REALLY COOL TABLE

I stumbled upon this boardroom table. It was made by ABGC Architects for an Advertising agency called Boys and Girls.



Yes... it's made out of Legos! 22,742 pieces. No glue involved. Sweet.



Publishers: maybe you should think of making one, yes?

ODD (AND POSSIBLY FUNNY) CHILDREN'S BOOKS

The Huffington Post wrote an article called: The Creepiest Children's Books Ever. Here are a few of the examples they included:



Okay, I'm sure that conjoined twins is a very serious problem for perhaps one in a billion people and it's not at all a funny situation... but I'll admit it... I laughed. A lot. This is one of these things where you have to wonder who this book is targeting. Like I said: it's a serious problem for one person in a the United States MAYBE. Is there even one? I'm sure there will be a lot of sales on that one.



And this... I don't know what this story is about but perhaps they should have rethought the cover just a tad. Enough of my thoughts on that. I don't want to say anymore or I'll get myself in trouble.



And this. It's all nice and painterly and all but if you look closely there's a nude figure in it and stuff. And it's about Hiroshima. Huh???

For the rest of the covers and the journal's own thoughts on them go here. It's worth your time! Trust me. There are a few that I will admit that we, at the bookstore, carry. A couple of them do have their place for the choice customer on occasion.

DESIGN & TEXT IN BOOKS

I have been looking at THIS IS NEW YORK a bit because I'm working on a new book and it takes place in the late 50s - early 60s. This is New York was made during that time period. A lot of times I want the design of my books to be inspired by the time period I'm writing about. As I was looking at the book below I noticed that there is a lot of negative white space. Where the designer chose to put the type is interesting. I think it works well:

period











But if the type was lumped all together in one place, as opposed to sprinkled about asa it is, the book might be ruined. OR suppose the designer got a little overzealous and used odd fonts or bold type or made the fonts colored? The book might also look awful.

What would you have done?

DESIGN MATTERS: GOOD OL' DESIGN

For the research for my latest book I ordered a book called Brave Tales of Real Dogs. I had no idea what it looked like. All I knew is that it MIGHT have SOMETHING about my subject and it was written in 1931. When I got the book I was disapointed with the book's content. It contained almost nothing that I needed. However, its design is wonderful. The purchase was well worth every penny. I will happily perch it on my bookshelf. The design is simple, elegant, and the drawings are quiet and wonderful. You need to get up close to them and smell the pages....