“If you want to read it as a mystery, a clue is: the bald spot.”
So reads the inner flap to Ellen Raskin’s 1974 young adult novel Figgs & Phantoms. Raskin’s second novel (and twelfth book) wraps playful meditations on life, death, identity, family, and dreams in a mysterious romance (or a romantic mystery). Raskin created the cover, supplied several illustrations, and designed the intricate playbill and posters that add to the story.
In Japan, QR codes are being embedded on gravestones, creating a URI for accessing photographs and videos of the deceased via cellphones. Those who have strolled through cemeteries, wandering through aisles of strangers will wonder no longer. Mobile technology before death: cellphones now allow scientists the ability to track human movement much more precisely. The studies have revealed that the patterns closely follow power laws.
Two interesting news visualizations: TimesMachine allows you to flip through New York Times front pages back to 1851. Big Picture, a news blog exploring the power of a single image. It consists of a large format AP photograph selected from breaking news stories.
Photos of the Titanic from the Library of Congress. The artwork of Yellena James. The photography of Cecile Bortoletti and those represented by AR Photographic Agency. Wild Light: a wildlife photography blog.
Until the Kingdom Comes: artwork by Simen Johan. The Sea Inside: psychedelic ink drawings by Maia Valenzuela. The art of David Haines, who tarnishes delicate pencil drawings with gum, mosquitoes, and blood.
An interview with John Gall on book cover design, including some of his favorites.
The social web as a physical product: Olinda is a prototype radio that notifies you when your friends are listening and what they are listening too. It also features a type of auto-complete in that an alternate dial will only cycle between your favorite stations. More concepts for keyboards from Yamaha can be seen here.
Going the opposite way, Times attempts to render syndicated feeds in a more familiar layout: that of a newspaper front page. Seek, part of the SIMILE Project for faceted email searching for Thunderbird.
Or: A different type Thunderbird.
Clean type on the covers of Faber’s 20th century classics. Make your own large type shirts courtesy of Print Liberation.
Nigeria Special, in three flavors: Rock Special — Psychedelic Afro-Rock and Fuzz Funk in 1970s Nigeria, Disco Funk Special — The Sound of the Underground Lagos Dancefloor, 1974-1979, and the regular Special — Modern Highlife, Afro-Sounds and Nigerian Blues, 1970-76. Tracked down the vinyl here.
Nina Katchadourian’s series of uninvited collaborations with nature contains a project wherein she attempted to mend broken spider webs using starched red sewing thread, sometimes adding new dimensions to the web. All of her repairs were rejected. Another of her works captures her attempt to patch mushroom caps.
Also crawling out of the forest, the eerie and organic folk of Big Blood’s Grove at Grown So Ugly. Digital facsimiles of the rituals will suffice for now, as the disc is only available at performances. Wild in the city and long hair in many stages, the coiffal history of Black Flag.
Anne Hardy’s world of interiors, scenes with no need for human characters. Scan galleries: 1968 Fender catalog, 1950’s - 1970’s advertising, and most striking of all Chutes Libre covers.
Ben Fry traces the roads of the America using US Census data’s TIGER/Line files, changing our understanding of our byways and identifying stark contrasting regions. Andy_house, a house that speaks through Twitter.