Background and experience

James Joyce (the artist not the writer!) is a much needed dose of colour in these dark winter days. His work references some of the most popular art movements of the last 50 years like Lichenstein and Warhol to mention a few. Yet he is not simply another copycat, he has developed his own style that is a striking mix of flat graphics, colour and unique typography.

Taking the usual route of art college and university, he went on to work in various studios around London. What attracted him about graphic design was that “you can make things look like they do in the shops or in magazines.”
 

Some of James’ Work:

James Joyce for Ercol

An invitation from iconic furniture brand Ercol in partnership with John Lewis to customise a bespoke cabinet from their Pilgrim range. Originally in a natural Oak finish with glass windows the cabinet has been customised with the bright coloured container design on the doors and finished with a black laquer on the remaining exterior. The interior of the draws and cupboard has been detailed with a bright yellow finish.
The James Joyce cabinet is available to buy exclusively through John Lewis Stratford City.

See more work by James Joyce

This image is from Reuters’ Best Photos of the Year 2011. The photographer captured the moment that an aeroplane crossed the beam of light shone into New York’s night sky. “For some reason this plane looked like it was heading towards the [September 11] tribute.”

Most of us have less than fond memories of Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokull volcano eruption. Many people in neighbouring countries were victims of mass flight cancellations, due to the ensuing ash cloud.

This photograph captures the incredible beauty of this natural event, as do the rest of the set which you can see here.

Photographer Jooney Woodward manages to capture the magic of the mundane, through her love for the ‘anti-beauty spot’.

www.jooneywoodward.co.uk

The market takes place on the last Saturday of every month, with November’s market on the 26th and December’s on the 17th.

With handmade gifts, mulled wine and warm food, the Stour Space Designers’ Market offers a cheery alternative to battling the crowds on Oxford Street this December.

“There’s no better place to buy original, innovative gifts than the Designers’ Market” Time Out

“No matter what the conditions, the market is always inspiring” Camden Market

A selection of products on sale

Berni Graham berni.graham@talktalk.net

Lucy Dalzell www.lucydalzell.com

Silke Spingies www.spingies.de

Nikki Strange www.nikkistrange.bigcartel.com

Details

Address: Stour Space, 7 Roach Road, Fish Island, London E3 2PA

Dates: 26 November, 17 December and the last Saturday of every month.

Time:  12–6pm

www.biancachang.com

Photograph: Courtesy Flicker

Background and experience

For those of you who don’t know, Si Scott is a full time artist based in the UK. He hails from Leeds and splits his time between Manchester and London to stay continually inspired.

He has developed his own truly unique style of illustration saying; “I think I came to make this kind of work just through my love of drawing, type and design and trying to do something that encompasses all them together.”

Even with the evolution of technology he has continued to stay true to his preferred method of working, that is, with pen, ink and his own two hands. His work is ninety percent hand and ten percent other methods using the computer as merely a tool in finishing a piece rather than a first port of call and has repeatedly said; “Computers are great as a tool but I do believe that a lot of people rely on them far too much and let them dictate how a piece is ultimately going to look.”

His dedication to his work has made him a self-confessed workaholic and he admits that once he starts something he hates to leave it until it’s finished. Explaining his work process he says; “I always start by picking a font I feel fits the brief or works with what I am trying to achieve the piece and then will play around with different page layouts for a while. The next phase is to just bring the piece to life using fine liners to create the illustration. I always work bigger than the finished piece is going to be and scan the illustrations at 1000dpi at 125% so when it is decreased to the actual size it’s very crisp and clean.”

He has acquired a large and prestigious client list. On the fashion side of things; Matthew Williamson – a recent Menswear collection 2011,Vogue, Nike, Tiffany & Co. with advertising campaigns for Guinness, Absolut, and American Express. Plus independent and music related briefs such as David Collins, Polydor, Sony BMG, just to mention a few. He is a visiting lecturer at the University of Huddersfield, on the 3rd year BA Hons degree in Graphic Design & Illustration and was on the panel of judges for D&AD 2011.

Si is currently building on a new collection of work; challenging the 2D perspective of his typical art, these are all hand-rendered but resolved in a 3D form.

With a mantra of – “do your own thing and never emulate.” Here’s some of his work, that ranges from the elaborately ornamental, to the sparsely minimalistic…

The Secret of Drawing

the bbc / the secret of drawing from Si Scott on Vimeo.

Matthew Williamson

Individual Hand Drawn Alphabet

Adidas

Posters

Simon Baker

The 100 Project

See more work by Si Scott

I found this on a random internet tangent. It reminds me of Rodchenko, which is never a bad thing.

Nicholas’s Tumblr

If you live in Australia, you can buy Seam Magazine from one of these stockists. If you don’t, you can buy it online here.

www.seammagazine.com

This is from a series called Too Much, by Prague-based photographer Dany Peschl. See more on his website, www.danypeschl.com

When dried out, I think that the leaves look even better, with the letters distorting and the colours becoming more varied.

Do you have any other examples of typography meeting nature?

Find out more about Silke Spingies at www.spingies.de. Photography by Sam Scott-Hunter.

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A Collection of Portrait and Fashion Shots

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Background and experience

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Emma is a mainly self-taught photographer based between London and Suffolk, here the sparce landscape with unexpectedly vast skies and dramatic light, her environment provides constant stimulation for her photographic eye and a backdrop for fashion editorial and portraits alike.

