Since the dawn of printing with moveable type printers have used various design elements to embellish the printed page.Design elements of the ornaments include typographic fleurons, dingbats, headpieces, tailpieces, scrolls, trophies, lunettes, calligraphic and heraldic devices, cupids and wreathes.BibliOdyssey has a tremendous post on this long-standing relationship of word and image and often overlooked aspect of book illustration. He has also put together a Flickr set with over 80 examples of the craft.
Tipping Point
“Maintain The Balance of Your Knowledge!” by Denis OhForget functionality this is a bookshelf with some interactive potential. Put this one up in your living room and invite your friends over or simply enjoy a book balancing evening alone.What you put on it determines how it will look.Think of all the possibilities?How many books of poetry would it take to balance out War and Peace?The book you are currently reading on one side with your e-reader and the e-book version on the other.Your 5 favorite books vs. your 5 least favorite.It could turn into a long night.Thanks to the Bookshelf...
The Rise of the Bookshelf in the Internet Age
Neverending Luca Nichetto & Andreoli, 2007One aspect of book culture that seems to be flourishing is bookcase design. Hardly a week goes by without me seeing an image of a newly designed bookcase; the designs and creativity seem endless."If you've still got an Ikea "Billy" holding up the wall in your apartment, maybe it's time you freshened up," is how Rain Noe puts it in his post over at Core77, "If the Kindle Wins, Bookshelf Designers Lose." Freshome has posted a gallery of their favorite 30 contemporary bookshelf designs of the last year and a blog called Bookshelf has recently...
The Peace Symbol Turns Fifty
It was fifty years ago today that Gerald Holtom designed the logo for the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. It signaled the beginning of the British peace movement and the beginning of it's reign as the global symbol for Peace. It is arguably the healthiest logo ever created and one of the few A-list logos not of corporate origin.To commemorate the anniversary Barry Miles has written Peace: Fifty Years of Protest.It is about "the story of the creation of the original symbol and of how it has been used over the past five decades by peace activists around the world." It...
Altered Romance: Valentine’s Day with Mark Longmire
"It's All About the Love Baby, The Love" is the tagline for graphic designer Mark Longmire's hilarious look at the world of Romance novels.Longmire went down to the used bookstore bought some romance novels and went to work. "The artwork almost writes its own jokes" says Longmire.Here is the full gallery of Longmire's "re-imagined" romance covers.