Illustrative - english version

Blog of the Week

2010-11-29T07:16:00.000-08:00

Slanted #12 OUT NOW

Beat That If You Can! – “Slanted #12 – Women, Typography, Graphic Design” versteht sich als Bühne für außergewöhnliche und intelligente Arbeiten von Frauen – nicht, weil das so etwas Besonderes wäre, sondern eigentlich eine Selbstverständlichkeit ist. Bei dem Fokus auf das Feld des Visuellen ist es eigentlich zuerst einmal vollkommen egal, von welchem Geschlecht typografische oder grafische Arbeiten verfasst werden. Jedoch ist unbestreitbar und auffallend, dass noch immer relativ wenige Frauen in den Feldern Grafik-Design (etwas mehr) oder Typografie (deutlich weniger) sichtbar sind. Slanted will seinen Teil zu mehr Sichtbarkeit für zumindest einige Schrift- und Grafik-Designerinnen beitragen. Design von Frauen ist nämlich mindestens genauso gut. Beat That If You Can!

http://www.slanted.de/

Winners of the Swatch Young Illustrators Award 2010

2010-11-19T02:38:00.000-08:00

The YIA 2010 has been decided and the winners are announced. In all three categories of Illustration, Book Art and Animation there has been honored an outstanding artist. In addition there was the "Swatch Special Prize" which was announced by the jury and handed out to a talented Illustrator from France.
The ceremony took place at the "Alte Münzfabrik" in Berlin, Mitte while next door there was the grand opening of the winter season´s "Opium Den" exhibition at Direktorenhaus.
Both events drew many visitor´s attention and gave a glimpse of how it will be at the "Illustrative 2011 Festival" next year may, which will exhibit all the nominees and winners of this years Young Illustrators Award and many more exciting artists.
For a closer look on all the winners and captured moments of the night please visit our website www.illustrative.de
...

Swatch Young Illustrators Award 2010

2010-10-29T04:26:00.000-07:00

The Swatch Young Illustrators Award, the world’s most important prize for contemporary illustration, will be awarded on November 5th at Direktorenhaus, Berlin. The nominees and the guests from the international creative industries are being welcomed with a grand gala dinner. The jury, consisting of renowned publicists and art experts, will present prizes to the winners in the categories of illustration, animation and book art.

For more information go to www.illustrative.de

A Night at the Opium Den at Direktorenhaus

2010-10-26T04:55:00.000-07:00

November 5th from 9pm at Direktorenhaus
Entry with Guestlist spot only - go here to register.

With “Opium Den” a new season opens at Direktorenhaus. On the occasion of the new exhibition Direktorenhaus’ doors are opened on the 5th November for a night of artistic extremes as internationally renowned artists transform the building -- which is located by the old harbour of the Spree river next to Alexanderplatz-- into an unreal and magical scenery. Direktorenhaus will be filled with performance both oblique and subtle that blur the lines between performer and audience. In the Opium Den everything is possible: the dark, the daunting, the psychedelic and the decadent.

Find out more about this by visiting the Direktorenhaus website.

Blog of the Week

2010-10-07T04:54:00.000-07:00

Born in 2005 Providermag is the Italian spotlight pointed on the internationally sneakers culture with the aim to grow this culture in our beautiful country.
Providermag is a cross-channel information of streetwear, music, art, design and events.

Our slogan is “I Love My Sneakers , a message seemingly superficial, but behind which lurks the idea that the shoe is the most important external element representative of the personality of the person who wears it .
Embodying this concept for us the shoes, how can you not love them?

From this slogan were born stickers, pins and t-shirts, including the special black series limited edition sold exclusively in top sneaker stores in Italy, each of which has customized the back of our t-shirt with a phrase that represented the soul of their store.

WHO, Talents Agency

2010-10-06T08:40:00.000-07:00

WHO is the first creative talent agency in Portugal. At present, it is the only Portuguese agency involved in the exclusive promotion and management of freelance artists.

The agency also manages an online domain/portal dedicated to presenting national and international creative portfolios.

WHO was established in 1999 by Ema Ceveira at a time when there was little support available to new and emerging artists. The majority of local artists lacked job opportunities, marketing, promotion and arts management. WHO was conceived in response to their needs and for the past 10 years, has been providing support and a variety of permanent arts management solutions.

Blog of the Week

2010-09-15T04:52:00.000-07:00

Atypica is an Argentine art blog based on their magazine "Atypica: for people who do everything for the love of Art".

Atypica observes trends in order to discover new things in design and culture. It walks the streets taking in the highlights observed by it's eye for the unique. Atypica listens to the background music and pumps the volume only when it's worth it. It smells what's coming, what's coming back in and what has past it's used by date. It feels the ground tremble when something stamps hard, and grabs at what others leave out for being too strange.

FEATURING
stencil / sociology / graffitti / fight fashion with fashion / film / art / word is a weapon / contemporary art / pets / technology / design / sex / music / travel

www.atypica.com.ar/blog

WEISSWERKSTATT

2010-09-13T07:42:00.000-07:00

"Any customer can have a car painted any colour that he wants so long as it is black.” Henry Ford

At WEISSWERKSTATT Henry Ford’s iconic statement has been turned on its head. Direktorenhaus is a factory where anything can happen just so long as it’s WEISS.

The WEISSWERKSTATT isn’t producing cars, but experimental experiences. It is only possible to enter the WEISSWERKSTATT as a worker and all workers are expected take part in absolute playtime.

WEISS is the colour which contains the entire light spectrum; making WEISSWEKSTATT a production line that belies possibilities and undiscovered actualities.

Just like Henry Ford we’ve instituted the $5 a day policy. That’s just 3€ to start a job for life at the WEISSWERKSTATT.

Welcome to the WEISSEWERKSTATT.

Turn up for work on 30.09.2010 at 19.00, home time is 23.00.

We hope you’ll be very happy here.

Curated by Clemens Gammer and Clare Molloy.

COST: 3€

AT: Direktorenhaus

Lorenzo Petrantoni's Illustration

2010-09-09T07:44:00.000-07:00

Lorenzo Petrantoni's passion for graphic design together that of the period of the late 1800s brings him to create magical illustrations. Through the assembly of images retrieved from old dictionaries, he gives new life to books, events and characters that would otherwise have been forgotten on the shelves of some dusty bookshop.

Petrantoni's installations will be shown at Direktorenhaus from the 23rd September.

For more information see:
http://www.lorenzopetrantoni.com/

FASHION RELOADED

2010-09-08T07:38:00.000-07:00

On the first floor the FASHION RE:Loaded workshop presents another way of unveiling and exposing presupposed structures. Fashion RE:Loaded is a swap party, to take part you need to bring your no-longer worn clothing to swap for new favourites.

Take part in this collaborative experiment in open branding. It explores ideas of the ideal meta-brand, while swapping, upcycling and restyling new treasures. Hear from open source advocate Oliver Vodeb and Cecilia Palmer, in converstaion on the night.

The afterparty is curated by TAMTAMTAM as part of their JA JA JA NE NE NE residency at Direktorenhaus.

COST: Free

AT: Direktorenhaus

For more information see:

http://www.direktorenhaus.com

http://fashionreloaded.com

http://openwear.org

http://edufashion.org

http://www.playberlin.com

Blog of the Week

2010-09-08T05:59:00.000-07:00

SHIFT BLOG is a Japan-based international blog about creative culture. SHIFT BLOG shares news, announcements every day, A City Guide For Creative Tourists, and a Concept Store.

Launched in November 1996, SHIFT BLOG transmits international information to Japan and Japanese information back overseas. Creative Culture is the main focus, articles on art, design, fashion, music, and multimedia can be found.

Mainly covered are creators/artists' activities through interviews, event reports, book reviews, etc, in a bilingual form (English/Japanese).

Commemorating the 10th anniversary, SHIFT was redesigned in April, 2007. Articles are divided into 5 categories; PEOPLE, THINGS, HAPPENING, GREEN and PLACE. Past articles can be also easily found.

In the "SHIFT CITY GUIDE" you can find the information on alternative spots or from opinion leaders in each city, including galleries, clubs, and theaters.

Futuristic Cinema

2010-09-07T07:34:00.000-07:00

Film Selection:

- Live Animals by Tiberiu Bleoanca and Viviana Druga

- The Shutdown

The intense experience of growing up next to one of Europe's largest petrochemical plants Best Short Doc at Palm Springs International Shortfest 2010

- October Country

Every family has its ghosts. Winner of Cinema Eye Best Debut Feature and Best Musical Score

Curated by Pamela Cohn

The futuristic cinema programme continues with a premier of the very first film to be filmed in Direktorenhaus. “Live Animals” was conceived as an utterly open process, welcoming anyone to come and see the construction of this piece which combines animation, illustration and dance. Meet the artists themselves on the night.

We are also delighted to have the second half of the programme curated by Pamela Cohn who presents two exceptionally beautiful pieces of documentary cinema The Shutdown (Scotland) and October Country (US).

Thursday 16th September at Direktorenhaus

Doors and bar at 19.30, Screening at 20.30

COST: FREE

TAMTAMTAM PLAYberlin

2010-09-06T07:31:00.000-07:00

The JA JA JA NE NE NE series will include installations, performances, lectures, films, music and parties. Check our website for precise details as the residency will be slowly unveiled online...

PLAYberlin have been asked by Direktorenhaus to make another world have responded with:

“We will do what we can, having only what you can want. Our hands are stretching out to look for somewhere to rest among our own immaterial archives so that we can draw out what they fall upon into the solidifying waves of occurrence until we are newly surrounded by such quick crystals.”

_____________________________________

Friday, 10th September, 20.00 – 24.00

TAMTAMTAM present JA JA JA NE NE NE

Friday, 17th September, 20.00 – 24.00

TAMTAMTAM present JA JA JA NE NE NE

Friday, 23rd September, 20.00 – 24.00

TAMTAMTAM present JA JA JA NE NE NE // VERNISSAGE AFTER PARTY

Saturday, 9th October, 20.00 – 24.00

PLAYBerlin and O!Tannenbaum present: ART FORUM AFTER PARTY

Thursday, 21st October, 20.00 – 24.00

TAMTAMTAM present JA JA JA NE NE NE

Saturday, 30th October, 20.00 – 24.00

TAMTAMTAM present JA JA JA NE NE NE // HALLOWEEN

AT: Direktorenhaus

COST: TBC

How to be an AVANT GARDNER

2010-09-05T01:25:00.000-07:00

Do you dream of gardening but have no space? Do you long for that window box of delicious fresh herbs? Do you like the idea of your food scraps becoming compost?

Join Etsy as they bring their legendary online “How to” series into reality with a workshop at Direktorenhaus exploring how to build planters, worm composting and the secrets of a successful indoor winter gardens. It’s a night with botanical experts on hand, all the tools you need and practical advice on how be a brilliant urban gardener. And there will be a feast of local produced food to enjoy on the night too.

Thursday, 9th September 19.00 – 22.00 at Direktorenhaus

COST: 2€

www.etsy.com

"By, With and Of" Exhibition Opening at Direktorenhaus

2010-09-04T05:39:00.000-07:00

An exhibition which deals with the peeling back of layers starting quite literally as the second floor of the Direktorenhouse is presented for the first time.

Peter Nencini and Elisa Strozyk explore the textures of the house itself exploring the mid-peel status of the 1930s of building and its DDR legacy. While Daniel Becker creates a beautiful site specific light installation.

Opens Thursday 23rd September at 19.00h

Roman Bittner's intricate Wallpapers will be shown as will Maike Dahl's modern living silverware.

Peter Nencini is an illustrator, Designer and Lecturer at Camperwell College of Arts. Nencini researches constantly and his work contributes to many ideas, movements and conceptual approaches that are relevent to the representation of content in produced form. Nencini is interested in modularity and the adherence to a grid, and then what happens when the grid is not adhered to, and thus serves as a parallel or indirect contraint. Nencini is inspired by Friedrich Froebel's 'Gifts and Occupations', Paul Thek's '4-Dimensional Design' and vrije vormegeving.

See more on Peter Nencini's work leading up to the exhibiton.

Elisa Stroyzk is a Textile designer from Berlin. Concerned with the immaterial nature of our current reality, Stroyzk reconnects us to the emotionality of objects and the significance of the tactile nature of surfaces through her work. She plays with the customary experience of known materials and alters them, challenging expectations and bringing about a new appreciation of touch.

Daniel Becker is an industrial designer who beautifully bridges design and technology. Using low-energy LED technology he intertwines light architecture with modular practicallity. In this exhibition he will be showing Sparks, "A modular lighting system which consists of three different modules with the ability to be arranged in various configurations to form a three-dimensional structure."

Roman Bittner is an Illustrator and Graphic Designer from Berlin. In this season`s exhibition he will be showing a series of intricate wallpapers. With such accute attention to pure detail, Bittner mesmorises the observer in a land of color. Based on the principles of construction and application of precise vector graphics, he manages to construct a detailed depiction of an artificial universe in which we can take pleasure in moving the eye across the surface to seek and find new forms.

According to Maike Dahl, "The most precious thing about silver is to use it." Her interest is to bring silver back in our daily lives. It is important to consider how habits and tools change. Her silver tableware is adaptable to the modes of modern living and is focused on the `take –away’ generation: mobile, responsive and independent."

9 Doors by TFB

2010-09-03T07:30:00.000-07:00

For one night only, 'Team Fucking Brilliant' brings you a feast of experience. Set in the old corridors of Direktorenhaus’ upper floor, TFB present 9 closed rooms to be experienced and have experiences within.

It turns out the doors of perception have been closed, what lies behind them is to be lived out and to be interacted with. Come and construct your world, meet the Dirty Dj and be saved.

Friday, 3rd September, 19.00 – 23.00 at Direktorenhaus

COST: Free

DOMOTOV FESTIVAL

2010-09-01T01:13:00.000-07:00

Online magazine SHIFT presents DOTMOV Festival 2010, a digital film festival aiming to discover talented creators and provide them with an opportunity to show their works. Works submitted from all over the world will be screened throughout the world venues from November 2010 (screening schedule will be different depending on the venue).

The deadline is September 10th, 2010

Festival mission

The goal of this festival is to discover talented artists and provide them with an opportunity to show their work. We are also trying to increase the international scope of the festival by inviting guest creators, active on the front lines of the creative world, to participate as judges. During the festival, holding a lot of related audio & visual events, we explore the possibility of digital films.

Date and Place:

Online: All selected works will be shown on SHIFT website. (from November 1st, 2010) Place: TBA (major cities in Japan and the world) *Details to be announced.

Organised by

SHIFT MAGAZINE

Live Animals Live Drawing Performance

2010-08-24T03:08:00.000-07:00

A live drawing performance to be followed up by a video screening. Tiberiu Bleoanca and Viviana Druga are inspired by contemporary dance that is abstracted from tradition, freeing the body and mind from restraint. Simple, primitive ways of communicating through movement are pursued.

The creative act is likened to the ritualistic act of the painter-hunter who symbolically sticks his spear into the bison (painting or carving representation that may be found on a cave wall) before he goes hunting. In their work, the artists have the same attitude, same savageness, same ancestral conscience of the Sacred except that they intend not to kill the bison, as such, but search for it's origin, in a retrace of human nature.

If the primitive was interested in the primary purpose of the hunt (provide food or fur to warm himself), we are now interested in the rediscovery of it, its beauty. The purpose of the ritualistic act that we are enacting now is a cult one, the hunting procedure is self-reflecting one - something as pertaining to the realm of ideas.

The Live Animals Performance can be seen at Direktorenhaus from 23rd - 27th August 2010 from 11.00 to 19.00.

Design of the Time: Metamorphosis @ Direktorenhaus

2010-07-30T01:16:00.000-07:00

“Metamorphosis”. Open Design City show us how to make a plastic prototype lamp with simple kitchen ingredients. You are invited to participate in the complete production process, you will learn the plastic recipe and have to opportunity to make your very own prototype lampshade from an old jumper.

12 August 2010 19h at Direktorenhaus

Did you know that plastic can be made with simple kitchen ingredients?

Join Open Design City for the “Metamorphosis” workshop as they lift the lid off this magical process.

You are invited to participate in the complete production process, you will learn the plastic recipe and have to opportunity to make your very own prototype lampshade from an old jumper. And as all the lamps will be for sale, you can even take a unique product home.

There’s also the opportunity to participate in a follow-up workshop creating lamps at Open Design City. It’s time to free your inner product designer!

Cost: Free. You are welcome to bring old jumpers that you would like to make into lampshades. Bring money if you’d like to be the proud owner of a prototype lamp.

Direktorenhaus: The Tuesday selection of futuristic art films

2010-07-23T09:06:00.000-07:00

KS12 bring us a video screening of three interrelated short video documentaries on self reflection in social media followed by a discussion about the techniques and principles behind the processes of Immediation and Autodocumentation.

Direktorenhaus 10 August 2010 21h

The DMY Maker Lab was a celebration of Open Design through practice, presentations, and collaborative action, created by instigators and participants alike. It was held at the DMY International Design Festival from 9-13 June 2010. KS12 participated with a workshop on analog motion graphics, as well as instigating an autodocumentary effort. CHASING THE BUFFALO is an artifact of the collaborative energies harnessed at the Maker Lab which transforms the group's flickr pool and a series of interviews into a self-reflective video essay on collaboration. CHASING THE BUFFALO is the third in a series of short subject videos produced by KS12, including DELIVERED IN BETA and FAIL SAFE.

