We Heart; Lifestyle & Design Magazine » Books

1000 Days of Drawing; Chris Piascik

James Davidson — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 23:30:55 +0000

Politics, rock and roll, bikes, religion, monsters and guidelines for clean living; the past four years have seen freelance illustrator Chris Piascik cover a pretty extensive range of topics in his decidedly masochist quest to draw, and publish, a daily picture. 21st December 2011 marked his 1,000th, and Chris has a Kickstarter project underway to raise the funds to self-publish a book to celebrate this landmark. Charming, funny, and often delving into gratifyingly left-winged opinion, Piascik’s drawings – and the descriptions that accompany them – offer a welcome chance to crack a smile over your morning coffee, and certainly more than worthy of a book’s print and bind. And others clearly agree; Chris has acheived 3 times his target, with 6 days to go…

“This comparison kind of blew my mind. In the United States it is MUCH easier to marry your FIRST cousin than it is to marry your same sex partner. I can’t wait until we can look back on this and think “lolwut?” Those who oppose equal rights to same-sex couples are on the losing side. I’m looking at you Michele Bachmann.”

“I’ve been a huge Glenn Danzig fan for almost my entire life. The Misfits (Danzig era) are my favorite band. The band he started after leaving the Misfits, Samhain is also one of my favorites. I once saw three Danzig shows in one week. Okay, now that I have gotten that out of the way—he seems to be getting crankier and crankier in his old age. Last weekend at the Fun, Fun, Fun Fest he went a little over the top. According to the festival organizer, Danzig showed up really late and was refusing to perform for a number of reasons. He demanded vitamins, french onion soup and a Wendy’s chicken sandwich.”

“I saw a tweet earlier from Mayer Hawthorne saying that Marilyn Monroe was from Compton. According to Wikipedia this is true and that makes me happy.”

“I absolutely love this quote by Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, “The good thing about science is that it’s true whether or not you believe in it.”

One of the questions in this year’s Miss USA pageant was, “Should evolution be taught in schools?” This honestly blows my mind. Some (MOST) of the answers given by these contestants were completely ridiculous. “OMG THIS IS A HARD QUESTION!” No. It’s not. There shouldn’t be a discussion of whether evolution or creationism should be taught—one is scientific fact the other is disproven religious dogma.”

“Michele Bachmann made a pretty hilariously, bad gaffe yesterday while kicking off her presidential campaign in Iowa. She stated, “Well what I want them to know is just like, John Wayne was from Waterloo, Iowa. That’s the kind of spirit that I have, too.” Unfortunately—well fortunately for this drawing opportunity—she mixed up her John Waynes‘. The John Wayne from Waterloo, also known as the Killer Clown, was a serial killer. Whoops.”

“I just read that yesterday was the 25th anniversary of the documentary, Heavy Metal Parking Lot. That seems crazy! Anyway, for those of you who are not familiar with the movie, it documents people tailgating before a Judas Priest concert in 1986. Over the years it has become a cult classic. It was rumored to be the movie of choice on the Nirvana tour bus. I’ve seen it quite a few times—and I laugh everytime. It’s only 17min and I highly recommend checking it out.”

Three’s A Crowd Volume 2

James Davidson — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 13:31:18 +0000

Already missing the greatest live band of this century? A new book is packed with up close and personal images that may quell, or perhaps worsen, your heartache. After introducing himself to the Detroit duo in a Bristol bar back in 2001, Newcastle-born photographer Ewen Spencer spent an amazing 4 years documenting the rise and rise of a very special act and following last year’s Three’s A Crowd Volume 1 – that documented the early days of the photographer’s unique relationship with the last great rock and roll band – Spencer is back with the second book in the Three’s A Crowd series. Hoxton Square’s ever-brilliant KK Outlet are hosting an exhibition of the photos throughout January with a very special book launch on Thursday 12th.

