Visuals

A Kickstarter Tragedy: ‘sad pictures for children’ goes up in flames

It started innocently enough. In May, 2012 Comic artist John Campbell took to the crowdsourcing platform Kickstarter to fund a book based on his internet comic. It was to be called sad pictures of children. His goal: $8000 Amount he raised: $51,615 Campbell published 2000 copies of the book and all seemed well. Another Kickstarter victory for the book set. Then on Feburary 27th, 2014 in an update to backers titled "It's Over" Campbell goes on an epic rant that culminates in the burning of multiple copies of the book. Campbell even shares a video of the destruction. Campbell says:...

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An A-Z of book covers

  Last Friday on The Independent Book Design Blog Jonathan Gibbs gave a call out for help building an alphabet of book jackets.It started when he looked at a copy of the pre-Valentine's Day release of The Poetry of Sex and was taken by the large "X" on the cover. Enjoy this taste and please, no Sue Grafton jokes.   Friday Book Design Blog: Help me build an A-Z of book covers | Jonathan Gibbs | Independent Arts Blogs.

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When books went bad: Charting the demise of the well made book

 Graph accompanying  Extracts from an investigation into the physical properties of books, as they are at present published, undertaken by the Society of Calligraphers   The pamphlet was printed and published by noted American type designer, calligrapher, and book designer W.A. Dwiggins and L.B. Siegfried in 1919 and decried the then current state of book production. For the Society it was unanimous; "All Books of the Present Day are Badly Made" The reason were plenty "to wean mankind from the use of books. Automobiles, the motion-picture drama, professional athletics, the Saturday Evening Post" and the Society was resigned to the fact that...

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Playing Cards for the Literary Set

  We're loving the latest from Madrid-based, book-friendly, illustrator Fernando Vicente. This time around it's a deck of playing cards for Nordicalibros featuring a slew of literary portraits created over the years by Vincente. Just think of all the new card, and/or drinking, games that await.   Previously on Book Patrol: Portraits by Fernando Vicente Fernando Vicente illustrates The Communist Manifesto In the Stacks: Playing Cards at the Beinecke

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