Immediated Autodocumentary is process which enables the everyday practice of self reflection in social media combined with advances in audiovisual digital production to transform videomaking into a praxis of generative dialogue and transcendent discourse. We will watch all three short video documentaries and conduct a group discussion about the theoretical and practical applications of this process to contexts proposed by the audience. Several people featured in the videos will be in attendance to participate in a discussion about, open design, definitions of failure, and the emergent collaboration process. Videos directed by Gabriel Shalom and produced by KS12.

www.ks12.net

Call for Young Illustrators Award 2010 Submissions

2010-07-22T09:09:00.000-07:00

The call for entries to the 2010 Illustrative Award is now open!!
Deadline 22nd October 2010.

The Swatch Young Illustrators Award is a unique competition awarding creativity and innovation in personal contemporary illustration and graphics. The award encourages and supports designers in their artistic practice and offers an international and worldwide recognized platform to them. Illustrative art works, art projects with graphic influences, animations and book art objects qualify for submission.

The nominees of the Swatch Young Illustrators Award will get the opportunity to exhibit their work at Illustrative in Berlin. The winners await prizes worth 6.000 Euros as well as publications and illustration agency contracts and will also be featured in future international shows. One winner will be invited to design a Swatch Watch – a great opportunity to join the ranks of artists such as Kiki Picasso, Pedro Almodóvar, Robert Altman and Keith Haring.

Submissions Information \ Registration \ Login

Picnic in Foret Noir

2010-07-21T10:01:00.000-07:00

Inspired by Olaf Hajek’s illustration Foret Noir from his current exhibition at Direktorenhaus, the “Picnic in Foret Noir” starts with the opportunity to meet the artist himself who will be signing copies of his beautiful book “Flowerheads”, bring your copy or buy one on the night.

But of course the Foret Noir is no ordinary forest.

Bring snacks and join the Discursive Picnic with UNWETTER, the collective who have since 2002 mastered the art of picnicking everywhere from the Hamburger Bahnhof to Documenta11.

And what will you sit on? Join ACTION WEAVER Travis Meinolf, who will bring his prototype looms and teach you how to weave the very cloth for your very own picnic blanket. Meanwhile you can expect the forest to come to life around you with PLAYberlin’s interpretation of Hajek’s work. You can even become part of the forest yourself and have your photo taken in the Foret Noir Photo Booth.

We’d love to say more, but you’ll just have to come down to the Foret Noir for a big surprise...

This event is totally free, but bring your yarn to weave with, bring food for the picnic … and our bar will be open.

From 19.00 till 23.00

Further info on:

Peter Nencini at Direktorenhaus

2010-07-20T04:48:00.000-07:00

A new edition of Peter Nencini's Handwerk is currently exhibted in Berlin at Direktorenhaus. These works are a prelude to a larger show in September. Nencini says: "I'm showing thirty boxes... The boxed variant pieces have grown, with markmaking of granular character. Both to magnify surface and to dispense with textual information in favour of something mute."

"The cut forms are grouped with printed fabric, ceramic and found-discarded things to constitute a kit for ‘muffled’ play. It’s based somewhat on Friedrich Froebel’s ‘Gifts and Occupations’ (1837) for the early Kindergartens. By ‘muffled’ I mean a silent decision-making, both for the grouping of forms and their manipulation. They are for other people but motivated by a need to assess my own object-literacy."

"I first used the cutting technology commercially, for a series of television sets. In each, the image-vocabulary was developed to be cut and etched in brass, perspex, timber, etc. on a large scale. I think pictures of any kind in architecture have to bear relation to the fabric and proportion of the space, rather than an ephemeral tickling of the surface. So it was useful to work with image-as-structure."

Peter Nencini's work can be seen currently at Direktorenhaus, this work will be followed by a larger show also at Direktorenhaus in September.

[…]>

Illustra - Encounter with Books

2010-04-27T01:14:00.001-07:00

Beautiful books with good illustrations, although not rare, but they themselves are purchased from many bookshops and rarely even less well presented. We want to make this event feel like good books.

We want to experience the customer who is behind these books. Author encounters were most readers already. The illustrators them are rather less known and, unfortunately, often the names of the smaller publishers who have good illustration prescribed.

15 illustrators and authors (especially newcomers) will present their books at tables, sign and get into conversation with customers.

28 May 2010 from 21:00 clock to set the mood evening program with the songwriter-trio "Teewurst" and the group "Hoopla for my Moopla", both from 29th Hamburg.Am Mai 2010 from 10:00 - 16:00 clock

Council and the University Bookstore Greifswald, Lange Str. 77. The events take place inside and outside the bookstore. An issuer of individual works of the illustrators is planned in truly local facilities.

Number of participants:

Simon Black (illustrator and author): over there, Avant Verlag Berlin 2009, nominated for the German Youth Literature Prize 2010th
Krejtschi Tobias (Illustrator): The Cunning Mama Sambona, Peter Hammer Verlag Wuppertal, 2007, nominated for the German Youth Literature Prize 2008, Troisdorf Jugendliteraturpreis 2009th
Julia Neuhaus (illustrator): In the morning at six, Hinstorff Publisher Rostock 2009th
Friederike Rave (illustrator): The fox, the chicken and sausage bread, Nord-Süd Verlag Zurich 2010th Theo Pirate King, Residenz Verlag Salzburg 2010th Pauline Pechfee, Residenz Verlag Salzburg 2007th My big Wimmel and dictionary 5 and 6, Carlsen Verlag Vienna 2009th
Anne-Kathrin Behl (illustrator and author): One and four is startk, Picus Verlag Wien 2009th

Presumably there:
Anke Feuchtenberger
Stefano Ricci
Therese Schreiber (The Hours Edition)

Continue to be invited:
Frank Walka
Michael Raw
Simone Aquarius
Franziska Biermann
Julia Friese
Antoniea Michaelis
inter alia

www.illustra-greifswald.de

Style and Personality

2009-12-17T09:16:00.000-08:00

The internationally operating illustration agent Anna Goodson talks about her work. She is the boss and founder of Anna Goodson Management HQ, located in Montreal, Canada Mrs Goodson, how do agents and illustrators get in touch with each other? Is there a 'typical scenario'?

Not really. I source them out and they find me. If I see an illustrator that I like, I usually send them an email and ask them if they are interested in international representation.

Why should an illustrator or an animation artist have himself represented by an agency? What could be the artist's possible expectations and in which way could he benefit from this cooperation?

That's a very good question and one I have been asked several times before. In fact I wrote a blog about it.
http://annagoodson.wordpress.com/2008/02/08should-an-illustrator-have-an-agent-represent-himher/

If you consider to admit an illustrator or an animation artist to your agency, is it exclusively the artist's style or his preferred themes that are decisive or is personality relevant as well?

Style, personality and professionalism. I take into account many things before signing someone on.

Do you focus on a certain artistic style, certain themes or artists from a certain region?

No, I am open to the world.

They say agents are hired because of their 'style'. Which is your agency's 'brand mark'? In which way do you differ from other agencies?

I think we are very different from others out there. I consider that Anna Goodson Management specializes in the "Y" generation. "Why" because of the way we service our clients, because we are international and because we source out the "Sickest" illustrators working today. We source the planet and group together the best. We don't follow the trend in illustration, we create it.

As a businessman/-woman, an agent needs to have a 'market instinct'. How would you describe the 'business' of an illustration agency, for example how do you calculate the expectation of profits, do you - given the globalisation of the market - cooperate with other agencies etc.?

We have always worked on our own. We are looking to open other markets with reps located in other cities rather than joining an existing agency. The business of illustration is a challenging one but if you are pro active as we are and confident then you will succeed.You also have to work hard at promoting your artists and I am always looking at new ways to do that.

As how important do you consider the contact with other agencies? Do you regard fair-like events (like the Portfolio Review Event,. cp. www.illustrative.de/) as helpful?

I think it's important to be connected to others in the same industry as you. It's also really nice to meet people face to face in this day and age. I spend so much time in front of my computer that I miss the hand shakes and the live feedback.

Mrs Goodson, thank you very much for the interview.

Further information on Anna Goodson Management (AGM):

http://agoodson.com/illustration-agency/

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Illustrative 09

2009-12-10T07:32:00.000-08:00

Lorenzo Petrantoni at Illustrative

2009-10-29T08:24:00.001-07:00

Takashi Koshii at Illustrative

2009-10-26T11:20:00.000-07:00

Winners Swatch Young Illustrators Award

2009-10-24T07:47:00.000-07:00

Illustrative is proud to announce the winners of Swatch Young Illustrators Award 2009. Swiss illustrator Julia Bruderer was awarded the Swatch Young Illustrators Award on Sunday, 18th October. The Award ceremony was hosted by the international art festival Illustrative, where the exhibition of the 30 shortlisted artists, which were handpicked by an international jury of experts, will be on show until November 1st.

Katia Fouquet (Berlin) received the second prize, followed by Paul-Henri Masson (Paris). The three winners received prizes worth 6,000 Euros. The Swatch Special Prize – the design of a limited Swatch watch – was awarded to Japanese designer Takashi Koshii). Takashi will thus join the ranks of artists such as Kiki Picasso, Pedro Almodóvar, Robert Altman and Keith Haring.

Julia Bruderer was born in 1982 in Zurich, Switzerland. She graduated in 2005 with a BFA in Illustration from the Parsons School of Design in New York and finished her Masters in Communication Design at Central Saint Martins School of Art and Design in London in 2009. Her illustrations startle with their strong primary colours, which do not limit themselves to the boundaries of the underlying drawings.

Katia Fouquet, born in 1975, holds a Master of Arts from the Universität der Künste in Berlin and Paul-Henri Masson, born in 1982, holds a Master degree in Graphic Design from ENSAV-La Cambrer in Brussels.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Akinori Oishi at Illustrative

2009-10-23T10:35:00.001-07:00

SHIFT 2010 CALENDAR

2009-10-22T13:53:00.000-07:00

12 visuals have been selected for SHIFT 2010 CALENDAR! The Shift Calendar Competition started in 2003 with an aim to discover fresh creators. For the 7th competition of this year we have received 1,837 entries from 38 countries. 12 carefully selected works will decorate each month of the Shift calendar, which will be on sale from October 20th and appeared in shops and galleries around the world.

Among the winners are:

Vi / graphicairlines (Hong Kong)>br>
Postics (Japan)
Calvin Ho (Hong Kong)
Aki Suzuki (Japan)
Eva Jane Hogan (Ireland)
Pawel Fabjanski (Poland)
Shunsuke Sugiyama (Japan)
Yuka Itono (Japan)
Mario Sughi (Italy)
NANOOK (Japan)
Martin / FunkFu (Czech Republic)
Natsuki Arai (Japan)

The SHIFT 2010 Calendar was released on October 20th.

http://www.shift.jp.org/2009/

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sebastien Preschoux at Illustrative

2009-10-21T09:25:00.000-07:00

Unlike Berlin

2009-10-20T01:24:00.000-07:00

With customised maps, digital apps galore, recommendations from local insiders and a regularly updated 'Pulse' blog, Unlike is a tool for the modern industrialists: A team of culture-savvy journalists and fashion, art and music professionals recommend the highlights of Berlin and 10 other cities worldwide with constantly updated information written in punchy reviews.

Unlike.net - beyond a static city guide - is about instant access and mobility: By becoming a member, you’ll be able to create multiple personal tours and guides and utilize our location-based services. Member-only swag like guest list entry and discounts are par for the course, and early insider tips come your way first.

http://berlin.unlike.net

Good Wives and Warriors at Illustrative

2009-10-18T08:16:00.000-07:00

Belio is an experimental art and design project

2009-10-12T09:10:00.000-07:00

Within the realms of this initiative, there is space for all kinds of innovative projects: from the publication of a magazine (printed or online), to organising presentation parties, concerts, experimental festivals, exhibitions and artistic performances...

but far from limiting these realms, we leave Belio open to all kinds of artistic colaborations or projects. In this sense, Belio is a group of artists, graphic designers, musicians and DJs who join their efforts in order to present to the public a new kind of culture: different, bizzare... extreme. It is group where anyone can create and develop his/her own projects in colaboration with the rest of the group.

Nominees Young Illustrators Award 2009

2009-10-07T04:24:00.000-07:00

Category Illustration

Takao Aoyama (Tokyo), Julia Bruderer (Zurich), Ciou (Brussels), Evah Fan (Stockholm), Katia Fouquet (Berlin), Paul-Henri Masson (Paris), Christoph Ohanian (München), Damien Poulin (London), Alex Trochut (Barcelona), Rich Tu (New York), Deepa Vekaria (London), Marco Wagner (Würzburg)

Category Book Art
Martin Fürbringer + Philipp Moll (Nürnberg), Frank Höhne (Berlin), Matt Huynh (Sidney), Anna Kasnyk (Vienna), Dörthe Lange (Berlin), Hyun ji Lee (Paris), Isabell Löhr + Johanna Göck (Mainz), Nanne Meulendijks (Breda), Martin O'Neill (London), Scotty Reifsnyder (Philadelphia), Stefan Späth (Nürnberg)

Category Animation
Jason + Aya Brown (Greenfield), Charlotte Cornation (Paris), Jennifer Dubet (London), Emilia Forstreuter (Wölpinghausen), Jean Julien (London), Markus Kleine-Vehn (Berlin), Lémuel Malicoutis (Brest), David Prosser (London), Paul Rayment (London), Yacine Septi (Brussels)

Congratulations!

BLOGmag - The only italian students'magazine.

2009-10-06T03:58:00.000-07:00

BLOGmag is an italian magazine born in Bologna in 2005 from the idea of a group of high-school students. After the first year, with three numbers distribuited in all the high-schools of the city, it has started growing, reaching more and more cities and schools, until the 28 cities of the last year.

BLOGmag It's a free press monthly magazine, which feautures articles written by the students themselves, interviews, music and movies reviews and games. The main goal of the magazine is to speak to the students and from the students' point of view, dealing every month with actuality issues in a more young-oriented language than the one of the official medias.

BLOGmag has always had, and always will have, a particular attention for the cover, exclusively realized every month by selected italian and international graphic artists, such as Jon Burgerman, GianFranco Leroy, Grems, Tokidoki and many others. This makes of every issue a portable art piece, bringing some fun in the boring school days!

http://blogmag.it

Zwiebelfisch

2009-09-30T04:07:00.001-07:00

A Magazine made in Freiburg, which is created, financed and realised by Students. It contains a world of knowledge about Design, Typography and Art. It also acts as an educational and communicational platform between Students and International Design and between Apprentices and Experts.

www.zwiebelfisch-magazin.de

Komma

2009-09-29T04:04:00.000-07:00

A Magazine created by the Design Faculty at Mannheim College. It not only contains Students' projects and artwork but is also filled with Interviews and reports. It acts as a Public sphere for Students, providing them with the opportunity to publish their work and to gain contacts for the future.

http://www.komma-mannheim.de/

Die Nacht

2009-09-28T04:01:00.000-07:00

A One Man Magazine focusing on Photography, Design and Subculture. The magazine is dedicated to confronting the Mainstream. 'Die Nacht' is published twice yearly with 1000 issues.

http://www.dienacht-magazine.com/

dpi

2009-09-27T01:59:00.000-07:00

Dpi has already 11 years of history and is a well known design magazine to the artist and designers in Taiwan. Dpi magazine provides a platform for designers and unique stores from different countries to introduce themselves and demonstrate their work pieces and products to readers in Taiwan, China and Hong Kong. It can also be considered as a platform for designers from all over the world to exchange new concepts.

tw.mydpi.com

Zoot

2009-09-25T01:57:00.000-07:00

Zoot is an independent Losbon based magazine that delivers Portuguese and International fashion and music in a strong graphical concept from a global perspective. Published in English language, four times a year, ZOOT introduces trends, design, catwalk shows and cultural happenings.

Created by an international team, ZOOT's fundamental ethos is simple; to promote new talent alongside established brands in an informative, interesting, high quality format. ZOOT is a creative platform and strives to deliver high and photography and graphic design with international journalism.

ZOOT is composed of editorial, interviews, articles, and features focusing on fashion, beauty and music.

www.zootmag.com

Arte y Parte

2009-09-24T01:47:00.000-07:00

In its twelve years of existence Arte y parte has been consolidated as one of the most consulted art magazines in Spain and Portugal.

Readers apreciate its informations about what is going on in the art scene every month by its critic articles, essays re-edition and its exhibitions diary section.

www.arteyparte.com

This is a Magazine

2009-09-23T01:35:00.000-07:00

Founded in 2002 in Milan Italy, This is a magazine has been described as a publishing phenomenon.

1. the most beautiful magazine on the web
2. a paper sculpture...a book of experimental expression
3. pretentious...fantastic
4. and seriously mind-blowing
5. Publishing periodic online episodes with artists working in and around the internet, the project includes a series of award-winning biennial printed compendia available through contemporary art galleries and museum bookstores.

1. Varoom, Journal for Illustration and Made Images, U.K.
2. D della Repubblica, Italy
3. Ozon Magazine, Greece
4. Contemporary, U.K.
5. crowndozen.com

COMPENDIUM N.6 PINK LASER BEAM
By This is a magazine, 2009
ISSN 1721-4904

Pink Laser Beam is the 6th printed Compendium from This is a magazine. The title refers to science-fiction writer Philip K. Dicks final novel Valis in which the protagonist receives extra-terrestrial transmissions on a beam of pink light of unknown origin.

