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Happy Monday everyone! I’m starting this week with a book review (which was supposed to be up last Saturday, but technical glitches reared its ugly head!) You might want to read up on our interview with the publisher of Amelia’s Anthology of Illustration: Amelia Gregory, whom we interviewed last Friday before proceeding!

Amelia’s Anthology of Illustration featuring renewable technologies to prevent catastrophic climate change is one colorful book. I think I’m not stressing it enough — it’s literally bursting with colors, patterns, shapes, and most importantly, illustrations from 40 contemporary illustrators from all over the world with a goal in mind.

If you haven’t gotten acquainted with Miss Amelia Gregory who published this book (and previously, Amelia’s Magazines), then a quick hop on over to our in-depth interview with the lady who does it all in the name of illustration should be enough to bring you up to speed. Like all her publishing endeavors, this book pays homage to the illustrators whose work she loves; but now with an added twist.

With an open brief that called for illustrators who can shed new light onto the topic of climate change, Amelia was looking for illustrators who could answer the brief intelligently and imaginatively, while showing an interesting portfolio. With over 150 submissions, she had to whittle the list down to 40 creatives who then illustrated how we can prevent catastrophic climate change in the future.

What follows are extraordinary images from the imagination of these illustrators — all of them in turn became visual inventors who fleshed out ideas based on the list of resources provided by Amelia (who has also credited her father for helping out!).

Amelia’s Anthology of Illustration is a hefty book filled with inspiring illustrations — but what makes it even more special is the interviews with each illustrator after their response to the brief at hand. The layout within the book are left loose and unstructured – and essentially becomes a blank slate where illustrators are able to play around with ideas. A hint of consistency is maintained via borders that are also designed by the illustrators themselves that frame some of the layouts within.

This is not just an illustration anthology filled with pretty pictures. It’s one that challenges you to put your thinking cap on. We’re not talking about skimming over illustrations just to ogle at them – this one actually needs YOU, the reader to participate and hopefully, will allow you to gain new insights into new technologies that are out there. Amelia has dedicated a lot of time, energy and passion into the subject, and it shows through in the book.

The only thing that I could think of that would make this book even better would be to have the name of the illustrator noted somewhere in their illustration for the topic (usually spread over two pages). When flipping through the book, illustrations of the topic go first, and the profile of the illustrator comes after. Having a name on the fully illustrated page would be a good addition for easily confused people like myself who wasn’t sure which came first at the beginning – illustrator profiles or their artwork.

All in all, the book is a gorgeous book with a message to spread – kudos has to be given to all 40 illustrators and Amelia for producing such a thought-provoking book that should be essential reading for anyone who’s looking towards alternative solutions that would help mankind gain traction over the destructive cycle that we’ve set in motion.

You can purchase a copy of the book over at Amelia’s blog.