You Can't Miss: GD Books, Air Jordans and Pantonemania

This week on grainedit they featured a coffee table book that looks gorgeous and a couple of graphic design must-haves. I'd like to check out the social change book because I think it's awesome when graphic design can make a real impact and incite change.

From thedieline.com they featured the design for the new "Year of the Dragon Air Jordans." While the shoes are quite ugly, in my opinion, the design is simply lovely. I like the way the designer was able to incorporate the modern AJ logo with the elaborate traditional Chinese design. Near the bottom they also have pictures of the original sketches. Pretty cool to see the process of doing a complex illustration. I'm thinking this designer also had to hear a lot from marketing execs since it's one of the most recognizable brands today ;)

Also, Pantone announced 336 new colors today. How do they do it? Rather than show you shades of nonsense, here's an adorable photoshoot of tarts that are presented as Pantone swatches.