Their was only a small thing on. The NT Education Team had set up a kids TV nature show tie-in trail thing: a Deadly Scene Investigation. So the boys each adopted the persona of a Nature Detective. The crime: stolen blue tit eggs. The suspects: Fox, Sparrow Hawk, Squirrel, Stoat. We scoured the estate for the clues.
To cut a long story short, it was the stoat. The thieving fury bastard.
The trail took us in a direction we wouldn't normally go. To the left. Passed the walled garden and into the woods. It was cool. And damp. Perfect conditions for a little fungi growth. Now mushrooms fascinate me. And the idea of foraging them for a tasty lunch or supper is hugely appealing. Some (the slimy, turdy ones) you wouldn't touch with a forty foot pole. Others clearly shout, "Eat me and you die ignorant human fool!". But there are many that look quite appetising.
I, however, is ignorant. I don't know my edibles from my deadlies. And when I have researched these matters, I've found my findings inconclusive - quite unsatisfactory. But I'm determined to learn the ways of the mushroom. So I've ordered another book.
I'll let you know if I don't die.
We were out on Friday night. At the Ulster Museum, for the opening night of the Northern Irish chapter (pardon the writing pun) of this year's 26 Treasures. You might just remember me talking about it here.
It's been a pleasure, privilage and challenge to be involved. The miscellany of responses is pretty amazing; an incredibly diverse collection of personal reactions to an equally mixed bundle of artifacts. I can't show you them because I was too busy gasing to take any photos worth sharing, but if you're around town you should take a look in the Museum's Belfast Room before 29th October.
The whole exercise was a lesson in how very interesting the seemingly not so interesting really is when you scratch away at it. And with a top notch cast of both writers and visualists, the words and pictures (and objects and constructions) are ingenious, intriguing, sometimes beautiful, occasionally funny and, from time to time, perplexing.
It was great to see John Simmons and Rob Self-Pierson from 26 over here to support our bit of the national project. And Gillian did a superb job at organising the whole thing; she deserves a bucket full of credit.
One day, during the summer of 2009 Nick Hand got on his bike and set off around the coast of the British Isles and a little later Ireland. He called it the Slowcoast project. Along the way Nick sought out a whole bunch of crafts people and artisans. He met many; from a spinner (of yarns) to an animator (of a famous dog), a flute maker to a typewriter artist, a hatter (not mad) to a fisherman-artist (possibly a little mad).
As well as interviewing each he photographed them (being a photographer) and later brought it all together in this handsome little book (being a designer).
Beautifully crafted itself, Conversations on the Coast is published by Hand's own imprint The Department of Small Works. You can find out more and buy a copy here.
The Association of Illustrators is running a business course for illustrators at the moment at The Rectory, St James Church in London. This is what they say about it:
This intensive course has been put together to help any illustrator acquire the critical skills and knowledge knowledge and critical skills crucial to building a successful career. Structured to be both comprehensive and manageable, each session is tailored to provide an essential step-by-step guide to successful self-employment. It is also an exciting opportunity to meet with peers and get indispensable practical advice and support from industry experts. So stay ahead of the competition, increase your confidence and develop your strategy for the future.
You can find out more or sign up here.
I'm a total sucker for one of these. Even if I've already got it, I'll snap it up thinking one day I'll have some use for a pile of duplicates. Henry IV, Part 1 isn't a repeat though, so it's a welcome addition to this lot by you know who.
Drawing largely from his website of the same name, Microsoft Bing's Senior UX Designer Manuel Lima presents one hundred of, arguably, the most intriguing info-maps. Each attempting to curate complex relationships and interactions.
Visual Complexity is a consise snap shot of Lima's digital collection. There's a good chance you might be familiar with some of the content (you certainly will be if you've followed the site) but it's good to see it so well categorised and in print.
Help build the largest active collection of hot metal type in the world. The Intenational Printing Museum in Los Angeles have a new Kickstarter project: To rescue around 100 full fonts of antique Ludlow Typecasting matrices and bring them into their working collection. Find out more and support the project on its Kickstarter site.
English/Slovene dictionary anyone? No? Or rather: Nobe? Or is it ne? Or zavrnitev? Of course, the truth is even with a notable Eastern European contingency in our neighbourhood, I doubt this'll come in that handy. But checkout that Helvetica, with those thin vertical rules. And that odd pale blue strip. Weird. Even though the internal pages are totally unremarkable the cover feels very considered.
Spent Sunday morning in City Picnic, Belfast's (probably) newest city centre lunch bar on Castle Street. And we had a great time. They've just started a cup cake baking thing for kids, to encourage people in at what is, I guess, a reasonably quiet time. We really enjoyed it, so thanks to Arthur for hosting and Mark for baking. Would definitely do it again; it's a great way to lose a couple of hours with the kids.
Hat's off to my old stable HBD for the naming/branding. And to Soon for the interior. It's all really nicely done.
And look, as if Instagram's photo-fakery wasn't enough for me, I've discovered Analog (via a Frank tweet). Putting aside the uncanney similarity between its branding and that of the other Analog (who've been around for some time…I'm not saying anything) now that I've shelved my purist sensibilities it's another pile of app (this time Mac) fun. I might even suggest it does the pseudo-vintage thing a little better with effects varying each time a specific filter is applied.
The 'tache certainly has come into its own over the last few years. Not so long ago it was the comical facial feature of the Village Person or the excentric balloonist; perhaps a Frenchman; the occasional retired General or shell-shocked Bombardier; the untrust-worthy salesman; Mercury.
Now, it seems it is quite acceptible to sport a substantial lip hedge in civilised society without fear of ridicule. Sestament to this State of the Internation is Cicanda's new gift book, The Inspirational Moustache.