Although she shoots digitally when requested she prefers to work with film for her personal work. “I like the
 physicality of film. I’m very touched by light, I find it moving, I love that light scores itself onto film” In her words, it becomes an almost poetic process: “It’s simple really, such a beautiful invention: some celluloid and an exchange between photographer and subject, written in light. And then it’s for the viewer to find something, however small, that resonates.”

Describing her aesthetic as raw but tender, Hardy finds beauty
 in imperfection, and polish in the detail of every day life. “My
 photography reflects genuine instant, it’s about recognition of and surrender to a moment, catching it and letting it go”, she says. And through her lens, the most ordinary of moments appears steeped in romance and intrigue, as if her subjects are characters in a movie playing in her head.

She holds an impressive client list including, Allianz, American Vogue, British Vogue, The Fader, Honda, J Crew, New York Times, Paul Smith, Rolling Stone, The Telegraph Magazine, Toast, Vanity Fair, W Magazine.
You can see her portfolio of work on East Photographic.

We love these photos of London in the 80s. See more here.

Photograph: Courtesy Nexus Productions

Johnny’s work is about humour, fun and spontaneity. He says, “most of it is optimistic; perhaps reflecting the glass half-full disposition the practice gives me. I enjoy learning and I’m inspired by the process of working, and I intend to communicate this in the results.”

Background and experience

Johnny lives and works in London, UK. Johnny was born in Ireland. He trained in graphic design at Dublin Institute of Technology before moving to animation.
He completed work experience at D.A.D.D.Y., Dublin, NB: Studio, London, and Image Now, Dublin.

When asked “What single piece of advice would you give someone thinking of going into animation?” He replied -
Don’t watch animated films! Study graphic design, or illustration, or furniture-making, or dentistry, and bring something new to animation.

Johnny studied at The Royal College of Art where he completed an MA in Animation and was awarded the Conran Foundation Award by the Provost, Sir Terence Conran. His graduation short film, Procrastination, received global attention and won him the Jerwood Moving Image Prize 08 and the Best Animation, NYC Shorts 08 award.
He was selected to be part of the Saatchi & Saatchi New Director Showcase and was also awarded Best New Director at the 2007 Shark Awards in Kinsale.

He joined Nexus Productions in 2007 and has directed both music videos and commercials including spots for Adobe, UN, BMW, Bacardi and Google.

He was recently the winner of a First Boards Award. Johnny is represented by Nexus Productions for direction and animation work.

Some of Johnny’s Work

The Seed
Let’s start with a two-minute animated voyage through nature’s life cycle, following the trials and tribulations of a humble apple seed. The film was funded by Adobe, produced at Nexus Productions and features a soundtrack by Jape. It was made using a mixture of stop motion papercraft and 2D drawn animation.

The Seed from Johnny Kelly on Vimeo.

Tip Ton Chair
Johnny was approached by esteemed designers Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby to create a celebratory showcase of their innovative new Tip Ton chair, manufactured by iconic furniture company Vitra. Using a series of choreographed stop motion animated sequences, Johnny features the chair’s form and function, the simple elegance of this beautifully crafted film perfectly mirroring the design ethos behind the Tip Ton chair.

Vitra: Tip Ton Chair from Johnny Kelly on Vimeo.

Het Klokhuis
Dutch agency KesselsKramer approached Johnny with the brief as part of a rebrand for the programme, with the show’s new logo to be lifted from the animation for the title sequence. An apple is the basis for the new identity, as the programme’s title literally translates as ‘The Apple Core’. The stop-frame animation sees a series of apples, all with a different experiment happening at their core to wet the appetite for what’s to come. Once Johnny had decided on which experiments to use he called on the talents of established model-maker, Jethro Haynes, and the pair retired to the laboratory to collaborate on the look and design of the piece and how each of the elements would be animated. ‘Het Klokhuis’ devoted it’s new look launch programme to the making of the title sequence.
There is also a fantastic interview with Johnny about the making of this piece, you can read it here.

“Het Klokhuis” Opening titles from Johnny Kelly on Vimeo.

Back to the Start
Willie Nelson, Coldplay, Chipotle and director Johnny Kelly have made a creative alliance with the Chipotle Cultivate Foundation to create BACK TO THE START, a short animated film highlighting the issue of sustainable farming. Chipotle founder Steve Ells met with Johnny Kelly in London to talk about his passionate efforts to source food on a more sustainable and ethical basis. The film is a result of this conversation. Music legend Willie Nelson, well known for his support of family farmers, was a perfect collaborator for the music.

See more work by Johnny Kelly

This incredible photograph was taken by award winning conservation photographer, Daniel Beltrá. It’s from his collection of ice photographs, taken in Patagonia, British Columbia and the Southern Oceans.

www.danielbeltra.com

Image © Daniel Beltrá

www.pete.co

Photograph: Courtesy The Morning News

Kidd is most well known as a highly regarded book cover designer for Alfred A. Knopf, among others. He is also, in a loose and flexible arrangement, an editor of graphic novels and anthologies at Pantheon Books, having produced a compendium of Charles M. Schulz’s Peanuts strips and an Alex Ross monograph.

Background and experience

Kidd is currently associate art director at Knopf, an imprint of Random House. He first joined the Knopf design team in 1986, when he was hired as a junior assistant. Turning out jacket designs at an average of 75 a year, Kidd has freelanced for Doubleday, Farrar Straus & Giroux, Grove Press, HarperCollins, Penguin/Putnam, Scribner and Columbia University Press in addition to his work for Knopf. Kidd also supervises graphic novels at Pantheon, and in 2003 he collaborated with Art Spiegelman on a biography of cartoonist Jack Cole, Jack Cole and Plastic Man: Forms Stretched to Their Limits. His output includes cover concepts for books by Mark Beyer, Bret Easton Ellis, Haruki Murakami, Dean Koontz, Cormac McCarthy, Frank Miller, Michael Ondaatje, Alex Ross, Charles Schulz, Osamu Tezuka, David Sedaris, Donna Tartt, John Updike and others. His design for Michael Crichton’s Jurassic Park novel was carried over into marketing for the film adaptation. Oliver Sacks and other authors have contract clauses stating that Kidd design their books.

