Featured Sniffs
Some familiar (and some maybe not so familiar) faces share their book sniffing with you.
Some familiar (and some maybe not so familiar) faces share their book sniffing with you.
Smells of Wet pebbles on a beach, mothballs and whisky.
—Stuart is a brewer from Woodman’s Wild Ales. The book he is sniffing is the Welsh language edition of Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak.
Liquorice. Nicotine fingers. Slippers. Smell of rain.
—Matthew is a musician.
A dry woody undertone reminiscent of the brick shaped pencil box I made in grade 5 woodwork. The second whiff smells like the HB pencils that would later call that creation home complete with their crumbled lead ends.
—Magdalena is a graphic designer and a paper crafter based in Melbourne, Australia.
Once, a had a jacket potato explode in the oven. This smells like that. Quite nice. Red skinned potato, reasonably unclean oven.
—Joe is a graphic novelist / comic draw-er.
It reeks of: Misogyny. Passive aggression. Coffee breath and fags. (It also has some lovely old design references too.)
—Lee Goater is a graphic designer and art director.
I’m getting sea breezes, Mediterranean maquis… myrtles, laurels, oregano… with a hint of 1940s Soho coming through.
—Martin is a Professor of Illustration. He is also Director of The Centre for Children’s Book Studies, Cambridge School of Art.
Secondary school. Mr Taylor’s class. Base notes of putting your fresh, wet work on the drying rack semi-ceremoniously – remember the racks? I miss the racks. Strong scent of wet acrylic and the little bits the eraser leaves behind. Lingering afternotes of blue paint on your white school shirt.
—Jasmine is the Learning Programme Producer for Liverpool Biennial.
Used sandpaper. Twiglets. The dusty wooden floors of early 1980s school assemblies.
—Craig is a lecturer and a children’s book author.
Hint of autumnal mildew and wet bark, slight pungency of leaf and traceable warm scent of recently emptied decanter.
—Andrew is a Professor of Graphic Art and an illustrator.
Smells like kneeling on a church pew and Wham bars.
—Carl is joint founder of the TEA Project in Sri Lanka.
Fresh linen, autumn walks and a hint of headmasters office.
—Sarah eats, sleeps and breathes picture books. Reviewing the latest titles for all ages.
Stale cigar smoke. Vanilla cupcakes. Musty.
—Carolyn is a historian of Astronomy.
Instagram = carolynkennett
This smells like the old wallpaper at the bottom of a drawer when moving house.
—Duncan is a coffee roaster and owner of Bay Coffee on the Welsh coast.
Instagram = baycoffeeroasters
Blackcurrant cordial and PVA glue.
—Ruby is an Creative Project Manager and a founding member of the Book Sniffers Club.
This smells of biology labs, garden sheds and old blankets.
—Meave is a writer.
Twitter = writemeave
Coconut with a hint of damp fungus, in the most pleasant way possible.
—Matt Lamont is the creative director of Out of Place studio. He also maintains (and expands) an enviable design archive at Assembly Bradford.
Instagram = _mattlamontInstagram = outofplacest
This smells like writing on a black board with chalk and charcoal in a cedar forest, and my grandma.
—Oona is a photographer.
Glue. (But in a way that’s good to sniff.) Timber yards and sawmills. Comfort and heart-gladness and the smell that things have when they are still new and exciting and have the possibility to change you.
A faint aroma of fish and chips, or perhaps it’s vinegar.
—Vic is a poetry enthusiast and a writer.
Instagram = vicpickup
I’m getting plastic flowers on a rainy Monday in Milwaukee
—Justin Wiggan is a sound artist and a founding member of the Book Sniffers Club
Instagram = glassedtwin
I get a little sweet whiff of Bedhead Hair Wax from this book. The smell also reminds me of the library photocopier at Leeds College of Art and Design in 1998 (when I studied there).
—James is a graphic designer in the North of England and a Books Sniffers Club founder.
Instagram = refold
It smells like a sleeping bag that’s been rolled up in the attic.
—Andy is a copywriter and one of the owners of Colours May Vary in Leeds.
Instagram = thedoubletruck
Instagram = coloursmayvary