Living in or around Nottingham? Love Screenprinting? Then you’re gonna love cheesy peas Screen fiends, a screenprinting event being held by Nottingham Trent Design students. Thing is (and sorry guys for being so crap) it’s in 2 days!
Anyway, find a crappy old tee, bring it along and get a one-off design that will rival any of the wang* that the Shoreditch kids are rocking currently. Find out all the deets here.
*wang = mildly derogatory term (not as rude as wank).
James Sanderson, a Bradford-based designer, found this carrot, took a picture and posted it to his blog. Clearly following the Dadaist route of Readymades, Like the great Duchamp Jim has a playful attitude to his work, spicing his blog up with carefully crafted bits of nonsense as well as some slick branding, illustration and type. And just like a few people we met last week he’s not afraid to make a nob gag.
This* makes for a nice way to say something about yourself as well as your work with your web presence - people want to see a person as well as a portfolio.
*His whole site, not specifically the carrot.
French-Canadian designer Julien Valée is probably pretty good at Photoshop. Let’s face it, a lot of people are nowadays. It’s nice, therefore, to see him not using it - in fact, it’s pretty much what he’s famous for, not using it. From covers for Gestalten’s Tangible (a student fave) to TV idents and animation, it’s fair to say that his computer is no more (and often far less) of a tool than, say, a pair of scissors. This video for the above recent poster shows just what I’m bleedin’ on aboot*.
*In Canada they say aboot instead of about. I learned that from South Park, a cartoon originally made with paper. what a strange cyclical world we live in.
This quirky stop-motion animation is a segment from artist Rob Carter’s video Metropolis which chronicles the evolution of the city of Charlotte in North Carolina. The full version is being screened at New York’s Museum of Art and Design.
(via PSFK)
Diesel have a way with catchy, controversial taglines. Global Warming Ready back in 2007 sticks in the mind. This latest campaign: Be Stupid by London agency Anomaly overlays the familiar bold text comments on photos of beautiful people engaged in inadvisable situations. The photos are less glossy and airbrushed than in the past, with a bit of a Vice magazine or Lastnightsparty (website seems to be down at the mo) hipster vibe. The images are like a psychological Rorschach test (those inkblots that look like angry clowns killing puppies), they provoke an emotional response to each situation: are you a free-living funmeister or a disapproving consequence-driven square…?
The Designers Society in Plymouth is a project organised by the students who (among other things) have invited design luminaries to talk at their university. They have bagged some huge names including Harry Pearce, a partner at Pentagram, who is speaking this Tuesday 19th of January at a dirt cheap £5 a head.
In addition their inaugural exhibition based on a brief based on the theme of Plymouth kicks off on the 20th. If you’re local to Plymouth go along, if not just look at what a determined and driven bunch of students can do. Let’s hope this kind of thing carries on and other design courses take up the mantle.
This great little home-made video is that of new band ‘Keston Cobblers Club’ - who (like many of us out there) are trying to break out into the big bad world. The band does bear relevance to ShellsuitZombie but I’m afraid I’m not at liberty to divulge (ALL WILL BE REVEALED SOON!!). For now, however, please do help these kids out by grabbing a copy of their single here (79p = bargain!)
Keston Cobblers Club have many talents… amongst them are, in fact, designers in disguise! Evidence can be found on their beautifully compiled website.
In ‘98, aged just 14, aspiring cartoonist Amir Avni wrote to his then hero and creator of the brilliant (if nightmare-inducing) Ren and Stimpy, John Kricfalusi. Above is one page of the extraordinary reply he got from the great animator, the rest of which can be read here. So inspirational was it that Amir, currently in his fourth year of studying animation, is rather good himself.
Skills like these should never die or become irrelevant in a digital age so it’s encouraging that there are still those willing to devote themselves to them. And if it means our children grow up watching beautifully rendered masochistic pets break each other, so be it.
A fantastic little animation from Seb Pietrovito. More animations to be discovered on his site (which is suitably endearing).
Graphic design student Sam Hodges of Leeds University has created a self-promotional book to set himself apart from the sea of designers out there. Sam is currently on the hunt for a placement, and what better way than to send an eye-catching mailer for your favourite agencies to have a play with. A nice concept for the opening mechanism - take a look at his website.
Designer/Artist David Rudnick has launched his new website with the unveiling of a t-shirt designed for (and in collaboration with) DJ Erol Alkan. It is printed in a very limited run of 100 which will be snapped up within twelve seconds of becoming available so good luck not getting one. Anyway, the rest of his work is brilliant so you can commiserate the loss of your new t-shirt by crying on some really nice music and editorial design.
ps. if you fill in the maze it draws a picture of Boris Yeltsin riding a miniature horse. Sorry to ruin the surprise.
pps. photography is by Olivia Rose - more on her another time.
Now we all know this feeling… This stunning pen and ink print is that of Nikki Farquharson, a graduate from London College of communications. She’s produced some really nice mixed media stuff - combined with some great ideas and perspectives on things (this is all a bit vague so just check out her website).
The Girls are re-emerging British artists Andrea Blood (1975, UK) and Zoe Sinclair (1976, UK), whose collaboration began in 1996 at Central Saint Martins. The duo are now working together on a project set for the new year, which will feature much of that mystery, nostalgia, make-believe and dream like character the rest of their work accomplishes so well. We’ll post more on this soon!
Featured project: The Embodied Soul Passes Through Girlhood to Death
Some say he rides a camel and he once patented the inflatable telly. Others that he only has one arm but two hands on the end of it that are forever twiddling thumbs. All we know is that his name is Gerard and his website looks lovely.
I always find it strange when people don’t put any information on their site, especially when their work is so good. Regardless, this is worth a look.
Chris Jordan has recently been getting some press attention for his photos of albatross chicks full of plastic crap, but throughout his portfolio there’s an extraordinary subtle use of colour, apparent in this set of photos taken of a ravaged post-Katrina Louisiana. I really dislike overuse of complementary adjectives in blogs (more on that another time) but feel like hurling a whole load at this work (I won’t).
Theres loads more on his website as well as the previously mentioned albatross chicks.
OK so recently we held a couple of events. If you were at one of them, go tag yourself on our facebook page. Or just go and stalk if you weren’t. (If this is you, hi Noel)
then click here
I’m confident that being young, fresh, beautiful people, you will have all heard of Spotify. We’ve started a collaborative playlist for you all to add to with tunes you love. Click here to add the playlist to your Spotify then add one song that you love. Try and make it something we might not have heard before. Tune.
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