Kidd has often downplayed the importance of cover designs, stating, “I’m very much against the idea that the cover will sell the book. Marketing departments of publishing houses tend to latch onto this concept and they can’t let go. But it’s about whether the book itself really connects with the public, and the cover is only a small part of that.” He is also known to be humorously self-deprecating in regards to his work with statements such as “I piggy-backed my career on the backs of authors, not the other way around. The latest example of that is The Road, by Cormac McCarthy. I’m lucky to be attached to that. Cormac McCarthy is not lucky to have me doing his cover.”

Publishers Weekly described his book jackets as “creepy, striking, sly, smart, unpredictable covers that make readers appreciate books as objects of art as well as literature.”
USA Today also called him “the closest thing to a rock star” in graphic design today, while author James Ellroy has called him “the world’s greatest book-jacket designer.”

Some of Chips work:

Novels

Kidd also writes his own novels, his first novel, The Cheese Monkeys, (Simon and Schuster, 2001) is an academic satire and coming-of-age tale about state college art students who struggle to meet the demands of a sadistic graphic design instructor. The book draws on Kidd’s real-life experiences during his art studies at Penn State.

Kidd’s second novel, The Learners, finds the protagonist of The Cheese Monkeys drawn into the infamous Milgram experiment, thanks to an incidental newspaper ad assignment. The novel uses the experiment as an extended metaphor for advertising, wherein the “content” is masked and fed — sometimes unwillingly — to its consumers.

If you can find the time, here’s a talk Chip gave at OFFSET in Dublin 2009 where he talks the audience through his work… Well worth the watch!

See more work by Chip Kidd

A new website, a studio at Stour Space in the heart of Hackney Wick and a chalk and cheese dynamic are what Stadium Creative is all about – at least until you scratch beneath the surface. Directors Chris Davies and Matt Rogers had known each other for five years before they launched the company together at the start of 2011. And although they’re young, they have remarkably sound knowledge of their market.

With a client list spanning Arcadia Group to Alzheimer’s Society and Hackney Wick Festival to Greenpeace, they have a diversified portfolio that mirrors their combined talents. This is all terribly impressive, so why have they only just launched a new site? “We started out with more of a print focus,” explained Chris. “And needed to show how we now have a more cross-platform offering.”

Or, as Matt put it: “We wanted to showcase what we can do for our clients with the best possible example of what we can do. And introducing our blog was a big driver because it shows that we actually care about what we do, we have an opinion.” Indeed, they’re inclined to analyse their work and take a considered approach. Chris added: “We’re not just reactive; we don’t just design for the sake of it. In fact, we’d like to become a voice in the industry.”

And this conscience is evident in their focus on local projects, supporting their own art and design community. The two of them recently branded Wick Award – part of the Big Local consortium funded by the Big Lottery Fund, which will channel £1million into improving their locality. And this is in addition to their charity work. “We’ve worked with a number of not-for-profit organisations and continue to approach them or vice versa,” Chris added. “Our aim is to work on projects that have a positive impact.”

So, all in all, a nicely rounded portfolio, from the glossy to the worthy, but do they ever disagree on who they should work with? “No,” said Chris. “But we push each other and ask if we can do better.” This is a dynamic that drives them well. It’s not about indecision, but challenge and growth. And that means challenging clients too, as Matt explained: “We’re not defined by sector, industry or technique. And we’re always looking for clients who are brave enough to try new ways of communicating through design.”

And perhaps clients who are also intrigued by their location? “We’re a little off the beaten track and not in an obvious place surrounded by other design agencies,” Chris explained. But they are surrounded by astonishing levels of creativity – from artists to filmmakers, photographers, painters and more. “It’s a community.” And one that actually serves to impress visitors, Matt added: “You can see that they’re also inspired. It changes the way we think and we hope that it does the same for people who come to our studio – we want to build up that trust and explore new design concepts together.”

So far, so good; in fact they’ve just employed a third team member; designer Sarah Corcoran.

Words: Jo Murphy. Photo: Tim Bayman. Taken from a forthcoming feature on Creative Boom.

A quick thinking passenger captured this breathtaking shot from an aeroplane, above San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge.

Via FFFFOUND!

D-Day

Launch of SPUTNIK I

1st Man on the Moon

Fall of the Berlin Wall

September 11th

Photograph: Courtesy Penguin Books

From figurative painting and installation to illustration and picture-book making, Jeffers work takes many forms.
His distinctive oil paintings have been exhibited in multiple cities, including the National Portrait Gallery in London.

Background and experience

Born in Port Hedland, Western Australia in 1977 and bred in Belfast, Northern Ireland. He now lives and works in Brooklyn, New York.

A failed spoons player.

Loves plastic food, suitcase handles and Elvis, and has developed a bizarre habit of endlessly writing lists he never reads.

First Class BA/Honors Degree in Visual Communication & Certificate of foundation studies in Art and Design at the University of Ulster.

A co-founder of the art collective OAR, their exhibitions include 9 days in Belfast, book and the award winning BUILDING.

Recently co-founded the product design company You And Me the Royal We.

