Things, nonsense and ten articles you MUST have read this week - it's the new look Weekender!

The weekend, eh? It’s pretty darn perfect what with its social engagements and its long lazy mornings and its flagrant disregard for the mores of the working world (wear shoes? Don’t think so mate). But here at It’s Nice That we wondered whether there was a way to improve the weekend even just a little bit,. And so we are thrilled to introduce to you to our new Weekender section. It takesThe Weekender’s rakish sense of web-based nonsense and merges it with our popular weekly look at the lovely lovely things we get sent to the studio each and every day. Then we add in some top content from the site over the past seven days, plus a few extras to boot.

Think of it like one of those tremendous weekend supplements you get in the newspapers, with fewer harrowing first-person pieces “I was brought up by snakes” and more funny Tumblrs. We hope you enjoy and for you Bookshelf fans keep your eyes peeled for its new Tuesday slot starting next week.

10: The joy of fingernails

Our very first post of this week saw brilliant Norwegian illustrator and part of the Hugo & Marie stable MVM ensure we will never look at the humble fingernail in quite the same way ever again. See why here

9: But can you spell boobs on it using a combination of 8s and 0s?

Khalil Klouche has created an excellent, innovative calculator for kids although he has removed a sniggering staple of my schooldays.

8: Mind messer of the week

Wait, is that? What? No, I think it’s…what? Tape? Actual tape? Damien Gilley take a bow, you have scrambled our brains like particularly delicious eggs.

7: Nostalgia, Sims style

This week Liv Siddall gave us an insight into her lonely, computer-game focussed adolescence. But in doing so she alerted us to this amazing blog Sims Gone Wrong. So, you know, swings and roundabouts…

6: How good would you have to look the WHOLE time

Imagine going to a fashion and design school run by the company which runs Vogue. Intimidating, no? Still Together Design absolutely nailed the identity.

5: Quote of the week (external)

“I dripped all over two really nice foyers.” What on earth is terrific young photographer Sam Bradley talking about? Find out in his Introducing… feature.

4: Quote of the week (It’s Nice That)

“…an exasperated bull who seems to be questioning the purpose of the human romantic impulse above a lilliputian Poseidon…” James Cartwright’s piece on illustrator Federico Gutiérre included this wonderful collection of words.

3: Why Obama is dreamy #65937

Because he does silly little spoof films with Steven Speilberg where he pretends to be Daniel Day-Lewis playing the part of Obama. And then he pokes fun at his ears…

2: Fresh new talent of the week

April’s Student of the Month threw up some absolute pearlers – check out the three we plumped for here

1: The Spice Girls Musical closes in London, but Girl Power lives on

And if you don’t believe us check out Stella Berkofsky’s brilliant, beautiful portfolio bursting with amazing pictures of girls, women, ladies etc

And this time last year…

We went crackers for Nerhol’s combination of paper cutting and time-lapse photography, we giggled (how we giggled) at illustrator Matilda Tristram’s comic featuring comments overheard at the David Hockney Royal Academy show and we celebrated the redesign of Sweden’s currency (no, really!).

Seeing as it is the season of bank holidays, we are treating you to an especially good week of things full of luscious music, colourful illustrations and a brilliant comic. Thank us later when you look back and think that Things really made your weekend that bit more amazing.

Big Cosmos Illuminance EP

If there ever was a Rolls Royce of EPs then this is it. Big Cosmos’ EP Illuminance comes on a USB wristband inside a laser-cut wooden box with a silk-screen poster and lyrics booklet. Only 50 of these were made and it looks awesome, and with definite summery vibes coming from these guys, don’t deny your weekend is looking better already.
www.bigcosmos.co.uk|

William Edmonds: Insel Paradies

In William’s own words, Insel Paradies “offers a view of some other place, a filmic vision of a classical utopia, a modern arcadia, a lush green world of hope.” The bright watercolour illustrations inside are really delightful and William depicts people having fun in their utopian world.
www.williamedmonds.co.uk

Luke Routledge: Illustrations

Luke sent us in a load of his illustrations, and I mean a load! From drawings and sculptures from various projects to cut-outs from his sketchbook, they are really great. The recurring theme is definitely monsters, including a troublesome-looking worm, and a worried-looking blob giving a man a piggie-back. What? This is normal!
www.lukeroutledge.com

Alex Klaes: Mystic Blood

This lovely hard-back book is by photographer Alex Klaes for his project Mystic Blood. A diverse collection of experiences from camping in the woods, encountering an ostrich and papier-mâché faces. Each time you look at it, you discover a new gem of brilliant composition. Love it.
www.alexklaes.com

Alex Brady: Ordinary Street

A lot of time must’ve gone into making this comic accompanied by linocut prints, 30 of them to be precise and all incredibly detailed. Based in a place where “Everything has a price; Survival is a feat. Entice the sane and crazy, To walk along our street.” Words are by Catherine Brady, and complement the prints beautifully.
www.alexbrady.co.uk

Tweet of the week

“Here’s a comprehensive list of all of Samsung’s original fucking phone ideas:”

And with one cutting line @JonyFuckingIve becomes our favourite parody Twitter designer.

Living in the dark ages of the week

Sometimes we spend so much time on the internet that it feels like our heads might simply implode with the dense mass or information we keep absorbing. Sure some of it’s useful, informative and genuinely worthwhile, but there’s a lot of crap out there too and it threatens to turn our highly-functioning brains into lumps of useless flesh. At one point we were thinking about unplugging ourselves permanently, but then we read this article and it turns out that life’s just as confusing, complicated and full of useless crap without the internet – you just get the useless crap from books instead.

Marxist babes of the week

Lenin with his abs out, Stalin on the beach and Gramsci filling that posing pouch with style. That’s right girls it’s time to enjoy the buff reality of new (fictional) monthly glossy Cosmarxpolitan\, a veritable hotbed of radical thought and toned torsos. Who knew great political thinkers could rock a six-pack like it ’aint no thang (call me if you need a freelance writer Mizz).

Impolite plastic bag of the week

Plastic bags want you to shut the hell up, and they’re starting to take action.

Thing you didn’t know about owls of the week

They’re hungover, literally all the time. Look, here’s evidence to prove it.