Think Mule Illustrations

Here is a collection of illustrations by think mule (www.thinkmule.com)

Due tonal colourings and abstraction of forms they suggest a native style of working. (Possible Picasso with the workings of far more surface texture) However I feel they go beyond this as they seem to work well and seem rather trendy when placed in to graphic products, i.e. packaging and posters. They seem to dwell well in the Music market - suggestions of alternative art for alternative music.

The layering and strongly marked details of create a surface texture of which I admire. They appear far from my own illustrative style this maybe why I like them.

Peter Calleson

Here is another great use of paper, this time plain white, to create patterns shaddows, buildings - all sorts. They could be used to be great illustrations. My particular favourite is 'traces in the snow' it uses the enviroment behind the paper to complete the scene- seen above. He has 'explored the relationship between two and three dimensionality.' http://www.petercallesen.com/index/index2.html.

People talk about 'the pencil' being a great tool what about paper? Theres more to be seen on the site http://www.petercallesen.com/index/index2.html.

Fantasy Architecture

Whilst watching 'Summer Exhibition' BBC2, I noticed C J Lim's work. He is an architect at the University of UCL who has won two awards from the Royal Academy this year for his fantasy architecture drawing work. His work is painstakingly delicate, and takes an unbelievable amount of time to produce however you certainly appreciate this whilst looking at his work


Based upon other constructions'His entry this year was inspired by the story of the three pigs, although the straw, stick and brick houses are now towers and instead of being set in woodland, they are to be found in Smithfield meat market.' http://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/news-articles/0706/07061307.

I feel this fantasy approach is very unique and could open a far more avenues for architectural buildings, even though they may not be as far fetched. Please see images above. I feel they do not do justice to how much work has been put in to them.

Line Rider - Jagged Peak Adventure

Line Rider, is a game produced by 'Boštjan Čadež (also known as fšk), a Slovenian university student, Originally appearing on deviantART in September 2006 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Line_Rider). The concept on the game is to draw the line for the rider to follow. It takes a basic design medium and translates it to digital. In terms of personal inspiration I realised that many other daily manual actions could be turned digital. I feel this is a good novelty piece of web/motion design.

To have a go yourself visit www.lineriderfun.com.

Ariel's 30 Degree Adverts

Saatchi & Saatchi have formed adverts unlike the usual woman smelling her freshly cleaned whites in the kitchen. They have dwelled on the concept of using images from around the word such as ice fishing and monks washing their clothes in freezing conditions, to exaggerate the 30-degree concept. Changing your wash to 30 degree will help the environment; therefore it seems appropriate to have images of nature and far away cultures. A good advert with a clear message.

Please view this link http://www.saatchi.co.uk/local/theWorks.asp. - As I am currently unable to find a YouTube link.

In terms of Ariel's new branding... (Product and Concept). They are a producing a product that in the long term is more cost effective to the consumer and environmentally friendly.

Maybe an obvious issue to draw upon, however very valid, are we currently in design world taking enough notice of environmental factors that are now so vigorously drawn upon in our media? (Including TV programs concerning the environment, climate change, energy efficiency, ozone layer, cost effectiveness of energy consumption), Politically there are many major debates, on the importance of the Green Party, "Other parties are now falling over themselves to adopt the Green Party's Policies." ( http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/newsnight/2006/09/whats_the_point_of_the_green_party.html.)

I can agree that environmental factors are very important in today’s design, (including graphics design.) I hope to look further in to these issues and how they affect art, architecture, literature and design etc. What designs have been created to be 'Environmentally Friendly?'

Socially are we taking environmental factors a plus point when purchasing a product yet? Have we discovered this importance? Or does the initial extra cost still detain us? I am not too sure.

Tate Liverpool

Last week I visited Tate Liverpool, situated on the Albert dock. A good range of inspirational art was held, from sculpture to photographs claiming Liverpool is the ‘Centre of the Universe,’ a bold and proud statement that I did admire.

Ron Mueck; a rediscovery for myself, exhibited a piece entitled ‘Ghost’ 1998, a tall dangling limbed figure of a girl with a rather gaunt expression on her face. She seems to look down at the viewers, unaware of what’s going on, and in her own little world. She is just a child yet this is contrasted with the scale of the figure. This was all done to 'emphasise a sense of adolescent anxiety.'

I have seen other impressive works by Mueck such as ‘Dead Dad,’ which has always been a favourite of mine, showing the limitations of man, and the iconic fatherly figure, as well as ‘Angel,’ which holds rather optimistic connotations. Mueck works with Fiberglass, silicon, polyurethane foam, acrylic fiber and fabric to create unbelievably realistic sculptures. Due to the ‘visceral realism’ (arts.guardian.co.uk/.../ story/0,,1840033,00.html) and the overwhelming scale the art is agreeably ‘slightly eerie’. (http://www.tate.org.uk/servlet/ViewWork?workid=26294&searchid=29151)

He seems to concentrate on one humanistic emotion and express it through the formation of the body.





However the ability to produce life like human figures instead of real humans to project his artist thoughts, can allow Mueck to make small changes, (this may be in terms of scale or unusual proportions).

The front cover of his book, seen in the photograph bellow, I feel depicts the essence of his process of work rather than conceptual ideas, (engineering humans) which within the world of pregnancy and artificial growth is hot topic in today’s society. (This image suggested to me… could such works provoke powerful graphic messages when accompanied by the correct copy.)



Another artists who was also exhibiting was Ellen Gallagher with her series named watery ecstasy. The exhibition was feature in one room on the ground floor; therefore the room contained the atmosphere of the work. I liked the lightness of the work, however the work was not simplistic like so much work these days. Therefore a balance was maintained. Her work also uses subtle layering. A nice collection.

Typography

Just something I found, unsure who it is designed by...

Although it is not unusal to adapt type in such away. I really like the literal concept of the word 'cut' , and feel it works athetically well in respect to the other text. Which would have normally been a borring paragraph of words. I thinks sometimes we too readily get rid of the most obvious idea.

Atypyk

‘Atypyk’ is a company dealing with creating witty novelty objects. They take a regular product, which is then developed using stereotypes, and close associations. I believe these ideas are old and obvious for example for many years in our British society we have developed the image of someone singing in the shower. This classicism is what makes the product work. I believe sometime we can be so concerned with staying away form the stereotype when it’s the stereotype that is required. Stereotypes untrue or true are part of our society and in many cases can be used for humoristic value. We all know these random idea's and therefore if used a product can be applicable to the wider audience.
Here are a few of my favourites.

PUB ART

These coasters where originally blank, yet have been gradually drawn on in pub named Stumbling Monk. An original idea to express a creative process in a relaxed environment. I feel this idea lends itself well to the subconious and the exploration of human behaviour. It would be interesting to find out if people where given paper and pen in a different environment, or in a different type of pub, would the images change?

The rules for these coaters are as follows…

‘Take a blank, draw for a few minutes, and pass it on to the next person and see what happens. When you get a coaster with someone else’s work on it, add a line or two, make it interesting, and pass it on again.’ http://www.design-kompany.com/inspiration/660/.