Illustration clients include The Guardian, United Airlines, Lavazza Coffee, Newsweek International, Her Royal Majesty the Queen of England, and the Irish Times for which he received the Gold Icad Award for Illustration.

HarperCollins UK and Penguin USA publish his picture books, including The Incredible Book Eating Boy, The Great Paper Caper, and most recently Up and Down. Working in collaboration with Studio AKA, Oliver’s second book Lost and Found was developed into an animated short film, which has received over sixty awards including a BAFTA for Best Animated Short Film. Picture Book awards include the Smarties Award, Irish Book of the Year, The Blue Peter Book of the Year, as well as shortlists for the British Book of the Year, and the Kate Greenaway Medal. Oliver won a New York Emmy in 2010 for his collaborative work with Mac Premo.

Some of Oliver Jeffers Work:

Just under 60 years later we have Google Earth, which delivers hi-res imagery of almost the entire world, available to all via a few clicks and an internet connection.

Jenny Odell is a Bay Area native/captive. Her work has been featured at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, the Google Headquarters, and Les Rencontres D’Arles in France.

Jenny collects things that she’s cut out from Google Satellite View– parking lots, silos, landflls, waste ponds.

“The view from a satellite is not a human one, nor is it one we were ever really meant to see. But it is precisely from this inhuman point of view that we are able to read our own humanity, in all of its tiny, reliably repetitive marks upon the face of the earth. From this view, the lines that make up basketball courts and the scattered blue rectangles of swimming pools become like hieroglyphs that read: people were here.” Jenny Odell

120 Stadiums

Every Baseball Diamond in Manhattan

Every Basketball Court in Manhattan

1,378 Grain Silos, Water Towers, and Other Cylindrical-Industrial Buildings

39 Landfills

97 Nuclear Cooling Towers

144 Empty Parking Lots

104 Airplanes

81 Miles of the Great Salt Lake (each square representes exactly one mile)

195 Yachts, Barges, Cargo Lines, Tankers and Other Ships

125 Swimming Pools

77 Waste and Salt Ponds

10 Waterslide Configurations

This week’s photograph is an oddly beautiful one. It comes courtesy of our new designer, Sarah.

Zach Gold shot these swimmers in a tank of milk that he installed in his studio. As you do.

www.zachgold.com

“With Google Custom Search, you can harness the power of Google to create a customised search experience for your own website.”

What are the benefits?

• Provides fast and relevant search results
• Automatically search across links, bookmarks or blogrolls with Custom Search, on the fly
• Include one or more websites or specific web pages
• Host the search box and results on your own website
• Customise the look and feel of the results to match your site
• Improve customer retention and conversions on your site
• Provide quick indexing of your website via On-Demand indexing
• Control branding and enhance results presentation via XML results

WordPress user?

If you are using WordPress you might find it easier to implement the Google Custom Search Plugin

Sarah comes to us from a background in design and social media, bringing new knowledge to the team. She’s already got us wondering how we ever coped without her.

Interesting Sarah fact: She has an irrational fear of manholes.

Photograph by Philipp Spalek.

There will be a lot of articles written today, and over the next few days, about Steve Jobs. Apple’s co-founder, Chairman and CEO, passed away yesterday, aged only 56.

I don’t intend to add to that pile with a biography. Just a fond farewell to a man that changed everything. For me at least.

I bought my first Mac around ten years ago, when I started learning to be a designer. It was a graphite iMac G3, the second (I think) generation of their revolutionary all-in-one, coloured(!) machine. Before that, grey boxes dominated even design studios.

From that moment, I’ve never looked back. I can’t imaging using anything else. I’ve since owned various desktops and laptops, not to mention iPods, iPhones and an iPad. I don’t plan to break the habit. In the main, their products make sense, are beautiful and are a pleasure to use.

I don’t need to go on about the way that the design world has changed because of the Mac. Or the wider creative world. Or people’s day-to-day lives.

Steve Jobs created products that people had never even dreamed of, and was still not satisfied. A man who never said ‘that will do’. He is one of, if not the greatest product innovator of this generation, and he will rightly be remembered as a genius. It’s not just what he did for Apple that made him great, but the inspiration that he has given to others, in the industrial design world and beyond.

Thanks Steve.

“There’s an old Wayne Gretzky quote that I love. ‘I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been.’ And we’ve always tried to do that at Apple. Since the very very beginning. And we always will.”
Steve Jobs

It’s hot in London. REALLY hot. Have you noticed? I mean, it’s supposed to be Autumn, right? Look at these maniacs jumping into a river in Tyneside.

Photo: BBC

Salvaged Wood Lamp

Here is the first of Luke Lamp Co’s line of salvaged wood lamps. They recently came upon a nice bunch of salvaged hardwood decking material and after nights of tinkering this lamp design was born. Every lamp is carefully handmade and so no two are the same.

Made of four pieces of gorgeously weathered hardwood and a length of natural jute fiber rope. The main body lovingly cradles a 30 watt Edison style bulb and seated in a vintage porcelain lamp socket.

When lit this lamp glows a beautiful amber orange, which when paired with the weathered grays of the wood makes for a really nice glow that will complement any room in your house.

They make every lamp to order and for a tiny charge they are happy do custom designs or colors or lettering if you so choose!

Pil hanging lamp

Pil is a pendant lamp brought to you by New Zealand based studio Designtree.

Made with hand turned logs from New Zealand’s Southland forests, and artisan blown glass, Pil marries old-school craftsmanship with cutting-edge LED lighting technology to produce a beautifully rich sculptural piece.

