vis/res is a new publication produced 6 times a year to showcase emerging talent in graphic design and illustration. Each issue has a central theme and features contributing work from 10 designers & illustrators.

And only six little bucks to buy. What are you waiting for!!!!???

(I’m waiting for someone to stick money in my paypal account…eek! So very poor I am)

This is something I’ve been working on for the past two days.

The reason I wanted to make my own notebook is because a problem I have is that if I get a pretty noteboook, I’m too afraid to write in it! So I wanted something that I could buy a cheapo notebook that I could insert into an awesome cover, and when it was filled up I could take it out and put in another. As well as that, I wanted a notebook that had room for storing other bits and pieces.

I made it from a topshop bag that I got for my birthday, the zipper broke a while ago and I couldn’t bring myself to throw it out, I was too sad about it breaking! I loved that bag :’(

When I was well and truly done with the mourning, I took out the scissors and got to work. I thought I would get enough leather out of it to make a moleskine sized notebook, but when I’d taken all the stitches out, I had a piece that was slightly wider than an a4 page, but longer.

There were a lot holes left from the stitching, and two studs left from the where the handle was attached to the bag. I decided to fill some of the holes with silver embroidery thread. I chose silver because there were already some silver marks on the leather, probably guides from the production of the bag.

I tried to fill in the seams that went all around the edges but they were really uneven, even running off the material completely in places (nice craftsmanship topshop!) and when I put the thread in it just highlighted this, so I scrapped that idea. I also painted the studs with black nail polish.

I did a few sketches of my name and signature to put on it, and then threw all the sketches away and went for the same design as my logo (ahhhh futura ). I embroidered it in black thread. My emboroidery skills aren’t excellent but I really like the way it turned out. By matching the design with my logo I figured that I could use it to put a portfolio in. It might be a bit too small for that but I’ll keep it in mind.

With all that done I got to work on the inside! It was simple really, I got a thick piece of card and covered it with papyrus style paper, then I got some elastic that I cut from a headband and stretched it over the corners. I put some superglue on the back and used clips to hold it down while it dried, I’m not sure if it’s going to stick very well but it will have to do until I find a better way to stick it down!

If I had a better printer I would have tried to cover the card in some pretty patterned paper, like this, the orange pattern would have been perfect! Or if I had some cash then I could have splashed out on some nice wrapping paper.

To keep the whole thing together, I cut a few lengths of thread in grey, black and silver, and plaited them together.

It was kind of a fluke the way the size worked out so well, and even the way the stitches and studs managed to work with the design in the end, even though at the start I was worried they’d make the whole thing look terrible.

I’m going to keep modifying it when I get more ideas and stuff. It was the perfect project to work on when I was sick in bed!

Here’s how it looks with stuff in it:

I’m really happy with how it turned out, and it was so easy! If you have any old bags around that have enough material to make one try it! Or if not you could probably buy a super cheap bag and try that instead.

Ok, not so much an “update” because there was nothing there before, but there is now! It took me a while to narrow down my list. I subscribe to almost 200 blogs in Google Reader, and love them all, but it just wasn’t practical to have them all in there. So here’s who made the shortlist!!!

(I updated the image because I was getting bored of seeing it everytime I looked at the site!)

Binky the Doormat

Binky the doormat is the blog of Daniel Gray, a designer and bespectacled adventurer living in York, UK.

Bitique

Simply a showcase for the best graphic design around – be it contemporary or retrospective.

David Airey

I really don’t think an introduction is necessary, but here ya go!

Dirty Mouse

Dirty Mouse is an inspirational design blog, updated several times a day. Dirty Mouse aims to provide designers’ mice with enough visual food from the worlds of graphic design, web design, illustration, photography, interior and product design in order to get their creative juices flowing.

Fleuron

Not just a “typographic ornament usually in the shape of a flower or a leaf.”

Iain Claridge

The weblog of Iain Claridge, serving as a repository for news, views, random ideas, thoughts and expressions.

iDsgn

We like to talk about graphic design, branding, typography, and sometimes we might post a video or two.

iso50

About? Find the long and short answers on iso50

Kottke

…is a weblog about the liberal arts 2.0 edited by Jason Kottke since March 1998

Lettercult

Lettercult is our attempt to highlight artists & designers doing remarkable work with Custom Letters. This group includes type designers, letterers, sign painters, graffiti artists, stone carvers, calligraphers, poster artists, and graphic designers. Just people. Who make letters.

Nerdski

This is a place where I share my inspirations, thoughts, and random opinions about design, life, and everything in between. I enjoy finding and experiencing new things and this blog represents the personal views about what those life experiences, random objects, inspiring photos, and interesting whatchamacallits mean to me.

Nubby Twiglet

The goal of my blog is to deliver inspiration and content related to art, design, business, fashion, and style. Feel free to leave feedback via comments and email. My goal is to balance fun content with articles that provide genuine value.

http://formeandublog.blogspot.com/

Dylan Mulvaney is a really great designer based in Brooklyn.

http://www.dmulvaney.com/

They have a whole list of stuff they need to do, but one thing they’ve already achieved is a rockin collection of work.

http://www.designbymusic.com/

From http://www.publicworks.org.uk/

We are Public, a small, forward-thinking graphic design consultancy that has become internationally known for delivering clear, creative and finely-crafted works for our list of clients.

Mark Adamson is a Graphic Designer from the North West of England. His typographic style is exactly the kind of work that makes me happy Yayyy!

http://www.maaku87.co.uk/

A really great selection of work from East London based studio. I’ve always wondered who’d done the design for Jamie Oliver’s “Jamie at home” book. It’s rustic/collage style really appeals to me.

http://www.theplant.co.uk/index.html

Some really nice work from Node.

http://www.nodeberlin.com/

Adam and Sébastien first met during their intership at Studio Dumbar in The Hague in spring 2002. They met again incidentally the same year in Lausanne (Sébastien’s hometown), where Adam made a one year scholarship at Ecal. After working on few projects together, they established Welcometo.as in 2004.

http://www.welcometo.as/