hello

2010-10-07T14:24:00.000-07:00

Reflected by the blogs I actually bother to read, I only seem to be pleased by interior design at the moment. I liked these for being elegant and playful.

2010-05-09T06:44:00.000-07:00

Bolton Wanderers players 1939

Paper ceilings

2010-05-09T06:28:00.000-07:00

Mia Pearlman

""Fat Fringe" is a collaborative project between the Silver Lake non-profit Materials & Applications (M&A) and the design office Layer."

Esma Pacal Turam's paper chandelier.

2009-11-15T07:47:00.001-08:00

Martha Stewart.com
New fave website, especially with Christmas coming up!

Hughie O’Donoghue

2009-11-13T13:21:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow is the last day of the Hughie O’Donoghue exhibition at the Leeds Art Galley.
As much as I appreciate and try to understand art I find it pretty rare that a piece of work can stir up as much emotion as this collection does.
The pieces are a mix of photography and vigorous paint work and although they are not subtle in size the intricacies really are. The colours are subdued and and atmospheric from a distance but in one instance, closer up, a blue was electric and intense.

The idea of using collage has exploded recently, (photoshop, cough), but this work seems to kind of take on that idea and transport it back to traditional grand paintings seen in the other rooms of the gallery.

I can't pin point what it was about these paintings that made me feel so different about them, they rung nostalgia with an edge of tragedy without any tricks or distractions and I spent a long time looking at them.

2009-07-29T07:24:00.000-07:00

The past fortnight has been the easiest few weeks ever! I have had very little to do, but whilst I have been looking for a job (to no avail) I have been getting back to doing some fun crafty projects.

Less staring at a computer screen.

I keep seeing pictures of homes with walls filled with pictures and old silhouette portraits. They look super good so I made some dole friendly versions:

They worked out pretty well and I completely want to fill my walls with them. Perhaps I will move onto creating silhouettes of people I know!

A while back Matt got me a super super bird cage. It looked a little lonely and empty before, as such I filled it with fairy lights and hung it on some badly painted chain from my ceiling. I am totally worried it will fall down and bring the ceiling with it, but it looks great in the dark.

Plus today I made some macaroons. They came out OK but not exactly up to scratch. Perhaps it is because I omitted the almond? I bloody hate almonds. Anyway, I made my own Lauduree style box to put them in, so if my dad is in he might get an extra birthday present.

hi

2009-04-28T11:44:00.000-07:00

SO tired & headachey.

Stumbled across the work of Shannon Freshwater

Super scary but intriguing portraits, they remind me of those 70's pictures of women where the colours are really enhanced, (i forget what they're called).

I can totally appreciate these images, making something so surreal look somewhat understandable, and the skill involved in both the crafting of the painting and making something so unsettling.

Wouldn't want it on my wall though!

Also helped out with interviewing people for the course today. I could totally empathize with them because of how nervy I get with such things. It was good to look at an interview with the opposite perspective though, it made me think about how to conduct myself in such situations and I guess recognizing my own strengths and weaknesses in other people's.

Interiors

2009-03-27T05:44:00.000-07:00

I am enjoying more before / after interiors at design*sponge

On the same vein I badly want this poster:
The original cover design for the book "les enfants terribles' by Jean Cocteau. Drawn by the author himself, the book is littered throughout with these fluid basic drawings which just seem to go with the book's atmosphere.

It is avaliable from the V&A shop for £15!

There are more classic covers for the same price:

10 Reasons You Should Never Get a Job

2009-03-27T05:37:00.000-07:00

I am enjoying many of the articles on stevepavlina.com particularly this:

10 Reasons You Should Never Get a Job

"Look around you. Really look. What do you see? Are these the surroundings of a free human being? Or are you living in a cage for unconscious animals? Have you fallen in love with the color beige?"

Obamas to Plant Vegetable Garden at White House

2009-03-27T05:36:00.001-07:00

via nytimes

I wish I had an extensive veg garden too!

Packaging lights.

2009-03-27T05:30:00.000-07:00

I enjoy the idea of being able to transform rubbish and the old into the new, but to be honest I find that it is rarely done well or totally surpasses the point of rubbish.
But these lights by Anke Weiss are totally beautiful! Originally biscuit boxes then pin-pricked around the graphics to allow the light to get through.

Great idea, perhaps a bit strange with the lights on though!

2009-03-13T07:55:00.001-07:00

Craft project!

M (att) E (l)

2009-03-05T09:12:00.000-08:00

New idea for personal branding images...
Jane said that there was too much of a difference between my work and the image i had set out for myself. I thought that the mountain drawing i did for one of the tape covers would lend itself well to a header image .

Also no 'yellow and black' which says DANGER instead a nice calm and collected green.

Small Stakes interview

2009-03-04T14:01:00.000-08:00

Interview with Jason Munn of The Small Stakes whose work I think is wonderful!

Wowee

2009-03-03T01:28:00.000-08:00

'Silent World' by Michael Kenna. These photographs are amazing!

They have such a dreamlike quality to them, such as the ones in the forest, then the photographs showing the towers seem to turn into nightmares. The contrast in the two tones is also really something, I can't imagine them working so effectively with colour.

business cards

2009-02-28T11:02:00.000-08:00

Couple more ideas...

2009-02-16T06:48:00.003-08:00

I have been considering further study for 2010. There is no way I could apply for it now, or afford to put myself through it. From looking at the Leeds Uni website they have a little bit of information about funding:
http://scholarships.leeds.ac.uk/viewpgResults.aspx

but this is something I would need to look into. If i went down this route I would have to get a job for a year and save up to do it.
I am also unsure was to which course I would do. I would quite like to study something with a little more academic value if I could.

http://www.leeds.ac.uk/students/index.htm

I guess it also depends upon my results so maybe it is bet planning my time out like this.

2009-02-16T06:48:00.001-08:00

Missed the graduate careers fair at the uni, but i think they have one in summer too:
http://www.careerweb.leeds.ac.uk/students/whatweoffer06/events/fairs/companiesattending.asp

2009-02-16T06:47:00.001-08:00

business cards

2009-02-02T03:35:00.000-08:00

come up with an idea for the business cards:
testing it out:

Leeds Discovery Centre

2009-01-19T07:26:00.000-08:00

On Friday I went to Leeds Discovery Centre. I didn't know what this involved, but my friend sorted it out and booked us in for a tour. After a good roam around town trying to find it, we finally 'discovered' it next to The royal Armouries.

