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CURVY – YEN Mag releases an all female artist exhibition & book

curvy

YEN Magazine brings you an exhibition and book featuring 120 of the most exciting female graphic artists and illustrators in the world. This ALL-GIRL book, CURVY, is gaining some major attention in the art world and anticipation as they gear up to launch their 6th edition of the exhibition and book.

CURVY kicks off the national tour in Sydney:
April 2nd (tomorrow) @ Mori Gallery
168 Day Street Sydney (on the edge of China Town & Darling Harbour)
8pm-11pm.
They will be releasing more tour dates soon.

The book includes works from:

ameeshaearnshaw_02
Ameesha Earshaw

See the complete list of Curvy artists and check back for tour dates.

YEN Magazine is an Austrailian, independent publication for women that focuses more on arts and society and less on how to look hot in your brand name bikini. Definitely worth a click.

-Mel

Frito Lay animation and advertising – with no chips!

Published March 16, 2009 Graphic Design , Inspiration , Web Design Leave a Comment
Tags: advertising, animation, anya marina, B-reel, commercial, firesprite, frito lay, FWA, goodby silverstein & partners, interactive, little bright eyes, madeforeachother.com, Web Design

Frito Lay has developed an interesting new campaign featuring 6 animated commercials with whimsical characters that are “Made for Each Other” - just like chips and dip. The first time I saw the “Little Bright Eyes” commercial, I instantly needed to know who created it. The commercials have no direct chip or snack reference, and this subtle advertising is making the them memorable and fun. All 6 commercials are designed by different companies, making each one unique. Love it.

Little Bright Eyes:

Firesprite:

Magnets:

Love & Sockets:

Circles:

Go to: The Inspiration Room to learn about the animators of each of these videos.

madeforeachother

A collaboration of great minds, B-Reel & Goodby Silverstein & Partners have developed a new way to advertise snack food. Devoid of all chip grease and party dip reference, madeforeathother.com is an interesting and interactive site that keeps you guessing. The designers created real miniature sets which were composited with 3D, 2D and hand-drawn elements that create a beautiful website. Even though the site isn’t always clear, it’s interesting enough to make you search and discover all for the games and videos embedded throughout. They won the FWA Site of the Day award on February 23rd. You can also watch the commercials and download the music that they play in the background. I love the idea of supporting the musician and I actually downloaded the Anya Marina CD (heard on the “Firesprite” commercial.) It’s one of my top fav’s right now.

So, Does this advertising make me want to buy chips and dip? Maybe not, but it makes me smile and its memorable! which means they may have succeeded…

-Mel

Cut & Paste: Digital Design Tournament

Published March 10, 2009 Art , Events , Graphic Design , Web Design Leave a Comment
Tags: 2009 design, artistic hub, cut & paste, digital design competition, seth caldwell

Cut & Paste is a design competition happening right before your eyes!

HOW IT WORKS: Designers apply, Cut & Paste reviews the entries and, based on the quality of the work, invites the top candidates to Test Rounds. After Test Rounds, a final selection of designers will be made for each competition: eight for 2D Design, four for 3D and Motion Design. All competitors will be announced online.

The designers compete in one fo 3 divisions: 2D, 3D and motion graphics and there are specific rules for each section. The 2D Design competition consists of 2 rounds, of 15 minutes each, the 3D is 2 rounds of 20 minutes each and the motion graphics is one long round of 8 hours. The final creation MUST be made from scratch. The competitors are provided with tools such as a Mac computer, a Wacom pad, a mouse, and the design programs. Finalists from each division are invited to compete in the global competition for the ULTIMATE title. Prizes range from Wacom pads, to ipods, to complete Apple workstations. Although the deadline for entries has passed, you can still attend this event for about $15 and see the contestants design before your eyes! Coming to a city near you. See the Cut & Paste tour schedule.

OH and a shout out to Seth, my favorite gymnasitcs teaching, trampoline loving, developer and sailor for mentioning this awesome event in our office.

Featured Artist: Andy Howell

Published March 5, 2009 Art , Featured Artist , Graphic Design , Inspiration 4 Comments
Tags: andy howell, artist, book, Featured Artist, mixed media, painting, skate, skateboarding, zazzle

kv5i0203 Growing up in Southern California I have a huge love of the skate culture. One of my favorite artists epitomizes this lifestyle through his super expressive and colorful art; Andy Howell. I stumbled upon Andy’s work when I was in high school and have been a huge fan ever since. Andy prefers mixed media, “anything fast, glue, gel mediums, tape, acrylic, aerosol enamels, pen and ink, anything loose and fast.” This pro-skater/artist transplant has revolutionized the skate industry.

His extensive resume includes numerous gallery showings worldwide, magazine covers, major campaigns from big brands like Coca-Cola to DC Shoes, created extensive clothing and branding lines, featured in periodical publications such as Juxtapoz, Print, HOW, Create and Communication Arts. The guy introduced the first baggy jeans designed specially for the boardsports industry. Wow. This man has done some serious things!

