House Industries and Hugo Guinness Goodies From Chronicle Books.

Chronicle Books has just released two terrific collections for lovers of typography and contemporary art. Affordable, functional notecards, notebooks, postcards and journals.



Having teamed up with hip font foundry House Industries, Chronicle Books is offering a fabulous boxed postcard collection, a sticker and label book and a set of four mini eco-Journals.



House Industries 100 Postcards:




The boxed set of 100 postcards has an impressive range of letters, numbers, symbols, and patterns (including two full alphabets!) and is printed in bright, bold colors and silver metallic accents. Highlighting House Industries’ cache of typographic treasures, the postcards measure 4 3/8 x 6 1/4 x 2 3/4 inches and come in a cool hinged lidded box.
Link to buy:House Industries 100 Postcards

House Industries Labels & Stickers:




This will hip up scrapbookers everywhere! This handy portfolio contains hundreds of stickers adorned with House Industries’ one-of-a-kind fonts. Including full alphabets, numbers, and symbols galore, these colorful labels are kissed with metallic flourishes and are perfect for personalizing packages, labeling books, decorating goodies, and more. The kraft paperback portfolio measures 5 3/8 x 6 7/8 inches and has 30 full-color sticker sheets and metallic silver ink.
Link to buy: House Industries Labels & Stickers: Over 299 Typographic Stickers for Decor and Design

House Industries Four Mini Eco-Journals:


A set of hip mini eco-journals (1 graph, 1 lined, 1 blank, 1 dotted) feature enticing patterns with classic type elements, all drawn from House Industries’ collection of cool fonts. Featuring splashes of metallic ink and bold designs, these eye-catching journals are as covetable as they are portable. 4 notebooks, each notebook: paperback with stitched spine, 3 3/4 x 5 1/2 in, 48 pp, 100% recycled paper, 1-color interior, bellyband and polybagged.
Link to buy: House Industries Mini Eco-Journals: Four Mini Eco-Journals

Hugo Guinness Journal and Note Cards


Hugo Guinness, is a London-born New York-based artist, illustrator, model and writer. He is known for his illustrations in the New York Times and his bold, graphic black-and-white block prints, many of which have appeared in films and publications. Known for his fabulous lino cuts, Hugo Guinness has created a journal and boxed collection of notecards for Chronicle Books.

Desktop Objects Journal:




Five favorite pens lined up in a row—it’s an image that writers, artists, designers, and students will appreciate. Within, this sophisticated journal features striking linocuts of desktop objects, inspiring planning, doodling, note-taking, or dreaming. The journal measures 5 x 7 1/8 inches, has 192 pages with various 1-color illustrations and has a lay-flat binding making it easy to use.
Link to buy: Desktop Objects Journal

A Curious Collection - 20 Different Notecards and Envelopes:


An inkpot. A keychain. A vintage car. A dog. In this handsome and eclectic collection, 20 unique cards feature classic linocut prints from Hugo Guinness depicting all manner of things, ideal for all manner of correspondence. Measuring 4 3/8 x 5 9/16 x 1 9/16 inches each, the lidded box contains 20 cards (20 designs) and 20 envelopes.
Link to buy: A Curious Collection: 20 Different Notecards & Envelopes

Full disclosure: these items were sent to me for review from Chronicle Books, with the understanding that if I did not find them of interest, I would not blog about them.

Smart Marketing: Wines For Dummies. Actual Wine, Not Books.

By now we all know there are several published Wines For Dummies books. From Italian Wines to Reading Wine Labels, the Wiley brand offers many ways to get to know your vino. But now, they sell actual wines. That's right, bottles of Wines For Dummies. Not fine wines, mind you, but basic 10$ bottles of Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio, Cabernet Sauvignon and Chianti for the novice.



Graced with the familiar looking labels, the wines are a brilliant marketing idea as an offshoot of a well established brand. They may not be the sort of thing you'd bring to impress a date or a dinner party host, but are a fun way for the beginner to explore the basics of the fermented grape.






Drinkhacker reviews each of the wines as follows:

2012 Wines for Dummies Pinot Grigio IGT – A real Italian Pinot Grigio. Mildly tropical and atypical for Pinot Grigio, with a touch of funk beneath the fruit. Not much acidity to speak of, which is unfortunate but unsurprising at this price. Not sure if this is an apropos introduction to Pinot Grigio, but it’s at least a harmless wine on the whole. B-

2011 Wines for Dummies Chianti DOCG – Italian DOCG Chianti for just 10 bucks? Hard to believe, and proof that decent Chianti needn’t cost a fortune. Classic, intense red cherry character is the dominant flavor here, though the nose has some curious black tea character as well. The body is a little tart, a touch too balsamic on the back end, but overall a decent intro to the way Chianti — or at lease Sangiovese — is supposed to taste like. B

2011 Wines for Dummies Chardonnay California – A minimally oaked Chardonnay, this is actually an easy drinking wine with modest melon, lemon, and white peach character. Some vanilla on the back end. Simple, but reasonably appropriate as an intro to California Chardonnay, though a far cry from the more buttery, heavily oaked styles that drinkers are more likely to encounter. B

2011 Wines for Dummies Cabernet Sauvignon California – My least favorite of this bunch, a simple and not very lively Cab that offers a modest plum body, backed with somewhat harsh tobacco and leather notes. It finishes off with a rather unpleasant finish. C



So, if this is your first foray into the world of wine, it's an inexpensive and fun way to learn a little something - and catch a buzz.