You can find out more about it here.
It is basically a temperature controlled storage space for items not in Leeds's museums and galleries. There is a lot of weird stuff there. I wanted the plastic giant squid that was hanging from the ceiling!

I wish I had known about it before hand. Especially for the collections project last year. You can book time to spend drawing objects in the centre as well!

Another business card post...

2009-01-11T15:35:00.001-08:00

tired. but before I forget...

another countdown/up business card list

Porfolio book.

2009-01-08T04:23:00.000-08:00

I also really like the idea of a portfolio book. Whether something to have at an exhibition when only a small number of pieces is shown or to slip into my portfolio / keep with me.
I have found a number of nicely designed books that would lend their design well to this purpose:

Portfolio/'self promotion'

2009-01-08T04:03:00.000-08:00

I pretty much hate the idea of business cards. For some reason, to me, it seems slightly egotistic to have them never mind give them out. It is like by having them I think I am good enough to have them.

Despite this personal battle, I have noticed a few pretty good ideas for business cards. AND it is something to think about having for the final exhibition.

SpoonGraphics have written a tutorial on creating a business card ready for print.

Fubiz
did a blog post entitles "70 Amazing Business Cards" There were so many great concepts, here are some of my faves:

I love the great shapes and the peel back cards, but I know that these would be expensive to create. I also love the scratch off surface, I have long been a bit into scratch off stickers and these would be much easier to create and put onto a cheaply produced card to make it more interesting and interactive.

The Selby

2009-01-07T05:25:00.000-08:00

The Selby is a sort of photo blog that snoops inside the homes of the famous/trashy/talented. And while some homes are carefully contrived, it is hard to keep that up forever and so most of the images are really interesting, eclectic and revealing.

... the photos are well taken too!

2009-01-05T09:12:00.000-08:00

I am more than worried about what I am going to do when I leave the (mostly) comfortable bubble that is my degree. Especially considering the amount of friends finding it difficult to get jobs and/or being made redundant.

Creativepool has some tips on making a good portfolio.

They also have a lot of advice for interviews and interview techniques

2008-12-23T07:07:00.000-08:00

Swiss posters

Share

Lists . ..

2008-12-23T07:04:00.000-08:00

The History of Visual Communications

Thinking with type

Resources

How To

2008-12-23T07:01:00.001-08:00

NOTE TO SELF:
http://www.9031.com/downloads/screensavers.html

Super sweet flip-style clock screensaver. For Macs too!

Website.

2008-12-23T06:02:00.000-08:00

Whilst suffering badly from a tooth infection & the prospect of a painful Xmas, I have been attempting to distract myself by making bunting & updating my website.

www.eleanorwoodburn.co.uk

I have added a couple of the videos completed as part of my last project, & the club flyers to the illustration section.

x

2008-12-07T11:07:00.000-08:00

Sophia Coppola did a lovely little advert for a Dior perfume. Totally reminiscent of Virgin Suicides dreamy look with pastel colours. It makes me want it to be summer again.

Also, no awful speaking parts / narration (cough chanel no.5)

2008-12-06T15:32:00.001-08:00

GO AWAY MATT J

2008-11-17T06:59:00.000-08:00

What happened to photo booths that let you take 4 different photos. :(
let alone black and white ones!

(via found)

2008-11-17T06:03:00.001-08:00

I am getting over the whole sleeveface phenomenon, in favour of this:

win? win.

fresh font!

2008-11-17T06:00:00.000-08:00

Toothpast type found here

a little disappointed when i realised it wasn't candy canes, but none the less!

hair.

2008-11-17T05:47:00.001-08:00

Also from www.booooooom.com Emily Wong's hair drawings:

These drawings are so night and precise. I guess hair is something truly personal yet a controlled form of self expression and I probably would've been able to recognise Jenny Lewis's hair.

Encouragement Project

2008-11-17T05:45:00.000-08:00

Encouragement postcard taken from the 'Encouragement Project'

remember!

Wild Combination

2008-11-15T03:49:00.001-08:00

Went to see 'Wild Combination: A Portrait Of Arthur Russel' as part of the Leeds Film Festival.

The film show clips from Arthur Russel's life, mainly footage that documents his music. And commentary from friends, family and other musicians influenced by him.
It was created by director Matt Wolf and I thought it was a really insightful look at his life and music. He manages to piece together sound clips of his music with perfectly matching visuals which was a hard feat considering the variety of the music Russel produced.

i am trying to break your heart

2008-11-15T03:37:00.000-08:00

Hi!
I saw the Wilco documentary 'I Am Trying To Break Your Heart' recently:

The opening credits are super good and totally empathetic to the song and the general feeling of the film:

They made a good decision to make the film in black and white, it doesn't seem forced at all and there are some really nice bits of filming and you actually get to hear whole songs, which you should. The only annoying part of the film is the editing, which is totally leading to the point where it's a little bit embarrassing, e.g. the frozen shot of jay bennett waving, when he was about to leave the band, these parts sort of undermimed the film and made it feel like a bit of a soap.
Good watch though, great album.
(not as good as dig!)

2008-11-06T04:29:00.001-08:00

found this animation somewhere. Can't remember where.it's by someone called
kate jessop. Reminds me a bit of the animation I did for the collection project last year. has a totally nostalgic feeling to it.

Right, I have to go collect dreambike!

e-motions

2008-10-28T03:06:00.000-07:00

By artist Tania Falcao e-motions explores how expressions and emotions can be shownin minimal 2-d faces. I think the idea is so simple and the animating is seamless. The result is something slightly surreal a little bit weird, but I love it.

The Hidden Cost of War

2008-10-28T02:39:00.001-07:00

The Hidden Cost of War is an animation by artists Matt Owens , MacKenzie Fegan, Andrew Bouvé, Rus Garofalo, Michael Schaubach, Lindsay Utz, Morgan Currie & Jason Bishop.
I love how simple it appears, with the 4 colours and simple lines and shapes, but it is actually quite detailed and clever. Each part of the animation links to the other with perfect editing. I like the style of the editing, with the speeded / zoomed up parts. The animation itself is all curved 'friendly' edges, and is a really good way to communicate something that isn't so friendly. The 'cost of war' content is displayed in an easy to listen / read way, but it is easy to digest.

