There has been a lot of noise made about the last season of LOST on this blog. I thought I'd let you in on some of the less publicized TV gems of the Season. First up we have the follow up to "Band of Brothers" called "The Pacific" (Tom Hanks and Steve Spielberg…Nuf said).
Next is the follow up to "Planet Earth" called "Life" Oprah does the voice over which is kind of distracting but its visually stunning.
"How to Make it in America" is a bit of a sleeper but the cast is great (Kid Cudi, Luis Guzman, Eddie Kaye Thomas) and its about street wear/ the skate industry.
It's really a strange feeling to see graffiti going from the "crap that hoods write all over" as my old art teacher called it, to a pop art collectors must have. KNOWN Gallery (which is operated by The Seventh Letter Crew) up in LA just had an opening called Freedom. Here is a sampling of the madness on opening night.
I talked to my buddy Charlie this morning from the Latent Print the good news is they are holding another submission party on Wednesday the 24th. The bad news is Charlie is headed home to the East Coast to live with his lovely and talented lady. We'll kick off at the Whistle Stop Bar, and then it'll be over to Charlie's place (conveniently around the corner: 2975 Kalmia Street, San Diego, CA 92104) for the after party. There will be drinks and some awesome local acts, but he's asking that you bring booze and friends. My gift to all of you will be the power point presentation on dropping it like it is indeed hot. Don't worry people if any shorties start a fire on the dance floor refrain from calling the fire marshal, I will simply do the sprinkler to put out the flames.
The boys from Rebel8 have just put out their Spring 2010 line and it is some of their best work yet. I've been a fan of Mikes G's design since back in the day. My friend Mikey C and I ran into some of his Graff up in SF in 97 and then I started seeing his work in tattoo work in flash and his T-shirt's at Grandeur. There is actually a pretty cool story behind the name of the brand Rebel8. The "Rebel" part is pretty self explanatory but the 8 always seemed weird and out of place to me. Well, Mike G is actually a Buddhist and the 8 comes from the 8 fold path by witch Mike runs his life and business. Now you know and knowing is half the battle.
If you are into punk rock as I am you can appreciate the crass reference on this one. I also really dig the motorcycle club style shirt pretty rad guys.
Communication Arts has been the bench mark for design magazines for as long as Iv been designing. They only put out 6 issues a year but each is focused on a specific design discipline. This month was focused on web design so I thought I would pass along some of the better sites.
Remember a few months ago when I told you that David Choe was putting together a new show? Well its been 6 years since his last LA show and he's finally coming back to the left coast. Here is a sneak peak at what he's been working on all that time.
One thing you may or may not know about me is that I'm pretty in to street ware, and fashion in general. Not that I dress exceptionally well but I can appreciate design in all its forms. This year at the Vegas trade show Thorocraft showed off some amazing hard soles.
The ladies over at Su-Yoon also had these women shoes with a retro basketball feel and high fashion execution.
Massive Black has been at the fore front of sci-fi art for a while now. They have provided conceptual and cover art for Tomb Raider, Star Trek, Iron Man, inFAMOUS and a slew of other projects. They were just featured over on the Tutor Art blog and you can click here to see the full post.
Well ladies and gents, the Future of Web Design is back in London this year and it looks to be the best to date. There are a ton of top notch speakers and its being held at the Brewery which is an amazing venue. This event is world renowned so if you find your self in the U.K. in mid May do your self a favor and attend.
My buddy Mike's company Pet Superfood just got a packaging re-design by Jim Hargreaves. It made me think about how some times the wrapper on the products speaks just as much to the quality of a company as the ingredients.
I have always been a fan of a good old cross promotion deal. It gives the designers a chance to work out side there comfort zone and exposes your clients to a brand they may not be familiar with. The Star Wars x Adidas cross promotion just launched and I have to say it's an odd pairing but on some level it just works.
I'v seen Agan Harahap's work popping up on line but today was the first chance I had to sit down and go through his work in depth. Call it what you want but the match up of the hero's (or villains') story lines with pivotal moments in history are well thought out. Check out his flickr
One of the things that drew me to graffiti in my younger days was how temporary an art form it is. No matter how beautiful or inspiring a piece is, if it was done illegally it will be buffed. One day it's a full burner the next a new blank canvas, the problem being that some of these artists work will soon be lost forever. Jjay1 decided to do something about that so he got some of the world's best Graf writers together to start documenting their signature hand styles.
