Thursday 28 August 2014

J U D G I N G   B Y   T H E    C O V E R

Text: Hina Nitesh

The old adage goes, 'don't judge a book by its cover'. 

This one is to be taken metaphorically, book lovers don't take offence. On the other hand it is the cover of a book that says or tries to say everything about it.

Image Courtesy - www.hackneycitizen.co.uk

Most of us who love to read and devour every printed word, probably also remember each and every detail about it including the cover. I used to be a book worm who could not have enough of books - that was some centuries ago. Today lets just say that I manage to read but have passed on the secret to the boys. 

Image Courtesy - www.liveunchained.com

Books from my childhood would take me to the imaginary land of fairies, where everything began with 'once upon a time' and end with 'they lived happily ever after'. Or there were stories from the jungle where animals could talk. Whatever be the story inside, the expectations were raised by the cover. I would especially be intrigued by the gold engraved letters on those books.

Image Caption - www.artofnarrative.tumblr.com

Image Courtesy - www.babyzone.com

Image Courtesy - www. telegraph.co.uk

Image Courtesy - www.blesstheirheartsmom.blogspot.com


Even today two things are very important when it comes to picking up a book for reading. If the book has not been recommended or if I haven't read the reviews and I have to select something at random, then I go by the title – how interesting does it sound, and, the cover. If the two together have managed to catch my attention, I flip over to read about it.  

Image Courtesy- www.designobserver.com
Image Courtesy - www.youthedesigner.com
Image Courtesy - www.bookriot.com 
Image Courtesy - www.buzzfeed.com

Cover design seems a fun thing to do. There are so many elements that the designer can experiment with - fonts, colours, images, illustration, typography etc. to convey the theme of the book. Below are some covers which I am sure will make you want to flip the book open and read ...

Image Courtesy - www.fourthmusketeer.blogspot.com

Image Courtesy- www.ecuad.ca

Image Courtesy - www.designobserver.com

Image Courtesy - www.designobserver.com
Image Courtesy - www.goodreads.com

Image Courtesy - www.huffingtonpost.com

Image Courtesy - www.jimflora.com

Image Courtesy - www.joycejohnsonbooks.com

Image Courtesy - www.leestoops.com

Image Courtesy - www.neatorama.com

Image Courtesy - www.philnel.com

Image Courtesy - www.randomhouse.com

Image Courtesy - www.skipprichard.com


Image Courtesy - www.spellsoup.com

Image Courtesy - www.smashingmagazine.com

Image Courtesy - www.youthedesigner.com

Image Courtesy - www.youthedesigner.com

Image Courtesy - www.youthedesigner.com

Image Courtesy - vvarma.com

Image Courtesy - www.youthedesigner.com

Image Courtesy - www.youthedesigner.com

Image Courtesy - www.youthedesigner.com

Image Courtesy - www.youthedesigner.com

Text & creative layout copyrights: Onthedesignboat 


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Sunday 24 August 2014

S T R E E T    A R T   -  E n e r g i z i n g   s p a c e s

 
Ever experienced boredom while walking down a street; using the same route everyday to reach a destination; seeing the same trees, buildings & people? 

I rarely do - there is so much activity in a city like Mumbai to keep one absorbed at every step, every turn. 

This city always seems to be on the move - people churning in and out of railway stations; food vendors & street merchants peddling their wares in front of glitzy showrooms; a never ebbing flow of vehicles occupying every inch of available roads; toy vendors on traffic signals,  flower traders everywhere on festivals - there is much to see, smell and desire on any day out. 

However, I would absolutely not mind encounters of the kind we bring to you today :) Encounters that immediately bring a smile to your face, lighten the mood and make you say 'wow'!

Presenting street art by Oakoak


A well known street artist from Saint Etienne, France, Oakoak uses the simplest everyday elements as interventions to create graffiti that is at once appealing & so appropriate to the space it is created on :


Be it this railing end



Or, this patch of peeled off paint, so imaginatively depicted as a mill.



