Feb 20, 2009

About the iGoogle Papercuts themes

I have been fielding an increasing number of emails lately about the designs behind my iGoogle Papercuts themes. Most of these folks are interested in somehow acquiring the designs for their own uses, whether as prints or for art projects. I figured I'd write this post now, so I can just direct future emails to it.
All of the designs (floral and animal) are traced from the art resource book, Chinese Folk Designs, compiled by WM Hawley and put out by Dover Publications (although it looks like it may have been published by others as well.) The book contains some 300 different designs, including many more floral and animal designs as well as some Chinese characters (hanzi), landscapes and buildings, and even some of the Eight Immortals and other important religious figures. They're white designs on a solid background, making them easy to manipulate via computer, copier, or old-fashioned tracing paper.
If you would like to use these designs, I would highly recommend finding this book at your library or book store. I got mine from a used book sale and it has proven to be a valuable investment.
Because these designs are not my original designs but merely taken from this book, I cannot (and will not) provide posters, cards, or other prints for sale. In the future, I would love to create my own set of papercut designs inspired by these classics but, alas, that is a project for another day.

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