Currency cuts; the work of Mark Wagner

In these times of economic doom and gloom, where every other news story is about a company closing its doors or a bank making a huge profit you need to a little creative with your cash and that is exactly what Mark Wagner has done.
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Broken dolls

Jessica Harrison is an Edinburgh based sculptor who has recently created a body of work called 'Broken'. At it's simplest the 'Broken' series is customising ready made porcelain figurines, the kind that you find on your Aunties mantelpiece but Jessica Harrison brings a gruesome, dark side to the usual broken ornament.
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Mondo Moss

I'm a bit of a print fan. It sounds like a confession but in this digital age I love the physicality of an object; the texture of good paper, the smell of ink emanating from a beautifully constructed and thought out piece that has been carefully printed, and these two new posters from Mondo are no exception.
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Santa wishlist #3

Looks like those Nobrow boys are going to be taking all my hard earned designer dollars this xmas ! Another beautiful, illustration/music project from French illustrator McBess! It's a 7" vinyl with a beautiful book!

Santa wish list #2

Angie Lewin Linocut print called Yellow Rattle. Check out her other beautiful prints at her website, there will be a full post on her work over Christmas.

Santa wish list #1

Stuart Kolakovic print called 'The Wizard' from his excellent exhibition Under the Damp Earth by Nobrow

Quasicrystals

Just catching up on the news this week and came across these beautiful images of quasicrystals.
The Nobel prize for Chemistry was won by Daniel Shechtman for the discovery of these quasicrystals. Believe it or not this discovery was highly controversial, he was ridiculed by other scientists including a previous Nobel prize winner.

Although this is an excellent story of self belief and perseverance it was the patterns themselves which caught my eye and made me think directly of Islamic architecture as seen in the geometric patterns evident in mosaics, wooden grilles and ceramic art. Of course there is nothing new in art echoing nature, especially when mathematics is used as the base but at this microscopic level I find that astounding.

Collection box

I came across this charity collection box when I was in Derry last month. I hadn't seen a collection box like this since the early eighties! I remember the boy with a caliper outside the chemist and the blind boy reading braille perched outside the charity shop but now most of these have disappeared as they were outdated and not very PC, but unfortunately they have been replaced by generic perspex boxes or a group of people in day-glo tabbards requesting you to set up a direct debit.

When I saw the kitten box I was a bit thrown by the relationship between the kittens and Romanian Orphans but after a while I realised it was probably originally used for the R.S.P.C.A. (the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) and had been adapted to help raise money for Romanian orphans.

50 shades of blue

Edwyn Collins is a walking marvel! Not only has he been busy recording a new album, producing a multitude of and putting on a growing number of exhibitions of his drawings. If that hasn't been enough he has been working with Liberty fabrics to create a range of printed fabrics featuring his beautiful bird illustrations, that are part of their Liberty Rocks range that also features Blur's Graham Coxon.
Edwyn has also been working with Elli Pop who has again taken his ornithological illustrations and applied them to a range of tableware. So what's next a Jaguar/ Collins car colaboration? I'm just hoping for a new album. As edwyn says 'Keep on chooglin'!!'

An American Icon

OK, 16 August is the day where people of a certain age wonder what the world would be like if 'The King' had lived.
So in true blog tradition I went off trawling the internet for a suitable image to mark Elvis's passing and to muse on his impact in Northern Irish culture when I came across the work of an artist and illustrator call Bob Kessel.
I don't know if it is the power of an icon in the collective imagination, (the on going sitings of Jesus, Elvis, Jacko in everything from cornflakes, tortillas and clouds may attest to this!) but his series American Icons which reduces stars like Marylin Monroe and Marlon Brando to bold cubist shapes and primary blocks of  colour are all immediately recognisable. If you want to see more of Kessel's work then click here to explore his landscapes and other paintings. So instead of a post on Elvis, you get a post on cubist painting! The King moves in mysterious ways!!

The Lost Type Co-op

I came across this type house a little while ago while researching some vintage type for a project and was amazed by their model. As they explain in their own words:
The Lost Type Co-Op is a Pay-What-You-Want Type foundry, the first
of its kind. 
Founded by Riley Cran and Tyler Galpin, originally in a whirlwind 24 hour adventure to distribute a single typeface, Lost Type has blossomed into a full fledged foundry, distributing fonts from designers all over the world, with its unique model.

