This wacky staircase thing is getting a bit played out i think.
eg.
& 
Comprende?
Generell is my pick.
Hyping on new work from Matt Maitland. A bit of research also shows that he designed Goldfrapp’s Seventh Tree cover art. Stylistically, this new work for the Liverpool Biennial Campaign and Basement Jaxx among others, is way more impressive. He recently took two titles for Eye’s ‘Just add stock’ awards, and I’ve got to say in terms of stock photography this is one amazing use.
When it comes to collages and image mash ups, I’ve gotten so used to that punk or vintage look, that I’ve simply become bored with it. In contrast, Matt’s work utilises bright slabs of colour, the occasional dollop of goo or geometric shapes and of course a sharp mix up of images. It breathes life into tired YSL and D&G fashion spreads, but at the same time blends in to the high brow nature of the campaigns because of the crystal clear stock content. Very surreal, very fucking cool.
This piece by Yes Studio for Warp Records and the infamous (right?) Tubular Bells cover are in a similar orbit of acid/jungle/psychedelic fusion.
In terms of inspiration, Matt’s work is something that makes my brain flip over like a piece of french toast and start thinking in another direction.
TOP 25 FOUND IMAGES OF 2009. STICK THAT IN YOUR PIPE.
I’m not great at keeping habits. It’s more usual for me to get bored and try something else. One habit that I have kept, is saving images that I find on the web. Mario Hugo wrote a great article on the abundance of ‘unnamed, anonymous’ images on the internet. I totally agree, there’s almost too much inspiration out there. Unlike books that give credit to the artists involved and a background to the images themselves, the internetz most of the time don’t.
Each month I saved on average about 120 images. My main sources were Behance, Graphic Exchange, various Folios of designers and of course the visual orgy that is FFFOUND.
Top 3 designers
Mario Hugo. Smart, often colourless, type heavy design.
Jasper Goodall. More of an Illustrator than a designer, but very big in 09.
Frank Chimero. Uses the internet to his advantage, and a workhorse.
Top 3 Studios
Non Format: Actually creating trends rather than following or tweaking like the rest of us monkeys.
Moving Brands: Not exactly a design agency, but they had a great online presence and some big campaigns this year.
Vault 49: These guys must really charm their clients because their work looks almost untampered with.
Top 3 magazines.
Top 3 fonts.
Serif Gothic (Black)
Knockout (HF&J)
Whitney (HF&J)
I can’t say dragging yourself through the trenches of the internet is going to deliver you quicker to the ‘big idea’, or a concept that will make you king of your class for a few weeks. Personally I’d rather cut it out of a magazine, and draw it out, the old school way. The biggest plus of dropping all this crap to your desktop is that you really can keep a close eye on what is happening right now in the world of graphic design.
Trends die out, grow, become outdated. One cat uses a font really well or a photohraphic technique in a campaign, and next thing you know every hapless designer with a pirated copy of Creative Suite is having a crack.
This is my top 25 for the year. These are images that have really made me think in a different direction. “I wish I’d thought of that!”. There’s posters, packaging, street art, book covers, illustrations, still life, papergraphics you name it.
Glossy Shiny Things
I came to the realisation the other day. Most things (art, music, design) aimed at young people who like to dance and take drugs; often (not always) look like they’ve been dipped in a vat of something sticky, probably from one of the backrooms at Willie Wonka’s factory.
The best explanation is that this demographic is often drawn to bright colours, and appreciate when something ‘pops’ out of the paper. This demographic would probably enjoy ‘Ferntree Gully 2’. Mainly because it’s bright, colourful & more polished than Hugh Hefner’s Cock’.
Goopy.
Colourful, isometric typography. Staircases? Dollup a bit of goo, that seems to be in at the moment, and shazam! Ministry cover is Vault 49 and the other is Mr. Trochut. I’m going to stop linking to him because I mention him way too much on this blog.
I was looking at a lot of this isometric stuff when I did my 1970 poster and I found the Sick Systems. Worth a look if your into this look.
The Ghost. (emerging trend)
I haven’t done a ‘face-off’ for a while, and this one was sitting at the back of my head for a while. I can’t even explain this one, as it’s not as obvious as space cosmos photoshopping, or mustard typography.
Style: No Colour, all line work to suggest form, no shading and cracks and holes that sit somewhere between the druggy surreal and a newspaper comic. Sorry about the last one but I think you get the idea. This trend fits pretty close with the mickey one.
Applications: No idea. D*Face did this to the exterior of Lifelounge HQ on St Kilda Road, but I think this sparse style would work best for club posters and fashion tees.
Tiltshift 2009
Doing a bit of research on the subject of tiltshift photography. Stay tuned for a big trending topic…
Edit: Once i actually did a bit of research instead of just talking about doing it, I found that ~surprise~ smashing mag already did one.
I just wanted to say that it’s an arresting visual effect that hasn’t been really capitalised on outside of design blogs and the like.
Land Rover did a great print campaign, and if you saw the Hulkamania post below, you’d see that it works really well in stop motion too. That’s print and tv covered, now where are the ads at?
ADC stands for Art Directors Club if you were wondering. Good to see Hische and Hugo in there.
If you weren’t sick of still life stuff, here’s some more. In spanish!
Stereosonic, in logos
I won’t be going to Stereosonic. Not my thing, although I do like a lot of the producers/dj’s playing. No cobra snake photo for me :(
The designer of the poster had also created logos (some real, some not) for the dj’s on the bill. I picked out a 5 different ones and rated ‘em.
