Brosmind!
I think I’m behind on this work, but it’s not every day you stumble onto a site and get stuck there, in that one place, for an hour. Brosmind is a multi-disciplinary studio of candy coated mind-bending frenzied illustration, video, and toys. Made up of two brothers, Alejandro and Juan Mingarro, they’ve done a lot of familiar work for the likes of Bonnaroo, Outside Lands, Phish, and Wolfmother.
Their illustration style is not exactly something new, but it’s so well put together, consistent, and whole feeling. When I you really look into their imagery (they provide an awesome magnifying view on their site) you can see all the madness and details and creativity they posses. I almost don’t comprehend some of the characters they’ve made and have to double take constantly, it’s so very badass!
It was hard to even select a few images to post, but hopefully this is a great teaser.
Instant Face Maker, a Fun Art-Making Tutorial by FaceHeads
A short video I found on The Fox is Black for “spontaneous art-making”. Something good for kids or adults to use to work-out the brain in creative play.
I’m always looking for exercises and ways to “trick” myself into being creative and exploring. Sounds ridiculous, but I have a hard time getting myself to dive into the unknown world of anything is possible. I think that’s why I’m so attracted to this as a tool for the kind of trickery I use on myself.
Instant Face Maker, a Fun Art-Making Tutorial by FaceHeads | The Fox Is Black.
Obsessed With: Matt Shlian
Lately I find myself suggesting Matt Shlian to everyone and anyone slightly interested in paper or geometry. He’s one of my favorite paper artists out there.
Shlian’s work is an incredible engineering fete of folding. His works often leave me puzzled on how they were constructed, and wanting to constantly see more of what he dreams up. They’re so very architectural and artistic, I very much love the way he works in which the energy and process dictate the final result. Similar to the way I create my own puzzles and paths in my own work as I go, yet incredibly structured, the opposite of my chaotic mass.
“I begin with a system of folding and at a particular moment the material takes over. Guided by wonder, my work is made because I cannot visualize it’s final realization; in this way I come to understanding through curiosity.”
All photos from mattshlian.com
Tokujin Yoshioka
I was just perusing through Pia Habekost’s MyVisual EyeCandyDiary and nearly fell down when I saw Tokujin Yoshioka’s “Crystal Paintings”. These were apparently grown through vibrations given off by music. What?! Incredible. It’s hard to imagine how something so serene, quiet, and absolutely still can be grown from music. To me, the close up of the image reveals something fragile, the music almost suspended in time.
I went through Yoshioka’s site and found photo upon photo of stellar work, often made for spaces, collaborating with companies like Hermes, Swarovski, and BMW. His use of multi-media plastics, paper, music, and glass are inspiring to me, particularly the way he displays them and creates whole ethereal experiences.
Tokujin Yoshioka, Crystal Painting
Tokujin Yoshioka, Crystal Painting
Tokujin Yoshioka, Designer of the Year
Tokujin Yoshioka, The Invisibles
All photos www.tokujin.com
Pia Habekost
Los Angeles painter Pia Habekost is after my own heart with her abstract typographic explorations. These large pieces (all around 96″ x 64″) have dozens of layers of paint and stenciling that create beautiful complex textures. Each piece tends to stay in a single color and narrative theme, ranging from “personal experience to current events”. Check out more of her work here and her inspiring tumblr that I actually very often refer to for my own inspiration.
Electric Daisy Diary
Electric Daisy Diary, Closeup
Four to Get Rich Six to Get Famous
Four to Get Rich Six to Get Famous, Closeup
All images from piahabekost.com
Rodarte and Ryan McGinley
Photo by Ryan McGinley
Photo by Ryan McGinley
Photo by Ryan McGinley
Photo by Ryan McGinley
Photo by Ryan McGinley
What IS a Geode?
My sister had a brilliant idea today. We’ve been noticing not everyone knows what a geode is or how exactly to pronounce it. We also noticed that many people do know what they are, they just don’t know they know what they are. The idea was to post about what geodes actually are to help people see where this project has evolved from. Thanks for the help Wikipedia! (sorry for the not great quality of the photos, I liked these examples most)
Geodes (Greek γεώδης – ge-ōdēs, “earthlike”) are geological secondary sedimentary structures which occur in sedimentary and certain volcanic rocks. Geodes are essentially spherical masses of mineral matter that were deposited syngenetically within the rock formations they are found in. Geodes have a chalcedony shell containing various minerals, usually quartz. Geodes differ from vugs in that they were formed as a separate entity from the surrounding rock, whereas vugs are voids or cavities within a rock formation. Geodes also differ from “nodules” in that a nodule is a mass of mineral matter that has accreted around the nodule nucleous. Both structures had the minerals contained within deposited from groundwater or hydrothermal processes. The exterior of most geodes generally consists of chalcedony, a cryptocrystalline form of quartz. Inside the chalcedony shell many minerals have been found such as calcite, pyrite, kaolinite, sphalerite, millerite, barite, dolomite, limonite, smithsonite and quartz, which is by far the most common and abundant mineral found in geodes. Geodes are found mostly in basaltic lavas and limestones. The Warsaw Formation in the Keokuk region near the area where Missouri, Iowa, and Illinois join contains abundant geodes.
