Inspirational Heros

I have had many "heroes" in my childhood that have brought me on the path. One being Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland (which is why I love Florence and the Machine they have a trippy Alice quality. The imagiative characters have struck-a-cord with society for ages.

The wood engraved illustrations that are some of the most prolific illustrations of that style today. These were provided by John Tenniel. Originally the illustrations were created by Lewis Carroll himself, but then turned to Tenniel for his expertise. Together these two created my favorite children's book with striking characters that spark the imagination. That will inspire me for a lifetime.

Once color has been added to the story of Alice it was forever the vibrancy of "wonderland".

1) Disney's Alice in Wonderland (2010). This film was directed by another of my favorite inspirations: Tim Burton. The combination of his creativity and the inspiration of Alice created a visually dazzling film.

 

2) Design Army: Designs for the Washington Ballet. The beautiful movements of the performers, the imaginative outfits, and the intriguing typography is a beautiful dream down the rabbit hole.

 

3) My Design: This was the front of the card I sent out for my bridal shower. It is a screen print for the Alice in Wonderland themed bridal shower my aunts gave me.

4) Engraved Woodblock Print: One of the original engravings by John Tenniel. Alice at the Mad Hatter's Tea Party.

5) Gwen Stefani's What You Waiting For?: Another one of my inspirational heros. It is interesting that some of my heroes have chosen Alice to find the burst of creativity.

6) My copy of Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. This a library bound copy with gold leaf and embossed cover. These extra elements make this book feel special and long lasting.

7) The Chesire Cat from Disney's Alic in Wonderland (1951). Easily a Disney classic. The Chesire cat always scared me as a child, but now he is a eerie, yet charming character.

The Family Cookbook

So many people talk about, and many people probably have a family cookbook or notecard set that was put together by Word Art and Kinkos. Tyler has one like that. For years Tyler and I have discussed creating our own cookbook, "but not in a sucky way". It came up again, recently, and I am just churning with ideas.

Ideas for recipes, organization, and illustrations. Nothing will probably come of it, but it would be fun to have a beautiful cookbook full of our favorite recipes.

Book Design is Changing

Borders is disappearing, leaving Barnes and Nobles along with a few local shops the only book shops available. None are near where I live, and I bet this is common for other people, as well. Even if Borders had made it through, the way we buy books is changing: Amazon sells more kindle books than paper ones. The way we shop for these books has changed too.

"Smell is the most powerful trigger to the memory there is. A certain flower, or a-a whiff of smoke can bring up experiences long forgotten. Books smell musty and-and-and rich. The knowledge gained from a computer is a - it, uh, it has no-no texture, no-no context. It's-it's there and then it's gone. If it's to last, then-then the getting of knowledge should be, uh, tangible, it should be, um, smelly."

We could go to a store and touch the book and flip through the illustrations and decide if a book was truly for us. I am huge on texture, and I like being able to feel a book in my hand, before I buy it. This is impossible when I order a book online. This becomes more important when I pick out a book that has several cover options: such as my Alice in Wonderland book. There were at least 7 options for this title, but I chose the one with the hardback binding, letterpressed cover, and gilded pages. If I could not feel and see this book in person, who knows what I would have purchased. Probably whatever was cheapest would have been in my shopping cart.

Not only are shoppers effected by this change of shopping but: designers, illustrators, printing companies, ink companies, paper mills, and I am sure there is more behind the scene action that has changed in the creation of a book. As operating systems become more sophisticated digital can include color, illustrations, and unique typography. A digital book will lack the texture, feel, and smell of a book. Until digital books can incorporate my loves (plus the feel of paper) I don't I will make this digital jump.