Aubrey Beardsley

I was reading the blog of a deisigner (http://www.wiwimu.blogspot.com/) who mentioned Aubrey Beardsley as an inspiration. I was reminded how much I love Beardsley! Some of my favourite work of his is the illustration and typography in the book 'Le Morte D'Athur'.

Although this was published in Victiotian times, the stylistic devices used clearly reference medieval ideas. Monks used to make intricatley decorated manuscripts such as these in the middle ages, although they often used colour. Beardsley uses black and white to make his pictures dark and atmospheric, the high level of detail adding to these characteristics. I love the heavily gothic calligraphy of 'Book 1, Chapter 1' and all the details in the main body of text, such as using 'v' instead of 'u'.

This work was inspired by styles centuries before it's time, so there is no reason why it can't still be appreciated now.

tigerprint Website

Although Im not too sure about the products made by this company (they supply cards and gifts to Marks&Spencer), I do love their website. It has lots of nice moving bits and the menu is found by hovering the mouse over the spots on the various sized circles. The black and white colour scheme (with the odd bit of red) allows the childlike colours in the images to stand out, and I like the calligraphic logo. This is a high-tech but very friendly site which reflects the design of the company's products.

Credit to Cal, whose blog I found this site on!

Thou Shalt Always Kill

I heard this song by Dan le Sac vs Scroobius Pip on the radio a while ago- the lyrics are absolute genius. I think it's a fantastic satire of popular culture and I can identify with nearly every line (although if anyone understands the line about spelling the word phoenix, please explain!)

See the video on youtube at the link above, here are the lyrics:

Thou shalt not steal if there is direct victim.
Thou shalt not worship pop idols or follow lost prophets.
Thou shalt not take the names of Johnny Cash, Joe Strummer, Johnny Hartman, Desmond Decker, Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix or Syd Barret in vain.
Thou shalt not think that any male over the age of 30 that plays with a child that is not their own is a peadophile… Some people are just nice.
Thou shalt not read NME.
Thall shalt not stop liking a band just because they’ve become popular.
Thou shalt not question Stephen Fry.
Thou shalt not judge a book by it’s cover.
Thou shalt not judge Lethal Weapon by Danny Glover.
Thall shalt not buy Coca-Cola products. Thou shalt not buy Nestle products.
Thou shalt not go into the woods with your boyfriend’s best friend, take drugs and cheat on him.
Thou shalt not fall in love so easily.
Thou shalt not use poetry, art or music to get into girls’ pants. Use it to get into their heads.
Thou shalt not watch Hollyoakes.
Thou shalt not attend an open mic and leave as soon as you're done just because you’ve finished your shitty little poem or song you self-righteous prick.
Thou shalt not return to the same club or bar week in, week out just ’cause you once saw a girl there that you fancied but you’re never gonna fucking talk to.

Thou shalt not put musicians and recording artists on ridiculous pedestals no matter how great they are or were.

The Beatles - Were just a band.
Led Zepplin - Just a band.
The Beach Boys - Just a band.
The Sex Pistols - Just a band.
The Clash - Just a band.
Crass - Just a band.
Minor Threat - Just a band.
The Cure - Just a band.
The Smiths - Just a band.
Nirvana - Just a band.
The Pixies - Just a band.
Oasis - Just a band.
Radiohead - Just a band.
Bloc Party - Just a band.
The Arctic Monkeys - Just a band.
The next big thing - JUST A BAND.

Thou shalt give equal worth to tragedies that occur in non-English speaking countries as to those that occur in English speaking countries.
Thou shalt remember that guns, bitches and bling were never part of the four elements and never will be.

Thou shalt not make repetitive generic music

Thou shalt not make repetitive generic music

Thou shalt not make repetitive generic music

Thou shalt not make repetitive generic music

Thou shalt not pimp my ride.
Thou shalt not scream if you wanna go faster.
Thou shalt not move to the sound of the wickedness.
Thou shalt not make some noise for Detroit.
When I say “Hey” thou shalt not say “Ho”.
When I say “Hip” thou shalt not say “Hop”.
When I say "he say, she say, we say, make some noise" - kill me.
Thou shalt not quote me happy.
Thou shalt not shake it like a polaroid picture.
Thou shalt not wish your girlfriend was a freak like me.
Thou shalt spell the word “Pheonix” P-H-E-O-N-I-X not P-H-O-E-N-I-X, regardless of what the Oxford English Dictionary tells you.
Thou shalt not express your shock at the fact that Sharon got off with Bradley at the club last night by saying “Is it”.
Thou shalt think for yourselves.

And thou shalt always kill.

Ruth Rowland

http://www.illustrationweb.com/RuthRowland/

Red and white make for a very striking image. The colours here are very appropriate because of the make up worn by the Geishas of Japan- by using only the lips, the picture is anonymous, whilst being intantly recognisable from a distance. The way Geisha's paint their lips make them even more heart shaped than is natural, although the image still retains the rough edges of the slightly imperfectly applied line. I also love the expressive typography used, which clearly references Japanese brush painting whilst retaining the modern element of the first 3 words of the title. All these elements express perfectly the themes of the book itself, so a very successful design.

The rest of Ruth Rowland's work is similar to this image in that she often uses a few bold colours, and always uses expressive, hand rendered typography. I was very inspired by Rowland's portfolio as she has worked for some very high profile clients (such as BBC1) whilst using hand rendered techniques and not being particularly 'trendy'.

Film- American Beauty

This film is not only visually stunning, it also has an amazing, original soundtrack and subject matter that is relevant to everybody. Throughout the film, the rose is used to great effect. The colour red signifies danger, blood and passion; everything lacking from the main character's (Lester) life. Below is a perfect example of it's use in a dream sequence, where a white bath full of red rose petals covers Lester's daughter's naked best friend. She is a forbidden pleasure- somewhat like the apple in the garden of eden (a red apple?).

Roses are also linked to beauty and perfection, which is why they are shown at the beginning with Lester's wife, Carolyn. They sum her up perfectly- beautiful to look at, but high maintenance and prickly beneath the beauty. Maybe the symolism is a little too blatant, but it does make for some very striking imagery.

Hellmann's Squeezy

www.hellmannssqueezy.com

I saw this advert on TV and was intrigued by the idea of a website. Do people really use things like this? I realised that it is actually a competition, so given the incentive, there are plenty of people willing to take part and upload clips of their skills.

The two men in the TV advert (and featured in the website demonstrating different tricks) are professional flairers who have transferred their skills from cocktails to sandwiches. I found the site amusing and I like the brand identity given to this product. It appears youthful and trendy- quite a feat for a brand of mayonnaise! While the packaging isn't particularly youthful, the website uses the bright yellow and blue to full effect, adding some funkier typography (Im a big fan of 'Hellmanns Squeezy' written across the top in mayonnaise).

Overall, I think this is a successful attempt to make Hellmanns squeezy trendy. Why buy any mayonnaise when you can buy a cool mayonnaise?

Zara Clothing Label

This really stood out amongst all the boring, high street clothing labels. The informal letter shapes re-inforce the idea of being environmentally friendly, whilst the capitals make sure the message is taken seriously. The reversed out lettering draws your eye to the most important part of the text and the textured stock feels like it could be recycled, further backing up the message.