Gaspare Mola Helmet

Just sharing this inspiring piece of Renaissance armour. I doubt the designers of this stuff ever got much credit that often so this one gets to go in the post title! Lucky guy. I can just imagine Cosimo II going into battle with this…‘Dude, stop smashing up my gold-plated, spiral-motif tribute to the good bits in Greek mythology!’

World map vs Golden Section

I thought I’d go back to my nifty world map drawing and just check if the golden section works on it at all. Found that the two were spookily similar, especially in how some land masses follow the grid lines quite closely. Might just be down to my being slightly biased though. Always worth checking things…just in case. I could delve into a long-winded discussion of whether the Golden Section proves there is no master creator of the world (God) but instead I’ll just mention that I measured the menu in a local restaurant recently and, to my delight, ‘twas in golden proportions.

Naughty word on One Show, almost

I was watching The One Show on tv last night (Thursday 21) with Nicholas Lyndhurst and there was an interview taking place with a woman who helps kids with their numeracy. Anyway, behind her was a surface covered with those alphabet magnets so, naturally, I was checking out the typography instead of watching her. A ‘D’ here, an ‘L’ there and then a little group at the top: ‘F, upside-down-M, C, K’. At first I thought I’d seen the most subtle expletive of all time on national television but no…close but no cigar. (Damn!)

Three ladies and question about copyrights for bloggers

Nothing like an attractive subject for good motivation eh?? I got a bit addicted to drawing faces in Illustrator once I’d learnt how. It was actually useful for understanding how to draw differently by hand too though. The bottom image is from a photograph by Paolo Roversi, a favourite fashion photographer of mine who really needs more books available on Amazon. Sort it ooot Amazon/Paolo/whoever is in responsible. I did do a few portraits using loads of layers of colours but, to be honest, the simple 2/3 colour versions just look much better and combine with type much more easily too. I have loads more of these but will get cut down by the copyright partypoopers if I post them.

Does anyone know what the situation is with copyrighting for bloggers if they’re not being paid for the blog? Info online often seems inconsistent. If I own a book, for instance, can I scan pages and upload them? I wanted to do some editorial design one day and asked the Guardian if I could use their online articles. T’was a no, even though Casillero del Diablo let me post my label re-designs if I said it was my own work. Confused.

He’s a Mexi‘can’

You might recognise this guy from Once Upon a Time in Mexico (Depp, Banderas etc). He’s the one who, when asked if he’s a Mexican or a Mexican’t, says ‘I’m a Mexican’. Gripping scene, right enough. Anyway! Estevan Oriol is a photographer who shoots Mexican gangsters and this actor/ex-gangster(?) was one of his subjects. This is the first digital portrait I ever did in Illustrator, after a little tutorial in my first year at uni. Not sure why I did the background that way though…

Graphic Design Est. 1922

I read a post recently on another blog including a quote by Phil Baines. This sums it up. (To avoid confusion, 1922 is in there as it was the year the ‘graphic design’ was coined).

Ars sine scientia nihil est

A nice line from Jean Vignot, a Gothic artchitect, in 1392. Forgive the use of Zapfino – meant to be a allegory to art without knowledge (subtle jibe at Zapfino there…).

Kaleidotype

I’ve been looking through my portfolio recently and noticed a few things I could be exploring in more detail: the process used to make the images below is one of them. Almost a year or so ago, I wondered whether type could be used in place of those little colourful shapes you get in kaleidoscopes. I did a bit of experimenting and found it to be relatively simple – as far as how the patterns are made. Alternatively, the process can just be used to make cool little typographic images. The images below are just a few attempts at finding out how far it can go, hence their slightly shabby look. So many variables! Colour, typeface, type-size, type colours…. Plenty to try with it but I think, with these, the more subtle/simple the design, the better.

Stamps 01/02

Here are some of the best stamps from a box-full I found in our loft. The penultimate on is the back of a stamp…I thought there was something quite eye-catching about the whole purple/blue handwriting and orange background combo. It’s really interesting to scan them at a huge resolution and then zoom in on the detail…like in the last one. The way the stamps work with the image, accidentally, is also something to look out for – like in the purple US one, five down.[Still working on another post – I have some type-patterns you might find interesting!]

