judge a book by its cover

polish literature has a long-standing tradition of using unique, alternative and often intricate designs for book covers. (probably) originating from the avant-garde style of constructivism, as imposed upon society by the propaganda of the soviet union, artists pushed the boundaries beyond political constraints and created something as significant as the words within.

with the release of ‘1000 polish book covers’, a competition was held to redesign more recent books, based on the polish tradition, but from a more modern creative perspective. some of the results are pretty amazing.

http://1000okladek.pl/?lang=en - Originals

http://50watts.com/#1542390/Polish-Book-Cover-Contest-Winners - New Designs

fred eerdekens

“entering the artistic space of fred eerdekens places the spectator in a semantic landscape in which what one had thought of as stable meanings are continually twisted and turned. what better way to figurise this than by letting the spectators themselves ‘twist and turn’ in trying to make sense of the objects.

in spiralling around the objects, they in fact become direct figures of the play of logic that rules the objects. after the linguistic turn, and in the wake of post-structuralist thought, the topography of our mental landscapes has become increasingly intricate. the work of fred eerdekens attests to this fact and it provides a conceptual map of this, in many places still unknown territory.”

http://www.fred-eerdekens.be/

morfoze polyhedron soap

what daily object could have 23 vertices, 63 edges, 45 polygons and is 120g? it could only be morfoze’s polyhedron soap; a fresh, innovative design, which reiterates the fresh, pure and simplistic act of cleansing. despite it being a beautiful design, yevgeny razumov still aims for the soap to be functional, with razumov claiming “i hope that this product would attract people to use hard soap for washing, rather than liquid one which is more harmful to our environment.”

http://www.thedieline.com/blog/2011/6/21/morfoze-polyhedron-soap.html

student spotlight: seed stick

new york art students have designed a chic and modern way for planting seeds. they simply work by placing a seed stick into soil and adding water. the seed stick evolves our view of gardening; what is usually considered as a time consuming hobby - typically enjoyed by the elderly - is now a quick, easy and chic activity, enjoyed by the modern student.

http://www.thedieline.com/blog/2011/6/23/student-spotlightseed-stick.html

U.S. Food and Drug Administration Announces New Cigarette Packaging Requirements

“Following what has been done in many countries all over the world U.S FDA cigarette labels will require larger, more graphic images on the packaging.” Raw, grotesque and even poignant; these images are certainly off-putting. However, might this more artistic approach lead the consumer to believe that these images are only an art and not a reality?

http://www.thedieline.com/blog/2011/6/23/us-food-and-drug-administration-announces-new-cigarette-pack.html

The Cult of Beauty: The Aesthetic Movement 1860-1900

This exhibition celebrates the Aesthetic Movement, which particularly started to take off towards the end of the Victorian Era. The movement strongly contrasted against other contemporary artistic movements, such as the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood; whilst the PRB were strongly illustrating narratives, the Aesthetics aimed to concentrate on the form and beauty of an object.

http://images.dailyexpress.co.uk/img/dynamic/39/285x214/237279_1.jpg

http://www.waterstones.com/wat/images/special/promo/cult-of-beauty_pavonia.jpg

http://rarevictorian.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/02/fw2-11-7c-740563.jpg

http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/ladylever/collections/graphics/large/thetepidarium_large.jpg

monster chocolate

it might seem an unusual contradictory that, despite designer, robert short intending to ‘convince patrons that [victorians] were not monsters at all, but rather, portray them in a way that shows their beauty,’ the name of these chocolates are ‘monster chocolate’. they display an array of victorian images, bringing a particularly classic and traditional quality to these chocolates. educational and delectable.

http://www.thedieline.com/blog/2011/5/27/student-spotlight-monster-chocolate.html

Tesco launches £1 strawberries and cream sandwiches

To celebrate this year’s Wimbledon tennis, Tesco have put an innovative, English twist on their sandwiches. The Daily Mail claim ‘With strawberries at Wimbledon costing four times as much as berries form exactly the same farm sold just outside the gates of the All England Club, Tesco’s latest sandwich could be a godsend.’ Ravishing or just plain ridiculous?

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/06/20/article-2005828-0CA64CFB00000578-893_233x177.jpg

http://bathknight.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/strawberry-and-cream-sandwich-photo.jpg?w=440&h=338

http://cambridgetab.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/Title-Picture-Strawberries-and-Cream.jpg

Outdoor Film Events, London summer 2011

Cinema alfresco is chic, romantic and classic. Available to see at Queen of Hoxton, Trafalgar Square, Canary Wharf, New Street Square, Wimbledon and more. A spectrum of classic films will be aired, from the likes of Ghostbusters to Dr Strangelove to Juno. What a fabulous way to spend a cool English summer evening!

http://www.toimg.net/managed/images/10032115/w482/h298/image.jpg

http://www.toimg.net/managed/images/10167831/w482/h298/image.jpg

http://informedlondon.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/RooftopFilmClub.jpg

Tracey Emin: Love is What You Want

Tracey Emin’s first retrospective ‘Love is What You Want’ is coming to the Hayward Gallery in London this summer. Despite claiming that her art is not solely about sex, she has dedicated one room to this subject. The exhibition contains elements of her childhood- such as fabrics from her grandmother’s nightdress. Emin highlights the element of nostalgia within her exhibition and describes parts as being ‘”delakity”, rickety and dangerous’.

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0CCeN7G7zy6ttszog2u508gQslOBxhelzV36zqbRd_ge1nMrqQmB3TuH7RITNDA5BX4rerCN98bjaHjc-bCHQcN3t6ywzwSHANhvr1YWkZtuw-smw917DsQVQlafyMhm5Zg_qumeR6pF6/s1600/3+-+Tracey+Emin+Love+is+What+You+Want+at+the+Hayward+Gallery.+Photo+David+Levene.jpg

http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/00784/tracey-emin_784985c.jpg

http://www.disneyrollergirl.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Tracey-emin-9.jpg

http://dbprng00ikc2j.cloudfront.net/work/image/434749/qg7swq/20110404235431-18_Tracey_Emin.jpg

l donatellé tea

not to be mistaken for perfume or soap, adrian gilling has created these designs for l donatellé tea to ‘represent the delicate nature of tea-leaves through the subtle use of ornamentation, while focusing on color to convey the essence of both varieties.’ the soft, pastel pink on the rose white tea is indicative to the calm, relaxing experience one would want to feel when drinking this, whilst the bold red against the black on the earl grey packaging introduces connotations of strong, noble tradition.

http://www.thedieline.com/blog/2011/6/7/l-donatelle-tea.html

pluto skin care by bang & olufsen

these designs strongly capture the desire of shaving and moisturising to be a smooth, painless and replenishing process. through their basic, geometric designs and the use of only black and silver, these products represent simplicity and quality. the skin care line apparently “aim to deliver mostly everything a man could ever desire: character, charisma, and class.” the design certainly achieves this.

http://www.thedieline.com/blog/2011/6/16/student-spotlight-pluto-skin-care-by-bang-olufsen.html