If it took you a moment to figure out what it is you’re looking at here – good, that is the idea.

Chicago photographer Kelli Taylor took this picture of a Kolo Newport photo album, a close-up shot from above, peering down at the top of the album’s pages and post-binding system. Not the angle one might normally expect to see of a photo album, but with her photographer’s eye, she recognized the interest and beauty of this particular view, composed her shot, focused, zoomed in tight, and clicked.

When we observe an object such as this with the naked eye -- not the photo of the object, but the object itself before us -- our sight naturally takes in the periphery and extraneous information. However, the photograph of the object forces a visual boundary -- a frame which permits only a limited portion of the object to be presented to us, thereby allowing us to see it anew.

A fan of Kolo albums for several years now, Kelli no doubt appreciated this Kolo Newport’s function, as well as its form. After all, she is the one who put together this wedding album (finished layouts to appear in a future Koloist post), so she understands the practical advantages that the Kolo Newport album’s post binding system offers:

For one, you can unscrew the hidden posts and remove the album covers. This allows you to lay out each page flat on a table while you work on them, if you wish. And to create a thicker photo album, you simply add more pages and use longer posts. And later – say, if someone gives you more photos that you'd like to show within the same album, you can take your album apart again, and add or rearrange pages. A well designed post-bound album allows for a lot of creative flexibility, so that after you've designed and assembled your photo album, you'll thoroughly enjoy the ingenuity behind your photographs, as well the book that showcases them.

While there is perhaps a province in which the photograph can tell us nothing more than what we see with our own eyes, there is another in which it proves to us how little our eyes permit us to see. ~ Dorothea Lange

If you want to hone your photographer's eye, try Jules Bianchi's abecedarium exercise here. For more Kelli Taylor posts on Koloist, go here. Check out her web site here.

Not surprisingly, Patrick Ng was among the first to get Kolo’s new Essex Travel Book. Several weeks before Kolo launched this product, he was given a prototype in the small pocket size to try out. It's a "hybrid" that can be used many ways -- as a day planner, journal, sketchbook etc... Patrick used it literally as a travel book, bringing it with him on a trip to Frankfurt. You can read his complete review at his blog, here.

Also not surprisingly, Patrick beautifully decorated the covers of the insert booklets (he chose soft white, but you can also get black-cover insert booklets) with photos in the cover windows, painted edges, postage stamps, and a postal cancellation stamp marking a “Frankfurt” destination.

If you’ve tried out the Kolo Essex yet, please share photos of yours and tell us us how you like to use it. Just click on Contact to email images to Ugo directly. Be sure to write "Essex" in the subject line of your email.

A Koloist blog post with more details about the Kolo Essex Travel Book can be seen here.

Growing up, there was always that kid on the block who had the coolest stuff, and always seemed to get the hot new toy or gadget or thing before anyone else. He had Pacman and Donkey Kong before anyone else had even heard of Pacman or Donkey Kong. (Anyone out there remember those early renditions of video games?)

Well, Patrick Ng -- he's that Pacman Donkey Kong kid. He gets the cool stuff first and figures out fun ways to play with it. Insatiable curiosity must be constantly fed.

A few months back, when Kolo launched the new Kolo Riva photo album -- revolutionary for its frame-style pages into which you simply slide your photos -- not only did Patrick already have one (an advance sample), but he had already completed this project with one.

Patrick does a lot of traveling for his job (finding cool stuff for City Super and Log On), and takes photos everywhere he goes. In his Kolo Riva photo album, each page features the single most interesting shot taken during a business trip that reveals something about human nature. He used the space that the frame pages provide to create artwork related to those trips. Read more about Patrick's Kolo Riva photo album at his blog, Scription, Thoughts on Stationery and Beyond.

To commemorate a memorable time spent in a special place, textiles expert Melinda Barta likes to size a custom-embroidered map to slide into the cover window of a Kolo photo album, like this ivory Kolo Capri brag book.

Melinda Barta is editor of the magazines Beadwork and Stringing, and author of the book Hip to Stitch, for novices interested in needlework arts, in which she includes several projects made using Kolo photo albums.

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After some buzz and rumor milling about the a new journal-hybrid something-or-other under wraps at Kolo, the new archival-quality Kolo Essex Travel Book has finally arrived!

But it’s not just a “travel book”… because it’s great not only for trips, but for everyday use, as well. And it’s not just a “journal”… because you can show off photographs in it, or record your appointments. And it’s not just a “day planner” either… because you can choose to use it as a mini sketchbook, or to keep track of addresses and phone numbers.

In actuality, the Kolo Essex Travel Book is whatever you want it to be. By selecting from a variety of insert-booklets, you customize it according to the way you want to use it.

The Kolo Essex comes pre-loaded with a lined journal and small album with photo-sleeve pages. From there, you customize your Kolo Essex by adding another booklet(s) according to your preferences. You may choose from:

· photo-sleeve booklet
· lined booklet
· grid booklet
· blank booklet
· monthly accordion calendar (coming soon)
· weekly planner
· address booklet (coming soon)

What makes it possible for Kolo Essex owners to enjoy the flexibility of these many options is the unusual binding system: instead of bulky rings, an elastic loop system secures-in-place two or three different booklets, all within one Kolo Essex. Then -- presto change-o --these inserted booklets can be rearranged, removed and replaced quickly and easily. Brilliant!

The “shell” of the Kolo Essex Travel Book (front cover, back cover and spine) is covered with the same luxurious archival-quality book cloth used to make Kolo photo albums, in four color choices. The front cover has Kolo’s trademark cover window, so you can further personalize your Essex, exercise your creative impulses, express your individuality, and all that good stuff.

The Kolo Essex Travel Book is offered in two sizes – one small enough to tuck into a shirt pocket (which holds two booklets at a time), and one slightly larger (which holds three booklets at a time).

To see more details about the Kolo Essex’s features or to order one online, check out the brand-spanking-new pages about the Kolo Essex Travel Book on Kolo’s web site, here.

To find stores near you that sell Kolo products, go here.