A collection of books and art prints laid out on a bright pink background. A book cover reads “Martin the Dandy Giant”, alongside a pink and purple graphic print that reads “a BAR”.

Things #2: Dandy giants, ceramic pups and bad jokes. Welcome to Things!

Words: Maisie Skidmore
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Date: 6 March 2014; Things
Work

The sun is shining! Bus drivers are smiling! We’ve got a bunch of cool stuff to show you! Among this week’s offerings is a teaser for the illustrated children’s book about a sartorially-inclined giant, a dictionary of British slang for Americans, a peek at a conceptual artist’s sketchbook, a book of beautifully-drawn yet horrendous jokes and some kitchen bling from Rob Ryan. Y’all ready for this?

Have you made something special that you’re super proud of that you’d like to see in Things? If so, please send items addressed to “Things” at the address here. Unfortunately, due to the volume of work that gets sent through we’re unable to return any items sent in.

The cover of a children's book titled “Martin the Dandy Giant” by Edouard Baribeaud. An illustration shows the giant's legs and red shoes stepping over a landscape of rolling hills and colourful trees under a night sky. — Above
Edouard Baribeaud: Martin the Dandy Giant teaser

An open book shows a series of oval illustrations on the left page, set against a green and white striped background. The drawings depict a bearded figure in various states of grooming and dressing, while the right page contains a block of narrative text. — Above
Edouard Baribeaud: Martin the Dandy Giant teaser

An illustration of a giant figure wearing green checked trousers and brown brogues, standing in a rolling landscape. A tiny person stands by the figure’s foot, holding a blue balloon. — Above
Edouard Baribeaud: Martin the Dandy Giant teaser

An illustration for a book titled “Martin the Dandy Giant” by Edouard Baribeaud. A bearded giant in a red top and patterned trousers reclines in a colourful, detailed landscape under a starry night sky. — Above
Edouard Baribeaud: Martin the Dandy Giant teaser

Edouard Baribeaud: Martin the Dandy Giant teaser

The incredibly talented Edouard Baribeaud popped in the other week to show us this beauty – a dummy for his very exciting new book, Martin the Dandy Giant. Drawn in his painstaking and incredibly impressive fine-liner style, the book is all about a giant called Martin who loves wear beautiful clothes, and promises to be a fantastic publication. Just take a look at that cover illustration and dream of the things to come. Corrrrr.
www.edbaribeaud.com

Two square tiles featuring a teal and white illustration of a dog sitting on a rug. The first reads “All we can do is live from day to day.” The second reads “I want to grow old with you until my fur goes grey.” — Above
Rob Ryan: Tiles

An illustration of a teal dog sitting on a matching rug, printed on a square white tile. The dog’s body contains the text “ALL WE CAN DO IS LIVE FROM DAY TO DAY”. — Above
Rob Ryan: Tiles

An illustration of a dog standing on a teal rug against a white background. The dog’s body contains the text “I want to grow old with you until my fur goes grey.” — Above
Rob Ryan: Tiles

Two square ceramic tiles set against a bright pink background. One features a teal illustration of a dog with the words “ALL WE CAN DO IS LIVE FROM DAY TO DAY.” The other is a plain beige tile with a honeycomb texture and the text “britishceramictile Made in England”. — Above
Rob Ryan: Tiles

Rob Ryan: Tiles

It takes quite the creative mind to make paper-cutting not only incredibly beautiful but also really cool, but the very lovely Rob Ryan has made it his life’s work. The latest in his long, long-running collection of designs is this beautiful pair of tiles designed to make hearts all over the shop melt into big sparkly puddles on the floor. Sentimental in the best way.
www.robryanstudio.com

A colourful book cover and matching bookmark on a pink background. The cover features bold, stylised lettering that reads “4444 fonts walk into a bar” and “the barman says...”. — Above
Andy Smith: 4 Fonts Walked Into a Bar

A typographic poster on a pink background features a joke in bold, varied lettering. It reads “The PAST, PRESENT & FUTURE WERE IN A BAR It was tense...”. — Above
Andy Smith: 4 Fonts Walked Into a Bar

