Random findings that i like…

DC GROOVE ARMADA VOLCANO SKATE SHOES

Check out this amazing hookup between DC and chilled beat masters Groove Armada. The shoe utilizes the lively techno colour theme from Groove Armada’s merchandise and graphics on the popular Volcano model. With a bright colour palette set, Groove Armada have taken this shoe to another level and used a mismatch execution, with the left and right shoes each featuring slightly different colour blocks. Features: Velcro fastening top. Highly abrasion-resistant sticky rubber outsole.

My best friends is rocking them right now and i got to say i love them. music, art and fashion in the mix:

Noma Bar: Negative Space

gun crime                                                                                            the big squeeze

Noma Bar recently creative book Negative space which at a second glance provokes the viewer. in his book he tackle global warming, race relations and national identity and has that of a ‘design of dissent’ nature against war, crime and power. It features many examples of editorial work for The New York Times, The Economist and The Guardian. Referring to his editorial work as a form of “pain relief” against issue in some of  his articles

With these to example i am inspired by his use of the negative space using the background more wisely to also have a visual purpose. this image within an image is one that does provoke the viewer and get you looking and thinking longer, which to any artist or designer in key to a good piece of work.

Persue Graffiti artist

Persue is an established graffiti artist who has been spraying walls since the late eighties. his work consists of lettering and illustrations with great detail. His tag is Persue written per-sway he represents COD[children of doom] from the Bronx, Stick up Kids, The Seventh Letter, Bunny Kitty, Transcendental, Bloodclots and SBA, which are his spraying crews that take on a global scale.

What interested me about Persue  is his work he’s done off the street and into the fashion, graphic design and business world. He’s was involved launching DC shoes, Osiris shoes, he was the talent behind the name and logo for Circa footwear. Persue has done countless amount of designs for T-shirts, Skateboard and Snowboard for brands like Special Blend, Dub, Tribal, Droors, Forum and Evol. He is currently President for Vox Footwear a Skateboarding shoe brand based out of Vista, California. Managing the company and design footwear with his loyal friend B House. He got involved in the industry around  early nineties but Skateboarding was not as big back then but evidently as it grew so has Persue reputation as a talented artist. As he would say it putting ‘flavour’ into skateboarding art. Running a Shop also with his brothers with the name ‘Home’, which originally was a place where any average person could eat, drink, and mingle with some of the biggest names in entertainment. It was also at Home that some of the biggest names in entertainment could again feel like any average person. People like the legend John Lennon was one of the many faces that came to House back in day. Run by Richard Ross and with the help of his brothers connection with the stars it got a beautiful history. Persue being the nephew of Richard Ross has in recent years turned Home in a clothing store in the northern San Diego city of Encinitas, California. www.amomentinyourlife.com.

Here are some of his graphic design works:

His work is a fine example of what logos are looking like today. Especially in sub-cultured fashion of the youth and extreme sport culture. The graffiti like, illustrative logos work well within theses areas and give the companies a more creative edge, which Persue work is all about weather it be a mural on a wall, T-shirt design or side of a shoe. As ’street art meets fashion’ is big in todays society we see many of graffiti artist work taking new direction in this way.

Korg Kaossilator Dynamic Phrase Synth

the KAOSSILATOR is a new instrument that liberates synthesizer sounds from the keyboard. It gives keyboardists, guitarists, and DJs a convenient way to add fresh new elements to a band performance or to a DJ set, while allowing untrained musical enthusiasts to enjoy an entirely new level of musical involvement and expression. Thanks to its ultra-compact size, battery operation and hooks for attaching a strap, the KAOSSILATOR makes it easy for you to start creating music whenever and wherever inspiration strikes you.

Main Features

A portable synthesizer delivering maximum flexibility in an ultra-compact body, with battery operation that allows you to jam anywhere.

* Synth, sound-effects, and drum sounds, for a total of 100 powerful sound programs.

* 31 scale patterns let you easily play a wide variety of “always perfect” phrases.

* 50 types of gate arpeggiation help you perform complex rhythmic patterns.

* Loop Recording allows multiple phrase overdubbing to create complete grooves.

at a recent event i went to this girl Alice was rocking this synth whilst jamming on guitar and made some interesting raw basement bashing music. Was a very interesting experience also being able to join in the fun have a mess around, but on a serious note in music industry this is a must have.
ME LOVE:

charity work-shock advertising

ever since i realized things were unethical, lacked equality or just seemed damn right wrong i found myself extremely interested in working for charity. wether that be the street team or most defiantly on the creative team. i know that most charities use different agencies on different subject but i would like to have input in help out these charity getting noticed for what they’re doing to make the world a better place here there and everywhere but more importantly make visible the devastating issue people are facing all around the world that people cannot see or acknowledge.

it all about shocking the viewer, creating a stir and curiosity with in the public realm with disturbing in your face imagery. this type of advertising has a love it or hate it audience, as people can either be hurt, traumatized or over exposed to things they wish not to acknowledge in their day to day lifes, or you get the people like myself who take notice, want to know more and help out as much as possible. all of this creates a huge amount of publicity, debate and sometime a ban depending on the intensity of the shocking imagery.

 

i was recently looking a Erik Vervroegen work he did for Amnesty International human right in china:

Amnesty international- Human rights

this ad was based on the olympics in china as it was happening at the time, so using the olympic sport to express the torture and truama people face in china, with a caption saying after the olympic games the fight for human rights must go on. Amnesty International to me have a amazing adverting style, so shocking and really catches your eyes wether you feel it good or bad.