You can be at the launch party, as well as bagging yourself a limited edition copy of the book, by donating $50 to the book’s IndieGoGo campaign. But be quick, there’s just 2 days left…

Away! Away! Away! by Rosie Lee

James Davidson — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 10:40:19 +0000

A 50-strong (and growing) collective of creatives with a passion for pounding the streets, Run Dem Crew is based at Nike’s Shoreditch-based concept store cum creative space; 1948. Documenting the crew’s participation in the 2011 London Marathon, Away! Away! Away! is a glorious, concept-heavy book by creative agency Rosie Lee. Packed with photo essays, cutting-edge design and Tom Hull‘s beautiful photography; Rosie Lee’s celebration of this unique collective is a real inspiration. We talked to creative director Mark Fleming to find out how it came about…

How did your involvement with Run Dem Crew begin?

We were initially briefed to develop the identity for Run Dem Crew (RDC) and design its HQ space at Nike’s 1948 store. We quickly found a connection with Run Dem Crew founder Charlie Dark and his passion for running and sharing ideas.

Do you run yourself?

Yes. I’m pretty active and been involved with RDC for over 2 years. I’ve taken part in races and marathons in Paris, Berlin and chicago. Other members of Rosie Lee have also joined the ranks of RDC.

The print process is beautiful, did it take a lot of experimenting to achieve the results?

Exploring creative concepts and production techniques is a key part of to what we do at Rosie Lee. One of our senior designers is pretty hands on when it comes to print and she worked closely with Ditto press to get the best from the process and the images, playing with bitmaps and duo tones, being playful with the type and choice of colours.

Risso print has its strength and weaknesses and the trick with this project was to play to its strengths.

What does 2012 hold for Rosie Lee?

Same as any other year – produce good work for our clients and have a good time doing it.

We Can Be Heroes

James Davidson — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 15:11:36 +0000

We’ve seen plenty of these books and exhibitions before but, as Boy George puts it, “for once it has been put together by someone on the scene”. As a fully paid up member of the burgeoning club scene that transformed London’s nightlife and launched the careers of the aforementioned Culture Club frontman, Spandau Ballet and Sade; Graham Smith – who also designed album covers for those stars – was never far from the action, and always armed with a camera. 25 years later and upon turning 50 Smith has exhumed his archives to deliver a tome of some 500 photographs and 30,000 words of text from fellow scenester and frontman of the wildest band of the period, Blue Rondo a la Turk, Chris Sullivan. We Can Be Heroes is due out 8th December on Unbound, a UK based crowd-funding publishing site where donations of £30 to £350 can see you receive anything from a cloth bound coffee table book to a deluxe edition limited to just 50 copies. The project is currently at 82% of funding and runs for just 15 more days, so act fast as this incredible document of decadence is one we’d really love to see the light of day…

Confessions of a Design Geek; Interviews

James Davidson — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 15:00:49 +0000

We’ve been big fans of Katie Treggiden’s blog, Confessions of a Design Geek, for some time; her refreshing, everyman take on design and designers demystifies much of the awkwardness that often surrounds design writing, and her first book is a joy to read. Entitled “Interviews“, it kinda does what it says on the tin, collating some of the best interviews that have appeared on Confessions of a Design Geek over the last year or so, along with some new material to boot. We thought it’d be fun, and a challenge for us, to turn the tables and try our hand at interviewing the expert; here goes…

We’re going to cheat and start off with one of yours… what’s the most important thing to know about you?

It’s a good one, isn’t it?! And trickier to answer than it is to ask, I’m realising! I guess the most important thing to know about me is that I’m obsessed with design. I think everybody has something that has the ability to consume them. The thing that can make you lose track of time and forget to eat, the thing that quickens your heartbeat and takes your breath away. Not everybody is lucky enough to find their thing, let alone find a way to explore it like I have. I don’t have the patience to be a designer – I’m not a craftsman, and I think you have to be to be a good designer. But I’ve wanted to be a writer since I was five years old, so I feel very lucky to have found my ‘something’ to write about.

I think everybody has something that has the ability to consume them. The thing that can make you lose track of time and forget to eat, the thing that quickens your heartbeat and takes your breath away.

So, you’re a self confessed design geek, where did this passion for design come from, and what’s your background?