Any one else a bit iffy on the ipad? On one hand it's a giant iPod touch with 100x the web surfing capabilities and it will most likely start a gold rush of games we have yet to see from a computing stand point. It has the movie, picture, UI and design you're used to by now, and oh ya it starts at $499. On the other hand you still can't run multiple apps and were still unclear on the HD and RAM. Check out the promo here.
Every Time I Die, lets talk about those guys. Great musicians and a rock/metal/punk singer with a real set of pipes, glad we talked.
Iv been wanting to write a post about the earthquake in Haiti but could put in to words the thoughts swirling around my head. I work with a few Haitians and seeing them after this tragedy is, well, rough. I think Bobby over at TH said it best.
"If Haiti has taught us anything, it's that we have an increasing responsibility to watch out for our worldwide brethren, whether they're in our neighborhood or in the Caribbean. It's 2010 and with the aid of the Internet, a broadened economy and marketplace, we are a globalized generation. We are a singular community, one unified people. We make clothes in China, listen to music from Europe, we're inspired by Japanese design, and so on … so if your Haitian brother needs a hand, help him up."
Since its raining in the city today all you Fixie Fiends are SOL so I thought I'd bring you the "Macaframa" trailer to tide you over till the rain passes. Your welcome!
In digging for more info on the up coming re-make of the classic "Wolfman" movie I realized, I love the art of the 50s and 60s particularly the monster movie posters. It seems Im not alone on this one as Iv been seeing a ton of Tom Whalen's throw back posters poping up lately. Check his site for the full collection.
Typography is one of the most powerful weapons in any designers arsenal. When I was in school I had this project my freshmen year called "Type Boot Camp". The project took me 20 hours total and was extremely repetitive it really soured my on typography for a long time. Well I'm glad to say the love affair is back and I thought Id share some amazing typography.
This weekend has been let's just say interesting. My car was impounded, my bolts lost and it's supposed to rain all week. There is a silver lining though Print Week is about a month away. If you live in SD are designers and haven't checked it out you need to. The event is free, the trade show is free, and even if I don't end up using any of the vendors I come away inspired every year.
As I'm sure you are aware if you read this blog I enjoy cleaver design. Any one can put together a web 2.0 layout or a grunge style band poster but it takes a different type of thinking all together to capture the essence of companies' values, mission and core goals in a simple logo.
I like all types of music punk, country, sweedodeathmetal, south Mississippi whiskey jam bands, oh ya and hip hop. I say hip hop and not rap because there is a difference (rap is more thug radio, hip hop is has more socially driven lyrics and encapsulates graffiti, breaking, Dj/beat boxing). Here is some of the best Iv herd recently. First up is Tonedeff from the Cunning Linguists crew, this is a freestyle (for every one who is not "street" that means he thought of the whole thing on the spot, no pre written lyrics).
Though the music is a sort of Gorillaz, drum and basey thing the back bone of it is Beat Box witch is firmly rooted in Hip Hop.
Brian M Viveros style is a unique mix of hyper sexuality and a gritty toughness. Picture if the Victoria Secrets models had tattoos and started a fight club. I'm not sure what's up with all of them smoking but it works.
I know I'v been a bit lazy with the portfolio but I finally added some new sections and pieces. Click the image of the new movie poster I did below to see all the new additions.
This weekend I re-watched Almost Round 3. Although its been out for a while since this flick came out I still cant get over how sick Chris Haslam's part in it is. If you haven't seen the movie stop by your local skate shop and pick it up (its worth it just to see Sasquatch shred and laugh at how little Ryan Sheckler was).
Everything looks more appealing wrapped up nicely. I remember getting my first Apple product in the mail and thinking how much time and effort went into getting just the right mix of tech and minimalism in the packaging. I have a chance to do some package design my self and I thought I would try to sniff out some good examples, here are a few.