“Just flick the switch when you’re looking to illuminate your life – this Pil really works!” Their words not ours.

Rhizome wooden lamp 2

“Rhizome is a visual treat. The lamp signifies emerging artistic practices that engage technology with smart and intelligent design to fabricate living entities. Designed by Piedro Maelha the lamp resembles human skeletal leg which lends it an existential appeal. Crafted from timber, the lamp has been provided with elastic tensioners to accommodate bending. The lamp’s wooden base is equipped with bearings to facilitate its rolling towards desired destination.”

Hemmesphere Lighting

“Hemmesphere showcases the concept interior design accessories of Barend Massow Hemmes, a noted designer with international influences and perspectives on interior design.”

Blumen Lantern

“A light at the heart of the house. Lantern creates an intimate atmosphere, the feeling of comfort of a small campfire. His play of shadow and light, both graphical and mysterious, invites us into a magical world.”

Andrew Berg Lamp

“Hand carved and crafted from off cuts, this red walnut base lamp features a large Edison light bulb, a silver toggle switch and a cotton power cord. As simple as it gets.”

This is my ode to such films, and the artists behind the film. The following is a list of the best Science Fiction movie poster designs from the 1920’s to today.

1927 – Metropolis

Synopsis

In a futuristic city sharply divided between the working class and the city planners, the son of the city’s mastermind falls in love with a working class prophet who predicts the coming of a savior to mediate their differences.

Poster details

Designer: Unknown (Please get in contact if you know any details)

Further details

Picture source: Jedimoonshyne9

1956 – Forbidden Planet

Synopsis

A starship crew goes to investigate the silence of a planet’s colony only to find two survivors and a deadly secret that one of them has.

Poster details

Designer: Unknown (Please get in contact if you know any details)

Further details

Picture source: IMP Awards

1957 – The Incredible Shrinking Man

Synopsis

When Scott Carey begins to shrink because of exposure to a combination of radiation and insecticide, medical science is powerless to help him.

Poster details

Designer: Reynold Brown

Further details

Picture source: IMP Awards

1968 – Barbarella

Synopsis

In the far future, a highly sexual woman is tasked with finding and stopping the evil Durand-Durand. Along the way she encounters various unusual people.

Poster details

Designer: Robert E. McGinnis

Further details

Picture source: IMP Awards

1969 – Journey to the Far Side of The Sun

Synopsis

A planet is discovered in the same orbit as Earth’s but is located on the exact opposite side of the sun, making it not visible from Earth. The European Space Exploration Council decide to send American astronaut Glenn Ross and British scientist John Kane via spaceship to explore the other planet. After a disastrous crash-landing Ross awakes to learn that Kane lies near death and that they apparently have returned to Earth, as evidenced by the presence of the Council director and his staff. Released to the custody of his wife, he soon learns things are not as they seem.

Poster details

Designer: Unknown (Please get in contact if you know any details)

Further details

Picture source: IMP Awards

1971 – A Clockwork Orange

Synopsis

Set in the 25th century, the story centers around a man and a woman who rebel against their rigidly controlled society.

Poster details

Poster artwork: Philip Castle
Designer: Bill Gold

Further details

Picture source: Verdoux

1971 – THX 1138

Synopsis

Set in the 25th century, the story centers around a man and a woman who rebel against their rigidly controlled society.

Poster details

Designer: B.D. Fox Independent

Further details

Picture source: IMP Awards

1974 – Andy Warhol’s Frankenstein

Synopsis

In Serbia, Baron Frankenstein lives with the Baroness and their two children. He dreams of a super-race, returning Serbia to its grand connections to ancient Greece. In his laboratory, assisted by Otto, he builds a desirable female body, but needs a male who will be superbody and superlover. He thinks he has found just the right brain to go with a body he’s built, but he’s made an error, taking the head of a gay aesthete. Meanwhile, the Baroness has her lusts, and she fastens on Nicholas, a friend of the dead lad. Can the Baron pull off his grand plan? He brings the two zombies together to mate. Meanwhile, Nicholas tries to free his dead friend. What about the Baron’s children

Poster details

Designer: Unknown (Please get in contact if you know any details)

Further details

Picture source: IMP Awards

1977 – Close Encounters of the Third Kind

Synopsis

After an encounter with UFOs, a line worker feels undeniably drawn to an isolated area in the wilderness where something spectacular is about to happen.

Poster details

Designer: Unknown (Please get in contact if you know any details)

Further details

Picture source: CK MacLeod Collectibles

1979 – Alien

Synopsis

A mining ship, investigating a suspected SOS, lands on a distant planet. The crew discovers some strange creatures and investigates.

Poster details

Designer: Bemis Balkind

Further details

Picture source: IMP Awards

1984 – Ghostbusters

Synopsis

Three unemployed parapsychology professors set up shop as a unique ghost removal service.

Poster details

Designer: Unknown (Please get in contact if you know any details)

Further details

Picture source: IMP Awards

1989 – The Abyss

Synopsis

A civilian diving team are enlisted to search for a lost nuclear submarine and face danger while encountering an alien aquatic species.

Poster details

Designer: Unknown (Please get in contact if you know any details)

Further details

Picture source: IMP Awards

1996 – Mars Attacks

Synopsis

The Earth is invaded by Martians with irresistible weapons and a cruel sense of humor.

Poster details

Designer: Bemis Balkind

Further details

Picture source: IMP Awards

2001 – Donnie Darko

Synopsis

A troubled teenager is plagued by visions of a large bunny rabbit that manipulates him to commit a series of crimes, after narrowly escaping a bizarre accident.