Erik also did a great ad for aides:

Aides-aids ad

 

Aides-aids ad

these two ad caused a stir, for one they are a little pornography in the sense of nudity and the acts of pleasure but i feel they get to the point using insect which are poisonous to get the message across. Once again Erik has used shocking yet powerful imagery to open the eyes of the views to express the importance of using a condom. 

 

UNITED COLOUR OF BENETTON

although United Colours of Benetton are a clothing company, they still use shock advertising to help sell product even thought they are not a charity they still touch on important issue that people are subjected to globally. in some ways this is wrong using it to sell products as it does not address the product purpose but grabs the eye of the potential buyer of the produce making discuss and debate the ads with people. killing two bird with one stone. getting people to buy his product yet addressing important issues on equality, sexuality, aids etc:

this ad expresses equality in a awesome way. using hearts to deliver the message that no matter the race we are all made of the same things, we are all human. yes its a little gross and a little shocking for using heart but this is the perfect way to deliver a message.

 

United Colors of Benetton

Sorry to say this image has been taken away from me as it apparently violates the right on photobucket.com but the image has coursed a mass of debate and the world went crazy as a black woman feeding a white baby is shocking, wrong to many people and confusing when you see this it never leaves your mind, is odd and rather outrageous especially for a clothing company.

 

United Color of Benetton-Aids-David Kirby

this image of a man dying of AIDS, surrounded by his family, shows the terryfying sight of a body devasted by the HIV virus. A way to denounce the dangers of AIDS and a means of continuing the battle against this terrible disease after the death. this ad was created in 1992 baring in mind that at this time people associated with aids or HIV where labelled with that of a quarantine idea. people dare go near them. so this image at it time really shocked the world and started to question the ways they used to feel about AID and the stigma attached to it. so for that i am greatful.

 

anmesty International- it not happening here but it happening now.

this ad won a D&AD award last year and you wonder why it a great way to engage the audience in understanding what is happening around the world but also shocking then by putting in to there scenery extreme well thought of by the switzerland creatives. one of best campaigns to date, well for me this blew me away and made me want to work for charity making issue visual to people unaware or put in the faces of those who chose to ignore it. 

 

 

Do charity work is about understanding Diversity:

Diversity means more than race and gender-each individual is different and unique. I realised that diversity is treating people as equal, people are equal in their right to dignify and respect but not in their abilities. there is no doubt that Britain is become diverse, where people  of different cultures, ethnicity’s, abilities, sexual orientations and styles working together and dealing with one another on a day to day basis. Diversity asks us to have an open mind to not just accept differences but to have value and to celebrate out differences.

         Some diverse subjects:

• Culture
• Ethnicity
• Age
• Sexual orientation
• Disability
• Race
• Nationality
• Education
• Gender
• Experience
• Belief

 

As a designer I will produce work for a global market. By valuing diversity and keeping a constant open mind to all. I will be better equipped to meet challenges presented by global competition. Valuing diversity will help me have a better working relationship with colleagues, clients and even in everyday life.

recent reads

recently i have been doing a hell of a lot of reading and have found a few theorist/critics/designers that writtings have inspired my way of thinking and thought process:

Rick Poyner and Ellen Lupton and katherine McCoy, Vignelli, paula scher

but most defernately these few reads:

BOOK1 :No more rules. graphic design and postmodernism Rick Poyer

well Rick Poyner decided to bravely challenge gathering a number of example that where the centre of postmodernism and creating a amazing book on the subject. really idenitfying some key themes in this style of dessign:

Deconstruction, authorship, origins, technology etc 

it an on going read but really help you understand the different substyles in postmodernism and how these labels game about. understand your target audience to what the design should look like.this book also touches on designer as authorship and the opposition.

book2:

katherin McCoy she had written a number of inspiring essays on design and also inspired me with her students work from the 80’s Cranbrook Academy. also her essay in book:

Design Studies: theory and research in graphic design A. Bennett, S. Heller (2006) Princeton Architectual Press

 - graphics desin in a multicultural world k. McCoy

talking about industrial revolution of mass inspiring the modernist ideals of one style fits all. but also talking about tailored messages for a specific audiences. a language, cultural values, needs and preferences that exist in audience centre design, which is what the postmodernist celebrated. Acknowledging the cultural diversity and sub-cultural audiences.

Book3

i have also already wrote about this in my recent blog but also i tell any1 who want a book on great modernist aesthetics  massimo Vignelli downloadable pdf is amazing read to understand his basic structure to design:

Semantics, syntactics, pragmatics, discipline, appropriateness, Ambiguity, design is one, Visual power. intellectual elegance, timelessness, responsibility and equity. 

which i believe are important to understand and know but you do not have to always acknowledge in everything you do, but still make you more aware of the knowledge to understand why you do things a certain way. Also this read give you and intellectual understand of a mondernists way of thinking.

book4:

Paula Scher make it bigger, is an awesome read. the book is about her career but also touching on other people thoughts, styles and style wars, what it like in the business of design, steps to the top etc. but also explain what design was like in her youth and the reason she is a postmodernist enjoying the loud expressive work she has produced. a brilliant read, well on going as it so thick.

 

internet:

Émigré site is an awesome read and the archive is brilliant, the essay by Rudy Vanderlans himself and Mr. keedy etc. great writtings on postmodernism

essays on :

in and around culture: Cultures of design and the design cultures

Graphic design in the postmodern era.

interview with rick poynor.