This weekend I re-watched Almost Round 3. Although its been out for a while since this flick came out I still cant get over how sick Chris Haslam’s part in it is. If you haven’t seen the movie stop by your local skate shop and pick it up (its worth it just to see Sasquatch shred and laugh at how little Ryan Sheckler was).
I went for the first bike ride of the year last night and I must say it was RAD. I only went out for an hour but I had started to forget how freeing being on a bike in the city at night can be. With that in mind here is a sneak preview into the Skulz Press calendar.
Remember a while back when I told you about Joe Mad? Well it turns out that on our new campaign I will be working with another Ex-DC Comics Jim Lee protégée Darren G. Davis. Davis worked for Wild Storm and DC after the merger but now heads up his own Blue Water Comics. I'll keep you guys posted on the project, for now here is some of Darren's work.
As you know I love graff, in fact at one stage of my life it was my life. I just saw the CMYK refillable can and if the paint quality and pressure are legit it might change graffiti as we know it. The can has a dial at the top that not only adjusts the color but also the hue and brightness of the paint. The can is also as green as it gets as it is refillable.
Picture James Brown meets Andree 3000 and your still not on close to the funk levels pumped out by the 43 piece amalgamation that is Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears. Have a safe New Years everyone, see you in 2010.
About a year ago I felt I was shrugging my duties as a self proclaimed geek by not watching LOST. With the help of a few friends and lots of coffee I burned through 4 seasons in a month or so. The new season is coming up and I’m pretty excited about it. Apparently the good people over at Gallery 1988 in Los Angeles are as well. Here are a few shots of their tribute show.
Iv been having this debate for years with snooty fine artists and I think J. Fish couldn’t have said it better.
For some reason I have stayed away from writing about music on this blog, it wasn’t intentional I just did. Its such a big part of my life, with me from the moment I open my eyes in the morning till just before bed, yet I never got into it here. Well enough with all that, the first guy I want to get into is Tom Gabel. He was the front man for a band called AGAINST ME! who I also enjoy, but for me his solo stuff is better. The music is super stripped down, mostly just him and a guitar (witch is awesome in a world of over produced music where auto tune rains supreme). Here is on of the Random Hearts e.p.
As with all great artists Mike G. has a lot of folks who love to attempt to bite (usually with terrible results). Thought this is in the same style it has its own identity and I like the end result.
As you know I’m a huge Marvel fan and I couldn’t be more excited about the new Iron Man movie. I was under the impression that Thor and Captain America were coming out first but I guess RDJ had other plans. I know Disney recently bought Marvel (don’t hold your breath for a spydey ride in tomorrow land kiddies) and that may have something to do with it.
As I have alluded to before on the face book page and this blog, we have a new project brewing. At the beginning of the New Year we will be moving the blog over to its new (and permanent) home. Here is your sneak peak into the new project and the new direction we are moving in.
Kate D. MacDowell has taken classic porcelain art down a entirly non-traditional path. She's from the US and she taught English to high school students while producing websites for hi-tech companies. Her literary background comes though in her work, this first piece is called "Mice or Men".
I don’t usually get into furniture design, I can appreciate industrial design but print and web are normally more my thing. These pieces however stood out due to their minimalist nature. Nicely done METROFARM.
I’m always looking for away to get the target demographic involved in every piece of marketing. The more invested in the project they become the more social change takes hold. I think the people over at TheFunTheory get that and have been able to put a new twist on traditional marketing and how it relates to effecting social norms.
Jeff Soto is back at it, after a year long sabbatical from art he has returned to SF to begin work on a new instillation piece for KidRobot. I haven’t seen any of the new stuff yet but here are some of my favorites from over the last few years.
Jeff also has his book “Storm Clouds” witch features the evolution of the nature vs. industrialization works. Its every thing you have come to expect from Soto; robotic creatures duel, organic tentacles and flower bouquets thrive, while black smog looms amidst floating, skulls.
I thought Id do another installment of cleaver advertising today. I sift through a ridiculous amount of blogs, portfolio sites, and design studios to find this stuff. If you ever think I missed something or just want to plug your own design and see it here get at me via my contact page.
First up is a series of ads for a mouth spray implying that using the minty pocket shot will make you a sure thing every time. Sex sells and sexual snow angels are pretty original.
