Hasta La Ideas

Image by Jake Longstreth

Loose Leaf is a new publication from San Francisco that celebrates the city’s creativity. It comes as a series of unbound prints that can be hung on pegs and shuffled according to taste…

“We spend so much time discovering great work online and hitting the ‘bookmark’ button but never really experiencing a connection to the work in a more physical way,” says Tom Crabtree, creative director of Manual, the design studio who are behind the project. “In a sense, Loose Leaf is bookmarking in a permanent way.”

Loose Leaf is a print edition complete with pegged hanging system that allows for the work to be exhibited and shuffled as the viewer likes. Each issue comes with three aluminium push pins and the look, says Crabtree, is “very much a utilitarian format inspired by loose leaf dividers you would see in a stationery store.”

Andrew Zuckerman

Louisa Parris

On the reverse of each individual sheet, each contributor also lists what hangs on their walls, offering a glimpse of their own inspiration. “I guess that’s the whole idea behind Loose Leaf,” says Crabtree. “It’s about being inspired by work that surrounds you. It’s also about permanence – not storing something on a shelf or on a hard drive, but living with it.”

“Over half of the work in Loose Leaf has been created specially for the edition and while there’s certainly diversity in the visual content, it’s all been filtered through the eyes of this graphic design studio, so we hope there’s an interesting angle to the selection of works,” says Crabtree. “Being a commercial design studio, we’re accustomed to answering our clients’ briefs, and there’s something very enjoyable with being able to give visual artists a theme and get a response, or talk with them about what they might produce.”

Jeff Canham

Dave Eggers

The contributors range from established names to lesser-known talents, from both in the fine arts and commercial arts, design, and fashion. The theme of this first edition is the San Francisco Bay area.

“We’ve also kept everything local, from the paper company and printer, and even the shipping folders we had made to specification,” says Crabtree. “Sustainability is also something we’ve thought about. Even though we’re only printing 1,000 of these, it’s a pretty big format for a publication so we selected a local paper manufacturer and printer that place sustainability at the core of their business. With each edition we will also be donating a portion of sales to a San Francisco arts-based non-profit.”

Manual plan to print Loose Leaf biannually and may set up a subscription-based model in the future. Themes will vary each issue. The edition measure 16″ by 23.5″.

To buy an edition of Loose Leaf ($80), go to looseleafeditions.com.

Image: Big Active

Over the last few days, jubilant creatives have been celebrating the news that their work has been shortlisted at D&AD. So why are many of them now retracting their joyous tweets and, in some cases, apologising to clients?

Since last week, D&AD has been releasing the details online of the hundreds of projects that have been selected for In Book inclusion, those Nominated for a pencil, and, under another heading, work that has been Shortlisted. It is this final category that is causing particular confusion.

Yesterday afternoon, one well-known UK design studio tweeted their delight that one of their projects for an international brand had been “shortlisted” at D&AD. By this morning, the tweet had disappeared, as had the one retweet CR recalled seeing.

Many more creatives turned to Twitter to voice their concerns over the confusion that the use of this non-category has generated, and a short statement was added in bold to the newly-published lists of the In Book and Nominated work on D&AD’s website.

“The shortlist is all the work that survived the first round but was not awarded,” it read. This was also the sole response to tweeter, @onlyben, when he asked the organisation what exactly was going on. In another exchange @Visuelleuk tweeted, “It could be a pencil. Bloody confusing though isn’t it with ‘nominated’, ‘in-book’ & ‘shortlisted’.”

Well, yes. To the outsider, even the regular awards categorisation is challenging. The Nominated work can win a pencil and appears in the book; the In Book work, while in the book, cannot be nominated for a pencil. Bringing in a Shortlisted category, for work that isn’t going any further than first round voting, only adds to the nomenclature party.

Another prominent UK-based designer told CR that he has had numerous exchanges with studios that, on seeing their project in the Shortlisted category online, assumed this meant it was in the running for an award and duly passed on the good news to the relevant client.

“I emailed a client to say ‘hey look, well done’ and then yesterday had to write a retraction email,” he said. “Luckily I didn’t fire off ten, otherwise that could have been really sticky. [The] problem seems to be rooted in the fact that ‘shortlist’ sounds better than ‘In Book’.”

That’s true yet, as everyone knows, a shortlist is a narrow group of things; the best of what’s been whittled down from a longlist. It shouldn’t be a retroactively named list of also-rans. But, perhaps, for D&AD it’s another level of recognition to be celebrated? Another chance for the work that nearly made it to garner some praise?

But a quick Google later and The Other Media’s triumphant post on their ‘success’ in the Digital Design category is all too sad to see. You can read the post here. It’s sad because according to the D&AD list online, they don’t actually stand to win anything. They’ve only been “shortlisted” along with 16 others.

“Maybe D&AD were aiming for more transparency,” our anonymous designer continued, “the details of what gets in or what just misses the cut are forever shrouded in controversy. Trouble is [I’m] not sure this has helped. Perhaps they are trying to boost numbers by adding this extra layer. It seems to be embarrassing all round – various people will have got excited to be shortlisted only to find out that hasn’t happened.”

Furthermore, by issuing the details of the work that was considered for the coveted In Book and Nominated positions, entrants can now see exactly how far their work got in that process but still won’t know what stopped it going the extra oh-so-important mile. Equally, those studios and agencies who resort to tactical blanket bombing of the awards sections now have their efforts on show for all to see.

Rather than offering transparency, the designer CR spoke to implied that most of his studio were actually now even more wary of the judging process. That can never be something D&AD would want.

