Book

Gestalten and Monocle Bring You Travel Guides, and Some Videos.

As we roll up to Labor day, people are getting ready for that last summer vacation, taking advantage of the long weekend. I’ve burned all my vacation days for the year so I’ll just be taking one extra day off. That doesn’t mean you can’t take a week or two and go somewhere fun though. And to help find all the cool stuff you’ll want to see and do in the exotic destination of your choice Gestalten has released a whole series of guide books from Monocle.

That isn’t what this is about though. This post is about the way Gestalten has truly learned to use video on the internet to promote its product line. If you pop over to their Vimeo page, there are at least seven videos like the one below. They have them cross posted via their social media channels and if you receive the Gestalten newsletter via email, you would have probably seen links pointing back to all of these which, point back to the Gestalten online store where you can buy the product.

The videos are always well crafted, with a high-quality production value, and because they live on the internet, the media buy is cheap and the reach is far.

Now I have to figure out how to get more vacation time because I want to go to Stockholm.

Choppers.

Gestalten has a new book out chronicling the history of the Chopper. Even if you aren’t into motorcycles, the book and the video below are worth taking a look at. The motorcycle, and in this case the chopper are an iconic part of American culture. The video below is an interview with Paul d’Orléans aka the Vintagent, author of the book and gives a really nice insight into the history of the bikes and the culture surrounding them. It’s a great set up for the book, and is definitely something I’ll be checking out in the near future.

“Wall”

With yesterday marking the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, I wanted to post images from illustrator Tom Clohosy Cole‘s book “WALL”. The illustrated book tells the story of a family torn apart when their father was stranded in the West following the division of the city in 1961.

The book is filled with gorgeous illustrations that help tell the tale of the family’s attempts to reach each other and reunite. The visuals add a beautiful human element to this complex political event that spanned decades.

The Monocle Guide to Better Living.

Over the last decade, the magazine “Monocle” has become a world leader in presenting ideas, positive thinking, design, and better living. Recently Monocle announced that they have partnered with Gestalten to release their first book, “The Monocle Guide to Better Living”. As the title suggests, this is a curated series of articles from the magazine, as well as outside resources that promotes a better way of living. In the book the Monocle Guide to Better Living, the editorial team looks at one of their core themes: how to live well. That doesn’t mean more stuff, or expensive stuff, it means “living well” whether it is a better neighborhood, or an object designed so well it lasts a lifetime. The video below shows off what the book is about, and the passion behind Tyler Brûlé and his teams thinking.