Juniper Books – Thatcher Wine

Just in Time for the Holidays

Posted on 06. Dec, 2012 by Thatcher Wine in Blog, Recent Projects

Happy Holidays to everyone.  Hanukkah starts this weekend and the countdown to Christmas is well under way.  I love the holidays and I think books go very well with the holiday spirit.  This time of year I help a lot of clients with book gifts – personally I think books are the best gift you can get anyone, any age, hands down – I’ll debate anyone in the world on this (and I’ll write a separate post about why I believe it to be true.)

This time of year I like to get creative with books in a variety of ways.  First – I like to come up with interesting ways to wrap books.  Secondly I like to make things out of books like a Menorah or a Christmas Tree in the holiday spirit.  And third, I like to roll out a whole bunch of new book sets that you can give as gifts.  So here are our new introductions:

1. The third in our series of Harry Potter book sets is our Slytherin Edition.  The idea behind our Harry Potter book sets is to give fans of the series a personalized way to own the books that is different from the edition that “everyone else has”  So if you Harry Potter is your favorite, Gryffindor may be for you – Gryffindor values courage, bravery, nerve and chivalry.  Ravenclaw values intelligence, creativity, learning, and wit.  Slytherin house values ambition, cunning, leadership, and resourcefulness – if you identify with Voldemort, this edition is for you.

Harry Potter Slytherin Set in Official Trunk

2. Penguin Classics Variations.  OK, we could write a book about all the different ways we sell the Penguin Classics so we’ll just have to make a list to simplify it for now.  To date, our most popular options have been our Custom Set of 10 Penguins (you pick the titles from a list of 32 available options – this option is featured in the current issue of Real Simple Magazine), plus our Penguin 10, Penguin 20 and Penguin 30.  Just in time for the holidays this year we also have made the following products available for sale:

• Charles Dickens Set
• Jane Austen Set
• Penguin 5
• Penguin 5 – Group B
• Penguin 5 – Group C
• Penguin 5 – Group D
• Penguin 10 – Group B
• Penguin 10 – Group C
• Penguin 20 – Group B

20 Penguin Classic Hardcover Books

3. Italian Cookbooks: 5 Classic cookbooks that we wrapped in custom book jackets in the colors of the Italian Flag.  A great gift for cooks. Includes classics such as The Silver Spoon published by Phaidon.

Brand New Custom Designed Italian Cookbook Set

4. French Cookbooks: 5 Classic French cookbooks in the colors of the French Flag. Features Julia Child, Escoffier and more!

Custom French Cookbook Set

5. Blue Literary Classics: Our Red Literary Classics set has been a hit, so we have introduced a second set with a different group of literary classics.  The books are published by Everyman’s Library.  Soon to be sold by Anthropologie!

Brand New Literary Classics Set from Juniper Books

6. Mark Twain Set – inspired by the cover of the original edition of Huckleberry Finn.  Published by Library of America.

Mark Twain Custom Book Set

7. John Steinbeck Set.  Also published by Library of America.  In jackets inspired by the artwork for the first edition of The Grapes of Wrath.

Juniper Books John Steinbeck Set

8. William Faulkner.  Another fine set of books published by Library of America in jackets we designed using the first edition of Light of August as our inspiration.

William Faulkner – Juniper Books Set

I hope you enjoy the book sets we offer as much as we enjoy creating them!

Happy holidays!

Thatcher

Tags: custom book covers

New Products – September 2012

Posted on 20. Sep, 2012 by Thatcher Wine in Blog, Recent Projects

As promised, we are starting to roll out a number of new book sets for sale this fall – both curated sets from our favorite publishers and also books in our custom book jackets.  At Juniper Books we do a lot of things that no other bookseller in the world does and our latest products really show that off.  Please click on any of the photos below to be taken directly to the page to purchase these books.

One of my favorites is our John Steinbeck Set – the complete works of Steinbeck in iconic book jackets.

The Works of John Steinbeck

This one is a new take on one of the sets we first introduced around Valentine’s Day – we gave it new colors and new texture – the books are the same – classic romances – and the message remains the same.  Every book lover should have an I Heart Books set on their shelves!

I Love (Heart) Books

Now for a super cool new concept in personalizing book collections – we have a set of 10 books where you pick the books, you pick the colors, and you tell us what to print on the inside flaps to further personalize the set.  This makes for a ridiculously cool gift for just about anyone!

Make Your Own Book Set – Rainbow

Then we have a number of new products from Taschen – we have been selling their books for years, placing their cool hip oversize tomes in client libraries around the world.  These are just a few of our ready made sets for sale – look for more great collections over time, or feel free to suggest a collection that you would like to see for sale.

Taschen Portrait of a City Book Set

Illustrated Art Book Series

Living in Books Set published by Taschen

 Those are just a few of the new book sets that are both decorative books as well as very desirable content to own.  As always, we are available to create complete libraries and custom book collections.  If it involves books we can do it.

Happy Fall,

Thatcher

thatcher@juniperbooks.com

303-946-1494

New Photos, New Projects, New Products

Posted on 17. Sep, 2012 by Thatcher Wine in Blog, Book Styles, Ideas and Advice, Press and News, Recent Projects

2012 has been an incredibly busy and successful year at Juniper Books.  In fact we have been so busy filling orders the past several months that our website simply has not kept up to date with all of our offerings.

Coming Soon – New Photos, Projects and Products

Over the next few weeks we will be trying to catch up by:

• Adding new products to our online Store
• Posting new projects to our online Portfolio and changing the navigation structure
• Adding hundreds of photos to our Styles section – including new color options, customization choices, and various new styles not previously posted

A few things to note about our offerings:

• Our online Store only has about 1% of the books we sell in it.  Juniper Books provides anything and everything related to books – rare books, complete libraries, book for decoration, and about a thousand other products and services.  With a few exceptions (our personalized book sets) our online store is really about ready made book sets (i.e., our Penguin sets, or our Jane Austen book collection.)   If you would like to hire us for something you don’t see in the store it’s best to e-mail thatcher@juniperbooks.com or call 303-946-1494.  We are adding more products to the online store over time however given the highly customized products and services we provide (curating book collections by color, size, subject, making custom book jackets, custom wrapping books, etc.) by nature many of our offerings will never appear in the store.
• Our overall philosophy is that anything with books is possible.  We work with clients to help them get what they want from their books – this means different things to different customers.  For some clients this might involve sourcing a the best copy of a particular rare book or first edition, for others it might entail assembling 10,000 books by color for a commercial project and others might be involve us building a collection of a favorite author, then wrapping them in custom printed jackets with a special gift inscription.

