I can’t help but be drawn to the Happiest Book in the World by Alex Ostrowski. It just seems like such an amazing book by looking at the photos and hearing what its about, there is only one copy as of now, which makes me not happy at all. Alex shares with us the story behind this book.

In one way or another we are all looking for happiness. Some people even say that man’s sole purpose for existence is to hunt down and capture this intangible and elusive treasure. In 2006 researchers at The University of Leicester concluded that Denmark is the happiest country in the world - this was good enough for me. In March 2008 I made the decision to visit happiness, and embarked upon a pilgrimage to find it. My experiences are presented in this book.

Take a look at more photos of the book here.

Fifty Designers’ Current Favourite Typefaces is a small publication that showcases exactly what the titles says. Each page contains five of the typefaces that each designer takes a particular liking to at this point in their work and career. All of the cover price goes to UNICEF for the children of the Myanmar Cyclone.

The talented folks at Design Observer published a little book made up of differnt design possibilities for table of contents. They have posted a collection of images from the book online for your viewing pleasure.

In it, we have choosen to narrow our sights to the written word, considering what we read next, how we move from one chapter to the next, and how we navigate through a single volume. Often overlooked by serious bibliophiles, the humble table of contents is our portal into a world of knowledge. In the realm of the printed word, it heralds what comes next, a verbal proscenium with its own peculiar prose and typographic conventions.

Here are four new design projects. This first one was done for Open Mic Night at my school which I hosted with two of my friends. The design is based upon a typeface that I created for this project. They hung on the walls of the school to promote the event.

This was a tri-folded map design for a self guided walk around my town.
It brings you to certain historical locations and provides the information about the site.

Permanent signs that I designed to be installed in a new addition to the school that is environmentally friendly. The signs educate the green features. I was responsible for the design, logo, project name, and byline.

Poster designed for the musical theatrical production of Edwin Drood by Rupert Holmes.
I have also done the lighting design for the show.

All of this work and other past work can be viewed in my portfolio here.

The most recent book that I have acquired is Paul Rand, Conversations with Students from Princeton Architectural Press. I first got my hands on the book in the Museum of Modern Art’s Book Store in New York City and then received it as a gift latter on. The book provides some amazing insight, thoughts and ideas on design through two conversations that Paul Rand had with his students. There are also six personal stories from his students that show the true character of one of the most well know graphic designers in history. You can read one of the stories from Jessica Helfand at an article on Design Observer.

The book is designed beautifully with large quotes and one color photographs. While the book is considered short and small at eighty pages it is well worth it for the brilliant insight to the life and thoughts of Paul Rand.

This shirt is among some other great shirts that I found at Cottyn.
Brought to you by the same amazing people who brought us Virb and Purevolume.

For the first time, I recently took some time to think about what I was planning to do with my life. I asked myself whether I truly wanted to become a graphic designer, and the answer was yes.

To create is in my nature. My fear is having to settle for a design position in some huge advertising company doing work that isn’t worth my time. The secret, I assume, is to work hard and become amazing at graphic design so that I can be creative in other ways than what time, money or the client will allow. I won’t mind those things, for they are sure to make some good stories some day when I give a lecture to a room full of young designers in my old age.

No budgets, proposals, deadlines. Just me and a paintbrush, pen, camera, pencil, and some paper, all backed by a creative mind.

When visiting colleges I have been told that many people come in wanting to be something and change their mind and graduate doing something else. Right now, I would tell you that this will not happen with me. Graphic design is for me and I am sure of that.

Design is simply what feels right for me, and I am happy it’s that way.

What if leaders of local and national communities, along with the global community, thought like designers; would some of our problems be solved? Many designers and creative individuals will respond “yes” to this questions, on the other hand some of the political and social leaders might not see the benefit or necessarily understand what it means to think like a designer. This needs to change.

This is an excerpt from an essay that I have written. The full version will be placed online later this year. Copyright 2007.

