Things: the August edition

Another month, another Things. The dog days of August are over, and although the English summer seemed to take early leave (when does it not?), at least we were left with lots of great reading material to see us through the monsoon that befell us last month. With erotic journals, comics about hip-hop and bouncers, and three illustrators’ answers to modern-day nudes, it’s back to school with It’s Nice That.

Bee Österman, Stina Lavenius and Julia Peintner: Nudes

Three illustrators and recent Central Saint Martins graduates sent in this beautiful collaborative portfolio of nudes. Each done in their distinct styles and reflecting their different processes, from screenprinting to etching to painting, it’s a really nice example of how working to themes can produce excellent and varied work.
www.stinalavenius.com
www.beeosterman.com
www.juliapeintner.com

Odiseo: Volume 6

Of all the erotic journals pouring in, there’s still one that gets us going. Odiseo is back with its sixth issue in all its case-bound, titillating glory. As well as saucy and unexpected imagery (snails!), there is always inventive and very readable writing. This issue features amongst other things, an audiovisual essay by Spanish filmmaker Albert Moya and Jesus Umbria’s archive piece on Hajime Sorayama’s sci-fi pin up girls.

Henry Carroll: Read Things If You Want to Take Great Photographs of People

This is the latest offering from photographer Henry Carroll and the follow up to his book Read This If You Want to Take Great Photographs. It’s exactly what it sounds like, a straight-talking book of technical tips for people – both novices and professionals – who want to take top-notch portraits. It breaks down portrait photography into seven areas, and alongside how-to’s are excellent images from the likes of Cindy Sherman and William Klein.
www.laurenceking.com

Kennedy: Issue 3

There aren’t many titles coming out of Athens right now but Kennedy is propping up the newsstands. Small-format, simple, and nicely put together it brings together photoessays, interviews with artists like Lawrence Weiner and Gary Panter, a colourful guide to living in Tokyo and an essay on love.
www.kennedymagazine.com

The Happy Reader: Issue 3

This has been floating around the studio over the last month or two but hasn’t had it’s due airtime yet. For those of you who don’t know, The Happy Reader is a “bookish quarterly” put together by the team behind Fantastic Man and published by Penguin Books. Each issue has two halves: an in-depth interview with someone book-obsessed, and an in-depth look at one classic piece of literature. Issue 3 features comedian and dating guru Aziz Ansari who shares his love of rock star biographies as well as the trials and tribulations of modern dating in the age of the smartphone.
www.thehappyreader.com

Jocks & Nerds: Issue 16

The new issue of London-based quarterly Jocks & Nerds is pretty much hot off the printing press. Featuring actress Maxine Peake on the cover and articles about disco and Italian director Pier Paolo Pasolini on the 40th anniversary of his death, it looks like a good one!
www.jocksandnerds.com

In Primitive Beast, Language Mississippi-based Mike Olson explores how to draw language, venturing into both its uses and abuses. It looks at images as language and language as images by bringing the two into a series of loose and evocative illustrations
www.sciencepainted.tumblr.com
www.perishpublishing.ca

Thomas Slater: Bouncers

It’s no secret we’re proud supporters of Thomas Slater. This comic about bouncers found its way into the Things pile and it really sums up the burly hard nuts outside bars and clubs who spend most of their nights turning away legless revellers and just waiting for a fight to break out.
www.thomasslaterillustrator.com

Ryan Gillett: Balance

Ryan sent in this little zine of 12 illustrations playing on the idea of balance. Simple, bright, cheery and straight-forward, it’s the sort of thing Ryan does best.
www.ryangillett.com

Conner Perry: Kings

Last but not least is this comic from Conner Perry which imaginatively retells a fictional story of the birth of hip-hop culture amidst street scenes, dance battles and graffiti.
www.connerperry.tumblr.com