Andy is the founding father of the street/skate/art movement and has continuously evolved with this ever changing culture. Can’t wait to see what comes next from Mr. Howell.

Read the complete bio about Andy on his zazzle store, where you can pick up some really sweet items he designed for next to nothing.

Just a few of my favorites:

Check out his new book: Art, Skateboarding, and Life. It’s a sweet 304 page hardcover book with 2 DVD set with tons of interviews and videos of Andy and other artists and skateboarders. I can’t wait to get my hands on one!

Enjoy!

The Strange Washington Mutual font

Published March 4, 2009 Graphic Design 3 Comments

Has anyone been in the new Washington Mutual banks lately? (I use the term “new” loosely – they actually started to re-design the banks in 2004) They have this “coffee-shop” decor with this CRAZY font all over the walls.

So Washington Mutual actually patented this new “ocassio” decor style to create a more comfortable atmosphere, much like a coffee-shop. Which is WEIRD… because it’s a bank. As a designer, I am concerned about the tellers which are at kiosk’s spread throughout the room, and MORE concerned about the colorful collage and phycho unique font covering the walls. The SF Chronicle reports that “In some branches, recorded jazz music is played, coffee is served, and popcorn machines whir. Customers often mistake the offices for a Gap or Starbucks store. ” I’m not sure I’ll ever mistake WAMU for a GAP, but the re-design is definitely unconventional.

I was unable to take photos inside the bank, but if you have seen this font… YOU KNOW. The “E” is elongated and fat on the end. There are 1/2 serif’s on the “F’s,” the “A” is sharp on the end and the “M” looks like it’s on crack. It’s a combination of a serif and a sans-serif I’m curious about the WHO and the WHY behind this font. (see my sketch below) wamufont

I get the whole: “Lets make banking fun” vibe, but for me, the multi-colored icons of money on the walls and the large sums of cash being counted in the middle of the room, just freaks me out.

If anyone has more information about this strange font, let me know.

-Mel

Iconic Logo Designers

Published January 9, 2009 Graphic Design , Inspiration Leave a Comment

David Airey launched a website dedicated to Iconic Logo Designers in July 2008. Here you’ll find biographical info and resources for 35 of the greatest minds in the design world. If you’re a new designer, you should definitely go and read about our history. If you’ve been around the block for a while, this is a great place to get back to the roots of design. Great resources for:

lubalin

loewy

leader

saulbass

and more…

Digitalthread: Ultimate design resource

Published January 7, 2009 Graphic Design , Inspiration , Web Design 2 Comments
Tags: design, digital thread, Graphic Design, Inspiration, resource, website

Mel turned me on to this great website called Digitalthread. They are a great online resource for only the best web design firms, top freelance portfolios, and graphic design resources from online submissions and discovered web sites. I can’t believe I been in the design world and not known about them! The site is clean and easy to navigate through. The three buttons on the top left side allow the user to choose from 3 different buckets: webdesign gallery, design companies and designresources. They’ve done a great job at categorizing the content that goes under each section.

I found so many cool and interesting websites with just a few clicks. Definitely browse through the site. Mel and I will be featuring a new portfolio and website each week. Stay tuned.

Best of 2008

Published January 2, 2009 Graphic Design , Inspiration , Tutorials , Web Design Leave a Comment
Tags: best of 2008, david airey, design:related, Inspiration, silicon alley insider, TIME, web designer wall

So I’ve been searching for the best articles in 2008 and I found lots of lists and lists of lists. Here are the ones worth a click:

Best of 2008: A List of Design Lists – design:related

Best of CSS Design – Web Designer Wall

25 Fantastic Design Articles from 2008 – David Airey

The Top 10 of Everything in 2008 – TIME

Inspired Inspirers : Sharing the passion for Design

Published December 31, 2008 Graphic Design , Inspiration , Web Design Leave a Comment
Tags: Art, Graphic Design, Inspiration, inspired, inspirerers, Web Design

untitled-1 Inspired-Inspirers is a place for people who inspire the world to show us who inspires them.

Every 2 weeks a new issue is released showcasing 4 new inspirers from all over the world.

This is a neat place where designers are showcased and they in turn share who inspires them. LOVE. LOVE. LOVE. Spread it kids. – Mel

12 Photoshop Tutorials: Awesome Light Effects

Published December 30, 2008 Graphic Design , Tutorials Leave a Comment
Tags: Inspiration, light effects, photoshop, Tutorials

Companies are really utilizing Adobe to add interesting bursts of color, rays of light and other photo effects to make their ads surreal and beautiful. I am partial to Illustrator, but maybe it’s because I never learned how to make these beautiful swooshes myself. I sifted through tons of lighting tutorials and found these which seemed to be not too cheesy, and not too difficult! I hope these can help you give your work another dimension. I’m excited to test them out.

Magic Lighting Effects