Hasta La Ideas

Sarah explains how she uses apps to record her travels.

“As I mentioned earlier, a phone with a camera is an invaluable tool these days, especially if you are traveling a long distance. In addition to the camera on your phone, there are some really fun camera apps that are relatively inexpensive (or free) that can to add drama and flare to your photos. My favorites are instagram and snapseed.

Both of these apps allow you to create different types of filters over your original photo. Instagram helps you create Polaroid-type pictures and has dozen of different filter options. Snapseed also allows filter options and can integrate easily with instagram for even more creative photos. With instagram you can share your photos instantly online and there are now also many ways to print your instagram photos, so they can become a special remembrance of your journey. Use of these phone apps also is a great way to record your journey and incorporate the photos into your journal.”

Even the smallest journeys can be captured this way as Janine did using instagram and twitter on her commute this week.

UP NEXT: Old school tools

Sarah shares her packing list for creativity while travelling.

“Packing light for a trip is important but you can still include some small supplies to keep you creative while you are away. Do you like to sketch? Paint? Photograph? Or journal? How about combining all four into a vacation project that you will cherish forever?
Here’s what you need:

• a journal: I love moleskine journals. They are lightweight and can fit into a carry-on or camera bag.
• a camera: my go to camera is the Canon Rebel T2i with two lenses: 18-135mm and a 60mm macro.
• a phone with camera capabilities: a lightweight alternative to the camera
  
• a small pencil case: filled with your favorite pens, pencils, eraser and pencil sharpener
• a small travel set of watercolour paints: Windsor Newton has a travel case that is about the size of a credit card and comes with its own paint brush

All these items are small enough to fit in my carry-on bag so I can reach them at a moments notice. In addition, I have my laptop computer so that I can easily upload my photos to keep a backup and to keep my cameras disk clear for many photo opportunities. Some options for comfortable yet stylish bags include Crumpler (Australian made and many options for cameras and laptops) and Epiphanie Bags (more designer oriented camera bags).”

UP NEXT: Colour as inspiration

Alanna Cavanagh reports from NYC:

First off it must said that being at the Javitts Centre can be an overwhelming experience. Your pass allows you admission not only into Surtex but into the National Stationery Show and ICFF (International Contemporary Furniture Fair) as well.  If attending all three shows you are literally exposed to thousands of images, exhibitors, attendees, press packages, “trend seminars”, workshops, and business cards. By the end of Day 1 I had a strong desire to be put into a sensory deprivation tank with a big glass of Cabernet Sauvignon.

I come from an illustration background and bring a bias to the Surtex show—I am most excited by the illustration booths.

One of the freshest presentations I’ve seen so far was from Sorry You’re Happy. This art licensing and surface design studio is made up of husband and wife illustrators Kyle Reed and Jen Hsieh (You might be familiar with them from UPPERCASE’s Work/Life book series). It was exciting to see that they were exhibiting work from two established and talented Toronto-based illustrators Katy Dockrill and UPPERCASE contributor Aaron Leighton.

Kyle and Jen holding one of Jen’s tea towels.All the work in the booth looked fresh and playful with the perfect amount of quirkiness thrown in. Jen and Kyle are particularly interested in licensing their art in the children’s market and I think it would work beautifully there. I can easily imagine any of these designs dancing on a onesie or on children’s bedding.

Booth panels by Aaron Leighton, Kyle Reed and Katy DockrillOne of Katy Dockrill’s patterns in the sample book

Work by Tracy Walker, represented by i2i Art Inc. Tracy is also one of the artists in Work/Life 2: the UPPERCASE directory of illustration.

Shelley Brown reports from NYC:

After 25 fantastic years repping illustrators for everything from advertising to design and publishing, the economic crash in 2008 was a real catalyst for the already shifting business of ‘traditional’ illustration. There has been a growing trend towards illustrators producing art suitable for applications to surfaces on everything from greeting cards to household products. To this end, Surtex is a trade show offering artists an opportunity to introduce their work to a variety of manufacturers and retailers.

I attended the show back in 2006, but over half a decade later, I am noticing that the calibre of art is changing, as more and more illustrators are entering this market. Just imagine how exciting it is for an illusrator whose work is normally applied to a printed brochure or used in a campaign that has a shelf life of 4 weeks to suddenly see their work applied to a tea towel, a rug or a stationery package!

DAY 1

Today I attended three seminars:  Basics of Art Licensing, Parts I + II, and Understanding Legal Basics: Contracts and Copyrights.

If you are an illustrator or designer thinking of pursuing surface design, I would recommend that you visit Surtex, which takes place in New York city every May. The conference program includes sessions where industry pros help give you a foundation in licensing your art.

I’m happy to report that although about one third of the surface design industry may still sell the art outright for a modest flat fee (where the artist relinquishes their copyright), there is a growing appreciation for the value of the usage and the aritst’s rights.

More to come after day two tomorrow!

Shelley Brown
Principal + Artist Agent
i2iart.com

The last post in this week’s series written by Christina Crook.

One can conclude that the best way to treat the Internet is like an exacto knife. Take it out of the toolbox, get the job done, then tuck it away for next time.

While for many the Web is a substantive source of inspiration, Karen, Paul, Valerie and Samantha agree that before you approach the keyboard it’s important to have a task in mind.

It’s better to get lost in the making than lost in the web.

Jean Arp wrote: “Soon silence will have passed into legend.  Man has turned his back on silence. Day after day he invents machines and devices that increase noise and distract humanity from the essence of life, contemplation, meditation…tooting, howling, screeching, booming, crashing, whistling, grinding, and trilling bolster his ego.  His anxiety subsides.”  

Each time we access the Internet we are offered a shot of adrenaline: a like! a share! a purchase! Our egos are bolstered, our nervous energy absorbed.

But ideas come from wide open spaces. Face-to-face conversations, extended hours lost in a project, sketches in our source books, all over deep bowls of espresso and gulps of really good wine.

Cultivating an off-line existence is fundamental to our life-long development as artists.

Look outside. The world has outlived the web. Its this great wide world, and your imagination, whose possibilities are truly endless.

Christina Crook is a magazine writer partial to snail mail, typewriters and traveling on foot. Her articles on culture, technology and religion have appeared in UPPERCASE, Geez and the Literary Review of Canada. This January she stepped off-line for 31 days, chronicling the journey with a type-written letter a day. Her Letters from a Luddite project was featured on CBC’s Spark and is now a book available at Blurb.com.