I have been a lifelong collector of books and I have been selling books for about 12 years now.  Every day I feel like I am just getting started on what is possible with books and what I am trying to do at the intersection books + design.  I really appreciate the compliments we have received on the work we do at Juniper Books. We will keep the innovations flowing and we will continue to expand our offerings of more traditional / classical books too.  We look forward to working with our many customers and partners for years to come – thanks for keeping us so busy!

Thatcher

Tags: creative ideas, custom book covers, custom printed book jackets, home library, library consultant, thatcher wine

New Book Sets – August 2012

Posted on 23. Aug, 2012 by Thatcher Wine in Blog, Press and News, Recent Projects

It has been a very busy summer at Juniper Books on all fronts.  In June I had the opportunity to visit some projects I have worked on including the Hotel Lorien and Halstead Square in Virginia and The Hotel NoMad in New York City.  I will be posting new photos of these projects very soon.

An article in the Wall Street Journal – “A House to Look Smart In” – featured our work very prominently and has led to a number of orders and new client relationships.   Other press included a great feature on Wired Design and a really fun piece in the Colorado issue of Luxe magazine.

Back in the studio in Boulder Colorado, the team has been super busy creating new book sets for sale.  I’m really excited about many of these new products as they really show off what we do – combining great books with great design.  You can feel good about owning these book sets as they are timeless classics and Juniper Books can make them in the colors and styles that work for your decor.  Please follow the photos below to view the new products.

Juniper Books Piano Keyboard Book Set

100 Literary Classics in Modern Jackets – Many Colors Available

100 Literary Classics in Vellum or Leather Style Custom Jackets – Various Colors Available

Custom Blue Ravenclaw Style Jackets for Harry Potter Books

As always, if you would like assistance with your custom library project or are looking for the perfect set of books to give as a gift (or anything in between), please feel free to contact thatcher@juniperbooks.com or call 303-946-1494.

Thatcher

Tags: custom book collections, custom wrapped books, decorative books

Halstead Square

Posted on 22. Aug, 2012 by Thatcher Wine in Blog, Recent Projects

“Just off the Metro, there’s a place that has it all. A fun-filled haven—complete with shops, restaurants, and three distinct, luxury apartment buildings. We call it Halstead Square. You’ll call it amazing.” -Halstead Square Website

We had the opportunity to work with the designer of this luxury residential complex in Vienna, Virgnia .   Specifically we provided RED, WHITE and BLUE books for the lobby of The Rockwell building.  The designer from the DSF Group created a magical space that is vintage Americana – very appropriate decor for this building not too far from Washington, DC.

This project is an example of our Vintage Books by Color – clients can specify their desired colors and we provide books by the foot or by the book.  The books can be on any subject however,  for a public space project like this we will do a screen for objectionable titles and subjects that could potentially offend users of the library.

Most colors are available and a more vintage or modern look can be specified.  We also work with clients to define acceptable parameters for book sizes and accent colors.

To order books by color for your project, please contact thatcher@juniperbooks.com or call 303-946-1494.

Facebooks Go Public

Posted on 18. May, 2012 by Thatcher Wine in Blog, Ideas and Advice, Recent Projects

Congratulations to Facebook and all the Facebook employees and investors out there!  Call me if you need help with your library!

Or I can help you perhaps with a special gift for your favorite chief executive – History of the Hoodie anyone?  Instead of a book jacket, the book comes with a book hoodie.  (Perhaps I should trademark that, along with the Rick Santorum Book Sweater Vest.)   And for every person that orders “Hoodies in History” I will customize it slightly so that no two are alike!  (Note that this book does not really exist yet, but that has never stopped me from bringing a book to life!)

In all seriousness – something that sort of does exist, but is in it’s infancy are my “Face Book Jackets.”  They are printed book jackets that you wrap around your own books, and they have a picture of you on them – a literal Face Book.  Get it?

I have to give credit where credit is due – my father, Barry Wine, encouraged me to make these and so the very first face book jacket I made was for him.

Barry Wine Face Book

Then Mark Zuckerberg came next . . .

Mark Zuckerberg Face Book

Then Steve Jobs . . .

Steve Jobs Face Book

Then I made myself a SET of face book jackets to be my facebook profile picture . . .

Thatcher Wine Face Book

I’m happy to make anyone a single face book jacket that wants one – just send me a high resolution picture and one share of FB stock.  We also accept credit cards, paypal or good old fashioned checks.  Pricing for the jackets has not really been set yet – I’m waiting for JP Morgan to get back to me – however your indication of the strength of demand for vanity facebook jackets (or hoodies) would be greatly appreciated!

I can also make you a multi-volume SET of books with your picture across the spines (like me)- just tell me how big you want it to be and we will work out the logistics and the price.  Want a 15 foot high installation of literary classics with your picture on the spines, no problem, give me a call.

Thatcher Wine Face Book Display

Whatever size you order, your personalized facebooks will put you in some pretty serious company . . .

Mark Zuckerberg, Steve Jobs and Barry Wine

And it can be your own individual way to “go public” with face books.

Sincerely,

Thatcher Wine

thatcher@juniperbooks.com

303-946-1494

facebook.com/juniperbooks

Tags: creative book art, creative ideas, custom book covers, custom made books, custom printed book jackets, custom wrapped books, thatcher wine

Bayleaf on Pearl

Posted on 12. Apr, 2012 by Thatcher Wine in Blog, Recent Projects

Juniper Books worked with Bayleaf on Pearl, a specialty retailer in Boulder, Colorado, to create a number of customized cookbooks and wine books for sale, as well as to provide antique leather books for merchandising the shelves.

