Holy Shit! Visions of the Walworth Jumpers

Tuesday 23 March 2010

Leon Diaper: Photographer Spotlight

Photograph by Leon Diaper


Last month, I interviewed photographer Leon Diaper. Read interview here.

Thursday 18 March 2010

Scott Campbell's Money

Image courtesy of Scott Campbell

I like Scott Campbell's version of defacing money. My version coming soon!

Creative Business Cards

Business card courtesy of Valerie Pezeron. Copyright restricted. Do not reproduce without permission.

Business cards are an important part of an illustrator's professional presentation and a crucial signature that says EVERYTHING in a nutshell...or a tiny piece of printed matter.

Business card courtesy of Clemence de Limburgh

The size of the card, the information you put on it, the quality of paper are all important. Do consider font style and size, composition and what you will put at the front and at the back. But most importantly, what do you want this business card to say about you?

Business card courtesy of Louise Duncan

I include here business cards I have collected over the years. Many come in all sizes and shapes. Arguably,  a good business card is in the pocket size/ fits-in-a-wallet size format.

Business card courtesy of Dan Bernstein

But I have noticed designers like all sorts of things; postcards and other larger formats can be good samples to leave behind after visiting a client with a portfolio.

Business card courtesy of Kanako Usui

I have both, postcards and my business cards as I find the latter more handy over networking opportunities. Tearsheets are a good way to make a lasting impression too. But more on these in another blogpost!

Business card courtesy of Hanna Melin

Wednesday 17 March 2010

Creative CVs

CV courtesy of webdesignerdepot

This post is for my students at the University of East London. I have compiled a list of creative CVs that I consider noteworthy from the good, the bad and the ugly currently filling the web's virtual shelves. Now it's up to you to do the same on your won blog.


CV courtesy of webdesignerdepot

There is no blueprint to the perfect creative CV besides the fact that if you are an illustrator, you CV should show that you have design skills, i.e an understanding of layout and design such as fonts, images and length. More specifically, your CV should not be more than 2 pages long, font size and spacing will be carefully considered in order to emphasise headings versus content.

 CV courtesy of webdesignerdepot

Your CV should be a reflection of your personality and strengths. But even before discussing style, you need to brainstorm content, keywords that attract the employer's eye as to your achievements and plus points.

 CV courtesy of webdesignerdepot

A creative CV is a perpetually changing work of art? That piece of paper will have to be constantly refined to fit the industry, employer and job you are targeting each and every time. But most important of all, make it visually striking so that it stands out from the pile of dreary CVs piling on that recruiter's desk.

CV courtesy of Jane Heinrichs.

And finally, last but not least, do not make it gimmicky, it's the content that matters most.

Monday 15 March 2010

Things that Inspire Me: 30 Bizarre Examples of Defacing Money


Image courtesy of 62 The Comic

Courtesy of 300 Jackson



I find that defacing money is a good exercise in graphic design. And the following examples I found on the website Money Mumbo Jumbo are quite successful. It's not just about the visual solution, it's also about content which is something I try to get into my pupils' heads, the really cool kids at the University of East London.


 Image courtesy of Hannah Von Goeler

Here everything is so chicky, dealing with money in a very irreverential way and I like that! Making fun with something so many people put on a pedestal and hold more dear than people's lives.

Image courtesy of What To Do

Dia is now online!

Image courtesy of  Art Lounge
 
Dia is an international magazine accompanying Dia-Boutique, a kind of Boutique 1, Net-a-Porter or ASOS for the Middle East. I am currently filling in as features editor and as a writer. The magazine has just had its first issue released last Thursday and one of the articles I wrote for the mag can now be read online. Titled Beirut Graffiti at Art Lounge, it is about this art space in the Lebanese capital catering to a more discerning youth hungry for trendy culture breaking with tradition. And Art Lounge is one place where they can find just that. Read it all here.
I enjoy writing features on Middle Eastern Art because even though I am not from that region ( I am French), I am learning all about how vibrant and influential this region is in the realm of the arts.

Friday 5 March 2010

Prince Pelayo Sketch

 
Illustration courtesy of Valerie Pezeron, copyright restricted 2010, no reproduction without permission.

I was commissioned to do this sketch of fashion blogger Prince Pelayo for Sketchbook magazine. The only restrictions was to do a portrait and only use pencils and black and white. Also he had to have a boyish James Dean look, with a sexy smoldering innocent gaze. Tricky, no?!!!

Things that inspire me - Vintage Book Illustrations!


 
Science is Fun, the Magic Water. 



Science is Fun, the Magic Water.
 
This compilation of illustrated children's books is not by me but I am utterly infatuated with it! The inventiveness of designs and the very strong compositions are a pleasure to study.



And I am bowled over by the orginality of thought, the explosion of colours and exquisite colour combinations, the savvy use of materials and the contagious cheerfulness!

Charley, Charlotte and the Golden Canary by Charles Keeping, 1967

An animator friend of mine from back in the days at Kingston university once asserted that children's books were not difficult to do and I have always been iritated by this somewhat arrogance and prejudice that some artists like to coat themselves in whenever we are talking design and kids. Well, take notice to the high level of sophistication on display here!

The Boy who had wings by Jane Yolen, Pictures in wax –crayon by Helga Alchinger, Published 1974