Hi Underware,

Thanks for the poster.
here is an image of a shark dog for your collection.

Cheers, Guus

Lately Iiris has been receiving lots of banana cards from fans all over the world: from Amsterdam, Barcelona, Berlin, Helsinki, Montreal, New York, Oslo, Sydney, Vienna and from countless smaller places. Here’s a fraction of those wonderful cards.

We received them at Underware’s Scandinavian office. We wrapped the first set for Iiris to Poste Restante Bambolim Beach, Goa, India. And guess what, we just heard Iiris picked the cards on the other day with a big smile. She sends warm hugs and love! And unnecessary to say: she’s happy to receive more of this stuff!

From: Anna Chan
Date: September 5, 2009 3:52:10
Subject: dog in costume print

Hi

My friend in Amsterdam sent me a copy of the newsprint of the dogs in costume your company published. It was a pleasant surprise since my dog Calle in the lion costume was in the centerfold. Unfortunately she passed away on July the 10th.

Calle was quite the chameleon, she took on many characters, all with great pride and joy.
She was an advid Yankees baseball fan, she would go off barking when they hit a home run.
Above all, she was our true love, wearing different smiles every day.
Even on a rainy day, she made us laugh.

From: Juan Carlos Cammaert
Date: August 24, 2009 5:49:02
Subject: Dolly & friends

Hi Underware people

Thought you would enjoy this. We used your Dolly newspaper to cover a couple of windows of our studio. People now walk by and stop and laugh, look inside and even take pictures.

Best,
jc

In October 2008 Underware offered free copies of the publication Dolly’s party for everyone on our mailing list. You could receive a free copy if you replied with “woof, woof…”.
But some could not stop. Here is the reply of “tarekshaerstudio | tarek”
(more…)

Hello! I’m Dennis, a young graphic designer who’s just got his first job. I still live at my parent’s house. When I have nothing to do, I pass my time rearranging my life, from student life to working life. In this case: rearranging my bookshelf. While I was doing this, my eye caught some smuthers on the cover of my beloved “Read naked” book. I think it was already this dirty when I bought it (at a fashion store, which explains), but it never bothered me this much. I decided to go clean the book in the bathroom. I rubbed it carefully with wet paper tissues. Also, I wetted some inside pages with hot water to read some hidden text, so the book got too humid to just put it back on the shelf. One of the suggested ways to dry the book was: “Microwave oven: 5-10 minutes, full power.” And actually, me being hasty, I didn’t read the rest of the line which warned: “Although the publisher succesfully tested this method, it is not recommended.”

So: 10 minutes, full power…

Again

I didn’t want to confront my parents with a strange story about washing and microwaving books, so I spent half an hour blowing, switching on the cooker hood, opening all windows and doors, running around flapping my arms, driving the smell of baked book out of the kitchen before they returned home. My copy of “Read Naked” now has a brown stain on almost every page, starting from the middle. I can’t even keep it on the bookshelf anymore, because it still smells like shoes on a barbecue.

Dennis

Illusie 1991 – 2006 at van Stockum, Den Haag

Probably you do know the bookstore van Stockum still from the extreme book testing. For those who don’t: van Stockum is the design bookstore in Den Haag, located close to the central station.
Bart Lut, the young store manager, is always open for new ideas and he is always trying to stimulating the local (design)culture.
So whenever you are in the Hague, please take a look at his well sorted store, and say hello.

More info about the Illusie 1991 – 2006 book here.

Whenever you’re around in Amsterdam, visit the bookshop Nijhof & Lee, specialised in design books. Very nice people, very nice shop, and yes, nice shop windows too…

If you don’t have a sauna, iron or aquarium at home, learn here what you can do with some books and what you cannot do with other books. Yes, it’s all about showing off how brilliant the ‘Read naked’ book is, but we honestly had some fun with this live show. That’s why we want to share it with you, so take a look.

Warning: because the book absorbs water it may take on a new colour (of coffee, for example) and it may grow mushrooms if you don’t dry the book well. So please take care.

This world-premier-live-event was hosted by bookstore van Stockum in the Hague, the Netherlands on 23th of November 2002. Thanks to Ilone’s mother, Guy Tavares and van Stockum!