I've recently come across these brilliant hand drawn pieces by a 21 year old South Korean artist, Minjae Lee a.k.a GrenoMJ. What is so compelling about these images is the sheer vibrancy of the colour and pattern used. The implementation of intricate floral patterns, gives the work a sense of delicacy and femininity. I originally thought these were digitally created using Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop, but I was very happy to hear that they were created by hand, using a mixture of oil based markers, fine-liners and other mixed media. The Video below shows the process of adding colour and line-work. The whole process takes roughly 80-100 hours with a lot of time being taken up by the intricate detailing of the floral patterns. There is a sense of confidence and ability that far surpasses his age of 21 years, indicating that this is somebody with natural ability. Canvasses can be purchased on the artist's official website for $700 (£446) and if you have a spare bit of cash after the festive celebrations, I would seriously consider an investment. I am sure that somebody with this amount of talent being so young, will see their work become highly sort after and make a tidy profit for purchasers now. The link to Minaje Lee's website is: http://www.grenomj.com/ The overwhelming feeling these pieces evoke is one of angst and deep emotional tension that is building up and up to the point to where we see now. This boiling pot brimming over with bursts of tones, joyful patterns and irregularity. This crescendo of elements is then tainted with a sense of disorder and rebellion. The spilled coffee like marks and paint splatters shows a sense of imperfection to these so called 'perfect' feminine subjects. Simply a wonderful collection that keeps getting better and better.
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OVERVIEW.//This fantastic example of historical morphing with contemporary design, creates a visual language that is both inspiring and endearing. Situated in the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius, it blends into the lush green landscape, cut away into the sloping topography and making a visual statement that is both subtle and spectacular. The chosen aesthetic adds a sense of sophistication that is almost a poster piece for Le Corbusier's 'Machine for Living.' This modernistic approach is supplemented with a preservation for the historical. A cannon foundry lay on the original site which under further inspection happened to be built out of valuable Vilnius bricks. The priority for this build soon became a preservation and a symbiotic bond between the old and the new. The matte black finishes to the floor tiles and the solid balustrade adds to this sophistication. Oozing with sleek minimalism and pleasing modernism. The drop down dome pendants blend in with the interior scheme whilst adding subtle ambient lighting. The historical elements of the building are given respect and not hidden away, but are showcased and given a sense of purpose. Recessed floor strip panels are built into the tiling to softly light the undulating historical wall features. Overall this is a fantastic approach to what could have been a total disregard to the original features. The lesson to learn from this is that respect for the past can work well with a desire for the contemporary. CREATE THE SAME STYLE.//Click on the image below to have a look at the Pinterest board to see how you can re-create this style.
On my travels this morning I came across this brilliant post from Buzzfeed.com. When it comes to a D.I.Y Christmas why don't you try a Star Wars Christmas? A bit of cutting and snipping here and there and you could get yourself an alternative Christmas. The pdf below will help you create the above decoration, just print and cut out the grey areas. Even if the force is not strong with you then it is possible to create your own Star Wars Christmas. If the force is strong with you then you should have been informed of these festive crafts at Jedi school. Enjoy the holidays, because even Jedi celebrate Christmas. May the festive force be with you. For more designs visit: http://mattersofgrey.com/diy-star-wars-snowflakes/
So what is going on with HMV recently? Are they a music store or are they a library? The rows upon rows of CD's and DVD's suggest the latter. There was a situation recently where I wanted to find a CD and I chose HMV (not that there is much choice as this is the only surviving store left on the high-street) and was presented with an endless abyss of products. Some call it clutter, I call it an inconvenience. As a man, patience is not my most endearing quality, throw shopping into that mix and that recipe is not good. I want to be in and out in breakneck speed, acquiring my goods with precision and accuracy, no queue at the checkout and swiftly out of the store without being tempted by all of the 6 for 10 offers as I make my quick escape. HMV angers me. It angers me that they have no identity any more. A once well established British industry that has succumbed to throwing everything at the wall and hoping it sticks. The Dog and the gramophone is outdated but equally as iconic. The question is this... are HMV scared to move away from their heritage and create a new brand for themselves? Should the dog be a designer dog and the gramophone be replaced with an I-Pod? They need to do something to help themselves progress rather than stay stagnate. I have the answer to all of their problems. My inability to faff and ponder over a purchase requires me to be brutal and efficient. We can do anything with smart phones these days so why can't we use them to our (my) advantage? Augmented reality apps are not new. They are used within Google maps and tell you in live-time how far away you are from a destination. Why can't we produce an app that does this for sifting through all of the junk in HMV? HOW IT WORKS//1. With a 3G or Wi-fi connection impatient male #1 clicks on his HMV App. . 