Next up we’ve got the holiday ads for Ludwig drums using food to illustrate the loud reverberation of a kick drum.
Last is my favorite, this is a new billboard concept bringing in the electrical wire as a part of the design its self. The ad is for a nose hair trimmer with a safety system, a pretty dry topic. By pulling in elements already in the area this designer was able to make something out of nothing.
Lately I have been getting more and more into flat ground tricks especially the old school flat ground stuff. For all intents and purposes Mullen is the king; don’t believe me check out a little movie called “Gleaming the Cube”. Rodney has perfectly blended that old school style with a clean fast pace that looks like some thing out of a Tony Hawk game.
When ever I think of conceptualization and execution coming together seamlessly I think of Danial LuVisi. If you want to know a bit more about one of NYC’s best check out the interview at PSDTUTS+
I thought I was done with the blog for the week, out to the folks house for turkey and football. Alas this was not to be, I stopped over at the Seventh Letter blog and had to re-post this tid-bit. As most artists with my interests do I follow what TSL is doing pretty closely. Lately they have been doing short crew bio videos and the one for HENSE well put together (I love the music selection). I always associate graff with the big cities NYC, LA, SF but HENSE has a sick style from the dirty, can't wait to see more of those canvases.
UNICEF has put out some really powerful campaigns lately and I thought Id share a two that caught my eye. The first is an instillation piece built to raise awareness around the every day goods that are produced in sweat shops.
The second is a play on the classic toy soldier. Since we are seeing more and more child soldiers in military conflicts the people over at UNICEF decided to flip the idea on its self. These “soldiers” are kids enjoying normal activities; ridding bikes, coloring, playing soccer, you get the idea.
My friend Mike just reminded me that I wanted to do some posts about and artist names Mcbess. You’ll meet mike soon enough for now check out Mcbess.
The first time I saw Joe Mad’s art was back in college, one of my friends had his “Clash of the Titans” piece as the back ground on his lap top. At that point I had not read a comic book in years, the art and story lines had become redundant and thus boring. Mad seemed to have a much better eye for movement and he didn’t draw the characters in the traditional way that I was used to seeing. From one Geek to another thanks for renewing my love of comics Joe
I thought I was done with the blog for the week, out to the folks house for turkey and football. Alas this was not to be, I stopped over at the Seventh Letter blog and had to re-post this tid-bit. As most artists with my interests do I follow what TSL is doing pretty closely. Lately they have been doing short crew bio videos and the one for HENSE well put together (I love the music selection). I always associate graff with the big cities NYC, LA, SF but HENSE has a sick style from the dirty, can't wait to see more of those canvases.
A few weeks back I told you about REVOK getting locked up down under. Well just like that a new video hits the street featuring LA’s most infamous.
I love this concept, IKEA recently put out a campaign to promote their delivery services. The ad appears to be a normal IKEA room lay out but on closer inspection is the back of a delivery truck.
Great job guys.
For years Iv been hearing about the death of news papers due to on line news sources. It looks as though Nick Mrozowski is trying to breathe some new life into traditional news. Mrozowski says "The 56- to 64-page paper is tabloid size and stapled, so looks as much like a magazine as a newspaper...We realized that the sort of paper we were making had a lot of very specialized content and each page would have to be custom-made to the needs of a reporter or editor." That means huge amount of work goes into designing the paper every day.
Faster than a speeding k grind hard flip out, able to leap flights of stairs in a single ollie and powerful enough to scare the crap out of people who break into his whip…KOSTON. If you haven’t seen “Ya Right” pick it up it’s a great skate flick. Peep game
Today I thought Id share one of my favorite design sites. Abduzeedo is a kept by Brazilian designer Fabio Sasso and focuses on inspirational collections as well as design tutorials. I love this site; they showcase everything from furniture design to character development and its all top notch. Keep up the good work guys.
Some people would never consider an athlete an artist, others don’t consider drivers athletes. No matter what you consider Ken Block, you have to admit he’s got a great job. He recently came out with a new video courtesy of the DC guys. He drives a WRX same as in the original but this time it’s the 09 WRX STI hatch back.