It’s been a while since we showcased some of the nice publications to land on our desks so here’s a few for you – including the latest from Nobrow, a zine from Wiltshire, and also the first issue of a new bi-annual publication from Manchester menswear store, Oi Polloi, entitled Pica-Post…

Pica-Post’s 26 pages feature illustrations by Ben Lamb of models decked out in a particular look that can be attained by picking out choice garments from the store’s selection of menswear brands. Shown below is the Thai-vy Leager…

Each of these spreads is followed by a spread showing the various items of clothing, foorwear and accessories that make up the look:

Towards the back of Pica-Post are three essays, one of which addresses the enduring popularity of the moccasin in Manchester, and another which investigates the ever popular smart casual staple, khakis. All in all, the publication of Pica-Post helps to reinforce the notion that Oi Polloi is concerned with an intelligent quest for enduring style, rather than the fickle following of fashion. We like. Each issue of Pica-Post will be limited to 1000 copies and available in Oi Polloi’s Manchester store. More details at oipolloi.com

Melon Shrub is just under A4 size, 42 page zine created by Wiltshire-based illustrator Murray Somerville and Jack Burston and limited to just 40 numbered copies. This, the second issue is themeless and collects illustrations and written pieces including poetry, features and opinion pieces. The overall feeling is of experimentation and it’s the illustration that really jumps off the page. £8 from Somerville’s etsy shop.

Somerville also sent us a copy of Symmetricrite, a small, single colour printed zine containing perfectly symmetrical spreads of illustrations, each page mirroring the one opposite, creating a kaleidoscopic effect.

See more of Somerville’s illustration work at murraysomerville.blogspot.com

Also to land on our desks this month is Images of Engraving In Private and Business Communication, sent to us by the British Engraved Stationery Association. Yes, it sounds a little dry, but I wanted to include it here as it contains, besides an enlightening introduction to the history and techniques involved in engraving and associated printing types, stunning and varied examples of engraving, printed with a variety of colours including silver and gold – and some intricate blind embossing. With the camra’s “macro” setting on, here’s a look at some of the examples…

More information about the British Engraved Stationery Association at besaprint.co.uk

Last but not least is Obsolete by Danish comic book artist, Mikkel Sommer. The comic is the latest publication in Nobrow‘s highly collectible 17×23 series of illustrated narratives and is also, the darkest most disturbing story to be published by Nobrow. The comic follows two burntout ex soldiers as they embark on a drink and drug fuelled bank heist with minimal planning and maximum mental baggage. The result is as compelling as it is tragic thanks to the brilliant rhythm and pace created by Sommer’s illustrated panels. Don’t read it just before going to a party, though. This is powerful stuff. £6.50 from nobrow.net

Last year, Jonathan Safran Foer’s die-cut novel Tree of Codes proved to be a triumph of print and production from publishers, Visual Editions. They recently released a short film showing some of the processes that went into making this unique book…

The die-cut technique is central to Safran Foer’s novel. In it he creates a new story from cutting text out of an existing work, namely Bruno Schulz’s The Street of Crocodiles (a favourite book of Safran Foer’s).

To create Tree of Codes each page featured a different die-cut. Visual Editions worked with Die Keure in Belgium to produce the book, having been turned down by every other printer they approached – frequently with claims of “this book can’t be made” ringing in their ears.

So here’s a little film about what happens when you decide to make an extremely unusual book: one that despite the odds, can indeed be made. More on the book itself, here and The Trees of Codes’ microsite is here.

CR in print

Thanks for reading the CR Blog, but if you’re not reading us in print too, you’re missing out on a richer, deeper view of your world. Our April issue features our Top 20 logos of all time. You can buy it today by calling +44(0)207 292 3703. Better yet, subscribe to CR, save yourself almost a third and get Monograph for free plus a host of special deals from the CR Shop. Go on, treat yourself.

D&AD has launched the White Pencil, an award for “a creative idea that changes the world for the better”.

One White Pencil will be awarded each year at the D&AD Awards, and each year D&AD will set a new live brief with a different partner or cause, and challenge the creative community to find a solution. The first White Pencil will be awarded at the 2012 ceremony, which will mark the 50th anniversary of D&AD. For the inaugural award, it is partnering with non-profit organisation Peace One Day, and inviting creatives the world over to create a campaign/design that will help raise awareness of Peace Day, which takes place on September 21.

Peace One Day was founded by filmmaker Jeremy Gilley in 1999, with the aim of establishing an annual day of global ceasefire and non-violence. In 2001, September 21 was adopted by the member states of the United Nations as Peace Day. In the interim ten years, Gilley has spent time raising the profile of Peace Day (with the help of celebrities including Jude Law, Angelina Jolie, Jonny Lee Miller and others) and also lobbying politicians and armies to respect the day of peace. The organisation has achieved significant moments of success, including on Peace Day 2009, when a ceasefire was respected by all warring factions in Afghanistan and a polio immunisation drive was carried out in eight provinces.

The brief from D&AD is simple: help institutionalise Peace Day around the world so that it is familiar to people as Mother’s Day or Valentine’s Day. Anybody can enter, and all entries must be created and executed before the submission deadline: there is no client approval process, entrants are encouraged to just get their ideas out into the world. In this way, the cause will benefit not just from the winner’s efforts but from the efforts of every entrant.

The submission deadline is yet to be announced, though will the scheme will open for entries in October this year. More info on the White Pencil can be found here, and on Peace One Day here.

CR in print

Thanks for reading the CR Blog, but if you’re not reading us in print too, you’re missing out on a richer, deeper view of your world. Our April issue features our Top 20 logos of all time. You can buy it today by calling +44(0)207 292 3703. Better yet, subscribe to CR, save yourself almost a third and get Monograph for free plus a host of special deals from the CR Shop. Go on, treat yourself.