$10 each at winesfordummies

Maddie The Coonhound Is Finally Bound And The Book Is Out.

I first introduced you to the talented balancing Coonhound named Maddie and her owner/photographer Theron Humphrey a ways back with 33 fabulous images.  In that post I said the photos were begging to be a book and knew it would not be long before Maddie was atop shelves in bookstores as well as atop various items and objects.



Maddie is a sweet-tempered dog who has accompanied her owner, Theron, on a yearlong, cross-country trip while he worked on a photojournalism project. In his spare time, Theron took photos of Maddie doing what she does best: standing on things.



From bicycles to giant watermelons to horses to people, there really isn't anything that Maddie won't stand on with grace and patience.



The beautifully photographed and compelling images of Maddie are now bound into a hardcover book. The poignant Instagram photos of this beautiful dog and her offbeat poses have captured the imagination of all those who long for a road trip with a good dog for company. Maddie on Things celebrates the strange talent of one special dog and will resonate with any dog lover who appreciates the quirky hearts (and extraordinary balance) of canines.




Buy Maddie on Things: A Super Serious Project About Dogs and Physics.

Kama Sutra Cover Art Inspires Full Typographic Alphabet, Prints and Animated Teaser.

The Kama Sutra Alphabet is a personal project from French born and London based illustrator Malika Favre. In 2011, Malika was commissioned by Paul Buckley at Penguin Books US to illustrate the new Deluxe Classic Cover of the Kama Sutra by Vatsyayana (shown below).



Using the original set of 7 letters she created for the cover as a starting point, Malika then decided to develop the full set of 26 letters as part of an exhibition project.



The Kama Sutra prints are currently on show at Pick Me Up from the 18th to the 28th of April 2013 at Somerset house in London and below is her animated Kama Sutra Teaser for the show:

Selected animations by Maki Yoshikura, Patrick Smith and Robin Davey.
Music credits : "La Decadence" by Serge Gainsbourg

Each letter of her alphabet is available in a very limited edition of 25 screen prints for £45 each, printed on Mohawk superfine 270gsm, signed and numbered by the artist.

The Kama Sutra Project Website

Contributors:
Concept and illustrations: Malika Favre
Website: Guy Moorhouse
Graphics and identity: Present Perfect
Lead animators: Patrick Smith, Maki Yoshikura
Guest animators: Robin Davey, Timothy Mc Court, Robert Milne, Liam Owen
Screenprinting: George Hurst

“New Fashion Photography” Book From Prestel Launches With Exhibit.

The latest fashion tome from publisher Prestel, “New Fashion Photography,” had a living launch on the walls of Berlin’s CONTRIBUTED Gallery on April 12th. The gallery is displaying the best images as limited edition art works until May 18.


above: An image from Yasunara Kikuma featured in "New Fashion Photography"

The 21st century has brought about seismic changes in photography, technology, fashion, and art. At the nexus of these exciting movements is a group of fashion photographers who are breaking ground in a variety of ways, including cultural referencing, digital imaging, photo manipulation, and the use of new media. The stunningly illustrated book "New Fashion Photography" profiles 28 artists from around the world. New fashion portraiture is challenging conventional ideas of beauty by confronting us with the unexpected. The photographers explore new avenues previously off-limits, opening the art of fashion photography to thrilling possibilities.



The book, which was edited by Paul Sloman and Tim Blanks, includes images from the following photographers:
Nick Knight, Miles Aldridge, Rankin, Markus + Indrani, René Habermacher, Ruven Afanador, Chadwick Tyler, Yelena Yemchuk, Paola Kudacki, Aram Bedrossian, Daniel Sannwald, Sofia Sanchez and Mauro Mongiello, Sean + Seng, LaRoache Brothers, Alice Hawkins, Kourtney Roy, Eugenio Recuenco, Wing Shya, Bruno Dayan, Paco Peregrín, Takahiro Ogawa, Pierre Debusschere, Catherine Servel, Serge Leblon, Daniel Jackson, Sean Ellis, Daniele & Iango, Yasunari Kikuma.

All in all, more than 30 photographers are featured in a selection Sloman calls “hierarchy-free.”


above: Wing Shya is known for his work with filmmaker Wong Kar-Wai.

“The book is an exciting combination of big-name heavy-hitters that many people will recognize and a younger wave of experimental photographers who have been either inspired or nurtured by them,” said Sloman, who wasn’t in Berlin for the event.


above: An image from Takahiro Ogawa that appears in Prestel's "New Fashion Photography" book.

Famous faces include Daphne Guinness, Lady Gaga and Lana Del Rey, and a host of models like Iris Strubegger, Liya Kebede and Carolyn Murphy.


above: A photo from Sanchez and Mongielle that appears in Prestel's "New Fashion Photography" book.

“High-end fashion photography in the 21st century is creating amazing escapist worlds, but at the same time these images go very much to the heart of the way we think about ourselves,” Sloman commented.


above: Lily Cole photographed by the LaRoache Brothers.


above: An image from Kourtney Roy that appears in Prestel's "New Fashion Photography" book.


above: A photo from Spanish photographer Eugenio Recueno that appears in Prestel's "New Fashion Photography" book.


above: Newcomer Aram Bedrossian has only been shooting for a couple of years but has earned inclusion in Prestel's "New Fashion Photography" book.

The 224-page hardcover book sells for 34.95 euros in Germany and will sell for $49.99 in the U.S. But, Amazon has it available to pre-order for only $29.81