You can judge a book by it's cover

I shop for wine and books in the same way... by their covers. But while there is a lot of coverage in the design world around wine label design, you don't hear quite as much about book covers. However, books are the epitome of design. They have to draw a reader in and give them a real sense of the book before they open it. They are highly conceptual and often painstakingly illustrated. Many covers are works of art in their own right.

Recently, I found a blog called FaceOut Books that focuses on the product and process of book jacket design. I love the detail given on each project and the design process. It's a great source of inspiration as well. Below are just a smattering of interesting covers I found on it. Click here for the website.

Designer: Paul Buckley
Photography: Fredrik Broden


Designer: Jennifer Wang

Designer: Philip Pascuzzo

My Guys

A friend just sent me a link to the work of Meredith Dittmar who creates intriguing art (some cute, some disturbing) through polymer and acrylic. Aside from the wall art and sculpture, she also has a cute line of "my guys." Think ugly dolls made out of clay and you'll get the idea. Very cute. I used to work with clay a lot back in the day, this may inspire me to take it up again.

From her website: Dittmar's work is featured in the books Dot dot Dash and Mascotte 2, along with numerous magazines and online publications. In conjunction with her artwork she works as an independent character designer and maintains her company Corporatepig, through which she continues to create thousands of unique handmade characters called "My Guys".

Click here for Meredith's portfolio. Below are some of my favorite of her artwork and her guys. Thanks, Lisa.

Happy Monsters

What's cuter than a family of funny looking monsters? Um... not much. Yann le Coroller works in the broadcast industry as a 2D/3D designer. While I do like the motion work, his illustration have a certain appeal on their own. Here are some portfolio pieces to brighten your day. To view Yann's full range of work, click here.

Western Spaghetti

It's amazing what you can create from everyday objects. Here's a stop motion film from Adam Pesapane... via Shape + Colour.

Click: Shape + Colour
Click: Adam Pesapane

Who knew?

National Geographic has some amazing online photo galleries. They've always had such stunning work in their magazine, but silly me never realized that it was also available online.

Here is just one of their fascinating galleries – translucent creatures. It's amazing that these animals even exist... nevermind the fact that they managed to get such stunning shots of them. Many look like creatures out of the imagination of Pixar!

Click here to see them all.

Street Art (literally)

I've been seeing Julian Beever's artwork around for a while now. He even has a show on television, called Concrete Canvas, that lets you watch his entire process. At the HOW conference, at least 3 speakers referenced his work... so I figured it was about time for a post.

Julian literally creates the most amazing street art using: pavement, chalk and a camera. It's all created to appear 3 dimensional, and it's truly stunning. He travels the world bringing art to the masses. It's so great to see him set up in a busy commercial area, while people run back and forth to work. As his work progresses, so does the joy that it brings. Suddenly, everyone is taking a moment out of their hectic schedule to enjoy the work Julian creates. And that is just what art should do.

His subjects cover almost anything, ranging from classic paintings, architectural wonders, to famous people and even daily objects. Here are just some of his pieces. Check out his website for more.

Click: Julian Beever

My Favs

We all have websites that require a daily visit. These may range from news sites and business related blogs, to fun sites that just make you laugh. I certainly have a long list of bookmarks that I must visit each day. Here I'll share some of my favorite stops for a bit o' inspiration.

1. NOTCOT.ORG
A constantly updated site with cool finds ranging from home decor to packaging design and animation. If it's cool and new, you'll probably find it here. They also have sister sites for food and fashion, which are worth a visit as well. Content can be uploaded by anyone, so it is a great range of intriguing info.
click: notcot

2. DailyCandy.com
A great food, fashion and event website. Updated daily with easily digestable snippets of info. You can search by subject, or by what's happening in a given city. You can even sign up to have daily emails sent to your inbox.
click: Daily Candy

