Thanks to the popularity of behind the scenes videos of late, we’ve gotten to see the making of a lot of objects we generally just pick up and use without a thought for production. The Telegraph offer us an insight into the making of a book – the old fashioned way. Shot by Glen Milner at Smith-Settle Printers in Leeds, England, this copy of Suzanne St Albans’ ‘Mango and Mimosa’ is carefully put together by the skilled and steady hands of well trained makers. A beautiful film, a near hypnotic look at the beginnings of a book.

i-D bring a little video action from the launch of ‘Growing up Black’ by Dennis Morris. A man who’s had an interesting career to say the least, his hand in just about everything. Musician, image maker, designer…Becoming official photographer for the Bob Marley Tour in his teens was a pretty good start. Throughout everything he’s kept his camera by his side, the result of which is this impressive volume featuring images from the 60s and 70s, chronicling Black Britain through the era. Professor Stuart Hall who provides text for the book comments;

“In this selection from his archive, Dennis Morris gives us a beautifully well-judged and eloquent portrait of the black diaspora, frozen at a particular moment in time. It is pregnant with anticipations of what is still to come, infused with future possibilities. We are invited to read these images backwards and forwards. Growing up black in the 1970s, they suggest, was not so much a state of being as a state of becoming.

Read more from i-D here. Find Growing up Black by Dennis Morris here.

This is pretty Woah. Canadian artist Maskull Lasserre has finally found a use for all those obsolete computing books that have been collecting dust worldwide. These relics to systems past usually find themselves at the local recycling tip. Perhaps a comment on dead technology, or maybe just because skulls always looks pretty cool, Lasserre has put them to spooky use, creating ‘Incarnate (Three Degrees of Certainty II)’ through their pages. Nice work. (Colossal)

Weekend warrior readers: here is a selection highlights we covered this past week at Selectism. While this ten story selection runs the range of coverage we give during the week, be sure to skim through our news page for even more inspiration and goods for you to get involved in. For now, a short list of ten highlights

1. 10 Cycling Pants With the Iron Crotch Buyer’s Guide – a list of riding pants that won’t blow out on you.
2. Mad Men 8 Bit – Choose Your Own Adventure – Game – like Carmen Sandiego but better.
3. Truman Capote’s Hamptons Home – relaxing looks inside a complex man’s summer home.
4. Sunshine – An American Ad Man in Shanghai (Film) – selling fast food to the Chinese – the American way.
5. AMG Viella 12 Turntable – big money, hand-made, for vinyl heads and beyond.
6. Jalapeno Popper Grilled Cheese Sandwich Recipe – damn good – we made it twice this week.
7. The Hill-Side Spring/Summer 2012 Lookbook – everyone looks good in their accessories
8. “100 Ideas that Changed Graphic Design” Book – a great book for inspiration and perspective.
9. Moonrock – It is 4:20 Somewhere – known by other names on the East Coast.
10. Taschen’s “The Big Book of Pussy” – subject says it all.

So yesterday it was all austere beige Japanese interiors, today we go to the other end of the scale. Colourful, midcentury Jazz n’ Jetsons living brought to us by Atomic Magazine’s editor Michelle Gringeri-Brown and photographer/publisher Jim Brown. Midcentury with a little modern thrown in, far from museums to interiors past, these homes are packed with amazing pieces whilst remaining comfortable and lived-in.

“Atomic Ranch Midcentury Interiors showcases the virtues of the popular and ubiquitous ranch houses that sprang up across the country following World War II. It features the exceptional interiors of eight houses, discusses successes and challenges, and shows how to live stylishly.” (dm)

Available from Amazon.

Graphic Design is such a huge part of our every day lives it’s easy to forget that the visuals that surround have been carefully crafted to illicit just the right response. Distilling the ideas that have revolutionised the art to just 100 must have been quite a task so congrats to Art Directors Steven Heller and Véronique Vienne who have managed just that with their book, 100 Ideas that Changed Graphic Design.

“The 100 entries, arranged broadly in chronological order, range from technical (overprinting, rub-on designs, split fountain); to stylistic (swashes on caps, loud typography, and white space); to objects (dust jackets, design handbooks); and methods (paper cut-outs, pixelation).”

Of course the book itself is designed to within an inch of its life. It works. An clear, clean, easy to follow layout takes you through key techniques and the tips and tricks those wiley designers use to convince and persuade. Available April 18, 2012. Published by Laurence King. Find this one at Amazon. (ch)

Click for images

Legendary German house/techno/dark beats spot Robert Johnson has been welcoming punters for over 13 years now. Still going strong, to celebrate this not so unlucky anniversary they’ve commissioned this book published by JRP comprised of essays, photographs and interviews shedding light on the formation and future of the infamous club. Contributions from the likes of Theo Parrish, Bill Brewster and Roman Flugel, the club will also relocate from it’s home in Offenbach am Main for a tour taking on Rex in Paris, Corsica Studios in London and Berghain in Berlin among others.

Click for more

Our brothers at Highsnob turn us onto this new book series… Moleskine continues their cover series with the “Inspiration & Process in Architecture” monograph books, collecting the work of four major players in architecture.

The Moleskine “Inspiration & Process” books looks at the work of Zaha Hadid, Bolles and Wilson, Giancarlo De Carlo and Alberto Kalach – in the size and format that Moleskine notebooks are known for. Each book delivers interviews, illustrations and looks inside their constructions.

The new Moleskine series is presented in a completely new format that uses 18th century clothbound bookbinding with raw grey cardboard covers and backs. Color coated spines designate each monograph book. Find them Moleskine or Amazon for $26.

ps: those Star Wars Moleskine notebooks are still around…

View more looks at the new Moleskine series in our gallery…

Lanvin celebrates the last 10 years of Alber Elbaz’ work with the publication of their new book, Alber Elbaz, Lanvin. The book is also a look at the creative work behind Lanvin’s Winter 2011 collection and is only available in a hardbound deluxe edition with a handmade cover, “bound in silk grosgrain cloth, black foil stamping on front and spine, hand-gilded edging with engraved typography, delivered in a handmade cardboard box.” Inside the book are more than 688 pages with 317 plates.

Find it exclusively at Lanvin’s Paris flagship at 15 et 22 Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré and online.

View more looks in our gallery…

Acq points us at this new book from Taschen that explore the art of using graphic images to communicate information. Information Graphics is a study in graphic communication that uses more than 400 examples of contemporary information graphics across a multitude of disciplines including art, government works, education, business, and of course, journalism in expressing the development of the information graphics. Information Graphics features essays and more than 200 projects – some as old as cave paintings – that explore the methods of graphic communication. A perfect gift for nerds like me.

Forthcoming March 20, 2012 on the Taschen imprint. Available from Amazon.

More looks from inside Information Graphics after thew click.