Use of the word ‘nerd’

The first documented use of the word ‘nerd’ was in the book If I Ran the Zoo, written in 1950 by Dr. Seuss . The book's protagonist, Gerald McGrew, claims that he would bring a creature known as a Nerd from the land of Za-Troo to his zoo. The wild-haired critter wore a black tee and was delightfully grumpy with sideburns. The name stuck.

Nerd is a term that refers to a person who avidly pursues intellectual activities, technical or scientific endeavors, esoteric knowledge, or other obscure interests, rather than engaging in more social or conventional activities. It often carries a derogatory connotation or stereotype. The nerd may be awkward, shy and unattractive.^[1] Therefore, a nerd is often excluded from physical activity and considered a loner by peers, or will tend to associate with like-minded people.

Vancouver Kidsbooks gets NERDY with an awesome NERDS window display

http://mandagroup.wordpress.com/2010/08/25/vancouver-kidsbooks-gets-nerd-y/

Jessica Hische, Type and The Kissing Game

Just recently Jessica Hische and I finished up designing the cover for Aidan Chambers new short story book THE KISSING GAME. After reading the the lead title story our designer Melissa Arnst made the suggestion to be that this cover should be an all type. I of course was totally on board.
Jessica's name came right to mind. Her love and passion for type was something that I had seen for awhile on here blog and was excited to see what she could do for our cover.

Here is what we came up with. In later posts I'll go over how this cover evolved.

Here is a video of Jessica discussing her love of type and her DROP CAP series.

Art In The Age Presents... Jessica Hische from Art In The Age on Vimeo.

Charles Kochman's office

Charles Kochman's office, originally uploaded by chadwbecks.

And the winners are . . .

Click above to visit the Society of Illustrators.

The Society of Illustrators 30th Children's Book Show.

And the winners are . . .

GOLD MEDAL

The Quiet Book

Illustrated by Renata Liwska

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

SILVER MEDAL

OH NO! (Or How My Science Project Destroyed the World)

Illustrated by Dan Santat

Disney Hyperion

SILVER MEDAL

Dillweed's Revenge: A Deadly Dose of Magic

Illustrated by Carson Ellis

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

OH NO! 826 L.A. Project/Gallery Nucleus

Judging Society of Illustrators 30th Annual Childrens Book Show

At about 8:30 am I got the call. I had been called up to the big leagues!

A few weeks prior Amy Bates, illustrator and co-chair of the 30th Annual Society of Illustrators Children's Book Show gave me a ring to ask if I would fill in as a judge if another judge might not be able to show. And that is what happened on Monday morning. I arrived at the Society by 9:30 am to all the other judges already eating breakfast. Good thing I got an early start. I was hungry! I would have been kicking myself at missing this opportunity. Free breakfast, come on people.

We had the honor of judging 554 children's books from all sorts of publishers. The judging went on from 10 am till around 5pm. At around 5:30 or so we the chose the gold and silver winners. Which was no easy task.

Here are some photos from this long awesome day.

An N.C. Wyeth

554 books to judge

LINCOLN AGNEW is the 2009 recipient of “The Original Art” Founder’s Award, an annual prize for the most promising new talent in children’s book illustration. He received the award for Harry and Horsie by Katie Van Camp. His second book with Ms. Van Camp, Cookiebot!: A Harry and Horsie Adventure, will be published by Balzer & Bray / HarperCollins in 2011. Mr. Agnew earned degrees in both illustration and photography from the Alberta College of Art and Design in Calgary.

LAURENT LINN chair

MARTHA RAGO is the Associate Creative Director at HarperCollins Children’s Books, where she oversees picture books under the Harper, Rayo, Katherine Tegen, and Balzer & Bray imprints, as well as special projects from the C. S. Lewis and Shel Silverstein estates. In the course of her career, she has worked closely with established artists such as Eric Carle, Tomie DePaola, Ed Young, Marc Simont, Ted Rand, and Peter Sis, and she has helped launch the careers of artists such as Peter McCarty, Laurie Keller, Bryan Collier, Randy Cecil and Julie Paschkis—who have gone on to win awards and critical acclaim.

AMYJUNE BATES assistant chair

Che out Amy's great interview over at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast

LAUREN CASTILLO is the illustrator of numerous picture books such as Alfie Runs Away, That's Papa's Way, What Happens on Wednesdays and The Pig and Miss Prudence.
Take a look at her kick ass work at
http://www.laurencastillo.com

Lauren also gave a great interview over at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast

SERGIO RUZZIER, an award-winning children’s book author and artist, was born in Milan, Italy. His books include The Room of Wonders (Farrar, Straus and Giroux), Amandina (Roaring Brook), and most recently, Hey, Rabbit!(Roaring Brook). He has also illustrated books by other authors, including Karla Kuskin, Emily Jenkins, and Lore Segal. Broom, Zoom! by Caron Lee Cohen will be published by Simon & Schuster in August 2010, and Tweak, Tweak! by Eve Bunting will be released by Clarion Books in 2011.

Snooping around the archieves

Lunch time!

Art Director Illustrator Horror Shows By Jason Holley

A collection of true stories from the lives of working illustrators, created for the ICON 6 conference.

Other Feller from jason holley on Vimeo.

Too Much Clown from jason holley on Vimeo.

The Color from jason holley on Vimeo.

Visit Jason Holley

http://jasonholley.com

http://vimeo.com/tag:jasonholleyillustration

Sophie Blackall Prime Meats Final Art Drop

This morning as I do most weekends mornings I had breakfast at Prime Meats in Carroll Gardens. Only on this particular Sunday morning I was meeting Sophie Blackall. She was waiting paitently for me. Next to her sat a portfolio with her final art for Aldus Huxley's only picture book The Crows of Pearblossom. Both of us were in need of a coffee. Sophie because she pored everything she had in the finishing the final art the night or hours before and I from celebrating a friends birthday. What she was about to show me was beyond my wildest expectations. I can't wait to share more about the making of this book very soon. In the mean time here are some photos from The Crows of Pearblossom the Art Drop.




Also I highly recommend Prime Meats for a tasty breakfast.




Other links Sophie Blackall's interview at Seven Impossible Things