"I like this city, her atmosphere" OakOak says of Saint Etienne "and I wanted it to look nicer. It was an industrial city with many coal mines; now it's in regeneration and still quite poor. But it's easily travelled by foot with awkward aspects ideal for art. I saw shapes everywhere, and wanted to realise them." www.theoutsiders.net


What a wonderful attempt at energizing spaces through art - anybody up for this in my city?!




 Who would have thought of a 'cat in the shadows'?


Or a Liliputian disappearing into the boundary wall, seeing me approach :)


This one needs help for sure..


Care to approach the Hulk?


Or would you rather watch a circus artiste..


Me - I am off to a desert safari


I guess Oakoak decided we have had enough smiles for the day :)

Innovative, thoughtful & very creative indeed.

Images: Oakoak
 
Text & creative layout copyrights: Onthedesignboat 


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Saturday 23 August 2014

S H O P   w i t h   O N   T H E   D E S I G N   B O A T

Fabric, paper, pen
And some imagination..

  


We are super excited to bring to you the 'On the Design Boat' Shop!

The last few months at OTDB have been busy for us - cross city brain storming, sourcing fabric, garment sampling and much more.

We have been able to give a physical direction to our interest in fabrics and textile techniques in the form of this collection of gorgeous khadi shirts for the little men in our lives.

Our international friends can shop at our Etsy store:

https://www.etsy.com/shop/onthedesignboat

For those of us who call India home, drop us a line at onthedesignboat@gmail.com for details.

The journey has just begun :) 

Tuesday 19 August 2014

P A P E R    T A L E S ...
Text: Hina Nitesh


Image Courtesy - www.artyulia.com
Thin strips of coloured paper, a small tool and a whole lot of imagination can result in some very beautiful products. I had bought these strips to keep the boys occupied with something constructive during the summer break. what they made out of it is another story but it definitely made me have a deeper look into the technique.


Image Courtesy - www.allthingspaper.net

Image Courtesy - www.odditycentral.com

Image Courtesy - www.lifechilli.com

By the way, I am talking about quilling. Also known as paper filigree, this art form involves rolling, curling, twisting,shaping and gluing the coloured strips of paper to form various shapes. What results can be used as a decorative ornament for cards, boxes, book covers, painting etc. 


Image Courtesy - nelika-neli.blogspot.com


Image Courtesy - www.etsy.com/shop/QuillingbyCourtney

As far as quilling is concerned, you are limited only by your imagination.


Image Courtesy - www.allthingspaper.net

Quilling originated during the Renaissance period with the French and Italian nuns and monks using the technique to decorate religious books and other items. They used paper with gilded edges and the designed imitated the ironwork patterns that were popular during the time. Later when quilling became a popular craft, it was limited to ladies of the 'upper' caste in Europe. 


Image Courtesy - artist Farah-al-Fardh at www.admaf.org

Image Courtesy - amazinginteriordesign.com

Image Courtesy - www.curlyquills.wordpress.com

Quilling is getting revived today with a number of people (including two lil boys) turning into quillers. it is not too hard to see why - the art involves using raw materials that are not too expensive. To add to that is the mind boggling variety of papers that are available to the quillers. Jewelry seems to the most popular product that is being made with this technique.
Image Courtesy - Barbarasbeautys at www.etsy.com 

Image Courtesy - www.quillkaari.itshandmade.in


Image Courtesy - www.etsy.com /VBPureDesigns

Image Courtesy- www.indiebazaar.com
Image Courtesy - www. thrilling-quilling.blogspot.com
Image Courtesy - www.pinterest.com

Researching for this post, I came across an artist who has taken quilling to a totally different level. Yulia Brodskaya uses quilling technique to make paintings (if they can be called that). Each and every work of hers is a masterpiece which will leave you awestruck. The first image in this post is hers as are the ones that follow. The next 3 images are courtesy www.artyulia.com









So while I leave you with some inspiring examples, I am hoping that you will end up going to the hobby store and getting a set for yourself. I am all ready to see your own masterpieces coming up. 

Do post them to our facebook page

Image Courtesy - www.polyvore.com

Image Courtesy - www.papercraftcentral.net

Image Courtesy - www.papergraphic.co,uk
www.webneel.com
Image Courtesy - www.stranamasterov.ru 





Text & creative layout copyrights: Onthedesignboat 

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