A wide shot of bookshelves filled with books, art prints and a globe. Large, hand-painted white text laid over the image reads “THE WEEKENDER”.

The Weekender: Take our hand, follow us into the perfumed garden of the weekend...

Words: Liv Siddall
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Date: 31 January 2014; Work

Come, run after us through the pearly gates into the perfumed garden of the Weekender. Here you shall find edible daffodils, singing badgers and chocolate bark concealing golden syrup-like sap. Lie with us on the dewy, emerald lawn and tell us your secrets while we scatter sequins all over your face. A unicorn walks by, the sky turns purple…WAKE UP! You must have fallen asleep in this skip you dirty drunkard. Go and clean yourself up and sort your life out.

A person with a shaved head crouches on a rocky shoreline, scrubbing a dark piece of clothing. A small metal basin and a green cloth sit on the ground beside them. — Above
Photo by Tom Hunter

6. Ultimate powerful female graphic designer alert!

Oh, Pentagram’s snapped her up. Worth a look at Jessica Svendsen’s work anyway!

5. A little book that celebrates the history of Fleet Street

Well, someone’s got to celebrate it, right?

4. A tour of the Tate from Horrors frontman Faris Badwan

Well, with a name like that he’s hardly going to show you around a Big Yellow Storage unit is he?

3. Inside the bookshelf of one of our favourite illustrators

Bjorn Rune Lie has got a lot of really, really nice books. Don’t look if you are of a jealous nature.

2. Loooooovely new yellow comic book

It’s called Isles and it’s had us swooning over it all week. Make more please, Jeremy Perrodeau!

1. And here’s a little film about a printing company

It’s been going for four generations! Four! A lovely film about a truly lovely craft.

A piece of audio equipment sits on a wooden shelf, topped with a pair of teal headphones. Hand-drawn white text laid over the image reads “Friday Mixtape”.

This Friday’s mixtape comes from Mark Jasper of Sound Savers fame. Sound Savers is an analogue & digital recording studio and rehearsal space in Hackney, London. Together, three friends help bands record the albums that will one day (hopefully) make budding musicians rich and famous. Mark also does a fortnightly radio show on NTS and plays in the lo-fi guitar band Witching Waves. I’ve actually just had a listen to them, they’re really good.

Of this Friday mixtape, Mark says, “All of the bands are from London, almost half of it is stuff I’ve recorded, and all of the bands I’ve seen live at least once, and most of them I’ve seen countless times. I’ve tried to do a tiny sketch of the London DIY scene, hope you like the sound of it.”

Thanks Mark! Now let’s crank it up, shall we?

A board game box titled “Meritocracy” sits beside a stack of books on a light blue surface. The box features an illustration of two people playing the game and the tagline “The game where luck moves before you do!”. — Above
This week’s Things

This week’s Things is an extravaganza of greatness, starring a board game custom-created to express societal inequality, a magazine about the internet and technology, a book that will teach you how to take pictures like a pro, an alternative travel publication and a bloody lovely notebook. So stop your complaining about the fact that it’s still Friday and read on, for goodness sake.

The box for a board game titled “Meritocracy” features the tagline “The game where luck moves before you do!”. Two children sit at a table playing the game, surrounded by a collage of colourful icons including a crown, a horseshoe and a British flag. — Above
Chris Chapman: Meritocrazy

A board game called “Meritocraz: The Game Where Luck Moves Before You Do!” is laid out on a blue surface. Two cards, one reading “Merit” and the other “Risk”, sit atop the game board. — Above
Chris Chapman: Meritocrazy

A board game called “Meritocracy” featuring a winding path of squares and a central character with a surprised expression. Two blue dice and game pieces sit near the start, with large tiles labelled “Merit” and “Risk” placed on the board. — Above
Chris Chapman: Meritocrazy

A printed page of text on a light blue background. Large, bold red letters across the middle read “MERITOCRACY”, partially obscured by columns of smaller black text. — Above
Chris Chapman: Meritocrazy

Chris Chapman: Meritocrazy

Now I’m not usually inclined to have favourites but this board game created by Chris Chapman is potentially my favourite of all the Things this week. Brilliantly designed as a satirical perspective on the shortcuts created by privilege, and the plague of inequality which continues to sweep contemporary society, Meritocrazy describes itself as “even worse than Monopoly!” and mad as it may seem, it might even be better. Worth looking up if only to give you a better chance to examine every quip and complaint concealed behind the neon type on the box.
www.chapbook.cc

The cover of Offscreen magazine features a person wearing a pink hoodie, smiling against a backdrop of autumn leaves. A target graphic is printed on the chest of the hoodie, with the number “7” appearing below it. — Above
Offscreen magazine: Issue #2

An open book displays a series of photographs showing a bright, industrial office space. The left page features the headline “Where the Magic Happens”. — Above
Offscreen magazine: Issue #2

An open magazine spread features a large headline that reads “We Used to Be Software Guys”. On the left, a person holds a small electronic component and smiles at the camera. — Above
Offscreen magazine: Issue #2

An open magazine shows a spread featuring a wide shot of a clothing store. People browse racks of T-shirts and garments under bright industrial lighting. — Above
Offscreen magazine: Issue #2

