The Ray Hille Story 2

For anybody who wanted to see the final product of the Ray Hille illustration, here tis. I didn't manage to have a photo with him, but the piece went down a treat :) He loved it so much he included me in his acceptance speech, gave me a small tingle of happiness, just watching that big fella grin.

Between the Pages, Chapter 3

We have foil stamps!!!


Ryan picked the books up a couple days ago and gave me this one, it's beautiful. What I also love is we decided not to seal the books shut so in my case, I have a funky invite and I can read 'The Backward Shadow' by Lynne Reid Banks whenever I so desire.


Also, Ryan added the finishing touch of signing and numbering each book/ This is number 13 of 22. Very cool.


The DL flyers also look amazing, I think the internet needs feel-o-vision so you can feel how smooth the paper stock is. It's a matte finish (after many screaming matches with printers on Ryan's behalf) and it's definitely worth it.



One chapter to go, opening night in February.

Between The Pages, Chapter 2

Today, we got a lot more done than we hoped. The DLs are done but they need a reprint. WE asked for Matte finish but they gave us gloss, now we're sitting with 1000 invites that we don't really need :P


We found the books for the special edition invites at Savers, we're going to foil stamp the event info on them, there's only going to be 22 of them for special guests.

We took them to APEX foil stamping, the staff were great, they told us we should have the final product by Friday. Extremely excited.

The Ray Hille story

The Principal of my old school, Mr. Ray Hille, is retiring after eighteen years of service. Having gone to The Peninsula School for 12 years, I've known him my whole schooling life. Tomorrow night is a farewell gathering for Ray and I decided to make an illustration for him. These two are the roughs for the final product.

I would post the final image here but I want to show it in nicer quality, the above was taken on my phone. Maybe I could get one with Ray, the picture and I! Brilliant!

Between The Pages, Chapter One

Alright, so Ryan, the photographer and friend I collaborated with for the Footloose program, is having his first ever solo exhibition' Between the Pages'. Owing him a favour for the program, I was only too happy to help when he asked me to generate some publicity material.

Today, we got a lot done. The mag ad and the DL flyer invites are done, they're being sent off to the gallery for final approval. Now we've got to print those and start working on the special edition invites of which Ryan will release fifty, very exciting. Final product to come shortly.

Ryan with his dog Rupert, whom he pretends to dislike...

Sneak peek of what's to come.

Yours truly working his magic.

Rupert offering his unconditional support.

Inspiration

This is a TV ad for htc phones. Finally there' s an ad that illustrates how we as humans interact with phones rather than as consumers. Nobody likes to think of themselves as part of a mass, we are individuals and we are flattered when we are told that. What I think we need more of in design is humanity, emotion, reality. It's the most engaging way to gain somebody's imagination. Have a look, there's at least one situation in there that you can relate to.

Australian Idol Catalogue

This is a continuation of the 'Call your dad' poster that advertised the Australian Nobel prize Laureates exhibition. This diary is intended to be bought from the souvenir shop after the exhibition so visitors can have something to take home with them.

Each Australian Laureate had very little in common, aside from being Australian. I wanted a way of linking them all in the most relevant way possible. A diary disguised as a hard cover novel seemed most appropriate, it's something that all genuis' can associate with, a place to scribble their ideas.


The booklet was ring bound at Officeworks, an underestimated place for designers, as long as you're there to instruct the people doing your job, it's completely fine. Conveniently there are twelve Australian Nobel Prize Laureates, so I illustrated one for every month and added a piece of biographical information behind each one.


I think I've mentioned it before but I chose to study Australian Laureates simply becuase I had no idea about them. After reading up on them, theyr'e some of the most fascinating yet disliked people I've read about.


Every character was drawn in pastel, this was my first time using it too, I gained inspiration from Pixar concept art, especially artist Lou Romano who worked on Ratatouille, Wall E and UP (I'm sure there's more, check him out). Each winner has some amazing facial traits which makes them a pleasure to draw, but the three shown here are my close favourites.


Not every laureate is Australian born which makes you wander what actually constitutes being Australian. Although we have a funny way of claiming somebody successful as one of our own.

Stationary Design

This is a stationary project I did for a graphic design studio assignment. The brief was to create a logo, envelope, letterhead, business card, an additional piece of stationary and a folder to keep it all in. The client is the eccentric owner of the 'Museum of Modern Oddities' (momo) who exhibits colour. This gave me a prime excuse to use the laser cutter, much to the head of Art and Design's dislike (it's a noisy machine and students have to accompanied by staff to use it). I initially used a thick piece of box card for the folder but there was no chance it'd fold the amount of times I needed it to. So I ended up with some beautiful 300gsm card which masked the envelope underneath.


The Envolope doubles as a letterhead when it opens. The photo on the front is of the butcher on Lygon Street, there's some beautiful yellowy light that shines through the stained glass patterns, which worked great for me. Throughout the assignment, I adapted these four shapes that represented the 4 colours of the CMYK (Cyan, yellow, magenta and key, usually black) colour makeup. This is because they are the base colours for all printing, so they almost work as a blank canvas to adapted to any exhibition at this museum.


