Peter Grundy

I am in love with his work. It's funny because when I did fine art, I loved the painterly techniques of the impressionists, and would carry that through to my work. But when it comes to computer aided design, I love bold colours and shape. I guess if it's done by hand, I like to SEE the hand; the work that wouldn't be the same if done by computer. And if it's done by computer, I like to see the computer's thumbprint in it, completely all computer, no sketchiness about it, bold and not pretending to be anything else than it is. Proud of how it's made. I think that's when you see a warmth in computer aided design.

I've sent him a cheeky little email. Fingers crossed for a reply.

Words of wisdom from Milton Glaser

1. You can only work for people you like.
2. If you have a choice, never have a job.
3. Some people are toxic. Avoid them.
4. Professionalism is not enough; the good is the enemy of the great
5. Less is not necessarily more
6. Style is not to be trusted
7. How you live changes your brain
8. Doubt can be as useful as confidence
9. It does not matter.
10. Tell the truth

Still Alive

... just started a new, fantabulous job at a greetings card company so not much time to blog (or not making it!) Also a new years regime of yoga, tennis and herbal teas seems to have consumed me. I'm wild, honest. Talking of my new natural health kick, I was looking through 'natural health magazine', (I'm sure it's just a phase) and found a column by Janey Lee Grace and her logo by moi. Check out my branding in use at www.imperfectlynatural.com/.

Also doing a spot of house hunting at the moment. However, I seem to be doing more hunting for things to put in my house, rather than for the house itself! I've already started a collection of screenprints by myself and others to adorn my georgian townhouse(I wish) with..

Check out these lovelies..

Tip-Ex's new viral

Never thought I would get so addicted to ordering a bear around, but it seems Tip-Ex did. Their new viral created by Parisian agency, Buzzman, is perfectly executed. Probably the most effective part is how the hunter seemingly reaches out of the video and grabs the Tip-Ex from the advert. This also happens when you type in 'Tip-pex.'

Playing around..

Mario Hugo

Stumbled across this Mario Hugo dude. I think he's pretty awesome. I have a screenprinting workshop coming up Im going to at printlondon and im thinking some hugo-inspired illustrations screen printed would go down a treat.

CHI commissioned illustrator Paul Slater and hand lettering artist Alison Carmichael to work with designers Dan Beckett and Suzie Hydon to create the ads - which all hark back to a time when advertising slogans were painted direct onto the walls of buildings in towns and cities. The idea is that this old style helps reinforce the fact that the Anchor has been producing butter since 1886 - which was the golden age of hand painted wall mural advertising.

dead good

We judge books by their covers

Currently doing a live brief for the Penguin book adult prize. Whilst looking at existing book covers, I discovered Vintage Publishing, and an amazing art director - John Gall. I love his use of 2d materials to create a 3d looking cover, with depth and space. 

The man himself said: 

' A really great cover is going to convey the essence of the book in a unique and surprising way that maybe pushes the design envelope a bit. It might even add to and enhance the editorial content of the book.'

'I’ve always been kind of interested in flat 2D space vs. representational 3d space and how to create space using 2D elements as well as negating or poking holes in space within a  3d context. When designing a cover we’re basically reworking the same 5 x 8 or 6 x 9 space over and over, so I’m always trying to arrange elements into interesting juxtapositions and trying to find some breathing room. It’s very easy to clutter up the page.' 

I like

Found this from Grafik..  

A nice poster from Binary & the Brain (http://www.binaryandthebrain.com) designed in association with BirdLife International to raise awareness of the 52 UK birds on the endangered red list...

Nick Hornby Book Cover

I photographed a real heart for the cover of Nick Hornby's '31 Songs'. 
The book is about Nick Hornby's favourite songs, and how they have affected his life. Its semi-biographical in the way he goes through his life and the significance of the songs at the time. So, in essence, it is about life and music.

Profile painting

Did this a while ago. Its pretty big, on A1 paper. I enjoy working on illustrations on a large scale. I like the painterly style with thick use of acrylic paint, much like the impressionists used to do. It goes against everything my course tells me to do, no research, no purpose, no thumbnail sketches beforehand. Just did it because I felt like it, and I kind of miss that feeling.

R.I.P McQueen

Alexander McQueen made fashion design history when he featured the first ever 3d supermodel hologram at one of his shows. Truly a genius.

Chris Cunningham's ad for Gucci

Ever-inventive director Chris Cunningham blends calm with maelstrom in this new ad he directed, shot and produced for Gucci.

MINI BIO : Chris Cunningham made his directorial debut in 1997 with the music video for "Come to Daddy" by Aphex Twin, which was instantly praised, banned, and raved about by many people in the business. He followed up by making the music video for "Windowlicker" by Aphex Twin, and the astounding "All is Full of Love" video by Björk. Recently, he made his short-film debut, "Flex,". His incredible style alone makes him a director to watch out for in later years.

-http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0192260/bio

Stop motion using post-its

1500 hours of moving lego bricks and take photos of them

http://www.designboom.com/weblog/cat/8/view/7278/bruketa-zinic-good-ideas-glow-in-the-dark.html

Branding myself. 1st attempt..

1st attempt at my own business card. 

As an illustrator, and a lover of the 'real' things in design, I tore some paper and hand-drew the logo. I copied the e from the platelet typeface, then flipped and extended it to make the g. I chose platelet originally because it looked quite like speechmarks.. not so much now though. 

I was kind of playing on my initials being eg --> egg- so filled them with a yellow 'yolk.' I don't know why, I guess it's just a bit quirky and memorable. Don't know if anyone will pick up on all that though...! 
covering letter. I like it. Don't think it will get me a job though.

Summer of 2009

Summertime. Hard to find work, so I'm doing the play hard bit instead. My mum has asked me to design a business card for her. She's a well established journalist, been editor of many magazines such as homes and gardens, but has quit her job and gone back to freelancing. Need something that will show her as established but still modern. So here goes a few ideas... 

I did these solely in Illustator

 

Drawn on 'Graffiti' application on Facebook (a bit like paint but with opacity levels)