Last weekend, the Wall Street Journal caused a minor frenzy when they reported on the meme-du-jour among the online design community, the #shelfie. For the unacquainted, the shelfie is the cousin of the ubiquitous selfie, but instead of focusing the lens on one’s own visage, the camera is pointed toward a pleasing still life arrangement. According to the paper, “these portraits of one’s taste [are] hopeful bids for attention in which one’s aesthetic and one’s ego overlap.” The article attributes some heady motivation to the posting of shelfies, alternately positing that they may be a form of meditation, addiction, or narcissism. That’s a lot of subtext for one little Instagram.
Our take on the trend? Don’t overanalyze. We’re proponents of beautiful design images, full stop. Which is why we asked our Instagram followers to jump on the bandwagon and post their own #1DShelfie. The submissions covered a variety of stylistic ground, but were uniformly gorgeous: well-composed, well-edited, and full of highly personal touches. Click through the gallery below to see some of our followers’ best work.
This blue-chip shelfie by @Susanalmrudinc boasts appearances by Jeff Koons and the Campana Brothers.
Bold geometry is nicely balanced by a neutral palette in this snap by @Vanguard_Shel.