Stamps 02/02

Geometry of Art and Life

I’ve been reading/studying this book lately to get a better understanding of the mind-boggling nature of the golden section, root 2/3/4/5 etc rectangles and any related topics. I recommend it but would also say that a book on general geometry would be handy too. In fact, for designers, Geometry of Design by K. Elam is a great introduction and includes a number of good case-study pages where specific (and popular) examples are explained. Work of J Tschichold features.

Back to the book in question; there is quite an interesting quote from Plato’s Philebus that the author, Ghyka, puts down as a cubist manifesto: ‘By beauty of shape I want you here to understand not what the multitude generally means by this expression, like the beauty of living beings or of paintings representing them, but something alternatively rectilinear and circular [geometry], and the surfaces and solids which one can produce from the rectilinear and the circular, with compass, set-square and rule. Because these things are not, like the others, conditionally beautiful, but are beautiful in themselves.’ In other words then, the audience of a piece of art/design will see the geometry in its development but call the object, itself, beautiful. (Perhaps this explains the questionable fashion of fifties furnishings for their time: as long as the geometry works, can the designs be ugly?) I guess Ghyka puts it down as a cubist statement as he assumes Plato would find it more worthwhile for artists to employ the geometric shapes more directly, like Braque, for instance, has. Still, there’s a place for humanists and a place for cubists.

I’m slowly getting more and more use out of this book – in typography, layout and composition to name a few. As far as stifling creativity goes…I think many great paintings tell us that content and proportion need not be one and the same. Mixing the two in a skillful way is the real challenge though.

P.S. Try this if you’re really bored (as, admittedly, you may be after reading this post): Measure (a) your full standing height and then (b) from the floor to your navel. If you divide ‘a’ by ‘b’ and get roughly 1.618 then congrats – according to Ghyka you have ideal golden section body proportions.  Similarly, it is a pleasing bodily proportion if the length between your finger tips (when standing, arms stretched horizontally to the sides) is equal to your height (in other words, if you met all four edges of a square, were you to stand inside one with arms outstretched). Send any complaints to L. Da Vinci, Florence; no responses guaranteed.

It’s here!

Ahhh my new desk is lurrrvley. There’s about 7 inches of snow where I live (and, I think, in most other places in the UK) so I was worried the delivery guys might not make it. Still…I got it today and it’s actually twice as nice as it looks (I was on a tiny budget!).

So…keep an eye out for more posts. Happy to see I have a few new followers since last week. With my new workspace, I’ll be able to get much more work done. I’m also planning on studying my books from Christmas — hopefully you’ll be interested in Renaissance Florence as that’s my new area! I tackled fin-de-siécle Vienna in my dissertation; time for bigger fish.

Sur mes Lèvres

Here’s a recommendation for any film fans. Sur mes Lèvres is a great French film from 2002 starring Vincent Cassel and Emmanuelle Devos. It’s about a lonely secretary with hearing difficulties (she happens to be a lip reader) who hires an assistant at work. Her new assistant is an ex-con trying to get by without attracting attention to himself (basically, he has a few debts to pay). The film is really well balanced in exploring both characters equally. It spirals slowly from misdemeanor to crime, suspense to violence. The best thing about it is that you’ll probably find it quite cheap on Amazon!

I love the tendency of French films to invest so much in conversation. Having watched Inglorious Basterds recently (and thinking back to Death Proof) I realise that Quentin Tarantino makes the most of conversation in the same way. Christoph Waltz is clearly going to be a rising star in Western films soon enough. One of the very best performances I can think of is F. Murray Abraham in Amadeus. Maybe it’s partly thanks to the quality of the film in general but Abraham’s monologue as the aged rival composer, Salieri, is incredibly dynamic. I can only imagine what happens in the minds of these actors as they read words in a script and consider how they might deliver them on screen.

