Get Involved blog

Having just posted about Get Involved artwork appearing in a monograph of the work of the prolific British artist Jon Burgerman - I just remembered that more artwork created specially for Get Involved has also just been published… Nice!

I’m referring to the visual wizardry of a certain James Joyce of One Fine Day who created artwork for a Get Involved postcard (shown above) early last year. James created all the artwork and branding of two other club nights I’ve co-run with friends in the last few years, and artwork created for DJ collective It’s Bigger Than also appears in Postcard, a beautifully crafted tome (compiled and edited by FL@33) aimed at the coffee tables and carefully curated shelves of designers and image makers - and of course those that appreciate such things…

Ah, behold: the One Fine Day spread from Postcard showing a myriad flyer designs for It’s Bigger Than on the left hand page (three years worth of monthly flyers!) and on the right, shown at actual size in the book, is the Get Involved postcard that James designed a year ago.

Good work - and thank you, James!

To find out more about the Postcard book, visit http://www.postcard-book.info/

Pens are my Friends is the title of the new, IdN-published, 310 page monograph of illustrator Jon Burgerman’s many projects to date – including, we’re rather pleased to see, the Get Involved poster he rustled up for us for January 2007’s shindig. Here are some spreads from the book showing Jon’s splendid work…

Enclosed in the book is a 20-page booklet of sketches and a DVD of motion graphics, screen wallpapers, videos of live drawing installations and other bonus material.

Remove the dust jacket and - oh joy of joys - it turns out to be a folded poster…

…Nice!

Jon Burgerman: Pens are my Friends, published by IdN, is a 310 page hardback book encased in a folded poster measuring 755 x 620mm and also a screenprinted transparent dustjacket. Enclosed within is a 20 page mini booklet of sketchbook art and a DVD containing Jon Burgerman motion graphics, animations, videos, screen wallpapers and icons

Because I Can’t Sit Still solo exhibition IS ON RIGHT NOW and runs until 1 November at Coningsby Gallery, 30 Tottenham Street, London W1T 4RJ

Keep up with all things Burgerman on his website: jonburgerman.com

Most of these images and the info contained in this post, along with an interview with Jon Burgerman, on Creative Review’s splendid blog

Well, here’s another project that shows love for the good ol’ independent record shop is stronger than ever – a rather lovely new book by Emma Pettit called Old Rare New: The Independent Record Store, published by Black Dog Publishing (who also published last year’s title Ace Records).

The book is, quite simply, a celebration of the independent record shop and everything that is special about it. Through anecdotes of rare recordings, peculiar characters and above all, an infectious enthusiasm for collecting music, Old Rare New journeys into these eclectic spaces of musical exchange, and interviews those people that make them tick: record shop owners, collectors, dealers, DJs and musicians - and in doing so provides a rich account of the independent record store.

To be perfectly honest I was initially disappointed on my first perusal of the book because I’m not sure that the quality of the photography or design is as stunning or inviting as it could be. However, these initial misgivings were soon forgotten as I started to explore the written content. The fact of the matter is that Old Rare New offers a great read, delving as it does into the minds and memories of various people whose lives are bound up in the world of record collecting – with essays by Sean Bidder (FACT magazine), Bob Stanley (Saint Etienne), and Byron Coley (Ecstatic Yod) and dozens of interviews with the likes of Will Oldham, Joe Boyd, Barry Seven, James Dean Bradfield, Devendra Banhart, Billy Childish, Chan Marshall, James Lavelle and Get Involved DJ and founder, Gavin Lucas.

There’s a launch party tonight (June 11) from 7.30pm-10.30pm at Phonica record store in Soho with DJ slots from various peeps - including the book’s author Emma Pettit, Nick Luscombe (Flo Motion), Bob Stanley (Saint Etienne) and would-you-believe-it Gavin Lucas (Get Involved).

Old Rare New: The Independent Record Store,
RRP £19.95, has it’s own myspace page

Monograph is the free, monthly A5 publication that comes bundled with subscriber copies of Creative Review magazine. Each month, Monograph showcases a personal project or collection of creative work or inspirational objects and the latest issue, May 08, features 16 rare vintage seven-inch single record bags from the collection of Derek See (of Derek’s Daily 45 blog)

“45rpm records are my earliest love,” says Derek. “Given a bundle of them by both my mother and my uncle around the time I started walking, these small records with the big hole were an amazing source of wonder to me then, and continue to be the centre of my life to this very day. ”