Poster details

Designer: KO Creative

Further details

Picture source: Phawker

2001 – Artificial Intelligence

Synopsis

A highly advanced robotic boy longs to become “real” so that he can regain the love of his human mother.

Poster details

Designer: Intralink Film Graphic Design

Further details

Picture source: IMP Awards

2003 – The Matrix Reloaded

Synopsis

Neo and the rebel leaders estimate that they have 72 hours until 250,000 probes discover Zion and destroy it and its inhabitants. During this, Neo must decide how he can save Trinity from a dark fate in his dreams.

Poster details

Designer: Concept Arts

Further details

Picture source: IMP Awards

2006 – Children of Men

Synopsis

In 2027, in a chaotic world in which humans can no longer procreate, a former activist agrees to help transport a miraculously pregnant woman to a sanctuary at sea, where her child’s birth may help scientists save the future of humankind.

Poster details

Designer: The Creative Partnership

Further details

Picture source: IMP Awards

2009 – District 9

Synopsis

DISTRICT 9 depicts a fictional world where extraterrestrials have become refugees in South Africa. The tension between the aliens and the humans comes to a head when an MNU field operative, Wikus van der Merwe, contracts a mysterious virus that begins changing his DNA. Wikus quickly becomes the most hunted man in the world, as well as the most valuable — he is the key to unlocking the secrets of alien technology. Ostracized and friendless, there is only one place left for him to hide: District 9.

Poster details

Designer: Ignition print

Further details

Picture source: IMP Awards

2009 – Moon

Synopsis

Astronaut Sam Bell has a quintessentially personal encounter toward the end of his three-year stint on the Moon, where he, working alongside his computer, GERTY, sends back to Earth parcels of a resource that has helped diminish our planet’s power problems.

Poster details

Designer: Cardinal Communication USA

Further details

Picture source: IMP Awards

Have I missed any good Sci Fi film posters?

Apologies for the lack of a photo of the week last Thursday. I was sipping a cocktail by a pool in Portugal. Something had to give.

To make it up to you, here’s an old Stadium favourite, Jason Evans. As well as snapping for the likes of Four Tet, Jason runs a website called The Daily Nice, which he describes as being about his ‘enthusiasm for looking and being’. Every day he posts a new photo which simply made him happy.

See more of Jason’s work here: www.jasonevans.info

This is an oldy but a goldy, the Amnesty International Hong Kong Annual Report created by TGIF.

Battersea Power Station is my favourite building in London. It dominates the skyline, with its imposing design. The Grade II listed building is also the largest brick building in Europe, and features a beautiful Art Deco interior.

This picture, by photographer Peter Dazeley, shows the control room within the building. The interior is rarely seen, but is clearly as intriguing as the outside.

www.peterdazeley.com

We love Joël Tettamanti’s photographs of Greenland. See more of Joël’s amazing work on his website, www.tettamanti.ch.

Matt took this photograph of London’s Olympic Stadium, through the window of Stour Space, where our studio is located. He was using my Canon DSLR with a new toy, a compatible Holga lens.

Traditional Holga cameras are mass-produced and are made cheaply of plastic. Their low quality lens and tendency to leak light, makes for a warm, vintage feel to your photographs. When I found out that they had started to produce lenses that could be attached to digital cameras, I had to get one. I’m looking forward to taking it out and experimenting with it this weekend.

Stadium Creative are looking for a talented junior designer/artworker.

Salary: 17k – 19k dependent on experience.

Our small team is expanding. We are looking to take on a full-time junior designer/artworker to work on a key account, as well as providing support where needed on other projects across print and digital formats.

The successful candidate will receive ongoing support from the company’s senior design staff, with a focus on learning and development, with a view to progression in the company.

The role will involve direct contact with the client, on an internationally renowned brand. The nature of the work is a fast-paced and will require an individual who can work well under pressure, and deliver consistently brilliant results.

The ideal candidate will have some experience of working in an agency or in-house environment. They will also have a love for fashion, be self-motivated, and have a disciplined attitude. They must be able to multitask and be meticulous in their working habits. Finally, they should be a quick and willing learner.

We are prepared to provide on the job training to a talented applicant, whatever their experience.

Specific requirements

• Strong Photoshop skills

• Enthusiasm for retail fashion

• Quick learner

• Organised and self-motivated

• Attention to detail

• Able to work well under pressure

• Good verbal communicator

• Adaptable

No agencies.

Apply

Abduction

See more work by Tang Yau Hoongs here

This week we were joined in the studio by recent graphic design graduate, Luisa Maraffino. As an Italian, Luisa brought some much needed sophistication to the place.

Here’s some of her work:

Luisa has now hotfooted it over to her next internship, where she will continue to gather experience and contacts, whilst she looks for the right design position to launch her career.

More of Luisa’s excellent portfolio can be viewed here.

We’d like to wish her the best of luck for what we’re sure will be a very successful career.

Crisp, clean, minimal grid based brochure design from Singapor based design practice SILNT (pronounced as si’lent).

No story behind this one, it just made us laugh.

Laura Quantrill – Fedrigoni London showroom piece

Laura Quantrill is a Derbyshire based Graphic Designer, she was asked by Fedrigoni to create a piece that showcased their range of papers. Her main aim was to encourage designers to visit and use the Fedrigoni London Showroom.

Laura created a mail out designed to promote an exhibition of classic Italian design through out the twentieth century modeled out of paper. The designs include the Vespa, Sapper Alessi kettle and Olivetti typewriter model. The mail out contained the nets for each model giving the recipient there own classic Italian design to build.

