Monday, December 13, 2010

Al

This is the story of Al, a kind-hearted busker who finds treasure in a mysterious cave and faces the consequences of sharing its secrets. Based on the ancient Arabic fable 'Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves Killed By the Slave Girl', Al is a graphic novella that translates the story and brings it to a 21st century western audience.

In a world where the arab man and woman is vilified in popular media, is it possible to redeem their humanity by using that same media? Publications such as these aren't the most popular form of entertainment but there is an audience for it. With Al, I want to remind people that beyond the fear that the media has injected in us, the arabic world is home to history's most exotic and imaginative minds.












My reason for making hte book double sided is the dual nature of the story. The good brother and the bad brother, the decision whether or not to reveal the cave's secrets and so on. Plus I've always enjoyed seeing behind the scenes footage on DVDs, I felt this was in the same light.

Cheers!

Mete.

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Dionysia

Dionysia marks the first project where I've seen my art out on the streets and that, to me, is awesome. 'Dionysia' is Red Bennies' New Year's Event, and from what I know, it's going to be enchanting. I was told that guests will spend their midnight fuelled with alcohol and pagan temptation in the garden of good and evil.

Red Bennies asked for four characters to be drawn in a style described as 'Batman meets art nouveau'. A genuine stretch for me but retrospectively, a definite direction I see myself pursuing.

I was given four names and brief descriptions,

The Electric Fawn
Hot goat chick-Dark and Nasty


The Venus Fly Trap
Sexy Plant Chick


Big Daddy Long Legs
Top hat, Monocle
  
Dionysus
Tubby dude with toga and wine flask

After a few weeks of sketches, back and forth e-mails, we came up with the above four we were happy with. As usual, I like to keep colour schemes closely tied, especially in series so everything works as a single piece. The idea was for people around the city to see these individuals paired up and then in magazines or particular places find them all together like this,


I've been seeing variations popping up around the city and I'm honestly really chuffed about them. The event is going to be something that Melbourne hasn't seen before and it's great to be a part of it.

I spotted this one today on Elizabeth St, really love how the rain made it crinkly, it works with the old sideshow style posters. It was interesting handing the issue of printing over to the client - as I've always handled it myself, but this project has really been a collaborative effort, something I'm new to, and excited about.


And this one was taken on Vesper White's (Dionysia Director) iPhone, she has mad skills.


Poster on Chapel St, Courtesy of  rad friend Alex Meadowcroft,


I found this one on Degraves St,


Check it out, Dionysia hits this week's 'Beat Magazine'



If anybody sees more of these around, comment and/or send me a pic at mete@metedesign.com.au and I'll put it up. I really want to document this well.

By the way this is my 50th post! A huge thank you to everyone who has visited and enjoyed thus far.

To the next 50!

Lots of love,

Mete.

Sunday, December 5, 2010

The Late Strawberry Shake

Well since uni's finished I haven't stopped, which is great. I've been doing some work with Jazz club 'Red Bennies' in South Yarra who put on some really amazing and unique shows. We just finished off a poster series for the New Year's Eve gig 'Dionysia' which I will post up soon.

Today, I wanted to show one of the smaller jobs I've done with them. It's great to see a club that breaks out from the norm and stands out to a niche crowd. Red Bennies has only been running for about 9-10 months to my knowledge and already they're beginning to make an impact on Melbourne's nightclub scene with burlesque, circus and vaudevillian performances (including Gorelesque).

This is a new burlesque show, 'The Late Strawberry Shake'. I was given artistic freedom on this which was fantastic, just the mention of a strawberry milkshake was plenty for me. Here's the sketch:



And the final product. The cute pinup style really worked for the venue. And I'm really happy with it also. Go check it out, it's this Friday.



Cheers,

Mete.
metedesign.com.au