I’ve always had a creative streak, but I was also quite academic at school, so I was encouraged to pursue that route, go to University and get a ‘proper job.’ The problem is creativity doesn’t quite work like that. It won’t be ignored, so as I’ve got older and had some success in my proper job, that side of me has come to the surface again. I think buying my first house, subscribing to Elle Decoration, and the Modernism exhibition at the V&A all conspired to really kick-off my interest in design specifically. They say “If you’re not liberal when you’re young, you have no heart. If you’re not conservative when you’re older, you have no brain,” I think the same is true of art and design. I loved art when I was younger, especially modern, abstract art and I still do. But my real passion is design now. I get really excited about creative expressions that do something, that make people’s lives better in a practical as well as aesthetic way.

So, tell us about your book – how, and why did it happen?

I’ve been interviewing designers for my blog, confessions of a design geek, since I started writing it in April 2010. I sometimes guest blog for the London Design Festival and I was chatting to William Shaw one day about an interview I was doing for them with Javier Mariscal. William said “You do know you’ve got a book on your hands, don’t you?” I stared at him blankly for a second, and said “Have I?” He managed to convince me that the collection of interviews I’d already done and the ones I had in the pipeline would be something that people might want to read. This was just a few months before the London Design Festival, so I knew I would have to move quickly to get something out in time for that. Luckily for me, my step-sister is a very talented writer and editor and her boyfriend is an equally talented book designer, so I called them up for some advice and they ended up helping me make it happen, with Clare giving me loads of help on the words front, and Zander designing the book and blog and handling the print process through his design agency, Venn Creative. The next time I spoke to William, I was asking him to write the foreword!

“You do know you’ve got a book on your hands, don’t you?” I stared at him blankly for a second, and said “Have I?”

What drew you to interviews, and how did you start speaking to designers?

Not being a designer, I am fascinated by what happens behind the scenes in design and what goes on in designers’ minds, so interviewing designers to ask them seemed like a natural thing to do. I started off by getting in touch with people I respected by email. In March I went to a talk with Wim Crouwel at the Design Museum, and afterwards, my husband told me I had to go and ask him for an interview. Wim Crouwel is a design God, so there was no way I was going to march up to him and ask him for an interview for my little blog! My husband managed to persuade me that it would be worth it just to get one of my business cards into his hands. So, shaking like a leaf, I asked him for an interview and to my shock, he agreed! Following that interview, people have started getting in touch with me with offers of interviews, which is amazing. My interviews with John Makepeace and Anthony Burrill both came about because their PR people approached me.

You have a wonderful knack for bringing out the human qualities in designers, is this something you set out to do purposely and if so, did you find it hard to sometimes cut through the stereotypical design-waffle?

Thank you, but to be honest I think my approach is completely borne of ignorance! I don’t have a design background, so I guess I’m just a bit naive. I’m not really aware of the stereotypical design-waffle – I just ask questions I want to know the answers to, working on the assumption that the other people might be interested too! To a certain extent I do try to ask questions other people might not ask, but that’s more so I don’t bore the pants off the people I’m interviewing!

I love finding out what people’s favourite colours are – especially when they answer with a Pantone reference, that’s delightfully geeky!

What are some of the most surprising things you’ve found out about your subjects?

I love finding out what people’s favourite colours are – especially when they answer with a Pantone reference, that’s delightfully geeky! I have been surprised (and saddened) to discover how many of the designers I love aren’t able to make a full time living out of design yet, and how much of their time is taken up with admin! But I love the minutiae; that Javier Mariscal can be inspired by a tomato, that Anthony Burrill prefers crunchy peanut butter to smooth, that Joanna Boyle drinks too much tea…

Have you ever had any interview ‘fails’ that may or may not have made the final cut?

No – I’ve never had an interview I didn’t want to publish on the blog. They didn’t all make it into the book, just because I had to be selective and pick interviews that worked together as a set. But I interview people whose work I respect and admire and I’ve never been disappointed with gaining further insight into how they think, how they work and what inspires them.

