Pucker up those lips, THINGS is about to snog your face off twice!

Are you ready for a salacious Things peep show? I hope so, because this week they are dancing with that Saturday night sway, puckered up and ready for your visual grazing. So what’s waiting for you on the dance floor? SSAW is waiting in all its elegant splendor and Hound Magazine keeps giving you the eye dancing like the cool cat it is. Who and what else? Well, you’ll just have to motivate yourself, keep on reading and wait for the Prince of the Prom, Brecht Evens, to alleviate those pent-up feelings of city loneliness. Shall we? Let’s…

Timo Ilola and Salli Raeste: SSAW Magazine

Boasting contributions from names such as Junsuke Yamasaki, Thomas Engel and David Armstrong, SSAW is a serious new fashion magazine effortlessly taking its seat at the big league’s table in the fashion world. With only two editions to date, SSAW have managed to create a strong brand and a stunning object that achieves their initial aims of producing “a beautiful and timeless magazine.” Inside you’ll be swamped with artistic photography that captures models in a multitude of ways, from the naturalistic everyday life shots right the way through to the brooding stares with fixed gazes aimed towards the lens. This magazine is predominantly based on visuals, but is intermixed with intriguing and informed editorial at well-placed intervals. And there’s just one more thing for me to say – the type design by Helsinki Type Studio is quite the classy act without shouting in your face. Overall, this magazine is one we are sure to hear much more about. Nice.
www.ssawmagazine.com

FranklinTill: Material Futures /01 – Textile Futures Research Centre

Have you ever wondered how materials and textiles enable a more sustainable future? Well, if not perhaps spending some time with Material Future /01 produced by the Textile Future Research Centre will trigger some questions. What struck me first about this publication was its awesome, well thought out design (unsurprising given it was produced by the excellent FranklinTill). Obviously, the materials of the object complement the content itself, creating something any reader will want to spend time with, whether you’re into material futures or not, but that’s where this publication gets interesting; it manages to grab your attention with curious and exciting visuals, drawing the eye with its design into the body of the content effortlessly. All of a sudden, I found myself engrossed in articles on systems thinking, self-sustaining systems and the fabrics of our lives. From our sensory experience of the world through to TED’s Ten design tips, this publication has it covered. Top stuff.
www.tfrc.org.uk
www.franklintill.com

h3: Hound Magazine

I do love a good mag in newsprint and Hound Magazine is just that. Distributed in Brighton, Bristol, east London and Tokyo, Hound manages to capture the energy and diversity in contemporary music, art, style and culture. Let’s face it, they themselves face some pretty stiff competition in what is a fierce market, but Hound is an individual offering the alternative in a saturated alternative scene. By concentrating on the visuals and thought provoking content, they also manage to buck the trend most newsprint productions face – disposability. What the Hounds are producing, you wouldn’t want to leave anywhere other than safely tucked up in your bag or at home on the desk. For a free newsprint publication, this is a very rare quality indeed. Woof.
www.hound-magazine.com

Brecht Evens: The Making Of

The Belgian cartoonist Brecht Evens has stormed onto the illustration scene in recent years, winning the Angouleme ‘Audacity’ prize in 2011, and now he’s back with The Making Of, “a kaleidoscopically beautiful new graphic novel” that tells the story of a moderately successful artist who is finally given the chance to shine at the Beerpoele biennial festival. Lusting after 15 minutes of fame, Peterson (the main character), throws himself into trying to rally enthusiasm for what has proved to be a slightly amateurish festival. Needless to say, such grandiose plans do not go exactly to plan. This graphic novel is a visual delight and a cracking read. I literally couldn’t put it down, so check out what is making Brecht Evens the international sensation he is.
www.brechtnieuws.blogspot.co.uk
www.rbrooks.co.uk

The Self Motivation Calendar by LMNOP

We all need a little pick-me-up in the dark days after the mince pies have disappeared from the shelves, Christmas trees have been wedged into bins down every street, and those trousers have definitely shrunk four sizes! Well, here to inspire us into a more productive 2013 is this rather nice motivation calendar from the LMNOP shop. As they quite rightly say on the calendar themselves, “Self motivation is a constant battle. You have a dream! Unfortunately you also have a day job and if only you could turn the TV off and start delete as applicable drawing / writing / practising / training it will happen.”

This kind of philosophy towards inspiring people to dream big and jump into a world of creativity is one we love here at It’s Nice That, so as I look forward towards 2013, I will task myself to remember some of the wisdom transported to my eyes visually with lovely illustrations via The Self Motivation Risograph Calendar.
www.lmnopshop.com