Design and digital culture NEWS // September 2008
Doug
Alves aka Nacionale just launched
his new website for graphic design and illustration. He is currently
available for freelance assignments.
Liz
Lomax 
is
a fantastically talented three dimensional illustrator who is recognized
as one of the leading figure in her field. She sculpts the characters
and then photograph them for illustration.
Must see!
One
of the ring leader at the forefront of interactive media is AMOEBA
Corp who after 4 years just relaunched a new website with again all
the ingredients for success.
The website is another flash based goodness with the cutest thumbnails
to navigate within projects. Don't miss the play section: they believe
that experimentation is all part of growing your talent.
Since
2003, UNCHI leisure center label
promotes and supports individual and collective projects, through all
sorts of events, exhibitions, concerts.
Based in France, with collaborators
from several countries, they develop various brands all over the world.
Martin
Sigal has been involved in advertising photography for the past
15 years and it shows. His projects transpire with refined accuracy
and human touch both soft or edgy.
He has been chosen one of 200 best worldwide photographers by Luerzer
Archive for the third year.
Laszlito
Kovacs has restocked his illustration folio with new work!
.Gara
di Nervi. has been restocked with fresh projects. Robert Rebotti
is a unique mix media artist that is commissioned for editorial and
culture events mostly.
Maria
Manuela is
an extraordinary artist who is into portraying (japanese influenced)
popicons (because there is always a person portrayed in a pop-art way)
and often uses motifs symbolizing the four different seasons, and some
have haiku-poems painted in calligraphy. To make a surface seem printed
or associated with Japanese lacquer, she paints with vinyl on canvas
with thin colour in many layers.
Recently released, a movie that
takes you right into the heart of her world, how she is inspired and
how she works her funky and unique paintings. Warning: this is not a
fast paced clip, it's a journey (so it takes time to download) and I
was moved and inspired by it. Enjoy!
Ted
Holladay is owner of Studio
Holladay, a design, motion and photo studio in Santa Cruz, California
with nice corporate (mostly) work and editorial design.
Stunning! Michael
Wandelmaier illustrations are vivid and a pure visual bounty as
well as extremely well executed though sometimes there is a rawness that is a bit unnerving.
Everything
is OK exists as a kind of social design experiment in subversive
positivism. It explores the relationship between medium and message,
challenges accepted modes of communication, and provides everyday citizens
with tools for social commentary and is an initiative by Mine™ (a
San Francisco design office).
A limited edition of the barricade tape is available for purchase.
Catherine
Denvir paints
fantasmagorical characters that are both dreamy and somewhat outwordly,
all this from a castle near Cortona Tuscany. Some of her clients include
London Transport, the Sunday Times and Vogue.
Chris
Woods photography is intense and alive, dramatic and real. He loves
photographying people because each are unique and it does require this
level of empathy to capture so.
L'amie
de Zoé is a sweet animated short about friendship and Make (an
animation and visual effects production company) turned Matthieu Roussel
illustrated children book into moving images. HD version is available
too.
Sara
Huston grew
up in her father wood shop and after earning multiple degrees, she
now designs her own furniture. Gotta luv this table, how neat to stack
3 favorite magazines flat into it!
Don
Dixon specializes in advertising photography and film. One of the
most memorable is the one where people build a car, a mesmarizing choreography.
James
Kachan is a young and upcoming photographer that has already nailed
a unique style. Abruptly raw or sublty staged there is a dense moodiness
and sophistication throughout is folio.
Recently
updated portfolios and websites:
/ Azul de Corso
/ Media Made Me
/ Estudio Mopa
/ dstripe
Gretchen
Nash is
21 and a multi-talent designer from print to motion who has already
garnered some high profile projects in her portfolio. On top of that,
she was a finalist in the Adobe Design Achievement Awards with an original
information design project turned into a book, named Dear Gretchen.
Documentary
photography from the US and Europe, Nic
Nichols is now celebrating its 10th year online. He shoots 100% film,
no digital, no effects, just straight film. Holgas, Mamiya 6mf's and
Yashika 124g Twin Lens.
There
we are, one of the first evidence that Netdiver10 is well on its way
is the fact that we now have a very new-new-new logo and favicon. To
see favicon, empty your cache, delete your bookmark(s) and bookmark again...
I know painful but we think we look prettier!
Showing a make-my-logo-bigger thumbnail! Can you tell we like it?
Netdiver10 logo — is
ready for download.
After
months of work and scheming, Miligram is
finally released. Inside you'll find artworks from one of the most talented
people in Poland. Nice curated projects!
Well done Marcin!
Eric
Hu aka eatsomemeat is 19, still
a student and already his portfolio is well stocked with beautifully
executed and well thought out projects. His work is engaging and engaged!
This is exactly the kind of talent discovery that excites me most about
the future of our profession and industry.
Gaston
Caba just released a special (and playful) underware collection
and lovely accessories for Blablabla. We the powagirrrls - like it!
Maria
Vittoria Backhaus is
one of the most talented italian photographer and her book is an assemblage
of different topics. She favors kitschy, piled over objects and retro modern furniture and environments.
Totally stunning all the projects she delves into.
Mutabor opening
flash sequence and typography based White & Black version is a visual
jewel of 3D animation and users induced interactivity packed within an
erratic square that needs to reposition itself as if there was a real
person missing the cue.
Unfortunately, the inside website versions are lacking the whoopa of
initial screen. But if the goal was to get me playing. Success.
Gotta
luv this one! House of Dang is
the miniature (yepp all furniture are photographed miniatures with drawn
cutout dolls of Doug Voisin and Andrew Bayer) version of the brick and
mortar store in Dallas that also hosts their creation office.
This venture of theirs is in reaction to interning and witnessing fashion
designs that 'hurt their stomach' as they say. They retaliated with their
own funky style.
Put
your head right here on the Life
is Beautiful pillow by one of my fav illustrator of whimsical. Nate
Williams who has a formal training in sculpture, worked many years
at Microsoft in the marketing department before pursuing art and illustration.
One thing to remember, never give up the dream that drives you. If you
never work at doing it - nobody will ever know it even existed.
Gwen
Lee is
a London based designer who mostly does illustrations as a mean to
give book covers and other editorial assigments an almost spur of the
moment style in a minimalist way. Don't be fooled, you need to really
know how to draw to make it look so simple.
Stan Chow is another talented illustrator who is more vested in lifestyle
and character creation assignments. Beautifully executed in vibrant colors and technically outstanding!
Another flashy way of showing news? Spectra is in beta and is a visual news reader. No doubt a technical feat, good idea to color seperate the content. But at 7 in the morning isn't that a tad too much animated stuff for a sluggish mind.
This is where we are at now — enjoying a vaca by the sea.. now bracing
for tropical storm Hanna to hit in a couple of hours.
Returning in Montreal, September 16.
Update your bookmarks if you are a fan of Wear
Palettes!
Aleksandra Woldanska aka slimaq just
blew me away! I remember a mentor stating that drawing in black in white
is often times not permitting color to distract or hide flaws.
Well she has mastered perspective and light and how wonderful creatures,
in particular one that is all black as you may have guessed it, is staged
in awesome story-telling projects. She's done other works as well and
her drawing skills are exceptional.
Don't miss the little story called The Bun.
It
has been awhile since I discovered a totally off the grid looking like
anything you would expect and Da
WEBSITE b4 is just that. Experimental flash, with unique loading
sequence, text animation and projects viewing. You will need to hold
down the mouse to remove most of the background and see how selected
project pans around.
Not really a usability award but a little techno gem.
As
we work on the Netdiver10 website, numerous updates are implemented on
the backend/code side. Most have had no impact on the interface but as
you can see this morning, the navigation in all the directories has changed
to < next | previous > links only.
Much more is in preparation, like cool call for submissions and your
chance to celebrate with us 10 years publishing online. If you want to
keep up with what we're cookin' — please join our Netdiver10
facebook group.
Making
room for the new. Maurice Wright and I go back to when he had initially
launched Moluv and we had the pleasure
to do a panel at SXSWi a couple of years later. After years of publishing
- he went on hiatus due to professional obligations.
But now, it is time for rebirth! Sporting still the beautiful logo and
grayscale palette - the grid has been completely redesigned!
Sub88 is
another flash website with loads of 45 degree angle mix 3D designs as
well as a little collectionm of CD designs and nice apparel in the shop
which serves as playground for art director, David Vineïs.
Fresh
out a multidisiciplinarian studio portfolio by Anna and
Nate operating as Makepretend.
I'm reconciling with one pager web sites that scroll right since you
can get an (almost) instant grasp of the what they can do.
In their particular case, easthetics and presentation matter most and
is predominant throughout.
Somebody
just made my day! Singing about AS3? Long preloader? iPhonelicious? If
I had an Arrow and I gotta get in C.A? Matt
Maxwell aka designminstrel just created an hilarious and smart way
of getting some attention towards both the our industry back scene irks
and aspirations of those working in it.
Oh and did I mention he will be performing at the closing ceremony of
Flashforward (the one that gives out orange arrow awards)!? The lyrics
are outstanding:
“And how can it be that I never breakout
From the rut that imprisons me (yeah)
Plus-no matter the project
Clients wont give
me-the-freedom to be me
My skills theyre on fire
IhaveHunger and desire
What-is-it thats-required
To get in CA”
Eclectic
doodling meets psychedelia meets popping colors meets graphic design
portfolio for Lorin Brown arranged
in a visually stimulating way, again on a one-pager.
Flash
on warp - eee this is a fast loading and in your face new website for Ian
Wharton, an art director. Minimalist and nice 3D and graphic treatment.
Don't
know about you, but behind the scenes footage is always increasing the
value of a project. Your appreciation level is definitely increased when
hearing and seeing some of the desired objectives meeting unprepared
for obstacles and overcoming and delivering.
Have a look at this Hillman Curtis movie about the Sprint
in focus photo shoot and see how it turns out as in-store displays.
En
Bloc is Ben Atkins who luvs graphic design and currently is looking
for freelance gigs in London. Nice and varied portfolio; really like
the buck's antlers built from his logo.
-> more news
^
