Spring cleaning (as organized as it gets)

Where the magic happens.

With the new season comes a fresh pack of sketchbooks.

The Diminishing Craft of Book Making (deprivation of the e-book)

Here are some old-school illustrations, complete with pop-up flaps published almost 100 years ago.  Intriguing as well as engaging to the viewer, not to mention standing the test of time pretty handily:

Note the condition of the book binding (poor), while the illustrations are nearly mint condition.

Excellent production quality ensuring the fastening stays secure indefinitely.

All things interactive...

 

 

Credit where credit is due. (© 1916 E.J. Stanley)

I couldn't believe the quality of these illustrations that were printed almost a century ago.  Keep in mind, this was a medical reference book containing twenty volumes combined into one enormous book, and by evaluation of the broken binding on the spine, this one evidently had been employed quite a bit in its day.  The condition of the color alone is enough to make one realize that the printed word and image is something that lasts at least one lifetime.  

Book Review - HTML + CSS: Design and Build Web Sites by Jon Duckett

There are many web design books on the market today that tend to lean towards the tedious side of writing code.  And when I say many, it is no exaggeration.  Virtually every book one can randomly pick up, virtually every page one can randomly flip to will look like:

Jon Duckett has brought forth a web design book (HTML + CSS: Design and Build Web Sites) that is geared more towards us, and by us I mean the visually responsive and creative community.  A web design book that, regardless of experience in coding, will provide enough background and basic knowledge to create and sustain a website for the present, as well as whet one's appetite, encouraging indulgence in emerging web technology in the near future (exploring new possibilities available in HTML 5 and CSS 3).  I originally picked this book up as sort of a self-administered refresher course in the continuous development of my own personal website (zabelillustration.com) but was pleasantly surprised to be enlightened to more than expected.  Duckett uses a familiar vernacular in explaining every aspect of creating a visually and technically functional website that will hold it's own in a ever evolving virtual community, giving any designer the backbone and confidence to take the basics and explore further possibilities by experimenting with their own creative process.  Provided throughout the book are useful links to online resources and a thorough appendix to easily navigate the text for future reference, examples of HTML and CSS coding accompanied by the visual outcome, and improvements (particularly relevant to designers) that are available in HTML 5 and CSS 3.  This book is not the definitive guide to web design, but it is a vital tool in creating and developing from the ground up for those of us that are more visually excelled.  A must for any serious creative thinker.

HTML + CSS Book dot com

      

The Big Bananas...ahem...Bonanza

Virginia City, NV - I once saw a bumper sticker that read, "Sign painters do it right the first time."  Of course I immediately thought, who paints signs anymore?  It is truly a lost art that has most recently been exploited by trendy clothing stores (where high school "surfers" can purchase t-shirts with pseudo businesses chocked full of sexual innuendos).  The real deal is few and far between, unless you manage to stumble across Virginia City, a quaint mountain town in northwestern Nevada. 
    A brief history of Virginia City tells us that it is situated just south of an enormously prosperous gold and silver mine nicknamed the "big bonanza" (yes, like the TV show) and north of an nearly as prosperous mine.  Logically, the founders of the town decided that the trend would continue if they plopped their city in between the two.  Long story short...it was a bust.  The town continued to host the miners who relocated there during the gold rush and today the remnants of a true wild west (sultry madams, lost poker matches, impromptu gunfights in dark saloons, even Mark Twain) grace every store front on the main street.  Behold, the rise of a tourism industry, which may have also provided somewhat of a "big bonanza" of hand painted signs:

    

 

Dy-no-mite!

Because nothing says dangerous like Comic Sans...

A penny for your thoughts...

In honor of your 203rd birthday I wanted to post a picture of 203 pennies.  Alas, I only had forty seven cents (including three nickels).  I hope this photo I took on my ninth grade class trip will do...happy birthday.