3. Trend Hunter Magazine
Ok, I actually find this site a bit tough because there is SO MUCH info. Like NotCot, anyone can sign up to contribute. There are currently 20,000 contributers world wide looking for the next "micro trend"... so you'll always find something new on here. Unlike NotCot, this site also has a lot of other features. Notably, you can purchase a distilled trend report each year, watch a video of Jeremy Gutsche's "unlocking cool" presentation, and join their community.
click: Trend Hunter

4. The Dieline
Yes, this is a slightly shameless plug as I do write for the Dieline. That aside, it is a great resource to see what is new and exciting in the world of packaging design. You can search by brand or studio, or simply by industry. It's inspirational and a wonderful way to stay on top of the market and trends.
click: the Dieline

Sneak Peek II

On the tail of Monday's post about peeking into some design agencies, I thought I'd mention a great resource on design*sponge. Here you can peak into the homes of some great artists, designers, and crafters. It's so much fun to see how these artists bring creativity into their daily lives. Click here to view.

Below are pix from Shelly Klein of K Studio (1 and 2) and Rebecca from Moontree Letterpress (3).

Inspired Rags

Recently there was an interesting post on a blog that I follow. The author references magazines in search of inspiration. It's something I do for certain projects, but I should also use them when I'm NOT looking for something specific. I'm so jealous of her mag collection and it makes me wish I had kept more of mine. Unfortunately there's no room in our current apartment, but perhaps when we're back in the States and space is easier to come by.

Here's a quick quote:
"Inspiration. Did you know that it also means "to draw air into the lungs"? That was interesting to me, and fitting. I think you could compare the feeling of being "inspired" to that feeling you get when you take a deep breath..full, clear, relaxed."

Click here for the rest of the article.

Moooove it

Moo Cards are all the rage... or so it seems to me. For those very familiar with the "blog-o-sphere" or "New Media", this may not be news. But I've seen them popping up a lot lately, and I've finally jumped in myself.

Basically, you load up to 100 photos of your choosing to the website. You then enter the info you want on your card, and in 10 days you receive a set of these adorable, skinny-mini cards with full-color images on the back. I've put mine together as business cards, with portfolio pieces on the back. But I can see them being great as save the date cards, birth announcements or moving cards. You don't have a lot of control over the formatting of the information, but the imagery makes them so personal, that it's unlikely you'll ever see one just like it.

Additionally, Moo Cards work with sites such as flicker.com and second life. So if you're already signed up with those, you can transfer your imagery rather seamlessly.

Now these cards have taken on a life of their own. People leave them around major cities and form treasure hunts. Others trade the moo cards of popular artists, much like baseball cards. Perhaps someday someone will want on of mine??

I'll update you with pix once I receive my set. Below is a picture from the Moo Cards website.

Piggy

Today begins Chinese New Year – 2007 is the Year of the Boar.

Those born in the Year of the Boar are said to be good companions, intellectual and persistent. They are honest and sincere, and expect the same of others. Boars do have a tendency toward desiring materials goods.

I suppose if Boars work so hard, then they should be able to buy what they want :)

Personally, I'm a Snake. I don't know how I feel about that. But I'm said to be: wise, charming, romantic, and intuitive. I should avoid procrastination (isn't that the truth!).

On the design side, Chinese artwork is steeped with symbols and tradition. Colors and style choices all have meaning and should be well thought out. I'm far from an expert, but I did work with Tsingtao beer for a while. We launched their 2006 Chinese New Year campaign (Year of the Dog), and it was an eye opening experience.

Below is a snap shot from the festivities around London today.

Happy heart day

all rights reserved © 2007 nori studios

So it begins

Welcome! I've been a member of the online community for quite some time now. I have my little website showcasing some work that I'm proud of. But it always seemed like a 2-dimensional existence. I could tell you what I wanted to, but there was no simple way to get a response, and updates come around yearly, if we're lucky.

So it's time to take advantage of technology with a more interactive forum. Hence, this blog! This is an opportunity for me to put down my thoughts on design, trends, business, and art in general. I hope that it will be fun and interactive... perhaps even insightful at times! I assume that it will grow organically, so I'm leaving the parameters open. But I look forward to the process.

Thanks for visiting, and please do come again to check out the progress!