Would you feel smarter if you suddenly learned that you were related to Albert Einstein?

This guy on the right did, and it was welcome news, although certainly there’s no need for confirmation of his own brilliance.

This is American director Mike Nichols, born in Berlin. He is one of only twelve winners of all the major American entertainment awards (Oscar, Grammy, Emmy and Tony). Nichols’ productions focus on the absurdities of modern life as revealed in personal relationships. His first film was the critically acclaimed “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolf?” He also directed “The Graduate,” “Catch-22” and “The Birdcage” among many other famous works.

During World War II, at age seven, Nichols emigrated to America alone with his three-year-old brother, where they met up with their father and began a new life.

Nichols’ archival Kolo Newport photo album contains not only precious documentation of his brainiac lineage, but also poignant stories about his life and his Jewish heritage, told in photos, newspaper clippings and other papers that are, no doubt, priceless to him and his family.

The Kolo Newport was a gift to him by Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates, Jr. (shown on the left), as part of Gates’ “Faces of America” project recently made available on DVD by PBS. For more, go here.

If you're curious, see previous posts about the Kolo Newport genealogical scrapbooks of Meryl Streep, Kristi Yamaguchi, Yo-Yo Ma and Steve Colbert.

- Ugo

There’s something alluring about this off-kilter hazy shot of Kolo designer Shoshannah Wineburg’s design studio. Some kind of voyeuristic thrill to get a glimpse at someone else’s work space. This photo gives up just enough info to make you wonder what goes on here.

Actually, there’s a lot that goes on here. Kolo designers have been busy cookin’ up some new products. The Kolo Rivoli Accordion Box was just unveiled. More cool new stuff to be announced soon.

See a previous post showing Shosh’s “inspiration wall” here. (To share your own inspiration wall, click on “contact” top right to email us about it.)

- Ugo

The Haystack Needle blog editor Jen Jafarzadeh L'Italien was recently featured on popular blog Oh So Beautiful Paper for a Kolo Riva photo album that she created. After attending her friend’s wedding in the Cayman Islands with her Polaroid camera, she created this book for them in an Ocean Riva photo album. She also used Japanese tape, cards from the trip and her typewriter to capture the spirit of the island.

The Kolo Riva photo album features a matted frame on every page, simple and perfect for slipping Polaroid pictures into. The Kolo Riva frame book can also hold 4x6 photos positioned either portrait or landscape.

This project is also featured on You Are My Fave blog. Visit Jen’s blog, here.

-Kate

Ever notice those cheesy plastic accordion folders sold at the big office supply stores? Either they are old designs from 1970 or they’re made of weird plastics and metals. And they’re not cheap. Yet accordion folders are really handy and useful products. Those really cheap ones are fine if you are dropping off receipts to your accountant. But what if you want one you can keep out in your office or on your bookshelf? Out of luck… 'til now.

Kolo just introduced the new Kolo Rivoli Accordion Box to their line of presentation and photo storage products. Compact and archival, it is designed to look really nice on the shelf and fit in with the Kolo products. The Kolo Rivoli features a seven tabbed-pocket structure secured with a wide elastic strap for neatly storing photos, reports, important documents and more. The size works for both 8.5 x 11 inch and A4 documents. Also, it also has a built in window on the cover making it perfect for presentation use.

The Kolo Rivoli’s handsome design and functionality makes it a perfect organization and presentation solution. The Kolo Rivoli is available in four of Kolo’s signature book cloth colors to coordinate with the Kolo Havana Photo Box, and crafted with the same archival heavy duty book binders board and archival black paper. And for only $35, it’s only a little more than those plastic ones.

For more information about the new Kolo Rivoli Accordion Box, go here.

-Kate

Pen and ink (Pelikan) on Kolo paper, compliments of Kathleen Dunn Jacobs. Kathleen is rarely seen without her Kolo Essex Travel Book in which she constantly sketches. This illustration was done on a page of her Kolo Newport book.

I like working in Kolo books because the paper takes the ink well, without bleeding. And the Newport pages lie flat when opened, making it easy to work. Sometimes I'll even unscrew the binding posts, take the pages out, work on them, then put the pages back in the book later. That's another great thing about the Newport. It's so flexible.

See some of Kathleen's Kolo mini art portfolios here. And see more of her artwork on her web site here.

-Ugo