Out of Print eBook Jackets

I've always been a big fan of Out of Print, a clothing and accessories shop that puts the most beautiful vintage book titles onto products you feel like you have to own. Plus, they're partnered with Books for Africa, a non-profit doing some great things for world literacy.

Now, Out of Print has launched a Kickstarter campaign to "put the 'book' back into eBooks" by creating hardcover cases for iPad, Kindle Fire and Nexus 7. Yes, please.

There are 18 days left to go in the project, and although they've already passed the required funding, every dollar helps make a better product. I can't wait to see these made and grab one for my iPad. I think my favorite right now is The Wizard of Oz.

More Out of Print love,
and more Kickstarter projects I've enjoyed.

(all images via the Kickstarter page)

The Shape of Design

So remember when Frank Chimero launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund his new book "The Shape of Design"? Yeah, that was pretty good. What is great though is the book is finally available for pre-order in both print and digital editions.

The print edition is $30 and also includes a digital version with purchase. The digital version alone is only $10 so there is really no excuse to not buy this.

If you're still not sure you want to spend $10 on something awesome, CLICK HERE.

And no, this is not some sort of sponsored post. I just think it's important to encourage my fellow designers to support our other fellow designers.

PS. More about Frank, including a video about "The Shape of Design".
Plus, his site, which is fantastic.

Kate Spade wins, again

Canvas Bella Nook cover from Kate Spade, featuring art by Bella Foster.
(image)

Gadget Covers, Part II

Kate Pruitt from Design*Sponge put together a pretty extensive collection of e-reader and iPad covers sure to please basically anyone interested. It features a few covers I had on my own list (CLICK HERE to see it), and a few more I'd like to add.
(From top to bottom) Moleskine Cover with Reporter-Style notebook; M-Edge Flip Jacket; Jonathan Adler Punctuation Cover

The third is my favorite. I love all-things ampersands! 

Gadget Covers

We all claim to love sleek-shiny new toys, yet, we also love when we can cover them up and make them look like books. Here are some of my favorite book covers for tech toys.

1. BookBook from twelve south. Available in Vibrant Red and Classic Black, for MacBook Pro only.

2. Hymn Book from SUCK UK, for iPod. The site says it hasn't been made available yet but I'm pretty sure I've seen it around.

3.  Vintage Covers from VintageCovers on Etsy. My favorites by far. For the Kindle, the Nook, the Kobo, Sony Reader and the iPad, and created from actual vintage books.

4. BOOK from Nedrelow. A simple design that seems like it would protect your iPad really well. You can also personalize it but adding your own text to the cover and/or spine.

The Future of the Book

This video is a lot of awesome in under five minutes. Watch it either here on the page, or at Vimeo.

Created by IDEO, "The Future of the Book", the video explores the idea that "an increasingly digital context can add to our notion of books, instead of taking away from it."

They propose three ways to read: Nelson, Coupland and Alice. To learn more about them, click to read under the jump. Then, if you have ideas to contribute, check out their Facebook page by CLICKING HERE.

Impressive Library

So, this blog is basically on a moving hiatus right now, but seriously, how depressing is this cartoon? Womp womp.

You Are Not a Gadget

If you follow design work at all and think you've never seen work by Olly Moss, you're probably wrong.

Moss has created a number of illustrations and designs, and his work can be found on apparel at Urban Outfitters, Threadless and more.

One of my favorite Moss works is his cover design for "You Are Not A Gadget", a technology manifesto written by Jaron Lanier.



I absolutely love the irony of this cover. To design the cover as an electronic reader seems almost obvious, and yet, the original cover was much different.

I am still on the fence about e-readers in general, though. I would personally love if I could use one for my college textbooks but that's about it. I still love the feeling of the weight of a book in my hands, and the sense of accomplishment from physically turning the last page of a great story. I also worry a bit about what e-readers will do to the art of cover design. The situation is obviously out of my hands, so for now I am enjoying watching the trend evolve and still love seeing great print covers like Moss'.