Giles Hoover

Photography and design for print production

Links

  • Architecture in Music

    Architecture in Music

    New Zealand-based photographer Charles Brooks, who happens to have spent years as a professional cellist, brings us some astonishing inside-the-instrument shots, including this one:

    1780 Lockey Hill Cello. © Charles Brooks

    The Colossal post, where I ran across this, is definitely worth a read. But let me just add one thing: He’s using an L-mount (yes!) Laowa probe lens, an insightful choice driven by curiosity. Well done, sir.

    His levitation shots are killer, too. And there’s behind-the-scenes (literally) stuff on his blog. Oh, and his logo is fantastic.

    Score! (Sorry — had to say it.) Go visit.

  • NPR’s Books We Love, 2021 Edition

    NPR’s Books We Love, 2021 Edition

    Books We Love is NPR’s annual, interactive, year-end reading guide. (You might have known us as the Book Concierge, but this year we got a makeover! We’ve changed our name and adopted a warm and welcoming new look.) What hasn’t changed is the annual bounty of hand-picked books. Mix and match tags such as Book Club Ideas, Biography & Memoir or Eye-Opening Reads to filter results and find the book that’s perfect for you or someone you love.

    Always a dependable list, this year in a slightly different wrapper. Enjoy. (Previously: 2020, 2019.)

  • Letterpress Typeface from Plymouth Press

    Letterpress Typeface from Plymouth Press

    James Brocklehurst is leading a new kind of innovation method for typography, harking back to the good old days of the letterpress. The technology uses scanned letterpress prints for each letter, and through scripting, randomly cycl[ing] through a range of alternate letterforms whilst you type.

    The font uses OpenType scripting to automatically cycle through a range of alternate glyphs for each character, giving a ‘random’ appearance as you type. (Alternates can also be chosen manually in supported applications.) Very nice, and if you jump through some hoops, some neat results:

    Letterpress type, digitally

    It’s display only — no numbers, limited punctuation — but absolutely worth the download. And did I mention it’s free? Go!

    (Via It’s Nice That. Thank you.)

  • Washington Post’s Best Book Covers 2021

    Washington Post’s Best Book Covers 2021

    The Washington Post has an article from book designer Kimberly Glyder with her favorite book covers of 2021. Her bio:

    Kimberly Glyder’s studio specializes in book design, illustration and lettering. Her work has been featured in the AIGA 50 Books/50 Covers show, the Type Director’s Club Annual Exhibition, Print magazine, American Illustration, the American University Presses Book Jacket and Journal Show, and the New York Book Show.

    Check her “best of” at the WP, and stay tuned for more 2021 lists next month.

  • Climate: Little Books, Big Ideas, Great Design

    Climate: Little Books, Big Ideas, Great Design

    Penguin has introduced — and reissued — a number of small titles regarding climate change, and done so with some great design:

    Green (Mountains)
    Palm (Island)
    Is (Happening)

    They’re even available as a boxed set:

    Green Ideas (Set)

    More at Penguin (UK). Via It’s Nice That, which has a nice writeup — check it out.

  • The Spectacular Deichman Library

    The Spectacular Deichman Library

    We don’t get ’em like this in the United States. Oslo, Norway gets the win:

    Even the ceilings are noteworthy (also seen below). Check the atrium:

    More at ArchDaily.

  • Dublin gallery updated

    Dublin gallery updated

    Gerald and I had an opportunity to return to Dublin last week, and as a result, the Dublin gallery has been updated.

    As usual, it’s a combination of my detail shots with some old-fashioned stuff.

    See the entire Dublin gallery here. Thanks for looking!

  • Peace, Ken Garland

    Peace, Ken Garland

    All of us recognize this symbol:

    Peace!

    Now, let’s take a moment to celebrate the creator: Ken Garland. Not your typical graphic designer, he reached out, embraced the 1960’s and ’70s, and never looked back.

    I couldn’t remember where I’d heard his name until I realized he was in toy and game design, and likely mentioned in one of the toy books I’ve worked on over the years. But there’s so much more. Read more of his life story at Dezeen (“Graphic designer Ken Garland dies aged 92“) and It’s Nice That (“Adrian Shaughnessy on Ken Garland, a ‘disruptive and questioning spirit‘”).