Bayleaf ‘s store is all about beautiful and luxurious goods, mostly European design or influenced.   The idea for the custom book jackets was to take parts of their existing inventory and upgrade it to be more special and exclusive.  Juniper Books custom designed and printed a number of book jackets – both sets that make up graphical designs, as well as individual books in leather style book covers.

Juniper Books has worked with numerous retailers ranging from Kiehl’s to Pottery Barn to provide decorative books for sale as well as for visual merchandising.

• Specialty retailer in Boulder, Colorado
• Juniper Books provided antique leather books including several oversized antique leather books, for the retailer to use in merchandising their new store
• Juniper Books also custom designed and printed book jackets for some of their wine books and cookbooks for sale.

To contact us about your project, feel free to e-mail thatcher@juniperbooks.com, call 303-946-1494, or use the form below.

Tags: books as art, books for interior design, custom printed book jackets, visual merchandising books

Academy Awards

Posted on 21. Mar, 2012 by Thatcher Wine in Blog, Recent Projects

For the backstage Green Room at the 84th Academy Awards®, we created a library unlike anything anyone has ever seen before.  AD100 designer Waldo Fernandez brought us into the project, which is an annual Architectural Digest event.  Immediately we conceived of the idea to create a homage to film history using our custom printed book jackets.

What we created was made possible by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, which gave us access to their extensive archives.  We curated a book collection that included many titles on film and entertainment subjects, then wrapped groups of four to eight books in custom book jackets so that they make up individual film scenes.  The printed jackets were designed with film sprockets on top and bottom so that the entire library looks like a film reel.

Spanning the bookshelves are scenes from Citizen Kane, Gone with the Wind, Casablanca, Sunset Boulevard, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and several dozen other films, arranged chronologically.  Actors including Elizabeth Taylor, Audrey Hepburn and Marlon Brando are all featured prominently on the bookshelves.  Thatcher installed the project at the Kodak Theatre personally several days before the Oscars® broadcast.

See also:

Academy Awards Green Room Book Sets

Juniper Books Oscars Green Room Press Release

Press Coverage of the Green Room

Oscars Green Room Unveiled

Short Video We Made Starring The Academy Awards Book Sets from Juniper Books

Tags: AD100, books as art, custom book collections

Stately Homes By-the-Sea

Posted on 20. Mar, 2012 by Thatcher Wine in Blog, Recent Projects

The Stately Homes By-the-Sea Designer Show House is a fantastic event in picturesque Rumson, New Jersey that takes place every other year.  The Show House benefits the Visiting Nurse Association of Central Jersey, part of VNA Health Group, the largest voluntary, nonprofit home care agency in New Jersey serving more than 125,000 individuals each year in Monmouth, Middlesex and Ocean counties.

Interior designer Darren Henault asked us to help with the books for the room he was designing at the Show House.  The room was full of bookshelves, with room for over a thousand volumes!

We worked with Darren on a custom design of specially printed antique vellum style book covers in tones of cream and gold.  We invented the custom printed book jackets a couple years ago and have been perfecting them with each project and installation like this.

This project was published in the October, 2011 issue of New York Spaces Magazine.

At Juniper Books, we are always open to helping out good causes by means of our books.  We also enjoy working with leading designers to integrate our unique book collections into their vision, especially at high profile, trendsetting events such as the Pasadena Showcase House for the Arts.

To contact us about your project, feel free to e-mail thatcher@juniperbooks.com, call 303-946-1494, or use the form below.

Tags: antique vellum, custom book covers, custom library, custom printed book jackets, custom wrapped books

Pasadena Showcase

Posted on 20. Mar, 2012 by Thatcher Wine in Blog, Recent Projects

The Pasadena Showcase House of Design is a wonderful annual event that supports funding for music oriented organizations and has raised more than 18 million dollars to support the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Walt Disney Concert Hall and local symphonic, cultural and educational programs for youth since 1948.

We were honored recently to work with interior designer Julie Kays on her Lady’s Study at the Pasadena Showcase House of Design. The books we provided are a mix of real antique vellum and our custom printed vellum jackets made to look like antique vellum books.

For this room, Julie had space for about 300 books and wanted something special befitting the “lady of the house.”  The books we provided were a curated mix of literature, history and travel all in white and cream tones with mostly gold, yellow, and charcoal accents.   They are unified by their antique vellum (aka white leather) appearance, perhaps the rarest of bindings and a style that we specialize in carrying both an authentic antique inventory of books and a style that we reproduced with our custom printed book jackets.

At Juniper Books, we are always open to helping out good causes by means of our books.  We also enjoy working with leading designers to integrate our unique book collections into their vision, especially at high profile, trendsetting events such as the Pasadena Showcase House for the Arts.

To contact us about your project, feel free to e-mail thatcher@juniperbooks.com, call 303-946-1494, or use the form below.

Tags: books for interior design, curated library, custom library, custom printed book jackets

Kips Bay

Posted on 20. Mar, 2012 by Thatcher Wine in Blog, Recent Projects

We were very honored in 2010 to provide a curated collection of books to Cullman & Kravis for use in the dining room library of the Kips Bay Boys & Girls Club 38th Annual Decorator Show House.  The collection included cookbooks, books on gastronomy and the history of food.

The design of the room by Elissa Cullman and Tracey Winn Pruzan won rave reviews and the overall event was a wonderful success for a great cause.

The concept of the show house is to have “celebrated interior designers transform a luxury Manhattan home into an elegant exhibition of fine furnishings, art and technology.”  The event is an annual tradition and  receives as many as 20,000 guests annually, and has raised over $17,000,000 for the Kips Bay Boys & Girls Club.

For more photos, see the portfolio of AD100 Designers Cullman & Kravis.

At Juniper Books, we are always open to helping out good causes by means of our books.  We also enjoy working with leading designers to integrate our unique book collections into their vision, especially at high profile, trendsetting events such as the Kips Bay Show House.