Users have the opportunity to pay whatever they like for a font, you can even type in '$0' for a free download.

100% of funds from these sales go directly to the designers of the fonts, respectively.

Lost Type takes no cut of sales, and holds no funds.

I think this is amazing and the quality of the typefaces are perfect for those projects that need a typeface with a certain look.  Also if you have half an hour pop over to their blog to see some of their typefaces in action and where they draw inspiration from. Long may the project continue!

Richard Hawley's family tree

Just came across this 'rock' family tree on Richard Hawley's site. It's had me occupied for the past hour just tracing the lines back and forward between the various groups. I must read my liner notes more!

Gill's brother

OK I'm in danger of turning this blog into an arts listing but here are another couple of exhibitions that if I had the chance I would love to go to. The first is on Eric Gills' brother, Macdonald 'Max' Gill. Now I know it is horrible to introduce someone through the life of someone else but to be honest Eric Gills figure loomed so large that I had no idea that he had a brother, let alone one who worked in a similar field and to an equally high level.
Macdonald Gill was well known and respected in his day and was reputed for his highly detailed pictorial maps which all have a strong sense of Englishness about them which reflect their time and, like his brothers work, a certain sense of national identity, just look at the map above which places Great Britain at the heart of the world, it reminds me of medieval maps of the known world which did exactly the same thing with Jerusalem!

Detail from the Wonderground Map of Londontown

What looks like a highlight of the exhibition will be Macdonald Gills' Wonderground Map of Londontown. This was printed in 1914 for Westminster Press and shows an intricate and beautiful look at London and its Underground stations. The illustration style, colours and lettering evoke an almost Arts and Crafts take on London. The original was printed as 16 sheets (roughly A4) and sold in it's thousands for six shillings, I hope they do a modern reprint as I don't think I could track down never mind buy an original!

The exhibition is in Brighton at the University of Brighton and runs from 22 July - 29 August, for more information click here. There is also a fascinating blog on the restoration of Macdonald Gills' work by Sirpa Kutilainen.
To continue the Gill trip then pop into The British Museum to see Eric Gill; Public and Private Art. This exhibition looks at pieces of art created by Gill for Public commissions and for his own private pleasure. As the museum says itself 'The exhibition features work by Gill intended for both public use and private delight, including stamp designs for the Post Office, coin designs for the Royal Mint, drawings for the Stations of the Cross, and his own engravings and publications on religion, politics and art. The centrepiece of the display is his famous sculpture Divine Lovers, on loan from Ditchling Museum in East Sussex. The display also examines Gill’s work on the British Museum building itself, including the war memorial at the main entrance.' The exhibition runs until 9 August and is FREE!

Images from top:
Self-portrait medal depicting Eric Gill. Engraved by George Friend, about 1933. © reserved.
Proof for a one shilling coin by Eric Gill, 1925.© The Royal Mint.
Air Raid Precaution Badge, Eric Gill, 1939.© The Trustees of the British Museum.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
And just for good measure  here's a reminder of Gills most famous creation  Gill Sans, originally created for a book shop in Bristol and then developed as a full typeface for LNER rail travel posters.

A two pipe problem!

A strange convergence of elements have been working on me recently. When I was back in Ireland at the weekend I caught up with the BBC modern re-look at Sherlock Holmes. I loved the way they tackled his love of pondering over the clues of a crime by sucking on a pipe full of tobacco by substituting it with nicotine patches! A 'two pipe problem' eloquently became a 'two patch problem'. Later that weekend I stumbled across an article in my daily newspaper outlining plans by the Australian government to render cigarette packets olive-green, supposedly because it's a dull, unappealing colour that will put off potential smokers. This was in response to recommendations by The World Health Organisation, in its Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, where it advises authorities to "consider adopting measures to restrict or prohibit the use of logos, colours, brand images or promotional information". After I read the piece I was left wondering, would this work? Would it reduce the number of people smoking?
I personally haven't had a cigarette for 7 years but I did smoke for a good few years before that and during that time I was never really aware of the packaging having an impact on my choice of cigarette,  I do how ever remember the fantastic press ads  on the back of the Sunday supplements for Benson & Hedges (carried out by CDP) and Silk Cut (carried out by Alexandra Taylor while at Saatchi &Saatchi).

