Our colleague Francisco Hernandez is finishing up his first year as a student in the MFA Design Department at the School of Visual arts in NYC. The program opened a show at the school’s gallery on East 23rd Street in Manhattan. Run don’t walk to see the show in person!
http://www.sva.edu/events/events-exhibitions/tall-tales
Francisco’s piece is entitled Pixel Perfect.
This is one of those ideas that we’re surprised hadn’t come about sooner. Designers Drew Roper, Ryan Paule and Bryan Butler started this project to “distract from their day-to-day grind.” They basically arrange weekly “fights” between two designers, who are asked to create a typographic treatment of the same character and then have their final designs voted on to determine whose is best. The site is actually on hiatus right now for a redesign, but check out the fights that have already happened. Can’t wait to see “Round 2″ soon.
Via thetypefight.com
As the summer movie season ramps up so does the barrage of movie posters. Most are not great (or even good), but these limited-edition Iron Man 3 posters by Uruguayan illustrator/designer Martin Ansin set the bar really high. Though these posters went on sale (and quickly sold out) at Mondo earlier this month, we can’t help but ogle at these superior specimens of cinematic posters, which feature metallic inks. These standard and color variant prints feature not only Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark, but also Don Cheadle as Iron Patriot, Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts, Ben Kingsley as the Mandarin and scenes from the movie. Mondo really is the go-to spot for prints and memorabilia (here and here and here), and this is a fantastic addition.
Via martinansin.com
UK illustrator Ed Fairburn’s approach to portraiture is really something special. His mostly figurative work through painting and drawing is only accentuated through his keen eye for patterns. His ongoing series of map portraits are simply fantastic, using all sorts of maps as a basis for each piece. Fairburn explains, “I paint, draw and construct using a flexible range of tangible media across a wide range of surfaces and contexts, allowing my practice to exist across various disciplines. The work I produce is largely self-directed, allowing me to explore a wealth of ideas and concepts which need to be realised.” And what a wealth of taken he possesses.
Via edfairburn.com
Young Serbian designer Tamara Mihajlovic has some impressive skills. Her student work for a luxury honey brand, of all things, is really, really good. From the container, to the logotype, to the typography, to the name, this project is well conceived and beautifully executed. Mihajlovic is a designer to watch.
Via Behance
For those in the NYC area, venerable type foundry Monotype is putting on a must-see exhibition for designers and type geeks out there (ourselves included). Pencil to Pixel is a comprehensive exhibition spanning over a hundred years, featuring rare artworks and artifacts relating to type history, chronicling the development of typography up to its present technologically-advanced state.
Artist Andrew Mowbray is walking a line between science and sculpture with his latest works. Mowbray cultivates Lagenaria gourds (in the Squash family) to grow in a cube, and therefore take on that shape. Gourds are are easily dried and made into vessels because they become so hard (almost like wood), and Mowbray also forms cement and plaster units to be stacked with the gourds. “The gourd is a living plant that can be grown and molded into a predetermined, structural unit that can then be used to create formal sculpture, functional design, or architecture,” Mowbray explains.
We’ve seen the terrific typographic work of Bilbao, Spain-based designer Txaber before (here). His latest work, a custom typeface for Nike is a great addition to his body of work. It’s composed of wooden slats, but for some added texture and dimension, Txaber curls the top layers. And the result is quite beautiful.
Via txaber.net
Those fellow designers out there who have studied typography will appreciate this poster series. We’ve all had that assignment early on where we had to use typography as image, to compose a larger image. This series entitled Day Against Homophobia, by Italian design firm studio FM, takes that rookie exercise to a whole new level. These beautifully composed and well thought-out posters are truly inspiring. But it doesn’t take a type geek to appreciate them, they are outstanding by any measure.
In this compelling photographic series and companion book, Vertical Horizon, French photographer/artist Romain Jacquet-Lagrèze utilizes a vantage point we often take for granted. Look straight up in any metropolis and you too can see what he sees through his lens. But what Jacquet-Lagrèze does here serves as a narrative for the city he now calls home: Hong Kong. In his own words, “Vertical Horizon is a photographic journey between the buildings of a relentlessly growing city. It is a deep immersion into the city’s thick atmospheres and a visual record of its wildly diverse built environment.”
Via rjl-art.com