To contact us about your project, feel free to e-mail thatcher@juniperbooks.com, call 303-946-1494, or use the form below.

Tags: AD100, books for interior design, curated library, custom book collections, Show House Books

The Hotel NoMad

Posted on 20. Mar, 2012 by Thatcher Wine in Blog, Recent Projects

One of our most recent hotel projects involved curating the library of The NoMad Hotel in New York City.  The Hotel opened in the Spring of 2012.

Thatcher worked closely with the owners / developers of the hotel – The Sydell Group  and also the Eleven Madison Park team of Will Guidara and Daniel Humm who operate the restaurant – the Library room is one part of the restaurant.

The project involved custom curating a collection of 3,500 books by subject.  The subjects specified included books about France, New York City, Food & Wine, and a number of other subjects.  The library has gotten rave reviews and part of that we think is due to the very comfortable feel that the books provide – everyone realizes “someone paid attention to each and every one of these titles and they are here for a reason!”

What we created is really more like a home library in a commercial setting – we think this is very much for the future for hotels and commercial properties.  Books can make guests feel at home and the Hotel NoMad definitely achieves this.

In July 2012, President Obama visited The NoMad Hotel for a $40,000 a plate fundraiser.

Obama Arrives at the NoMad

Description below courtesy thenomadhotel.com:

The NoMad Hotel is a turn of the century Beaux-Arts building that has been masterfully restored to its original grandeur with interiors by world renowned French designer Jacques Garcia. It provides a fresh modern take on the classic grand hotels of Europe with a distinct New York sensibility. The design of the 168 guest rooms and suites was inspired by the Parisian flat of Garcia’s youth. The rooms are residential in feel, and decorated in his classic, timeless style. Each room is appointed with hand-selected, richly textured custom designed furnishings and artwork. The soaring public spaces throughout the hotel provide a gathering place to enjoy dining, drinking and socializing.

The NoMad Hotel will have a food and beverage program that is casually elegant while maintaining the highest standards of culinary excellence under the supervision of Chef-Partner Daniel Humm and Managing-Partner Will Guidara. Inspired by the Chef’s time spent throughout Switzerland, California, and New York City, the restaurant is rooted in the same traditions found at their critically-acclaimed, Michelin three-star rated Eleven Madison Park. The restaurant has soaring interiors with a refined yet approachable menu featuring a specially curated wine program celebrating the great winegrowing regions of the world and innovative classically focused cocktails.

LIbrary of The NoMad Hotel

This project was featured in the New York Times Story Gracious Dining, Alive and Well at NoMad by Florence Fabricant.

To learn more about our services creating handpicked book collections for homes and businesses, please click here. 

To contact us about your project, feel free to e-mail thatcher@juniperbooks.com, call 303-946-1494, or use the form below.

Tags: books for hotels, curated library

Lorien Hotel

Posted on 20. Mar, 2012 by Thatcher Wine in Blog, Recent Projects

The Lorien Hotel & Spa in Alexandria, Virginia, is a beautiful luxury boutique hotel operated by Kimpton Hotels.  For the property, interior designer Vicente Wolf created a space that is “reflective of the past and grounded in modern sensibilities.”

In preparation for the hotel’s opening, Juniper Books worked closely with the developer DSF Group to design a modern library for the lobby.  Fort he project, we custom wrapped approximately 1,000 books in white book jackets.  The look of pure white books compliments the modern style of the hotel.  Making these books look great is not as easy as it may look – we use real books and spend a considerable amount of time testing paper types and determining the appropriate look with the client!

The hotel is located in historic Old Town Alexandria, has a beautiful spa, and destination restaurants including BRABO by Robert Wiedmaier.

If you are interested in white wrapped books or any other style of books for your project, feel free to contact thatcher@juniperbooks.com or call 303-946-1494.  You may also use the contact form below.

Tags: books for hotels, custom library, custom made books

Oscars Green Room Press Release

Posted on 26. Feb, 2012 by Thatcher Wine in Blog, Press and News, Recent Projects

Nominees and presenters in the Academy Awards® Green Room this year will be treated to a visual timeline of film history in a way no one has ever seen before.  Custom library designer Thatcher Wine of Juniper Books created a unique library for the shelves in the Waldo Fernandez designed Architectural Digest Green Room. The bookshelves feature images from the archives of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences skillfully printed on book jackets so that groups of four to eight books make up individual film scenes.

Wine and his team at Juniper Books in Boulder, Colorado spent several weeks designing and printing the custom book jackets after being called upon by Green Room designer Waldo Fernandez.  With access to the archives of the The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, Thatcher immediately knew what he wanted to do.  “My idea was to put classic film scenes on book spines in a way that honored the history of the movies and eight decades of the Academy Awards® – it really seemed to fit the nostalgic spirit of this year’s Oscars.”

Spanning the bookshelves are scenes from Citizen Kane, Gone with the Wind, Sunset Boulevard and several dozen other films, arranged chronologically.  Actors including Elizabeth Taylor, Audrey Hepburn and Marlon Brando inhabit the Green Room in a way they have never done before. Wine flew out to Los Angeles several days before the Academy Awards® to personally install the library backstage at the Kodak Theatre.

“When the audience for a project includes many of the most talented and creative professionals in the world, the pressure is on. I wanted to do something that was original and inspirational.  The guests in the Green Room may only have a few minutes to appreciate the space and I wanted the library to put them at ease and perhaps give them something to talk about.”

Created by renowned AD100 interior designer Waldo Fernandez, this year’s Architectural Digest Greenroom is inspired by Hollywood of the 1930s and 40s.  Fernandez’s vision for the Greenroom references the Billy Haines-decorated Beverly Hills home of director George Cukor, who was legendary for his glamorous parties. Fernandez’s invitingly harmonious interiors stand out for their subtle, easygoing style. His impressive portfolio, spanning more than three decades, not only includes homes for an incredible roster of clients—Elizabeth Taylor, Brad Pitt, Keanu Reeves, and Darren Star among them—but also a number of commercial projects, such as his own Trumps restaurant, the Beverly Hills Hilton, and most recently, the West Hollywood Soho House club.