Offscreen magazine: Issue #2

Only two days ago we were quaffing and haw-hawing all over the It’s Nice That podcast about the Magpile 2013 magazine awards, where Printed Pages is snugly placed next to the excellent Offscreen magazine on the shortlist for the Best Independent Magazine category. We’re in jolly good company – the magazine describes itself as a “print magazine about the human side of bits and pixels”, and the insights it gives into the worlds of technology and the internet are valuable and tricky to come across.
www.offscreenmag.com

A dark green sketchbook with a light green spine rests on a blue background. A pink paper band wraps around the centre, reading “MAGMA SKETCHBOOK”, “Sketchbooks for the Twenty-first Century” and “ART & ILLUSTRATION”. — Above
Magma Sketchbook

An open instructional booklet on framing. The left page features technical diagrams of framing structures and a cross section, while the right page contains a “Types of glass” table and a “Glossary of Framing Terms”. — Above
Magma Sketchbook

An open notebook with blank white pages lies on a bright blue surface. A pale pink bookmark ribbon rests between the pages. — Above
Magma Sketchbook

Magma Sketchbook

I’d almost be willing to bet my bottom dollar that there’s not a creative alive who doesn’t revel in the prospect of a new sketchbook, and I’d also guess that that excitement is never more palpable than in the case of this excellent piece of stationery by Magma Books. Crammed full of all the interesting and helpful nuggets and tidbits of info that you could ever want, it’s a gorgeous weighty thing, with pages that cry out to be scribbled all over.
www.magmabooks.com

A black book cover with bold white text reads “READ THIS IF YOU WANT TO TAKE GREAT PHOTOGRAPHS.” The author’s name, “HENRY CARROLL”, is printed below in a darker, subtle tone. — Above
Henry Carroll: Read This If You Want To Take Great Photographs

An open book on a blue surface. The left page features the heading “Soft light is flattering” alongside a block of text, while the right page shows a photograph of a person seen from behind, sitting in soft, diffused light. — Above
Henry Carroll: Read This If You Want To Take Great Photographs

An open magazine shows a page titled “Compelling close-ups”. On the left, a photograph shows a yellow, twisted piece of peel on a blue textured surface, with a small blue badge pinned to it. — Above
Henry Carroll: Read This If You Want To Take Great Photographs

An open guidebook titled “Seeing through the science” displays a colourful infographic about camera exposure. The diagrams explain the relationship between shutter speed, aperture, ISO and exposure compensation using simple icons and text. — Above
Henry Carroll: Read This If You Want To Take Great Photographs

Henry Carroll:Read This If You Want To Take Great Photographs

Written by photographer-in-his-very-own-right Henry Carroll and published by Laurence King, this book contains everything you could ever want to know as a photographer just branching out into the dangerous world of apertures and F-stops (which may or may not be the same thing). Clear, simple, and interspersed with the kinds of iconic images you might soon be creating yourself if you’ll just follow the bloody guidelines, this one’s unassuming and non-pretentious. A rare find.
www.laurenceking.com

The cover of a magazine titled “Renegade.” featuring the subtitle “The Alternative Travel Magazine” and “Issue One”. A person wearing a long, red-patterned dress and a black hijab walks past a blue door and a parked motorcycle. A large, red sketch of a face is painted on the wall behind them. — Above
Renegade Magazine

The cover of a magazine titled “Renegade.” featuring the subtitle “The Alternative Travel Magazine”. A person on a motorcycle is pictured on the left, while a person in a long dress walks past a wall with a red face illustration on the right. — Above
Renegade Magazine

An open graphic novel shows two pages of an adventure story. The left page features a title card reading “The Explorers by Howard Greensberg” alongside panels of two people trekking through a snowy landscape. The right page depicts the pair in a dense jungle, encountering a tiger and sitting by a campfire. — Above
Renegade Magazine

An open book shows a photograph across two pages. A person sits perched on a thick tree branch, while another person stands in the distance against a flat horizon. — Above
Renegade Magazine

Renegade Magazine

Renegade is a travel magazine with more than a little something to say for itself than “look how nice Jamaica is!” or “fancy a lovely sejourn in Spain?” This issue includes features on the Maldives (the bits behind the beaches), Equatorial Guinea, Iraq, Vietnam, India and Buenos Aires, and even features an illustration by the brilliant Isabel Greenberg. No, we can’t say we’re not intrigued either. Might this mark a new direction for the usually fusty genre of the travel magazine?
www.renegademagazine.co.uk

How many people are in space right now of the week

Clue’s in the title. We’re just being nosy but it’s good just to know, isn’t it?

New form of parkour involving hats of the week

People go on about kids doing drugs and staying out late, the truth is they’re actually doing this. Via Kyle Platts.

Conference call simulator of the week

Kinda Lynch-ian, kinda depressing, definitely worth a look if you have ever been part of a conference call.

Roald Dahl audiobooks now online of the week

Yep! Here they are in all their glory! Buy buy buy!

HER spoof of the week

Starring Jonah Hill. Who I have developed a crush on of late.

Best Grammys performance of all time

Pharrell, Stevie Wonder, Daft Punk, Nile Rodgers…When it starts you’re watching it through your fingers like “Nooooo!” but then it gets really, really good. Trust me

Pure imagination of the week

Come with me, and you’ll be, in a world of pure imagination…Best scene from best film ever.

Tearjerking story of the week

Man tries to jump off bridge, a stranger convinces him not to, suicidal man tracks down hero via Twitter and they become friends. All together now: waaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

Jubilee Line ticket barrier sings Blur’s Song 2 of the week

This is way better than it sounds.

Further Info

About the Author

Liv Siddall

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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.