I interview people whose work I respect and admire and I’ve never been disappointed with gaining further insight into how they think…

The book’s cover carries the ominous sub-title “Volume 1″, so what’s next?

I’d love to publish something every year for London Design Festival. I adore my blog, but there’s something very romantic about paper. This one was Interviews, so I’d like to explore the other areas that I cover on my blog; ‘creative spaces’, ‘out and about’, and ‘here’s one I made earlier’ to see if any of that content will translate. I’ve got a few ideas up my sleeve, but I think I need to give my designer and my husband time to recover from this one before I start talking about doing it all again!

Confessions of a Design Geek; Interviews is available in a limited edition of 1,000 copies from Confessions of a Design Geek, and is also available from the Design Museum Shop, the V&A book shop, the V&A Reading Rooms, Scene x designjunction, Design Diversion, Theo, Dezeen Space, Lifestyle Bazaar, Outline Editions and Today’s Specials. 50p from every book sold will be donated to Maggie’s Cancer Caring Centres. Registered charity number SC024414.

Good Weather, Sarah Illenberger at Gestalten Space

James Davidson — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 17:02:01 +0000

Munich-born, Berlin-based; Sarah Illenberger is a visual artist whose three-dimensional illustrations are in high demand. Having created spellbinding commissions for the likes of Wallpaper*, Nike and the New York Times, Illenberger turns the mundane into the magnificent with her often humorous work that transforms everyday objects into enthralling, expressive pieces. Her solo show – Good Weather – is currently showing at Berlin’s brilliant Gestalten Space; and the gallery-cum-bookstore will also be selling an exclusive international pre-release of Sarah Illenberger, the artist’s first monograph, published of course by Gestalten. Fabricating engaging, thought-provoking pieces from rubber tyres, pieces of fruit and textiles, Sarah Illenberger’s analogue works are charming, intelligent, and offer a freedom in expression that is sadly so seldom seen in today’s digital media…

Gestalten Space, Berlin

James Davidson — Tue, 10 May 2011 12:38:23 +0000

Super-cool publishing house Gestalten have recently opened a 350 square-metre hybrid-space showcasing their unparalleled exploration of visual culture. The space combines both a shop and gallery while also serving as an exhibition and creative space, and best of all, the expansive space is located in the heart of Berlin-Mitte, making for a beautiful venue/destination for locals and visitors alike. Famed for their phenomenal range of handpicked specialty books on all things design and architecture (new and archived), the Gestalten Space also offers designer toys and a selection of products by designers and artists, whose work have been previously published by the firm – bringing their published pages to life.

The multi-faceted store opened on April 29 with the exhibition ‘Cutters Edges’ – focusing on illustrating the range and depth of inspiring work and celebrating a new heyday of contemporary collage – by pulling together 50 contemporary artists showcasing more than 160 works, curated by American artist James Gallagher. The company are ever expanding their collection and introducing new and exciting designers, artists and brands – so make sure to keep and eye on this space…

Sorayumebako, Osaka

James Davidson — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 10:39:21 +0000

Japanese interior designer Yukio Kimura has recently created a hybrid space that includes a café bar, second-hand bookshop and art gallery all rolled into one. Situated in Osaka and located in a suburban area, away from the commercial centres, the store was designed to ‘not’ blend into the surroundings, which came about by following the client’s wish to reflect the store’s name; Sorayumebako (roughly translated to ‘Dreambox’), into the actual design. Yukio explains: “Sorayume” is a Japanese word meaning “a fabricated dream”, that is, a dream for telling people as if you actually dreamed it. Having this concept in mind, I designed space where visitors can feel as if they stepped into another world, like a dream”. The entire space is painted orange – the walls, ceiling, floor and furniture. This, according to Yukio, interprets the time between day and night, summer and winter and yin and yang – a place where visitors can change their mindset from the yang (daily life) to the yin (private life). The interior is lined with wooden grid supporting shelves for the books and frames for the artwork, which together with the boxed entrance and view from the street supports the second part of the name, ‘bako’ (a box).

