Penguin Book Covers Get 'Drop Cap' Motifs: For Typography Lovers

San Francisco-based illustrator and letter designer Jessica Hische, who earned the moniker ‘That Drop Cap Girl’, has collaborated with design guru and art director of Penguin books, Paul Buckley, to create a series of book cover designs for a special collection of Penguin Classics.

The forthcoming ‘Penguin Drop Cap’ series is inspired by typography, and will feature 26 hardcover classic literature books with large illustrated drop cap motifs. From A to Z, the letters are an original series specially created by Hische for the covers—as an extension of her ‘Daily Drop Cap’ blog, where she posts images of illustrated capital letters everyday since 2009.

Each book will also have a foil-stamped paper-over-board case, and a decorative colour stain on all three edges. The series goes on sale 27 November - in time for Christmas - and a great gift idea for book and typography buffs.

Check out the first six books in the series, featuring A for Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, B for Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre, C for Willa Cather’s My Ántonia, D for Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations, E for George Eliot’s Middlemarch, and F for Gustave Flaubert’s Madame Bovary.

Disclaimer: Some images hosted on this blog have been collected from external research associates to be presented as stimulus to those seeking news from the cutting edge of packaging. The imagery is not being presented as our own and copyright still belongs to the owner/creator of said work.

Tongue-in-Cheek Variations of Evolution's 'March of Progress'

The process of ‘evolution’ is a controversial subject that is regularly debated among academics and scholars, but Paris-based art group Maentis has decided to approach the topic with tongue firmly in cheek.

In their first ever project as a group, they have created a series of illustrations that parodies evolution’s ‘March Of Progress’. The project called ‘99 Steps of Progress’ hilariously pokes fun at the modern man and his relation to his Neanderthal predecessors—questioning man’s progression in the world today.

Maentis has plans to create 99 of these illustrations, so do check out their website for updates. What do you think of the art group’s take on the March of Progress?

Disclaimer: Some images hosted on this blog have been collected from external research associates to be presented as stimulus to those seeking news from the cutting edge of packaging. The imagery is not being presented as our own and copyright still belongs to the owner/creator of said work.

Norwich Cathedral's Brand Bible

Asked to produce a brand identity guidelines manual for Norwich Cathedral, there was really only one route The Click Design Consultants could take. The Click created Norwich Cathedral's brand identity back in 2009. They have carried on working with the client since and were recently asked to create a brand guidelines manual for cathedral staff and suppliers.

The solution was staring them in the face – a 'brand bible' created to look like a real bible. It looks like the consultancy had a huge amount of fun shoehorning as many religious references into the work as possible. And fair play to the cathedral authorities for going along with what could have seemed a slightly sacrilegious gag!

One slight let down is that the book does not actually exist as a physical object – it was designed to be an online resource only. But in these times of tight budgets and environmental concerns, that makes sense.

Disclaimer: Some images hosted on this blog have been collected from external research associates to be presented as stimulus to those seeking news from the cutting edge of packaging. The imagery is not being presented as our own and copyright still belongs to the owner/creator of said work.

Ten Years In Style

The Sunday Times Style magazine celebrates its 10th anniversary this Sunday, supported by a press and poster campaign by Grey London that makes use of satin and some fine embroidered typography.

The special edition of Style will publish with the newspaper on September 23 and be available in ten different front covers. Grey worked with embroidery company Hand & Lock on the campaign to evoke "ten year's in style".

Disclaimer: Some images hosted on this blog have been collected from external research associates to be presented as stimulus to those seeking news from the cutting edge of packaging. The imagery is not being presented as our own and copyright still belongs to the owner/creator of said work.

DPM Fragrance: Fairfax & King

Fairfax & King is a line of hand poured natural soy blend wax candles packaged in recycled materials. It draws its inspiration from the nation's oldest apothecary; located where Fairfax Street and King Street cross in Alexandria, Virginia. Dark brown apothecary glass is finished off with a wax seal and tastefully packaged in natural materials. All of their brown vessels are made from recycled glass. Their all natural soy blend wax is highly fragranced with florals, fruits, greens and spices; fragrances reminiscent of the historic shop. Available in 3 components: brown tumbler packaged in a wooden box, glass bowl with decorative dustcover and fragrance diffuser packaged in a natural kraft tube.

