thank you so much for all of your feedback on starting a book club! we're so glad you all like the idea, and you've given us so many suggestions to think about.
stay tuned for an announcement about the fp book club later this week!
go to p.s.1 contemporary art center in queens this weekend for the ny art book fair! free admission... :)
and if you're free tonight, check out the preview! right after, deitch studios generously hosts a benefit for printed matter, featuring industrial punk-and-dub duo, I.U.D. (lizzi bougatsos of gang gang dance and sadie laska of growing). djs tim lokiec and gary murphy play vintage house. tickets begin at $20 and include limited artist editions by elmgreen & dragset, jutta koether, tom sachs, and mungo thomson.
the post about amelia merrick made me want to seek out more images of nomadic types...santiago mostyn's book all most heaven did that, and then some.
anthropologie's kayte terry held a denim applique diy session at work today, part of an ongoing workshop/lecture series here in the navy yard...
kayte showed some crafty urbn employees how to make a denim applique...as explained in her book, "complete embellishing techniques and projects."
she is awesome! check out her new book due out in late october..."applique your way."
EricGjerge has an amazing set on Flickr where he has uploaded images from Owen Jones' book The Grammar of Ornament. I could look at all the prints and patterns forever - there is so much inspiration on each page! Check out the whole set for many more awesome pictures like the ones above, in bigger sizes too!
Via FFFFound.
These gorgeous pictures are from the Collectanea Botanica, a series of monographs by John Lindley issued between 1821 and 1826. I love things like this! I saw them on BibliOdyssey, which is becoming one of my favorite sites to visit lately. The guy who works on it finds pictures from all kinds of old books, ones that have been posted online and ones out in the library, and then posts all the best pictures from them.
Do you recognize the little boy and his red balloon? When I was a little girl I had this book, Le Ballon Rouge, and I loved it so much! It's the story of a little boy and his best friend, a red balloon. It has fabulous pictures, and the story is really cute and touching!
However, I did not realize it was also a movie! Not only is it a movie, (looks just like the book, must have been one shoot for both the book and movie) but you can see the movie on Google video! I doubt it will last, movies never stay up for free for long! So if you are interested, you should go check it out! You'll enjoy it!
Via Oh Joy!
What do you think of these cute houses for your books and such? Called Library, this little project was designed by Thomas Bentzen of Denmark. I love how it reminds me of my dollhouse from when I was a kid. Looks roomy too!
Via dezeen.
I had lots of fun flipping through this online gallery of book covers and designers! I love seeing the different versions of the same books and seeing covers I've never seen for books that I have read.
Have you ever bought a book based on the cover? Did the book live up to the art? Leave us a comment with the link to your favorites!
I'm loving this cover I spotted today. Maybe I'll give it a read...
For the life of me I can't remember where I originally saw these book pages, but they are so darn interesting! I think the second picture would be really cool as the graphic on a tee-shirt. Like maybe take all the "R" stuff and put it on a shirt. What do you think? See more pages from the book here - seriously go look, they're really neat!
This bookshelf just really intrigues me.
Via Design for Mankind.
We are loving this new book by friend of Free People, Bilyana Dimitrova called To Each His Home. The book highlights eight really imaginative homes with beautiful photographs by Bilyana. Above are some sneak peak images of the book. You can see more on the website. Wouldn't you love to live in one of these?
She has also set up a flickr group where you can share photos of your own creative home! Check out the info here.
How cute is her announcement with the handwritten note?
I adore these illustrations from Katie Kirk's wonderful children's book, Eli, No! They are done in such a cute style, and the book is just wonderful! See the rest of it here on Katie's Flickr. The book is not yet published (I seriously can't see why not) but you can bet whenever it gets published (I'm sure it will soon) I will be getting a copy!
via sfgirlbybay
Design For Mankind shared a link for Peter Thuvander's library bus, serving the streets of Sweden.
Peter designed the bus with Martin from the design collective Muungano and the graphics were done by Fredrik Forsberg at THEY GRAPHICS. The bus, of course, offers books as well as internet, computer games, a music listening station, and even a small cinema.
I wish this would roll down my street! I would definitely spend some time hanging out.
I love the looks of this book shop in a greenhouse in the garden at The Wapping Project, a hydraulic power station that's been converted to a contemporary art space and restaurant.
The architect writes:
“As an only child I lived in my books and still have every one of them. I also ran a shop in a dis-used hen house at the bottom of our ramshackle back yard where I sold jars of soapy water to myself and imagined who I would be" smiles Wright. "Now I’ve made a tiny glass bookshop with a coal fire, selling the most beautiful books, where everyone can browse and imagine who they might become, while others watch them through the glass and imagine who they are.”
Check out a complete article on the space on Dazed Digital.
This book looks so beautiful! Deanne Cheuk illustrated this book called Mushroom Virus Girls: A Guide to the Identification and Study of Our Commoner Fungi with Special Emphasis on the Edible Varieties. You can see some of the amazing illustrations on Deanne's web site. The book is sold out on the site, but you can still buy it on Amazon.
The cover is supposedly the world’s first fully embroidered linen cloth cover. I would probably want to take the book apart and frame all the artwork!