Nectar & Pulse Travelguides

James Davidson — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 11:17:58 +0000

Describing themselves as ‘your local soulmates’, Nectar & Pulse is an exciting young company from Austria – producing personal cityguides that reflect the urban zeitgeist as found by owners Carina Schichl and Tanja Sieder. The product is based on the hotspots of locals, who are mainly plucked from music, fashion, design and culture backgrounds. The traveller can choose the local soulmate who fits their interests and lifestyle best and then customise it to their own personal guide. Make sense? Check out the video below and their blog for further explanation. A Stockholm guide was most recently launched and is sold in selected book, fashion and museum stores. The girls are currently working on more cities with London, Vienna, Berlin, Barcelona, Paris and Munich planned for 2011…

OHWOW at The Standard Miami Beach

James Davidson — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 12:16:44 +0000

Regular readers will be familiar with OHWOW‘s splendidly vivid style – we’ve previously featured their New York bookshop, and their awe-inspiring pop-up at Cappellini SoHo – so Rafael de Cárdenas’ glaringly brilliant signature style will be equally familiar. The acclaimed architect has plumped for a decidedly beach-hued palette for this latest OHWOW outlet, fitting really, as it’s situated within the holistic and relaxed surroundings of The Standard Spa, Miami Beach. Along with the familiar interiors, OHWOW once again present an utterly splendid selection of curated products, including exclusively published art books and select art in addition to some rather choice accessories, jewellery, beachwear, gifts and hotel guest essentials. Famed for their uncompromisingly hip style, The Standard are an ideal partner for OHWOW’s progressive vision and, once more, they’ve effortlessly delivered a modern masterpiece…

Photography: Floto + Warner

Cosmic Communist Constructions Photographed

James Davidson — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 11:57:22 +0000

From the early 70s, until the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the USSR experienced somewhat of a unique, and decidedly bizarre, period in architecture. Taking advantage of the nation’s crumbling control, architects pushed the boundaries of design, way beyond modernism, with expressionist works that defied any kind of traditional convention. Fascinated by what he considers to be the fourth age of Soviet architecture, Frédéric Chaubin – editor-in-chief of French lifestyle magazine Citizen K – has documented these spectacular feats of otherworldly architecture over the last 7 years, the outcome of which appears in the form of this splendid new Tashcen book and an exhibition that runs at Karlsruhe’s Museum of Contemporary Art until 27th March. From a crematorium adorned with concrete flames to a technological institute with a flying saucer crashed on the roof, with all manner of lunar inspired landscapes and surrealist concrete fantasies in between, Chaubin’s document of 90 buildings, located within 14 former Soviet Republics, is as inspirational a collection of architectural photography as you will see in some time…

Inspired by the finest Suprematist utopias, the Georgian Ministry of Highways with its reduced anchorage. (G. Chakhava, Z. Dzhalaganiya, T. Tkhilava, V. Klinberg) Tbilisi, Georgia, 1974

Soviet embassy in Cuba (A. Rochegov) Havana, 1985

Palace of Ceremonies (R. Dzhorbenadze, V. Orbeladze) Tbilisi, Georgia, 1985

The architecture faculty at the Polytechnic Institute of Minsk and its succession of overhanging lecture theaters. (V. Anikin, I. Yesman) Belarus, 1983

Institute of Robotics and Technical Cybernetics (S. Savin, B. Artiushin) Saint Petersburg, Russia, 1987

The anthropomorphic House of Soviets in Kaliningrad stands on the site of the Saxon castle of Königsberg. Begun in 1974, its construction was never completed because of its structural flaws and the collapse of the USSR.