Disclaimer: Some images hosted on this blog have been collected from external research associates to be presented as stimulus to those seeking news from the cutting edge of packaging. The imagery is not being presented as our own and copyright still belongs to the owner/creator of said work.

Encapsulated Talent

A promotional portfolio designed to be delivered through the mail by THINK Packaging in New Zealand.

This portfolio was designed to stand out from the thousands of emails that are sent to Wallpaper* Mag and are mostly ignored. But it's much harder to ignore something that is sitting on your desk. This portfolio was designed to be able to be sent easily in the post without looking like it has been manhandled.   Using multiple layers of corrugated card and cutting cool little cut-outs, it made the perfect hollowed out book that effortlessly showed off the work and presents it in a way that received a chorus of applause when it arrived on the directors desk in the UK. Needless to say that Greg has now pushed his way to the top of the list when it comes to choosing an illustrator.

Disclaimer: Some images hosted on this blog have been collected from external research associates to be presented as stimulus to those seeking news from the cutting edge of packaging. The imagery is not being presented as our own and copyright still belongs to the owner/creator of said work.

Philippe Stark Designs A Water-Saving Faucet

Berlin-based company Hansgrohe together with French designer Philippe Starck have designed a luxury bathroom collection. The line ‘Axor Starck Organic’ features minimalist, organic design and helps users to responsibly handle water and energy.

The faucet has low-flow rates of 3.5 liters per minute, and 90 individual outlets for water to spread over a large surface area. Flow rates can be boosted to 5 liters per minute when needed. The tap also has two handles that lets users control water flow and temperature separately. To turn the water flow on/off, users can turn the end of the spout; while the top of the spout is used to control temperature.

Disclaimer: Some images hosted on this blog have been collected from external research associates to be presented as stimulus to those seeking news from the cutting edge of packaging. The imagery is not being presented as our own and copyright still belongs to the owner/creator of said work.

Guinness: Made of More

This sculpture was created by a team of artists for display at the Guinness Storehouse in Dublin. Titled "Made of More", the sculpture consists of a giant wooden pint of Guinness, which features a history of the black stuff carved around its surface.

The project was devised by Jonathan Santana and Xander Smith of Saatchi & Saatchi in London, who wrote the brand history and commissioned David Wilson of Blinkart in London to create the finished monument.

Wilson worked with a selection of illustrators and sculptors on the piece, and the finished artwork features work by Village Green, Jethro Haynes, Benedict Hughes, Robert Hunter, Bradley Jay, Corin Johnson, Mark Judges, Micah Lindberg, Alex Simpson, and Jason Bruges Studio. The film below, by Joshua Hine and Jake Hopewell, shows the sculpture being created.

Disclaimer: Some images hosted on this blog have been collected from external research associates to be presented as stimulus to those seeking news from the cutting edge of packaging. The imagery is not being presented as our own and copyright still belongs to the owner/creator of said work.

A Smart Multi-Coloured Light Bulb You Can Control With Your Phone

Design company LIFX Labs has created a smart multi-colored LED light bulb that can be controlled with your smartphone. Called ‘LIFX’, owners can use their Apple or Android smart phones to control their lights from anywhere; choose the brightness for a specific bulb, a room or the entire house; and even change the colours to match their mood or décor.

Because it is connected to your phone, the lights will even be able to alert you of notifications from Twitter, Facebook and text messages. The light bulb is also energy efficient—it uses approximately 1/10th the energy of the standard household bulb and can last up to 25 years.

“LIFX answers a need that is well and truly overdue. Everyone in the world needs light bulbs. Existing light bulbs are based on an archaic technology that threatens our environment,” LIFX inventor Phil Bosua wrote. “Light bulbs consume approximately 20% of electricity in homes around the world. They need to be more efficient, smarter and last longer. In the twenty-first century, people need lighting that matches the “smart culture” and eco aware sensibilities of our day.”

Disclaimer: Some images hosted on this blog have been collected from external research associates to be presented as stimulus to those seeking news from the cutting edge of packaging. The imagery is not being presented as our own and copyright still belongs to the owner/creator of said work.