2. Using a product search for that specific store, the user finds the object they want to find. 3. If the product is out of stock then the user is told this straight away and saves 30mins of his precious life to do something new, like take up a new hobby and find the meaning of life (incidentally it's 42). 4. If it is available then the app kicks in with a tilt of the device 90degrees by the user. 5. The interface appears in live-time, through the video camera, and shows where and how far away the product of desire is. 6. You find the product, take it to a bearded cashier, and there you go. In a matter of 0.44 seconds in and out. No hassle, reduced blood pressure, and in an overall better mood. Image credits: Montage: Paper Plane Design Blog HMV store view: www.telegraph.co.uk Smartphone and hand image: matthewbuckland.com Any thoughts on this + HMV?//I am pretty obsessed with Helvetica. It symbolises suave and sophisticated nuances that any smooth and suave designer like myself wants to be part of. It is like being part of a classic car club, you know it's old and knackered, but you feel obliged to use it. You feel guilty if you drive the more practical newer version. The Prius is to cars what Arial is to fonts...boring. Helvetica is an old friend who will never let you down and never be afraid to tell you the truth. Ok so my relationship with Helvetica is not that intense, as I seem to be talking about it like man's best friend, but boy it doesn't half look good. If it was a woman it would be Holly Willoughby, tall and curvy in all of the right places. If it was a beverage it would be a Gordon's Gin and Tonic with a perfectly cut piece of lime added just after the ice hits the tall glass. Subsequently I have run out of similes. It is used by many designers and many publications because of its equal proportions and variety of finishes. Helvetica Neue, Textbook, Compressed, Light, Bold, Rounded... you name it and there's a variation of it. Fonts can be the make or break of any business or project. Times New Roman is far too Serif for anyone's liking and please if I see Comic Sans anywhere no matter what I will not trust that person with anything never mind buy something from them. The choice of font is very much like the choice of which Holy Grail will give eternal life in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Get it wrong and you will end up like Walter Donovan (Julian Glover) and nobody wants to end like that, but get it right and yes you will be surrounded by shining lights, Denholm Elliott and co riding off into the sunset and you will live to see a massive cgi spaceship rise from the depths of the Nevada desert. So it's a good thing to get yourself the right font. So forget Verdana, Century Gothic and definitely get rid of Times New Roman because Helvetica is here to stay. It will be used by myself almost religiously to the point where I will not even consider something else. It would have been great to write this blog piece in Helvetica so it wouldn't be a massive contradiction, sort it out Weebly. I want to share the Lovetica and as a special leading up to Christmas gift I will present you with a download of the font below. For all you noobs to new fonts and need help to install it, do the following... 1. Download it 2. Save it to a file 3. Go to control panel 4. Find fonts folder (in Personaliseand Appearance bit) 5. Open fonts folder 6. Right click and press 'Install new font' 7. DOWNLOAD THE FONT//
Bartlett School of Architecture graduate, Kibwe Tavares, has recently been gifted the prestigious RIBA Silver Medal Award. The requirements for winners of the award should be those who 'Promote excellence in the study of Architecture and to encourage Architectural debate worldwide'. Tavares's entry undoubtly does this on a variety of levels. His Architectural Animation piece buffers on the bridge between architectural imagery, intense storyline, contextual musicianary and social equality and brought together through the medium of animation. The Brixton riots or 'Bloody Saturday' was a tense boiling pot of social inequality and oppression between The Metropolitan Police and the local African-Carribean community who felt, during a recession, that levels of deprevation and quality of life in the area was poor and generally unexceptable. Hundreds were injured and equally as many arrested, but this now seems so relevant, the similarities between the economy now and back in 1981 are almost equal and arguably worse. However I feel that Kibwe Tavares is trying to get across the differences between the recession now and then and the riots associated with both