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I was carried away, swept along by the mighty stream of words pouring from the hundreds of pages.
— Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie

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Books have souls. Or so romantics like me tend to think.
—  Douglas Rushkoff

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Computers don't kill books; people do.
— Douglas Rushkoff

Poetry: "Dreams" by Fitzgerald Scot

ShapeShifter from Charlex on Vimeo

This stunning piece of animation was created by the Director of Charlex, Alex Weil, and a few of the company's designers as a break from the company's typical advertising work. Weil asked the designers to come up with a project of their own to enable their creativity and unburdened themselves of the the daily rigors of their usual projects. Their one madate was that something great had to come from this freedom, and I think we can all agree that the team suceeded.

The original concept came from Co-Director and Designer Diana Park. Her inspiration came from the idea of a machine that creates nature, rather than the other way around.  The concept grew from simple shape-shifting to a look inside the spirit and soul of a car.  To bind it all together, poet Fitzgerald Scot was asked to provide the words.  His poem Dreams (narrated by Gabriel Byrne) accompanies the animation along with music composed by Peter Lauridsen. The final effect is that of being in a beautiful but disquieting dream.

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One must always be careful of books and what is inside them, for words have the power to change us.

— Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare, 2010.
Character: Tessa Gray

Music Video: Library Girl by ReinaDelCid

Library Girl by ReinaDelCid

 

Yes, technically that's the Library of Congress classification system, not the Dewey Decimal system, which kind of makes me think she doesn't really work in a library, but the nerd rings true.  And you can't tell me that cute nerd girls singing in the middle of the stacks doesn't just completely melt your heart.

"Pu-uu-uu-uu-ccini"

 

All I can say is thank God for YouTube, because there was just waaay too little of this in the world before it came along.

Merchandise: Spine Book Shelves

Pietro Travaglini designed this bookshelf to bend and shift as seamlessly a backbone, giving the term “book spine” a whole new meaning. The shelves are accented by white LED lights which gives them a slight, ghostly glow at night.

Art: 3D Art made from Book Covers

Thomas Allen creates unique three-dimensional art by cutting out characters from old pulp fiction book covers and positioning them into action scenes. The project was inspired by classic pop-up books. To see more of his work, you can purchase Thomas Allen’s book, Uncovered, at Amazon or visit Foley Gallery for more photographs.

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On my fifteenth birthday I’ll run away from home, journey to a far-off town, and live in a corner of a small library.

— Kafka On The Shore by Haruki Murakami, 2002.

 This doesn't work.  I've tried it.  Librarians have sharp eyes when it comes to closing time.

Art: 100 Words

Neil Gaiman asked Jim Lee to illustrate his poems, “100 Words,” and the results are stunning.  The piece has been lovingly lettered by Todd Klein, who lettered Sandman, and the poem itself is, one of Gaiman's best, if most morbid, pieces.

The 10″ x 28″ digital print is being offered in a limited run of 750, each of which is printed in soy ink on heavy 100% recycled speckled archival stock.  Each copy costs US$50 while supplies last.  Five dollars from each print will benefit the CBLDF. Read more at Neverwear.net.