Erick Montes is an illustrator and designer living in Austin, TX. I like his style a lot; it’s a nice mix of textural, hand-drawn elements with clean lines and great color palettes.

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Two Times Elliot is a London-based studio, whose focus centers around print, identity and web. Their style is a mix of typographic elements, clean lines and bold color palettes, bringing each design to life with its own personality. I’m also impressed by their ability to incorporate mixed media into their work without disrupting the flow of the design.

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Also worth viewing…
Typographische Monatsblatter
Visual Language of Herbert Matter
Hans Hartmann

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Fresh picks from our favorite publishers! Here’s the latest books to hit our shelves.

Nobrow 8: Hysteria
Published by Nobrow
128 pages / 12.1″x8.6″

Forty-five artists have risen above (or maybe plunged even deeper into) their hysterical minds to produce double page illustrations or four-page-long comics. Jim Rugg, Emmanuelle Walker, Sam Bosma, Marta Monteiro, David Lucas, Kenard Pak, Bob Flynn, Keith Negley, Carmen Segovia, Gwendal Le Bec, Robin Davey, Andrea Kalfas, William Grill, Luke Pearson, Dustin Harbin, José Domingo, Matteo Farinella and Dilraj Mann are just some of the illustrious names who have let their hysterical drawings loose on Nobrow 8’s pages.

Just like Nobrow 6 and Nobrow 7, Nobrow 8 is in actual fact two magazines rolled into one and sealed with a double cover.

Pre-order a copy at Amazon or buy directly from Nobrow

Topsy Turvy World by Atak
Published by Flying Eye Books
30 pages / 11.6″ x 9.6″

A fantastical illustrated book where mice chase cats, penguins live in the jungle, cars fly and aeroplanes float!

It’s a time-honoured children’s game – catching out the grown-ups when they’re telling lies. Atak’s just given it a new twist, using lots of classic tall tales, and adding a few new ones as well. By seeing what’s obviously wrong, kids will learn what’s really right.

Pre-order a copy at Amazon or buy directly from Flying Eye Books

Draw Your Own Alphabets: Thirty Fonts to Scribble, Sketch, and Make Your Own
By Tony Seddon / Published by Princeton Architectural Press
160 pages / 10″ x 7.5″

Draw Your Own Alphabets is a fun, hands-on workbook that teaches how to create funky hand-lettered fonts sure to jump off the page, poster, or screen. Presenting thirty complete alphabets, custom-drawn in a variety of styles by various young designers and illustrators, this do-it-yourself guide demonstrates how to adapt the letters and make them your own.

Pick up  copy at Amazon, PA Press or your local book shop.

Pap! by Mick Marston
Designed and published by Dust
52 pages / Limited Edition of 200

The words in this book are the result of Mick’s desire to put his images to work. An image was selected at random and sent to a collection of friends, writers, students and colleagues who were asked to write something with the image in mind – a reversal of the usual illustration process if you like.

Pick up a copy here.

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Irving Harper:Works in Paper
Alexander Girard Book

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Today I’m excited to present our very own Grace Danico. Over the last couple of years, I’ve gotten to know Grace as someone who is very fun-loving, warm and personable. These same qualities are reflected in her illustrations.  With colored pencils and crayons as her guide, her work flourishes within the constraints of the deceptively simple lines and charming doodles.

I especially appreciate her illustrations of food. Her portfolio is adorned with lemons with mustaches, blushing oranges, pizza slides and other characters laced with Grace’s contagious sense of humor. All of these await your perusal here.

For those of you interested in zines, Grace is teaching an upcoming Skillshare class titled Zine and Be Seen: Promoting Your Work Through Self-publication. The course will cover zine history, construction and distribution. In addition each student will create a 12-page zine based on the subject matter of their choice. You can register for the class here.

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Olimpia Zagnoli
Blex Bolex
Henri’s Walk to Paris - Designed by Saul Bass

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Ricardo Leite is an accomplished graphic designer and art director out of Amsterdam. While juggling a passion for typography and illustration, Leite manages to maintain an extremely clean style without being overly stark.

Check out more work from Leite on Behance, and over at his sideproject, Bye Bye Home.