The business card was definitely a challenge, probably because I put more work into it than I needed to. Initially, I made a card that opened up to present a pop-up version of the logo, made completely from acetate. It ended up messy, unbalanced and broken. With this one, I carried the idea of colours overlapping one another to create different effects. moreover, the two elements, board and acetate, depend on one another to create the final product, neither one can work without the other. The front of this card features the client's face (my dad) in highlights (on the card) and shadows (on the acetate) which give a floating effect.


The additional piece of stationary is an invite to the opening to the exhibition. I kept it very minimal and simple. The folds close and create a triangle. On each face, the colours of the logo appear individually until the viewer fully reveals the whole piece. The type is minimal so the detail of the folds can be further appreciated.


This is one of my favorite projects from this semester, I had a lot of fun with it and the end result proved very rewarding.

By the way, I submitted the 'Call your dad' poster but it still needs improvements on the type, I'll post that up with more details when I get it done.

Inspiration

One of the most amazing music inspired animations I've seen. It's an ad for the Zurch Chamber Orchestra. It features sheet music that then becomes a rollercoaster ride, very engaging.

Inspiration

Harper’s Bazaar August 007 ~ “The Simpsons go to Paris with Linda Evangelista” “Models”: The Simpsons, Linda Evangelista, and various designers with Illustrations by Julius Preite. Marge lets down her hair for Versace. Lisa gives up her pearls for Alber Elbaz. Homer dresses as Karl Lagerfeld. Selma & Patty in Viktor & Rolf. Maggie rides around in Jean Paul Gaultier’s Birkin Bag. Quite possibly the most incredible fashion spread i’ve seen (ok maybe tied with the Marie Antoinette Vogue spread?).

I think the Simpsons have developed an amazing sense of fun vs fashion and that yellow skin always gets me. Click here to see the rest of the images, they're amazing.

Call Your Dad

Here we have a uni/self set brief. For a uni assignment, we were required to create a double sided poster advertising an exhibition for an unsung Australian icon. I chose a father/son duo from Adelaide named Henry William and Henry Lawrence Bragg. I had no idea who these men were which created more interest. From research I discovered these two were the founders of x-ray crystalography. Basically this occurs when an x-ray beam shines through a crystal and light bounces in several directions to show the density of crystal molecules. Check out this animation from my number one resource, Wikipedia. Oh sweet reliability

What I found most interesting was the x-ray beam, when magnified, looks like a coil. By linking family members with coils, I thought of phone cords.


The self assigned component of this brief came from a poster competition called Positive Posters. The objective is the create a poster with a positive message about change, hence my phrase 'Call your Dad'.


We often underestimate how much a simple gesture can make a big difference. By calling your dad, if only to say hi, could change a mediocre day to something worth smiling about. Moreover, embracing that change makes you feel better about yourself. The Seb Lester inspired calligraphic line work illustrates the ease of connecting with someone in an instant and the amount of glowing joy it creates. So call someone you haven't spoken to in a while, it'll brighten both your days.

Inspiration

The Cat Piano



This is the latest short film by The People's Republic of Animation. Narrated by Nick Cave. Directed by Eddie White & Ari Gibson. Produced by Jessica Brentnall.

Its use of of delicious blues and charming animation make this my current favorite animated film. It's a pleasure to see Australian talent being internationally noticed and appreciated. Nick Cave's narration fits the short perfectly, he has this funky drone that a cat would if it could talk. Anyway, Watch it.

Smokin' prop design

My friend Nick, an insanely talented film maker, has written and is shooting a film based in the 1960's. Looking at the lighting test shots and the working script, reaffirms the blistering heights he will reach with his passion.

This is why I was honoured when he asked me to design a cigarette packet to feature in one of his scenes. He wanted something influenced by the Lucky Strike packets; simple, minimum colour scheme and bold. Here's the response:


This was also one of the funnest projects to research, one can very clearly tell the evolution of women's rights in cigarette ads, particularly this one.


mmm easily one of feminism's finest moments. Have a look at the rest of them here, they're all beautifully executed although the subject is fairly questionable nowadays.

Coming up next is my poster design for the film, we're currently working on it.

Cheers!

Furry Curiousity

Generally, my attempts at 3D model construction end in abysmal failure, fortunately this was an exception. The assignment given was to create a 3D space to advertise, or appear at the entrance of, an exhibition of your choice. The selection was wide as some of us exhibited insects whereas others displayed secrets. Mine was an exhibition of Happiness.



The idea was inspired by Stefan Sagmeister's theory that "Design = Happiness". In a way this is true, one the happiest moments of my life occured when I was in Brussels with my gorgeous girlfriend Brooke. We were cuddling in the Grand Place, holding our unforgettable hot chocolates and watching the most magical lights show we'd ever seen. You can click on the link but it's no substitute for being there.

But the combination of lights, sound and classical architecture, created one of the happiest experiences of my life, hence came the idea for the scattered, colourful, fuzzy plants. One the the things that make me happiest is my home city of Melbourne, the city of a thousand cities. The best thing about it is finding a surprise each time you go, a new street, bookshop, anything. So to play on this, I superimposed my fuzzy creatures around Melbourne to appear as 'happy accidents'.


This combines my idea of happiness with music, something I could've got around to if I had more time.

The use of colour against a grey space creates the sudden splash effect when you walk past.

The brief requested that this space is a traveling exhibition so it had to be adaptable to any space possible, hence why each furry plant is separately placed on its own island of fake grass.

I want to cuddle one of these things.

Inspiration

Hello everyone, it's time again to show you what's been making me tick lately:


Allah wouldn't approve, but the treatment of colour in this is magnificent. It's by an artist of Flickr, does some interesting stuff with food


Ogilvy & Mather (Singapore) created these astonishingly good advertisements which were made entirely by hand. Surely one massive incoming trend is that people will start turning away from technology and instead seeking creativity in more boutique areas of the arts.


Maschinen Leuchten is the awesome lighting series designed by the German artist Frank Buchwald.I love the way that steam punk is being integrated with Art Deco.


Artist Jason de Caires Taylor created the world’s first underground sculpture park. Moilinere Bay in Grenada is now home to sixty-five of his works covering an area of 800sq metres. His aim is to highlight conservation issues and ecological processes.

The Footloose Program

The final piece of the footloose puzzle, the program. This meant unrequited love stories with printers, musical directors and photographic subjects. In keeping with the theme I've been using from the start of this project, the work is completely based around an industrial town to reflect the storyline.

This was only possible with the help of producer Sarah Doherty and photographer Ryan Ponsford. Sarah, between all the dramatic episodes involved in producing a show with 25 teens and a co director in quarantine, always had time to speak to me and crack a cynical joke or two. And she was more than prompt in supplying the content for the program. Also, she was kind enough to meet at my house before I told her I was about an hour away, she came anyway. Overall, a pleasure to work with.

I was extremely lucky to have Ryan on board, I literally called him while he was involved in a professional shoot for 'Freedom' furniture. He donated more time than was necessary for the final piece and if it weren't for his ingenious gift of photography, the program would not have had half the impact that it does. His eye for colour, pattern and composition is astounding and I see him going a very long way with his passion.

So here are some of the the spreads that stood out to me.


The front and back cover, I love the greens and it basically sets the tone for the show; rusty, electric, grungy.


This is my favorite spread, the tree mixed with the chicken wire, newspaper and factories; it encapsulates the whole teenage love story thing perfectly. Also happy with my type setting here :)

One of the main reasons why I took on this job was to gain experience in type heavy pieces such as this. Each page had a 4 column grid so the spacing was even and clean, which some extra room for Ryan's photos.



Not as text heavy but still a bit to deal with. Again, the photography just gives it so much depth. All the images have this human presence via absence vibe going on; it's evident that people have been there, but it still looks slightly eerie.

The type and general page setting was inspired by skating mag Monster Children and Blanket Magazine, check them out, they're beautiful.

If there's one thing I learnt from this job, it's that the final product, although imperative, is secondary. The most important thing is to be easy to communicate with throughout the entire process and always keep the client up to date.

Make friends basically.

Inspiration

Hey guys, as part of one of my units at uni (DIS2105), we're required to upload things that inspire us on a weekly basis. I feel it's a great idea, so let's begin:


This is a photo I took on the train to Flinders St Station, the light shining onto the window made it look like two wheelchair people intertwined. They a symbol that could look like something from an other worldly alphabet.

This is the work of amazing illustrator, Kevin Dart. His line work is so jazzy and I love his use of shadow to create atmosphere, check out his website.


At the moment, I'm loving Iron and Wine's music. The cover of this album is beautiful, the use of colour is delicious, the pinks and yellows give the image so much warmth and bite. This is the work of Samuel Beam, also the lead singer of Iron and Wine.

Kick off your Sunday shoes

Footloose! A musical from the 80's, can you think of anything better? I've been given the pleasure of working with the Monash Univeristy Musical Company (MUMco) on the artwork for their current production of this groovy show. Currently, we have posters and postcards going up all over the place, it's so exciting. Here is the poster:


The idea was to 'un-dag' Footloose. The show is often perceived as a hollow "let's dance and sing!" show and as accurate as that may be, there's a lot more to it. I chose to focus on the element of young rebellion, the excitement of being naughty in a normally stilted life. The imagery is reflective of the American 80's industrial town which is where the story is based, so the colour palette is limited and the font is quite straightforward. I combined the grunge and anger of 'Billy Elliot' and the glam of 'So You Think You Can Dance'.

This is the front and rear of the postcard, which is along the same lines:










The front has the Who and What whereas the back has When, Where and Why. In my opinion, this is pretty successful. With postcards, you have about one second to persuade the viewer to pick the card up. Hence, the front is very red and bold with minimal info while the back has the details for those who want to know about the show.

At the moment, the producer and I are working on the program, desperately collaborating content to go in. Namely the biographies of the performers, but I think we're going well. Tomorrow we have the head shots so hopefully by the end of next week we should have a program ready to print.