Of Montreal - Skeletal Lamping.

2008-10-27T09:11:00.001-07:00

There has been lots of talk of the rise of digital music and how it is going to wipe out traditional, physical music sales. The sort of 'counter-balance' to this has been the importance http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifof the physical media, especially it's design and artwork. Is a really great website that totally reiterates this sentiment. Documenting the best in vinyl/cd packaging.
I especially like this Karftwerk packaging:

What's so great to me is that something like this is not all that expensive to create. Binning the traditional card sleeve for the transparent plastic is hardly extravagant and I think the design is particularly sympathetic to the vinyl format because most people that buy records favour it for so many ways, including it's aesthetic , to cds.

Of Montreal always create interesting artwork to accompany their releases. Their newest record especially.

'Skeletal Lamping' has been released in various formats. Taking advantage of the rise of the digital album, they have offered it in the form of wall decals, shirts, lanterns among others, with the digital download included.
The cd is also packaged well. The album has a cut-out front, and the insides fold out and collapse to reveal hidden artwork:

I think more artists should focus on the art if they want to ensure people pay for the music they're listening to. If a record isn't a nice object to have, people won't pay out for it.

Flat Life

2008-10-27T09:03:00.000-07:00

Recently got internet at my house . . .yay!

Went to various things at light night 2008. All very disappointing, not anything to write about.

I am enjoying the posters from here by an artist called Finn Magee. Particularly those created for the project 'Flat Space':

The second image was created for a show at the London Design Museum:
"Flat Life project at the Designers in Residence exhibition, Design Museum, London.
I was commissioned to develop the posters along the theme of designers in residence.
I wanted the installation to be an advertisement for the product. The light is ‘unpacked’ and the clock is ‘hung’ at the gallery entrance."

The posters have LED lights in them to created the 'light' effect. I like these posters for how modern they are and their surrealist aspect, I think the idea of 'flat object posters' could be continued extensively.

American Apparel.

2008-05-14T07:36:00.000-07:00

I think everyone's pretty bored of American Apparel's near pornographic modeling / selling tactics.

Apparently "Jedediah Johnson" is too!

. . and thus created a kind of American Apparel 'who done it'.
But who wouldn't really.

Thobias Faldt

2008-05-14T07:05:00.000-07:00

Thobias Faldt is a photographer, living and working in Sweden.
His photographs are all very stark and pale with extra strong lighting. Even the photos he has taken at night seem to radiate this kind of bright and clear quality to them.

A lot of his photos are very day to day, rather than manipulated set - ups. The presence of people under such intense, stylised lighting does remind me of the work of Ryan McGinley, like the image directly below.

Lucy & Bart

2008-05-14T06:34:00.000-07:00

Lucy and Bart (click)
"is a collaboration between Lucy McRae and Bart Hess described as an instinctual stalking of fashion, architecture, performance and the body. They share a fascination with genetic manipulation and beauty expression. Unconsciously their work touches upon these themes, however it is not their intention to communicate this. They work in a primitive and limitless way creating future human shapes, blindly discovering low – tech prosthetic ways for human enhancement."

I love this work, the materials they use are really tangible and lo-fi, yet even with the abundance of these materials they have worked them in a really inventive and innovative way! I also think the images of their work add a new dimension to their pieces. A lot of the images mimic fashion photography, yet they manage to make some slightly grotesque figures look beautiful through this! I guess it would be easy to make links between this and the nature of modeling and things like that, but the colours and materials keep some of the images on lighter ground.

I really like how do-able this is, and how it is such a great concept, that's been captured so well.

You should totally check their website, even if it's just for the first page which lets you make an amalgamation between the two of them.

Rekkids

2008-05-12T12:59:00.000-07:00

You can do a lot with old records, the obvious record bowl:

Record Clocks:

(of which I think my white d.i.y rhinestone studded one is better)

But record hats?!!

A little bit insane no?

Nylon

2008-05-12T12:58:00.001-07:00

Last week Matt caught me "looking at shoes" in the library. I kind of wasn't I was looking at this article in Nylon:

I guess it is kind of weird bringing old indie - comic book based films into focus again, when writing articles for teens, and the article itself is kind of embarrassing and not well researched!
Anyway, the whole Enid resurgence is probably down to Luella Bartley, with her more sophis cartoon geek look:

I love Luella, unlike most designer wear she takes a lot of risks in her designs and offers something more interesting, not to mention for less expense.

Nicola Starr

2008-05-12T12:24:00.000-07:00

on another blog and I had a look at her site and I particularly like the series "Catcher in the Rye"

I saw the work of Nicola Starr

I basically love the book and it seems Starr has taken ideas from the book along with excerpts and shown a kind of visual response to them. A lot like the brief I set myself for my illustration elective.
I think her responses are perfect, witty and imaginative just like the book itself. I think they give a good sense of the setting of the book and although they are obviously collage, she has manipulated the images well, to create a really individual look, which i think can sometimes be difficult to do when working with found imagery.
The mix of the images, string and then the start red works great to add this flair.

political fashion

2008-05-12T12:10:00.000-07:00

A project of 'ShowStudio' 'Political Fashion' for the last couple of months has involved particular designers and prominent people in the fash world to make a video about their political beliefs. Some are completely bizarre and others like the victor and rolf vid, seem devoid of any point whatsoever.

Thomas Doyle

2008-05-12T12:01:00.000-07:00

Recently I found some work by the artist Thomas Doyle his art involves miniature figures and small scale scenes.
There is a lot of mini people using at the moment, what with the cravendale adds and the channel 4 splashes, but unlike them these are much more dramatic, and encapsulated, within glass domes,or set out like dioramas.

This piece is called 'acceptable losses' and it's perfectly executed. I think that the small scale of it, lets you look at the piece better just as a whole. So perhaps bigger isn't always better!

These images are from a piece called 'The reprisal' Which again is shown in it's little bubble.
lovely!

