Designspiration

A great website where I can, and have, lost many hours just browsing. Lots of great inspiration from all aspects of design.

www.designspiration.net/

TED talks. Ursus Wehrli: Tidying up art.

Christmas Card 2012

I wanted to make a Christmas card for my friends this year. I've been loving Art Nouveau for a while, and I wanted to design something that resembled that style.

Happy Christmas!

Scott Duncan-Brown - Illustrator

This is my friend Scott Duncan-Brown's work. He is an amazing illustrator, currently working as a story board artist at Kuro Dragon in Gateshead. He is also working with an author to illustrate a childrens book titled The Bare Bear.

His website is having a bit of a revamp at the moment and can be found at www.scottduncanbrown.com, but take a look and check out his work!

Big Fish Design Studio

I've been looking around the web at design studios for inspiration, and to see how they like to present themselves through their website. One studio that really caught my eye was big fish. They started in 1994, and since then have created "60 brand identities, over 1,000 items of literature, and gazillions of packs, written 27 brand strategies, 32 marketing strategies, a hell
of a lot of words, designed & built over 100 websites, art directed over 1,000 photoshoots, shot many 1,000's ofhigh definition images in our photographic studio, written, designed & produced 140 press ads and have directed & produced our first cinema commercial."

With a very impressive client list, awards, and an obvious love of what they do, big fish are certainly a bright team of creative minds.

Below is a series of work created by big fish. Fresh, clean and beautiful.

Puzzle Wallpaper

I love the idea of this wallpaper created by CinqCinq - puzzles and games which can be filled in by both kids and adults. The games include word-searches, naughts and crosses and a maze. I like how that the wallpaper would be a focus point of a room, would be a talking point and could also persuade some interaction. There's something about it which brings back thoughts of when I was younger and loved puzzle books and a pack of crayons - but from the photos is feels to me that this idea doesn't work - it looks like kids have used markers to draw over the walls.

Malleus Rock Art Lab

Malleus have been creating amazing gig posters for years. I love the detail and the curving lines. The figures are feminine yet still have a dark overtone. Taken from the Malleus bio -

"Malleus is an omnivore creature. The iconography at the base of their work originates from a vast scenery including figurative arts, in particular Expressionism and Symbolism, Art Nouveau and Surrealism, Pop Art and Psychedelic Art, and also comics, photography, cinema and literature. All these ingredients blend in with the main element of their poetics; that is the female form, the primordial goddess, from whom everything comes."

 In 2008 Malleus released a book called "The Hammer of God" which showcased over 150 of their silkscreen posters. It isn't a book to look at and put on a shelf to gather dust. It is a book to keep delving into, to keep appreciating the talent and beauty of the prints.

Above image is a record cover for Morkobot. The beautiful design creates a really special sleeve to accompany the music.

Many bands have had Malleus create amazing posters for them. The list from their website names: Amanda Palmer, Auf der Maur, Baroness, Beck, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Blues Explosion, Brant Bjork, The Chemical Brothers, The Cure, Deftones, Dinosaur Jr., The Donnas, Dresden Dolls, Eagles of Death Metal, Fantômas, Fishbone, Flaming Lips, Helmet, Iggy Pop & The Stooges, Incubus, Isis, Jovanotti, Kings of Leon, Korn, Linkin Park, Mars Volta, Melvins, Mogwai, Motorpsycho, Monster Magnet, Mark Lanegan, Mudhoney, Muse, Nine Inch Nails, The Prodigy, Robert Plant, Queen of the Stone age, Sonic Youth, Tool, Turbonegro and Ufomammut, but I know there are many more that are not above.
Music creates enjoyment for the ears and the sense of hearing however to accompany that with something visually attractive too makes something altogether more appealing - and by that I don't mean boy-bands with stereotypical 'beautiful' looks.

Malleus prints are available to purchase from their store.

Si Scott 3D Paper

I love Si Scott's style of illustration is elegant and has won him lots of awards and plenty of work too. Whilst I was studying at Leeds College of Art I was lucky to attend one of his lectures where he explained his work and how he found his style.

His recent work had taken a new step from what he has previously created.. His bio on the Si Scott website says "Si has recently taken time out to develop his skills further. Challenging the 2D perspective of his work by rendering his hand drawn creations in 3D form."

The above images show this new 3D work. The clean, crisp lines are important to emphasize the detail on the paper. He has managed to find a way to create a look of texture on each piece of paper and it brings more life to each piece.