All posts tagged: featured

MAKIminimag_childrens alphabet_3

From A to Z : Animal Alphabet

Typography for Kids!!! Bubabu is a super fun and quirky alphabet designed for children . Every letter is imagined as a funky animal character. The story is featuring a monkey girl and pirate boy zooming around the galaxy for lost letters, every  animal letter having its own personal story. The illustrations are having a sligh vintage touch and lots of humour! Unfortunately I could not find the book – but at least there is a bunch of wonderful pictures to share for inspiration. More alphabets for children coming soon!   Images via Trendland       Like this:Like Loading…

MAKIminimag_First print issue_cover

The first print issue is on it´s way: MAKI minimag

Welcome to Issue One of MAKI minimag! After a year of hard work we are proud to present the first printed issue. Pre Order MAKI minimag via www.makiminimag.bigcartel.com Come along on a happy journey through the RAIN! More than 40 pages of stories, comics, spot-it games, riddles, recipes, experiments …. And an interview with a raindrop! For children to explore, read and look at. Alone or together with their happy grown-ups! Rain and rainy days don´t have to be boring or stupid: WIth MAKI minimag they can be surprising, fun, poetic and much much more… With artwork from: Steffie Brocoli (France), Sue Doeksen (Netherlands), Jana Glatt (Brazil), Yuliya Gwilym (Netherlands), Reka Kiraly (Finland), Agata Krolak (Poland); Elliot Kruszynski (UK), Saar Manche (Netherlands), Ola Niepsuj (Poland), Simone Porteder (Austria), Nanna Prieler (Austria), Sarah Vanbelle (Belgium) And contributions from international writers, editors and designers. Like this:Like Loading…

MAKIminimag_just playing

just playing … FiRST SiGNS of SPRiNG

just playing … FiRST SiGNS of SPRiNG  : with a vintage magnetic board from Czeck Republic. Found it on our attic last year – played with it when I was a kid! Still in love with it.   Like this:Like Loading…

Birthday Paper Turn Mill

a little man here in house turns 5 today • this is the birthday announcement card we started putting into envelopes 5 years ago!  Happy Birthday!!! * ein kleiner mann hier im haus wird heute 5 • das ist die geburtskarte die wir vor 5 jahren in die Umschläge geschteckt haben! Alles gute zum Purzeltag!!! * een kleine man hier in huis wordt vandaag 5 • dit is het geboortekaartje dat we 5 jaar geleden in enveloppen gestopt hebben :))) • gefeliciteerd, manneke!             Like this:Like Loading…

MAKIminimag_just playing

just playing …

I am “just playing ….” – with this vintage magnetic board from Czeck Republic. Found it on our attic lately – played with it when I was a kid! Still in love with it!     Like this:Like Loading…

MAKIminimag_Listen Listen_Paul Rand_Ann Rand

Listen! Listen! by Ann and Paul Rand

  The beauty of everyday sounds.  Listen! Listen! by Ann and Paul Rand is a fascinating children´s book just about that, published in 1970. The “Blop” of a raindrop, the “Wham!” of a shutting door, the whisper of the wind in the trees, the “Crunch Crunch” of a toast. Ann Rand collects all those loud and quiet, happy and scary sounds and turns them into beautiful, rhythmic rhymes. Paul Rand accompanies the words with simple, striking (paper cut) forms, bright primary colours and funny little details. Such as the hammer next to the piggybank (Sparschwein/spaarvarken): nothing happens at the end (the hammer is used for building) but in your imagination you can hear the clattering sound of the breaking porcelain pig! But the best sound is….wait! Read, no: LISTEN YOURSELF!   But the noise I like the very best is early morning before sunrise because then (when I keep my eyes tigth shut) I can hear the world wake up. It´s a wonderful mixed-up sound. From far and near From air and ground it comes from all …