Flight of the Conchords

2008-05-12T11:54:00.000-07:00

So I love the Flight of the Conchords anyway, and whilst I haven't bought their new cd yet, I have seen lots of great images of the packaging. I think the aesthetic reflects them perfectly and cd/record design is so important now that all anyone does is rip music off the internet. I mean, they have to make them anyway, so they may as well be interesting!
I like how detailed it is, how even the backs of them has been drawn on, the colours and style are light hearted and modern and mirror what theyre all about.
it's great.

Sandy Skoglund

2008-05-12T11:42:00.000-07:00

I found some work by Sandy Skoglund today and he makes the most wonderfully bold, surrealist images.

The second image reminds me of the film 'delicatessen' where you see the man with all hi snails.
I love the greyness of it all, mixed up with these florescent cats!

The first is just so vivid, with the contrasting blue and orange, there's something so dreamlike and perfect with it. The blacks really give it the depth of an 'underwater' image. The room itself reminds me of Rachel Whiteread's casts, all one colour, detailing and all.

HENNIE HAWORTH

2008-05-05T15:46:00.000-07:00

Hennie Haworth is a freelance illustrator based in London. Her illustrations have a kind of naïve quality to them which is very much popular at the moment. I think what takes her work to the next level is that she places many of her illustrations together to form what she calls ‘diagrams’. Some of these show made up machines, which look like children’s projects.
I like the way that her images show how some of these things are linked together to create these ‘diagrams’ and often they show and emphasise movement within these. I think the way that some of these images appear to be half finished again support this idea of movement, as if they have been created quickly to show something as fast.

I like the science element to the images, but how the style detracts a little from this and make them more playful. I also like the colours used and the textures created by the media chosen to draw the images.

oliver jeffers

2008-05-05T10:29:00.001-07:00

Oliver Jeffers includes scientific elements into his work in a subtle yet focussed way. Often in the form of equations, aesthetically they may not make any sense to the piece, but sometimes when the title is revealed, somehow, the communication seems clear. It is like Jeffers is holding something back, so when we first look at his work it is purely for it’s aesthetic quality, then we get to comprehend it through further investigation.
This leads me to thinking, do we always need to understand work to appreciate it? Does all work have a message and if so, does it really need to be so clear?
For some illustrations for example comic books, yes, they need to be easily read, but they are often backed up by ongoing narrative. At other times, it is nice to have image for images sake, and more enigmatic meanings are nice, in the way that meaning can be taken from pieces in various form, personal to the audience.

"POPULATION OF THE WORLD AT LAST COUNT"

Eagle Vs Shark

2008-04-13T10:53:00.000-07:00

I saw Eagle Vs Shark the other day, mainly because the main character (Jermaine Clement) is also in Flight of the Conchords. Yay.
Basically his character, Jarrod is an older, New Zealand, less likable version of Napoleon Dynamite. Eagle Vs Shark tells the story of two social outsiders, getting together and drawing a line under school bullies.

I loved their fancy dress! I think even though it is a tale that we have heard a million times before, there are numerous individualistic details that save the film from just being an 'indie-off-beat-romance' homage: Bowie songs, little animated apple cores, side-burns, shell suits and shark costumes. I thought the film was pretty good, even if you want to kick the characters occasionally.

Son of Rambow

2008-04-13T10:25:00.000-07:00

I went to see the Son Of Rambow yesterday. It was very very good! Basically, as a Bretherin who is not allowed to watch tv, Will meets Carter, and then sees his illegal copy of Rambo. For a competition they decide to make their film 'son of rambow' and will is the stuntman. The film basically highlights the problems of growing up and friendship.
I particularly liked when will imagined his role as the 'son of rambow'and we saw the naively animated scenes, with the chains and 'movement marks' I think they fit very well with the drawings that Will had done and also with the time in which the movie was set, mid-80s. I especially liked how everyone in the 6th form was a new romantic.
Ace.

Eric Anderson

2008-04-13T10:01:00.000-07:00

Eric Anderson is the brother of Wes Anderson. Until recently I didn't realise that it was Eric who created a lot of the illustrations that feature in Wes's films.
Eric's work is featured most in the film, The Royal Tenenbaums. He helped visualise the set, and when i was watching the extras on the dvd, I learned that he has illustrated a lot of the wallpaper that was put up in the various rooms in the house! He also illustrated the portraits of Margot Tenenbaum that were created by 'Richie Tenenbaum' in the film.

You can see the wallpaper in this frame:

I am so impressed at the amount of detail in the films. They have gotten me thinking about my film. I really think that little details like this really adds to the character of the film, making it more believable and easier to slip into just accepting it. I think they also help to say a lot about the character, and whilst they may be slight exaggerations, it is after all a film!
Whilst I don't have the money or the time to be doing up my sets, it doesn't mean that I can ignore them. I intend to create pieces to hang on the walls of my characters room, and really take into account what little i can do that will add to the overall feel of the story.

Tom Gauld

2008-04-09T02:49:00.000-07:00

Tom Gauld is a Scottish cartoonist / illustrator. Much of his work includes very detailed textures, often in monotone. His work has been used for multiple book covers and he has a weekly cartoon in the Guardian Newspaper.

His pictures are often quite minimal, the dark and light draws attention to the subject matter. His images are dryly humorous. All of his marks are totally detailed and precise and within his pictures he manages to make them different.

His pictures often contain few words, as they manage to be self-explanatory purely through the visuals. There are however, lots of reoccurring themes that carry through his images, particularly monsters / mechanical beings and astronauts. His images are often surreal and a modern take on these widely used themes.

Gauld recently published some of his work in a series of mini comics; in each set were two sequential comics and one book. I think that the nature and characteristics of his work suits this format completely! I think Gauld shows just how much detail you can achieve through limited space.

Jacques Henri Lartigue

2008-04-06T15:16:00.000-07:00

Jacques Henri Lartigue (June 13, 1894 - September 12, 1986) was a French photographer and painter, whose photos seem especially before their time. Non-composed compared to the rigidity of other photographs of his era, his photos had a great sense of movement and spontaneity. Lartique started taking photographs when he was 6 and his photographs seem to have soaked in his childlike experience of his surroundings. There certainly seems a degree of glee and romance within his photos, but all the subjects remain dignified with a retained elegance. Over composed / planned photos just seem ridiculous in comparison to these, the monotone palette outwarms full colour completely!

Prim mag.

