Looks that Kill is the latest installment in the Yuki 7 book series created by one of our contemporary illustration favorites, Kevin Dart. In this new adventure book written by story artist Elizabeth Ito, we get the opportunity to tag along with Yuki 7 and the Gadget Girls, her special task force of ladies, on one of their missions, immersing us in their thrilling world of seduction, espionage, and glamour. Accompanying the fantastic story are new and energetic illustrations by Kevin and 14 other talented artists, such as Meg Hunt and Matthew Lyons. This book is definitely one worth adding to your collection!

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Let’s face it. Some of us are image hoarders. With the wealth of images that can be found online and in print, it’s no wonder that collage is medium that many artists like to work in. The process of collecting images and carefully organizing them in a way to create and communicate fresh ideas is nothing new, yet there are many artists working in this medium today.

Cutting Edges, a hearty book published by Gestalten, successfully curates contemporary artists cutting and pasting their way out of vintage found imagery in order to produce innovative work. Featuring work by the likes of Jelle Martens, Anthony Zinonos, Eduardo Recife and more, the book is pure eye candy and totally worth adding to your own library.

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Very excited to see the latest from Mike Perry. Continuing in a similar vein as his other books, Mike does a great job of delving into a specific theme and highlighting important work and people.

Pulled takes a look at design through the medium of screen printing, and shows a wide variety of examples. There’s some really lovely work in here — I also find it helpful to see the results from different designers, and to see what’s achievable with screen printing.

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2011: Living in the Future was originally published in 1972, but has now been brought back to print upon realization of the book’s accuracy, inaccuracy, and irony. Geoffrey Hoyle, a science fiction author, future visionary, and product of his astronomer father, wrote the original text, predicting such glorious technologies as “vision desks,” “vision phones,” and personal automated breakfast factories. There is also talk of people only working 3 days a week, with a traffic-free commute. Playfully illustrated with wonderful projections of our modern-day utopia by Alasdair Anderson, this quick read would be great for both the coffee table and story time with the kids, so they can think about what those crazy people in the 70s were like.

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Portland based design and illustration duo Josh Kenyon and Colby Nichols, better known as Jolby, have published a new children’s book titled The King’s 6th Finger. A collaborative effort between Jolby and Rachel Roellke, the book revolves around King Mortimer and his obsessive compulsion around the number five. Everything in his kingdom revolves around this cardinal number, until the day he grows a 6th finger. His world is then turned upside down, and he is left decide the fate of not only his finger, but his kingdom.

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Photo: Kate Bingaman-Burt

Did you buy something today? Do you remember things you’ve purchased within the last week, let alone within the last year?

For the past four years, Portland based illustrator and educator Kate Bingaman-Burt has documented all of her purchases with daily drawings. The end result of this documentation: a new book published by Princeton Architectural Press, entitled Obsessive Consumption: What Did You Buy Today?

Started as a break from drawing credit card statements, Kate’s ink drawings are entertaining and intimate as they put a face on ordinary objects that we consume on daily basis and often don’t think twice about. From sunglasses and snacks to wedding bands and a dog, these objects tell a personal story we can all connect with as members of consumer culture.

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As a kid, watching Sesame Street and 3-2-1 Contact was a daily ritual. Of course, there were particular animations from those shows that I could watch endlessly, such as three rocks squabbling about how cross a lake. With the advent of YouTube, these animations have resurfaced and offer a trip back to simpler times of wonder and discovery. But who made them?

Introducing Al Jarnow, the mastermind behind the short films embedded into our collective memory. Celestial Navigations: The Short Films of Al Jarnow compiles a retrospective of Jarnow’s familiar animations from CTW along with his more obscure shorts. Jarnow experiments with geometric shapes, color, scale, and proportion in his films, creating everlasting works that communicate changes through time and space to both young and old.

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The Whimsical Works of David Weidman - Published by Gingko Press.

David Weidman’s name may not be familiar, but his work certainly is. Weidman began his career as an animator in 1950s Los Angeles, painting backgrounds for Hannah Barbara and setting the standard for the look of cartoons of that era. However, like a true entrepreneur he soon began to work for himself, and went on to establish a style that is today instantly recognizable and iconic. A printmaker, ceramicist, font designer, painter, cartoonist, and silk screener, Weidman never stopped experimenting as an artist. Today at age 87 Weidman’s staggering body of work is just as modern and visually stunning as it was forty years ago. His graphic sensibility and expert use of saturated color palettes evoke the vintage modern look while remaining completely relevant to contemporary designers.

If you don’t have a copy of this book yet, it’s seriously worth picking up. You can can pick up a copy here.

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The National live at the Tabernacle, Atlanta - concert poster 18″x24″

This week’s poster pick features another cutting edge design from Methane Studios. The overall design is simple and understated, but manages to remain visually engaging. The subtleties in this poster are exactly what make it interesting to look at. I really like everything about how the band name is presented and appreciate the sense of depth created by the paper knife. There is great use of space and type throughout , I especially like how the type is managed at the very bottom of this poster.

You can purchase the poster at postercabaret.com

Mogwai Concert Poster by Mark McDevitt of Methane Studios.  Handmade four color silkscreen measures 19″ x 25″ .

Continuing with our poster pick series we’ve selected this eye-catching, Mogwai concert poster designed by Methane Studios. I really like the bold use of color and all the geometric patterns that take form. The coloring reminds me a bit of the Technicolor logo (a favorite) used in old film posters. I’m also diggin’ the form of the type and the contrasting background.

Methane hails from Atlanta , GA and was formed by artists Mark McDevitt and Robert Lee. The pair have been designing screen printed posters since 1998 for a variety of US and foreign bands such as Pearl Jam, Wilco, and Dave Matthews Band to name a few.

You can order this poster and others by Methane at postercabaret.com