eras. In 1981 the riots consisted of mainly young black men who felt helpless and unhelped from the government in power. It was about rich white men oppressing the young poor black men. The significant difference between then and now is that this recession is hitting people regardless of race or class and is on a global scale that nobody has really seen before. The importance of the African Carribean community being depicted as 'robots' is because robots are programmed to obey and take orders. They have no human organs or qualities and therefore deemed to have no emotion or feelings of inequality. This semi-otically represents how society saw this community, as inferior and not worthy, and this animation takes us on that journey. The animation, produced by Tavares's animation company Factory Fifteen, follows the story of a fresh faced robot going about his daily life through the bustling market place of Brixton, co-existing with 'humans'. The robot then finds himself in a factory that has the feeling of a workhouse to it, where fellow robots all meet and partake in recreational drugs to take them away from the mundane reality of Brixton to a more wonderous place. From drug induced architectural creations the protagonist is slowly transported back into the heat of a fierce street battle. Police clad robots in heavy riot gear pacing through the streets in an aggresive way, diving in on rebellious robots who dare to wreak havoc on the streets of London. A slow motioned battle commences that ends in our robot friend spread out on the floor, bruised and battered. Eyes twitching and then closing. Fading out to a black screen, we are left to pondor this 'person's' fate. An appropiate quote by Karl Marx is gently faded in; "History repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce". This message reiterates the farce and lack of depth behind the Summer 2011 riots. Rioting for wealth and stealing of property instead of for your rights will never be understood or listened to. The understanding and depth that Kibwe Tavares has approached this subject, the inclusion of Architecture, History, Politics and Animation makes him a worthy winner and a role model for students who practice creative thinking for a purpose.
http://www.factoryfifteen.com http://www.bartlett.ucl.ac.uk/ As current global situations stand things aren't exactly great. There are uprisings in the Middle East,anti-capitalist protests in the Western world and an uneasy time for anybody within the Eurozone. Is Modernity, and everything fruitful that this wondrous object brings, possibly the root of this demise? Modernism has somewhat influenced capitalist needs and desires in relation to the way we idolise the aesthetical appearance of objects. To further define this just look at the I Phone/ I Pod/ any Apple product and the aesthetic allure this has on mass consumerism. I-phone concept: We all want it because it looks good and yet arguably we forfeit functionality. It is questionable whether this desire to conform to mass production leads to a very vein and benign design process. "There is in true beauty, as in courage, something which narrow souls cannot dare to admire." (William Congreve: English Playwright and Poet). This lack of courage and risk taking leads to a design that aims to please and not serve. The very fact that hardware is held back on the Iphone, albeit old technology, (like a flash camera on the 3G when flash cameras have been around on mobile devices for over 5 years) and then promoting it as a new feature on a new version of the device. This almost disregard for form over function means that we take 2 steps back in a time when we should thrive on innovation. However like lambs to the slaughter (myself included) we consume these products to enhance an image. An image that is led by this need to fit in. This whole need to fit in and be liked by material worth makes us vulnerable. It makes us vulnerable to the CEO's of these companies, it makes us vulnerable as consumers and makes us vulnerable as human beings. Decisions on purchasing products are made by pumping money into adverts, by misleading the performance of such products, and by making us feel insignificant without this device. I feel a need to go back to basics. To go back to an age where effort and intuition was rewarded, a time that relied on simplicity and basic human needs. A phone is a phone so therefore it shall call people. A building is a building so therefore it shall cocoon people with a sense of warmth, hygiene and security. If you look at such works from the likes of Buckminster Fuller, that based themselves upon shelter and philanthropic morals, then you will see what I mean. We are all guilty of designing to please, to make money, to get our 'big break', but there must be no greater feeling than to design for humanity, for a cause and for a reason. I beg you to consider these thoughts as designers, as sculptors of tomorrow, and as the foundation of mass consumerism to think twice before you make it look all nice. |
Designer. Did a blog. Starting blog again. Early Thirties. Like Food. Like Drink. Like Music. Like travelling. If you like this blog get involved, comment and send me a story or a product, lifestyle, or way of life to promote.
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