Kiel Johnson

Again more 3D work. This time lapse video is amazing, and the great thing is that the camera actually takes pictures!
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Brandon Boyd

Ever since the first time I listened to Incubus at the age of 12 I have been fascinated by everything and anything the band has touched. Not only is lead singer, Brandon Boyd, an incredible vocalist and song writer but he creates these little drawings that I find fascinating. Brandon and drummer Jose created all the bands artwork, ranging from CD covers to flyers, and continue to draw to this day. Their style is very graphic with solid black lines and bold colours featured in many pieces.
He has published two books compiling his illustrations, photography and poetry: 'White Fluffy Clouds' and "From the Murks of the Sultry Abyss'. When I first bought 'White Fluffy Clouds' I was so struck by certain pieces I got one inked into my skin, I love it! Even if you don't like his art, listen to Incubus.

Mark Wagner

Mark Wagner is a collage artist who works solely with American dollar bills. Yet the variation he has managed to achieve is staggering. Lots more here.

Jamie Hewlett

As I've mentioned before I am not the biggest fan of illustration and I think I now know why. It seemed strange to me because I am an avid graphic novel reader, in fact I won't read much if it doesn't have pictures. Therefore I think the reason for my lack of interest is because in graphic design illustration isn't accompanied by an in depth story. There is always a motive behind the drawing and a reason why it has been created, I just don't like guessing what that is. I much prefer it when the illustrations are matched with an interesting dialogue. Besides from Daniel Clowes my favourite illustrator would have to be Jamie Hewlett. Famous, to most, for creating the first cartoon based music band; The Gorillaz. Personally its his earlier creation; 'Tank Girl' that I prefer.


Whether or not its the illustration or the character herself that I prefer, all I know is that they compliment each other perfectly. If Tank Girl were to be drawn by anybody else in any other style, it simply wouldn't work. As proven, in my opinion, by the recent release of 'Tank Girl: The Gifting', where Alan Martin worked with Rufus Dayglo and Ashley Wood instead of Jamie.

William Hundley

William Hundley specialises in capturing people mid jump whilst covered in fabric. I think the idea is incredibly unique, and for such a simple formula, there are many possible outcomes. For example in this first picture, composition and location are differed, with a person on top of a roof and at the top of the image. In the second picture the actual fabric itself is altered, with an American flag being used instead of a plain black sheet, and finally in the the third picture interaction with the public is explored.

David Schalliol

"The Isolated Building Studies are the visual confluence of my interests in urban dynamism, socioeconomic inequality and photography. By using uniform composition in photographs of buildings with no neighboring structures, I hope to draw attention to new ways of seeing the common impact of divergent investment processes on urban communities." His words, not mine.

Annelie Carlstrom

I'm not the biggest fan of illustration, thats probably why there isn't much of it featured on this blog. However I do understand the importance of it within graphic design and do very much appreciate some artists work. For example I came across Annelie Carlstrom, a swedish illustrator, and loved her quirky portraits. She only ever works in black and white and has a tendency to enlarge the heads of her subjects. I love the way in which she 'cartoonises' the people, but still manages to maintain a realistic portrayal. I also like how she incorporates sporadic props, to give much depth and personality to her illustrations.

Mike Perry

Mike Perry works in Brooklyn, NY. Making books, magazines, newspapers, clothing, drawings, paintings, illustrations and teaching whenever possible. His first book titled Hand Job published by Princeton Architectural Press hit the book shelves in 2006. His second book titled Over & Over hits shelves early this fall. He is currently working on two new books. In 2007 he started a magazine called Untitled, that explores his current interests. He has worked with clients from New York Times Magazine, Dwell Magazine, Microsoft Zune, Urban Outfitters, eMusic, and Zoo York. In 2004 he was chosen as one of Step Magazines 30 under 30, in 2007 as a groundbreaking illustrator by Computer Arts Projects Magazine, and 2008 he received Print Magazines New Visual Artist award, and was chosen by the Art Directors Club as one of this years Young Guns (6).

Doodling away night and day, Perry creates new typefaces and sundry graphics that inevitably evolve into his new work, exercising the great belief that the generating of piles is the sincerest form of creative process. His work has been seen around the world including a recent solo show in London titled "The Place between Time and Space."

I can't explain how much work this man had created. You should visit here.

Massin

The French graphic designer Massin is best known in France for his ground-breaking typographic and visual treatment of the Eugene Ionesco play "The Bald Soprano" ("La Cantatrice Chauve"). He created a juxtaposition of type and image in book form that became a classic of expressive typography. The stark images from "The Bald Soprano" are instantly recognizable -- both the characters and their jumbled words. From an early date, Massin was influenced not only by the traditions of book design but by the innovations of film: Saul Bass's title sequences for the movies of Alfred Hitchcock, and Tex Avery's animated cartoons. Massin finds inspiration in popular culture, and as a book designer, he puts these influences to work in interpreting the text.

Markus Hartel

I was racking my brain trying to think of photographers that I had previously researched and tried to incorporate into my own work. I came up with Markus Hartel. This is what Markus thinks about street photography:

'A reflection of every day life – real, unaltered impressions of public places, places that everybody visits every day, the street where you live, the parking lot of your favorite grocery store, the subway. Street photographers document the truth and take candid pictures of things that you don't notice in your daily grind.

Street photography involves attention to detail. The photographer pays attention to scenes, moments that you only recognize subconsciously. The camera is an unobtrusive extension of the eye in any given situation. Oftentimes, street photographers take pictures they feel; the photographer happens to be there and captures the mood in a fraction of a second. He freezes a moment that you will forget in the same amount of time...'

Monsieur G

Monsieur G is a French graphic designer and illustrator. His style is very similar to that of Eduardo Recife, an artist I mentioned earlier who happens to be a personal favourite. His work is very diverse, therefore resulting in his clients ranging from international brands such as Nike, to regional French magazines. Some pieces of his are incredibly colourful and detailed, whilst others are monotonous and simplistic. His unique style of illustration is also featured in many pieces and typography often plays an important part.

I like this example because of the mix of many aspects; colour,illustration, collage and type.check it out

Wes Wilson

Wes Wilson is an American artist and one of the leading designers of psychedelic posters. Most well known for inventing a poster style that is now synonymous with the peace movement, psychedelic era and the 1960s. In particular, he is known for inventing and popularizing a "psychedelic" font which made the letters look like they were moving or melting. Other similar artists include: Rick Griffin, Alton Kelley, Victor Moscoso and Stanley Mouse.

Daniel Clowes

My idol. This man is an Academy Award-nominated American author, screenwriter and cartoonist of alternative comic books. I first read Ghost World when I was 15 and have read it multiple times since. His illustrations are simplistic on the surface but the deeper you delve into his work the more you realise the small but vital components of an image. I love him.

Therese Vandling

A contemporary grotesque ornamental typeface inspired by ‘The Unfinished Body’ - a quote taken from Mikhail Bakhtin in 'Rabelais and his world'. The alphabet compares our culture with medieval folk culture where life and death was the same thing and always happened simultaneously. Bakhtin argues that the grotesque ornament was the ultimate symbol for this, where human, animal and plant form intertwined.

Justin Thomas Kay

Justin Thomas Kay is a new york city based art director and graphic designer with a strong focus in creating work based on basic explorations of shape, color and typography. Upon arriving in NYC in 2004 he has worked with a range of clients mainly based in editorial/print and apparel.


This is just the smallest example of JTK's work. For a much wider range click here

Diana F+

Alison Zavos:
Describe the Diana F+ in five words...
Fun, spontaneous, youthful, easy, surprising.

Type the Sky

Lisa Rienermann is a professional photographer. “She set out to find letterforms, spending weeks only looking upwards. The more difficult letters such as Q and K were the easiest to find, she says, but admits that PhotoShop helped here and there.” There are many individual letterforms that I like within the alphabet, but I personally like the K the best.

Geoff McFetridge

In 1996 McFetridge established his own company, Champion Graphics, and is also a founding member of ‘The Directors Bureau’ alongside Mike Mills, Sofia Coppola and Shynola. McFetridge is a truely multi-disiplinary designer ‘an all-around visual auteur’. Recent projects are as diverse as packaging design for Gasbook 9, textiles for Marc Jacobs, sneaker design for Nike, stickers for the Dazed / Greenpeace campaign, a plethora of music videos and wallpaper design for French furniture company Ligne Roset. I just liked this piece:

'that wave looks like a smile'

Illumination Ink

I first came across Illumination Ink in my second year of college when researching a project. I was instantly taken in by the mix of photography crops and solid colour. The end results are quite unique, I think this may be down to the colours and tones used. For example in the first piece you would think the solid block of pink would be overwhelming but I feel it compliments the images very nicely.

Blu

Personally I've always been interested in graffiti/street art so when I stumbled across this I was more than intrigued. The scale of the piece is staggering, but Blu manages to create a piece that stands its ground. I also like street art because any one can do it, therefore giving undiscovered artists an audience and a chance to shine. More examples:

Roman Klonek

After moving from Poland to Germany Roman became inspired by comics and cartoons. In the 90's he studied Graphic Arts in Dusseldorf, and made his diploma with 12 huge woodcut paintings that showed the work of a human brain. Klonek works solely with woodcuts, and has created hundreds of colourful, topsy turvy pieces with the combination of type to create images reminiscent of vintage eastern European ads.



Roman Klonek

ABC 3D

Marion Bataille is a graphic and book designer who has never before been published in this country. She lives in Paris. This is just a hand-made mock-up of the actual book which was published in Oct. 2008.



From the lenticular cover that changes with the angle of your hands, all the way to the Z, ABC3D is as much a work of art as it is a pop-up book. Each of the 26 dimensional letters move and change before your eyes. C turns into D with a snap. M stands at attention. X becomes Y with a flick of the wrist. And then there's U... Boldly conceived and brilliantly executed with a striking black, red, and white palette.

Supermundane

Supermundane is the pseudonym of Rob Lowe, a multi-disciplined creative who works as a graphic designer, artist, illustrator, typographer and art director in London, England. Known for hand produced work with strong typographic elements as well as his intensely detailed organic drawings he has been published and exhibited worldwide.

Below: Music Typeface/Titles for Good For Nothing Magazine
Basic letters were built for the first issue these became more complicated with more and more shapes being used to build the letters each issue.