I mostly agree with what I’m seeing here, and it gets me excited. Except for two things:

1) When they get to the museum and scan the art book into their reader. I call bullshit. Art books are objects you own. They go on your coffee table, or on your bookshelf in a place of pride.

2) In the bookstore, again, replace all those trade paperbacks with really nice quality, upscale, finely printed and bound codices.

Quality, upscale, finely printed and bound codices will still have a place in our lives. Even more so than things like vinyl records. It’s the cheaply-made mass market (and to a lesser degree, trade paperback) editions whose days are numbered.

I usually go on and on about ebooks, and I do most of my reading on my iPhone these days, but I also love me some finely-crafted codices.

I learned of this British deluxe edition of Cory Doctorow’s Little Brother by accident, almost—Voyager Books advertises on Tor.com, and I was mangling some newsletter copy related to a giveaway they’re having, which happened to mention the publication of this edition. Anyway, long story short: it looks beautiful, with a simple and elegant slipcase—I love the ‘security-cam-as-gun-to-the-head’ stamp—it features illustrations by Richard Wilkinson, and I want it very badly. Wilkinson’s modern linework combined with older-looking colours and textures echo the essence of the book: a modern take on Orwell.

Additionally—and I say this as a creative professional who generally pans the idea of the “creative genius” stereotype that is commonly ascribed to creative types—creativity is not a spigot that can be turned on or off at will. Some are better than others at channeling their thoughts into a cohesive work on a regular basis, others truly struggle with it (I’m very much in this last group, fwiw). Again, it’s the height of arrogance to sit there as a consumer and pass judgement on someone else’s inner world.

Go check out the rest of it at “Fed Up? So Are They“ on Tor.com.

Go check out Cubeecraft, they’ve got a busload of cool papercraft figures for your crafting pleasure. My favourite (aside from this one, of course)? Why, Rusty Venture, hands down.

Lorenzo Homar (along with his sometime collaborator, Rafael Tufiño) is one of my favorite artists, ever, and a huge inspiration in my own work. Imagine my delight to see BibliOdissey showcase some of his works from the Homar collection at the Princeton University Library. Shiny! Go check them out, and enjoy!

Abi Sutherland, Making Light contributor and bookbinder extraordinaire, asked me for some of the off-register misprints from the first Little Brother edition, in order to put them to some good use. Well, she’s designed and made a kickass binding out of them, and showed me the pictures today. I then proceeded to run around the office like a thirteen-year-old showing everyone I could find her beautiful work.

The dynamic between Camera Head on the front cover and Marcus on the back works beautifully (check out Abi’s Flickr photoset for images of the spine, the back, and the open spread), and the layout of the type is bold and in-your-face, true to the spirit of the book.

This is a perfect example of why sharing your work and letting others remix it rawks.

Little Brother

Originally uploaded by pablodefendini

The Little Brother print is finished, after a weekend in the printshop, featuring various mishaps and frustrations, and many, many learning experiences (may those never end!). In all, I have ten copies that need a good home, so if you want one, and are willing to PayPal me some shipping money, leave me a comment. First come, first served.
And for the latecomers: don’t worry. I’ve now perfected the process for this print—I’ll print more at some point in the near future, and make a large (50-100) edition.