Each chapter in Pink Laser Beam is dedicated to an artist, researcher or collectives work presented across a giant sheet which is mechanically scored and hand-folded before final binding into the finished volume in ways that appear to defy logic, revealing new associations and hidden meanings as it unfolds in time and space.

This is a book that demands interactivity, in an edition of 666 copies each containing 180 pages of scored, punch-cut, embossed, drilled and folded works on paper (and plastic) all stitched into a hard-bound cold-foil printed cover which is then wrapped in a giant poster dust-jacket.

Artist multiples/extras included with each compendium: DIY "OMG" obelisk by aids-3d / Custom 3d-vision glasses for Evolution of 3-space by Donnachie, Simionato & Son / a cardboard picture-disc for My Cat is an Alien soundtrack / DIY hex-sticker by the Center for Tactical Magic / three playing cards / star-map by Grant Willing / a complete (yet invisible) book by J.G. Ballard as served by the Amazon Noir project

http://www.thisisamagazine.com
http://www.thisisamagazine.com/pinklaserbeam/compendium.html

meat

2009-09-22T01:17:00.000-07:00

Meat is a independently published journalistic showcase of illustration, short fiction and documnetary photography dedicated to launching new talent and giving them a place to experiment.

It's occassionally published out of various bedrooms in London and is on the hunt for new guest editors and collaborators.

www.meatmagazine.co.uk

Graphic Korea

2009-09-21T01:08:00.000-07:00

GRAPHIC is a quarterly magazine published in Seoul, Korea. GRAPHIC, which was first published in January 2006, focuses its attention on the other trends of graphic design which is different form the mainstream of it and on the phenomena thereof. It has a characteristic of in-depth approach for one theme with the editorial policy of one issue-one theme.

GRAPHIC is an independent magazine which does not depend upon sponsors or any governmental organizations for financial help but rather aims at more creative and independent journalism by emancipating its own editorship from them.

GRAPHIC has been written and edited in Korean language from the first issue to 8th but from 9th issue, it is being issued in both Korean and English. Though GRAPHIC is currently being circulated in Korea only, it is expected to extend its area of circulation toward Europe, America, and Asia and so on.

www.graphicmag.kr

DROME

2009-09-20T00:47:00.000-07:00

DROME magazine is a prestigious, alternative and cosmopolitan Italian quarterly that deals with the contemporary world of art and culture, taking on a different theme in every issue.

With in-depth articles and exclusive interviews, DROME magazine takes a fresh look at contemporary ideas by presenting the people behind new trends in every area of the arts. In addition, DROMELAND (at the back of the magazine) provides information about current cultural affairs.

DROME magazine is also a platform for new talent from all over the world, contributing to every issue. Photographers, illustrators, journalists and a guest list of well-known names make each DROME a unique, stimulating publication to read and collect.

DROME is distributed in more than 20 countries all over the world.

www.dromemagazine.com

Volume Project

2009-09-19T00:24:00.000-07:00

Volume is an independent quarterly magazine that sets the agenda for design. With going beyond architecture’s definition of ‘making buildings’ it reaches out for global views on designing environments, advocates broader attitudes to social structures, and reclaims the cultural and political significance of architecture.

Created as a global idea platform to voice architecture any way, anywhere, anytime, it represents the expansion of architectural territories and the new mandate for design.

The Volume project continues archis, magazine for Architecture, City and Visual Culture and its predecessors since 1929. Volume magazine and archis RSVP events form an experimental think tank devoted to the process of realtime spacial and cultural reflexivity.

www.volumeproject.org

Das Auge - The creative network

2009-09-18T05:03:00.000-07:00

www.dasauge.co.uk is the UK sibling of acclaimed design directory dasauge, one of the most popular design portals on the net.

dasauge has been around since 1997 and over the years has brought together an unparalleled network of creative people – in terms of sheer number and quality of contacts alike. So if you rely on good and sustainable contacts in the creative industry, you’ve come to the right place – because dasauge is where creative heads meet.

For the non German speakers among you, “das Auge” (pronounced something along the lines of “dus owgger”) literally means “the eye”, suggesting both the visual and design emphasis of the site and conceivably the skill of keeping an eye on the latest developments in the creative world.
What is offered

Profile

Creating a profile on dasauge is a way for you to introduce yourself to colleagues, clients, employers, employees or potential job applicants, and forms the basis for establishing a presence on dasauge. Under your permanent, personal profile address, people can access your contact details and logo, as well as your entries and your network of contacts. And like all the functions on dasauge – creating a profile is entirely free of charge.

Showcase

Showcase your references – whether photographic work, illustrations, logos, layouts, films or sounds – for free on dasauge. You can upload and present your work in as many portfolios as you wish, and devise your own copy and titles. This means interested parties can not only read about what you do, but also put themselves directly in the picture. You can integrate your portfolios into your website or blog easily using the code provided. Your portfolio will appear on your website at a click of a button.

Job market

dasauge is the most popular, free online job market in Germany’s communication industry, beating cross-sector job markets like Monster and Stepstone by miles. Job search and job offer entries are free and unlimited.

The studios

The studio section of dasauge is all about shared office, studio, darkroom and atelier space. It’s also the place to share equipment and much more. Studio entries are also free and unlimited.

www.dasauge.de

90 +10

2009-09-17T05:20:00.000-07:00

90 +10 is the magazine dedicated to design, creativity, art, fashion, technology, music and lifestyle. Through a high visual content, excellent quality and a look interdisciplinary, 90 +10 sample every issue the best in design, creativity, trends and lifestyle, from here and the world, covering issues such as industrial design, graphic,

clothing, textiles, interior, audiovisual, illustration, photography, advertising and architecture. Además, toda la vanguardia en moda, arte, autos y vehículos, tecnología de consumo y música. Besides, all the cutting edge fashion, art, cars and vehicles, consumer technology and music.

It also has different sections such as: Classic Contemporary, Premium, Green Design, Urban Culture, Business, Technology, Events, Calendar, and Abstract in English.

www.90mas10.com.ar

Étapes:International design and visual culture

2009-09-16T01:43:00.000-07:00

Étapes international is a quarterly magazine focused on contemporary graphic design. It is structured in 3 parts, News: showing recent projects created in the areas of visual identity. Substance and Style: containing feature articles on transverse, monographic, geographical or historic themes and Time for Text: featuring essays and reviews of books.

Originally derived from étapes: the monthly French graphic design magazine, étapes international is published in three different language editions: English, Spanish and Chinese, using material that is created by culturally specific as well as international authors and contributors.

www.etapes.com

Graphic design: BOXHORN

2009-09-14T01:33:00.000-07:00

A magazine made by Design students from Aachens University faculty of Design. BOXHORN is a full time project, where professional editorial work is created and then published. Always new and always diverse BOXHORN is constantly reinventing itself.

A new team is formed every semester. Brainstorming sessions take place, the content is drawn up, articles are written and then it is all put together creating a unique issue with intruiging content and design.

www.boxhorn-magazin.de

O.K. PARKING

2009-09-12T02:09:00.000-07:00

Following the raging succes of the virgin issue of O.K. Periodicals, a second edition follows suit. The theme: Failure, or how I learned to appreciate my mistakes. Through an intriguing graphic approach, this magazine shows how to work with mistakes, and make the most of them.

O.K. PERIODICALS

"Phew! It's been a long time since I've got excited by any new magazine. This mag looks unprententious, original and fun. I love the cover!"
– Jeremy Leslie (Magculture.com en curator van Colophon, an international symposium on excellence and innovation in the independent magazine-industrie.)

Graphic design studio O.K. Parking in collaboration with Bouwe van der Molen edits, designs and publishes O.K. Periodicals. This themed biannual publication investigates the relationship between on- and offline media. It is directly linked to O.K. Blog (www.ok-blog.nl).
Continuous growth in the number of blog members proves that there is enough backing for an online, interdisciplinary and cross-cultural source of inspiration. An international base supplies articles on graphic design, interaction design, product design, free art, illustration and photography among other things. Furthermore, technological and scientific developments are closely monitored and reported.

O.K. FAILURE

Following the raging succes of the virgin issue of O.K. Periodicals, a second edition follows suit. The theme: Failure, or how I learned to appreciate my mistakes. Through an intriguing graphic approach, this magazine shows how to work with mistakes, and make the most of them.

A large number of people from around the world contributed material and articles to this publication, covering a wide range of subjects crossing various disciplines; neuropsychologist Roos Bijvelds explains how our blundering brain makes us dazzle when seeing op-art, JODI and Beflix show us their glitches, and scientific blunders, misspelled tattoos, environmental tragedies and the effects of dementia on time perception complete the mix.

This issue has been submitted to an accident-prone production process. The first 32 pages have been exposed to multiple print errors and each cover has been screen printed in a special color combination. By giving serendipity a chance, each magazine is unique.

O.K. COLLECTIONS or How I Stop Worrying and Love The Amount of Stuff I Collect

Graphic design studio O.K. Parking, in special collaboration with Bouwe van der Molen and Jeremy Jansen, publishes the first magazine in a series of O.K. Periodicals. Twice a year a new issue with a new theme will be published, in which the relationship between magazine, blog and internet is explored. This first edition is packed with extraordinary collections, passionate collectors and splendid graphic design.

The colorful collections range from mountains of single-use cutlery to black-metal band logos, and from Fionas to insect-wings. Photographers, designers, artists, writers and underground-philatelists from all over the world made their talents and collections available to us. 'OK Collections' is the result of this eclectic international collaboration.

The magazine is a consequence of the succes of the O.K. Blog (www.ok-blog.nl). Continuous growth in the number of members proves that there is enough backing for an online, interdisciplinary and cross-cultural source of inspiration. An international base supplies articles on graphic design, interaction design, product design, free art, illustration and photography among other things. Furthermore, technological and scientific developments are closely monitored and reported.

O.K. Collections is a visually oriented magazine. The 160 full-color pages, zero(!) advertisements, and an item from an exclusive collection to be found in every issue, make this magazine a collectors item itself. O.K. Collections is available in several bookstores and through http://magazine.ok-parking.nl.

About the makers

O.K.PARKING / interaction & graphic designers is a singularly flamboyant studio from Arnhem, founded by William van Giessen and Joost van der Steen in 2005. Commissioned work includes books, magazines, identities, exhibition design and primarily innovative websites. They also initiate many free projects including interactive installations, projects in public space and special collaborations such as the O.K. blog. These projects inspire new ideas and give rise to new ones such as O.K. Periodicals. Their work is greatly appreciated by colleagues and widely published in (inter)national media.
Bouwe van der Molen is an art director and graphic designer with roots in editorial design. Remapping the boundaries of design provides him with an international network of interdisciplinary colleagues. He applies his ideas and graphics solo and in diverse collaborative efforts. He joined the O.K. Periodicals team in the first hour following his enthusiastic contributions to the O.K. blog.

www.ok-periodicals.com
www.ok-parking.nl
magazine.ok-parking.nl

Streetwear today

2009-09-02T00:24:00.000-07:00

Streetwear today is an international magazine for street culture, fashion, street art and music - the industry leader for 6 years now and running.

The magazine previews international trends in street-wear and cover cultural aspects as well as life-style. Besides featuring new products and innovative fashion brands, shops and the most relevant artists, streetwear today is specialized in themes like action-sports, the sneaker phenomenon, accessories, toys, technological innovation and cars.

From the beginning streetwear today is well known for its characteristic layout and extraordinary print quality.
The magazine is issued in English and distributed by different channels over the world.
Thus streetwear today attracts the atttention of a woldwide readership, which consists of opinion leaders of the international street-wear and fashion-industry.

4 issues /yearly

www.stw2d.de

Pipit

2009-08-28T07:01:00.000-07:00

Pipit is an independent art portal and creative consultancy based in Malaysia. According to their mission statement, it was initiated as a means to encourage and support independent artists and designer internationally.

Practically, this mainly includes building networks in the field of art and design, organising exhibitions, conducting design research and reporting about latest happening in the design industry.

Pipit is also an online community, organizer and publisher, which features the work of young and talented artists and designers.

pipit.cccelsius.com

One Day Self Publishing Fair. September 5th 2009

2009-08-27T06:49:00.000-07:00

September starts with a weekend dedicated to art publications this year, among them "Unter dem Motto - One Day Self Publishing Fair", hosted by Motto Berlin. On Saturday, September 5th, 60 publishers from 18 countries, selected by Nieves, Rollo Press and Motto, will fill the spaces of Motto bookshop and Chert gallery with their productions.

This one-day event presents an eclectic mix offering a careful overview on the importance and constant growth of autonomous publishing nowadays, from home-printed zines to publications by renowned institutions. 40 booths will give the oportunity to the audience to meet the publishers and browse titles in a friendly athmosphere.

"Unter dem Motto" is organized in parallel of the presentation of the newly acquired exhibition "KIOSK - Modes of multiplication" on Thursday, September the 3rd, at Kunstbibliothek Berlin and the Art Books fair: "Miss Read", organized by KW Institute for Contemporary Art, from September 4th to 6th.

Unter dem Motto
Saturday, September 5th
12.00 am - 12.00 pm

Motto/Chert
Skalitzer Str. 68
10997 Berlin
U1 Schlesisches Tor
Tel: +49 30 75442119

www.mottodistribution.com

4478 Zine. Erik Van Der Weijde (NL)
Archive Books (DE/IT)
Asher Penn (US)
Back Cover (FR)
Bart de Baets (NL)
BAT Editions (FR)
Bbooks (DE)
Bedford Press (GB)
Beni Bischof (CH)
Bernhard Cella (AT)
Boa Books (CH)
Bookhorse (CH)
Cannon Magazine NL)
Casco Office for Art, Design and Theory (NL)
Clouds (NZ)
Colophon.David Bennewith (NZ)
Dent De Leone (GB)
Dexter Sinister/DDD (US)
Dynasty Zine (GR)
Ecu Press (CA)
Edition Fink (CH)
Famicon (GB)
Faund (CH)
Fillip (CA)
For Further Information (GB)
Form Content (GB)
FW. Hans Gremmen (NL)
Graphic (KR)
Hello zine (DE)
Innen (HU)
Islands Fold (GB)
Jan van Eyck Academy publications (NL)
Julia Born (CH)
Kaugummi (FR)
Kodoji Press (CH)
Larry's (CA)
May (FR)
Mieke Woestenburg (NL)
Mono.kultur (DE)
Montgomery Media (DE)
Na Kim (KR)
Nazi Knife (FR)
Onomatopee (NLs)
Orient Press (DE)
Paperback (GB)
Passenger (CH/CA)
Petunia (FR)
Piktogram (PL)
Rollo Press (CH)
Roven (FR)
Seems (US)
Serps Press (AU)
Shobo Shobo (FR)
Sister, Harsh Patel (US)
Slavs and Tatars (BE/US)
Starship (DE)
Task Newsletter (US)
The Lousy Livin' Company (DE)
The Mock (UK)
The National Grid (NZ)
The Uses of Literacy (US)
True True True (NL)
Turbo Magazine (CH)
Utrecht (JP)
Werkplaats Typogafie (NL)
Westphalie (DE)

Unter dem Motto is parallel to:

KIOSK Modes of multiplication | Opening 03.09.09 | Kunstbibliothek Staatliche Museen zu Berlin | Matthäikirchplatz 6 | 10785 Berlin | www.smb.museum.de

MISS READ | 04.09. – 06.09.2009 | KW Institute for Contemporary Art | Auguststr. 69 | 10117 Berlin | www.kw-berlin.de

Aesthetica Magazine

2009-08-26T09:35:00.000-07:00

Aesthetica’s August-September issue fuses some of the arts world’s biggest names, with the modesty of Artists Anonymous – a unique collective practicing to shared acclaim.

Ironically for a Turner Prize winner, Grayson Perry rejects the sensationalism of contemporary art and provides a new perspective on nostalgia for Unpopular Culture, Bob and Roberta Smith launches an acerbic attack on arts criticism, and Rankin showcases 22 years at the forefront of fashion photography, inviting the public to pose for his lens.

The film and theatre sections toy with radical re-workings of existing conventions, with the stripped down intimacy of Sally Potter’s Rage and Metta Theatre’s immersive, urbanised Blood Wedding, and we invite you to get involved with Part 2 of our expert guide on DIY Filmmaking.

Also featuring an excerpt from Neil Forsyth on charlatan psychics, a discussion on the illegal trafficking of sex workers with Chika Unigwe, and the best exhibitions, productions, music and writing releases of the coming months, all alongside a Q & A with Andy Balman on this year’s art fairs.

Aesthetica Magazine traces cultural trends and explores the superstars and the periphery of art and culture today. It engages with contemporary art, contextualising it within the larger cultural framework. Focusing on national as well as international topics, the UK-based magazine critically engages with visual art, film, music, literature and theatre.

Exploring the digital era, Part II: Digimag

2009-08-26T08:38:00.000-07:00

Digimag is an e-magazine about the topics related to the world of digital art and culture, emphasizing the different existing realities and their synergies. Contents of the magazine are written from experts belonging to the Digicult network.

These professional people have been doing their bit for the magazine realizing interviews and articles to meet the increasing demand for information on national and international digital culture and art world as well as its protagonists.

The founders of Digimag state two reasons why they created the e-zine: First of all, they felt the professional need to find an open, specific and periodic information instrument based specifically on digital art and culture. Second, they wanted to open a constantly updated review on what is going on in the digital culture and art world and, finally, they had the idea to prime processes of professional dialogue by the network's members and the main national and international subjects working in the field.

