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We all know what it’s like to feel abandoned, whether it’s the irrational fear we experience as children when our Mom’s go into the grocery store and leave us on our best behavior in a locked car or the slightly more mature spectrum of emotion that accompanies a bad break-up. Perhaps that’s what makes Martin Usborne’s photographs, a series of stark portraits of dogs left behind in cards, so effective. His project will collect the images into a single book. We’re already prepping the space on our coffee table. Check out his project here.

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Dreams do come true! The Kickstarter-funded Onoeironautics: A Field Guide to Lucid Dreaming — freshly back from the publisher. Lookin’ good, guys! For those who are unbelievablysoexcited to receive their copy (cough, us), they’ve also uploaded their third chapter, which provides an overview of the history of dreaming. Check it out on their latest project update.

Just launched: Map 005 CHERNOBYL, a publication. MAP (Manual of Architecural Possibilities) is a non-profit publication that merges science and research with architectural design to scrutinize subjects — ”Flood” and “Archive” are two examples — from multiple perspectives. The information is then presented as an A1, folded into the shape of a traditional map. Research and data are on one side, architectural projects on the other.

Their fifth issue will tackle the history, consequences, and possible future of nuclear power. Twenty five years after the disaster in Chernobyl, and with the incident in Fukushima still unfolding around us, this is a very timely topic. It’s also an all around fascinating project. Check out more on their project page.

Fig 5.2.: Noah’s Brain

So, this is how much illustrator Noah Kroese loves to draw. Consider us sympathetic to his condition — and not only because we can relate to the “pizza” and “Star Wars” parts. We’re also a big fan of his graphic novel, Saturday, which is about a little girl named India and how she copes with a really, really bad week. It’s dark, funny, and, hey now, it involves dinosaurs. Haven’t we all been there before?! Check out his video for more details (and more Star Wars comparisons). Also, if we drew a graphic of our brains right now, it would mostly be us loving this project.

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For a quick snapshot of why we love comic book character Hangboy so much, let’s reflect on his life story a moment:

In his infancy, HANGBoY could be found defiling himself on napkins, notebook pages, whiteboards, and even beach sand. Since then he has matured (a little) and can be found immortalized on more formal media such as full color prints and sculptures. In every situation, HANGBoY’s message is clear: “Let’s play!”, as he never takes life too serious.

Hangboy is actually so mischievous that his creator claims to be unable to control him. In fact, he alleges that all he did for his new book, Hangboy: World War Too, was to build a bunch of World War Two themed sets and let Hangboy roam free across them. We’re into that kind of free spirit, so we’re awarding Hangboy our version of a Medal of Honor — he’s our Project of the Day!

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Homesweet Homegrown is a guide on how to grow, make, and store your own food — no matter where you live! How to pickle things? Check! How to make your own cold frame? Check! It even comes with organic seed packets to get you started. Next up? The ladies are gearing up to take their How To’s out of the backyard and onto the road, embarking on a cross-country Amtrak book tour. So what are you waiting for? Get growing!

vol1brooklyn:

Consider helping our pals at InDigest out? 

Their project is pretty cool! We’re especially digging the $1 reward: “The Great InDigest Exquisite Corpse: You’ll contribute one line to a story written collectively by other InDigest supporters that will be published in the next issue of InDigest.” (We’ve always wanted to be published authors.)

Loving the project video for sci-fi adventure series Dinocalypse Now. It’s like what would happen if you added Dune to Jurassic Park, put it all in a time machine with James Bond, and sent it back to 1922. What?! You’ll just have to watch/read to find out: score the e-versions for a ten buck pledge!

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Listen up! Our Project of the Day is looking to bring music back to the community (and that means you!). After a solid run serving as the editors of Altered Zones, the short-lived (but much loved) experimental sister site of Pitchfork, writers/music enthusiasts/generally cool people Emilie Friedlander and Ric Leichtung are back with Ad Hoc, a publication they describe as being “created for and by a community of music lovers with a shared ethos: that of building the world you want to see using the materials at your disposal.” They’ll collaborate with ten tastemaking music blogs to offer hungry music fans a daily dose of new music, videos, interviews, and other original, thoughtfully curated, content. Already on board are an impressive array of names and faces you may recognize — check out the full list on their project page. Pledge for mixtapes, ‘zines, and (our favorite) flirty text messages. Wink.

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One day last year, Amy Lombard walked into an IKEA and came back with a cinnamon bun, some shelving units, and — lo and behold — an art project. She began photographing customers as they interacted with IKEA’s canned home displays, first at her local store, but eventually all over the United States. The result? A self-published book displaying a few dozen of her favorites, a Kickstarter project, and her newly minted status as our Project of the Day.

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Fresh off the heels of their successful project, Best Music Writing are hitting the ground hard, which means its time to start nominating pieces for the next edition! Fill out your ballot here. 

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Unlocking the Right Brain: A Creative Thinking Workbook. How to begin generating original ideas through visual thinking — consider us intrigued.

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The Adventures of Vampire Kitty and Space Bat is a fun comic that is meant to be enjoyed by everyone — a mission easily accomplished for anything inspired by an author’s love of “cute things, a good adventure, and the absolutely absurd.” To get an idea of what you’re in for, check out the first issue online, then pledge for copies of the second issue, original ink drawings, or a handmade plush version of the main character. It’s absurdity with a high dosage of adorable, and — did we mention? — it’s also our Project of the Day.

New Curated Page alert! Meet Printed Matter, a non-profit dedicated to the promotion of publications by artists. Started in 1976 as an alternative arts space, the organization has spent the last several decades encouraging public engagement with the printed works of numerous burgeoning and influential artists — Laurie Anderson and Kathy Acker among them. We’re pretty pleased to have their curatorial eye roving Kickstarter. Check out their page to see their project picks like the Occupied Oakland Tribune and a Seattle-based festival for independent literature.

Authors, Publishers and Readers of Independent Literature, or APRIL, is a week-long festival in Seattle celebrating small press and independent literature. We love their $35 reward, which offers a reverse fan letter — written to backers by the writer they choose as their favorite! Pretty sweet.

It’s also part of our new project round-up today. Check out the rest of our top picks over on the blog.