Thanks to design for mankind for the link:)
Lines and Shapes has announced the release of their fourth issue. The books are a series of collaborative artist projects, curated by Lena Corwin and Maria Vettese. For this issue, the theme was PAIRS.
Check out the Lines and Shapes website and Lena's blog for more info and subscription information. You're sure to be inspired...
You've heard of guerrilla marketing; how about about guerrilla gardening? Richard Reynolds wants to teach you all about it in his new book. His motto: fight the filth with forks and flowers.
Check out the interview from The New York Times and watch a video where Reynolds teaches you how to make a seed bomb.
Photos by Finlay MacKay for The New York Times
Floating around the office of late has been an extraordinary old book filled with
even older postcards and snippets, some dating as far back as the 1870's.
The lucky owner of this beautiful book is our Senior Knits Designer, Gianna.
The book had been passed from friend to friend for many years, with each of its
possessors adding to its pages while keeping with the general theme, until it
reached Gianna's uncle. After a time, he gifted the book, now full, to her, seeing
her inclination to art, drawing and the like. At this point, Gianna has had the book
for ten years, and has no plans to give it up! (Who can blame her?) I wanted to
share this wonderful book with you, since we have all enjoyed it so much,
and even gotten some scrapbooking inspiration from its pages!
Camille from Kissing Knees Craft wants to invite all you creative fp girls to participate in a project she's putting together. Share you love stories. Ya gotta love something! check out her blog for the info...
Here's a little intro to our new September catalog dropping on Monday!
The two trend concepts for the collection were Dark Fairy and Sport. I'll tell you a little more about each trend next week. We were really inspired by this photography book called "A Fairy's Child" by Ann Dahlgren and Douglas Foulke. We loved the book so much, we contacted Douglas and asked if he would be interested in shooting our catalog! He agreed and he and his wife shot our catalog at their home in Connecticut. (The photos above are from his portfolio on his website...)
As far as art direction, the creative team was really into old books, bindings, bookplates... One of our creative assistants did the fairy painting above on the pages of an old book, and then painted lines over the text too. Below are just some other old books we looked at for ideas.
Thought I'd pass along this recommendation to all of our crafty readers. I spotted this book on Lena Corwin's blog and it definitely sounds like a must read for all of you small business crafty girls. Check out the website and Lena's review!
I promised to share a couple of books that were really inspiring to the creative team while working on April's catalog. The first is called "Zara's Tales" , a memoir about Peter Beard's adventures in Africa and dedicated to his daughter, Zara. Beard's beautiful photography and drawings are scattered throughout.
The second is called "The Jouney is the Destination: The Journals of Dan Eldon". Dan was an accomplished photo journalist by the age of 22 and was also a fantastic artist, combining collage techniques with his amazing photographs. This book was compiled from several scrap books he kept and his family assembled after his tragic death at 22, when Dan Eldon was working in extremely dangerous conditions in Mogadishu. A truly inspiring man of passion and talent. I recommend you check out this website "An Electronic Revolution" inspired by his life and work.
Coolhunting did this great post about how touching it can be to read a story set in a place that you personally know. Penguin UK has organized a series of stories based on travels called Great Journeys. Stay tuned... when our next catalog drops I'll share a couple of books about "journeys" that really inspired our creative team.
So the Coolhunting post reminded me of something I wanted to share about Penguin. They produced a series of classics with blank covers that you can design yourself, and then they display them in a flickr gallery (like the two pictured above). All in all I'm totally fascinated with Penguin. They have a cute blog, are responsible about their environmental effects, and have a number of other interesting programs for the community of readers.
First read about the Cheap Date Guide to Style on stylebubble, and quickly decided Susie was probably right. If you're attracted to this book, you probably already have a pretty good idea about your personal style and they are just preaching to the choir. Susie felt it was more of a "style affirmation". Then I saw the above article in March's Dazed & Confused, and now I'm thinking twice. It looks more interesting the way they highlighted the funny tips and inspirations. So I think I might just pick it up! Let me know if anyone has it already, and what you think.....
Are you looking for some career advice? Whether you want to live off your art, enter a new industry or find enough time to rock climb everyday, I recommend this book, The Anti 9 to 5 Guide: Practical Career Advice for Women Who Think Outside the Cube written by Michelle Goodman. It's not really anti 9 to 5. It's more about figuring out what you really want to do with your life, and how to get it. Full of useful references, it is totally current and definitely funny. I feel like the crew at FP is really lucky to have found a place that pays them for being crafty and creative, and everyone should be so lucky as to find a job that makes them happy. Check out Michelle's website...
This is possibly the best book ever. Amy Sedaris, funny lady, has just published this amazing tribute to the art of entertaining, among other things, titled "I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influence". Like if Martha Stewart was hip, wore vintage and had a sick sense of humor.
Amy shows us what not to wear while cooking on an open flame (wizard sleeves).
Amy shares instructions to make her favorite crafts (paper aprons).
She suggests alternatives to store bought rolling pins (wine bottles or an old mop handle).
And she gives advice on gift giving. Just in time for the holiday. (My advice on the subject is to purchase this book)