Our very own Huy Vu has a few books on the awesome site Little Paper Planes. A great place to find zines, original artwork, and paper goodness from artists and designers the world over. Some of the artists include: Michael Perry, Deth P Sun, Sae Le Oh and many more! I’m happy to see the burgeoning DIY small press scene.

Little Paper Planes was started in December of 2004 in Los Angeles by me, Kelly Lynn Jones. As of July of 2008, Little Paper Planes calls San Francisco its home while I work on my MFA. Everything is stored/shipped in San Francisco. I started it to have a place where my friends and I can could sell stuff we make to help us make some money while we focus on our painting careers, but now the store has grown so much and is a place for all sorts of artists and designers. I feel honored that all the people who sell on the site are a part of it. Everyone is very talented and I have made lots of new friends. Oh and I love all the customers too, and even some of you now sell on the site! Anyhow I am going on and on, just wanted to say thanks. Hug Small Press anyone? More on that to come SOON.

Wanted to share a little project from the good folks over at Form Fifty Five. It’s called “Six by Ten” and it is a limited edition screen printed book of illustrations sporting a nice 2 color purple and black color way. I also wanted to point out our very own Chris Ro and my good friend Andrew Shannon (Minneapolis represent!) are both featured in this book. This book is being published out of the Edinburgh Printmakers Workshop and if you can manage to get your grubby mitts on one, you are a lucky person.

Today, I was saddened to hear about the death of Henry Nijhof. I did not know the man, but I did have two brief encounters with him during the summer of 2006. While perusing the endlessly interesting books at Nijhof and Lee a helpful white-haired man approached me and asked me if he could help me clear my obvious amazement. I quickly grabbed a random design topic amongst the thousands darting in my head, and blurted out “typography!” He kindly prompted me to a shelf and highlighted a couple new arrivals. His knowledge was quick, his movements reserved, and his help was balanced. Honestly, I was split in my assessment of the man’s customer service because it was helpful without being overbearing and too kind, much like a soft gust of wind. I returned to the shop a few days later to discover that they were opening a shop accross the street. I did not get to interact with Mr. Nijhof that day, but I could see delight in his eyes as he was setting things in motion for his new store. The death of this man got me thinking about the place of the bookseller in today’s society. I was fortunate enough to grow up with a few very helpful booksellers. They had a personal interest in what I read and strived to bring their customers great titles. So, today I contemplate the death of the book salesman and the state of books in our society today. For sure, they are no going to disappear, but unfortunately I think we are losing the sense of community that can grow around books and bookstores. I’m sure everyone here at GraphicHug who has had the opportunity to visit this man’s legendary store will shed a tear of respect. But I’m sure Nijhof and Lee will go on to continue being an unending and invaluable resource to graphic designers everywhere. Chris Vermaas wrote an insightfully endearing obituary here. (Yes, it’s a bit blog-on-blog..so sue me.)

A new book release this month — The Best American Comics 2008. It promises to be a fantastic collection of stories by comic artists working today. The cover art is a fun illustration of people, objects, animals and signage drawn by the very talented Eleanor Davis, whose work is also featured inside. Her techniques and style range and vary from project to project, and she always does such beautiful, lovely and unexpected things with typography in her work. from joe lambert’s flickr, via eleanor’s blog. thank you!

I had heard about the relaunch being imminent not long ago — this is one of those things I just forget about until it happens. Don’t forget to check out the YouWorkForThem Blog. It’s also reflecting new looks.

Bookstores in New York City (Manhattan) I came across this resource for bookstores in Manhattan. Looks to be good. I can’t personally confirm the validity of the information therein. However, it has been updated this year and seems to be a good general reference.