So last night I ran into my buddy Charlie form The Latent Print and he reminded me that they have an event tonight at the Whistle Stop. Charlie is one of the more talented cinematographers Iv had the pleasure of knowing and he helps run an online Literary & Arts Project based here in SD. Stop by tonight meet the crew, watch some readings and check out the screening of the short film fishbowl.
We recently were given a chance to start a project to address the fact that rates of breast cancer in the Lesbian community are much higher that in the straight community . We wanted to use empowering iconic women to address the issue and decided on the “Rosie the Riveter” painting as our inspiration and Amazon as the project name. The name comes from the fabled Amazons women who would remove a breast in order to shoot a bow with more ease (the correlation to breast cancer coupled with the legendary strength of the amazons made it a no brainer for us).
I think the juxtaposition of the nail file and the tape measure are representative of a community that can be so hard and soft at the same time, thanks for letting us be a part of this Catrina.
I just saw this over at Sabers blog and thought it was worth a re-post. Sonny Gerasimowich just helped out on "Where the Wild Things Are" and took some time to sit down with the Seventh Letter guys. I love this guys description of getting up in other peoples black books it brought back the excitement and wonder of being an artist who finds a new outlet. The way his story plays out is pretty cool.
You may not know who Sheppard Ferry is but you have most likely seen his work. From the “Andre the Giant has a crew” stickers to the “HOPE” piece for Barack Obama’s campaign he has produced some of the most iconic art of our time. His latest work is an amalgamation of metal, rubylith, and of course stencil work. Sheppard is the unique mix of punk rock, hip hop, fine artist, vandal and all around activist. Take a look at some of the pieces or catch his Jello Biafra meats Noam Chomsky style political break down. There has been talk of another SD show next month so stay tuned for details.
Today I have to say thank you to one of my personal heros, Col. John F Roche III. Thanks Dad.
Just thought Id show you guys a couple projects I have been working on. The first is a brochure for youth looking for counseling, job placement, and pregnancy services. I was really surprised to see the age demographic for this one and the data on teen pregnancy rates.
This is one of my favorite projects Iv been a part of. The EDGE program is for people using Meth in San Diego (in the club scene specifically) who want to receive counseling, get clean or just find temporary housing. Thanks to Jim for letting me be a part of this, it really broke down a lot of pre conceived notions about what a drug addict is for me. The clients run the gamut from living on the streets to pulling up to group in a brand new BMW.
Last is the HEP-Bee, guess what we are trying to get people tested for with this one? I love this campaign, its straight to the point, border line stupid and we actually had a Bee mascot suit made for it…shweet
Iv always loved skateboarding, as a kid it represented freedom and mobility. There was some thing so nice about hopping on my board and seeing where the day took me. I was never into team sports so to me there was a big sense of achievement spending weeks practicing a trick over and over only to land it once or twice. As most things go school and work (not to mention writing a blog for you my faithful minions) ended up taking a substantial chunck of my time. I still love the sport and try to watch a skate vid every now and then to see where the new comers are taking it. For the most part its gotten super techy and with the advent of Rob D’s show pretty main stream. Once and a while however, Ill see something that reminds me of why I started skating and why I continue to make art…fun. Weather it’s the fact that this kid uses three names ,that he is busting out some of the most unorthodox tricks ever, or the sweet Miami Vice hood slide he looks like he is having fun (despite yelling at him self like a frustrated 5 year old).At the end of the day isn’t that what its all about.
So last week I posted some video of a few guys who started out doing graffiti in the bay area and
ended up getting into clothing and canvases. I thought it was kind of funny (in a damn sorry to here about your misfortune way) that the first email I read this morningwas about REVOKE1 and his adventures down under. Check it out.
REVOK1
Every week I like to share some things I draw inspiration from, and this week is no different.
I started my life as an artist with a crayon as most do but in my teens and early 20s picked up spray can
and streekers. Though I’ve grown in a different direction lately my love for graff, postering and "street art" has remained, and I hope shows through in my work. I was always more attracted to art in train stations
and back allies than the accessible stuff hung neatly in air conditioned galleries.Here are some of
the artists I looked up to and what they are doing now.