Formation
Geodes can form in any cavity, but the term is usually reserved for more or less rounded formations in igneous and sedimentary rocks, while the more general term “vug” is applied to cavities in fissures and veins. They can form in gas bubbles in igneous rocks, such as vesicles in basaltic lavas, or as in the American Midwest, rounded cavities in sedimentary formations. After rock around the cavity hardens, dissolved silicates and/or carbonates are deposited on the inside surface. Over time, this slow feed of mineral constituents from groundwater or hydrothermal solutions allows crystals to form inside the hollow chamber. Bedrock containing geodes eventually weathers and decomposes, leaving them present at the surface if they are composed of resistant material such as quartz.
Quartz Geode
Amethyst Geode
Amethyst Geode 2
Knitting Awesomeness
Knitted Scarf
Knitted Cardigan
Knitted Head Scarf
Huge Knitted Scarf
Love this stuff. Found on Jonathan Jacques-Belletête Tumblr. I knit a similar design as the men’s scarf last year, still yet to be recorded.
Well then Fuuuck Me, Project Fail
Well then Fuuuck Me
This blog is as much about failures and process than finished products. I have a great series of paper cuts going and have been slowly collecting other materials to test the concept on. This blue plastic was a nicely finished matte bag I got at a music store in LA. It clearly does not hold up.
I laugh at how I decided to try a whole statement rather than even one flourish which would have told me enough. Although, I do love how the statement clearly reflects my failure. It’s like cause and effect or effect and cause or maybe I can just predict the future?
Stellar Inspiration
Nasa Image, Galactic Metropolis
Nasa Image, Young Stars in a Blanket of Dust
Nasa Image, Great Observatories Present Rainbow of a Galaxy
Nasa Image, Cassiopeia A: Death Becomes Her
Nasa Image, Chaos at the Heart of Orion
I’m doing research for a personal project and I wanted some amazing space photos. My brother in law recommended looking on the Nasa website, of course! I was not disappointed. There are a lot of amazing images of moons and planets but I’m mostly drawn to nebulas and dust and warped clouds and galactic rings. The above are some of my favorites and best inspiration.
Sean Freeman for Band of Horses
Band of Horses Poster, by Sean Freeman
I was just perusing through this year’s Communication Arts Typography Annual and came across this lovely poster by Sean Freeman. Obviously, there is a lot of typography in the annual to be admired, but this one struck me especially. I love the use of actual objects to create type, such as I’ve been exploring with paper recently. The poster is also a significantly appropriate style for the band.
Check out more of Sean’s incredible work at Levine/Leavitt—it’s all pretty mind blowing.
Lex McQuilkin, Cut Paper Artist and Illustrator
It’s been ages since my last post! I still have nothing to say for myself, so I’ve decided to at least say something about someone else.
Lex McQuilkin is an amazing illustrator I’ve had the pleasure of collaborating with this past month. Not only was she perfect for the job we are working on, but she shares a love of paper art with me. She’s been working on it a lot longer than me and has given me some sweet tips. Her work above are beautiful examples of intricate paper work, often layered with decorative papers underneath. The typography, hand drawn, always works so nicely with her images. When I look through all of her work on her sites, I definitely take note of how she presents her work—within frames, hanging freely on pins, installations—and hope to be able to replicate something similar one day.
Lex is a resident artist with Million Fishes Artist Collective in San Francisco, is a co-founder of Aorta Magazine, and has started her own poster company, Argot Prints. Most of her work is dedicated to social justice, practice, and responsibility, often concentrating on women and queers on the arts.
Artist’s Manifesto
Unoriginal Paper Cut
A Failure, Paper Cut
Total Bullshit, Paper Cut
These are the first three in a series I plan on doing. They are all 8.5×11 sheets of card stock hand cut with an x-acto.
I gave the first image, “Unoriginal”, to my friend without any background information and the comment back to me was, “Way to turn your state of dissatisfaction into something beautiful.” He hit the nail on the head.
Mary and Max, Strange Pals
Mary and Max
Last night I watched a dark claymation film called Mary and Max. It’s a story of two unlikely friends, an obese, middle-aged New Yorker and a young outcast from Australia, Mary. I had never heard of it before, but I can’t resist anything claymation and I noticed the voice actors were the likes of Philip Seymour Hoffman, Toni Collette, and Eric Bana. Also, it won a ton of awards when it hit the festival circuit a few years ago.
The imagery was super fun and dark and I kept getting little surprises from the scenes. I love the fish smoking underwater, the bubble bath design, and all the small details throughout. Beware of death by embalming fluid, hard psychiatric emotions, disgusting-looking characters, and ground up goldfish.
Watch it now on Netflix. Also, definitely check out their website if you’re into that kind of stuff.
