D.I.Y. Design it Yourself, edited by Ellen Lupton (check out her website), published by Princeton Architectural Press.

A fabulous book that has been out for a while now, I am sure you have seen it around and read reviews before. I will be looking at from the DIY making stuff perspective rather than a pure design perspective. This book has quite a bit on marketing yourself which I think is really important for all of you crafty business people out there.

This book, according to the intro , is for everyone who wants to publish their words, images or ideas anywhere to an audience of any size even if its just you. The questions are asked and answered - Why DIY? Why this book now? and what is design? While the beginning of the books discusses the heavy issues of design, this book is about everyday design and bringing design into your life. Using basic design principals to package your ideas. The book is a collaboration by students and faculty of the design program at MICA, with additional featured projects by invited guests.

The first practical chapter is totally relevant to the whipup audience - blogs. Pretty basic info about starting a blog, what a blog is for and some online blogging tools, but what caught my eye here was the small tip on planning your blog. I do think this is important when thinking about starting up a blog is to think about who is going to read it, what the purpose of it will be and also your level of html skills will determine what sort of blog you have.

Other chapters I though particularly useful for the crafty DIY geek in us all, include making your own blank book, with ideas on different types of binding, covers, materials to use (eg. large paint chip cards, recycled book cover, chopsticks! and wood). Printing your own books, zines, artists books etc is also covered, with suggestions on types of folds (I see accordion folded books in a totally new way now).

The sections I thought was really useful for the crafty businessperson is branding, logos and business cards., press kits, presentations and newsletters. The importance of making a strong identity for your product, including web design, online stores and labeling.

As well as all that practical advice there are also lots of fun ideas for making use of skills you already have or indeed thinking about what skills you might need in order to achieve a certain result. Such as embroidery, drawing and screen printing on t-shirts, tote bags, envelopes and home wares. Love this book.

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