Filmstar Magazine

Toward the end of my degree I applied to a placement being offered by Blackfish Publishing in Bath which would give me the chance to work on their, at the time, latest publication, Filmstar. In the end, I had to withdraw my application, even though I’d been shortlisted, due to accommodation problems. The magazine was, I believe, meant to offer film enthusiasts something different in their monthly reading; more interviews, striking design etc. I’ve picked up the magazine whenever I’ve seen it in the recent months and definitely noticed a bold typographic approach but felt it could probably have done with being even more ambitious to outrun the worry of looking like Empire magazine’s little brother.

I recently tried to send my updated details to Blackfish Publishing and my emails failed. A visit to their website suggested to me that the company must be, unfortunately, on the rocks and any further publication of Filmstar is uncertain. Another company, who, a few months ago, offered me a placement, has actually since vacated the studio it was in. Great times for graduates then.

By the way, I confess! I’m just padding out my blog until Saturday when the much-needed desk arrives and I can actually get back to putting design work on here.

Also, I just got this book today, Machiavelli’s The Prince, for a fiver at the multi-shopped-but-mostly-useless Lakeside Village in Doncaster. What a bargain! I’m still deciding if I love or hate the bright yellow cover with classical style layout and typeforms with an enlarged arbitrary decorative motif on the back. …Okay, I hate it. Nonetheless, the inside is very interesting and some of the images I’ve had a peek at so far are incredible.

[Edited hours later] I’ve just had another look at it and I’m back to loving it again! It’s bright yellow but it’s a nice bright yellow. The classical layout makes sense as it’s a book from the 16th Century. The back cover is a little inconsistent as its motif is offset and full-bleed so it doesn’t quite say ‘classical’. The inner pages, however, are quite busy with decoration (behind the text or interlocking with it) which I find a worthwhile addition.

www Colorworks

I’ve forgotten all this time to add Colorworks on my blog! This printing studio really helped me get loads of work produced on time towards the end of my degree and I’m really grateful for the effort they made to help me, not least the compliments on my work which, for a nervous pre-show student, are a definite confidence-booster.

So, if you’re after a print service run by friendly, no-nonsense characters who are good at what they do, check out Colorworks in Bath.

http://www.colorworksbath.co.uk/

Hold on

Hellooo…. Apologies for the lack of posts recently but I’ve had less and less space to work in these days. All will change in another week when I get my Christmas present, a desk, in the mail and finally have somewhere to conjure the most brilliant of blog posts. How expensive are desks, by the way!? Nay, chairs (from Sweden)!?

Until then though, happy new year!

25th

Merry Christmas!

Manet shot

Chrimbo 09

1 December is here! So, best wishes readers! Also, it’s great to have 14 followers — although it doesn’t seem a big number, it’s taken me ages to attract you awesome chaps. I leave you with suggestions for Christmas viewing…

Scrooged — Bill Murray and the hilarious falling-up-the-steps scene.
The Grinch — Jim Carrey classic.
Elf — for that warm toasty feeling.
Bad Santa — when your face hurts from smiley Christmas cheer…this’ll bring you down a few notches.

By the way, this may be a really well-known film (so I may look like an idiot asking this) but, does anyone know that Christmas flick that starts with the homeless lad in the street and a girl in her house sees him and takes some food and a coke out for him? Forgotten its name…. Unless it was an old Coke advert…. Always made me desperate for a coke anyway

Music posters

I just wanted to try some info-graphics and put to use some things I know in Illustrator (didn’t find much use for Illustrator at uni) so I grabbed the names and durations of some of my favourite music to represent it visually.

Basically each individual shape represents a track — in the Muse posters, for instance, the length of each line relates to every other and corresponds to the track length. The full circle, then, represents the longest track. The pink was introduced to show a difference between the last three tracks and the rest of the album because they’re actually one track (in 3 parts). On retrospect maybe a change of colour isn’t the most logical way to show this.

Although it looks quite nice, it didn’t quite make sense to allow the longest track to appear differently to the others so the Litolff posters attempt to show the music as a full circle (like the reading of a CD). This way all of the music is shown to be of equal significance. The classical works are separated according to tempo differences which is what the deepening greens try to imply. Decent start — should be more to come.