The Information Is Beautiful Awards longlist has been announced, and I'm really pleased to say that my #sovietspacedogs #datavisualisation is on it! 🔥 The IIB awards are organised by the #datavizsociety and the awards showcase contains a vast array of really fascinating data visualisations covering a wide range of topics, so it's well worth checking out at informationisbeautifulawards.com/showcase. Congrats to everyone whose work has been longlisted! You can find the Soviet Space Dogs at informationisbeautifulawards.com/showcase/5324-soviet-space-dogs The shortlist will be announced by the end of October, and winners will be announced at the end of November. Best of luck to everyone! https://www.instagram.com/p/CjSXQwBjGPC/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=
Also in the air… Soviet Space Dogs! With the new musical #SpaceDogs playing off-Broadway in NYC, we thought we should highlight a few of the 350 collectibles and items of ephemera published in the @fuelpublishing classic, 'Soviet Space Dogs.' This small, clothbound, 240-page compendium is dedicated to the Soviet Space Dogs, who played a crucial part in the Soviet Space program. These homeless dogs, plucked from the streets of Moscow, were selected because they fitted the program's criteria: weighing no more than 15 pounds, measuring no more than 14 inches in length, robust, photogenic and with a calm temperament. These characteristics enabled the dogs to withstand the extensive training that was needed to prepare them for suborbital, then for orbital, space fights. On November 3, 1957, the dog Laika was the first Earth-born creature to enter space, making her instantly famous around the world. She did not return. Her death, a few hours after launching, transformed her into a legendary symbol of sacrifice. Two further strays, Belka and Strelka, were the first beings to make it back from space, and were swiftly immortalized in children's books and cartoons. Images of the Space Dogs proliferated, reproduced on everyday goods across the Soviet Union: cigarette packets, tins of sweets, badges, stamps and postcards all bore their likenesses. 'Soviet Space Dogs' uses these unique items to illustrate the story (in fact and fiction) of how they became fairytale idols. The first book to document these items, it contains mostly previously unpublished material, much of which had never been seen before outside Russia. Read more via linikinbio. #sovietspacedogs #laika #belka #strelka #cosmonaut #russia #spacerace #soviet #spacedog #spacedogs https://www.instagram.com/p/CaApwPjp7Hf/?utm_medium=tumblr
Give in to international Space Fever with 'Soviet Space Dogs' @fuelpublishing This book is dedicated to the Soviet Space Dogs, who played a crucial part in the 1950s Soviet Space program. These homeless dogs, plucked from the streets of Moscow, were selected because they fit the program's criteria: weighing no more than 15 pounds, measuring no more than 14 inches in length, robust, photogenic and with a calm temperament. These characteristics enabled the dogs to withstand the extensive training that was needed to prepare them for suborbital, then for orbital, space fights. #sovietspacedogs #moon #moonlanding #outerspace https://www.instagram.com/p/B0GUszppXr5/?igshid=asepnsphnpuz
We ❤️this post from @idlewildnyc w/ #sovietspacedogs by @fuelpublishing down front! @idlewildnyc writes: We love this painterly perspective of our shelves (and our very own @jennifermayreiland) by @jkroik!
I love books. Beyond their primary function of holding information, I find them fascinating as physical objects in their own right. There’s nothing, and I mean nothing, I enjoy more than creative book design and high quality printing.
The experience of a physical book is not limited to reading, and the best books are the ones that deliver not only on story, but on textures, colours and surfaces, on illustrations and, of course, on scent.
This one has it all - the pages are satin, wonderfully smooth, non-reflective but not fully matt. The cover is textured, slightly rough and warm to the touch, with gold embossing. It has some weight to it due to the thick paper and holds nice in the hand. It smells more of ink than of paper. Illustrations - soviet space program artefacts, old photographs, propaganda posters and postcards, stamps and historical documents - give the book a (quite intentional) retro-futuristic feel.
Then, of course, there’s the story - a complex combination of sadness and hope, a tragic yet unavoidable sacrifice in the name of progress.
From Chapter I - Unknown Heroes:
... immediately on landing the waiting crowd ran towards the space travellers, even though it was forbidden, shouting ‘They’re alive! Alive! They’re barking!’ S.P. Korolev grabbed one of the dogs into his arms and ran around the capsule with joy, he then personally drove the heroes back to their enclosure in his car. A week later, Dezik, who was sent into the stratosphere with another partner, Lisa (Fox), dies in a crash when a parachute failed to deploy.