Digimag is a magazine born to give voice to the main Italian authors, journalists, critics and professional people, to break the strict national editorial rules by exploiting the potentials of the internet, of networking activities, allowing social network dynamics to evolve, survive and spread out. It’s possible to read all the past issues of the magazine on the website. Just follow the covers on the left hand toolbar. It’s also possible to randomly read all the articles, interviews, reports and theorical text ordered by author or section on the web portal Digicult.

http://www.Digicult.it/en/Archive/

Farfalla

2009-08-26T07:15:00.000-07:00

Farfalla is a magazine of visual essays on the subject of Communication Design. Each issue deals with a different feature of Communication Design and is therefore subjected to completely different formal and visual approaches, depending on the theme. Each edition is taken as a brand new working space.

Targeted to all, specially those seduced by the Image in general. Number 0 was 'Space', number 1 will be 'Error'.

www.farfallamag.com

dxi magazine

2009-08-26T07:06:00.000-07:00

d[x]i is a quarterly publication devoted to creativity, visual culture and contemporary art making. Among its contents you will find subjects about industrial design, graphic design, interior design, photography, illustration, art, architecture as well as other cross-media disciplines.

d[x]i is a 100% experimental platform which goes beyond the limits of editorial work, generating an independent environment in which different viewpoints of contemporary culture converge with up to date information. Its contents, which are presented in a graphically innovative layout, offer a committed vision to design with cutting edge style.

In nine years of life, d[x]i magazine has expanded considerably the distribution, and for this reason, international contributions have increased. The constant motivation is to create a new and unique publication, innovative and creative, open to reflection. Free suscription world wide.

"We are not afraid." The magazine is open to experimentation, without prejudices. d(x)i is a mixture of artistic disciplines that are often separated. Design magazines are usually printed on good quality paper, and d(x)i wants to demonstrate that you can make a good magazine using very cheap paper. What seems to be correct does not have to be a rule.

The awards that the magazine has received represents us among the public.

d[x]i // Founded in Valencia (Spain) in 2000, from then until now d[x]i has won the LAUS Design Award (2007) a FAD medal for its cultural contribution (2004), the first prize of the National Design Competition Injuve (2002) and the first prize cDIM trophy of the Graphic Design Competition at the International Funiture Fair Valencia (2001), among others.

www.dximagazine.com

Castlemagazine

2009-08-26T03:31:00.000-07:00

"Castle" was not to become some impenetrable fortress of a magazine, but one to which all creatives could contribute, whatever their field. "Castle" is a platform which offers space for the progress of creativity and trends.

Entiteld "Castle – Illustrative Magazine" - this e-zine is published every three to six month since 2005 in PDF format, and is available free to download from the website. "Castle" was not to become some impenetrable fortress of a magazine, but one to which all creatives could contribute, whatever their field. "Castle" is a platform which offers space for the progress of creativity and trends. Each issue is dedicated to a specific theme, covering illustration, graphic design, fine arts and other areas of design - also as the hottest news around the scene - it reports regularly on current events, exhibitions and competitions. Castle is expanding and changing all the time and due to the huge feedback of its readers the magazine could grow to today´s international network of talented illustrators, artists and designers. After four years "Castle Magazine" is not a dark horse anymore and its readership reaches from students over the art interested public to trendsetting art-direcors - and maybe in the offing you.

Just take a look at www.castlemagazine.de and load with the brand-new issue a bit of "castle" down to your computer! For those who are more traditional and like the analog way, the "castle"-editorial staff offers the freshly printed book BEYOND ILLUSTRATION – which introduces 24 specially chosen artists and illustrators from all over the world - more infos under: www.beyond-illustration.com

www.castlemagazine.de
www.beyond-illustration.com

Daniel Schussler "Der letzte Sommer war sehr schön"

Daniel Schussler "Der schmutzige Zaubertrick

Yvonne Winkler "Lift up"

Yvonne Winkler "Six gun city"

Patrick Hartl "Joshua gebietet der Sonne stillzustehen"

Patrick Hartl "Burnout"

art.es

2009-08-26T03:19:00.000-07:00

art.es is the world’s leading bi-lingual (Spanish/English) contemporary art magazine, focusing on both established and cutting-edge artists and with an appealing, easy design.

art.es Project, Be creaCtive!, art.ex, and Work_and_Word are a few examples of Art.es`s unique projects.

Over 100 specialists cover every geographic and thematic area of the art world: museum and gallery exhibitions, interviews with leading artists and art-world figures, theory and reflection, film, media art, books, international biennials and art fairs, “art.ex” (the underground section), Work_and_Word, where the published artists write themselves, Art&Phood..., plus the unique art.es PROJECT, created in every issue by renown artists exclusively for the magazine and found nowhere else but in it.

art.es focuses on established art as well as the latest creative iniciatives emerging from every corner of the planet. It informs and reflects on topics of interest, but with a fresh language and crisp design which are comprehensible to both specialists and amateurs.

art.es Project: a special project by a prestigious international artist is created exclusively for the magazine in every issue. It occupies 16 pages plus the entire cover. This is part of art.es’ creative direction and makes each issue a collectors’ treasure, fulfilling its slogan, Be creaCtive! Past Projects: Baltazar Torres, Juan Uslé, Masbedo, Jun Nguyen-Hatsushiba, Mateo Maté, Fabian Marcaccio, Francis Naranjo, Fausto Gilberti, Robert Gligorov, Marina Abramovic & IPG, Andrea Lehmann, Tim White-Sobieski, Kely, Nelson Leirner, Clemens Krauss, Melvin, Peter Welz, Maslen & Mehra, Angel Marcos, Humberto Duque, Briggite Waldach, Mariana Vassileva, Kader Attia, SPS, dEmo and Kiungwoo Chun and Antoni Muntadas & Rogelio López Cuenca. Next art.es Project: Bernar Venet (video).

art.es is distributed in Europe, Asia and Australia, USA, Canada, China, United Arab Emirates and in Brazil. Besides, over 300 galleries and institutions in 63 countries distribute it among their clients and public.

Fernando Galán, editor, curator, and publisher of art.es is also member of the Young Illustrators Award`s jury.

www.art-es.es

Submit: Shift Calendar Competition

2009-08-26T02:23:00.000-07:00

To become part of the art-lover's year, submit your works to the Shift calendar competition.The online-magazine has been selecting 12 artists every year since 2003 to represent each month of the year. The calendar will be distributed worldwide.

Entries are invited from all over the world. The deadline for this competition is on September 10th, 2009.

For more information go to Shift

Art Works 2009

Art Works 2009 (from top to bottom):

Akihiro Ueda
Akira Nishitake
Beto Shibata
Bjorn Brochmann
Gaston Caba
Karin Hofko
Kengo Takano
Lya Yoshikawa Nagado
Melt Gush Running
MWM
Salotezumo
Tetsuya Toshima

form - The Making of Design

2009-08-24T04:00:00.000-07:00

For more than 50 years, form has been one of the most renowned design magazines. In its current issue you’ll find unusual approaches towards the topic of medical design, the exciting genesis of a yacht, a luminaire and a radically neutral font, an interview with Chris Bangle about his plans post-BMW, an analysis of the amazing metamorphosis of the Monoblock plastic chair, and much more besides. Find the current issue here.

étapes: diseño y cultura visual

2009-08-19T04:06:00.000-07:00

This spanish edition of offers a global, international and eternal glance on the design and the graphical culture, without ignoring the initial theme of the local context.

After the release of the French edition (1994) and of the international edition (2004), in charge of Pyramyd Éditions, in March of 2008 the Publishing house Gustavo Gili released the Spanish version of étapes:. This edition of the magazine for Spain and Latin America offers a global, international and eternal glance on the design and the graphical culture, without ignoring the initial theme of the local context. Each I number of étapes: design and visual culture directly include articles related to the diversity and wealth surrounding Spanish and Latin Americans. The magazine is released quarterly and transgresses the voracious rate of renovation imposed to products of the publishing market. Against the volatile consumption of cultural products, étapes: it has book vocation and it includes articles that do not expire and whose interest goes beyond the immediacy and what is typical.

The section the 'Present Time' offers a panoramic view on works carried out with different disciplines, for instance urban art, the cartelismo, communication, edition, photography, illustration, the corporative identity, packaging or the señalética, just to name a few. The 'Fondo & Form' section explores in depth subjects about visual culture through profusely informed news articles and concrete studies around well-known names in design. And, finally, the section 'Text(s)' publishes reflections on design and visual culture by means of tests, interviews, articles of opinion and book reviews.

Maria Serrano, art editor of the magazine, is also member of the Young Illustrators Award`s jury.

www.ggili.com/etapes/

Neo2

2009-08-18T09:24:00.000-07:00

Neo2 is the most powerful Spanish language trends magazine on the market. Creatitivy and change in each issue represent a new challenge and are the main foundations of Neo2.

Neo2 is the most powerful Spanish language trends magazine on the market, with a international distribution. They have been gradually growing as an independent magazine for the last 14 years. Creativity and change in each issue represent a new challenge and are the main foundations of Neo2. A powerful creative team and the very best collaborators make each issue a collector′s item.

NEO2`s Art editor Ruben Manrique Diaz is also member of the Young Illustrators Award.

www.neo2.es/blog

Neo2C ITY

CLUB DOW NLOADS

From the new issue: Jaime Hayon and Nienke Klunker

Es la PRIMERA EXPOSICIÓN JUNTOS DE JAIME HAYON Y NIENKE KLUNDER. Son pareja desde hace algo más de seis años y aunque han trabajado en un montón de proyectos juntos, él como diseñador y ella como fotógrafa, nunca antes habían hecho una exposición entre los dos. Nos conceden su primera entrevista como “pareja art ística” desde Londres, donde residen hace un par de años, para explicarnos en qué consiste esta exposición sobre la iconografía americana que se podrá ver desde el 10 de septiembre hasta el 22 de octubre en la galería Spring de la capital británica.

¿Por qué habéis titulado la exposición American château?

JAIME: La inspiración de esta exposiciónes América y sus iconos. Lo de château, que significa castillo en francés, viene porque queríamos dar a entender que se trata de piezas de altísimo nivel, con mucha calidad. Y el castillo ha sido desde siempre uno de esos ricos espacios donde se han ubicado tradicionalmente las grandes piezas de mobiliario de alta calidad.

NIENKE: Pero la inspiración más importante de esta exposición son los iconos americanos, el tema del castillo es simplemente una forma de contextualizar las piezas. Los americanos se lamentan mucho de no tener historia, aunque sean hoy uno de los países más influyentes en todo el mundo. Ellos han exportado sus iconos a todo el planeta: las limusinas, los perritos calientes, la comida rápida… nuestras piezas están basadas en estos iconos que todos conocemos pero están hechas de una manera especial, como si se tratara de obras maestras del siglo 21. Queríamos elevar estos iconos de nivel y contextualizar las piezas de manera que uno pueda tener el mismo sentimiento que tiene cuando va al Palacio Real o a Versailles y está frente a una de las obras maestras que se pueden ver en estossitios: piezas artesanas, hechas de una manera muyespecial y con mucha calidad.

The rest of the article you can read in the upcoming issue of Neo2, out in september!

www.neo2.es/magazine/

Spotted: DOTMOV Film Festival

2009-08-17T05:58:00.000-07:00

DOTMOV will take place in several cities in Japan and overseas during the whole month of November, 2009. Last year, 23 works were selected out of 289 entrants from 37 countries. The festival is organised by Japanese online magazine Shift.

For more info go to DOTMOV 2009

Art Works (from top to bottom):
The Mountain of Ling, by Michael Paul Young
Bryum & Kapok: A Memory, by Overture
Herr Bar, by Clemens Kogler
Looking Thru the B-sides, by Golden Lucky
Lost Utopia, by Mizue Mirai
Return as an Animal, by Bruno Dicolla
Sonopuncture, by Giada Ghiringhelli
Mirror, by Teppei Kuroyanagi

Exploring the digital era: Digicult

2009-08-10T07:25:00.000-07:00

Digicult is an online/offline cultural and editorial platform from Italy, created with the aim to spread digital art and culture worldwide. It focuses on the impact of new technologies and modern sciences on art, design, culture, and contemporary society.

Founded and directed by Marco Mancuso, 40 professionals now actively participate in Digicult. They claim to represent the first extensive Italian network of journalists, curators, artists and critics in the field of digital art and culture. Today, Digicult is a web portal updated daily with news from all over the world, with calls for artists, with events and project highlights, links, reviews, and theoretical texts.

Digicult is also the editor of the monthly magazine Digimag, which focuses on a selection of cultural and artistic issues like net art, hacktivism, video art, electronica, audio video, interaction design, art and science, new media, software art, as well as performing art.

Digicult also produces an electronic music and audiovisual podcast, Digipod, has its own international newsletter service Diginews and is involved in special projects and curatorial activities in Italy and worldwide with the art agency Digimade.

Digicult.it/en

Spotted: kinki magazine

2009-08-07T07:39:00.000-07:00

Unconventional, honest and rebellious: kinki magazine is a periodical for lovers of aesthetics, who have always been suspicious of the mainstream. Each issue features brand new stories about and with the people from Switzerland as well as with the rest of the world.

Its monthly topics escape the mainstream with their unconventional presentation – an opinion maker, who doesn’t patronize. kinki magazine keeps the company of crea(c)tive, young urbans with passion, drive and the special something. The magazine describes itself as a „progressive-revolutionary and, above all, cheeky lifestyle mag“, seeking for a friendly dialogue with its readers and offering new spaces to spirit and body alike.

kinkimag.com

Luke Best

2009-06-23T03:59:00.000-07:00

Luke Best is an illustrator working and living in London. He is represented by Heart agency and also part of the peepshow collective.

His clients include The Guardian, New York Times, V&A, BBC, LA Times, Pentagram, Mencap, Channel 4, MTV, Nylon Magazine,Third Drawer down, and Frost design. Click to view his blog.

Eric Nyquist

2009-06-19T09:24:00.000-07:00

Delicate creations from a genuine young American artist. Eric Nyquist was born in Turlock, USA. He studied at Art Center College of Design (BFA) in Pasadena, California.

Yoh Nagao

2009-06-18T09:15:00.000-07:00

“Good art work depends on how honestly and purely it is made”, Takashi Murakami once said on TV. This statement impressed young Japanese artist Yoh Nagao, whose works will be featured in his first solo show in Europe. The question how honestly his collage-based works are made is left open. What is certain is that these images, including a fur-wearing Bic Mac, humorously reflect the current zeitgeist.

With a strong reference to pop art and contemporary East Asian aesthetics, the complexity of Nagao’s colourful works lies above all in their unusual mix of techniques and styles. Based on a certain theme, concept or a particular motive, vivid acrylic paint meets collage, pencil, pen and marker dots, realistic elements stand next to mere patterns, and analogue techniques are complemented by digital processes. This mix of materials and styles allows Nagao to create a fresh, new look with every image.

Eva Han

2009-06-17T09:05:00.000-07:00

Eva Han was born in Korea and currently lives in Belgium. From 1991-95 she studied to receive her B.A. in Spanish Literature and Art History at Dankook University, South Korea. From 1994-95 she received her M.A. from NAREA Design Institute Graphic Art, Seoul.

Gregori Saveedra

2009-06-16T08:44:00.000-07:00

Gregori Saveedra was born in 1968 in Barcelona, Spain. In 1992 he graduated in Information Sciences (advertising speciality). Since 2003 he works as a freelance creative director, designer, illustrator, copywriter and art director. He has won numerous awards, including selected video artist by CANAL+ for the Be Ecoist project in 2008, winner at BD4D video art internacional contest in 2006, and selected video artist by Ruga Magazine for the Calippo project in 2006, among many others. He currently lives and works in Barcelona.

Jörn Kaspuhl

2009-06-15T07:06:00.000-07:00

Jörn Kaspuhl is a freelance illustrator that was born and raised in Northern Germany.In 2002 he moved to Hamburg and started the Education in Illustration at the Department of Design on the University of Applied Sciences, where he graduated in October 2008.

www.kaspuhl.com

Jorge Varela

2009-06-12T05:44:00.000-07:00

This Argentinian born illustrator currently resides in Spain. From 1988-1991 Varela studied with Alberto Salinas at Garaycochea Drawing School. In 2007 he won an award at the Film Festival Madrid in the shorts category for "Jazz Song" as well as an award for Best Music at Jornada Internacional de Cine de Bahía for "Jazz Song".

www.jorgevarela.com

Tim Dinter

2009-06-11T03:31:00.000-07:00

Tim Dinter, born in 1971, is both fascinated and suspicious of the precipitation with which the former east areas of Berlin are being reconstructed. Having moved to Berlin to study at the Kunsthochschule Weissensee, his first apartment was situated on the border between Wedding and Mitte (areas previously split by the wall) at which point he felt he had been transferred into a melancholy Wim Wenders film. Dinter’s works accordingly reflect a similar atmosphere to Wenders’ moving pictures and photographs.

Martin Haake

2009-06-09T02:59:00.000-07:00

After some years living in London, Martin moved back to Berlin where he lives with his wife and his two little sons. He has been working as a freelance illustrator for about 14 years for clients all over the world: Barnes & Noble, Daimler Chrysler, Orange, JD Edwards, Bacardi, Pfizer, The Royal Society of Arts, Penguin Books, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, Bloomberg,Travel & Leisure, Elle and the Shangri-la Hotel, Hongkong.

