Printing with threads

So, you decide to research the possibilities of combining crafts and new technologies, printing and colour theory and you have excellent skills with a needle... add quite a bit of patience and dedication and ...ah yes! your name is Evelin Kasikov, now you have all the key ingredients for these beautiful and intricate books, craft at its best.

And as much as the finish work is a thing of beauty it's always interesting to see the process and sometimes if we are lucky to get a peek at previous work and experiments that lead to it. I find the work in her sketchbooks equally fascinating, maybe due to the unfinished and less controlled nature of sketch work.

all images by Evelin Kasikov, obtained from her website

(via It's nice that)

Woodtype Now!

An interesting and inspiring research project by Dafi Kühne for his visual communications Bachelor, where he combines digital composing and production methods with traditional letterpress techniques. A very thorough piece of research with beautiful results, Dafi has experimented with a variety materials from cardboard to plexiglas, adhesive foil and thread on plates.

*all images by Dafi Kühne from his research catalogue (presented in website form).

breaking the silence

Stop frame beauty by Andersen M Studio, a promotional piece for New Zealand Book Council. What better way to come back from this long silence.

*images by Andersen M Studio via It's nice that

Doing it for the kids

Some lovely nursery rhymes posters by Sub-studio I specially like the retro look of the illustrations and the simplicity of the two colour approach, moving away from the habitual over-use of saturated colours in materials for children. I would very happily own one of these.

And, even though the style is completely different, these prints got me thinking of illustrators from when I was a child and I recalled the work of Pablo Ramirez (Linares, 1926 - Jaén, 1966). At the time I didn't know his name only that I quite enjoyed the books and illustrations. It is quite hard to find images of his work on the internet but he pretty much illustrated every single book I read as I was growing up. He was extremely prolific in his short life and I'm sure his work influenced the aesthetic values of various generations of children in Spain.

*top images by Sub-studio from their shop website

a bit of entertainment...

Life is a bit hectic right now, and though I had a list of wonderful things to post about time has passed the exhibitions are gone and now it seems a bit ludicrous to talk about them. However I leave you with this beautiful interactive animation to keep you happy and busy until I can return with more printed matter goodness...

Painting a song "Soy tu Aire" by Labuat

*animation by Jossie Malis from an idea by Herraiz Soto & Co. ,programming by Badabing. Music of course by Labuat (you may have heard of them, I hadn't)

found via We Made This

discover America...

...best by car, indeed, how else?

I've been meaning for a while to post about the above wedding invites by all round designer and 'renaissance woman' Melissa Bluhm (landscape architect, illustrator, occasional printer...). Sorry, no link to a website showing her work yet, hopefully this will change soon- I've already been talking to her about the joys of Indexhibit, see if she gets the hint. However, in the meantime I thought I would share her extremely informative invitations -the back of the map is full of details, from how to get there to what to wear. The vintage theme will also be continued in the reception and I know she's planning other bits and pieces to match the invitations, but I won't spoil them here just in case any guests are reading...

This is where we live

This Is Where We Live from 4th Estate on Vimeo.

A city made out of books, cut-out paper and stop frame animation... my kind of heaven. You'll need to watch it more than once to see all the little details happening in the background. Published at Christmas but I have just found out about it... oops, sorry about the delay,  a charming stop animation film produced by Apt Studio And Asylum Films to celebrate the 25th anniversary of publishing house 4th Estate (an imprint of Harper Collins). 

*video by Asylum Films

ABC 3D

Back at Christmas -you may remember- I mentioned the ABC 3D book by Marion Bataille, well I have just found this short video demonstrating how all the letters come to life as you pass the pages. Enjoy!

*unfortunately I haven't been able to find much about Marion Bataille so I have no link to her work.

All things Victorian

Doing research for a project I found some images of work by Dan Hillier, I remember having seen them before but this time I checked his website and blog. I most definitely prefer his altered engravings (images above) where he combines original Victorian engravings to achieve an unexpected and quite eerie effect, which -as I'm finding out- is something that the Victorians themselves would have approved of.

*all images from Dan Hillier's website

De Plastilina

I have just found out (checking old posts by Drawn) about the work of Irma Gruenholz. She creates these remarkably unaffected yet detailed illustrations with soft clay. I think it is the sculpted element that really makes it special for me and the way she uses other materials to add texture and depth. Don't you wish you had sticked with play-doh when you were a kid... sadly I never passed beyond the 'everything will eventually become dodgy brown' stage.

*all photos by Irma Gruenholz taken from her website

Her Morning Elegance

Stop frame animation at its best, no more words needed.

*by Oren Lavie, found via Fubiz

time flies...

...whether you are having fun or not! wherever did January go? belated Happy New year all the same. Hope you all had a good holiday and a good start of the year. The holidays seem so far now but I have to share my little discovery while was away... I've fallen in love with this beauty

In fact you could say the love affair is with the whole shop but I'd be happy to start small. For those of you in Spain if you are in the South (Jerez) and need any items for your old typewriter or even an old typewriter this is the place to go -Arroyo in Calle Porvera. Sadly I came out only with a new ribbon for my Olivetti lettera 32.

On a different topic, a friend (thanks Nick!) pointed me in the direction of this intricate and delicate work by Japanese artist Yuken Teruya who makes beatiful cut-out shapes from anything he gets his hands on, pizza boxes, toilet rolls, paper bags. Here follows a sample for your enjoyment...

*top images by inkthread, bottom images by Yuken Teruya studio

...on the twelve day of Christmas

Just a short note to wish you all a very happy holiday and of course an excellent New Year 2009. Inkthread has lots of new plans and good resolutions for the next year, some are old ideas that never took shape during 2008 and with a bit of luck and lots of hard work we are sure will come to live in 2009. As always we will keep you informed... thanks for reading.

And now a few things that I hope to find under the Inkthread tree, I have been very very good indeed!

No 1. The beautifully designed and bound selection of classics by Penguin. So you may have read them all by now but did they look this good on the outside? Well, now the cover matches the quality of the content, form follows content, ahem.



No 2. ABC 3D a pop-up book where each letter of the alphabet magically transforms with every page you open. Using a restricted palette of black, white and red. You can find it via Present & Correct.


No 3. Rainbow In Your Hand, flip book by Masashi Kawamura. Flip the pages and the rainbow appears...very sweet. Find it at Analogue Books.

No 4. The Applause Machine, designed by Martin Smith for Laikingland. Just press the button and the Applause Machine claps its hands for you in case you need cheering up, silly but funny.

*all images from the websites mentioned as links, (except top image by Inkthread).

stamps stamps!!

Is it a nerdy thing to collect stamps? or anything else for that matter...not sure. All the same, even if collecting stamps is not your thing this detailed poster will probably be and with stamps looking like this who could blame you.

"A field guide to stamps of the world" by Gavin Potenza is a letterpress poster representing 20 original stamp designs from around the world, printed on archival printmaking paper in a limited edition of 200. Beautifully printed, if you feel so inclined you can buy it from his website.

(via the Designboom blog)

*all images from Gavin Potenza's website

...violets are blue

It's amazing what some people can do with a sharp blade, a bit of paper and a good few hours! I suspect they are laser-cut though.

"All year rings" by designer Tithi Kutchamuch in co-operation with Nutre Arayavanish, twelve flower rings (one per calendar month) that come alive from their flat and intriguing two dimensional form into full three dimensional beauties. Personally, and although I know that the whole point of their existence is the fact that they are rings, I prefer them coming out of the card.

*all images from Tithi Kutchamuch's website