About Juniper Books:

Since 2001, Juniper Books has carved out a niche at the intersection of books and design by delivering a level of service, attention to detail and creativity that no bookseller has ever provided.  To Thatcher Wine, the possibilities of a custom library are endless – he personally designs and curates libraries of leather and vellum books; books by author, color, subject and/or size; or creations using various papers, fabrics, or custom printed book jackets.  Custom book jackets can rapidly and economically change the look of any book.  This innovative concept has attracted many fans among interior designers, architects, visual merchandisers and private clients around the world.

Juniper Books Oscars Green Room Library

Contact:

Thatcher Wine

303-946-1494

thatcher@juniperbooks.com

Tags: custom book collections, custom book covers, custom library, library artist

Press Coverage of the Green Room

Posted on 26. Feb, 2012 by Thatcher Wine in Blog, Press and News, Recent Projects

We were thrilled to be a part of the Architectural Digest Greenroom at the 84th Academy Awards® designed by Waldo Fernandez.   The bookshelves are very much the physical center of the room and a very unique feature that no one has ever seen before – so they definitely will make an impression on anyone who sees them in person.

Below are links to several short videos including an interview with Kelly Ripa in front of the books, click image to play.

Maria Menounos interviews Kelly Ripa in the Green Room

On Oscars® pre-show “Oscar’s Red Carpet Live” on ABC Jess Cagle made a very quick walk out from the Green Room and our books are visible on the left.

Jess Cagle ABC Red Carpet Live in the Green Room

WXYZ-ABC Detroit Interview with Waldo Fernandez

Entertainment Tonight Green Room

Architectural Digest

Link to All Architectural Digest Coverage

Fine Books & Collections

Fine Books & Collections Magazine Blog

HauteLiving.com

Oscars Green Room

Pursuitist.com

Academy Awards Green Room

Associated Press

Yahoo! News
USA Today
Wonderall MSN
Yahoo! OMG!
Curbed
Stylelist
Boston Globe:
Chicago Tribune
Daily Reporter
San Jose Mercury News
The Nevada Appeal
CNSNews.com
Times Union
Xfinity.com
York Daily Record
The Aspen Business Journal
WNYT.com News Channel 13 (Albany, NY)
Cox Communications
Mainichi Daily News

Also see our related posts:

Academy Awards Green Room Book Sets

Juniper Books Green Room Video

Tags: creative book art, custom book covers, custom library, custom made books, custom printed book jackets, custom wrapped books, thatcher wine

Academy Awards Green Room Sets

Posted on 25. Feb, 2012 by Thatcher Wine in Blog, Recent Projects

Here are the book sets we created for the Green Room of the 2012 Academy Awards, each individually photographed.  A few weeks ago when Waldo’s Designs asked us if we wanted to get involved with creating a library for the Architectural Digest Greenroom, I jumped at the chance and immediately pitched him the idea of creating a film strip with classic film scenes across the bookshelf.   I knew we could make this concept a reality and it would be something that nobody had ever seen before – a challenging given the creative talent who will be in the room on Oscar night!

The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences gave us access to their archives and I spent many hours selecting images to use for the project.   As a fan of classic films, and at one time an aspiring screenwriter, I enjoyed every minute of combing through the archives, choosing pictures, then printing them on book jackets and with my team in Boulder, Colorado making them line up perfectly so when you push multiple books together they form many classic movie scenes from the past 85 years!

Enjoy, and feel free to let me know which ones are your favorites!

Thatcher

thatcher@juniperbooks.com

Tags: books as art, curated library, custom book collections, custom book covers, library artist, thatcher wine

Academy Awards Green Room Video

Posted on 25. Feb, 2012 by Thatcher Wine in Blog, Recent Projects

The Architectural Digest Greenroom at the Academy Awards this weekend looks pretty spectacular.  Since not everyone can be a presenter, award winner, or otherwise get backstage to see the room and the library we custom designed for the event, I made a short video highlighting our custom book jacket creations.  The video plays on the creative round trip we conceptualized of film onto books and books into film.  Enjoy . . .

We are working on adding more photos and video of this project today so stay tuned.  If anyone captures any footage on TV showing the room and our books, I’d love to hear about it!

Thatcher

thatcher@juniperbooks.com

Tags: creative book art, custom made books, custom printed book jackets, custom wrapped books, home library, juniper books, thatcher wine

Oscars Green Room Unveiled

Posted on 23. Feb, 2012 by Thatcher Wine in Blog, Recent Projects

The 2012 Architectural Digest Greenroom at the 84th Academy Awards® designed by Waldo Fernandez, with a library by Juniper Books, has been officially unveiled!  Today the media had tours of the room – a number of articles will start to appear tomorrow, plus various TV coverage throughout the weekend and the event itself on Sunday February 26, 2012.

Juniper Books Library in the Architectural Digest Academy Awards Greenroom

The library we created for the Green Room is very much a tribute to the history of film and the 8 decades of the Academy Awards®.  It is also unlike anything anyone has ever seen before with books, thanks to custom book jackets and the great progress we have made over the past couple years designing and printing unique libraries.

Juniper Books Library for the Academy Awards Greenroom

Many hours were spent choosing film stills from the archives of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences.  Then weeks were dedicated to diligently laying out and printing the images, so that when wrapped around books, the sets make up one scene.  The idea was to capture the spirit of the movies in a way that has never been done before.  The presenters, award winners, and other visitors to the room may only have a few minutes to relax and enjoy – the books give them something to look at, and perhaps be inspired by.

Other suppliers of fine furnishings and artwork for the Architectural Digest Greenroom include Questroyal Fine Art, Caesarstone, Samsung, HP, Schumacher, Feizy Rugs, California Classics Reserve Collection Flooring, Giati Designs, Pollaro Custom Furniture, Nicholas Mongiardo Studio, John Carpenter / Young Projects Gallery, and Donald Kaufman Color.

It’s been a long day here in LA – so I’ll leave it there for now.  More news and photos to follow.