His work has been selected for many illustration and design annuals: American Illustration, Illustrators, Images-Best of British Illustration, Print, Luerzers Archive and his work has been featured in Illustration Now, published by TASCHEN. Some of his work has won international awards like the silver awards at the German and British Art Directors Club. He is a big fan of American Folk art and is collecting telephone doodles.

www.martinhaake.de

Edwin Urisho

2009-06-08T04:23:00.000-07:00

Edwin Ushiro utilizes some truly unique artistic techniques, a fusion of traditional and digital. Ushiro incorporates paint, ink, iron transfers, fabric and other materials into his work in order to achieve the desired moods and emotions. Ushiro has become one of the most buzz-worthy emerging artists working today.

Cristóbal León

2009-06-07T03:35:00.000-07:00

Lucia is the 1st short video of the series “Lucía, Luis y el lobo” (”Lucía, Luis and the Wolf”). The video was shot frame by frame with a digital photo camera. Materials: charcoal, dirt, flowers, found objects and cardboard.

SYNOPSIS: Lucía remembers the summer in which she fell in love with Luis. The furniture whithin a bedroom is shaken and destroyed, meanwhile the charcoal Lucía appears and vanishes on the walls. LUCIA is a stop motion animation based on poetic-narrative text by Cristóbal León, Joaquín Cociña and Niles Atallah.

Lucía (2007) by Niles Atallah, Joaquin Cociña, Cristóbal León

Duration 3:49 min

CUT&PASTE Digital Design Tournament

2009-06-06T01:29:00.000-07:00

Calling digital designers the world over:

CUT&PASTE wants YOU for its annual global Digital Design Tournament. Over the course of four months in 2009, the international tournament series will challenge designers from all backgrounds and nations across the map to dig deep and design their way into the spotlight. CUT&PASTE will accomplish its core mission of establishing a global community of designers through the design-as-spectator-sport approach it brings to its live competitions in 2D, 3D, and motion design.

Entries will be reviewed based on quality of portfolios, and potential competitors will be invited to a 15-minute “test round”. If selected, North American designers will compete across the continent beginning in February 2009. European competitors will compete in the subsequent months (Berlin: April 18, venue: Tape Club), after which CUT&PASTE will bring its tour to Asia. The winners from each city will converge in New York City in June 2009 for the first-ever Cut&Paste Global Championship.

www.cutandpaste.com

Boom Boom.

2009-06-05T06:23:00.000-07:00

In times where everything can be art, it is refreshing to come across extraordinary skill. Young Chilean artist Diego Lorenzini combines realistic drawings of almost photographic quality with casual sketches and cartoons. He uses everyday materials like pencil, biro and notebook, creating an immediacy that, combined with his pensive humour, strikes as a fresh approach to an established medium.

In the tradition of newspaper cartoons, Lorenzini uses humour to hint at serious issues. However, his artworks go further: Their fractured narrative always leaves space for interpretation. In the “Berlin-series”, for example, comic characters who represent the ‘real’ world imagine portraits which are drawn in the realistic manner of classic etching, though seen from a fisheye-lens perspective. The series was triggered by the concept of communication when Lorenzini, unable to speak German, was living in Berlin.

Lorenzini’s works originate in an anti-sentiment against conceptual art. The former disciple of Eugenio Dittborn, the Chilean artist, renowned for his “Airmail Paintings”, aims to create work that cannot be fully explained by words and that drives away from the minimalist towards a new value for superior craftsmanship.

Diego Lorenzini Correa, born in 1984 in Talca, Chile, graduated with a degree in fine arts from the Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile. In 2005 he first hit the local news when he walked over 250 km from Santiago to Talca with a tortoise on his shoulder. His work has been exhibited in several solo shows in Chile and Argentina, as well as in group shows in South-America and Europe. Lorenzini is currently living in London.

This exhibition from Diego Lorenzini is the bee's knees.

Illustrative Street Art Event in Zürich

2008-12-10T08:59:00.000-08:00

Street Art has by now been established as a true art movement. Young andused-to-be-young creative minds won't let anything stand in the way of restricting their expression. Their medium is the street, the city, the public space.

Street Art itself doesn't need institutionalised exhibition spaces. Just keep your eyes peeled and you'll find it everywhere. The sea of monochrome and monotonous cityscape cradles these graphically designed islands of individual expression. Still, they combine a head-spinning mixture between legitimacy and rebellion, design vs. civil disobedience.

The strong influence of graphics and illustration that can be found in street art and its great visual impact gave way to the impulse to include this important movement in Illustrative '08. This was done in two ways: Firstly with activities in the public space, secondly as part of the Illustrative '08 exhibition. Here visitors had the unique chance to observe the artists at work, who usually prefer to remain anonymous.

Illustrative would like to thank all participating artists, who contributed far more than what is visible on the site.

Wosl

Schwarzmaler (Wes 21, Kade, Kese27,…)

www.chaoz.ch

Kesh & Walkone
www.kesh.ch
www.walkone.ch

Manuel Pozo (Keep Real)
www.poz.ch

Bustart.
www.flickr.com/photos/bustart

Sware, Apfel-Z
www.apfel-z.de
profile.myspace.com/apfel_z

KefliOne
www.keflione.com
www.divine-chatoyance.com
www.fotograflione.com

Serialcurver
www.flickr.com/photos/10511101@N08

CCC
cindychloechrissy.free.fr

Silis
www.flickr.com/photos/silis

Selina

SeiFrei
www.flickr.com/photos/befreee

Zaira

Syl
Grafikerin und Illustratorin aus Bern überzeugt mit ihren starken und illustrativen Motiven. Acrylfarben und handgemalte Sticker waren ihr Beitrag zu der Streetart-Aktion der Illustrative `08 in Zürich. Ansonsten illustriert sie Bücher und betreibt ihr eigenes Textillabel.
www.tapetentiere.de

OBJECTS – Journal of Applied Arts

2008-09-23T08:45:00.000-07:00

On October 17th, 2008, the first issue of „OBJECTS – Journal for Applied Arts / Magazin für angewandte Künste” was published.

The two publishers, Berlin curators Katja Kleiss and Pascal Johanssen, intended to launch a magazine that explores international trends in new craft and discusses them in photo spreads and essays. The title „OBJECTS – Journal of Applied Arts“ is programmatic: OBJECTS interests itself in the individual artistic craftwork: the object. It covers the entire range of applied arts, from illustration, graphic and textile art, pottery, glass works, to book art. It discusses the importance of material and craft, taking into consideration the genres of art and design as well as their social relevance and context. OBJECTS will be published quarterly and is bilingual (German / English).

Every issue offers academic essays, non-academic contributions by artists, and photo spreads spanning several pages. The publication primarily targets the 20-to 45-year-old age bracket: young readers with an interest in art as well as a specialist audience made up of designers, illustrators, graphic-designers, architects, artists and researchers.

Authors of the first issue’s essays are art critic Colleen Schindler-Lynch (Toronto), artist Robert Revels (San Francisco), designer Scott Ballum (New York), as well as artist Gregori Saavedra (Barcelona).

Every new issue gives an overview of the most exciting art/design trends and is designed by renowned graphic artists and illustrators. The first issue bears the artistic style of the well known graphic artist and art director Roman Bittner.

The production of the magazine is done in cooperation with first-class partners. OBJECTS is printed on 150 g/m² and 350 g/m² EuroArt Plus Silk by the renowned paper makers m-real. We chose EuroArt Plus as a high quality paper that has lower environmental impact thanks to its lighter weight and sparing use of raw materials. Printing is done by Besscom AG, Berlin.

The cover price is € 10,00/ CHF 16,00.

ObjectsObjects. Journal of Applied Arts
Gormannstr. 23
10119 Berlin
Tel.: 0049 (0)30 48 49 19 29
www.illustrative.de

Illustrate Your World!

2008-09-18T03:03:00.000-07:00

by Gregori Saavedra

Just a question. Why illustration? Why not art? Where is the difference? In the beginning, illustration meant a way to visualize a text. But now… Illustration usually works on its own. So? Don’t get me wrong. I’d rather be an illustrator than an artist. Artists live too remote from reality.

Too remote for me. I live here, where life is, where people are, where the money is. I have to. No way. But that’s just me. I started doing illustration because I needed to express myself. Just that, nothing else. Funny enough, it turned into a job. That wasn’t my intention, but, sincerely, I feel happy. The point is that clients call me because of pieces they saw in a magazine or in a gallery. My most critical pieces. That’s a huge contradiction. They want me to work for them, although they know I am against them. Amazing. Sometimes I think they just want to domesticate me, turn me into another puppet.

Illustration is a great discipline that anyone is fit for. Just look at me. I just pretended to say the truth. Four years ago I decided to describe myself and create my own website. Then I decided to do it through the collage technique. I realized I was 100% collage. My complexity, my thousand faces, my infinity, could all be visualized.

Then I finished it, in the process becoming a fountain. A veritable spring of images. I just couldn’t stop. I had too many ideas to put forth. I don’t always feel like an illustrator, but like a creator. It’s what I have been for 15 years now. Or perhaps simply a creative director. That’s the reason I always look for ideas, not just images. That’s the difference between illustrators and artists. It’s not a question of style, aesthetic, etc… It’s about ideas. There are millions of illustrators, but how many ideas? Millions? I think not. Ideas come from brains. The majority of artworks is produced by hands. Illustration will be illustration and does not become art, because nobody asks illustrators to think. They just want them to create pleasant images that go perfectly with the ideas (of others) which already exist.

Sometimes I use illustration as a weapon. That’s my way of finding balance. I use my artworks as self-protection. Objectively, I am an extremely lucky person, believe me. I’ve got everything I ever dreamed of having. Not really fair, don’t you think? I don’t do anything against injustice but to illustrate. My illustrations show my critical side, my antagonistic point of view. Every artwork is a shot against the monster: our collectively stupid way of life.

Gregori Saavedra, Inspiration

Every morning I take my inspiration pill. Where do I find it? Newspapers. Pages and pages of pure reality, full of ideas, full of lies. But there’s also a problem, because we live in a world inhabited by extraordinary photographs. If you have to create new images and want them to be relevant, you cannot just do the same as newspapers. You need to be more powerful. New. Original. Surprising.

Yes, I am a great liar. As a creative director in advertising, I lie in order to sell products. As an illustration artist, I lie to say the truth. I mix hundreds of real images to get a new unreal one. But unreal does not mean false. Newspapers provide reality in slices. I provide my completed version, my private vision of the reality designed by the media. My own truth. As any other illustrator, I am a reality re-designer. Free? Of course not. There are limits everywhere. Money means limits. Politics means limits. Sex means limits. And, obviously, religion means limits. Every time I get a commission for designing an illustration, I also get detailed information about the limits I must never cross. That’s the reason I think we are merely technicians. Our clients know perfectly what they need from us. They would most likely do it by themselves if they could. Of course they want us to do something “great”, but the meaning of “great” is relative.

In my case, when I do commercial work, I never feel free. Probably like anyone else working on commission. I imagine that’s what happened to Michelangelo when he painted the ceiling of the Sistine’s Chapel, or Velazquez when he portrayed the Spanish royal family. Maybe that’s the key. Illustration, like painting, becomes art only when it is not directly commercial. But really every artwork is a commercial work. If it is not a work for a client, it is a work for our portfolio. And that means possible clients.

Portfolios are a perfect description, not only of the work and style of an illustrator, but of his/her personality. There are illustrators who just pretend to show their skills, but others prefer to make their personalities abundantly clear. I feel more comfortable with the latter. It could mean that I’m not worried about money or that I don’t mind if I get the project or not. It’s not about that. I prefer showing me exactly as I am. That’s the reason I always include my most critical pieces in my portfolio. I want any possible client to know who I am, how I think and how I do things. Dangerous? Maybe. I am indeed a liar, but not of this kind. Of course I lose a lot of projects because of this. But I am not interested in all kinds of projects. Money is important but my ambitions are driven from within.

Gregori Saavedra, The Cheater

I started illustrating by executing a research project. I didn’t know anything about myself for 35 years, I was too busy, too lazy. Then I discovered aspects of me I’d never realised before. That’s what my illustrations are about, they are landscapes of my mind. All the information, memories, experiences, relationships, everything around me turns into landscapes. Sometimes I walk through them like a tourist, and sometimes I get trapped. There are a lot of common elements in my work: trees, cables, pylons, birds,… But I never visit the same landscape twice. Never. I hate copies.

In my 12 years working in advertising agencies I’ve met a lot of art directors and copywriters who systematically copied from books, designs, and advertising reviews. They don’t have any problem with that. But I do. In my opinion, it’s neither fair nor ethical. I buy tons of advertising and design books, but not for copying purposes. I buy them to learn from them how to avoid repeating what has already been done. This is my philosophy. That’s why I never create twin artworks. I felt tempted a lot of times, but… like any temptation, it’s a question of mind power to forget the idea and keep on searching for something 100% new.

But sometimes clients ask me to create an illustration similar to one I already did for my portfolio or an exhibition. They just want me to adapt it to their idea or product. Obviously, I do not love this working method, but it is different from entirely copying someone else. Some creative teams need to know exactly what image they will get from me. Low confidence, I guess, but easy money, that’s true. My mission will always be to design something original, something that has never been done before.

This magazine, for example. I am sure there will be a lot of designers and creative departments who will buy it to get to know interesting people. But unfortunately there will also be some who will get it just to know what to do. It shouldn’t be this way. It should be for getting the names of the illustrators they would like to work with on a project. But instead of taking names from these pages, they will take our ideas. One day they will be in a hurry. Their client will ask for a one-day-made campaign or design and we will become their 'inspiration'. Brain-work not required. That’s the reason, as I mentioned above, that there are so many hard-working-illustrators. It’s cheaper. Easier. The ideas are the expensive part in this business.

I landed in illustration coming from the planet of ideas. I know this is not the usual way, but illustration is, for me, merely a form of communication. If you do not have anything interesting to say, better shut up. It sounds radical but silence is a treasure. Think of it as a sport. The mind’s sport. Anybody can practice this. It’s healthy. And profitable to boot, unless you decide to be a different kind of illustrator. A street artist for example.

I deeply admire the street artists. In my opinion, for years, the best illustration artworks weren’t published, nor exhibited in galleries. The most interesting ideas were anonymously painted on our cities’ walls. Blek Le Rat, WK Interact, Banksy, Dr. Hoffmann and so many others were punished by law because of their art. We are so stupid. If Leonardo da Vinci were still alive, would he be the most important artist on earth or a jailed vandal? Is that the way we reward genius? Each of their vandalism acts was a master class for free. I learned so much from them.

They had no limits. Their limits were themselves, I suppose. That’s only possible if you just work “against”. You can be a modern Robin Hood and illustrate your arch and arrow. Their works, more than landscapes, were portraits of their minds. Political and social stars were the stars, and street artists were visual-synthesizers. That’s what I loved them for, the capability to reduce so much information into one unique image. I guess that’s also the reason they are such well-known artists. They knew the rules. They faced their enemies using according weapons. They are the infantry. Direct confrontation. But there are other ways to fight, for instance secretly camouflaged like spies. Quiet. Stealth. It’s another kind of war, where everything is coded and nothing is what it appears. Here is where I feel really comfortable. I am a great liar, remember?

Easy come, easy go. The more difficulty, the better prize. For me pain is the only way to success. This is something I learned when I was a kid. I hate to spend more than two hours in front of the same document. The only way I know to get the results I imagine: fuck me. Less is more does not mean anything to me. Sorry Mr. Van der Rohe. In my neighbourhood more is more and less is less. This philosophy fits perfectly with the skills required to be a camouflaged warrior.

My works can appear to have an information overdose, but that’s not true. There’s always just one big idea. The other elements are defenders, bodyguards. I add them to protect, to cover, to distract the attention from the important issue. It’s merely a way to discriminate the wrong from the right audience. People who just see my work as extremely detailed images simply do not get the right message and do not understand.

In illustration there is a decoration excess. The majority of artworks just look for beauty. Trendy fast-food. This kind of illustration does not last. Maybe this is another reason illustration is not taken seriously enough. I am no expert, that’s true. But it’s also not necessary to study art history to realize this. Nasty illustrations are everywhere. If you want to find nice illustrations you have to look harder.

Now, at the very beginning of the twenty first century, illustration calls for respect. Is it really necessary? Respect comes with well done work. Let’s do things right and recognition will come to us. If we respect our work, everybody will do the same. Those who already did are now in art galleries and published by the best editors worldwide. We should care about our work as though we never did it before. Until now, the kings of illustration were just the commercial players. That’s not bad, but it’s also not real. Illustration, like so many other disciplines, begs clearly not just the question of money. Sometimes there are mountains of talent and no buck. That should change. Illustration is pure culture. And culture, dear friends, is the most valuable thing that we create on earth, no matter how tangible it may be. People come and go, are born and die. But culture remains for generations.

A lot of articles assure us that illustration is living through its best moment in history. Well, compared to the isolation suffered until now, that is perhaps true. But I’m afraid it is just a question of time. Maybe I am wrong, but I think what is happening can be compared to what photography experienced 60 years ago, when suddenly, photography became art. But then there came the digital edge and rules changed. Advertising is 95% visual. Photography is too classy for some creatives. Then illustration comes with its freshness and variety of styles. But in ten or maybe less years all the gold will be finished and then… adaptation or death.

But, really, I am not worried about that. I just worry about important things. I love my worries. It means I am alive. My work is a collection of worries. What else could I illustrate? Is there anything more important? Worries settle in our minds until we expel them. My method to expel them is easy. I illustrate them. Like nightmares. Someone told me the way to not dream the same nightmare twice is to explain it to someone else. I use this method with my worries. As soon as I threw them out, they disappear little by little.

