Blog
Tag: Art
Julie Morstad at Lucky’s This Weekend!
by Dan
Events + Graphica + Vancouver / October 30, 2012
Join award-winning, Vancouver-based illustrator Julie Morstad launch The Wayside, her new book from Drawn + Quarterly, on Saturday evening at Vancouver comics store Lucky's starting at 7pm!
Julie Morstad
Saturday November 3rd, 7pm
Lucky's Comics
3972 Main Street, Vancouver
T: 604-875-9858
PS: If you don't live in Vancouver, Julie will also have events in Toronto at TYPE, and at the Librairie D+Q in Montreal next month! (Yay!)
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art comics julie morstad luckys
Happy 20th birthday Laurence King!
by Danielle
Architecture + Art & Photography + Design & Typography + Film + Reference / August 12, 2011
Well Laurence King the publishing house, not Laurence King the founder himself (I think he's older than 20).
Established in London in 1991, Laurence King Publishing is now recognized as one of the world's leading publishers of books on the creative arts.
Their books are acclaimed for their beautiful design and authoritative text as well as the quality and care taken over their production. They publish books in the fields of art, graphic design, architecture and fashion; just to name a few.
Mark Lamster of Design Observer took up the chance to interview Laurence to hear his thoughts about the state and future of design publishing, and what makes a design book (and book proposal) successful.
...Even with this distinguished catalog, few Americans are likely to know much about King or his press, as until recently most of his titles were sold in this country by other publishers, who purchased their rights. I got to know him this way, both as a buyer and a seller, when I was an editor at Princeton Architectural Press. We worked on many books together — some winners, some losers — and it was always a pleasure. King is one of the true gentlemen of design publishing, self-deprecating and charming in the classic British manner... ~ Mark Lamster
Full article can be found here.
This Fall LK has some pretty amazing new books that I get to publicize (yep I do!). Please pre-order at Amazon.ca, Indigo. ca or take a walk to your local bookshop, they can order a copy for you. Below are just a few. There's planty more to come! I'll keep you posted!
And what's a blog without some cool Laurence King videos? Enjoy!
Pulled
by Dan
Art & Photography / May 24, 2011
Andy Warhol popularized it in the 1960s, and screen printing remains a favourite with artists, illustrators, designers and crafters today — it's versatile, cheap, fast, a little dirty, and (let's face it) really, really cool.
Designer Mike Perry screened his first shirt in college (and wore it later that night!) and his new book Pulled collects the work of more than 40 contemporary artists who are doing new and interesting things with the technique, including Aesthetic Apparatus, Deanne Cheuk, Steven Harrington, Maya Hayuk, Cody Hudson, Jeremyville, Andy Mueller, Rinzen, and Andy Smith (among others). The book is a survey and a how-to, a collection of prints and an idea bank. And (let's face it) really, really cool...
AND if you like the sound of Pulled, you might want to check out Mike's two previous best-selling books Hand Job: A Catalog of Type and Over & Over: A Catalog of Hand-Drawn Patterns. They're also really, really good.
In The Wilds
by Dan
Art & Photography / May 09, 2011
I just cannot stop talking about the beautiful In The Wilds, recently published by Princeton Architectural Press!It's a collection of obsessively detailed hand-drawn observations of rural life by Irish artist and illustrator Nigel Peake. It's just a small hardcover (6" x 8" and 144 pages), but just so lovely!
If you haven't seen Nigel's work before (he has worked with the likes of Ninja Tune and Dwell Magazine), here are some illustrations from the book:
Bicycle Travel Journal also featuring Nigel's illustrations will be published by Laurence King later this year.
The journal will be designed by Roger Fawcett-Tang of Struktur Design and will include 20 illustrations, blank pages to write on and 16 envelopes to store mementoes of your journeys.
You can pre-order copies from your favourite independent bookstore, or online at Amazon.
In The Wilds is available now.
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art illustration ireland nigel peake
Favourite Books 2010: Robin McConnell, Inkstuds
by Dan
Graphica + News / December 14, 2010
Market Day
James Sturm
Drawn & Quarterly ISBN 9781897299975
$23.95
There is something about the stark beauty in this book that just draws you in. A fascinating contemplation on art. This is by far James' strongest work so far, and that is coming from a man that has already done some excellent work.
The Selves
Sonja Ahlers
Drawn & Quarterly ISBN 9781770460102
$20.95
I love how representational of a certain life and culture Sonja's work is. She plans out a million idea's and arguments in simple image that speaks in volumes.
Wilson
Daniel Clowes
Drawn & Quarterly ISBN 9781770460072
$23.95
Daniel Clowes is one of my favorite cartoonists and this book is no exception to the rule of him being awesome. It's like he dropped a bomb remind the new kids who the real boss is.
Robin McConnell is the host of the Inkstuds radio show out of Vancouver and the accompanying book of the same name, published this year by Conundrum Press.
