Friday Photo

Chapel girls, Ireland

Sudden Impact

The Mars Rover Curiosity

My Science Fiction movies have lied to me , it looks like 'Impact' could be the first typeface on Mars an not OCB! I couldn't find any type included on the Viking 1 and 2 missions, or even for Pathfinder or Opportunity rovers,  if anyone has any info let me know.

In the meantime here is a sunny Martian snap from Viking 1…

Been a long time…

Well it's been a while and my excuse for an absence of 5 months is that I have been up to my eyes with projects and either have been under NDA's or too busy to take time out to catalogue  the projects I've been involved in. But all being well I'll be back to regular blogging soon, watch this space…

Using their loaf

I was in my local Monoprix last night picking up a few things for tea and I came across this packaging for bread which made me smile. For those that don't know 'pain de mie' is the French version of sliced bread so some one had a bit of fun with this one.

Last Summer

Just finished the cover for the latest release from the rooftop label 7eme Ciel. After 4 years of beautiful, intimate concerts they have decided to call it a day and reclaim their balcony for themselves. in order to commemorate and celebrate the past 4 seasons they have released a 22 track compilation to say thank you to all the musicians who played and to the people who came and shared in the concerts, as they say themselves, 'Last Summer is a compilation and marks the end of a beautiful human adventure.'

Friday Photo

Mum and Dad, Northern Ireland, 2005

War Horse

Synopsis: Dartmoor,1914: To his wife's dismay farmer Narracott buys a thoroughbred horse rather than a plough animal, but when his teenaged son Albert trains the horse and calls him Joey, the two becoming inseparable. When his harvest fails, the farmer has to sell Joey to the British cavalry and he is shipped to France where, after a disastrous offensive he is captured by the Germans and changes hands twice more before he is found, caught in the barbed wire in No Man's Land four years later and freed. He is returned behind British lines where Albert, now a private, has been temporarily blinded by gas, but still recognizes his beloved Joey. However, as the Armistice is declared Joey is set to be auctioned off. After all they have been through will Albert and Joey return home together?

The Tree of Life

Synopsis: The impressionistic story of a Texas family in the 1950s. The film follows the life journey of the eldest son, Jack, through the innocence of childhood to his disillusioned adult years as he tries to reconcile a complicated relationship with his father (Brad Pitt). Jack (played as an adult by Sean Penn) finds himself a lost soul in the modern world, seeking answers to the origins and meaning of life while questioning the existence of faith.

Design: Mark Carroll

MoneyBall

Synopsis: Oakland A's GM Billy Beane is handicapped with the lowest salary constraint in baseball. If he ever wants to win the World Series, Billy must find a competitive advantage. Billy is about to turn baseball on its ear when he uses statistical data to analyze and place value on the players he picks for the team.

Midnight in Paris

Synopsis: Gil and Inez travel to Paris as a tag-along vacation on her parents' business trip. Gil is a successful Hollywood writer but is struggling on his first novel. He falls in love with the city and thinks they should move there after they get married, but Inez does not share his romantic notions of the city or the idea that the 1920s was the golden age. When Inez goes off dancing with her friends, Gil takes a walk at midnight and discovers what could be the ultimate source of inspiration for writing. Gil's daily walks at midnight in Paris could take him closer to the heart of the city but further from the woman he's about to marry.

Hugo

Synopsis: Set in 1930s Paris, an orphan who lives in the walls of a train station is wrapped up in a mystery involving his late father and an automaton.

Design: BLT Associates, you remember them?!

What can I say other than DID YOU KNOW THAT THIS MOVIE IS IN 3-D!! Since Avatar arrived in our cinemas movie posters have undergone a mini revolution in how they depict a 3-D movie via a 2-D medium, the resulting solution is, make sure that there is something protruding in the image,

The Help

Synopsis: An aspiring author during the civil rights movement of the 1960s decides to write a book detailing the African-American maid's point of view on the white families for which they work, and the hardships they go through on a daily basis.

Design: Ignition Print who were in the running last year with Inception.

When I first saw this poster, the first question that entered my head was "What is the colour all about?" Yellow and purple don't immediately pop into my head as a colour palette reflecting the American Black Civil Rights Movement.

The Descendants

Synopsis: A land baron tries to re-connect with his two daughters after his wife suffers a boating accident.

Design: The design for the one sheet was done by Mojo who were listed last year with their poster for  'The Kids are Alright.'
The poster shows George Clooney under the protection of  red parasol, staring thoughtfully over his shoulder at his two daughters who are playing on a beach with palm trees. On Georges finger we see a Photoshopped enhanced wedding ring, but no wife in shot,

Friday Photo

The Lake, Magilligan, Northern Ireland 2004

Friday Photo

Launch of Harry Potter book, Kings Cross Station, London 2007

Currency cuts; the work of Mark Wagner

In these times of economic doom and gloom, where every other news story is about a company closing its doors or a bank making a huge profit you need to a little creative with your cash and that is exactly what Mark Wagner has done.

The Artist

The Artist. directed by Michel Hazanavicius

Synopsis: 
Hollywood, 1927: As silent movie star George Valentin wonders if the arrival of talking pictures will cause him to fade into oblivion, he sparks with Peppy Miller, a young dancer set for a big break.

Design: 
The design is created by Couramiaud / Laurent Lufroy, they have created posters for Jeanne D'Arc, Leon and Les Visiteurs.
I remember the first time I saw this poster, it stopped me in my tracks, not because it was breathtakingly beautiful but because it was so 'clean', it wasn't overloaded with logos, credits or quotes, it simply put the focus on the the two stars and the movies name.

Friday Photo

AL, Paris, 2005

Oscar Time 2012

Yes it's that time of the year again, when a little gold man is the subject of a lot of speculation, you guessed it, it's Oscar time!

Friday Photo

Giants Causeway, Northern Ireland 2008

Bethmale

Bethmale is the latest release from Paris based Australian group Heligoland. They asked me if I would be interested in coming up with a sleeve design for an EP which had been recorded while the band went away for a weekend break together.

Friday Photo

Frog, Northern Ireland, 2011

Broken dolls

Jessica Harrison is an Edinburgh based sculptor who has recently created a body of work called 'Broken'. At it's simplest the 'Broken' series is customising ready made porcelain figurines, the kind that you find on your Aunties mantelpiece but Jessica Harrison brings a gruesome, dark side to the usual broken ornament.

One hello and a goodbye

Well a belated Happy New Year to you all, as you have probably sen it's been a bit sparse around here recently with few postings since the Christmas break but fear not 2012 sees me with a new vigour and spring in my step!
Since the break there have been a few absences as well none more that the death of Eve Arnold, Even if you didn't know her name you would have know her work. Her shots of Marylin Monroe traveled the globe, her candid free shooting style showing a different side to famous faces.

There is a wealth of information out there on her but if you have the chance pick up her book 'FlashBack the 50's'   it is well worth it, in the mean time here is a selection of her work showing her versatility,  displaying the humour of Bresson and the story telling of Robert Frank.

Marlene Dietrich at the recording studios of Columbia Records, 1952

Bar girl in a brothel in the red light district, Havana, Cuba, 1954

Widow Needing Companion. Dora Grubb at The RA, London 1961

Father Gregory Wilkins, Director of the society of the sacred mission at Kelham,

 

Nottingham, 1963

Horse training for the militia, Inner Mongolia, China, 1979

Friday photo

Tiernans tattoo, Northern Ireland, 2008