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Let us play

As I mentioned in my previous post, I was recently invited to take part in the Celebration of September poster exhibition. Each exhibitor was asked to create an A1 poster for one day in September.

I was given the 25th of September, which was a Sunday. My poster takes the day as its theme, presenting a traditional stained glass window with the message ‘let us play’; a tongue-in-cheek reference to the church call to prayer. Does the poster express a commentary on changes in our society — a decline in moral or spiritual values as we hedonistically seek to fulfil individual needs? Maybe for some, but to me it’s a call to arms, encouraging people to bring the playful back to their weekends, and do something creative. I wanted to make a point about the spiritual value of play.

The brief stipulated that all posters should be handmade. My poster was created using paper-cut collage — each shape cut out by hand using a scalpel. This was time consuming but it was great to have the opportunity to work in a way I don’t normally as part of my everyday work.

On Thursday I visited the busy private view and managed to take some photos of the event. It was good to meet the other creatives involved and to see their posters, which had been created using a range of methods, including screen printing, embroidery, hand drawing and laser cutting. Special thanks to Mortar&Pestle Studio for organising the event.

Posted in Art, Colour, Illustration, Maximalism, Minimalism, Paper, Print, Typography on Monday, October 31st, 2011

A Celebration of September

I have been invited to take part in a poster exhibition organised by Mortar&Pestle Studio and Adrem. The exhibition, which takes place between 24th October and 1st November 2011 will showcase thirty creatives, each exhibiting an A1 poster at the Dreamspace Gallery.

Each exhibitor has been assigned a day within September, in order to create a collaboratively designed calendar for the month. I was given Sunday the 25th, and asked to design a poster specifically for that date. In a fast paced world, individual days are often overlooked for their significance and this exhibition aims to explore each day’s relevance within our own lives.

In a design industry heavily dependent on digital printing, each exhibitor has been asked to use more traditional printing or production methods. The exhibitors have chosen to craft their posters using letterpress, screen-printing, wood blocking, hand drawing, cyanotypes, embroidery, paper-cut collage and light sensitive emulsions. The exhibition will showcase a variety of creative disciplines and mediums forming a wide range of personalised styles and approaches.

I’m really looking forward to the opening night, seeing all the posters and meeting the other exhibitors. I will post my poster design on here once the exhibition has started.

Posted in Art, Colour, Paper, Print, Typography on Tuesday, October 11th, 2011

Andrew Zuckerman: Wisdom

Inspired by the idea that one of the greatest gifts one generation can give to another is the wisdom it has gained from experience, photographer/filmmaker Andrew Zuckerman shot and recorded the thoughts of fifty of the world’s most prominent people over the age of sixty-five.

The images above are from the resulting book; Wisdom. As part of the process, Zuckerman also captured his subjects voices, their physical presence, and their written word. This content, as well as a documentary of the making of the project can be found on a DVD which accompanies the book.

Zuckerman has produced several other stand out projects, including Music, Birds, Creature and High Falls. You can see more on his website.

In the video below he discusses his working process and argues that curiosity is an essential part of the creative’s condition. But it’s even more powerful when combined with rigorous technique.

I often find learning about the process and thoughts that go in to a good piece of work as interesting as the work itself. For me, Zuckerman is definitely an artist who ticks both boxes. Truly inspirational.

Posted in Colour, Minimalism, Photography on Wednesday, September 7th, 2011

Post no bills by Kevin Cooley

Photographer Kevin Cooley is a light lover. He creates stunning images that ooze with colour and tone. His Post no bills project, pictured above, focuses on a series of back-lit advertising hoardings at night. Traditionally unremarkable scenes, transformed into remarkable photographs.

Posted in Colour, Motion capture, Photography on Tuesday, July 12th, 2011

Eight:48 magazine illustration

I was recently asked to create an illustration to accompany an article in Eight:48 Magazine. The article, written by Magnus Shaw: copywriter and blogger, is called ‘Where the art is’ and discusses the joys and perils of working from home.

The illustration reflects the sense of fun in the written piece (an extract from which is below) with a bright layout that includes many of the elements discussed in the article such as cups of tea, daytime TV and working around household chores. The busy layout illustrates the combination of work and home tasks and how the line between these is sometimes blurred.

“So let’s assume you’re sufficiently disciplined to actually make it past the TV, kettle and soufflé dish. Settled at your Ikea desk, in your box room, you’ve even managed to fire up the laptop. You are now, officially, on the clock and working. But hang on. An icon says you have 30 new emails. Wow! 30! It’s entirely likely that 29 of them will be promoting exotic pills to expand certain parts of your anatomy or tour dates for Def Leppard, but you’d better check…”

I could really identify with the sentiments expressed in the article – hopefully this comes through in the illustration!