GIOVANNIRUSSOGRAFICO pop-up cards

These Elegant and Refined cards were created by Italian graphic design and marketing specialists GIOVANNIRUSSOGRAFICO. The attention to detail is immaculate. Can you work out the name and location of each buildind?

The Fedrigoni Mountains

An Installation produced for Fedrigoni designed and built by Graphic Designer Alex Ostrowski and London based Illustrator and set maker Hattie Newman. The idea was inspired by the snow-capped Dolomites surrounding Fedrigoni’s hometown of Verona. The brief was to visualise an imaginary exploration of the paper slopes.

2010 Fedrigoni calender

Last year we had a surprise visit from a Fedrigoni representative. He had dropped in to deliver us the latest Fedrigoni Calendar. Each year they re-invent their give-away calendar and each year it gets better. This years desk version draws its inspiration from Post- it notes, but radically reinvents the format.

Designed by Studio 8 and printed by Team Impression the calendar makes a practical yet design-led object suitable for any desk.

Fedrigoni London showroom posters

Posters were designed by Richard Nabarro a Manchester based Graphic Desiger. His challenge was to encourage more designers to visit and use the Fedrigoni London Showroom. In response, Fedrigoni paper, photography and digital manipulation were used extensively to create a set of posters. These designs emphasise the creative possibilities of paper.

2011 Fedrigoni Calender

Unfortunately we were a little late off the mark requesting this years Fedrigoni Calendar which means we can only judge it from the pictures. As with all print and production you can only really properly appreciate it once you get your hands on it. Saying that, I’m not sure If I like the finish as much as last years version but I’m sure you’ll agree it’s still an amazing piece of work.

This version draws its inspiration from the Matryoshka or Russian Doll. A set of Sirio Color boxes in decreasing sizes placed one inside the other.

Designed by Paul Betowski, a recent graduate from Cornwall University as part of the creative brief set by Fedrigoni UK for the YCN (Young Creative Network) Student awards.

Toby Edwards – Fedrigoni London showroom piece

Another promotional brief set by the YCN to promote the Fedrigoni London Showroom to designers. The aim: to promote the range of paper stocks that Fedrigoni produce.

This installation was designed and built by student Graphic Designer Toby Edwards. Using the event theme of ‘Tea & Biscuits’, the idea was to encourage designers to feel at ease in the space, through a traditional homely welcome. The ‘Tea & Biscuits’ identity was inspired by the shape of old biscuit tins circa 1930. The paper installation pieces are built up from the same decagon-shaped base.

Shaun Bloodworth provides our photo of the week this time around. You may have seen his work for record label/radio station Rinse FM. He’s exhibiting in London right now, along with design collaborators Give Up Art. Details below:

Rinse Presents: A Visual Retrospective – The Work of Shaun Bloodworth & Give Up Art
Location: Shop 14, Truman Brewery, Brick Lane, London
Times: Sun–Wed 11.00–20.00/Thu–Sat 11.00–22.00
Entry: FREE

www.shaunbloodworth.com

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Featured image credited to howzey

This week’s photograph appears courtesy of the incredibly talented Megan K. Eagles. See more of her work on her website, www.mkeagles.co.uk.

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We needed some beautiful pictures to fill the big blank walls in our new studio, so we looked to two of our favourite designers: Telegramme, formerly neighbours of ours in the Wick, are responsible for the posters on the left and right, whilst Bold & Noble designed the Birds Around Britain print in the middle.

This photograph depicts the moment that a leopard attacked a man in the village of Prakash Nagar, India. It mauled several people before its capture.

Photograph by AP via The Guardian

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Our new business cards have arrived, complete with foil stamped Bob Holness inspired hexagons and a gravure embossing for that extra grip. The printer had to overcome a few problems to get there, but the end result is, we think, magnificent.

Do you agree?

Our walls have changed; we are surrounding by brick and red steel, and our nostrils are treated to an incredible aroma of homemade food. We have artists, photographers, film makers, writers and a café for neighbours.

Our new studio is located in Stour Space, a creative hub in east London’s Hackney Wick. The space consists of studios (home to many creative people of varied disciplines), a gallery and the best café in London; The Counter. Yes, that’s official.

Today we moved into our new studio at Stour Space, down the road from the old place in Hackney Wick. It took a week of filling, sanding, painting and knocking down of walls, but we’re in. Photos of the finished article will follow soon…

Photo by Chris Davies

This photo was taken by a friend, who works down the road from us in the Wick. In a flash of Cartier-Bresson-esque inspiration, she captured this unbelievable shot.

It was taken on my camera, so I should get at least part of the glory, right?

Photo by Lucy Dalzell

Matt and I have just arrived back from Somerset, after taking a few days out to enjoy the sights, sounds and smells of Glastonbury Festival. This photo was a bit of an accident; I left the flash on when leaving a dark tent and stepping into the sunshine.

Photograph by Chris Davies

Shmuel Linski is an independent product and graphic designer and winner of the Solid Works award for his ‘Espresso Solo’ concrete coffee machine. His latest project is the concrete canoe ‘Orca’, which took the first place in a concrete canoe contest. You can find his personal portfolio here.

Working in Hackney Wick, in the shadow of London’s Olympic Stadium, it’s pretty hard not to be inspired by the Games (Stadium Creative anyone?). When we saw these beautiful (but sadly unofficial) posters by then student, Alan Clarke, we had to get a set. They now adorn our studio wall and remind us that the building site next door will next summer be alive with world class sport. Thanks Alan!