2008-04-03T14:43:00.000-07:00

Prim Magazine is an online mag, in the vein of neet magazine. Pretty obviously aimed at youngish 'indie' types, I think it could be onto something. The layout design needs to be sorted out a little, but for a fundamentally basic d.i.y. magazine I think it's been done well. I think we may be getting bored of all the cynical / crass vice copies soon enough, and there's no reason we can't try sincere attempts at niche interests instead.
(Also I think publishing it on the web was the best way to collect their audience)

Reading List:

2008-03-31T03:16:00.001-07:00

July, M. (2007) "No One Belongs Here More Than You" Edinburgh. Canongate Books Ltd.

Wilde, O (1988) "Wilde, The Complete Plays" GB. Cox & Wyman.

Janfamily, (2005) "Plans for Other Days" London. Booth-Clibborn Editions.

Berger, J. (1969) "Art and Revolution" London. Writers and Readers.

Buszek, M. (2006) "Pin-up Grrrls: Feminism Sexuality, Popular Culture" GB. Duke University Press.

Gabor, M. (1976) "Pin-Up, A Modest History" London, Macmillan Press.

Ehmann, S, Hubner, M & Klanten, R. (2007) "Tactile: High Touch Visuals" Die Gestalten Verlag.

Perr, M. (2007) "Hand Job: A Catalog of Type" Princeton Architectural Press.

Ryan, R (2007) "This Is for You" London. Sceptre.

Tomine, A. (2007) "Shortcomings" London. Faber and Faber.

Anderson, W. (1999) "Rushmore: Screenplay" London. Faber and Faber.

Anderson, W & Wilson, O. (2002) "The Royal Tenenbaums: Screenplay" London. Faber and Faber.

Mulvey, L. (1989) "Visual and Other Pleasures: Collected Writings" London. Palgrave Macmillan.

Doane, M. (1999) "Femmes Fatales: Feminism, Film Studies and Psychoanalysis" London. Routledge.

Barthes, R. (New ed. 1993[1973]) "Mythologies" London. Vintage.

Duncombe, S. (1997) "Notes from Underground: Zines and the Politics of Alternative Culture" Verso Books.

Himpe. T. (2006) "Advertising is dead. Long live advertising!" Thames & Hudson, London.

Fletcher, A. (2001) "The Art of Looking Sideways" London. Phaidon Press.

Shaughnessy, A. (2005) "How to Be a Graphic Designer, Without Losing Your Soul" London. Princeton Architectural Press.

Coupland, D. (1992) "Generation X" London. Saint Martin's Press Inc.

Clowes, D. (2006) "Art School Confidential" Fantagraphics.

Clowes, D. (2002) "David Boring" Johnathan Cape.

Swinton, T (Author), Mills, M (Editor) & McGinley, R (Illustrator). (2005) "Thumbsucker: Photography from the Film by Mike Mills" Iconoclast Press.

Noble, I & Bestley, R. (2005) "Visual Research: An Introduction To Research Methodologies In Graphic Design" AVA Publishing.

Lupton, E. (2006) "Design It Yourself" London. Princeton Architectural Press.

Salinger, JD (1964) "Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters: Seymour, an Introduction" England. Clays LTD.

Baines, P. (2005) "Penguin By Design" Allen Lane.

Wig-01. (2004) "Graphic Poetry" London. Victionary.

Solana, G & Boneu, A. (2007) "The Art of the Title Sequence: Film Graphics in Motion" London. Collins Design.

Gravett, P, Mahony, E & Pace, K. (2007) "Cult Fiction: Art and Comics" GB. Hayward Gallery Publishing.

Gauld, T. (2006) "Three Very Small Comics Vol: 2"

Hyland, A (Ed) (2006) "The Picture Book" Laurence King Publishing.

Fabor, L & Walters, H. (2004) "Animation Unlimited: Innovative Short Films Since 1940" Laurence King Publishing.

Exhibition List:

2008-03-31T03:14:00.000-07:00

Cult Fiction Art and Comics, Leeds City Art Gallery. (9/10/2007)

Thomas Schutte, Henry Moore Institute, Leeds. (9/10/2007)

Light Night, Leeds. (12/10/2007)
-Leeds Metropolitan Gallery, “A couple lie in bed all night, remembering and singing every song they know”.
-“Aglow. “Exp 24 presents an evening of historic visionary film””

Aurora Film and Animation Festival, Norwich. (7-11/11/2007)

Leeds International Film Festival. (7-18/11/2007)
- Darjeeling Limited (Preview)

The Quay Brother's Installation, Leeds City Art Gallery (10/01/2008)

The Northern Art Prize, Leeds City Art Gallery. (18/01/2008)

Photography Prize 2008, The Photographers Gallery, London. (12/02/2008)

Evolution 2008, Leeds. (23 -24/05/08)
- Presentation: The Loud Objects
- Presentation: Michaela Grill
- Installation: Jennifer West
- Installation: Iris Garrelfs
- Performance: Murcof

Emmanuel Polanco

2008-03-23T08:43:00.000-07:00

I found some new work by Emmanuel Polanco. I first saw his work in 'Illustration Now' and I have loved it ever since. I find him to be an important influence upon a lot of my collage work, his work taught me that collage can have very graphical aspects to it.

So in relation to one of mine:

I am able to create solid lines with coffee, and the graphic patterns of the inside of envelopes appearing in the collages. I loved doing these, even though I always thought I hated collage! as I haven't done any for a while I am hoping this will be something I could explore within my Illustration elective which is coming up after the holidays.
For me, I think collage is even more relevant as a way to merge my taste for traditional animation, illustration and photography.

Joe Sacco

2008-03-23T06:45:00.000-07:00

JOE SACCO
Joe Sacco is a Maltese comics artist. His work, although in the comics genre, often has journalistic and reportage elements to it.

His book “Palestine” is a result of his travels to Palestine and Isreal, it is a collection of short and long stories that he came across in his time there.
I think his work is so interesting, because it completely contrasts the common misconception and stereotypes surrounding Comics and Graphic Novels. It proves that you can use non-traditional formats to explore profound issues. I think something like this could actually make such subjects more accessible for people. In this respect, Joe Sacco is completely unique in his work.

Sacco’s work is realistic and true to the subjects and stories he is covering, I think this again, is another important distinction between his work and the pre-conceived ideas surrounding comic books.

