"In order to hate imperialism you have got to be part of it." - George Orwell What a better way to celebrate the 110th birthday of George Orwell than to kick off a campaign to fund a film version of Orwell's seminal essay, Shooting an Elephant. With the permission of the Orwell Estate in hand Juan Pablo Rothie wants to bring the essay to the screen and has started a Kickstarter campaign to make it happen. First published in 1936 the essay recounts his time as a colonial policeman in Burma when he was faced with a situation where he literally shot an...
A healthier ‘Happy Meal’?
Noted advertising agency Leo Burnett enlisted the magic of paper artist Helen Musselwhite to help with an ad campaign to promote reading and awareness of the natural world for McDonalds in the UK. Musselwhite created a stunning pair of intricately carved ''Happy Meal" boxes! For the reading box McDonalds partnered with DK Publishing and actually put a book inside the 'Happy Meal" box. h/t DesignTAXI
Operation Book Drop
When they first started selling books over 80 years ago they went by the name of Zion Bookstore and sold used Mormon material. Now they are Utah's largest and oldest independent bookseller and sell new, used and rare books in many fields. After a name change and as part of a new move and a branding campaign the bookshop that went from Zion Bookstore to Sam Weller's Books is now Weller Book Works. One of the things they did to raise awareness of the changes was Operation Book Drop. Almost 900 books were wrapped in 7 different graphically pleasing jackets...
Bolaño on view
It has been a decade since Roberto Bolaño's first work, Night in Chile, appeared in English. Translated by Chris Andrews and published by New Directions the book first introduced the Chilean novelist to America. It was also the year Bolaño died. The Bolaño express has been going full speed since. His work has been translated into 35 languages and at least 10 works have since been published in English including Savage Detectives and 2666, which one National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction in 2008. The Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona (CCCB) takes us inside the life of this literary rock star with an exhibit titled...
On designing books for Return of the Jedi
Last month was the 30th anniversary of Return of the Jedi, the third (and then final) chapter in the Star Wars saga. During the hoopla of its release two film-related books where published Return of the Jedi: The Illustrated Edition and the Return of the Jedi Sketchbook. Ballantine Books had the license to publish Star Wars-related books and they were published under either the Ballantine or Del Rey imprint. Alex Jay designed the books and shares his process in Under Cover: Return of the Jedi. Here's a sampling: 30 Things You Didn't Know about Return of the Jedi - Wired