Hasta La Ideas

Limited to 1,500 copies, It’s Nice That‘s first ever annual showcases 135 of the INT team’s favourite art, photography, graphic design and illustration projects featured during 2012 on itsnicethat.com…

The 264 page hardback book (which comes in a custom printed box with stickers) sports a bespoke cover by Dutch artist Parra and inside shows work chronologically – in the order it appeared on the It’s Nice That blog.

Additional sections include a round up of books featured over the year on INT’s regular Bookshelf feature, with covers illustrated by Oscar Bolton Green, plus a section devoted to INT’s pick of 2012 graduates, and another dedicated to its favourite exhibitions of the year. Here’s a selection of spreads:

Above: spread showing a section from French illustrator Ugo Gattoni‘s vision of a madcap bicycle race through the streets of London, created for Bicycle, published by Nobrow.

Above, spread from the Bookshelf section, illustrated by Oscar Bolton Green.

Above: spread showing work by collage artist Jens Ullrich.

The above spread features Present Perfect on the left hand page – and Siggi Eggertsson on the right.

Above: More work by Oscar Bolton Green.

Above: artwork by Zander Olsen.

Above: spread showcasing the colourful work of Dutch creative Jordy van den Nieuwendijk.

Above: Nimbus D’Asperemont, 2012, D’Asperemont-Lynden Castle, Rekem – an artwork by Berndnaut Smilde in which clouds are created in gallery environments “using a clever fog machine and carefully controlled temperature.”

“We’ve posted something like 2,500 things on the site this year and although we love the scope and immediacy of online publishing, it feels really right to reproduce some of our favourite pieces in printed form,” says It’s Nice That editor Rob Alderson of the tome. “The online world is so frenetic it basically resets every day whereas this brings together these really diverse but equally amazing projects for posterity.”

The It’s Nice That Annual (£35) is available direct from the It’s Nice That site shop.

itsnicethat.com.

CR In print

In our December issue we look at why carpets are the latest medium of choice for designers and illustrators. Plus, Does it matter if design projects are presented using fake images created using LiveSurface and the like? Mark Sinclair looks in to the issue of mocking-up. We have an extract from Craig Ward’s upcoming book Popular Lies About Graphic Design and ask why advertising has been so poor at preserving its past. Illustrators’ agents share their tips for getting seen and we interview maverick director Tony Kaye by means of his unique way with email. In Crit, Guardian economics leader writer Aditya Chakrabortty review’s Kalle Lasn’s Meme Wars and Gordon Comstock pities brands’ long-suffering social media managers. In a new column on art direction, Paul Belford deconstructs a Levi’s ad that was so wrong it was very right, plus, in his brand identity column, Michael Evamy looks at the work of Barcelona-based Mario Eskenazi. And Daniel Benneworth-Gray tackles every freelancer’s dilemma – getting work.

Our Monograph this month, for subscribers only, features the EnsaïmadART project in which Astrid Stavro and Pablo Martin invited designers from around the world to create stickers to go on the packaging of special edition packaging for Majorca’s distinctive pastry, the ensaïmada, with all profits going to a charity on the island (full story here)

Please note, CR now has a limited presence on the newsstand at WH Smith high street stores (although it can still be found in WH Smith travel branches at train stations and airports). If you cannot find a copy of CR in your town, your WH Smith store or a local independent newsagent can order it for you. You can search for your nearest stockist here. Alternatively, call us on 020 7970 4878 to buy a copy direct from us. Based outside the UK? Simply call +44(0)207 970 4878 to find your nearest stockist. Better yet, subscribe to CR for a year here and save yourself almost 30% on the printed magazine.

CR for the iPad

Read in-depth features and analysis plus exclusive iPad-only content in the Creative Review iPad App. Longer, more in-depth features than we run on the blog, portfolios of great, full-screen images and hi-res video. If the blog is about news, comment and debate, the iPad is about inspiration, viewing and reading. As well as providing exclusive, iPad-only content, the app will also update with new content throughout each month. Try a free sample issue here