Sacoo also illustrates ‘American Splendor’, Harvey Pekar’s long running comic series. Which gives him the opportunity to escape from the harsh realist world of his own comics.

2-d 3-d

2008-03-22T10:53:00.000-07:00

I found this image by Jan-Frederic Goltz on his website.

I love images that seems to create shapely forms within 2-d, especially forms that cannot be named, therefore seeming harder to achieve! Contour lines on maps things like that.

And of course this would include:

Whilst this apparently "presents exactly 100 successive pulses from the first pulsar discovered" the lines certainly create this rippling 3-d form.

I do wonder is the first piece would achieve the same effect in black and white. I think perhaps at some point all our brash vector images are going to start to look far too passe. In comparison, the Joy Division Unknown Pleasures Album artwork is timeless, it still looks very modern now and is somewhat a mediocre between the contour lines and the coloured work.

Be Kind Rewind.

2008-03-22T10:36:00.000-07:00

I saw Be Kind Rewind at the cinema not so long ago, despite rumours that it wasn't very good. If we are reviewing and receiving it as a Michel Gondry film then yes, it isn't perhaps the sort of thing you would expect: the narrative flows in the traditional sense, the idea (whilst unlikely) isn't too far out to get your head around, or just appreciate for the comedic value. Whilst I love The Science of Sleep and Eternal Sunshine, when I sit down to watch these films with other people I feel a little apprehensive about it, I like them so much and I want other to like them too, but there is a very good chance it wont happen. In essence this is a film for people that don't like Michel Gondry films, I think most people will enjoy it and yes, it all ends a little too emotionally for my liking, but there are some redeeming qualities running throughout, the scene where they are shooting the film and people are dancing in the exposed rooms of a house = inspired! & the re-shooting of the Men In Black upside down car scene is something I certainly want to steal at some point. So it isn't going to be in most people's top films list, but just because you're used to something a little more, don't dismiss it completely!

"The Decapitator"

2008-03-13T09:54:00.000-07:00

"Rad Fangorian guerilla art from The Decapitator, a UK-based street artist/culture-jammer known for graphically severing the heads displayed on major advertising media and reducing them to bloody, bony stumps.

His latest efforts include a foray into newsprint, having hijacked the London Paper’s back page Motorola ad and distributing it both by hand and via the distributor’s supply. The event was even documented for prosperity, here.

Originally found on either cpluv or ffffound, it’s seems the East London Decapitator’s work has been getting around."

From www.strangebeautiful.net

There is a flickr dedicated to his subversions here

but guess who?

Something different when it comes to advert subversions anyway, I was getting kind of sick of so-called witty responses to advert tag lines. Keeps it playful, something consistent and takes the place of numerous words.

Randoms

2008-03-13T09:43:00.000-07:00

Another random image. But I have been seeing a lot of typographic projects looking a little like this lately. It's nice though. I think I am slightly afraid of colour in graphic contexts, but the idea of a gradient of colour works real well.

---------------------------------------

This is one i a set of Adverts for Luxor Highlighters, there are a number of other faces including Charlie Chaplin, but this seems to work the best. Traditional media that works simply because of a great concept, it seems so simple when you see it, but hard to reach.
(via http://adsoftheworld.com/media/print/luxor_highlighters_chaplin)

Stitch

2008-03-13T09:38:00.000-07:00

I found this image in the bloggosphere somewhere, I think it was for an exhibition similar to the 'subversive stitch' exhibitions. Anyway, it caught my attention as something grapically strong, yet created with traditional technique. It reminds me a lot of the duvet set i stitched in foundation, the idea of using sewing in a modern way, i like!

2008-03-02T14:55:00.000-08:00

I have had little time to think because of the busy competition project so I still really don't know what I want to do for the next brief, all the ones we were shown were totally uninspiring and / or had a bad rep.
I have an idea for a film but I really don't know if my heart's in it, generally I just don't know what to do.

Short film by ShowStudio

2008-02-27T07:16:00.000-08:00

Short film by ShowStudio for CFDA Awards 2007 Starring Agyness Deyn.

I guess i like all the strange shapes pulled at the beginning, and then the gradual cuts that make the shapes seem ever more awkward, more eye trickery!

Trompe-l'œil

2008-02-24T14:07:00.000-08:00

Trompe-l'œil, french for 'trick of the eye' involves art that appears real through optical trickery!
I recently found some images of chalk-art trompe-l'œil, in particular those by the artist Julian Beever.

There are lots more on his site. Some need double takes to realise they're not photoshopped, and in a world where everyone can bloody photoshop pictures like this, people who can still manage this trompe-l'œil effect by hand should be celebrated!

pin-up, a modest history.

2008-02-24T13:23:00.000-08:00

I have just finished reading this book:

"Pin-Up, A Modest History" by Mark Gabor.

This book documents the trials and tribulations of the pin-up as we know her. Despite its fleeting (war time) moments, as an empowering image of womens liberation, the pin-up, more often than not, simply subscribes to patriarchal female stereotypes, objectifying women for male digestion. It seems odd to me, that we are still, portraying these stereotypes, especially in advertising, despite the controversy surrounding them. I find most adverts created for females insulting and often patronising, without mentioning house work, shopping and the colour pink, it seems they can't find any other way to talk to females.

Tactile

2008-02-24T13:15:00.000-08:00

My housemate recently came home with this book, Tactile:

and what a lovely book it is! I remember wanting to get it, due to the enormous amount of pixelgarten work there is in it (as a long term favourites lister) and everything else within it is just as lovely.
One of the pieces which had people cut outs looked like a more contemporary version of my little film 'a dangerous memory' and i pretty much dig everything in this book.

Now i have an urge to create paper organs to spread accross rooms and cardboard scrabble letters.
It's wonderful to see how far paper can be stretched and molded and how such modern pieces can be created from a traditional material. I also like the element of 'craft' and the graphic looking pieces they have achieved, two things which don't often fuse together.
Maybe in my next piece of 2-d poster work, i could consider creating something physical and as surprising as these instead.

