Penguin Classic Hardbacks

Penguin have come up trumps again, releasing their new range of hardback books. The design is simple pattern repetition in two colour. I saw the books whilst perusing through the shelves of Waterstones the other day and I was tempted to buy the whole lot, even though I already own half of the titles.

Below is a close up of Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre in red and gray with what looks to be horse chestnut leaves in a traditional arrangement. I will definitely endeavour to introduce them to my bookshelf as soon as I have some spare cash.


I really like this one, mainly for the subtle colours and delicate pattern which I feel really goes with the story of Wuthering Heights. Each pattern is appropriate to the story and I think this is very important, even if it is conceptual and not immediately apparent.


The design is by Coralie Bickford-Smith and more of the covers can be seen on Flickr Other book covers by Bickford-Smith can be seen on her personal website cb-smith.com


More information is available on the Penguin Blog

Mossenger

Mossenger is an event created by Anna Garforth as part of YCN Live. The Mossenger project uses moss to create type for the verse of a poem written by poet Elly Stevens. This live art event already took place between August 26th and September 5th, 2008 in Stoke Newington, London. The pictures above show some of the living moss words from the poem attached to the walls.

Also known as 'Sporeborne', it was featured in Creative Review, Oct 2008. Garforth writes:

"It seems as if writing with moss, represents an unusual synthesis between advanced civilisation and nature. It is a chance for us to speak as individuals and artists, but also to be the spokesperson of organisms which have no voice in our world. We hope that not only the words will be noticed, but also the moss itself, put to the forefront through it's sculpting, fashioned into a form we can understand."


Garforth also created the visuals for a flyer and web banner for a conference that CABE (The Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment) are holding on the emerging role of green infrastructure within the urban environment. These images seem to be based on the images from the Mossenger project.

More of Garforth's work can be seen on crosshatchling.co.uk

Design Classics & Bond Stamps

I recently purchased four sets of these new special edition stamps from Royal Mail, depicting some of the greatest design classics of our time. There are ten stamps in each set.

1. Supermarine Spitfire: RJ Mitchell
2. Mini Skirt: Mary Quant
3. Mini Cooper: Sir Alec Issigonis
4. Anglepoise Lamp: George Cawardine
5. Concorde: Aerospatiale-BAC
6. K2 Telephone Kiosk: Sir Giles Gilbert Scott (pictured above)
7. Polypropylene Chair: Robin Day
8. Penguin Books: Edward Young
9. London Underground Map: Harry Beck (or Henry Beck as I know him) (pictured above)
10. Routemaster Bus: Design team led by AAM Durrant

Each of these stamps are clean and iconic, making the stamps themselves sought after design pieces.

I also gave into some special edition James Bond stamps recently, which I won't be using. These are to be saved, since they are too good to use. Each stamp shows a strip of four Ian Flemming book covers, creating an elongated stamp which is more unusual than the standard.



All stamps are available from the Royal Mail