N O U N : A design blog by Oliver Oike

Order here.

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I’ve always loved IdN. Beautifully-produced, eclectic subject matter and paired with a DVD of moving goodies, I treat myself to one or two issues per year. Turns out they have recently published a book commemorating 15 years of publishing. Lots to see here. Click on “View Fullscreen” in the area above to see all the [...]

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The original Büro Destruct book came out while I was attending Emily Carr.  It made an impression on our class, capturing some of the design trends occurring at that moment in time. Post-graduation, I’d kept up with their work only loosely. Turns out they’ve been very busy.
The video above is a teaser for their third [...]

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Douglas Coupland handed me my degree at the convocation for the Emily Carr Institute of Art + Design (as it was called back then) Class of 2000. He, along with Lynn Johnston and Japanese-Canadian artist Takao Tanabe, were honorary graduates (pretty great, no?). Whenever I feel homesick for my five years spent in Vancouver, I [...]

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Fun, fun, fun Japanese goods shop… sections include Art, Fashion, Interior & Toys.
“Tokyocube was founded in 2005, initially with the launch of the Tokyocube Magazine, which was designed to provide people throughout the world with a place to find features, articles and reviews on all the latest to come out of Japan, as well as [...]

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Designer M.S. Corley is seeing a fair amount of success with his ongoing process of re-designing book covers in unexpected and fresh ways. Lots of great stuff to see here.

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I was reading NiceF**kingGraphics this afternoon and came across a link to a new series of James Bond novels to be released very soon in the UK, and illustrated by Michael Gillete (buy prints here).
I started poking around the Penguin site a bit more and encountered their blog, filled with interesting posts from a [...]

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While browsing the Caina website (what a discovery!) this morning, I came across a very cool magazine, Casa Brutus. This month’s issue features “The Grand Tour with Tadao Ando.”

Looks great! You can buy back issues here.

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I came across two unrelated pieces of media today that share a common story: the unsettling activities occurring in the Sudan. The first is the Amnesty International / Yoko Ono project entitled “Instant Karma: The Campaign to Save Darfur,” a collection of John Lennon covers by contemporary artists, including REM, Corinne Bailey Rae, Lenny Kravitz [...]

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A friend just IM’d me about the success of a former co-worker, Jessica Raya, who is celebrating the launch of her first novel, “The Buenos Aires Broken Hearts Club.” Jessica taught me alot about the agency game and was always a very positive personality in the office. She deserves all of her success. Go Jess!
From [...]

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File under: one-good-reason-for-being-up-hours-before-the-sun. I was up checking my email very early this morning (gotta get a head start on the girls) and noticed a message from Emigre. Wha–what’s this? IDEA magazine? Emigre retrospective? Slip case? Limited to 50 numbered copies? I grabbed my credit card and hoped I would be quick enough… I was! It’s [...]

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I have a dog-eared, yellowing, frayed-edged copy of “Family of Man,” given to me as a gift from an old friend. Lionni was only responsible for the cover design and accompanying posters, but his art direction on the cover sets the tone for a beautiful photo essay, produced at a time when much of the [...]

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Philips’ focus on design & simplicity in its branding efforts is highly visible on their site. They have a large area devoted to talking about their “Sense and Simplicity” brand promise, including the announcement of their formation of a “Simplicity Advisory Board,” made up of professionals from around the world, including my hero John Maeda.

Back [...]

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If there’s an angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other, this is an angel. A short, easy read, but full of good reminders of how to do things the right way. Paul Arden is a seasoned Saatchi & Saatchi vet, and shares his wisdom with a confident, funny, inspiring delivery. A great [...]

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The Complete Calvin and Hobbes (Hardcover) by Bill Watterson

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I’ll race you to the end of the list! (“Yeah, right”, you’re thinking, “I know YOUR reading history, dude.”)

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I’m one of those readers – someone who likes to talk about reading, but never actually manages to get any done. Except for the crack-cocaine-internet-brand of reading. But that’s lame. I buy new books, buy new books, buy new books – I’m not a library guy – always hoping to find a few moments to [...]

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