Designed By
Nicole van Schouwenburg graduated from the Royal Academy of Art in Den Haag in Graphic Design. She has been running her own graphic design agency, Skylla, since 1984, as well as teaching.
What was your inspiration for the Selfshelf?
I designed the Selfshelf - in cooperation with Irene Klinkenberg - as a break from client work. The Selfshelf is a shelf with the appearance of a book. As a result, the entire stack of books appears to float in the air, invisibly attached to the wall with the included bracket. I designed five different covers for the Selfshelf—all designs are a combination of play on words, books and visual images, as well as the actual functionality of the product. For example, one of the covers says 'Ceci n'est pas un livre' (translation 'This is not a book') with an image of 14th century painter Jan van Eyck, so it looks like an old book.
Another cover I designed for the Selfshelf was a play on the mystery novel: It's called 'The mystery of the floating piles.' The third cover has the title 'The History of the Selfshelf' with illustrations. My designs play with wit and the poetic; it makes me happy to make other people smile.
Look! Up on the wall! It's a book! No, it's a shelf! No, it's a book! Actually, it's a shelf that looks like a book. The Self Shelf attaches securely to any wall, and when you stack your books on it, they will appear to float magically in the air.
The faux binding and cover of the Self Shelf is titled "Ceci n'est pas un livre" ("This is not a book") and comes in several colour schemes. A great gift for your favorite bibliophile that will break up the monotony of typical book shelves, the Self Shelf provides an additional benefit in that titles can be easily read off the spines without tilting one's head vs. books on a conventional shelf.
Dimensions: 22 cm x 15 cm x 2,5 cm
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