Friday Photo

French Alps, Summer 2007

Green Man projections

Just got a few photos through from the Artic Circle team (who are all recovering in a darkened room!) of their adventures at the Green Man festival. Here are a few pics I'm sure there will be more to come. All photo credits go to Diana Jarvis, pop over to her site and check out some of her other work!

Penguin Inked

Cover designed by Russ Abbott

Paul Buckley over at Penguin publishing must have one of the best jobs in design, not only has he some of the greatest books ever written at his to design jackets for, but also an almost unlimited ability to commission new illustrations! Personally I think we are living through a golden age for book jacket design at the moment, almost everytime I walk into a bookshop there are at least 6 titles which scream "BUY ME!" just on their book cover alone, Paul Buckley and his team at Penguin have played no small part in this consumer compulsion! Penguin covers are innovating and always engaging with the reader to pick their books off the shelf and to take them home. Well they have done it again, this time commissioning Tattoo artists to give their take on classics such as Angela Carters The Bloody Chamber to Helen Fieldings The Diary of Bridget Jones. This new series is collected under the title of Penguin Inked and has been running in America since 2010 but only just came to my attention when I was in a bookshop during my summer break in Ireland.

Cover designed by Gonzallo

Most of these are based in the new wave of old style sailor tattoos, I wonder if any literary fans out there will get inked with their favourite authors sleeve?

Cover by Tara McPherson

Cover by Duke Reily

Cover by Bert Krak

Cover by Jen Munford

Cover designed by Duncan X

Cover designed by Valerie Vargas

Cover designed by Han van der Sluys

Cover designed by Lynn Akura

Friday Photo

YMCA, North London, 2005

50 shades of blue

Edwyn Collins is a walking marvel! Not only has he been busy recording a new album, producing a multitude of and putting on a growing number of exhibitions of his drawings. If that hasn't been enough he has been working with Liberty fabrics to create a range of printed fabrics featuring his beautiful bird illustrations, that are part of their Liberty Rocks range that also features Blur's Graham Coxon.
Edwyn has also been working with Elli Pop who has again taken his ornithological illustrations and applied them to a range of tableware. So what's next a Jaguar/ Collins car colaboration? I'm just hoping for a new album. As edwyn says 'Keep on chooglin'!!'

An American Icon

OK, 16 August is the day where people of a certain age wonder what the world would be like if 'The King' had lived.
So in true blog tradition I went off trawling the internet for a suitable image to mark Elvis's passing and to muse on his impact in Northern Irish culture when I came across the work of an artist and illustrator call Bob Kessel.
I don't know if it is the power of an icon in the collective imagination, (the on going sitings of Jesus, Elvis, Jacko in everything from cornflakes, tortillas and clouds may attest to this!) but his series American Icons which reduces stars like Marylin Monroe and Marlon Brando to bold cubist shapes and primary blocks of  colour are all immediately recognisable. If you want to see more of Kessel's work then click here to explore his landscapes and other paintings. So instead of a post on Elvis, you get a post on cubist painting! The King moves in mysterious ways!!

Friday Photo

Saorsie, Northen Ireland, 2004

The Lost Type Co-op

I came across this type house a little while ago while researching some vintage type for a project and was amazed by their model. As they explain in their own words:
The Lost Type Co-Op is a Pay-What-You-Want Type foundry, the first
of its kind. 
Founded by Riley Cran and Tyler Galpin, originally in a whirlwind 24 hour adventure to distribute a single typeface, Lost Type has blossomed into a full fledged foundry, distributing fonts from designers all over the world, with its unique model.

Users have the opportunity to pay whatever they like for a font, you can even type in '$0' for a free download.

100% of funds from these sales go directly to the designers of the fonts, respectively.

Lost Type takes no cut of sales, and holds no funds.

I think this is amazing and the quality of the typefaces are perfect for those projects that need a typeface with a certain look.  Also if you have half an hour pop over to their blog to see some of their typefaces in action and where they draw inspiration from. Long may the project continue!

Friday Photo

Donegal Beach, Ireland, 2011

Penguin Cinema

If your not festival-ed out already and have room to squeeze another in this year then I recommend the Green Man Festival which features our friends from the north; Arctic Circle who will be putting on a weekend of cinema and sound and creating an island of calm to rest and relax from the rest of the festival's shenanigans with artists such as Emily Barker, NSRO and Paper Cinema!

I created a paper cut illustration for the occasion which I'm lead to believe will be projected in the cinema tent. For more information  pop over to the AC website, and if that wasn't incentive enough The Sleeping Years will be playing on Sunday, so don't put the tent away just yet!