Thatcher

Tags: creative book art, custom book covers, custom library, custom printed book jackets, thatcher wine

Library for the Academy Awards Green Room – Coming Soon!

Posted on 23. Feb, 2012 by Thatcher Wine in Blog, Recent Projects

Big big news coming tomorrow.  For the past month we have been working hard (and quietly) on the library for the Architectural Digest Greenroom of the Academy Awards ®.  Tomorrow is the big day that the project will start to go public, and judging from the buzz so far it’s going to get a lot of attention!

Our involvement goes back a few weeks to a conversation we had with Waldo’s Designs, the AD100 firm based in Los Angeles, headed by Waldo Fernandez.  Every year Architectural Digest asks a preeminent designer to create the Greenroom and it is a much watched, trendsetting event.  Waldo was familiar with our custom jackets and gave me the opportunity to create something spectacular with the books.   I proposed a concept that no one had ever seen before – my design honors the rich visual history of film and the Academy Awards® and compliments the relaxing environment of the Green Room.

For about a month we created the library in our studio in Boulder, Colorado then shipped the books to California.  Earlier this week, I flew out to LA earlier and personally installed the books in the Green Room.

I’ll share some more information starting tomorrow.

Thank you to everyone at  Waldo’s Designs, Architectural Digest, the Kodak Theatre and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences!  We are honored to be part of this event.

Thatcher

Arriving at the Kodak Theatre for my Academy Awards Project

A Video Valentine to the Printed Book

Posted on 13. Feb, 2012 by Thatcher Wine in Blog, Ideas and Advice, Recent Projects

One day last week, our shipping table was full of books and book sets that we were getting ready to ship for delivery by Valentine’s Day (this year we created a lot of gift book sets in pinks, reds and purples).  I looked at all the books and their custom jackets – they looked so bright and colorful all together, like a room full of fresh flowers!  I had an idea to make a video of all the books and thus this Video Valentine to the Printed Book was born.

Enjoy and Happy Valentine’s Day!

Visit our store to purchase many of the “stars” of the video.

Bronte Sisters Custom Book Set

See also our Valentine’s Day DIY project which is featured in the book.

Valentine's Day Gift Book Set with DIY Book Jackets

We are always open to commissions and personalized versions of our books and book jackets – please contact thatcher@juniperbooks.com or call 303-946-1494 for more information.

New Book Sets for Sale

Posted on 14. Jan, 2012 by Thatcher Wine in Blog, Recent Projects

The Juniper Books team has been busy the past few weeks creating new products for sale in our online store.  After many years of doing custom work for private clients, interior designers, and others, we launched the  store at the end of 2011.  While the majority of our business is still custom projects including curated libraries, decorative book installations, and everything else unique and personalized in the world of books, we love making these book sets and reaching a wider audience with them.

Much of the focus of our creative efforts this time of year is on making beautiful book gifts for Valentine’s Day.  Below you will find links to our new offerings, we will probably post a Valentine’s book gift guide in a couple weeks, but this is a bit of an advance preview of the products that are already for sale.  Of course, our most popular book set, the pink “leather” style Jane Austen set, is still for sale and would make a wonderful Valentine’s Day gift. This set was featured in Gwyneth Paltrow’s 2011 GOOP holiday gift guide.

Jane Austen Pink Leather Style Book Set

Please click on the links below or on the photos to be taken directly to the online store – as always we are open to suggestions for new products and also feedback on what we are doing with books and decorative book covers.

- Thatcher

thatcher@juniperbooks.com

• Literary Classics in Red
• Modern Victorian Set in Red
• Cook’s Books in Pink
• Bronte Sisters Purple Book Set
• I Love J.D. Salinger Set
• European Engraving “Six Pack”
• Two Ladies Traveling Decorative Set
• Pretty Woman in Mirror Decorative Set
• Blank Journals Antique Book Inspired Covers
• Thomas Keller Cookbook Set

Literary Classics in Red

Modern Victorian Book Set in Red

Pink Cook's Books Set

I Love JD Salinger Set

European Engraving Book Set

Bronte Sisters Purple Book Set

Two Ladies Traveling Decorative Book Set

Pretty Woman in the Mirror Decorative Book Set

Juniper Books Blank Journals

Thomas Keller Cookbook Set

Tags: custom book covers, custom printed book jackets, decorative books, repurposing books, Valentine's Day Gifts

Going Big – Large Scale Custom Book Jacket Installations

Posted on 10. Jan, 2012 by Thatcher Wine in Blog, Ideas and Advice, Recent Projects

One of our plans for 2012 is to work with clients to make  large scale book installations using our custom book jackets unlike anything the world has ever seen before!  But first a little background . . .

Custom book covers have a lot of uses and we have worked with clients on some very beautiful projects over the past couple years since introducing them.  The basic idea for custom book covers (aka custom book jackets) is to quickly change the look of a book without the time and expense of rebinding it AND be able to achieve any color and style desired.

Some clients have had us personalize their book collection with modern / contemporary jackets, others have opted for a classical look using leather or vellum designs.  In 2011, we designed, printed and shipped our custom creations to clients all over the US and Canada, Europe and Asia.  We supplied approximately 1,000 of our vellum wrapped books to Darren Henault Interiors for his show house design at the Rumson Stately Homes-by-the-Sea. Other jacket related highlights of 2011 included having our elephant set appear in the New York Times, our vellum style jackets mentioned in Veranda, and also a couple of projects for yacht libraries that were incredibly fun and unique to work on but for very private clients so we can’t disclose much else about them!

Now back to the large scale designs – the concept for these is straightforward – turning book spines into a canvas for personal expression.  Push the books together and they make up a single unified design and that design can be anything.  We have a patent pending on this multiple book cover creation system.

This product/service has both home and commercial applications.

• Home libraries can be modernized, shelves turned into art displays, with book titles integrated into the jacket designs if desired -  we can make book jackets out of  photos, paintings, illustrations, engravings, maps, other artwork, typography and text designs, etc.
• Hotels, restaurants and retailers can have book displays with corporate logos, product photos, nature images, or just about anything else.