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Also worth viewing:
Jan Feliks Kallwejt
Adrian Johnson Interview
Colorcubic

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Face. is an international design agency with a global perspective and a focus on branding. Founded in 2006, Face. has already created some impressive designs that showcase their modernist flair. Although many of their pieces are done in a straightforward style, they keep it fresh with fun color palettes and intriguing typography.  Having already created multiple offices across North America in their short life span, keep an eye on Face. for their next move.

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Also worth viewing:
Laura Cattaneo aka Half Past Twelve
Colorcubic
Sanna Annukka Shop

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Neenah Paper recently launched The Beauty of Letterpress, an impressive online resource and showcase. The site features valuable links, educational videos, a printers directory, as well as a gallery which is curated by a different letterpress aficionado each month. In addition, limited edition prints are available by donation with proceeds funding The Hamilton Wood Type and Printing Museum relocation process. To help reach the goal of $30,000, Neenah is generously offered to match all contributions up to $15,000. You can show your support here.

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Also worth viewing:
Laura Cattaneo aka Half Past Twelve
Francesco Franchi / Intelligence in Lifestyle
Colorcubic

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Marco Romano is a designer and illustrator out of Milan whose designs are both fun and unpretentious. With a portfolio thats steadily growing, Romano has already created illustrations for notable clients such as ESPN and Wired Magazine.

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Also worth viewing:
Laura Cattaneo aka Half Past Twelve
Francesco Franchi / Intelligence in Lifestyle
Colorcubic

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Loose Leaf is a project by Manual, located here in sunny San Francisco. Caught somewhere in between art publication and curated print series, the format of the project is part of what makes it so enticing. Each edition comes as a series of leaves, hole-punched and ready to install. This allows the user to continually rotate and swap out images.

They’ve also picked some fabulous artists and designers with which to work: Mark Giglio, Jon Boam, Chris Dent. Oh, yeah, NASA contributed an image, as well.

See more here. Check out Manual, too.

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La Tigre is an independent design studio based in Milan and a recent recipient of an ADC Young Guns Award. While their focus is mostly on editorial design, with illustration and infographics being the stars of the show, they also dabble in motion graphics and interactive mediums.

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Also worth viewing:
Laura Cattaneo aka Half Past Twelve
Francesco Franchi / Intelligence in Lifestyle
Colorcubic

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Thorbjørn Gudnason is an up-and-coming graphic designer, currently pursuing his BA from the School of Visual Communication in Denmark. Having completed an internship with Pentagram in the past few months, Gudnason is sure to blossom into an increasingly talented designer as he continues to develop his style.

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Also worth viewing:
Mark Weaver
Ken Leung Interview
Recent Books

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Steve Simpson is an English-born designer currently working out of Dublin. His portfolio is extensive, and takes you on an exciting journey that spans children’s books, murals, game design, packaging, and more.

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Also worth viewing:
Kevin Dart Interview
Sanjay Patel Interview
Recent Books

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Gadite Warriors by Andrew Lyons

Old & New provides a platform for contemporary graphic artists to exhibit works themed on Biblical stories and passages. It also aims to introduce a new online audience to Biblical art, attempting to replace popular, yet sometimes low-quality, contemporary Biblical artwork with the kind of accessible and honorable work that has historically been associated with the Bible. The project involves artists from different faith backgrounds and sells prints of the designs with proceeds going to help fight the HIV/AIDS and water crises in Africa.

On Monday, April 22 the latest round of designs will be released with contributions by Mikey Burton, Chris Rushing, Shed Labs, Matt Stevens and others.

Past contributors include:

Paul and Silas Singing in Prison by Alice Potter

Pick up a print here.

Jesus Survives Infanticide by Evan Stremke

Pick up a print here.

John the Baptist Beheaded by Michael Cina

Pick up a print here.

Dropped through the Ceiling by Ward Jenkins

Print Available here.

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Mike Cina mix
Ward Jenkins
Recent Books

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Missy Austin is yet another rockstar designer currently working for Zeus Jones, a studio in Minneapolis that is always producing interesting work.

Austin’s projects focus around typography, and include editorial, infographic and various marketing collateral. Although her designs are well executed and clean, they remain playful.

Her Nelma font is available at the Lost Type Co-op.

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Also worth viewing:
Brad Surcey
Pets Rock Posters
Recent Books

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Fun skateboard branding from Grain Edit friend, Sasha Barr. This whole collection is bright and playful and has a ton of personality; I love the chips and salsa board, and the beer theme. Check out the Amigos shop for all of your beer and food-themed skateboard needs.

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Nick Brue is a graphic designer out of Minneapolis. In addition to his impressive work for Cue, an established branding firm in Minnesota, he has produced several intriguing designs on his own time. This includes his own wedding save-the-dates and invitations, and multiple identity projects. Though his designs are to the point, he does a great job of utilizing interesting color and texture to keep it fresh.

Check out more of Nick’s work on his site and Dribble.

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Also worth viewing:
Allan Peters
Tim Boelaars
Recent Books

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Flying Eye Books is the latest branch in Nobrow’s budding empire. The imprint will strictly focus on Children’s titles while retaining the same quality and curation that you would come to expect from Nobrow.

For their first release, they worked with award-winning UK-based illustrator Viviane Schwarz to create an awesome robot book - literally. The aptly titled Welcome to Your Awesome Robot provides you with everything you need to design, build and test a robot from cardboard.  With instructional comics and Vivienne’s charming sense of humor as your guide, the book is fun to read and makes for an excellent family activity.

Details:
Welcome to Your Awesome Robot
By Viviane Schwarz / Published by Flying Eye Books
32 pages / 12.4″x9.4″

Pick up a copy at Amazon, Nobrow, Flying Eye Books or your local book shop.

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Book Gift Guide
Blex Bolex
Recent Books

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Fresh goods from the field! Here’s the latest batch of items to hit our shelves.

A Map of the World: The World According to Illustrators and Storytellers
By Antonis Antoniou, R. Klanten, S. Ehmann, H. Hellige / Published by Gestalten
224 pages / 9.6″x13″

A Map of the World is a compelling collection of work by a new generation of original and sought-after designers, illustrators, and mapmakers. This work showcases specific regions, characterizes local scenes, generates moods, and tells stories beyond sheer navigation. From accurate and surprisingly detailed representations to personal, naïve, and modernistic interpretations, the featured projects from around the world range from maps and atlases inspired by classic forms to cartographic experiments and editorial illustrations.

Available at Amazon, Gestalten and your local book shop.

Drawing Food: A Journal
By Claudia Pearson / Published by Chronicle Books
180 pages/ 7″x9″

A drawing journal for food lovers, this guided sketchbook invites users to draw—and thereby appreciate—delicious and wholesome food every season of the year. The first half of Drawing Food provides budding artists with accessible instruction in a wide range of drawing techniques and media, to be put to use for sketching anything and everything in the kitchen, from fruits and vegetables to meats, sweets, and utensils. The latter section takes the form of a lightly guided diary in drawings, loosely divided by season, and full of charming prompts to spark creativity.

Available at Amazon, Chronicle Books and your local book shop.

Cut & Fold Techniques for Promotional Materials
By Paul Jackson / Published by Laurence King
128 pages / 8.7″x8.7″

Cut and Fold Techniques for Promotional Materials is a unique collection of over 40 attention-grabbing cut-and-fold designs that when printed and illustrated form memorable give-aways to promote and advertise services and products. The book provides a one-stop source for novelty promotional materials, many appearing in print for the first time.

Some designs are interactive toys that turn inside out or reveal hidden faces when played with, others are more practical, offering ingenious ways to fold-up letters, brochures and posters, or to create novelty envelopes and leaflets. All the designs will enhance a message or presentation, grabbing attention in ways that simple printing can never achieve.

Available at Amazon, Laurence King, and your local book shop.

Mastering Calligraphy: The Complete Guide to Hand Lettering
By Gaye Godfrey-Nicholls / Published by Chronicle Books
288 pages / 10.3″x9.2″

Brimming with both practical instruction and more than 700 inspirational photos, this is the definitive new guide for both serious calligraphers and budding hand-lettering enthusiasts. Inside are step-by-step instructions accompanied by examples of current work, plus historical information, artist profiles, troubleshooting tips, and an extensive resource section.

Available at Amazon, Chronicle Books and your local book shop.

Miro Premium Notebooks: Wood Series
By Miro
200 pages / 5″x8″ or 7″x10″
Available in three types of wood: reclaimed wood, zebra wood, and a natural walnut

The front and back covers are made of 100% real wood and are built to flex using laminated webbing and recycled corrugate between the wood grains. The Wire-O spiral binding allows it to lay perfectly flat for optimal comfort and ease when writing, drawing, or journaling. Inside, a double sided, flexible cardstock pocket makes the perfect home for loose-leaf notes, letters, and other small keepsakes.

Available at Miro / Follow them on Facebook as well.

Notes and Calculations Notebooks and Pencil Case Set
By Julia Rothman / Published by Chronicle Books
2 paperback notebooks 64 pages each/ 4.5″x8″

Available at Amazon, Chronicle Books and your local book shop.

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Irving Harper:Works in Paper
Alexander Girard Book
Invisible Creature Interview

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Barrett Fry is a designer and a Texan. Or, at least, he is currently residing in Austin, Texas. He’s working at Pentagram under DJ Stout. His work is bold and colorful, which a strong emphasis on design for the food industry. Of all his projects, those were my favorites.

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Tom Whalen is a designer out of Pennsylvania, who has entertained a lifelong fascination with comics and monsters. This has resulted in the manifestation of an illustrator who creates vectors that appear ready to jump off the screen.

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Also worth viewing…
Sanjay Patel
Making of Wall-E Book
Invisible Creature Interview

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Has your instagram stream been inundated with Neutraface-laced images the past few days? If you’re wondering why, it’s because House Industries just launched an iPhone app. The new app allows users to create, edit and share photos with select House fonts and Photo-Lettering alphabets. Three fonts - Plinc Swiss, Bubble Gum and House Slant are included with the initial download. Additional fonts, including Neutraface, can be purchased for 99 cents. Download it for free at the iTunes store.

B/W we’re on Instagram now. yeah!

Features:

• Take a picture or import one from your camera roll.
• Scale, rotate and crop your photo with finger gestures.
• Select your lettering style from our collection of original fonts.
• Type, rotate and scale text with finger gestures.
• Share or save your image directly from the app.
• Even send a printed postcard.

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House Industries interview
House Industries & Borge Mogensen
House Industries and Heath Ceramics

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A Huge thanks to squarespace for sponsoring this week’s RSS Feed!

Squarespace is a modern publishing platform that includes everything you need to create a professional website in minutes. This past week Squarespace introduced a truly integrated e-commerce solution that makes it dead simple to start selling products – digital or physical – directly from a Squarespace website.

With more than 20 new features, Squarespace Commerce lets you easily add products, process customer orders, and start accepting payments instantly - all from a single platform.

Try it for free today at Squarespace.com.

Interested in sponsoring the Grain Edit Feed? Visit our sponsorship page for more info.

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Device Creative Collective is a branding studio out of North Carolina. Lately, they have produced several interesting projects that are both eye catching and cohesive. Their new studio stationary features letterpress printing of silver ink on red cardstock, creating a look that is vibrant without being affronting.

For a Native American themed wedding, these Save the Dates come with the materials to fold them into teepees. I love the level of creativity used to make these extra engaging for those guests receiving them in the mail.

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Also worth viewing…
Sanjay Patel
Making of Wall-E Book
Invisible Creature Interview

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Woodcum is the monikor for one Philip Igumnov. Similar to the Jetpack image, his flickr stream is full of this vintage, 50s style ephemera. While the work is inspired and nostalgic, his take is decidedly more surreal and abstract. I love the use of collage and the sense of humor and play found in this collection.

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Ryan Atkinson is the Head of Integrated Design at McCann FP7 in Dubai. His stunning portfolio features editorial design, typography, and packaging, to name a few. His work is full of geometric patterns, clean type and coordinated color pallets that come together to create designs that are elegant and memorable.

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Also worth viewing:
Heartwork 2011
Jason Munn Interview
Jessica Hische Studio Visit

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