Monument to the Battle of Bash-Aparan. (R. Israelyan) Armenia, 1979

Zurab Tsereteli designed the colored ceramic pool of the children health resort in Adler. Russia, 1973

Built in the nineteenth century, the Ninth Fort at Kaunas was used by the Soviet NKVD as a detention center and then by the German occupying forces. The 32 metre-high (105-ft.-high) memorial stands on the site of mass executions carried out during the Holocaust. This spectacular evocation of suffering and death was designed by the sculptor Alfonsas Ambraziunas. Lithuania, 1983

Ukrainian Institute of Scientific and Technological Research and Development. (L.Novikov, F. Turiev) Kiev, Ukraine, 1971

Creamatorium (A. Miletski) Kiev, Ukraine, 1985

Cosmic Communist Constructions Photographed by Frederic Chaubin, £34.99, is published by TASCHEN and is available to purchase at www.taschen.com

Lead Image: Druzhba sanatorium (I. Vasilevsky, Y. Stefanchuk) Yalta, Ukraine, 1985

Le Cool Barcelona, 2nd Edition

James Davidson — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 17:37:05 +0000

You may already have come across Le Cool’s critically acclaimed “Weird and Wonderful Guide to Barcelona” – in which case you’ll be rather excited at the prospect of this second edition – however, if you haven’t, then get ready to rethink everything you already thought you knew about travel guides. Founded in Barcelona in 2003 and now publishing 5 printed city guides alongside the 10 cities featured in their weekly newsletters, Le Cool’s approach to the traditional guidebook is, well, anything but traditional. From the best kebabs in the city to how to eat at a Michelin starred restaurant for only €23 and from the most exclusive underground clubs to tapas, sex shows and skinny dipping, Le Cool offer an insight into truly experiencing the real city in a thoroughly engaging riot of colour, typefaces, lo-fi photography and wildly unique design. Cementing Le Cool’s reputation as the leading publisher for alternative travel literature, this second edition of their Barcelona guide is an absolute must for anyone from first-timers to Barcelonans, oh, and we’ve got copies to give away…

OHWOW Pop-Up at Cappellini SoHo

James Davidson — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 13:44:32 +0000

You may recall OHWOW’s Greenwich Village retail space from back in June, if you do then you’ll quite possibly recognise architect/designer, Rafael de Cárdenas’ particularly vivid style, as he’s once again partnered with OHWOW’s Al Moran and Aaron Bondaroff to create a blindingly brilliant pop-up retail space within Italian brand Cappellini‘s Wooster Street flagship store. Nodding to the graphic elements of their fixed store, OHWOW’s festive pop-up alludes to wrapped presents with its bold cellophane wrapping almost presenting the store itself as one super-sized gift. Intensely unique, the OHWOW pop-up jars splendidly with the super-bright red interiors of the Cappellini store and needless to say the stock is as impressive as the design – with contemporary artists such as Terrence Koh, Jim Drain, and Scott Campbell having been commissioned to create unique hand-painted holiday ornaments that will be on display and for sale until the pop-up’s doors close in January…

Les Bikes de Bois Rond Postcard Box Set

James Davidson — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 11:44:03 +0000

You may recall us featuring Gavin Turk’s inspired Les Bikes de Bois Rond conceptual art project for this year’s Frieze Art Fair, an event cum installation that put visitors at the centre of an artwork – with Turk creating individual bicycles in homage to André Cadere’s famous Barres de Bois Rond – long poles of cylindrical, multi-coloured wooden blocks – that were available for visitors to ride around the inner circle of Regent’s Park. All of the bikes in question are now reproduced in this rather lovely postcard box set, by Polite – publishers of brilliant curated work from leading contemporary artists. What’s more is we’ve got some to give away in this week’s newsletter…

We’ve got copies of this postcard box set, along with other giveaways in the monthly edition of our newsletter that will go out this Friday – make sure you’re signed up to be in with a shout…

Three’s a Crowd, Ewen Spencer

James Davidson — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 16:08:55 +0000

From tiny 200-capacity gigs around the UK and previously unseen commissions for NME and The Face to their infamously fanatical South American tour of 2005, Newcastle-born photographer Ewen Spencer was privileged enough to document one of our favourite bands on their incredible rise to world fame. Three’s a Crowd is the first in a series of four A3 sized poster books, that celebrate Spencer’s unique relationship with the band and, being strictly limited to 500 with initial orders being signed by the photographer, this collection looks set to be somewhat of a sought after item…