Here are a few of our recent creations:

Giant Book Elephant

George Hincapie Bike Racer Library

Medieval Knight Books

Ridley Road Bike

Bookcase Biker

As one can imagine, some very cool installations can be created for homes, galleries, retail stores, trade show booths, showrooms, hotels, spas, restaurants, and so on!

If you have an interest in learning more about this type of work, please contact thatcher@juniperbooks.com or call 303-946-1494.  We are always interested in working with designers, architects, visual merchandisers and private clients who want to do something creative and unique with books.  We look forward to working with you.

Thatcher

Tags: books as art, creative book art, creative ideas, custom printed book jackets, library artist

Christmas Tree of Books 2011

Posted on 13. Dec, 2011 by Thatcher Wine in Blog, Ideas and Advice, Recent Projects

It’s becoming somewhat of a tradition at Juniper Books – every year we build a Christmas tree constructed out of  books, but we change how it is made each year as the possibilities are truly endless.   Last year we made a 7 foot tall tree made up of about 800 green books stacked layer upon layer.  This year we made a more subtle creation – a tree made up entirely of olive green law books, some of which we carved form the tree’s branches.

Before anyone gets upset about cutting books we should explain a couple things – first of all we re-purposed about 10,000 law books this year this year that law firms and law libraries no longer needed as their content has all been digitized.  Thousands of these very nice substantial matching books went to retailers and designers for decoration and visual merchandising, and hundreds more we have used many for Juniper Books’ custom  jacket creations such as our Elephant Six-Pack.  So, cutting, chopping, carving or drilling through a few books that we know are plentiful and may face worse fates if we don’t do something creative with them makes perfect sense to us!  We won’t be dismembering a first edition of Pride and Prejudice anytime soon, don’t worry.

The tree is about 8 feet tall on 7 shelves, plus the star.  Christmas ornaments dangle from the page edges – we shaped them to hold the ornaments – a very organic and 100% natural approach.  Christmas lights are wrapped around the tree so it glows beautifully.

The tree was the centerpiece of our holiday party this past weekend where we invited numerous friends, customers, suppliers, designers and others to celebrate the holiday season and browse our warehouse for various book gifts to buy for their friends and family. Thanks to everyone who attended and complimented us on the tree.  There were a number of lawyers in attendance (my wife is a law professor) and they all got a kick out of the creative use of law books.

Technical questions: 30 books were used in the creation of the tree, of which 24 had to be cut in some way to create the tree.  While we originally considered gluing the parts together or constructing supports to hold the books up, we did not end up doing so as the law books are substantial enough to support themselves, even after being cut.

Happy holidays to you and yours, I wish you the best for the holiday season and a happy healthy 2012!

Thatcher

thatcher@juniperbooks.com

Tags: books as art, creative book art, creative ideas, decorative books, library artist

New Decorative Book Six Packs Available

Posted on 08. Nov, 2011 by Thatcher Wine in Blog, Recent Projects

After years of working primarily with interior designer on custom projects, we are starting to take some of our most popular designs and make them available directly to the public, including some for purchase on our website.  Customers, including homeowners, are always welcome to inquire directly about anything they see on our website and we can let you know if specific books or sets are available or often if an equivalent product is for sale.

Today, I’m pleased to announce a new product line of “six packs” – these are groups of 6 uniform size books (made using re-purposed law books which are large!) with our custom designed and printed book jackets wrapped around them.  They come in several styles, all reasonably priced at $90.

All of the books have similar dimensions -

14″ wide

10.25″ tall

7″ deep

Please click on the photos below to be taken directly to the item in our store:

Elephant Six Pack

Vellum Six Pack

Red Leather Six Pack

Brown Leathe Six Pack

Black and White Leather Six Pack

Tags: antique leather books, antique vellum, book accessories, books as art, books by the foot, custom book covers, library artist

Jack London Graphical Book Jackets

Posted on 13. Oct, 2011 by Thatcher Wine in Blog, Recent Projects

Earlier this year, a client called with the type of request for books that we love and excel at it – he wanted a complete collection of the works of Jack London but he also wanted us to use our imagination to create custom book jackets for the books that would make his collection unique.   Thus was born the Juniper Books Jack London project which is featured in the Autumn 2011 issue of Fine Books & Collections magazine.

The first step in the project was sourcing 57 Jack London books.  London was an amazingly prolific writer who turned out classics like The Call of the Wild, The Sea-Wolf, Adventure and White Fang – as well as dozens of other less memorable books.  For some of the books we were able to find reasonably priced first editions, however for the majority of the collection early vintage reprints were sufficient.

Next up was executing on the idea of taking the excitement and color contained in the pages of the books and put them on the outside of the books!  London had amazing life full of real life adventure in Alaska, California, Hawaii, and beyond – we knew there was lots of material to draw from in London’s life from train hopping hobo to utopian farmer, socialist agitator, sailor, gold miner, dog sled musher, battles with alcoholism, etc.

In order to bring these ideas to life, we hired our friend, the artist Mario Miguel Echevarria who paints amazing murals and other public art.  Mario sketched out various concepts then created original paintings, which we photographed and printed onto book jackets.  Using our unique approach to printing individual book jackets that together form a single image on a bookshelf, the final step in the process was complete.

Note that Jack London is just one of the possibilities for this approach to book collecting and library design – we can work on collections of any author or subject and come up with similarly creative ideas that make your library unique and beautiful.

To contact Thatcher about this project or a similar project you have in mind, please e-mail thatcher@juniperbooks.com, call 303-946-1494 or use the form below.

Tags: books as art, books for interior design, creative ideas, curated library, custom book covers

Library Ladder

Posted on 02. Oct, 2011 by Thatcher Wine in Blog, Ideas and Advice, Recent Projects

After assembling a collection for a client in Texas, a high end luxury residences building, the client asked if we knew where they could purchase an attractive yet functional and safe library ladder.  We searched for them, but there seemed to be nothing available for sale between small step-stools and industrial (ugly) library ladders.

So, as with many things at Juniper Books that we do – if it doesn’t exist in the book world, we will create it.   This is Thatcher’s philosophy.