Gregori Saavedra, One vs. All

Sometimes my worries are truly stupid. Tiny. Entirely personal. I try to transform them in the artworks. Usually my worries are absolutely global. One day, when I die, there will be a diary, because my illustrations reflect my presence in every piece. Maybe I illustrate something of the future or past but if you look closely you will realize they are built through actual elements. That’s great. I can imagine, even invent, but reality will always prevail.

What I really love about illustration is its open minded public, which is wide open to everybody. It doesn’t seem as though illustration has any complex. Or maybe it simply has nothing to lose. Anyway, whoever wants to enter is allowed. I am a perfect example. I took all my fears, my memories, my obsessions, mixed all together, and here I am. All the elements from my childhood revived: the comics I read, my father’s engineering drawings, the retro aesthetic of my summer holidays in a little village in central Spain, everything is there. And I am really astounded when people love it.

Illustration is my psyco-analyst. I discovered so many things while working on it. For example, I realized, through it, that I inherited the curiosity of my mother and the meticulousness at work of my father. Her heart, his mind. I feel free but I used to show myself tied. Everything from my illustrations tells something about myself. Like playing a clue game. Sometimes it is even more sincere than the artist himself/herself. Just look at me. I am just 1,45m tall, but in my artworks I love to play the giant’s role. To me it’s so obvious. I could think about it and visualize myself as the dwarf that I am. What a mess. That would be pure reality. Fiction as a symbol is more interesting. Don’t you think?

As in my case, there are a lot of illustrators who are not 100% dedicated to illustration. Illustration makes up just 25% of my income. I know other illustrators who have a similar problem. They live two lives. By day, they work in a graphic design studio or in an advertising agency. But then, at night, they become the great artists they really are. It looks like a superhero’s life. Illustration is more than their scape valve, it is their secret superpower. All that they are not allowed be at their nine-to-five job becomes permuted in their illustrative work.

Some years ago it would make me feel really sad when I would see cases like these. But now I realized that, maybe because of this, illustration is infact more popular than ever. If designers or art directors become illustrators, that is perfect. If a designer or art director needs an illustration work, he/she just has to call another designer by day/illustrator by night. It works seamlessly. Both speak the same language. Both know the market rules. Both are used to managing the same sorts of problems. Probably another reason why illustration has the current high it does.

I still remember the moment I was invited to illustrate. I was reading a design magazine at the time at home, while working. I still do not understand exactly how it happened. But somehow, all those designers, talking about design, motion graphics, also illustration,… they did something. They opened the door. Then they said, " Come…come and have fun.” The magazine I was reading was not just a magazine. It was a real invitation. Just the invitation I was waiting for; the one.

I would like this magazine, its pages, its words, its works, its images, its ideas, to also invite you. It's not just a nice book. So I say, come on. Join us. Come and have fun. Illustrate. Take paper, pen, scissors and glue, a Mac,… It really doesn’t matter at all. WhatEVER. Now think. What do you want to say? Remember: “you”. Just “you”. Got it? Ok. Now go off and be great! Be new! Be rare! Be crazy! Be true! Be this! Be that! Be here! Be there! Be anywhere! Be anybody! Be you!

I would like this magazine, its pages, its words, its works, its images, its ideas, to also invite you. It's not just a nice book. So I say, come on. Join us. Come and have fun. Illustrate. Take paper, pen, scissors and glue, a Mac,… It really doesn’t matter at all. WhatEVER. Now think. What do you want to say? Remember: “you”. Just “you”. Got it? Ok. Now go off and be great! Be new! Be rare! Be crazy! Be true! Be this! Be that! Be here! Be there! Be anywhere! Be anybody! Be you!

If you are lucky, extremely lucky, five years later, you will be writing 2968 words for an illustration’s international review like this.

Good luck!

www.gregorisaavedra.com

Different, but the same

2008-08-22T01:46:00.000-07:00

From the Beginning by Colleen Schindler-Lynch Visual culture is constantly undergoing shifts in the perception of traditional norms. There exists a rather large indefinable gray area between the fine art world and the world of illustration. Throughout the modern history of visual communication, illustration has often flirted with the other side of artistic expression– crossing back and forth over established categories of image making, blurring distinctions, cross-pollinating with the other for a time, confounding critics, academics and even the public.

There was a time when watercolour was considered low art. Printmaking and photography in their infancy fought the same uphill battle against historical precedent and preference. So it goes with illustration. Illustration has long been defined by allegory and its supportive role in publishing, providing images to accompany the written word. Amusing pictures intended to grab a reader’s attention – truly an early form of info snacking - read the pictures rather than the story. From humble beginnings illustrations were made to be printed alongside adverts, visually describing products or scenes to an illiterate public. Shop owners and newsmen soon discovered that images sold more products and papers. It is here that illustration became relegated to a submissive genre of art – not charting new ground – text being the driving force with illustration along for the ride.

Without its commercial attachment illustration stands alone, freed of its obligatory shackles. Time and again, illustrators prove that intent is a better barometer – a stronger measure of the medium, and that the label is far broader than the restrictive definition allows. Perhaps a new expanded and more open definition is in order.

Illustrators use traditional media that usually falla into the realm of fine art, such as paint, pencil, and multi-media. They don't just deliver client-based work, but develop bodies of images with thesis driven explorations of subject matter. They have come far from the origins of the discipline, in which depicting quaint scenes for advertising was about as good as it got. We now find visually challenging, thought provoking, morally questioning and engaging images coming from the finger tips of illustrators. Like fine art, illustration can be rich in subject and masterful in technique, yet it is infact commercial by nature and it is here that we see the divergent path illustration typically takes from the intent of fine art. Or is it where we wade into a gray zone between the two - playing bumper cars with the world of fine art, sometimes crashing head-on into it and sometimes falling in line with the flow.

Illustration’s recent renaissance, burgeoning in the 1980s, actually owes much to the fashion industry. The collaboration of Barney’s and Jean Philippe Delhomme’s illustrations for the retailer’s ad campaign put illustration back on the map as a viable, important, and useful genre. The playful illustrations for the 'I am' campaign were the perfect reaction against the slick, technological, over prevalent use of photography. Illustration has grown broader in its context – new media, old media, traditional and non-traditional ¬– championed by artist/illustrators who soldier on.

Expanded Vision

Today we see exhibitions, festivals, and events present the category of works called illustration on a fine art platform. The sister exhibitions of Illustrative 07 in Paris and Berlin presented illustrative material in gallery settings akin to fine art exhibitions. In London Designersblock: Illustrate 2007 offered both conventional and experimental forms of illustration as an interactive and performance based event, enriching our visual culture. Freed of its commercial intent, the work transformed and commuted its restrictive definition – blurring, blending, and even embracing the ambiguity, while simultaneously separating the disciplines of art. Together these events presented visual material in a context, and with a vocabulary, that we recognize as belonging to illustration’s prestigious counterpart.

The purveyors of this visual language are concurrently dividing the disciplines by defining themselves as illustrators rather than artists – working both in an artistic pursuit and for commercial endeavors. The politics involved with the labels of illustration and fine art must come under question.

This multiple approach to roles and definitions finds a lot of illustration practitioners and visual materials crossing what seems to be, at times, a chasm between the disciplines. Not unlike the 1970's when Pluralism was initially defined, we are experiencing its resurgence. Globally we see the questioning of established values and institutions. In North America giants of industry, like Enron and Nortel, see their executives serving time in prison for unscrupulous business practice, while the occupation of foreign lands and the questionable tactics of governing bodies call our collective morals into question. Events such as these fracture singular viewpoints and expand pluralist opinion. This recent paradigm shift also effects the practice and perception of illustration. Therefore a logical first step in developing a new definition is to examine the pluralist visual climate.

Naturally there has also been a shift in the collective perception of what constitutes art. We find a cluster of illustrators using media relegated to a DIY craft aesthetic, exploring a resurgence of the decorative arts – surely a humanistic response to our technologically bound and mechanized society. As most of us try to tabulate our carbon footprint, there is a global awareness of people's presence on the planet. An awareness of the individual, singled out from the collective (your community, your city, your country, your continent), craves perspective on our ever-shrinking planet – a planet that is suffering from dwindling resources and the prevalence of technology replacing human contact and connection.

The Janus-Effect

With one eye on the future and one on the past, Neo-Craft illustrators are charting new, or should I say old, ground. They have big shoes to fill – William Morris’s vision embodied in the Arts and Crafts movement was a response to the dehumanization of the industrial revolution, and is, of course, extensively documented. The Decorative Arts and Feminist movements of the 1970’s yielded artists such as Judy Chicago and Faith Ringgold, whose practice involved working in media typically relegated to women’s handwork. Quilting and embroidery possess a tactile quality and speak to a human history – a connectedness with the hands that fabricated the work. Now the Neo-Crafters are revisiting similar media, maintaining evidence of the hand as a response to the dehumanization of our technological age. The physicality of the media attracts not only the hands of the maker, but also the gaze of the viewer with an appreciation of slight irregularities and imperfections that speak to our humanity and naturally inherent flaws.

From around the globe, artist/illustrators such as Sandrine Pelletier, Claire Ann Baker, Laura McCafferty, Eleanor Bowley, Borja Uriarte and Jenny Hart utilize hand stitching, machine embroidery, fabric and photo collage in their work. Sandrine Pelletier’s work possesses both a modern perspective as well as an antique heirloom feel – brocades and lace coupled with the controlled chaos of twists, knots and tangles of threads. In works such as her “Experimental Faces,” Eleanor Bowley’s technique can easily be mistaken for a digital line drawing with spot colour. However a closer examination reveals fabrics and stitching. Both Eleanor Bowley and Claire Ann Baker utilise a collage-like technique in making their work, incorporating found objects, photographs, and reclaimed garment details. Jenny Hart’s embroidery is reminiscent of kitschy souvenirs collected from places like Niagara Falls and Nashville – embroidered images that impart a note of nostalgia. All have reinterpreted old-fashioned techniques and re-fashioned them with a contemporary flair.

The broad range of styles and techniques that make up Neo-Craft illustration is unified by a common exploration of simple materials transformed into captivating images. Peter Callesen, Robert Ryan, Robert Sabuda, Sherril Gross, and Pierre Louis Mascia cut and engineer simple paper beyond its intended function. Peter Callesen makes quiet, contemplative, delicately exquisite pieces out of simple, unassuming A4 copy paper. Flowers fall and drape, buildings stand sturdy and structured. No longer part of a two dimensional existence, they now occupy a physical presence in our space. Robert Sabuda engineers marvelous works for children’s books, creating remarkable images in the tradition of the pop-up book. Pierre Louis Mascia’s figures can be characterized as the ultimate chic fem. The folding, cutting and re-assembling of a variety of papers, including common paper doilies and lace, coupled with his use of positive and negative space, creates vogue figures for the fashion industry. The cut lines in his illustrations are every bit as sensitive and interesting as in an image rendered in pencil or conté. The material manipulation by these paper pushers is sophisticated, direct, poetic and whimsical. The simplicity of their work is captivating despite its lack of technological ties.

Anti-Body Aesthetic

Appearing to be at odds with Neo-craft illustration is the fodder of the Nouveau Surrealists and Neo-Constructivists. Subject matter exploration involves the dissolution, deconstruction, and disappearance of the human form. With the global population soaring, there is a perceived disinterest in physical identity. We are defined by and distilled down to a set of numbers that make up our presence on the planet – bank accounts, passwords etc. The domination of digital technology in every field establishes the fact that the emphasis is not on the individual. Deconstruction, a theoretical position popularized in the 1980's & 1990's, had a global effect on all aspects of art and design ¬– fashion, graphic design, architecture, literature and fine art. Currently, it is being revisited and has morphed into the mainstream, becoming a style unto itself.

Re investigating the academic methodology, contemporary designers and illustrators are utilizing its theories, structures, and details to communicate information visually. This form of figural representation in illustration is characterized by a lack of figural components ¬¬– realistic or believable representations of ‘the body’. Edited into anonymity by diminishing its visual impression, the role of figural identity is heightened by its lack of appearance. This faction’s usage and cognizance of the figure in illustration does not infer disinterest, rather the images convey a celebration of the body by removing it from the quotient – dissolving and deconstructing it altogether. By removing the conventional depiction of a figure – by contorting, deconstructing and recomposing – this breed of illustration underlines a use of disparity in the balance structure of illustration, particularly the relationship between garment to figure, then figure to environment.

The historical underpinnings of these “Anti-body” illustrators, resembles Surrealist and Russian Constructist theory.

“…Surrealism would liberate the unconscious, reconcile it with the conscious, and free mankind from the shackles of logic and reason…”¹

We end up following charted territory founded by art history. Fragmentation of conventional drawing rules in this annex of illustration, and forces an acute awareness of what is wrong with the composition or subject. It compels and cajoles one's logic and rationale. You are pressed to search your history of visual experience to fill in the missing information, thereby creating a new and subjective whole. The Surrealists epitomized all that is illogical. Maren Esdar’s quasi Victorian, contorted figures remain beautiful in spite of their twisted dreamlike existence. Marie Gibson’s Giraffe Woman (2005) is reminiscent of Salvador Dali’s work Elephants (1948). Her figure has long stretched legs and a body type that follows the standard fashion figure formula. However dwarf elephants with butterfly wings trail her. Gibson utilizes other Dali devices such as the low horizon line and barren landscape.

“Down with art! Long live Technology!”²
The Constructivists believed that humanity was secondary to technology and so it is logical that this branch of illustration usually manifests itself within a digital environment. Ingrid Baars’ images embody whiplash energy and dissolve in a fluid-like form. Similarly, Shiv’s figures fade in and out of our focus, occupying several dimensions or realities, tied to an environment while eking out a temporal existence. However in the work of Redouane Oumahi the body becomes line based, and simple shapes assemble together in a rather Mattise-meets-Calder manner.

Different, but the same

To come to the end, start at the beginning, and so, although seemingly disparate, these analogue and digital initiatives in illustration share a commonality. A pluralist viewpoint does not yield an easy and compact definition. At face value they are actually polar opposites –both figuratively and metaphorically one emphasizes the evidence of the hand while the other stresses its absence. They are synoglyphs of our visual culture – images that appear different but share the same meaning. At their core, both areas of illustration – whether rendered by hand or by technological means – celebrate the essence and presence of humanity in our visual culture, but from opposite sides of the table. The marginalized, often trivialized role of illustration is expanding its scope under multiple gazes, and therefor has more freedom to flow across that indefinable gray area – a trepidacious line drawn in the sand between fine art and illustration. The broadening of the definition helps to elevate the profession as well as proliferate visual culture.

Endnotes

1. Demsey, Amy. “Styles, Schools and Movements.” pg.153 Thames & Hudson Ltd. London. 2002
2. Demsey, Amy. “Styles, Schools and Movements.” pg.108 Thames & Hudson Ltd. London. 2002

Colleen Schindler-Lynch obtained a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree at the University of Windsor in 1990. She continued with graduate studies in printmaking at Louisiana State University, completing her degree in 1993. She teaches in the Faculty of Communication and Design at Ryerson University in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, instructing both accessory design and illustration. Her research in Current Thematic Directions in Illustration led her to present at the IFFTI conference in April of 2007. Entitled “Lost Innocence.” The paper examined the global presentation of sex and violence in illustration. Her next area of research will focus on digital mimicry. She is studying the use of digital technology as medium and tool in her search for humanity in our visual culture. Additionally she is an award winning jewellery designer, translating garment details such as cuffs, collars and pockets, into couture accessories for her company, Coco’s Closet.

Pictures:
left:Sara Cerilli, sewing and paper, 2005
right:Kim Hyun-Ji, Mixed media collage, 2008

"What colour is your Chicken?"

2008-08-15T03:57:00.001-07:00

by Scott Ballum It is surprising to find myself as a graphic designer in the seemingly irreconcilable position of having more interest in discussing socially and politically relevant work than the relevancy of design itself. Perhaps that it is because to me, talking about the potential of design is like talking about the potential of language.

Talking about design is like talking about the diction and eloquence of a speaker before considering the content of his/her address. It is not to say that studying and understanding the nuances of such form is not important, or to ignore the fact that in most cases the form will highly effect the reception of the content, but it does seem that reaching this level of dissection, of understanding, would really only be worth the bother should the content be pertinent enough to warrant further examination.

The visual illustration of an idea, as an act itself, is not much of a challenge. Most simple to moderately complex concepts can be visually conveyed by most individuals. Party games such as Pictionary, Charades, and their imitations rely on the basic human ability to indicate the abstract with referential, metaphorical or literal expressions. That is to say, anyone can draw a pictogram of a chicken crossing the street. This ability itself is not unique to those who call ourselves designers or artists. Drawing a more life-like or highly stylized chicken, if the only goal is to depict that same scene, is nothing more than an exercise in excess. To imbue emotion or tension, or some other level of information into that scene, or rather the notion of even the benefit of doing so, is where we begin to impart anything particularly special on the situation. However, it is not until the chicken is petrified, wearing a burka, and looking over its shoulder as it races across a war-torn avenue as a symbol of on-going everyday violence in any one of several Middle Eastern nations, that the image begins to warrant a further inspection into its composition, scale, choice of medium, line-quality, or color-palette.