MAKI:minimag_MOMA Art Lab App

MOMA Art Lab app

Do you know MOMA Art Lab already?  This app is designed for children in collaboration with the Museum of Modern Art. In our opinion it is a great app to explore new technologies even with small kids in an open, creative and playful way. So for example get creative and use the MoMA Art Lab app to create a sound composition, a shape poem, a group drawing, and more, then save and share your artwork (parental setting available). This sort of digital play is a great way for families to learn about art, discover artists’ processes and inspirations, and spend time together. Or use the “Activities” module to explore works of modern art from the museums collection (Henri Matisse, Elizabeth Murray, Jean (Hans) Arp and many others). Each activity shows the work of art, explains the artist’s process, and then provides a way for kids to make their own artwork based on the style of the inspiration piece. There is even an audio feature that allows pre-readers to have the text read to them. This app is  great …

MAKI:minimag_Gaston_illustrated by Christian Robinson

Gaston – A bulldog & poodle mix up illustrated by Christian Robinson

Two dogs, a small bulldog and a little poodle are the main characters in this story from New York Times bestselling author Kelly DiPucchio and illustrator Christian Robinson.  What they learn? That family is truly about love and not looks! The tale is about four puppies: Fi-Fi, Foo-Foo, Ooh-La-La, and Gaston. Gaston does his best at his lessons on how to be a true poodle. He sips—never slobbers! He yips—never yaps! And he walks with grace—never races! Gaston fits perfect with his little poodle sisters. But then an encounter with a bulldog family in the park—Rocky, Ricky, Bruno, and Antoinette—changes everything. Obviously there has been a mix-up, and so Gaston and Antoinette switch their places. The new families look right…but they don’t feel right. Will the puppies follow their noses—and their hearts—to find where they really belong? Another funny, meaningful illustrated gem by our favourite Christian Robinson! In a video about the choices he made for the illustrations Christian Robinson points to the colours that challenge gender norms, the representation of coloured people  and the absence of traditional family structures  – in this case the missing of any father figures …

MAKIminimag_Fredun Shapur_playsacks

Vintage Toys: Playsacks by Fredun Shapur

In our collection of vintage toys we want to show you the Playsacks by Fredun Shapur today. Fredun Shapur is a South African born toy designer and illustrator and the creator of these fantastic “Playsacks”, designed for Creative Playthings in 1968!! Yes, thats right, 1968! Their look is so strikingly contemporary because of their modern use of colours and their graphic refinement. And yes, you can put the sacks on your head because they are made of paper! In total there have been 12 different designs, children could disguise themselves as tigers, pandas and zebras, amongst others. The idea is so simple but great it seems strange there have not been new, contemporary designs lately. Like Bruno Munari or Charles Eames, Fredun Shapur (born 1929) made a particular daring and inventive contribution to the world of children. Between the 1960s and 1980s he designed toys for manufacturers such as Naef in Switzerland, Galt Toys in Great Britain, and above all Creative Playthings in the United States. From wooden puzzles and racing cars  to animal disguises, Shapur’s toys still have …

MAKI:minimag_ABC du marin_Virginie Morgand_summer reading list

Summer reading list #3 : ABC du marin

Today it is time for number three on our Summer Reading List: ABC du marin by French artist Virginie Morgand. A book full of wonderful illustrations, inspired by hands-on printing techniques and 50ies/60ies children´s toys and literature. The Paris based artist uses hand drawn shapes and bright colours to create vibrant images full of life and energy. Anchors, buoys, bulls-eye´s, pirates and parrots, lighthouses – it is all there in this blue, red and yellow sceneries. A perfect book for summer, like a little vacation and a graphic adventure in one. That is why we put it on our summer reading list. Virginie’s background is in animation but, having learnt how to screen print at L’atelier Dupont, she has developed her own visual language as an illustrator working for a growing number of clients. Recent projects include children’s books for book publisher MeMo, illustrations for The Sunday Times, Elle magazine, Barneys in New York, and front covers for Ballroom Review, The Parisianer and Erratum. If you want to see more of her fantastic work look over here. Like …