Myriad Harbor

2008-02-23T13:20:00.000-08:00

I have been a bit obsessed with this song since christmas, and when i saw this video for it (about a month ago) i got even more excited!
I love the whole aesthetic quality to it, the bright colours, the nice textures and the style of all the illustrations. I love the 2-d ness of the clothes, mixed with the real dimensional qualities of the faces, everything seems to go with the song so well.
The movement is also something unique within itself, and how parts of the characters seem to move with it, is just genious. i love the way the singers hair individually move as he does, as if he were underwater.

I guess in parts it reminds me of the emergency evacuation cards on airplanes, the colours and the thick outlines.

It's really surreal and inspiring to see something so new looking, not appearing so digitally jaded, everything is kept fresh, experimental, definately surreal and true to such a good bands ethos.

i like!

The Small Print Book

2008-02-23T13:13:00.000-08:00

"The Small Print is an on-going exploration in creating lots of tiny things. Each design is meant to be reproduced small (no larger than 6x6") and are meant to only focus around communicating one idea."

There are some really nice images from this book, for some reason i think a lot of images look better and more intricate on a much smaller scale,

There is a really, naive quality to most of the images, with hint of professional touches! Because they are working on such a small scale there seems to be a focus upon graphically bold images, exagerrated textures and contrasting colours, with the bold aesthetic common amongst all the pictures despite how different the content may be. Each image is different, amusing, with various styles used, and i could imagine them being used for printed band posters and record sleeves. I think what keeps the images interesting is the differences between them, and what binds them together, being the key qualities they have in common.

(why am i not seeing tegan and sara now :( )

free range workers

2008-02-23T11:56:00.000-08:00

I like this 'free range workers' image from http://www.usdesignstudio.co.uk/
it is supposed to be 'a response to the similarities between many office working conditions and battery farmed hens'
It reminds me of something said in coupland's generation x. It's a really strange sight but straightforward concept, and as i said i do like it, but it does make me feel a little bit sick, i guess it might be the pose.
And it is hard to imagine from an image the scale of this piece, i think that in itself will have much more of an impact, with the graphics appearing more obvious.

James Jean Prada short - Trembled Blossoms

2008-02-22T14:55:00.000-08:00

This seems like a strange and slightly pointless way to advertise prada, there are parts I like in it and others that just seem far too strange, mainly the person!

I like the beginning, with the starkness and the pale pale colours, how the flower looks on the screen, where it is, it's whole watercolour aesthetic mixed with the 3d effect of the shading. I think the idea of a form, of shapes, is the best thing that is going for the video, but after the stark beginning there just seems to be an abundance of photoshop imagery and layers which just looks ugly, and totally derivative at the moment.

The whole look of the video goes so well with the 'cocorosie' soundtracking, the whole whimsical, experimental, d.i.y ness of the song seems to have trickled down to the movement and story of the film completely.

Object.org

2008-02-15T06:12:00.000-08:00

I have been doing bits of reading here and there for my gender studies elective and i came across this website, with lots of convincing evidence about the detrimental effects of objectifying women in advertising and the 'lads mag' culture.
I think it quite astonishing, how accepting we are of certain images and oppinions, and whilst we are all quick to acknowledge that they are wrong, we are still buying magazines that enforce them, and perhaps in terms of designers, we are still creating work that pertains to them, sex sells, whether you beleive it to objectify or not. Women buy their image, perhaps this is why the 'dove - real women' campaign took a dive in profits.

Considering this is something we are all used to, it is hard to get to grips with the idea that if you are not renouncing and objecting to certain ideals, that you are effectively promoting them.

London Fashion Week

2008-02-15T05:06:00.001-08:00

Unfortunately we sit on the sidelines here in leeds, far away from the LFW influence, but most stores in London were getting in on the act. In celebration of the activities I found a lot of shop fronts were sporting the 'paper cut out' a la Rob Ryan's 'this is for you' book.

There is an interview with the man himself on the magma website

The book is so intricate and detailed, it is hard to get over. He creates every piece from an innitial sketch and then cuts by hand. Major cutting skills! It is also nice to see such mostly decorative work being celebrated as much, now that crafting seems to have become purely ironic.

His book is out now and his website is
equally lovely.

Selfridges was the main culprit sporting the cut out windows, purely in white, it looked very fairytale -esque, but it must've taken a lot of work.
Stil sounds like a great job to me.

rocket science

2008-02-15T05:00:00.000-08:00

Saw Rocket Science last night! From the director of Spellbound, it was likened to many films that I adore (Thumbsucker, election, rushmore e.t.c.) It was a good film, perhaps not as great as those because there wasn't enough closure for me, it was about a kid at high school suffering from his stutter and facing public humiliation. Maybe I empathised too much because parts were really hard to watch! but the part with the cello was good. There is still room for more teen angst films.

photography prize 2008

2008-02-15T04:50:00.000-08:00

I went to london for a few days this week, as yorkshire is not being kind to me of late!
& whilst i wasn't particularly trying to do the tourist trap, i went to have a look in The Photographers' Gallery, which normally has some quirky work exhibiting.

At the moment they are showing the 2008 Photography Prize, in the cafe they had a lot of pieces by John Davis. These photos were black and white urban-industrial landscapes, images of places such as sheffield and stockport:

They read as really objective images, documenting this relationship between our urban history and modern day lives. The images display how something we see every day can suddenly look so impressive, the patterns of the infrastructure, the shapes of the buildings, the activities taking place within these surroundings, my favourite was one of people playing boules, within a mighty agressive industrial backdrop.

Overall really great photos, that suggest when you become bored of everything around you there is still something to see. Maybe this is something i could have a go at around leeds. :)

tegan & sara

2008-02-07T05:35:00.000-08:00

installation animation! it's really hard (using animation) to find something, an idea, that fills up the song time. I quite like the idea of creating something in 'real time', a mix of film and animation, like this! it's simple, but still interesting and easy to watch. When just using animation it takes so much time to fill even a couple of seconds, so it would be interesting to play around with animated real objects or people.

argh. i'm sporting the same haircut.

cakes

2008-02-07T05:16:00.000-08:00

This was the cake i made for Josh's birthday! (not andy warhol's) . . . it worked out pretty good, now i'm inclined to continuously work with edibles. (& eventually open up a cake shop)

i must belong somewhere

2008-02-06T12:55:00.000-08:00

when i first started watching this video i thought it was a bit rubbish, but as it developed i really liked it! i like the mini carnival that packs itself away. i really like the look of the video and that it relishes in it's simplicity and relies on a really good idea, that isn't TOO literal to the song, but it is completely relevent.

best animated ads of 2007

2008-02-04T06:03:00.000-08:00

According to thefirstpost these are the best animated ads of 2007!