I subscribe to plenty design and creative blogs, some of the best I would say. And everyday, I truly enjoy going through all of them and finding some great work and articles. I have even been featured on some of them. The problem however is that all I do is look at the post and the work and then if it’s good enough I will save it for later. The internet allows us to do so much more than look at design and creative work, we might as well take advantage of it.

I would like to see a new type of design and creative blog. One that engages it’s audience more. For the most part, the audience of these blogs work in the creative field themselves, thus making them easily engage-able. So for starters, most of these blogs will have the title of the post, an image or two, and then a link back to the portfolio of the creative individual who made it.

Continue to do that, but now add some more value to it. In the post, put in some of your own commentary. Why do you like what you are posting and even why you do not like it. Feel free to critique it a little. Then ask your audience what they think. If you ask them specific questions then it can make it even easier for them because they will be responding to something. This is not a new concept, rather it just takes advantage of the comments by having the readers comment more and answer specific questions.

Some bloggers might not have the time to do this. Or might feel that their role in the community is to share. And I won’t stop reading those blogs. But I think that if some of the design and creative blogs out their implement this concept and method, they will be able to provide so much more to their readers.

(There have to be even more ways to engage your readers, what do you think some other methods might be?)

There is a magazine that has launched recently and has a wonderful website that goes along with it. This magazine is Monocle. They continue with the black on the as it is the color the cover is. I have never been quite alright with dark colored websites that try to present a good amount of information, but they have seemed to pull it off here. Along with that, the website provides us with a sort of upscale feeling due to the simple layout of the site. They stay away from many traditional features that you would find on other sites including advertisements, social bookmarking, or other things that obstruct the simplicity of the site. On the site you won’t find any written articles for people that don’t subscribe but there is plenty of other content.

My favorite part of Monocle’s website are their videos. They cover a wide range of areas and interests from business interviews, to design and culture. Even better is that the videos are shot and edited nicely, I only wish we could view them at a larger size as high quality video.

I picked up an issue of Monocle in NYC’s Grand Central Terminal for ten dollars, and it costs a lot to subscribe but it might just be worth it for this kind of magazine. And if you are ever in Grand Central Terminal, make sure you go to the magazine shop, the bigger of the two, it is the best one I have ever seen and they carry so many magazines. Keep an eye on Monocle.

Field Notes is a collaboration between Aaron Draplin and Coudal Partners. Draplin was kind enough to send out some Field Notes after I expressed interest in them. For those of you who don’t know who these people I speak of are, Aaron Draplin runs Draplin Design Co. out of Portalnd, Oregon with his trustworthy companion; Gary, a Dachshund. (Draplin is taking part in my collaborative visual book called a Grab Bag Book and here is an interview with him) And Coudal Partners is a small design firm out of Chicago, IL. Coudal Partners does some amazing projects other than design, which you can find at their website.

So as you can see from the picture, right on the front they say Field Notes in the typeface Futura. Unlike some other similar products that might have blank covers, Field Notes don’t and suprisingly it doesn’t really bother me. Oh, and did I mention the cover is pretty “durable” if I do say so myself.

Once you get inside you will find graph paper. This is my first time really using graph paper in a sketchbook or notebook, and I have to say I like it quite a lot. It makes it so I can write in any direction unlike lined paper, and it is great for jotting down design concepts or ideas. And yet, it provides some guidelines unlike plain paper that you find in my sketchbook.

While they do fit nicely in your pocket, I haven’t found myself carying them around that much. I suspect when school starts I will though. So far I have used them for a variety of things which I thought I would share with you. Eventually, I plan to photograph them all and upload them to Flickr but for now…

-Lists
-Design Ideas
-Project Ideas
-Random Thoughts
-Some Quick Sketches
-Blog Post Outlines
-and more.

You will also find some clever copy and written remarks on the inside of the back cover, along with the specification ranging from who printed them, the paper, the fonts, etc.

There is a certain feeling when I use the Field Notes or see them because I know the people behind them. Even better is the fact that they are made in the USA, which is really great cause so many things aren’t these days.

Check out the Field Notes website.
Hold tight, they aren’t up for purchase yet, but my advice would be to stay tuned.

Overall, I have truly enjoyed using the Field Notes.

Naz Hamid, while he is supposed to be on vacation, updated his site with an image of the things he carries. Let me just say, that it looked pretty sweet and a bunch of other people thought the same thing. Then the Items We Carry Flickr Group was started. Here is my photo of the items I carry.

Thank you for bringing us JPG Magazine. I remember when I first saw it in a book shop and when I received it in the mail. The feeling of holding the magazine and looking through was amazing because I knew that many people from around the world had come together to create this beautiful magazine. I am truly sorry for what has happened and am glad that you were able to take something away from it all.

I would also like to take this time to invite you to contribute to Grab Bag Book. This is a collaborative visual book from artists around the world who are coming together to explore their creativity.

To get more information and see the brief click here.

To see a list of participating artists click here.

I wish you the best of luck on your future endeavors and can’t wait to see what is to come next.

Best,
Ethan Bodnar

See my post on the future of magazines
http://www.blog.ethanbodnar.com/2007/04/10/magazines/

See Derek’s post
http://powazek.com/posts/534

I went on to Threadless to purchase some shirts for Christmas and the three that I really wanted had just run out. So, I learnd my lesson that when they have a sale the shirts go fast. Anyways, if you have any ideas for my christmas list that would be great. I am looking for gifts for creative/design people (me) that are around 20 dollars and don’t need international shipping.

The other day when I was in Stop and Shop, I went to check out the magazine isle. There I found “Dwell”. I had seen it before on the internet and picked it up at the store. I thought it was designed very well and it had a lot of good content. The best part was, of course, the pictures. Go check out Dwell’s website

Yesterday, after coming home from summer camp for a week I approached the front porch to find the Sunday paper. The paper was in a yellow plastic bag that contained the new IKEA Catalog for 2007. The outside of the bag read.

“Your New 2007 Ikea Catalog is Inside. You should be very excited. Why, you ask? Because of all the new products and lower prices inside. And because this catalog is the only catalog we’ll send you all year. Why, you ask again? Well, we don’t believe in being wasteful. Junk mail in particular makes us upset. Steam-shooting-out-of-our-ears upset. Other companies send you different catalogs every week. Actually, they’re the same catalog, but with different covers to make you think “Golly gee-whiz! Something new and fun and exciting!” We make one catalog a year, not twenty. This helps us save on paper. Savings we then pass on to you . . . . . So celebrate. You’re holding the solutions guide for a better everyday life. Keep it handy for great ideas and inspiration to improve your home throughout the year. Today is a very exciting day.”

When I read that I was like “Wow”. The fact that they are saving paper and how the whole thing was worded. It just wanted to make me look through the catalog and head out to the store. Congrats IKEA on a job well done.

The music video indusrty is pretty big. I mean afterall you do have MTV, VH1 and Fuse. Normally bands will make two or three music videos per album. However, this was not the case for Death Cab for Cutie newest album entitled “Plans”. Instead they invited directors to develop a music video for each song. They gave the directors complete creative freedom. And because of that freedom the outcome was awesome. We saw animations, actual people, and different concepts and ideas that you normally wouldn’t see in a music video. The result was a DVD entitled DVD entitled Plans and was refered by one of the band memebers as a visual companion to the album. My favorite is “I Will Follow You into the Dark”, where a hand flips through a sketchbook and the drawings tell the story.

This is the kind of creative experiments that the world needs to see more of. Instead of the labels controlling the artists the artists should have more creative freedom. Because without freedom life wouldn’t be like it is today.

Also, Check out the latest edition of Wired (The rebirth of Music) for even more examples.