This is Paolo Orsacchini's striking design for a limited anniversary edition of the Italian publication of Jules Verne's Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea.The book comes wet. Soaked in sea water then sealed in a nice clear pouch.Luckily, the paper is waterproof so if you want to read it you simply set the book out in the sun. Let it dry then read.I haven't been able to find out much about the book details, like size of the edition and retail price, but the image and the story have been deservedly making the rounds of the design blogs.The concept alone...
Fore-edges
Click on image to enlargevia Flickr - sarahvictoriasmith Book set
The Librarian: Hollywood Style
The documentary film from Overdue Productions "The Hollywood Librarian: A Look at Librarians Through Film" will premier in a couple of weeks at the ALA Conference in Washington, D.C.Here's the trailer:It is the first full-length documentary film to focus on the work and lives of librarians, offering "a unique and charming blend of film clips, humor and critical analysis of the popular image of librarians." The film weaves interviews with real librarians with "movie clips of cinematic librarians."This trailer focuses more on the interviews with librarians (after all the film is premiering at the ALA Conference) but I can't help...
Shelf Talk: The Sorted Books Project of Nina Katchadourian
Since 1993 Nina Katchadourian has assembled more than 130 "book clusters" for both private libraries and public collections.She gets there by "culling through a collection of books, pulling particular titles, and eventually grouping the books into clusters so that the titles can be read in sequence, from top to bottom. The final results are shown either as photographs of the book clusters or as the actual stacks themselves."The photo above is from a group of clusters titled BookPace she did for San Antonio collector and art patron Linda Pace.She has also created clusters for the journal of art and poetics...
Bedtime Stories
Sleepless is a collaborative project between London's Great Eastern Hotel and the students from the Royal College of Art's Design Product department. The goal of the project is to enrich the experience of the hotel's guests and make their stay more than just a place to spend the night.Tiago da Fonseca's contribution is a multi-layered experience titled Bedtime Stories."Once upon a time there was a blanket. This blanket had several sheets containing a traditional bedtime story. Each "page" adds a layer of linen making you warmer (or cooler) and comfier hopefully guiding you and your partner into a pleasant night's...