Here’s the latest round of books and goods to hit our shelves. Included are impressive new titles from Nobrow, Chronicle Books, Lars Muller, Laurence King, F&W Media and Princeton Architectural Press. Especially worth noting is Unit Edition’s latest endeavor – a hearty monograph on Lance Wyman.
Created by the team behind OFF LIFE, Yellow is a celebration of illustration and the artists who’ve made it their own. Through Yellow, OFF LIFE wanted to show that illustration isn’t just a medium of pretty pictures; that it can be as powerful as any photograph or piece of writing. With this in mind, they rounded up 52 of the world’s most exciting artists, allocated them each a week of the year and asked them to illustrate one news story that broke within their seven days. The result is an entire illustrated year from 52 unique perspectives. And with the year nearly up, we’re collecting every piece into a beautiful hardback book that showcases what illustration can bring to the biggest issues of our time.
Artists include Jean Jullien, Hattie Stewart, Supermundane, Malika Favre, Ian Stevenson, Stanley Chow, Grace Wilson, Pete Fowler, Martin Rowson, Matthew the Horse, Charlotte Mei, Jamie Coe, Chris Riddell, Martina Paukova, Chris SimpsonsArtist and (literally) dozens more.
OFF LIFE will be taking orders over the next few days through their Kickstarter campaign. Pick up your copy now!
Minilab is a new app development studio from the minds of Nobrow and Flying Eye Books. Steeped in the same ethos as their traditional print counterparts, they aim to deliver memorable products that revel in strong visual storytelling. For their first project, they were tasked to bring Ben Newman’s best selling book Professor Astro Cat’s Frontiers of Space to life. You can download the app at iTunes and see a preview of the app in action here.
UK based designer and illustrator Daniele Simonelli has a style that is both warm and endearing. Through his calculated use of texture and color, he creates vivid imagery that tempt and captivate your attention.
Grain Edit friend and fave, Josh Brill recently updated his shop with a sophisticated collection of canine prints. Included in the series are illustrations of Labrador Retrievers. Boxers and French Bulldogs. See the complete collection here.
Tom Froese is a Canadian designer who revels in color and has a real flair for finding the humor in everyday life. Recently Tom updated his website with a vibrant collection of new works, including projects for Offscreen, Herb Lester and Walrus magazine.
Werewolves! vampires! spiders with top hats! These are some of the creatures featured in a new monster picture book series by author, illustrator, and character designer Ralph Cosentino. Inspired by his love for monsters this collection pays homage to the folklore and stories he admired as a kid.
In the first book, readers are invited to rediscover Frankenstein, not as a menacing beast but as a gentle giant with a love for reading and foreign languages. Joining him in his adventures are a chubby bat named Claude and a lovable cat named Bela. Together they explore alternative uses for windmills and learn the finer points of Spanish music and dancing (I suspect the later pays homage to Ralph’s own background as the son of Argentinian flamenco dancers). To help bring the story to life, Ralph employs auditory phrases and expressive typography to encourage parents and children alike to immerse themselves in the experience and pretend to be their favorite characters.
After years of burning the midnight oil, Ralph is ready to bring the series to light (but don’t tell Dracula!). To secure a copy and earn cool stuff along the way, you can help support his efforts via this Kickstarter campaign.
Dock 57 is the online moniker of designers Sveta Shubina and Manar Shajri. Hailing from Russia, the dynamic duo specialize in creating logotypes, corporate branding and illustrations.
