Daily Pretties: IQ Test

{ Hospitality by Oh Carlyn }  { Untitled by Salva López }

A Fine Design: Books? What Are Those?

You know how you’re not supposed to judge a book by its cover? Well, sometimes you have to. Here at Westervin, we’re hard at work on a new design for the very blog that you are reading right now. I’ve found that one of the best ways to find inspiration for website design is to look at design in other fields: enter The Book Cover Archive.

As the name implies, the site is a collection of book cover designs. But it’s not just a collection of any old books. It’s a curated collection of visually interesting books, mostly new, but some old. To explore the selection, you can search by book title, designer, art director, font, or many other elements that might interest you. I realize not all of you are embarking on website redesigns, but perhaps you can find inspiration from book covers for all sorts of creative projects.

Swig & Swill: Beer!

I got a few books recently, one of which, Tasting Beer, has inspired me to, well, taste beer. You should, too. Let’s have a tasting party. An e-tasting party.

{ Hot Day, Cold Beer from Angelica of Swapatorium2 and Scrapatorium }

How’s it going to work, you ask?

1. We need to pick one or two beers that we can all get our hands on. Any suggestions? Any particular beer you’ve been wanting to try?
2. Sometime after we decide on a beer, I’ll post some general notes on tasting and anything unique about the style of beer we’ve chosen.
3. Tasting. Everyone can taste the beer, jot down some tasting notes, and post them as a comment.

Remember you can be a tasting novice or pro, it doesn’t matter. Heck, you don’t even have to like beer. If you think beer tastes like cardboard, let us know, just make sure you tell us what kind of cardboard it tastes like—is there lots of Sharpie-scrawl, packing tape astringency, unbalanced corrugation?

The Book Shop: Obsolete

“Another Book Shop post?” you say.  “What fun!” you say.   You’re too kind.  With this new installment, we’re bringing you a little gem from Anna Jane Grossman.  Obsolete: An Encyclopedia of Once-Common Things Passing Us By is an amusing look at technologies and practices that are outdated and defunct (or quickly getting there) with over 100 subjects from answering machines to wrinkles.  With entries ranging in length from a few sentences to a few pages and quirky pen-and-ink drawings from James Gulliver Hancock, the book offers bite sized quips that are perfect for a few minutes of happy diversion, nostalgic reflection and hearty chuckles.  Grossman is careful not to preach or over-romanticize, but there are certainly a few things I’m sad to see go (e.g. writing letters, Polaroids, body hair) and a few things I’m not (e.g. manual car windows, lickable stamps, “Miss” and Mrs.”).

A few of my favorite entries:

PERCOLATORS: Coffeemakers that pushed boiling water up through a cylinder into a chamber of coffee grounds, producing a brew that smelled better than it tasted and was imbibed from cups that were referred to using the English words “small” and “large”.

LIGHTHOUSES: Structures that emmitted beams of light to signal sea vessels.  Once largely manned by monks who wouldn’t have complained about living in a five-story walk-up…  Also a staple of the collectible figurine market.

ANONYMITY: Living an existence that warranted only two status updates; three, if you got married.

LANDLINES: Magnasonic Telephone from Hindsvik

CURSIVE WRITING: “A form of writing that involved making letters touch each other.  Largely impossible for small children to read; adults fared better, but only slightly.”  Cursive Letter Ring from Silvermade Studio

BLIND DATES: Bad Blind Date Card from GemmaBear

PENNIES: “Coins representing one hundredth of an American dollar, once used for purchasing candy, now used decoratively in jars.”  Wheat Penny Cufflinks from David Gieske

TYPEWRITERS: Vintage Olivetti Typewriter from StilettoGirl Vintage

GETTING LOST: Vintage Cartographic Map T-shirt from Isotope

MILKMEN: “Professionals who delivered dairy products, mostly milk, which came in reusable glass bottles that were not printed with information regarding pasteurization, presence of hormones, additives, calories, vitamin content, or missing children; usually were men accustomed to fielding winking comments about how much they resembled their clients’ children…”  Vintage Milk Bottle Holder w/ Bottles from Our Retro Toybox

POLAROIDS: “Instant memories, squared.”  Vintage Cameras Photo Blocks from Susannah Tucker