Do Not Leave Unattended / Mankind Magazine

I hope everyone in Canada is having a Happy Thanksgiving! I thought I'd post this a day early, since I'll be spending time with family for the rest of today and tomorrow. Please, enjoy, and don't eat too much turkey!
-Trina

~

I had first heard of altered books and art journals from an artist friend of mine a few years ago, however I truly did not understand the concept completely until I found about an art journal project via one of the blogs I read regularly, Run4istRun.

The project is called, Do Not Leave Unattended, its intention being taking the blogging experience to a tactile object, paper, and to another more personal level. There are 10 notebooks in total that are currently being sent around the world to hundreds of participants. Upon receipt, each person is given two weeks to create an entry on as many pages as they wish, and of whatever they wish. Whether it’s a collage, a poem, or a traditional diary entry, it’s completely up to the recipient. Once their entry has been completed, it is sent on to the next person, and so on.

image from do not leave unattended

Once all the notebooks have been returned, the plan is to make them each available via auction with proceeds benefiting a non-profit, or charitable organization. Who, knows, maybe it will evolve into a published book much like this one.

image from do not leave unattended

I have signed up to participate, and I can hardly wait to receive my journal. I have absolutely no idea what I will create or write, I’ll have to see what strikes the mood that week.

image from Design For Mankind

One of the blog’s that I visit frequently is Design for Mankind. Founded and written by Erin Locehner out of Indiana (formerly California), she not only has one of the best design blogs out there, but she is now also producing her own print magazine, Mankind Mag.

image from Design For Mankind

“Mankind Mag is a monthly publication dedicated to showcasing the talents of the emerging art and design community. A spin-off of the award-winning DesignForMankind.com, Mankind Mag seeks to bring light to the inspiration found in today’s creative culture”

image from Design For Mankind

The 4th issue has just come out, you can either buy the issue online, or even download it for free. Unfortunately, the magazine does not deliver to Canada, so I’ve been downloading each month’s issue. It’s full of inspiration, and absolutely beautiful photography. So far, Erin has themed each issue, for example issue #2 was focused on hair, and issue #3 is themed upon crafts. The 4th issue is adorable, entitled Feet’s and Feat’s. Absolutely gorgeous, and full on inspiration. Cheers to you Erin, I hope your feet stay light.