Maximalism | News and views

Archive for the ‘Maximalism’ Category

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

Lettering by Tony Forster

During my first week studying graphic design at university (1998), I borrowed several books from the library. A particular page in one book stood out, and I photocopied it and stuck it to the wall of my workspace. The photocopied sheet (which I still have) showed the work of Tony Forster, a lettering designer from Manchester.

Forster passed away in 2008, but I was reminded of his work when he was profiled in Grafik Magazine (issue 189). The image above is a self-promotional poster showcasing a variety of Tony’s lettering styles, from fluid calligraphic arrangements to more formal typographic logos.

13 years have now passed since my initial discovery, but I still marvel at the craftsmanship of Tony’s work.

Posted in Maximalism, Typography on Monday, May 16th, 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

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