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.

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'.

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.

New Designers- Self Promo

These are some of the more interesting business cards (clockwise from top left)

Phil Bowell: a humourous play on his own name which works because he has followed the concept right through, using the materials, typography and imagery to back up the coffee theme.

Rob Jelly: the outside is very simple, but the typography intrigues you and invites you to look closer. He is lucky to have an interesting surname otherwise this wouldn't be nearly as effective! When you look closer, it says 'squeeze me' in very small type, the result of which can be seen in the photo below. This unusual design makes Mr Jelly more memorable, even though there are no images on the card.

Taena Uemura: this card is great because it reflects the artist's style so well. The natural string on the natural-brown coloured card is like a personal tag on a present. The typography is hand-rendered and fits well with the line drawing of the rodent. Even without the illustration, the materials and typography give a real sense of what Uemura's work is like.

Fatime Szaszi: admittedly, I only chose this because I like the illustration, but it is an unusual size. She has also comitted the cardinal sin of leaving a white border round her work! I still like the illustration though...

Lucy Hill: another interactive card, there is a small folded illustration inside the brown paper sleeve (seen below). The hand is cut out of the paper, giving you an idea of the hand-rendered nature of Hill's work. I also like the typography- simple, printed caps with widely spaced letters.

Amy Lewis: uninspiring typography and a lack of anything unusual about the card itself. However, I think the artist has done a great job of cropping a piece of her work to raise interest without giving too much away. I probably only chose this one because I liked her style as well!

New Designers Exhibition- Illustrators

The exhibition was over a month ago, but I've finally got round to photographing the postcards I collected from my favourite illustrators.

Clockwise from top left:
Abi Hollman- taken from her work that is actually a textiles piece where the black lines are threads and the colour sections are pieces of material. Very striking with the bright colours and mix of textured and in a style that seams suited to the subject matter.

Cate Howes- I like her quirky collection of brightly coloured animals, which would probably be popular in a childrens book.

David Bennison- a pencil illustration of a medieval castle viewed from the ceiling. All Bennison's work is very detailed and uses unusual perspectives. I have a lot of respect for the skill involved, but I felt it was perhaps a little to similar to some of Escher's work to be truly original.

Man in a hat- I chose this for the fantastic hand rendered typography (it reads 'illustration to a different beat'). Very sixties flower-power, but given a modern twist with the black and white colour scheme.

Taena Uemura- Another illustrator of animals suited to childrens books. These are much more realistc and executed in much softer colours than those of Cate Howes. I chose this card because of the materials used- childlike watercolours and crudely scribbled colouring pencils which work because of the accurate forms.

Louise Dean- This illustration really stood out because the paler colours look amazing against the background of brown packing paper. I also like the strong middle-eastern feel carried through all elements of the illustration.

Pat Morley- I liked the black, white and grey and the simple forms of this work. Again, simple animal shapes that had been made into a children's book. Very sweet, but is there room for this number of children's illustrators who only draw animals?

AOI- Tim Ashton

I don't know how this has been created- is it a photograph or an illustration that has been combined with computer trickery? If anyone knows, please comment!
I like that at first glance, it could be a photo, but when you look closer everything is slightly surreal and looks strangely still for someone standing in front of a breaking wave. The seagulls in the skirt work well as they mirror the seagulls in the sky.

AOI- Vicky Newman

I love this advert for the ice rink at Somerset House. Without being over-sentimental, the artist has conjured up the image of Christmas with a winter wonderland scene that also incorporates the architecture of the building. Im not too sure about the stars, which look suspiciously like a simple photoshop brush, but I think they work when combined with the large blue area that looks like a ink splodge. The whole poster is very textural, but the limited colours prevent it looking too busy.

AOI- Vault 49

www.vault49.com

Im sure many people are aware of the design collective Vault 49. Even if they arn't, they have done a huge number of high profile jobs including material for McDonalds, the New York Times, GQ Magazine, Nike, E4 and loads more. Their style is quite similar to that of Sophie Toulouse where stylised photographs are combined with fantasy elements of swirls and plants. Some pieces look like Kaleidoscopes, placing products in this perfect fantasy land of flowers and butterflies. I think Vault 49 are so popular with companies because their style is modern, trendy and edgy whilst retaining a positive feel much of the time (although the two images I have chosen use quite dark colours, other work is much lighter and brighter).

AOI- Sophie Toulouse

Heavily digital, these illustrations are a little different to the usual, more hand rendered styles I tend to go for. I like the abstract flowing lines and floral forms, which don't appear too feminine because of the heavy use of black and white.

Association of Illustrators

www.theaoi.com

A great site to visit if you're interested in illustration as they have a section where you can browse through different portfolios then follow the links to the artists' own sites. The following posts are a few of my favourites.

Studio MIKMIK

I came across Studio Mikmik on somebody else blog and went to check out the website. I admire the eco-friendly aims of the designer- as pointed out on the site, improvements in technology now means that you can get a wide range of good quality recycled papers. There were a couple of different styles in the portfolio, but the simplistic flower designs were my favourite. The two posters have a definate Japanese flavour, but are very modern. I like how similar elements from the posters have been used in the identity for the 'Area' catalogue- I like to see companies using illustrative elements for their promotional material instead of simply photos of the products.

Sarah Coleman

Having used hand rendered calligraphy in my D&AD award work, I was interested to come across the illustrator and typographer Sarah Coleman. I think the images above demonstrate how wide ranging the application of quirky typography can be. I particularly like the 'chips' image, combining the messy, childlike lettering with the minimalist photography to give a modern yet friendly feel.

The apple shows several different types of lettering and is a nice piece of self promotion. Apples are very symbolic- the first thing that comes to my mind is the poisoned apple in Snow White. The calligraphy makes me think of fairy tales, so I think the image is really effective.

I chose the 'ten' image to show the contrasting styles from the same artist. Here, formal lettering is decorated with hand rendered patterns, giving a different feel to the other images.

Patrick Gannon

I think Patrick Gannon's style of illustration is quite unique, and shows how hand rendered techniques can still look fresh and modern. The artist uses cut and torn paper of different colours, textures and patterns against backdrops of either more paper or wood. I love the jagged edges and the 3D quality of the different layers. In the top example, the black ninja is a strong and modern element, influenced by urban/street styles. The dainty, patterned ninjas as well as the delicate, washy background form quite a contrast and I really like the combining of these two stylistic ideas using such an unusual process.

I think Gannon's illustrations are a great example of how you don't have to be a slave to technology to produce work that is new and different.

Russ Mills Illustrations

Russ Mills graduated from Leeds Met in 1995 and produces both illutrations and moving image works. I found his profile on www.illustrationweb.com and selected these examples from his profile, my favourite being the artist's version of the iconic Queen photo.

To create his distinctive style, Mills uses mixed media and combines the results with elements rendered on the computer. I like the modern but highly textured result. A lot of illustrators produce work that is modern in a slick way, but I like Mills' use of texture in his backgrounds with his realistic characters in black over the top. The limited colours used in each piece also gives draws attention to the use of unusual textures and shapes.