These ads were in response to stricter government legislation that appeared in the 1970's restricting how the tobacco industry could advertise their products. No more models with a cigarette hanging out of their mouths or suggested hints of sex appeal as before so a new approach had to be found and this new approach to my mind made smoking more intriguing and attractive than any photo of a cigarette could!

A press ad for cigarettes pre-legislation

At the time I had no idea about government legislation so these images worked almost like puzzles making me stare at them in an attempt to try and figure out what was going on! Now as an adult and as a designer I can see that this was the result of a more limited brief. Once a tried and tested route has been closed off it makes the agency to  have to think a little more laterally and the client to be a little more adventurous in their marketing strategy.

I know similar plans to limit tobacco packaging are a foot in the UK with "plain generic packaging" being mooted, but again with a limited brief and a good design studio I think that this could see an increase in smoking figures and almost as if to prove my point take a look at the packaging solution created by Build.
Build were briefed by Icon to work within the proposed government guidelines and to come up with a packaging solution, these were the results;

Build's approach was to strip away all extraneous information and to reduce the packaging to the bare minimum required to convey the information. All the text is set in OCR-B and  brings to the fore the stuff that is usually hid in 5pt on the back such as the ingredients. If you want to read more visit their excellent blog here.

Personally I think these designs look a lot better and a lot more considered than the packs that grace tobacconists shelves today. They would probably appeal more to a youth market and increase smoking rather than make it appear unappealing.  So even when the Australian government pass their new law limiting tobacco packaging then I'm sure a clever agency will work with in their brief and find a creative way to make them look better!  This of course raises the age old question of design ethics, but that's another post!
Maybe to make things more challenging the Government should also stipulated in the legislation that all text has to be set in 20pt Comic Sans and that the packaging can only be laid out in Microsoft Word! We will see, as Sherlock himself would have said "The game is a foot!"

Kai and Sunny at Stolen Space Gallery

Kai and Sunny's work has appeared on everything from Adobe's CS4 to ads for Cadbury's chocolate and never mind the wealth of book covers including the award winning  Cloud Atlas by David Mitchel.

This print was part of the collective show Never Judge?, held last December again at the Stolen Space Gallery

If you are in London between the 3-26 June then you will have a chance to see their latest gallery show at the Stolen Space Gallery in Brick Lane. It's called The Flower Show and features a series of large two colour hand screened prints, which look beautiful. If  like me you won't have the chance to pop down then there is always the  limited edition box set of prints with a short story by the a fore mentioned David Mitchel but judging by the photos it looks like it could cost a good few pennies!

Olly Moss: paper cuts at Gallery 1988

I first came across the work of Olly Moss on a design blog. The post featured a  collection of modern movie posters re-imagined in a Saul Bass-esque way. They were nice to look at, with some very clever use of illustration, and a nice restricted colour palette but they didn't really take my breath away however his latest project does.

It is a series of 300 18th century inspired silhouette paper cuts but of cultural icons ranging from Teen Wolf to the Simpsons! All the silhouettes were lazer cut and then beautifully framed, hung and are now on display at Gallery 1988 in Melrose. It's too far away for me I'm afraid but I do hope this show travels! here are a few more pics and a short video about the show and if you want to find out more you can find Olly's blog here

Olly Moss Art Show @ Gallery 1988 from Threadless.com on Vimeo.

Idan Friedman: Profiles

This is a beautiful project by Israeli born artist Idan Friedman. Idan has created a series of intricate portraits of people he has met while going about his everyday life, like the cashier at his local supermarket. He hasn't captured them in oils or on film but instead has created relief sculptures of their profiles and embossed them on to disposable aluminum food trays. 

The results call to mind coins, commemorative medallions, plaques and medals, objects that to the mind are associated with celebrating the great and the good but this project celebrates the everyday. A sensitive and well thought out series with a real sense of fragility that to my eyes takes portraiture to a new level and raises questions about what we hold as precious.

If you want to see more of the series Idan has a flickr stream here.