Although my sister seems to love the robinsons one, i quite like the mtv switch one. It just looks quite nice and its something you could mimmick quite easily (i think at least), nothing too swish about it, just a clever idea.

hellovon

2008-01-30T08:01:00.000-08:00

smoke font by Hellovon, it's lovely, and kind of breaks away from the strong graphically led fonts that everyone seems to be making at the moment.
I would like to give something like this a try, looks super difficult though.

inspiration folder

2008-01-28T14:05:00.001-08:00

I've had an 'inspiration folder' on my computer for a while, so i thought i'd show some pictures from it...

2008-01-28T13:59:00.001-08:00

Some of the images are old, so i have no idea about their context.
The first one is a kind of mounted paper shredder. I basically like the idea of displaying something so out of context that it creates new meaning, what has been shred? so many 2-d pieces of work are easily dismissed by their lack of structural, physical presence in an area, and whilst i am sure this serves as an installation in itself, the idea of displaying 2d work in a more sculptural way interests me.

The second 'neo deo' piece is something created out of perspective. I created something along these lines in foundation, but whilst this could create it's own font, this is a completely innovative way to display it. I like the idea of playing with perspective, where the intended result can only be seen from one point of view.

I like this joshua ferris book cover. I like the muted tones and the illustrated type that does have this definate structure to it, in shape and in content!

The fabric skull has a contrasting element to it, the crafting of the pink fabrics and the sculpture and the imagery of the skull. I guess materials can help to reinvent objects and take things from traditional contexts.

I love this photo 'looking in' to a train scene. It's completely 'of the moment' and flukish, and i always think is seems so surreal when trains temporarily run parrallell at night, this fleeting moment where it seems ok to just look because soon one of us will overtake.

The last image is for a fashion shoot, i just loved the willy wonker (esque) scenery, but with a more limited and subdued tones. It is pure illustration in installation.

library of congress

2008-01-28T13:59:00.000-08:00

I found the The Library of Congress' flickr today, haha, there are some pretty great pictures on it, including this one of a woman aircraft worker, who manages to look so glamourous whilst checking electricals! this goes in well with the essay i plan to do for my Gender studies elective about the history of the pin up, which is bound up with the roles of women during the war.
super stuff

2008-01-22T14:42:00.000-08:00

I like this. It's a film about how words and letters are an attraction in their own right, i mainly like the retro look it has about it, and the different perspectives they show us to see the different shapes. I lke the way the words and letters seem so much more important on their own, taken out of a literal, bookish context, they become more playful, and perhaps make people think about something that we just look over. I'd like to create something like this.
see it here

douglas coupland

2008-01-22T13:57:00.000-08:00

I really like coupland's stories, and i knew that he was artist too, but i guess i kind of forgot about it until now.
This is called "Fifty Books I Have Read More Than Once"

Which appeals to me as an idea, but also through sheer mass and scale, adding gravity to that statement. I also admire the way illustrative or print images, could be combined with shape and sculpture. Sometimes i feel like having an image at the end of a project seems to undermine all the work that can lead up to that one image, purley because it stands flat on (often) a small piece of paper. This piece really makes me think about how important backing, and evironment is to images, how they can really change the medium.
I suppose it is much like putting a drawing in a frame, in the way that putting it in a frame makes it something to be looked at.

Gah

2008-01-22T13:48:00.001-08:00

I like the new adverts for Marc Jacobs, but oh god, why does victoria beckham have to be in it? i thought everyone disliked her anyway?

Some kind of image overhaul i guess. i do generally really like photographs that cut the body in half,

Antony Micallef

2008-01-18T15:15:00.001-08:00

I was first introduced to Antony Micallef in an article in The Face (rip) whilst i was doing my GCSE's, I then based much of my exam work on him and never really got over it.
He used to be a graphic designer, which is something you can tell through his use of block colour and shapes, he is also very much influenced by Japan, which much of his work refers to: the common brand logos appear in his work, the bubblegum culture references, but something i really like is the paradox this has with the subjects he likes to tackle. He paints the bubblegum pop culture, with the seedier undercurrents, creating a kind of 'visual friction', it has a complete truth to it, most big brands and countries have their more sinister sides.

Comic creation.

2008-01-18T15:03:00.000-08:00

Speaking of Barry Kitson's comic production images I saw this:

on a blog which shows Craig Thompsons documented sketch images of "Carnet de Vogage".
The images are a little less detailed than Kitson's but they're lovely and are an insight into how a graphic novelist works, and makes his way through creating a story both visually and through traditional storytelling.

Zines

2008-01-18T14:54:00.000-08:00

I have been reading this book lately, it basically outlines the background of zines, focussing upon the political and social reasons for why zines came about. It also explores the relationship between zines and subcultures, especially punk rock.
The book looks at the kind of mini-community created by zine writers and the more personal reasons for wanting to create one. It looks at ideas of identity, like the need to belong, relate and celebration of the individual. It also looks at consumption and community.

I was thinking about creating a zine for my gender studies elective, i'm not sure whether it will happen, but it was still a good read (though could've done with a few more images)

Barry Kitson lecture.

2008-01-18T14:49:00.000-08:00

Went to the Barry Kitson Lecture yesterday, it was really good, i like a lot of comix but i'm not really into 'superhero' or sci fi comics, but it was still really nice to see the different stages of making the comic book. I was especialy in awe of all the pencil and rough drawings, which were just amazing! and to think he draws everything from imagination too! I really like the graphical look of the finished product, i just never considered that they can from such delicate beginnings.
It sounded like it is hard work to be a comic artist, especially when you work on issues rather than books.
Anyway, it was just nice to hear about something like this, and a career that not many people have or really know about.

godmonkeyrobot

2008-01-16T14:08:00.000-08:00

I love the apparitions, so i don't know why i haven't come across this video before my favourite bit is actually the beginning with the globe spinning, it seems to be created using maps then the seas painted on. Looks like the old medieval maps that used to have little intricasies, i mean this bit: