Meanwhile #133
1 — I fell a little bit in love with K Young’s chaotic collages at this year’s Aesthetica Art Prize exhibition. All limbs and soft furnishings, it comes across like John Stezaker after one too many coffees.
2 — Following a successful crowdfunding campaign, St Bride Foundation are nearing completion of the mammoth project of digitising their collection of pre-1830s type specimens, with high-res versions available for a small fee. Well worth poring over.
3 — And if those scans aren’t enough to keep you busy, the Media History Digital Library is well worth a delve. A free online resource featuring millions of pages of books and magazines from the histories of film, broadcasting, and recorded sound.
4 — Try to ignore the automated colourisation that makes everything a bit beige, purple or purple-beige, and this restored short film of New York street scenes from 1945 is an absolute typographic safari. Take a swig every time you pause it to go “ooooh yes that’s lovely”.
5 — Book designer, illustrator, writer, and maker of things Tree Abraham on the process of designing the cover for her own book, Cyclettes. It took me five years to design my own business card, I couldn’t imagine the immense pressure of covering your own work.
6 — Senet, the independent print magazine about the craft, creativity and community of board gaming, is somehow already up to its ninth beautifully illustrated issue, featuring an interview with Fighting Fantasy/Games Worksop founder Ian Livingstone.
7 — More board games from Flashbak, tracing their curious and cartographic history back to the 16th century. Features such classics as Pluck the Owl, The Galloping Hobbyhorse and The Noble Game of the Elephant and Castle or Travelling in Asia Combining Amusement and Instruction for Youth of Both Sexes.