Things: promising graduate work, iconic illustrators and zines zines zines

It’s the first week of the month and Things is here! This month’s edition of the postman’s deliveries includes some exciting graduate work, zines a plenty with brilliant first issues landing on our desks, and a very special hardback book by one of Canada’s greatest artists.

As always, we love the postal treats our audience send each month, so thank you for giving us so many tangible goods to coo over.

Travelogue, Issue One

We received so many new publications this month! Which obviously we’re over the moon about, but this first issue of Travelogue, “a record of places visited or experienced by a traveller,” only made us want to pack our bags and get out of the studio.

Created by travel bag company Millican, the publication opens with a map pinpointing areas covered in the magazine, a clever touch of what to expect onwards from the first page. With envious snapshots of Australia, one man’s journey on a 3300km tandem bike ride, and an interview with Hayley Welsh and Andy Faraday, a couple who “embarked on the ultimate US road-rip” on an old school yellow bus, the varied examples of travelling have something for anyone itching to get away as “travellers, never tourists”.

Hayley Berridge: “Teaser” Portfolio

Recent graphic design graduate from Liverpool John Moores University, Hayley Berridge, sent us a sweet snippet of her wider work in a Risoprinted teaser portfolio. The lovely package came in a plastic covering with her name printed in silver – great touch. By Risoprinting some examples of her work in the classic combination of a bright pink and dark blue, you can see hints of the graduate’s projects, collated together so that you only want to learn more!

Kiosk Books

Ahead of its Independent Publishers Fair at Copeland Gallery in Peckham over next weekend (12-13 August), Kiosk publishers sent us the best care package of its recently printed goods.

From a sweet zine Dog House by illustrator Ken Kagami, to a book by Jiaxi Yang and Zhe Zhu An Upwards Gaze photographing the windows above them, transforming “architectural details into graphic abstract”, each publication shows the versatility of Kiosk. Our particular favourites include a silver publication created for the last Offprint London at the Tate Modern, featuring an array of symbols from patterns to typography, a new book Same Page by TJ Tambellini and Lark Foord, and the brilliant Maria Midttun’s new book, No Ball Games.

Lucy Watkins: Careful Engagement

Glasgow graduate, Lucy Watkins, has just finished her degree in Communication Design and sent us the final results, a poetry book with illustrations, “based on the language I discovered in the ‘Report of the Iraq Inquiry’ with the aim to humanise the report”, she explains. “I don’t class myself as a poet but interestingly enough generating poetry seemed to be the most interesting method of communication!”

The result is a poised hardback book, combining poetry and hand-drawn pencil illustration on opposite pages. For her degree show, Lucy also took the project a step further by bringing an actor in to impersonate a politician. “Throughout the show there were regular poetry readings which really elevated the words I’d kept under wraps for an entire academic year.”

Shelf Heroes: Issue F

Film magazine Shelf Heroes sent us the most recent issue of their publication, Issue F, a magazine of two counterparts. The first, is a glossy monochrome editorial edition, with illustrations by Jessica Meyrick, Lukas Drzycimski and Chiara Lanzieri to name just a few. The black and white half of the magazine shows not only great choice of illustration Shelf Heroes has (each one still jumps off the page despite there being no colour), but also in pairing them with irreverent and great articles on film too.

The second part is a larger square format zine, illustrated in full colour which fold out into individual rectangular prints. On top of all this, the issue also comes with Akta Gamat patch too!

Vagina Denata Zine

Another brand new zine, Vagina Dentata Zine is “dedicated to science fiction and female fashion” and the combination is, excuse the pun, out of this world. Printed as a square publication each page is filled with hyperreal photographs, by the likes of Olin Brannigan, Marina Fini and founder and stylist Smin Smith gets behind the lens too. Styling is a huge part of the magazine’s success, whether it’s down to slight details like a hint of neon in an outfit or shimmering green eyeshadow, it’s the little touches that build this into a cohesive and unique publication.

Notable Canadian comic illustrator Seth has released his 23rd edition of Palookaville, “the culmination of twenty years of serialisation” and is consequently, “the most anticipated issue to date”.

In this Palookaville published by Drawn and Quarterly, the final chapter harks back to where Seth left off at the end of the first volume. "After his disastrous attempt at sales in the city of Dominion, we witness the out of body experience and ecstatic “vision” that sets Simon on his path of lonely isolation in the years to come," says the publisher.

As expected, this hardback edition of Seth’s comics is illustrated and designed by himself, “in a callback to classic 1940s textural book design”. Pages are filled with large illustrations and always, neatly divided into squares that transport readers into the cartoonists narrative.