An open book with two pages of illustrated typography in purple and blue ink. The left page reads “Jump Lead walks into a bar and the barman says ‘I’ll serve you but don’t START anything!’”. The right page features a blue illustration of a monkey with the text “What do you call a monkey in a mine field? A BABOOM!”. — Above
Andy Smith: 4 Fonts Walked Into a Bar

An open book shows two pages of bold, typographic jokes. The left page is green and reads “A man walks into a bar carrying a roll of tarmac under his arm and says ‘Pint please and one for the road!’”. The right page features a red coffin shape containing the text “Doctor, Doctor I’ve only got 50 seconds to live! Just a minute.” — Above
Andy Smith: 4 Fonts Walked Into a Bar

Andy Smith: 4 Fonts Walked Into a Bar

We love a cheesy joke over in the It’s Nice That bunker, and we’re also unabashed fans of hand-lettering, so it only makes sense that Andy Smith’s 4 Fonts Walked Into a Bar was met with cheery praise from us. There’s something to be said about having to work a while for the punchline, too – in case you were wondering, this one is “and the barman said ‘we don’t serve your type in here!’” Ba dum tsss.
www.asmithillustration.com

A white book cover against a bright pink background. It features the text “Erik Steinbrecher Art Lover” and a 3D object resembling a white cylinder topped with a black curved bar. — Above
Erik Steinbrecher: Art Lover

An open book on a pink background. The left page features a simple line drawing of a glass and the word “Warsteiner”, while the right page shows a vintage photograph of two people in traditional Spanish dress. — Above
Erik Steinbrecher: Art Lover

An open book lies against a bright pink background. The top half of the pages are covered in a colourful, multi-coloured checkerboard pattern. — Above
Erik Steinbrecher: Art Lover

An open notebook on a bright pink background. Each page features a simple line drawing of a finger. — Above
Erik Steinbrecher: Art Lover

Erik Steinbrecher: Art Lover

Far be it from us to try to imagine what inspires the vast conceptual artworks created by people like Erik Steinbrecher, a German conceptual artist who has been making work ever since he can remember. Fortunately we don’t have to imagine because he’s gotten together with publisher Nieves to make this charming little book, Art Lover, documenting a selection of the sketches, drawings and doodles he makes to outline works of art. Who’d pass up an opportunity to peer inside his brain? Not me.
www.eriksteinbrecher.com

A maroon notebook lies flat against a bright pink background. Hand-drawn text on the cover reads “British Slang According to an Ignorant American”. — Above
Justine Braisted: British Slang According to an Ignorant American

An open book laid against a bright pink background. The left page reads “I haven’t seen you in ages.” and the right page reads “bits & bobs” inside a hand-drawn star shape. — Above
Justine Braisted: British Slang According to an Ignorant American

An open book on a bright pink background. The left page features a jagged, comic-style speech bubble containing the words “BLOODY HELL!”, while the right page reads “I can’t bearsed”. — Above
Justine Braisted: British Slang According to an Ignorant American

An open book on a bright pink background. The left page features a simple line drawing of a sweater with the word “jumper” written across the top, while the right page displays the word “knackered”. — Above
Justine Braisted: British Slang According to an Ignorant American

Justine Braisted: British Slang According to an Ignorant American

One in only a series of unsolved mysteries of the universe, listening to people of other nationalities try to get their heads around the weird idiosyncrasies of the English language will never cease to be funny. To help our American friends come to terms with these phrases, Justine Braisted has made British Slang According to an Ignorant American, which deciphers everything from what “bloody hell!” actually means to the classic pants/trousers mix up which everybody has smirked at at least once. She translates “I can’t be arsed” as “When you have absolutely no desire or willpower to complete a fairly simple task,” and explains that “a dark alleyway and expired milk can both be considered ‘dodgy.’” It is, though isn’t it? It’s funny. It just is.
www.justinebraisted.com

Further Info

About the Author

Maisie Skidmore

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Maisie joined It’s Nice That fresh out of university in the summer of 2013 as an intern before joining full time as an Assistant Editor. Maisie left It’s Nice That in July 2015.