This is particularly evident in the realm of graphic design. Ours is a considerable industry based on the creation of logos and identities, the study of the strategies of doing so, and the marketing of one’s aptitude. We aim to reflect the characteristics, attributes and values of our client in as few strokes or shapes as possible, or often only by the choice of typeface in which to set the client’s last name. Thousands of hours and hundreds of thousands of dollars are spent in the attempt to do something that, anyone who would think critically about, or even some who are regarded as masters of it, will tell you is completely impossible. The very best that can be done is to create a design that is socially appropriate to the industry in which the client is looking to compete, meaning one that looks at least a little bit like everyone else’s design, with some slight variation and hope that no one’s already done it exactly like that before to avoid embarrassing cease-and-desist notices. Values and attributes can only be alluded to by referencing the logos or visual representations of more established companies that share our client’s carefully selected viewpoints. No meaning or subtext, nor emotion or tension, can truly be infused at this point. It is a tactical speculation of what will please the subjective tastes of a client. Or perhaps to put it more crudely, guessing which color the client wants his chicken.

I’m not the first to point out what should be obvious. We live in an era in which we are defined by what we own and who we do business with. Appearance is everything in what we buy, what we drink, what we wear. And we, as designers, are not only subject to that scrutiny, we are the ones creating the definitions. By the associations we create or the styles we emulate or riff upon, we decide what cool looks like, smells like, where it travels to, and what it drives. We play along with the visual and stylistic definitions of success, and with a few flicks of the wrist, we can dress up just about anything in clothes. We can assign associations between distant cousins of commodities, make the old look new and the new look old. Whether we are influential enough as designers to have the most influential clients, or we are independently bucking the trends for clients who want to look like they’re bucking the trends, we shape perceptions, define styles and establish the criteria by which we ourselves are then judged.

Every time we send something out into the world that perpetuates, or even redefines, what cool/success looks like, we are urging others to consume it. Our goal is to tell them that they need it, that in order to remain cool or successful they need to own it, wear it, eat it, drive it, smell like it, and listen to it. And then we leave the studio and buy, wear, drive, spritz, and turn on what another designer has convinced us we need. We are part of our own machine as we fulfill the desires to maintain our inclusion in the status quo. One would think we would know better than this.

This overwhelming cycle has been a long time coming and will continue to consume us well into the future unless we partake in some unforeseeable dramatic evolution. For decades we’ve been working towards this point. Advertising and marketing has made us, has given us the content, if not the language and tools, and we in turn have made them the dominant modes of communication that they are. We’ve created a world in which anyone, any organization, no matter how noble or trivial, must look the part to play the game. As much as there is to be said for the undesigned, unpolished zine or local business, wider acknowledgement and distribution is dependent upon meeting a certain criteria of aesthetics. It’s a yardstick that we have created and trained society to use and now nothing is free of its scrutiny.

What this tends to mean is that those with the most money, the wealthy businesses or the established publications they sponsor, get to hire the biggest brand-name designers. Visual artists who have the most experience making people look good – or have already created the visual landscape of an entity’s competitors – are hand picked to bring others into the fold. By investing us they are following the rules of capitalist economy. The wealthy look wealthier and get to remain the wealthiest, and the have-nots get completely overlooked. When we aim only to satisfy our clients, to draw the chickens they hire us to draw, our creations are devoid of authenticity or authorship. We will occasionally take the time to serve a client or two in the cultural or social non-profit world, but most often we’re motivated by the prospects of stretching our wings a bit creatively, as well as adding something new and shiny to our portfolio. By the notion of actually helping a cause we are truly passionate and play in the design-conscious world we’ve built up around us.

This image is on strike!

But here lies a dissenting proposal: What if we just stopped?

Imagine that every working visual artist employed in the product or service promotion economy stopped working. No new logos, no more chickens. If we’re any good at our jobs, which also demands problem solving, creative thinking, project management, business/interpersonal skills, technical proficiency, and presentation abilities, there are many other things we could do to sustain ourselves. No more slick advertisements. No new commercials, no new billboards. No more magazines in which you can’t discern what’s content and what’s sponsorship. No more websites with flashy homepages and bells and whistles. No new groundbreaking book jackets, no clever posters, no redesigns of redesigns.

The world would not fall apart, and the mass hysteria we would like to believe would devour First World nations would not occur. Everything in existence would remain for quite some time, and to be honest I wonder how long it would take before anyone noticed Coke hadn’t re-branded itself in a while. Trademarks and publications that had been part of our culture for decades would live on. Billboards would stay up, and it would be many months before they showed weather-wear and sun bleaching. Some magazines would cease to publish, but any based on real journalism, literature or academic writings would manage to carry on. It would be several years before anyone noticed that the web’s exponential expansion had slowed. Customers would keep shopping.

But time would pass and the playing field would begin to level out. Corporations would have little else to do but actually talk about what they manufacture. Retailers would resort to listing the products they sell and the prices they sell for. Car companies would finally explain how their vehicles are or are not unique. Non-designers would begin using their own creativity to figure out how to wrap presents, make birthday cards, reinvent their wardrobes, and pass their leisure time. After a transition period filled with starbursts and powerpoint-created graphics, our visual world would quiet down. We would expect less from graphic appearances and demand more from content. Promotions from the telephone company would begin to look no different than information from the local theater or charity drives from a soup kitchen—but suddenly the messages would be immediately distinguishable. With real information at their disposal, consumers would be able to make more educated decisions, and more frequently decide that the clothes, gadgets and cars they already own are enough.

Once content had become key, we now-latent visual designers would have the opportunity to flip the tables. Already established in our other careers, we would be free to take graphics projects at our choosing, calling local service organizations, workers unions, cultural institutions, environmental and political agencies and international human rights leagues. With content we could feel truly passionate about as our guides, we could elevate these humble clients to levels of popularity and notoriety reserved today only for computer and sneaker companies. The sudden novelty of combining beauty and messages would rock an economy of individuals unsure of what to do with their disposable income. Education and philanthropy would become the norm while society’s expectations would center on decipherable and informative content. When a powerful and significant message comes first and we as designers see our jobs as ones of providing clarity and platform, our successes would be measured on an entirely different scale. There would be no industry standard into which we would try to make our clients fit . No references we would borrow and steal to provide context in a saturated market. We would actually be free to be as unique as our client’s messages without financial burdens and expectations.

We would have the freedom to experiment, to be wrong, we would even have the freedom to be ugly. As long as we had something to say, we would have the freedom to say it without our voices being judged before we had a chance to be heard. Instead of drawing chickens whose sole goal was to get to the other side, they would have noble purposes and interesting narratives. Form, color, composition and structure would reveal their importance as appropriate to a specific message that they supported understanding. More than likely, I believe we would decide that intention and significance would play a far greater role in how we measured ourselves and our successes.

This idealistic, design-as-a-luxury-for-the-culturally-and-socially-relevant world is not likely to happen soon. It would be naïve to suggest that the most popular and economically successful amongst us would have any desire to shake the status quo and put our industry, with our clients, and the rest of the world on equal footing. It is true that, short of this scale of revolution, we will continue to be trapped within the wheels of commerce, so if there is any hope at all of escaping the machine in which we draw ourselves, we must find some other option aside from this instantaneous global shift in priorities. We will have to do it on our own.

Even as individuals we can choose to dismiss the choices currently before us, to check ourselves out of the cycle, be deliberate and conscientious about both what we consume and what we produce, focusing our attention and energy on messages and causes that shape society in ways in which we feel emotionally and intellectually connected. When conversations and critiques prematurely turn to composition and color, we can push back with answers about content and context. When assessment of our work or our value as visual artists is measured by the language we speak rather than the substance we bring to the table, we can decide to align with our dissenting priorities and our new-found worth as messengers of social and political urgency. And when we find we have more important things to say, even the most colorful and masterfully designed chickens will no longer hold appeal.

Scott Ballum, graphic designer and writer in New York, is the founder of Sheepless, a studio created with the intention to separate from the expected herd mentality and make deliberate, considered decisions in both production and consumption. In his professions Scott works to educate himself and others about consumerism and individual choice, and to support social and cultural organizations affecting positive change.

Clients and collaborators include the Art Directors Club of New York, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Parrish Art Museum, School of Visual Arts, Signature Theatre Company, Webby Awards, and the Alhurra Television Network. Scott has served as Design Director of Housing Works, the nation's largest community-based AIDS service organization and a leader in social enterprise, and Senior Designer at C&G Partners, a multi-disciplinary design studio catering to the arts, media, and public spaces.

Scott also founded Consume®evolution Magazine in 2005, dedicated to exposing a growing complacency with globalization and consumerism and offering viable alternatives to a "mass-produced" lifestyle. In 2008, he began the Consume®econnection Project, in which he aims to spend a year meeting individuals involved with the production of every item he consumes.

www.sheeplessco.com

The Artist's Hand

2008-08-13T09:58:00.000-07:00

by Susan Leopold The following case study revolves around the creative process involved in making the collage entitled “The Artist’s Hand”. Providing a thorough analysis of the steps involved in creating this collage and linkage of the steps to humanistic, psychoanalytical and cognitive theories of personality is crucial to understanding this artistic process as a means of connection to conscious and unconscious.

In addition, a discussion of consciousness and its relationship to the creative process is essential in order to comprehend the proposed rationale(s) as to why this individual artist/illustrator chooses self-expression through art. It is important to note that stylistically the creator of this piece works in an intuitive manner and in an abstract (nonobjective, nonrepresentational) style as opposed to a realistic (representative) style in which the artistic process deals primarily with creating a recognizable person, place or thing. This realistic style of working involves a more conscious manner of problem solving and following established rules and techniques. In contrast “An abstract image can be grounded in an actual object” or “it can give visual form to something inherently non-visual, like emotions or sensations” (Atkins R., pg.39).

The intuitive, expressive style used to create “The Artist’s Hand” collage enables the artist to connect to hidden aspects of consciousness previously outside of mental awareness. In some ways the intuitive artistic process of this individual can be seen as a bridge or connection between various states of consciousness. Steve Winn writes in a recent San Francisco Chronicle article that “Only by mastering certain rigorous skills and navigating a highly conscious sequence of decisions can an artist hope to unlock the deep chambers of human experience that make the end results matter. It’s in the delicate negotiation of craft and inspiration, conscious choices and the summons of the unconscious, that art finds its form and communicative power” (Winn, S. 2007).

“The Artist’s Hand” is described in roughly five stages in the following discussion. Each stage involves creative processes connecting the conscious to the unconscious and vice versa in order to facilitate the process of creation. A comprehensive analysis of the complexity of debate regarding the terms “conscious” and “unconscious” is well beyond the scope of this discussion. For the purposes of this essay “Information processing in the brain can be divided into two classes: processes that are accessible to consciousness and processes that are not. The processes that we are not conscious of we label unconscious, or outside our mental awareness” (Gazzaniga, Heatherton, 2006, pg.142).

The demarcation between fine art and illustration is in fact irrelevant in today’s age of marketing and branding. Throughout the history of art the marketplace has played a role in the life of the “fine” artist and in the production of artwork. Contemporary artists/illustrators increasingly have seen the need to generate and license their own work in response to a changing marketplace in addition to being aware of protecting their creations through an awareness of intellectual property, contract and copyright law. For simplicity’s sake the term fine art illustration is used to describe a form of visual art that is used to communicate either the personal vision of the artist or client for an end use media or user, which includes the “fine art” gallery arena. The case study of “The Artist’s Hand” is an example of fine art illustration that communicates a concept for print publication (end use media) for an audience of readers (users). Simultaneously the artist illustrator expresses a highly personal view in an original piece of “fine” art that will ultimately be displayed to an even wider audience. An additional distinction that is made between fine art and illustration is that of deadline and time constraints. However, that argument is up for debate when consideration is given to the fact that galleries must market and advertise (at considerable expense) art well in advance of the exhibition.

The stages involved in creating this artist’s collage can be divided into and gathering reference revolving loosely around the abstract metaphor of “hand”, letting the concept emerge as a sketch, physical creation with materials, combining/gluing/sewing and finally embellishing the surface of the work. With commissioned work an initial client consultation is essential, however with an artist generated project the consultation is much less specific as in the piece discussed here. Within each stage of the creative process a dialogue between what is seen and what is hidden becomes an integral part of the creative process. This process relates to Freud’s process of free association in psychoanalysis in that it “allows free association to temporarily bypass the censoring mechanism the ego employs” (Burger, 2008, pg.56). As a result the artist accesses the unconscious or alternatively defined as another level of awareness.

The first stage of gathering reference consists of speaking with the client(s) or end user(s) to determine pertinent information regarding the work (contracts, deadlines etc.) and assembling physical materials such as handmade paper, historical anatomical references, dolls, acupuncture modes, plaster and gauze fabric hands, old letters and odds and ends around the studio. All material must relate in some way to the “hand” metaphor. This stage involves consciously observing materials and the environment in order to select the physical elements to form the collage while at the same time “absorbing” the metaphor of the hand into the artist’s mind in order to let the concept percolate. These artistic decisions and associations are made intuitively. Perhaps this process occurs using many states of awareness simultaneously or through what some would call an altered state. “These altered states are associated with unusual subjective experiences” and “enhanced levels of self awareness” (Gazzaniga, Heatherton, 2006 pg.146). Many of these artistic decisions occur at lightning speed and often the artist is not aware of them as they are more guided by a bodily sense of what feels right. There is an inner confidence of trusting artistic impulse or inspiration. This stage particularly involves the visual and tactile senses as the artist handles and chooses materials and objects. It could be proposed that handling of materials evokes connection to early memories triggering emotional states that are part of the process of accessing that other form of awareness previously described. The creative process is the “bridge” itself and the inspirational spark (energy?) travels in both directions between states of awareness throughout this process. As the materials and environment inspire the artist to connect to previously unknown thoughts, dreams and ideas previously outside of conscious awareness, the creation of the art as a separate entity enables the artist to bring into conscious awareness those previously hidden dimensions, which in turn further inspire the continuation of the artistic process. In the collage under discussion the chosen elements must embody relevant characteristics to the hand metaphor and also to the as yet to be discovered implicit themes inherent in the artwork. This is an intuitive process that includes Freud’s free association method in addition to the concept of schema that comes from the cognitive approach to personality. According to Burger “One of the main functions of schemas is to help us to perceive features in our environment” (Burger, pg.434, chapter 15). In this case the artist is conscious of looking externally to activate memories, associations, dreams and desires that remain outside of awareness but will all contribute to layers of meaning in the art. It is the goal of this artist to create a work that is meaningful on many layers, some obvious and some more veiled.

The artist in this analysis used a hand as focal point in the art initially because it seemed a simple and obvious choice. The hand is a universal symbol especially relevant to the visual arts and has many layers of meaning. In this sense the hand might be seen as an archetype from the collective unconscious, a concept attributed to Carl Jung’s school of analytic psychology (Burger, 2008, pg.106). However there is an additional layer of meaning to the hand that will only emerge upon completion of the work. This experience of discovering a surprise or hidden meaning upon completion of a piece is a frequent occurrence for the artist. The subject finds the research and gathering stage often leads to creating and relates to the psychoanalytic process in that “if the client truly expresses whatever enters consciousness, both client and therapist could be surprised by what emerges” (Burger, 2008, pg.57).

The second stage is that of using the act of drawing (creating a sketch), while simultaneously letting the largely unconscious material percolate and emerge to form additional layers of implicit meaning in the collage. The concept consciously chosen to base the collage around was to portray a hand (as cocoon) releasing a butterfly (the creative spirit). The very physical act of drawing led to the mental associations of mummy wrappings, the use of very old, quill pen scripted correspondences and old Buddhist rubbings. These associations are made outside the level of conscious awareness as is much of the artistic decision making process. The unconscious associations between material and imagery are apparent in the depiction of metamorphosis and the choice of the artist to make rubbings from an old wooden block with ideograms referring to ancient Buddhist texts which complement the East meets West typographic component of the “Hand”.

The realization of the piece begins with the third stage of physical creation of the collage. Techniques employed in this example are handmade paper forming and sculpting, painting, encaustic (hot wax) and printmaking. These activities involve artistic/illustration techniques and skills that are employed on a conscious level to facilitate completion of the artwork. This stage is a form of dialogue between the artist and the artwork, requiring immense concentration in order to facilitate resolution of the work. Mihaly Csikszentmihali describes this intensely rewarding experience as optimal experience, or flow (Burger, 2008, pg.305). “Optimal experiences are intensely enjoyable but they are usually not restful, relaxing moments. On the contrary, most often flow experiences are quite demanding” (Burger, 2008, pg.305).

One element that must be noted as part of the creation of any fine art illustration is the consistent time dimension or deadline. For this artist/illustrator working under the restrictions of a deadline frequently enhances the creative process. Time pressure and the boundaries of the specific assignment create sharper focus and editing power in terms of both concept and product.