Peeping above the Olympic stadium, finally within eyesight of the Stadium Creative studio, is London’s newest landmark; the ArcelorMittal Orbit. It’s only around half of its final 115 metre height as we write this, but it already has an imposing presence.

Commissioned by the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, the brief was to create ‘a new iconic landmark for London’ which would give further distinction to the 2012 Olympic venue, as well as becoming an attraction in its own right, beyond the games themselves.

After a tender process in March 2010, the winning design was announced and subsequently brought to life. It’s the work of British Turner Prize winning artist, Anish Kapoor and structural designer, Cecil Balmond. They fought off competition from 50 other designers and artists, including Antony Gormley, whose 390 foot steel Olympian Man sculpture was reportedly rejected due to it’s £40m cost.

The lion’s share of the £19m cost is being covered by Steel Tycoon (and Britain’s richest man), Lakshmi Mittal, chairman of the ArcelorMittal steel company.

When completed, the Orbit will be the largest piece of public art in Britain. There will be stairs and a lift to viewing platforms at around the 80 metre mark, allowing the public to climb it and experience the sculpture in a unique way, as well as to take in the view.

The concept behind the design is an interesting one. It ‘seeks to challenge the traditional concept of a tall structure as the sculpture appears to change as the visitor moves around it or within it.’

The name’s a bit of a mouthful, but we’re sure it’s just a matter of time before Londoners come up with an affectionate nickname. Public opinion seems to be mixed, but we’re already pretty fond of the big red tower. You don’t get a unique piece of art like this built on your doorstep every day. It will doubtless be an impressive sight, from every angle.

We’re looking forward to 2012, when we can take a proper look.

We have recently completed work on our first project for worldwide charity Greenpeace.

We worked closely with the London-based team to produce this year’s ‘re-welcome’ mailer. It is produced to thank supporters for their generosity in the past 12 months and to encourage future support.

Read more about the project here.

We’ll be the first to work with Freedom From Torture following the UK charity’s rebrand earlier this year.

Formerly known as the Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture, the organisation provides rehabilitation therapy at centres nationwide. The charity changes lives much more directly than just through fundraising and has opened our eyes to a problem that shouldn’t exist in 2011.

Our work on their latest marketing materials will have the impact needed to raise further awareness.

WordPress is open source web software. It is used to create websites and blogs. With considered customisation WordPress can be a very powerful Content Management System (CMS). We use WordPress for the majority of the websites we build, to understand why, read on…

Why is WordPress good for clients:

It keeps costs down
By using tried and tested open source software web designers can cut out the arduous process of creating clients a bespoke content management system, meaning a lot of build time is saved. Less build hours = lower costs.

It’s simple to use
WordPress has been going since 2003, they are now on version 3.2.1, it has been updated hundreds of times, each update improves usability and increases site functionality. The WordPress back-end has recently been re-designed simplifying the interface and making it easier to navigate and customise.

Ranks high on search engines
WordPress has been optimised for search engines meaning you won’t have to work as hard to get your site ranking high on Google, Yahoo etc.

Speedy
It is said that 75% of people would not return to websites that took longer than 4 seconds to load, making load times an incredibly important aspect of a website. The WordPress team have spent countless hours on improving load time, meaning site visitors do not have to wait long to see the site. Which should not be ignored.

Safe and secure
WordPress maintain that security is top agenda and with that they have a team of developers consistently looking for cracks in the software plus the general WordPress community are always on hand to help find any security issues. Your site is safe and secure with WordPress so long as you keep up to date.

Why is WordPress good for web developers:

Free and open source
How can you argue with free?

WordPress themes
There are thousands of free themes ready for download, these themes can be used as reference points, most developers add notes into the code to aid other developers (great for beginners). Most themes are released with a General Public License (GNU) which means we are free to use, change and share the software as we see fit.

Plugins library
WordPress boasts a plugin library of over 15,000. A plugin acts as an extension to your website adding functionality that could otherwise take hours, days, weeks even months to develop. These plugins are free and open source, which means web designers can customise them as they see fit. A plugin can extend WordPress to do almost anything you can imagine, from capturing extensive online form data to adding the functionality needed for a fully fledged events website.

Help
There is a good community of WordPress theme developers who are always happy to share and help one another thus improving the overall WordPress theme output and keeping the standards high. WordPress also has a variety of resources including extensive documentation and a help forum.

Multisite feature
With the release of WordPress 3.0 developers can now install multiple sites on one installation of WordPress. This enables developers to edit every site they own from one central location.

To visit our Behance page click here.

Our branding work for charity Million Minutes has gained national coverage in the current issue of Design Week.

We worked closely with the charity to create their visual identity from scratch, develop their website and produce a suite of printed materials.

Million Minutes raises money for a range of youth projects in the UK.

Read the online version of the story here.
View the project here.

We think it’s going to big success, but we would be biased – we branded the charity as well as producing their website and printed materials. We’re really looking forward to seeing them grow and do some important work for young people.

Below are some snaps from the event.

View our work for Million Minutes here.
Read about our Design Week feature on our Million Minutes branding here.

Photography by Chris Davies/Tree Behrens.

We’re excited to unveil a new project that’s been keeping us up past bedtime for a few months. Porte is a collaboration with Jo Murphy, freelance writer extraordinaire.

Through the website we aim to promote, discuss and debate creative talent. We will talk to writers, illustrators, poets, photographers, designers and more, to get the stories behind the work.

We’ve already spoken to Design Week who gave us a lovely write-up on their blog. You can read it here.

To visit Porte magazine click here.