Review: Different – Escaping the Competitive Herd
Posted by Amy on Saturday August 21, 2010
I picked up Different: Escaping the Competitive Herd after browsing the shelves at my local Kinokuniya bookstore. The title itself is interesting — the promise, even more so. How can one be different among a sea of competition? How can your product, your work stand out among so many others? How can someone succeed in a world where conformity reigns and exceptions rule?
Title: Different: Escaping the Competitive Herd
Hardcover: 288 pages
From the start, reviewers have warned me about not expecting this book to be a hands-on business book. That’s fine. I don’t need another book screaming out to me “How to get that sale, STAT!” (or something along those lines — you get my drift). Differentiating opinions had me highly intrigued, and I figured with a subject that I really loved reading about I went for it and read it with no expectations whatsoever.
By the end of the book, I think I have a definition of what this book is.
It’s a lecture. A long, and very enlightening one.
And with all good lectures, the teacher doesn’t tell you exactly how to solve your problems. They merely share with you their views, tips and years of experience – a glance through their eyes of the subject matter at hand, and this is what Different is about. There’s no step by step on how to conquer your market; because each business is different (or at least, they should be!) You won’t find nifty little sidebar packed with information or links to this or that. What you’ll find is a good, solid lecture about brands and business evolutions as seen through the eyes of a mother, a lecturer, and a woman.
CLICK HERE to read the entire review!
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Review: Creative Inc.
Posted by Amy on Friday August 13, 2010
I’m a freelancer for more than two years now, and July marks the second anniversary of me striking out on my own. Prior to this I was a regional architecture and design magazine editor (and helped start the magazine, no less). I had a steady paycheck, a platform where I was rather established and also fun colleagues who were fun to work with.
I started Pikaland two years ago after I found that I loved illustration more than architecture. I traded in concrete and steel for ink and paper, and have never looked back since. Starting the journey into freelancing was terrifying, although it was personally satisfying. Not only was I running Pikaland, but I was also a freelance writer, juggling stories and features with magazines and newspapers to make ends meet, with the odd copywriting job in between.
I read (actually, devoured) a lot of books that helped me out when I was starting out. Books like My So-Called Freelance Life: How to Survive and Thrive as a Creative Professional for Hire by Michelle Goodman, and Craft, Inc.: Turn Your Creative Hobby into a Business by Meg Mateo Ilasco tuned me into how I can actually pull the whole thing off. Of both books, I found that Michelle Goodman’s book was more relevant (only because Craft Inc. didn’t really apply to what I was doing — I was offering a service rather than a finished product). Goodman’s book was my bible – dog eared and worn, I still flip through it to find nuggets of information that’s useful.
Title: Creative, Inc.: The Ultimate Guide to Running a Successful Freelance Business
Paperback: 184 pages
I found that more and more illustration commissions have come my way instead of writing assignments; which led me to order a copy of Creative, Inc.: The Ultimate Guide to Running a Successful Freelance Business, the latest book from Meg Mateo Ilasco in collaboration with Joy Deangdeelert Cho (of Oh Joy!)
CLICK HERE to read the full review!
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Review: Impressive
Posted by Amy on Saturday July 24, 2010
I remember seeing a small machine, almost antique-like that stood at the corner of a big printing house when I was checking the proofs of a magazine I was spearheading a few years ago. I asked the manager about it, and he mentioned that it was a letterpress machine – very old and broken, so it couldn’t be used anymore. It looked regal, despite its age, and very beautiful — it left me wondering about the prints that came out of the machine before it was left by the corner. Thankfully, artisans everywhere are now taking these old presses and giving them a new lease of life; and knowing that has made me feel lots better — I wouldn’t want these old presses to suffer the same fate as the one I saw.
With the resurgence of craft and the handmade movement, letterpressed stationery ranging from bold, typographic promotional items to pretty and cute wedding invitations are everywhere to be found. They’re the perfect accompaniment to the movement – they’re tactile, beautiful, and because they’re hand-pressed, each one is slightly different from one another.
So when Impressive: Printmaking, Letterpress and Graphic Design came in the mail, I was ecstatic. It’s a beautiful book – big (it measures 12 × 9.8 inches!), generous and so very inspiring.
Title: Impressive: Printmaking, Letterpress and Graphic Design
Hardcover: 256 pages
The book covers more than 100 letterpress printing studios and their work, interspersed with interviews with a few of them about their craft. The book is a great showcase of how contemporary designs fits in beautifully with this style of printing, made popular in the mid-15th century. Fun fact: Did you know that back then the impression made by a letterpress machine is not as distinct as they are now? Today, impressions are made deeper to set themselves apart from other conventional printing processes. A badge of honor, if you will!
CLICK HERE to read the full review!
Comments [5]
Review: Rework
Posted by Amy on Friday July 9, 2010
When I first heard about Rework online, I thought that it was just another business book that spilled on and on about preparing a thorough business plan, and belonged on the bookshelf of companies well armed with a killer marketing campaign and a staff of 30. But further research into the book told me other wise, and I ordered it from Amazon because I was told that this would be different. Also the fact that the book was written by the guys behind 37Signals (a company that makes cool online project management softwares) compelled me even more.
Title: Rework by Jason Fried & David Heinemeier Hansson
Hardcover: 288 pages
Now you might just be thinking — what’s an illustration blog doing reviewing books on business? I’m going to cheat a little and mention that the book has illustrations for each topic (a-ha!), but the main reason is that apart from my main love of illustration, I also love devouring books dedicated to creativity and small businesses, especially on how people are doing it their way. I find that a lot of creativity is to be had by studying the principles of others and then applying it to your particular field, and reading books like Rework stimulated me to think beyond my four walls.
Through the firm’s experience for the past 10 years, they’ve had lots of stories and tips to share. They started out as a web consulting company in 1999 but then began to realize a gap in the market for an online project management software in 2004. Basecamp was designed, and more were released in the last 5 years.
The book is divided into short, bite-sized chunks of information that are divided under 12 main segments. Light on text but heavy on substance, I can relate to what the authors are saying, because I believe that with the internet we have become globally connected in one way or another. So the way work is being done is no longer the same – everything runs quicker in the internet-era, and before you can snap your fingers and say holla – the game is being changed yet again. Situations like these forces you to be different, to think differently, and to respond differently to various situations. And that’s why I appreciate the book. The team at 37Signals showed the world how they did things differently, and succeeded.
While the book was short and to the point, the book didn’t really tell me anything new. It merely reaffirmed my belief in the way I work – start small, have fun, and don’t give up easily. What I loved was that the information was all in one place, and makes for a great pick-me-up when you’ve run into a rut. I finished this in a few hours!
One of my favorite quotes from the book is that decisions are temporary. And that, to me, is one of the reasons why being small is so powerful – whether you’re one illustrator, a team of two designers, or a photographer. We have the flexibility to change the way we work if what we’re working on doesn’t work. We are unencumbered beings — free to mold ourselves and our business to reflect our own values.
So how about re-thinking the way you work this weekend?
Comments [6]
Review: The Green Bean
Posted by Amy on Saturday June 26, 2010
Katie Green’s work is no stranger here at Pikaland. She’s a lovely UK-based illustrator who produced a yummy vegan baking book and now she’s turned to making zines called the Green Bean!
Katie’s work never fails to make me smile – she has a way with words and her pretty illustrations will inspire you to pick up a pen and draw along with her. (That’s what I did really, because I’m going to be a guest star in her third issue!)
Printed in limited editions of 250 copies, this zine is chock full of stories, recipes and crafty patterns & instructions for you to sew up a storm. There’s book reviews in there (we share the same love of books!) poems, doodles and random tidbits too. She’s like a fun UK-based Martha Stewart, all printed in 100% recycled paper and wrapped with love! All in all, it’s a great read on a cool afternoon, best enjoyed with a cup of tea in hand.
Pick up a copy of the monthly Green Bean zine (or better yet, a subscription) at her Etsy shop and read about her adventures on her blog she goes through the process of drawing her first graphic novel!
Comments [7]
Review: Lists
Posted by Amy on Friday June 4, 2010
I think by now you all know how much I love lists, and the satisfaction I get from checking them off one-by-one. So when Lists came in the mail, I was jumping for joy because not only do I love writing down every single thing that goes through my mind (reminders, to-dos, ideas, brainstorms, etc), but I love looking at how others (especially artists) make their mark.
Title: Lists: To-dos, Illustrated Inventories, Collected Thoughts, and Other Artists
Paperback: 208 pages
A list represents a moment in time, much like photographs. I use my moleskine to jot down schedules, ideas and even stumbling blocks — so that I can revisit them again in the future. Every phone number or detail expressed to me over the phone is jot down on the day itself so that I can remember where it is. Pieces of paper get lost – journals are harder to lose.
If photographs capture memories, then I’d say the same goes for lists and markings. Like photographs, they are stills of a particular time; most of them bearing meaning to the artist alone – and some were made with an outcome in mind (one of the most famous list in the Smithsonian Archives or American Art is Pablo Picasso’s recommendations for the Armory show for Walt Kuhn in 1912). My favorite entry was one that made me laugh — Eero Saarinen’s handwritten list of Aline Bernstein’s good qualities when he married her in 1954!
CLICK HERE to read the entire review!
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my milk toof update
Posted by Racheal Anilyse on Thursday June 3, 2010
Remember this post from back in November where I asked the Gods of Publishing to please make a book about Inhae Renee Lee’s little milk teefs named ickle and Lardee?
Well, all of that chanting, sage burning, and ritualistic pilgramages to the Milk Toof blog did not go in vain because I’m happy to pass on word that Chronicle Books will be publishing a Milk Toof book in Spring 2011.
Praise be to teef!
Comments [3]
Review: Amelia's Anthology of Illustration
Posted by Amy on Monday May 31, 2010
Amelia’s Anthology of Illustration featuring renewable technologies to prevent catastrophic climate change is one colorful book. I think I’m not stressing it enough — it’s literally bursting with colors, patterns, shapes, and most importantly, illustrations from 40 contemporary illustrators from all over the world with a goal in mind.
If you haven’t gotten acquainted with Miss Amelia Gregory who published this book (and previously, Amelia’s Magazines), then a quick hop on over to our in-depth interview with the lady who does it all in the name of illustration should be enough to bring you up to speed. Like all her publishing endeavors, this book pays homage to the illustrators whose work she loves; but now with an added twist.
CLICK HERE to read the entire review!
Comments [5]
Review: Milimbo
Posted by Amy on Saturday May 22, 2010
How often do you run across a book that needs no words to explain itself? Well, the books produced by Milimbo clearly is a rarity. The Spain-based small publisher produces books that are word-less for kids (and big children); and their pages are lined with beautiful, yet simple graphics that tell time-tested tales.
With clean, geometrical lines that are eloquently spread across the pages to form patterns and myriad shapes, one’s imagination is stoked to figure out the story on their own. The color palette is restrained, and yet tells plenty – bringing to each story their own atmosphere and lots of character. In their own words; “Reading becomes a game that stimulates the imagination.”
CLICK HERE for more images and to read the entire review!
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Review: Popshot Magazine
Posted by Amy on Friday May 14, 2010
Poetry and illustration are both very beautiful art forms — both share a similarity of being stripped bare, fresh and free for all to see.
Popshot magazine is published twice a year and marries these two beautiful expression; bringing you a book filled with poems from up-and-coming poets, paring them with the interpretation of individual poems by illustrators.
Issue #3 is the Liberate issue, where the topic ranges from taking your clothes off, prostitution, grandmothers, to the Dalai Lama. Not to be taken in at a go (it clearly states so from the intro), the book has about 50 entries in total divided between words and marks.
Truth be told, my appreciation of poetry only began after I read the works of Robert Frost (especially The Road Not Taken) and discovering that poetry has the power to stir thought by allowing the reader to interpret it however way one wishes. One of my favourites from Popshot is the funny Warrior King by Joshua Seigal:
Warrior King
I’m the warrior-king of the garden
I’m a revolutionary
With my gun and my axe and my telescope
And my lookout in my tree
I’m the warrior-king of the garden
I’m a soldier, a fighter, a winner
I don’t take orders from anyone
Until mum calls me in for dinner
Reading poetry taps into my imagination – there isn’t a need for much to be said, but through each meaningful word, prose line, and description, it sets the stage for something spectacular. Popshot magazine does this effectively by also providing a platform for illustrators who have something to say about the theme on hand. Combined with a short paragraph to let you in on what the poet is trying to say, the whole package is easy on the eyes and makes for a great afternoon read when paired with a cup of tea.
Who the book is for: Poetry lovers, illustrators and those who are curious to dive into the subject matter at hand. Get your copy at Popshot.
Who isn’t it for?: Those who aren’t into poetry. Or maybe it’s a good time to discover the beauty of poetry if you haven’t already.
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Read past book reviews over here. Also, before I go off for the weekend, I’ll have one more post up that I think you’ll like because it’s going to be a little more interactive than usual (let’s just say I hope you have a pair of scissors in hand!)
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