The fourth and fifth stages combine synthesis of elements both consciously and also on a level outside of conscious awareness. By gluing, stitching and finding ways to combine the parts (familiar/old) into the final (unfamiliar/new) piece, the final discovery is that the individual and familiar elements of the collage are transformed into a new combination relating to Aristotle’s formal cause (whole-part). Perhaps this transformation refers as well to cognitive processing of information in that a new way of looking at existing elements has occurred. The final fifth stage is to embellish and make conscious choices as to where to add final touches of color and texture. Usually the artist will let the piece “rest” or find a way to create some distance in order to facilitate completion. It is at this point that the unexpected surprise element may appear to the artist. In “The Artist’s Hand” the implicit meaning of the piece became apparent rapidly upon completion. The initial choice of the hand metaphor was chosen to solve an illustration assignment from a client. The problem this assignment posed was how to communicate the concept of artistic creativity as simply as possible to an audience of aspiring artists. On the most obvious level the artist solved this problem by using the hand releasing the butterfly as a metaphor for creativity while creating a work of art. The surprise or hidden level revealed more personal emotions and hidden concepts relevant only to the artist. In this way this artist’s process my also be a therapeutic one. Perhaps the creative process for the subject provides a means to overcome or resolve fears or early childhood trauma. As Harvard psychiatrist Dr. Arthur J. Deikman said “Creative action platys with the unknown. But as the child fears the dark, full of big dogs and mental monsters formed from fantasies, the adult child will be fearful too, faced with the dark world of the unknown mind, with vast concepts looking enormous just beyond the front yard. Peering out, he sees no parents in the darkness of that land where he has never been. The unknown is uncontrolled no strategies exist that will enclose the endless territory or the new. Only trust in yourself and in the world can carry you past the watchdogs of your fears and out of the iron gates of the already-known” (cited by Deikman, M.D., A.J. 2007). By seeing the final art reflecting back these hidden elements the artist is able to understand and make connections previously outside of conscious awareness thereby facilitating mind/body healing. In this sense the art is both a commissioned piece for a client, a problem–solving vehicle for the artist or what is commonly called “a personal illustration”. The creative process itself is of the utmost importance to this artist. As evidence of the high regard/respect for personal process inherent in creating “fine art illustration”, this artist employs many steps such as fine stitch-work on the back of the art, unseen buried imagery in the layering of paper and textiles, use of archival material to ensure the life of the original art beyond the secondary print use and excellent archival documentation of the work. While the end product ultimately will be used in reproduction, many of the finishing techniques go beyond the reproduction stage in that the original art maintains its own integrity beyond the “camera readiness” stage. The original art can be described the remains of a particular process taking place in real time and as such it takes on a life of its own in its relevance as a psychological “mirror” for others after completion and more immediately as art for secondary media use.

This article has discussed how the artistic process utilized in creating the collage entitled “The Artist’s Hand” serves as a bridge between the conscious and unconscious and supports that concept with psychoanalytic, humanistic and cognitive theories. The artistic process may also be a therapeutic one by providing what Abraham Maslow defined as peak experience or what he called “a visit to a personally defined Heaven” (Burger, 2008, pg.304). Perhaps the creative process also provides a means to overcome fear as well. There are many extremely self-actualizing aspects to making one’s living as a fine art illustrator. Abraham Maslow famously said “Finding one’s lifework is a little like finding one’s mate” and “If you are unhappy with your work you have lost one of the most important means of self-fulfillment” (Burger, 2008, pg.310). Many feel fortunate to be paid for creation and self- expression. As psychologist Carl Rodgers said “Whether one calls it a growth tendency, a drive toward self-actualization, or a forward-moving directional tendency, it is the mainspring of life” (Burger, 2008, pg. 292). Connection to self, sense of completion and unity with something larger than self is achieved through the creative process and is the ultimate reward for the artist. For this artist those are the reasons to continue to make art along with the fact that it is a joy to feel fee to experiment, explore and play.

References
Maslow, A. H. (1968). The Farther Reaches of Human Nature. New York: Viking.
Gazzaniga, M. S., & Heatherton, T. F. (2006). Psychological Science (Second Edition ed.). New York: W.W.Norton & Company.
Burger, J. M. (2008). Personality (Seventh Edition ed.). California, U.S.A: Thomson Wadsworth.
Deikman, M. D. (2007). Personal Freedom: On Finding Your Way in the World. Retrieved July 20, 2008, from http://www.deikman.com/personal.html
Winn, S. (2007, May 29). What Happens to us When Art Connects Us to the Unconscious. The San Francisco Chronicle, p. 2.
Atkins, R. (1997). Art Speak (Second Edition ed.). New York: Abbeville Press Publishers.

Susan Leopold received a BFA in Fine Art from the University of Michigan (1979) and an MA in Medical Illustration from University of California (1982). She has been on faculty of Ontario College of Art and Design. Since 1983 she has been a full-time practising artist.
Her work has won numerous awards both in Canada and the USA, and has been featured in publications nationally and internationally including a new book called “The Art of Feminine Drawing” which showcases contemporary artists from around the world and also many of the Fiberarts Design Books.

She was recently invited to exhibit at the Eisner Museum in Milwaukee in a show called “Right Here in the USA”.

Her work is currently featured in the winter issue of “Cloth, Paper, Scissors”, a magazine about contemporary collage and has been featured in Somerset Magazine.
Currently teaching as course leader at Sheridan College and Instructor at the Ontario College of Art and Design, guest lecturer at McMaster University and the New Brunswick College of Craft and Design Susan will be heading up the art program at Voice Intermediate School in the Distillery District, Toronto, where she maintains her studio/gallery space.

www.susanleopold.com

artstübli - Serving Swiss Graphic Art

2008-08-12T08:19:00.000-07:00

With no doubt there is no other region in the world which has a comparable density of high class graphic artists as Switzerland has. Day-in, day-out freelance artists and graphic designers are working there on new creations on a high level. Nonetheless these artists are little noticed in their country – in contrast to regions abroad. The artstübli is going to tap this source to give the Swiss population an understanding of the well established Swiss creativity.

artstübli figures itself as support, network, and platform of Swiss graphic arts based in Basel. We would like to reconsider and pilot the exchange within the national creative scene. Due to our curiosity we are already woven in the Swiss creative network. We feel at home within it, know where the strings lead to, and watch this network with tension and confidence. It is necessary to provide a new platform to this by appropriate gallery-exhibitions, the annual ARTig exhibition for graphic arts and the new the new online art-shop.

We are pride to be a part of this year’s “Illustrative” in Zurich, where we are going to present live our “Stübli-Feeling” to the audience on Saturday, 25th of October, featuring a creative combination of illustrative wall-papers, ethnic furniture, and kitschy, old, Swiss alps-panoramas, which will be read a fresh and modern way. This will be done by young Swiss artists from the fields of illustration and graphic arts to graffiti and street art.

www.artstuebli.ch

Dilemma of Service

2008-08-11T06:46:00.000-07:00

Art vs. Service by Robert Revels

Dilemma

Centuries have passed, yet a major dilemma remains for the artist. How does one find a balance between art and commerce? Is it possible to achieve exceptional artistic merit while providing a service for our patrons? This conflict has consumed many gifted artists, and sometimes to the detriment of their physical and mental well being. Achieving this balance is essential to the growth and prosperity of every artist. Our patrons provide us with revenue and an audience. Moreover, the patron’s request keeps the artist’s concept grounded in the reality of communicating to an audience. Without that audience art can potentially become meaningless or irrelevant.

The advent of digital technology has deepened this conflict. Traditional media vs. Digital technology is a debate heard in art studios and schools around the world. This debate is more pas-sionately engaged in by artists trained in a traditional atelier approach in an academic setting. The belief of the atelier school is that digital art is not a valid art form. Also, lacking the training and dexterity required with traditional mediums.

So what is the answer?

Pros and Cons of Service

With many things in life there are pro’s and con’s — working with a client is no exception. I am not unlike many illustrators who, at times while working on a project for a client, wish to be in-dependently wealthy to avoid torturous compromises. The temptation is to forgo the project, to pursue my own artistic vision. As luck would have it, escapism is not my usual reaction. The many disadvantages are obvious for us all to see. We must respond to our clients’ needs and desires. Some of our greatest conceptual ideas may never see the light of day. A number of clients do not speak the language of the illustrator. Artists speak in the romantic language of the visual world: the patron speaks the language of numbers and bottom line. Then there are the looming deadlines, the deadlines that can cause us to serve our wine before its time. Every illustrator I know wishes they had more time — time to perfect the wry smile of a child, to add the twinkle of life in a grandmother’s eyes, or to magically capture the sunrise on the rolling hills. All of these external constraints can cause an artist to question their vision.

Through the years my perception has changed. I no longer view a patron as someone to be en-dured or, a changeable advisory. Admittedly, the con’s can seem quite dreadful, but I actually perceive them as a benefit. The advantages that a patron brings to the table far outweigh the con’s. The patron can act as a compass, guiding us along a path to real and effective communication. We have the responsibility to clearly convey our message to the target audience. Our message can range from an insightful political satire, to something as simple as “buy this product”. This responsibility is paramount and can deliver us from a focus on self-indulgent, narcissistic work that can be a trap for many students and young artist. To create and prove their worth they choose to journey down a road of self aggrandizement, astounding themselves and their viewers with their virtuosity. Lost in this fog, they lose sight of communicating the purpose of their illus-tration. Many times when I question students about the content and meaning of their work, I receive comments similar to: “I just wanted it to look cool!”. Looking cool does not define the pro-fessional. A seasoned illustrator wants the image to communicate both the visual artistry and the message.

Robert Revels: Dragon, Digitiser Tablet and Picture Editing Software

Once your work enters a public forum, you are responsible for communicating to that forum. That forum may be one or many persons, but the goal is still to communicate to your audience as clearly as possible. Moreover, strong visuals come from the innermost place. The feelings generated “in the heart” derive from intense opinions we have about the current subject to be illus-trated. The client provides the structure within which our vision reveals itself, and can assist us in communicating effectively to our target audience.

The restrictions a client places on the illustrator can be very beneficial. I am a firm believer in the “Less is More” theory. True beauty is about what is not there as much as about what is. Creativity is a process of dealing with the limited things that are around you. Great ingenuity does not come from having a great abundance around you. Discoveries, are made from a void in your sur-roundings. Impoverished people the world over, have learned how to stretch whatever food they have to feed their families. How many more ways can I cook this potato? The illustrator faces the same scenario. How can I paint the same character again and again, while making them feel fresh and new to a viewer. Sometimes our restrictions will not be about keeping continuity of a character. Maybe the restrictions will limit our color choice, or size dimensions. All of these constraints present the artist with a great opportunity to expand his or her ability to create — an opportunity to think beyond the obvious. These restrictions can make the struggle for the correct visual image daunting, yet, this is where true growth originates. Anyone can paint their own picture and make it visually striking. The question is rather — can you bring your patron’s vision to reality? This is what the best illustrators achieve, day in and day out. The professional must come to terms with this, being held to a different standard than a hobbyist. The hobbyist can create art for arts sake, but this is not the luxury of an artist. Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Valezquez, Rembrandt, Holbein, Daumier, Sargent, Mucha, Leyendecker, Rockwell and countless others confronted this same issue. They all struggled individually in a unique way, either coming to terms or never finding the balance. Each personal struggle left a legacy for the world to admire. When we struggle and conquer these restrictions, we receive our compensation of artistic growth. We are also compen-sated monetarily, allowing us to make our way in the world and perhaps to have time to realize a wholly personal vision.

Each artist has to find a balance with which they are willing to live. For some, working as an illustrator may not be a good fit because that balance cannot be met. Some feel that their artistic integrity is being compromised. They may feel that fine art is the answer. A word of caution for those — the patrons change but the conflict remains the same. I have reconciled the struggle in myself. The reconciliation has been to provide whatever talent or gifts I have for others and with spare time I pursue my vision. Whether it is painting for a patron, family, or myself, the goal is to give them something accessible and heartfelt.

Robert Revels, Wise Men, Gouache and Acrylic

Digital vs. Traditional Media

The last ten years has seen a dramatic explosion in technology. The advent of the personal computer has shifted the way the world works, and thinks. We are no longer separated by our continents physical isolation. This shift has been jarring for some. While the internet can unify people, it can equally keep people hidden behind their computer screens, fully detached from one on one interactivity with others. Automated voice mail service leaves us hungry for conversation with a real person. It leaves many yearning for the good old days. As this relates to the craft of illustration, you have three camps. The older generation trained in the traditional atelier system. My generation, a generation trained in the atelier system, yet the first to begin to embrace the technology. Lastly, the generation completely raised on the new technology. The older and new gen-eration are usually clearly divided as it relates to the argument of “Is it art?”. The middle generation usually bears the greatest conflict on the subject. We were trained to love and respect all as-pects of the atelier system — the perfecting of one’s draftsmanship, the intimate connection be-tween oneself and his or her medium of choice. It is a romantic spiritual experience to create something with one’s own hand. Nothing can compare to this. In contrast you have the ease and convenience of digital technology, allowing faster realization of our vision. A parallel argument exist in photography. Is the convenience of digital photography worth the sacrifice of the beauty and technical proficiency of film. The artist and photographers who have not experienced the traditional methods do not typically feel this conflict. It is hard to have emotional feelings about something you have not experienced.

As an educator, I have seen the attitudes of successive generation reverse on the idea of working digitally. I personally teach traditional and digital methods. When I first began teaching Corel Painter and Adobe Photoshop 9 years ago as a painting medium, many if not all students did their best to avoid the class. Why would I want to learn how to illustrate on the computer? Tradi-tional art looks and feels better. You had to strongly encourage taking the class. Today is a com-pletely different story. The classes are full. Students have a much higher proficiency with the software before they come into the classes. The interest in the technology is at an all time high. Moreover, the digital software is currently dramatically more proficient at providing a painting experience for those who long to paint with real paint. Digital technology is not going to disappear anytime soon. We must stay current and grow with the times in which we live. This does not mean we have to for go all traditional mediums. Some are mixing the two mediums to pro-duce amazing results. This brings up another disturbing trend affecting some newer generation students. Many ignore the advantages of the traditional atelier academic system. Students have expressed their love for the computer, because they do not want to clean up their paints, or to spend the time to learn how to paint traditionally. This is lazy and absurd logic that typically leads to a failed career. They are looking for the easy way to solve problems. The goal should be to find ways to solve your problems in the best artistic way, not the easiest or cleanest. Digital is a wonderful medium that can do both, aid the challenged and help the innovative.

Robert Revels, Spiderman, Gouache and Acrylic

Can you teach an “old dog” new tricks? I believe you can, if that “dog” wants to be taught. I have seen many of my mentors pay the price for not being willing to learn the digital technology. Now, many of them are rushing to learn. When I graduated from college, I was a purist. I abso-lutely refused to learn about computer illustration. I wanted to produce illustrations in style of the great illustrators past. My refusal cost me many job opportunities. As I accepted the realities of our changing times, I slowly dabbled into the digital world. Hating every stroke of my wacom pen. Lamenting the fact that this is not like traditional paint. Then, something changed. I stopped comparing digital to traditional. Once I did this, my appreciation and fondness for digital media grew. I still prefer traditional mediums but I realized that it is not an all or nothing proposition. I can create in both. Therefore I do. I quiet the purist voice in my head by recognizing the fact that all artists created art with the technology of their time. Illustrators began with etchings. This is what could be mass produced. One and two colors were slowly introduced. We finally arrived at a place where we could paint in full color. The printing process is the fastest and cheapest it has ever been. This allows the illustrator to push the boundaries of the visual medium. With the internet’s presence, illustration will continue to evolve into a non-print forum. Animated illustra-tion is already popular with web banner’s and interactive media. The technology is changing — the need for visual images will not. Beginning with the primitive drawings in the caves of Las-caux to the wonderfully 3D animated films of today, the illustrator is here to stay if he or she chooses to work with and be open to all available media. Adaptability is a virtue — we can change the paradigm of our thinking. Traditional media will always have its place in the market-place. To what extent? Only time will tell.

Technology has many benefits for the illustrator. The biggest advantage is the ability to make drastic changes to your illustrations without having to destroy the original painting. This has always been the biggest challenge with traditional illustration for me. How can I make changes in my work retaining the freshness and not overworking it. Digital technology has completely removed this impediment from my process and has completely refashioned my working relationships with my clients. I can provide them with their vision while preserving one of the earlier preferred iterations for myself. Digital technology has also assisted in meeting deadlines. We can provide press or web ready digital files through e-mail or through secure web servers. I remember shipping paintings overnight, hoping they would not be damaged during transport. The beauty of it all is that I still have a choice to do traditional painting and can simultaneously use technology to make changes to my traditional paintings, as well as to bypass shipping by converting my paintings to a digital format.

In conclusion, “Good illustration should never be based on the medium. Its strength of design should be apparent in any medium.” These are words taught to me as a student. They penetrated my core and have never left. I approach every illustration with the same inner dialog. What is this for, who is this for, and why am I doing this? If I can answer these questions resolutely, I have a good chance to create a strong illustration. When I fail to answer any of these questions, often my illustration fails right in front of me. The medium was not the problem, I was. Digital and Traditional offer different working methods, but serve the same end. It will be used for print, web, or TV. The choice of medium is deeply personal. Every artist has different needs and philosophies. Use everything, experience it all. You will be in the best position to make a choice that suits your artistic vision. Some want speed, some need a more visceral tactile experience, and others may incorporate a mixed media approach. The choice on the spectrum are yours.

Robert Revels is an award winning artist from the United States. As a student athlete his art education began at College of San Mateo. This is where the love of art began. Choosing to forego his athletic career, he enrolled into The Academy of Art University, San Francisco. After receiving several awards in college, he earned a BFA in 1995. Immediately he began to work as a professional illustrator. The projects he has worked on has varied from children’s stories to large concert backdrops for Lollapalooza, Carlos Santana, and U2. In 1997 he began working as a graphic designer for Hull & Honeycutt Marketing and Design. Robert has since returned to teach at his alma mater to give back to the next generation of artists. When not teaching or working on freelance projects — he loves to travel to different countries with his wife.