Rachell Sumpter’s Pastels
Rachell Sumpter, Ghosts 2009
Rachell Sumpter, Islander 2009
Rachell Sumpter, Mothers Little Helper
I’ve just discovered the Richard Heller Gallery and I can’t keep my eyes off of the delicious art featured there. Rachell Sumpter uses mainly gouache and pastel on paper and I can’t believe the worlds she invokes with her techniques. The colors are reminiscent of aurora bourealis and her characters are warmly dressed eskimos or ghosts residing in these mysterious lands that actually look fairly warm themselves. I enjoy the juxtaposition.
My favorite up above are the ghosts with rainbow beards, on first look, I thought they were puking rainbow. They remind me of the old mystics from Dark Crystal achingly traveling on their last journey. The last image I have added because, yes, I love that a baby is riding a rat.
Paper – Cigarette Ash Landscape
Cigarette Ash Landscape
Cigarette Ash Landscape Installation
Cigarette Ash Landscape installation
I love this Cigarette Ash Landscape installation a friend posted from Designboom. The cigarette forms were created by Yang Yongliang. Check out both of their sites for more amazing work.
Burton Products
Burton Campaign Ad
While flipping through Nylon this month, I noticed this awesome ad by Burton. It’s not the exactly something I’ve never seen, but I love that there is no digital typography in this ad. I’ve always been a huge fan of using major amounts of imagery and teeny tiny small typography, the imagery is more interesting! But when you can find a solution that is unobtrusive, thank you. This is the kind of tactile design I like to see, especially since I’ve been hand building my typography lately. This is the type of work I’d love to integrate my design career with.
Furry Pals Help Me Design
A Common Name, Dog Upset
Cat Declines A Common Name
Fixing My Photo Set Up
While starting photo shoots for my new brand, A Common Name, I got a few distractions. There are a few too many adorable animals trying their own layouts or probably just flat out disapproving my designs. They are way too cute to get mad at, so we happily documented their ideas..
Prepping a New Brand
A Common Name, Typeface Arrangement
A Common Name, 3D Typeface
The above two images are raw shots of a typeface I’m building for my new design brand called, A Common Name. I’ve been physically building two different typefaces into 3-dimensional paper type. The plan is to place the letters onto complex surfaces to photograph. The end result would only feature one of the typefaces set in different locations—on grass, on a brick wall, in a river (oh yes, we’re going large scale too). I had so many typefaces in mind for this, even extremely round letters. Somehow these square/rectangle shapes appeal to me, when I lay them in any which way on a surface, they create amazing patterns and shapes (see above). I’m also happy with the possible juxtaposition of placing such rigid letters in natural settings.
A background on the name:
A Common Name comes from months of searching for a new business name and finding that nothing that pertains to me in the design world hasn’t already been used. Smith is THE most common name in the U.S. I cannot use it in any way, shape, or form because it’s already been done and used. I landed on A Common Name because of this problem. Many names have become common and so many design firms have “common” and regular used phrases. It’s hard to feel original, especially in the web world.
A Common Name will be a title for myself, for original design work, for a design firm. Everything has a common name, but it doesn’t mean it isn’t amazing.
Sagmeister Inc., Public Art
Sagmeister Work in Progress
Sagmeister Inc. Public Work
Now on to admiring some current artists… In 2008, Stegan Sagmeister and his team created the piece shown above. It was a public installation created with 250,000 Eurocents on Waagdragerhof Square in Amsterdam. It took more than 100 volunteers and over 8 days to complete. The piece is beautiful and I completely understand the sentiment. Definitely an obsessive way to be, but with fantastic results. Even crazier is that this was a public piece, so once it was completed it was left to the public to do as they will. To work so hard and long on such a fleeting beauty is something to bow down to.
Sagmeister is well-known for his typography and extremely creative designs that challenge the viewer. He creates tactile art, such as the above, with found objects and every day items. Other print pieces will be stunning collages, fading billboard designs, illustrations, and installations. He has even had an intern cut into his own skin. His work is always an inspiration for me and I suddenly find my creative experiments falling into a similar category these days. Although I don’t compete, yet.
Parlour Tricks and Toulouse Lautrec
Toulouse Lautrec Ads
Toulouse Lautrec Sketches
Last week I had the pleasure of spending a day in San Diego for a wonderful birthday woman. We spent the day time perusing museums in Balboa Park. There we found a wonderful exhibit of Toulouse Lautrec artwork at the San Diego Museum of Art. It was inspiring to revisit this master’s work as one of the greatest graphic designers and illustrators. He had such a unique style of drawing that wasn’t particularly attractive for his subjects but still sought after by many dancers and performers.
I’m incredibly attracted to what is implied in his drawings. He’s constantly skipping drawings eyeballs, just drawings the sockets, hands are incomplete and claw-like, dresses have no details, just outlines. All of these effects truly allow you to leave your own imagination to fill in the blanks. I also very much admire his use of typography on the prints, usually hand drawn and never intruding on the characters of the page.
This revisit and reminder of Toulouse Lautrec is a great way to rethink my typography and keep moving forward with my hand made approach. Lately, I feel my typography has gotten boring and soft after so many corporate positions, hopefully this will give me a jolt in a new direction.