We partnered with a woodworker who drafted  a custom design for a library ladder that would be tall enough to reach the high shelves yet sturdy enough to be comfortable with the residents of the building – young and old – using the ladder.  It is entirely constructed of walnut wood, which gives it a beautiful appearance.  It rolls on weight sensitive casters so that it stays put when someone is standing on it.

We are accepting orders for library ladders and other custom book related woodwork projects such as bookshelves, bookcases, built-in bookcase, step-stools and library ladders. All designs, woods, and finishes may be completely customized.

To contact us regarding your commercial project, please e-mail thatcher@juniperbooks.com, call Thatcher at 303-946-1494, or use the form below.

Tags: book accessories, home library

Magnetic Bookshelves

Posted on 02. Oct, 2011 by Thatcher Wine in Blog, Ideas and Advice, Recent Projects

The idea for these magnetic bookshelves came from wanting to do something about the messy pile of books next to my daughter’s bed that we generated reading her children’s books every night.  I thought “what if we could read her favorite books then stick them to the wall instead of dropping them on the floor?”

I set about designing a shelving system that would look good and hold the books safely above and next to her head.  With the help of a metalworker and a woodworker, and some experimentation with magnetics, glue and rubber bands, the idea I conceived of came into being and my daughter loves going along the line of books, reading them all, and sticking them back in place before bedtime – it’s neat and tidy, as well as fun to play with.

Custom versions of this product can be commissioned.  Please contact me at thatcher@juniperbooks.com or 303-946-1494 if you are interested in the magnetic bookshelves.

Tags: book accessories, childrens books, library artist, thatcher wine

The Book Mobile

Posted on 02. Oct, 2011 by Thatcher Wine in Blog, Ideas and Advice, Recent Projects

I have always loved the word “bookmobile” even before I found myself the book business – the concept of a traveling library is fun and useful to society.  About a year ago I drilled some holes in books and spun them around and the first “book mobile” was born.  We have since evolved the concept to become a much more balanced and decorative item – it is very fun, but hardly as useful to society as the bookmobile that drives around and brings books to the world!

Thanks to Alexander Calder for some inspiration on this, and thanks to Zac for perfecting the production and balancing act required for the new book mobile.

This project is current on Instructables.com with complete DIY instructions.  The editors of Instructables apparently liked our concept and featured the project on their homepage!

Tags: books as art, creative book art, creative ideas, library artist

American Flag Made of Books

Posted on 30. Aug, 2011 by Thatcher Wine in Blog, Recent Projects

Back in the Fall of 2010, Thatcher constructed an American Flag made from red, white and blue books.  This work, on shelves in the Juniper Books warehouse in Boulder, Colorado, was photographed and published in the New York Times article Selling a Book By Its Cover.

Tags: books as art, thatcher wine

Books and Bikes – Thatcher Takes a Ride

Posted on 28. Aug, 2011 by Thatcher Wine in Blog, Press and News, Recent Projects

As Hurricane / Tropical Storm Irene pounds the East Coast (I grew up in New York City), I’m here in Boulder, Colorado enjoying another day of sunshine and reflecting on the past 10 years of living in such a beautiful place.  I primarily moved here for the lifestyle – the skiing, biking, hiking, etc. – and because the business I was starting in 2001 – selling books online – could be run from anywhere.

This past week was a phenomenal week across the state.  The USA Pro Cycling Challenge brought some of the world’s best bike racers to Colorado including the complete Tour de France Podium (Cadel Evans, Andy Schleck and Frank Schleck) as well as the top American cyclists in the business – Levi Leipheimer, Christian Vande Velde, Tejay Van Garderen, Tom Danielson and George Hincapie. The stages took the peloton to classic Colorado towns including Aspen, Crested Butte, Vail, Steamboat and Breckenridge . . . hopefully next year it will come to BOULDER!

I took off the day Thursday to watch the Vail Time Trial in person.  I drove to the top of Vail Pass with a friend, packed about 40 lbs of camera gear in my backpack, then rode down the course to the start line and back up again throughout the day – all the while stopping to soak up the experience of the race and shoot some photos wherever possible.

You can see some of the photos from my gallery on flickr through this link.  However, I am in the process of combining my passion for cycling with my work of doing creative things with books, by using the book spines as a canvas for the cycling action.  Here are a few prototypes (many thanks to Zac for helping crank these out quickly).

This is an ongoing project for me and I’m open to commissions / orders from bike stores, cycling enthusiasts, and others.  Of course cycling is just the tip of the iceberg – I’d be happy to work on projects with surf images, skiing photos, etc.  The finished product I think is very beautiful and unique and it conveys a sense of action through the parts that make up the whole in a way that has not been scene before.

The other related big news of the week is my feature in 5280 magazine – which  shows one set of books I created using a photo of a vintage sports car and arranging it stylistically with my son’s toy car!  The juxtaposition of books and cars in the best Colorado magazine out there, with books and bikes in my work is somewhat amusing.

Sports Car books with Toy Car

5280 Magazine

Perhaps related to that is how my shot of Tejay Van Garderen came out when I got back to the office – a car carrier was passing behind the race on I-70 just when Tejay was coming up the course – perhaps symbolic of the weight he was carrying on his back as race leader.  On bad weather days, I certainly don’t envy the truck drivers making the run over Vail Pass with their heavy loads, and at the Vail Time Trial, Tejay was carrying a heavy load of expectations as the next great American cyclist.

Tejay Van Garderen

Gotta go, I’m off for a quick ride up to Jamestown then back in time to catch the end of the bike race and see if Levi prevails, or if Christian, Tejay or Tom can steal the race away as it barrels into Denver.   Thanks Colorado for the great race this week and for 10 great years here!

Feel free to give me a call or e-mail about your project.

Special thanks to Zac for helping crank out the prototypes so quickly and to Dave Wright (www.davewrightphotography) for the action photography advice – normally I shoot books and they don’t move so his tips came in handy.

Thatcher

303-946-1494

thatcher@juniperbooks.com