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/

Tetley Team Tea Poster

The lovely people at Tetley Tea Folk found my motivational team tea poster on my website, and they liked it so much they shared it on their Facebook page! The poster has also been tweeted by Strudel, a design company based in London. I had fun making the poster and I'm glad other people are enjoying it also. 

It can be viewed by clicking here.

Darrin Crescenzi - A Game of Thrones icons

Like many others, I've become obsessed with the series A Game of Thrones. I'm currently working my way through the novels which is taking quite a while as I seem to be really busy at the moment.

Darrin Crescenzi also loved the series, and created a series of icons for each of the families. It was a personal project, and probably quite a nice change from the Nike brand design he usually works on.
It's brilliantly designed, colourful, and a good contemporary take on what could have ended up being too traditional.

A poster was available but has sold out.

Axis Maps - Typographic Maps

These typographic maps by Axis Maps are brilliant. Often typographic maps created and be too cluttered or don't read well, but these have a very suitable typeface which is legible at small point size. The different colours build up an visually pleasing poster that looks like it has depth. I think these maps work much better showing cities which are built on a grid system. London or even Leeds would possibly create quite a mess which wouldn't be as pleasing to look at.

I particularly like the Chicago version in colour. The creators say...

"Typographic Maps accurately depict the streets and highways, parks, neighborhoods, coastlines, and physical features of the city using nothing but type. By weaving together thousands of words, a full picture of the city emerges. Every letter was carefully placed, taking hundreds of hours to complete for each map."

The posters and letterpress prints are available to buy for $20-150. Cities available are Manhattan, Chicago, Madison, San Francisco, Washington DC, Boston and New York City.

 All photos from Axis Maps.

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.