The Weekender: New socks, new pants, new format. Welcome to the (slightly) new Weekender

Date
21 February 2014

Here at It’s Nice That we’re all about the whole out with the old, in with the new thing. You made that illustration two years ago? Get it out of my face. That painting’s from the 16th century? Never speak to me again. This is why we’ve decided to change up The Weekender to make it less of a weird bin of online sundries and more of a chance for the editorial team to get involved. First the online editor Liv Siddall will be telling you about some features you should have read this week, then we’ll hear what’s tickled the rest of the team over the last seven days. Considering they spend about 99.9% of their lives on the internet, it’s probably going to be good. Enjoy!

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Neo Neo Studio: Type Design

– This week we introduced you all to the wonderful graphic design studio, Neo Neo.

– Rob Alderson went to a design awards ceremony and learnt a thing or two about two very different design communities…

– The very talented Claire Cottrell, founder of LA’s Book Stand, showed us her enviable bookshelf.

– And this week’s mixtape comes straight from the mind of Joane Skyler via the melody mixers over at NTS.

– Illustrator and filmmaker Braulio Amado very kindly introduced us to this magnificent piece of film in My Favourite Music Video.

Maisie Skidmore: This Old Man: Life in the Nineties, by Roger Angell

On Monday The New Yorker published a beautiful article by nonagenarian Roger Angell, an American essayist. Theoretically it’s a story about ageing, but in actual fact the writer reflects on love, loss, youth, pets and the look of disbelief in the face of a neighbour when they look up and find you still wobbling along. Even better, he does it all with the kind of unapologetic wit, humour and consideration that can only come from having 94 years of life experience under your belt, and no longer giving two shits what people think. It’s a long’un but a good’un; I’ve sent it (via post) to every old person I know.
www.thenewyorker.com/reporting

James Cartwright: Oneohtrix Point Never – Boring Angel

I expected to hate this because emoji’s are a heinous crime against humanity and proper communication. But I love it, and will now use emojis religiously.

Liv Siddall: Faces of Olympic Figure Skating

I live for this shit. Every single one of them looks like they’re (unsuccessfully) holding in a runny fart.
www.sadanduseless.com/faces-of-olympic-figure-skating

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Faces of Olympic Figure Skating

Rob Alderson: Dyson Does Curling

I’ve banged on about this before but whenever there is a big event like the Winter Olympics, brands will do anything they can to jump on the bandwagon, often in baffling and desperate ways. “Celebrate our gold medal in the bobsled by hurtling down to Sofa World this weekend! We’ve frozen prices across the store etc etc etc…” KILL ME NOW! So when a brand does it well they deserve our thanks and praise and with that in mind, take a bow Dyson. The UK has gone curling-crazy as our brave women’s team battled to a glorious bronze medal this week and the technology company gatecrashed the party in a funny, intelligent and relevant way. Behold, what would happen if they used Dyson vacuum cleaners instead of brushes on the curling rink…

Lisa Farrell: The photos of Melvin Sokolsky

This week Wired published an article on the Bubble series shot for Harpers Bazaar 1963 Spring Collection by photographer Melvin Sokolsky, in which models appear to be floating serenely in translucent bubbles from New York to Paris! It’s great to be reminded of an early project which fused advertising with a bold and artistic vision to create incredible photography.

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Melvin Sokolsky: Bubble Seine (1963)

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This week’s Things

This week’s Things, like a bag of revels that contains nothing but orange ones (i.e. the best ones) will proceed as follows! An illustrated book that reads like a weird acid trip in cartoon network’s animation studios, Sam Barclay’s fantastic book recreating the effects of dyslexia via design, a book of portraits by the brilliant Tim Saccenti, an illustrated guide to what it’s like to be Mark Rothko, and some admirable stationery carrying inspirational quotations. It’s a party for your brain!

And if you don’t like the orange ones? Well, quite frankly you can scamper right off back to where you came from. That’s right. Off you go.

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Sam Barclay: I Wonder What It’s Like to be Dyslexic

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Sam Barclay: I Wonder What It’s Like to be Dyslexic

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Sam Barclay: I Wonder What It’s Like to be Dyslexic

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Sam Barclay: I Wonder What It’s Like to be Dyslexic

Sam Barclay: I Wonder What It’s Like to be Dyslexic

We first wrote about I Wonder What It’s Like to Be Dyslexic back in November when it was but a twinkle in its author Sam Barclay’s eye (or rather, a donation page on Kickstarter). Since then it has aced its goal with £55,566 pledged of the £14,500 aim (crazy!) and gone into publication, and having received it earlier this week we can confirm it was worth every penny pledged!
www.sambarclay.co.uk

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Thomas Murphy: Hello My Name is Mark Rothko

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Thomas Murphy: Hello My Name is Mark Rothko

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Thomas Murphy: Hello My Name is Mark Rothko

Thomas Murphy: Hello My Name is Mark Rothko

Aside from that infamous act of Yellowism at the Tate a few years back and his iconic blocky paintings, I don’t know an awful lot about Mark Rothko – a fact which is about to be changed by illustrator and printmaker Thomas Murphy. Thomas has made this charming publication in a kind of tribute to the artist, and it’s informative and nice in equal measures. Is an artist series on the cards, perhaps? Say it is, Thomas.
www.murphytom.com

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Dieter Van der Ougstraete: Snow

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Dieter Van der Ougstraete: Snow

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Dieter Van der Ougstraete: Snow

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Dieter Van der Ougstraete: Snow

Dieter Van der Ougstraete: Snow

Whether you’re a “comic book person” or not, the very excellent Snow by Dieter Van der Ougstraete, with all of its colours, its potent papery new book smell, its weird crying worms and its perpetually melting snowman will have something for you. Reading it feels something like a trippy summer night spent with stoned friends, and the illustrations do an excellent job of bringing life to each of the fantastical creatures, forming a narrative where you wouldn’t have thought one possible. Watch out for Miffy in sunglasses, too.
www.dietervdo.carbonmade.com

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Tim Saccenti: Portaits

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Tim Saccenti: Portaits

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Tim Saccenti: Portaits

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Tim Saccenti: Portaits

Tim Saccenti: Portaits

Tim Saccenti made an excellent impression on our founders Will and Alex when they popped over to New York late last year, and flicking through his new book of portraits it would appear that they’re not the only ones to be charmed by this endlessly charismatic characters; he manages to conjure something never before seen from everybody he photographs. You can see chunks of the book on his very entertaining website. It’s so full of work that I recommend you get comfy.
www.timothysaccenti.com

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About the Author

Liv Siddall

Liv joined It’s Nice That as an intern in 2011 and worked across online, print and events, and was latterly Features Editor before leaving in May 2015.

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