Posted in Colour, Illustration, Maximalism on Thursday, February 17th, 2011

Noumeno photos by Javier Tles

Javier Tles is a photographer, based in Barcelona. The images above are from a project called Noumeno in which Javier depicts elderly gentlemen. I was drawn to the texture of these images and the muted colour pallet, both of which give the images a cold and somber feel.

His website is split into two sections ‘for me’ – featuring self initiated projects, and ‘for them’ – featuring commercial projects for the likes of Nike and Renault. Looking at both sections of the website, it is clear to see that Javier’s ‘for me’ projects ultimately turn into commercial work, ‘for them’. A good way of working if you ask me, no doubt we’ll see a reincarnation of the above project for a big client before too long.

Posted in Colour, Photography on Tuesday, December 7th, 2010

Curio#2: Earth, Wind & Fire LP

The second item in the ongoing series of curios that I have collected as inspiration is the Earth, Wind & Fire LP, Raise. I’m a bit partial to the odd disco, funk and soul track, but this LP is on hand for its visual rather than its musical appeal. In fact I don’t think I’ve actually taken the vinyl out of the sleeve. I was given this vinyl by a former colleague who was getting rid of his old record collection and thought it might be up my street, he was right.

The cover was Illustrated by Shusei Nagaoka a Japanese artist who created an array of album sleeves in the 70’s and 80’s. There’s a small gallery of his work here. And if you look hard enough, there’s also a book. This illustration is in Nagaoka’s signature style, he was renowned for creating futuristic science fiction scenes using an airbrush. During the 70’s and 80’s he illustrated countless film posters, advertisements, magazine covers and record sleeves.

I really like the brash colours used within the design. The use of planets and triangular shapes (visible in the second image when the sleeve is open) seem to have come full circle – as today there are several prominent designers and illustrators using these images in their work. The one thing that lets the design down slightly for me is that the typography looks like an after thought. I think it would heave been interesting to see the album title incorporated into the cover illustration a little more. So, it isn’t perfect, but I think it’s a good example of airbrush work from the era. It’s an interesting artefact, and something I like to look at regularly.

Posted in Airbrush, Colour, Maximalism, Studio curio on Wednesday, September 15th, 2010

BMW Art Cars; 1975 – 2010

Jeff Koons design for the 2010 BMW M3 GT2 art car.

Art cars designed by: Alexander Calder, Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol and Ken Done (clockwise from top left)

Art cars designed by: Cesar Manrique, A.R. Penck, Esther Mahlangu and David Hockney (clockwise from top left)

I’ve just returned from a long weekend in France. I went there to watch the Le Mans 24 Hour Classic race in which vehicles of yesteryear race around the imposing 14k track. Whilst wandering around the paddock, I saw several BMW art cars up close. I also discovered this years stunning car which was designed by artist Jeff Koons.

According to bmwdrives.com “The concept for the BMW art cars was introduced by Hervé Poulain, an auctioneer and ardent racing driver from France. Poulain was searching for a link between art and cars and he asked his friend and renowned artist Alexander Calder to paint a rolling canvas on the BMW 3.0 CSL that he would race in the 1975 Le Mans endurance race. Poulain’s 3.0 CSL was the first car to create a symbiosis between the world of art and the world of motorsport. Prompted by enormous enthusiasm for this work of art on wheels, BMW then decided to put its brilliant idea of establishing the Art Car Collection into practice.”

Since 1975 there have been 17 different art cars designed by the likes of Alexander Calder, Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, Ken Done, Cesar Manrique, A.R. Penck, Esther Mahlangu, David Hockney, Olafur Eliasson, Robin Rhode and Jeff Koons. BMW have certainly picked some big names over the years, so I’m not expecting a call from Germany just yet, but considering my love of cars, I think this would have to be a dream job. Maybe one day…

Images from: bmwdrives.com

Posted in Art, Cars, Colour, Illustration, Maximalism on Tuesday, July 13th, 2010

Giles Revell: Seascapes

These beautiful but slightly haunting seascape photographs were created by Giles Revell; a conceptual image-maker know for the pioneering techniques he employs in the search to communicate shape and texture. The images were created using long exposures so that the movement of the sea and sky blurs and creates a flat soft texture, while the items that are still remain sharp. The washed-out colouring of these images also adds to the ethereal feel. Simply beautiful.

Posted in Colour, Minimalism, Motion capture, Photography on Wednesday, June 30th, 2010

Landschaft mit haus

A beautifully simple series of images by Suzy Yes found on Flickr. All of her pictures feature a solitary house in a landscape, depicted using just horizontal blocks of flat colour. The images all follow the same composition, but vary in the way colour is used to show different surroundings, seasons or times of the day/night. The images are reminiscent of looking out of the window of a train, with the landscape blurring together as the train speeds along. I really like the simplicity of these images and the way the colours have been used.

Posted in Colour, Illustration, Minimalism on Wednesday, May 19th, 2010

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