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art best of 2010 comics dan clowes inkstuds james sturm robin mcconnell sonja ahlers
Favourite Books 2010: Dan Wagstaff
by Dan
Art & Photography + Design & Typography + News / December 07, 2010
Born Modern: The Life and Design of Alvin Lustig
Steven Heller and Elaine Lustig Cohen
Chronicle Books ISBN 9780811861274
$58.00
Responsible for the iconic book covers of New Directions’ New Classics series from the 1940’s and early 1950’s, Alvin Lustig is the book designers’ book designer. Although he died tragically young aged 40 in 1955, Lustig changed the face of modern American design forever.
I tweeted about Born Modern the moment I heard about it at sales conference and immediately discovered that A LOT of other people just could not wait to get their hands on it. This really is my favourite, favourite book of the year and if you're at all interested in design (or just want a taste of genuine Mad Men era chic), you need this in your life.
Large Scale: Fabricating Sculpture in the 1960s and 1970s
Jonathan D. Lippincott
Princeton Architectural Press ISBN 9781568989341
$52.00
A couple of years ago, PAPress published an amazing collection of Pedro Guerrero's work that include photographs inside the homes of sculptors Alexander Calder and Louise Nevelson. Then earlier this year, PAPress published Large Scale, a collection of behind-the-scenes photographs that capture the fabrication and installation of gigantic (GIGANTIC!) sculptures by Nevelson and other amazing post-war American artists like Claes Oldenburg, Ellsworth Kelly, Robert Indiana, and Barnett Newman. Like the book of Guerrero's photographs, Large Scale is beautiful, rare and candid glimpse of artists in their element, and it captures a very particular moment in 20th century art history. Stunning.
KENK: A Graphic Portrait
Richard Poplak, illustrated by Nick Marinkovich
Pop Sandbox ISBN 9780986488405
$27.95
I think KENK caused me more anxiety and nail-biting than any other book we distributed this year, but the down-to-wire production and the subsequent controversy was all worth it in the end. The launch party at the Cadillac Lounge in Toronto was one of the most surreal book events I have ever been to (and yes, Kenk, like a moth to the flame, did arrive in person sending the attendant CBC camera crew into something of a tizzy). And although the book sadly wasn’t eligible for any of the major book awards in Canada, it was gratifying to see it picked by the Quill & Quire as one of their books of the year.
Dan Wagstaff lives in Toronto and works in online sales and marketing for Raincoast. He also drinks a lot of coffee and blogs about books, design and related stuff at The Casual Optimist.
The Art of Compression: Comic Conversations
by Dan
Graphica / September 03, 2010
The new issue of Canadian Art magazine includes a feature article by Kenton Smith about Canadian comics and Montreal-based publisher Drawn & Quarterly:
[C]omics have perhaps never been as diverse, vibrant and exciting as now—for they are no longer possible to pigeonhole. Comics publisher Chris Oliveros, founder of the Montreal-based publisher Drawn & Quarterly, says “the work today is so diverse—everyone has a unique vision.” Insofar as comics can be considered a literary medium, there seems to be no category they’ve neglected, whether memoir (A Drifting Life), journalism (Joe Sacco’s Palestine) or fictional biography (Seth’s George Sprott). Chester Brown wanted to do Louis Riel: A Comic-Strip Biography because, well, who else was doing history as comics? And besides, he explains, “comics’ visual dimension makes a story more engaging, and keeps history from being dull.”
Read the whole article here.
Chronicle Book Craft Catalogue
by Dan
Craft / August 12, 2010
You know that all our new and recent catalogues are available to download online, right? Of course you did.
Well, I just wanted to let you know that the Chronicle Books Craft catalogue for Fall 2010—with new books from Amy Butler and Lotta Jansdotter—is now available to download (PDF) at your leisure. Happy crafting!
Dan Eldon Project
by Dan
Art & Photography + Travel / August 09, 2010
Photojournalist Dan Eldon was only 22 when he lost his life on assignment in Somalia.
An artist, an activist, and an adventurer, Eldon had led a relief mission across Africa, worked as a graphic designer in New York, studied (intermittently) at four colleges, travelled through Europe, Africa, Japan, and the United States, founded a charity for Mozambiquan refugees, directed a film, written a book and started up his own photography business all before his tragic death.
The creative journals he left behind became the basis for the bestselling The Journey Is the Destination published by Chronicle Books, and his life inspired the founding of Creative Visions, which supports “Creative Activists” who use media and the arts to create positive change in the world.
The foundation have recently redesigned daneldon.org, their website dedicated to Eldon, and have launched The Dan Eldon Project, a collection of clothing inspired by Eldon's life to support their work.
You can read more about Eldon's life and legacy Dan Eldon: The Art of Life.
Art of McSweeney’s Video
by Dan
Design & Typography / June 24, 2010
A novel with each cover hand-illustrated by the author... Literary journals bound by magnets, or designed to look like junk mail... The sharp wit, gorgeous design, and playful "why not?" invention of independent literary publisher McSweeney's have earned it a large and loyal following and made its journals, books, The Believer magazine, and Wholphin DVD's collectible favorites of readers and graphic designers alike.
Created by the McSweeney's staff to commemorate their 11th (or 12th) anniversary, The Art of McSweeney's showcases all their award-winning art and design. It features 100's of images, interviews with collaborators such as Chris Ware and Michael Chabon, and dozens of insights into McSweeney's quirky creative process and the visual experience of reading: