Hasta La Ideas

Neither snow nor rain nor a ferocious hurricane (nor Saturdays) can keep Pictoplasma from New York City. Postponed in the wake of Sandy, the character design conference returns to Gotham on Friday for Pictoplasma NYC at Parsons The New School for Design. Organized by Pictoplasma “brain-fathers” Lars Denicke and Peter Thaler with Parsons Illustration chair Steven Guarnaccia, the two-day confab will celebrate contemporary character visualization–illustration, animation, installation, street art, fine art, and more–with lectures, panel discussions, and screenings. Kicking off the proceedings will be lectures by newly Brooklyn-based Buff Monster and toy designer/fiber artist Anna Hrachovec, followed by insights from Argentinean animator and graphic designer Adrian Sonni and self-proclaimed plastic surgeon Jason Freeny. Stick around for Characters in Motion screenings and a Saturday morning “Parson’s Pitch” pecha kucha. New to Pictoplasma? Watch clips from previous talks here.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

What if Skeletor and He-man stopped fighting and just cuddled each other, Voldemort and Harry Potter became playmates, or a stormtrooper left the dark side and met Yoda for a bit of sexual play? Just Love is a series of graphic artwork designed by Fu Hang, AKA Mr. Jiji,…

Continue Reading…

Greenpeace commissioned This Is Studio to create an animation that would reveal the findings of its recent investigation into the practices of the National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations…

The resultant film, created in a style reminiscent of British illustrator Peggy Wickham’s paper-cut seaside scenes published as litho prints by the Medici Society in the 1950s, illustrates various ways in which, according to Greenpeace, the NFFO fails to represent the views or concerns of many of the UK’s independent fishermen.

Instead, the film suggests that the NFFO, one of the most influential fishing industry bodies in the UK, can be seen as a kind of “cosy club dominated by giant fishing businesses, some of which have been convicted for illegal fishing on an epic scale.”

GREENPEACE from THIS IS Studio on Vimeo.

“Building a compelling narrative from Greenpeace’s research, we developed a script with Leo Murray which was then voiced by Alastair McGowan,” says This Is Studio’s Barney Beech. “This short film was produced in-house and co-directed with animator Bill Porter.”

thisisstudio.co.uk

CR in Print
The February issue of CR magazine features a major interview with graphic designer Ken Garland. Plus, we delve into the Heineken advertising archive, profile digital art and generative design studio Field, talk to APFEL and Linder about their collaboration on a major exhibition in Paris for the punk artist, and debate the merits of stock images versus commissioned photography. Plus, a major new book on women in graphic design, the University of California logo row and what it means for design, Paul Belford on a classic Chivas Regal ad and Jeremy Leslie on the latest trends in app design for magazines and more. Buy your copy here.

Please note, CR now has a limited presence on the newsstand at WH Smith high street stores (although it can still be found in WH Smith travel branches at train stations and airports). If you cannot find a copy of CR in your town, your WH Smith store or a local independent newsagent can order it for you. You can search for your nearest stockist here. Alternatively, call us on 020 7970 4878, or buy a copy direct from us. Based outside the UK? Simply call +44(0)207 970 4878 to find your nearest stockist. Better yet, subscribe to CR for a year here and save yourself almost 30% on the printed magazine.

CR for the iPad
Read in-depth features and analysis plus exclusive iPad-only content in the Creative Review iPad App. Longer, more in-depth features than we run on the blog, portfolios of great, full-screen images and hi-res video. If the blog is about news, comment and debate, the iPad is about inspiration, viewing and reading. As well as providing exclusive, iPad-only content, the app will also update with new content throughout each month.

Illustrator Jonathan Burton has created five illustrations that will feature on the covers of the printed programmes at next month’s BAFTA awards…

Burton was commissioned by Studio Small to create an illustration to represent each of the five nominated films in the Best Film category, namely, Argo, Les Miserables, Life of Pi, Lincoln, and Zero Dark Thirty.

Argo

Les Misérables

“I wanted to capture a ‘narrative moment’ from each film without directly copying a particular scene,” says Burton of his approach to the commission. “The first stage was noting down the the key moments and then creating a new angle whilst trying to incorporate the themes of the story,” he continues. “This was a a way to keep loyal to the characters and settings but show a broader picture that represents the whole.

“As inspiration I’m drawn to photographs that leave the subject’s identity a mystery,” he adds. “It seemed appropriate for these illustrations to show the characters within their settings from behind or above which lets us see what they are seeing.”

Life of Pi

Lincoln

As well appearing on the covers of the awards night’s printed programmes, the artwork will also be available to buy as limited edition (of 100) A2 giclée prints on Cotton Natural White 315gsm 100% cotton paper at £60 each direct from Burton’s illustration agency Handsome Frank. Find them here.

Burton was also invited to work on designs for the tickets and the booklets in which they are packaged, covers shown below:

The BAFTA Film Awards will be held on February 10, more info at bafta.org

See more of Burton’s work at jonathanburton.net.

CR in Print
The February issue of CR magazine features a major interview with graphic designer Ken Garland. Plus, we delve into the Heineken advertising archive, profile digital art and generative design studio Field, talk to APFEL and Linder about their collaboration on a major exhibition in Paris for the punk artist, and debate the merits of stock images versus commissioned photography. Plus, a major new book on women in graphic design, the University of California logo row and what it means for design, Paul Belford on a classic Chivas Regal ad and Jeremy Leslie on the latest trends in app design for magazines and more. Buy your copy here.

Please note, CR now has a limited presence on the newsstand at WH Smith high street stores (although it can still be found in WH Smith travel branches at train stations and airports). If you cannot find a copy of CR in your town, your WH Smith store or a local independent newsagent can order it for you. You can search for your nearest stockist here. Alternatively, call us on 020 7970 4878, or buy a copy direct from us. Based outside the UK? Simply call +44(0)207 970 4878 to find your nearest stockist. Better yet, subscribe to CR for a year here and save yourself almost 30% on the printed magazine.

CR for the iPad
Read in-depth features and analysis plus exclusive iPad-only content in the Creative Review iPad App. Longer, more in-depth features than we run on the blog, portfolios of great, full-screen images and hi-res video. If the blog is about news, comment and debate, the iPad is about inspiration, viewing and reading. As well as providing exclusive, iPad-only content, the app will also update with new content throughout each month.

A new RKCR/Y&R print ad for the Landrover Defender features a world map made up entirely of illustrations of the vehicle’s distinctive shape

All the world’s land masses are depicted using images of the 4 x 4 because while  “70% of the World is covered by water, the rest is covered by Defender”.

This is the latest execution in what has been a really strong campaign over a number of years (remember the passport stamp ad? It’s another appropriate, well-crafted ad and not an idea we are aware of having seen before (at which point we stand well back in anticipation of multiple links posted in the comments proving otherwise….)

Here are a few more details from the image:

Credits
Ad agency: RKCR/Y&R
International Creative Director: Brian Fraser
Copywriter: Phil Forster
Art directors: Tim Brookes/ Lee Aldridge

CR in Print
The February issue of CR magazine features a major interview with graphic designer Ken Garland. Plus, we delve into the Heineken advertising archive, profile digital art and generative design studio Field, talk to APFEL and Linder about their collaboration on a major exhibition in Paris for the punk artist, and debate the merits of stock images versus commissioned photography. Plus, a major new book on women in graphic design, the University of California logo row and what it means for design, Paul Belford on a classic Chivas Regal ad and Jeremy Leslie on the latest trends in app design for magazines and more. Buy your copy here.

Please note, CR now has a limited presence on the newsstand at WH Smith high street stores (although it can still be found in WH Smith travel branches at train stations and airports). If you cannot find a copy of CR in your town, your WH Smith store or a local independent newsagent can order it for you. You can search for your nearest stockist here. Alternatively, call us on 020 7970 4878, or buy a copy direct from us. Based outside the UK? Simply call +44(0)207 970 4878 to find your nearest stockist. Better yet, subscribe to CR for a year here and save yourself almost 30% on the printed magazine.

CR for the iPad
Read in-depth features and analysis plus exclusive iPad-only content in the Creative Review iPad App. Longer, more in-depth features than we run on the blog, portfolios of great, full-screen images and hi-res video. If the blog is about news, comment and debate, the iPad is about inspiration, viewing and reading. As well as providing exclusive, iPad-only content, the app will also update with new content throughout each month.