Hasta La Ideas

Ad agency TBWA London has joined forces with a number of illustrators to create the Eastern Eggs project: a series of rather beautiful wooden eggs that can be purchased online, with all proceeds going to the Red Cross Japan Tsunami Appeal.

Designs from illustrators such as Damien Weighill, Jan Kallwejt and Nick Purser are included in the project – the full range of eggs available is shown below. Each egg is approximately 6cm high, made from solid wood and costs £10.

The eggs are all printed using an Egg-bot, an open-source art robot that can draw on spherical or egg-shaped objects. You can see it in action in the film below. Once you’ve chosen a design from the site and payment is confirmed, Eastern Eggs will email you to let you know when it will be printed (it may even be possible to see the Egg-bot produce your egg via a webcam).

The Eastern Egg project is the brainchild of Sermad Buni, creative technologist at TBWA London. All production costs are being covered by the agency, so all monies raised from the sale of the eggs will go to the Japan Tsunami Appeal. More info on Eastern Eggs is here.

We are pleased to announce that the Work/Life 2 iPhone app is now available for FREE DOWNLOAD in iTunes!

The Work/Life 2 app is a companion to Work/Life 2: The UPPERCASE Directory of Illustration, a 224-page book featuring the art of 100 illustrators from around the globe. The app allows for some features that go beyond the book: search the participants by region and style, contact the artists directly, and follow news from the UPPERCASE blog.

Both the book and app include a range of talents, some fresh from school, some returning back into the work groove after raising families, and some hardworking creatives whose career already span a few decades. The common trait with each participant is their enthusiasm for their craft and their sincerity in presenting their best work.

Everyone’s illustrations look stellar on the iPhone… here are some samples below. Download your free Work/Life app today and discover your new favourite illustrator.

Big thank you to Glen for creating the app!

We hope that you will enjoy perusing the app! If you want to learn about the artists in greater detail, each person is profiled in the book with images of their studios, sketchbooks and creative inspirations.

Image: Big Active

Over the last few days, jubilant creatives have been celebrating the news that their work has been shortlisted at D&AD. So why are many of them now retracting their joyous tweets and, in some cases, apologising to clients?

Since last week, D&AD has been releasing the details online of the hundreds of projects that have been selected for In Book inclusion, those Nominated for a pencil, and, under another heading, work that has been Shortlisted. It is this final category that is causing particular confusion.

Yesterday afternoon, one well-known UK design studio tweeted their delight that one of their projects for an international brand had been “shortlisted” at D&AD. By this morning, the tweet had disappeared, as had the one retweet CR recalled seeing.

Many more creatives turned to Twitter to voice their concerns over the confusion that the use of this non-category has generated, and a short statement was added in bold to the newly-published lists of the In Book and Nominated work on D&AD’s website.

“The shortlist is all the work that survived the first round but was not awarded,” it read. This was also the sole response to tweeter, @onlyben, when he asked the organisation what exactly was going on. In another exchange @Visuelleuk tweeted, “It could be a pencil. Bloody confusing though isn’t it with ‘nominated’, ‘in-book’ & ‘shortlisted’.”

Well, yes. To the outsider, even the regular awards categorisation is challenging. The Nominated work can win a pencil and appears in the book; the In Book work, while in the book, cannot be nominated for a pencil. Bringing in a Shortlisted category, for work that isn’t going any further than first round voting, only adds to the nomenclature party.

Another prominent UK-based designer told CR that he has had numerous exchanges with studios that, on seeing their project in the Shortlisted category online, assumed this meant it was in the running for an award and duly passed on the good news to the relevant client.

“I emailed a client to say ‘hey look, well done’ and then yesterday had to write a retraction email,” he said. “Luckily I didn’t fire off ten, otherwise that could have been really sticky. [The] problem seems to be rooted in the fact that ‘shortlist’ sounds better than ‘In Book’.”

That’s true yet, as everyone knows, a shortlist is a narrow group of things; the best of what’s been whittled down from a longlist. It shouldn’t be a retroactively named list of also-rans. But, perhaps, for D&AD it’s another level of recognition to be celebrated? Another chance for the work that nearly made it to garner some praise?

But a quick Google later and The Other Media’s triumphant post on their ‘success’ in the Digital Design category is all too sad to see. You can read the post here. It’s sad because according to the D&AD list online, they don’t actually stand to win anything. They’ve only been “shortlisted” along with 16 others.

“Maybe D&AD were aiming for more transparency,” our anonymous designer continued, “the details of what gets in or what just misses the cut are forever shrouded in controversy. Trouble is [I’m] not sure this has helped. Perhaps they are trying to boost numbers by adding this extra layer. It seems to be embarrassing all round – various people will have got excited to be shortlisted only to find out that hasn’t happened.”

Furthermore, by issuing the details of the work that was considered for the coveted In Book and Nominated positions, entrants can now see exactly how far their work got in that process but still won’t know what stopped it going the extra oh-so-important mile. Equally, those studios and agencies who resort to tactical blanket bombing of the awards sections now have their efforts on show for all to see.

Rather than offering transparency, the designer CR spoke to implied that most of his studio were actually now even more wary of the judging process. That can never be something D&AD would want.

These illustrations of scientists by ACAD illustration grad Jessica Phillips would be Bill and Ted approved! Jessica also has a sweet collage style:

Below is Jessica’s illustration from Work/Life 2:

It’s been a while since we showcased some of the nice publications to land on our desks so here’s a few for you – including the latest from Nobrow, a zine from Wiltshire, and also the first issue of a new bi-annual publication from Manchester menswear store, Oi Polloi, entitled Pica-Post…

Pica-Post’s 26 pages feature illustrations by Ben Lamb of models decked out in a particular look that can be attained by picking out choice garments from the store’s selection of menswear brands. Shown below is the Thai-vy Leager…

Each of these spreads is followed by a spread showing the various items of clothing, foorwear and accessories that make up the look:

Towards the back of Pica-Post are three essays, one of which addresses the enduring popularity of the moccasin in Manchester, and another which investigates the ever popular smart casual staple, khakis. All in all, the publication of Pica-Post helps to reinforce the notion that Oi Polloi is concerned with an intelligent quest for enduring style, rather than the fickle following of fashion. We like. Each issue of Pica-Post will be limited to 1000 copies and available in Oi Polloi’s Manchester store. More details at oipolloi.com

Melon Shrub is just under A4 size, 42 page zine created by Wiltshire-based illustrator Murray Somerville and Jack Burston and limited to just 40 numbered copies. This, the second issue is themeless and collects illustrations and written pieces including poetry, features and opinion pieces. The overall feeling is of experimentation and it’s the illustration that really jumps off the page. £8 from Somerville’s etsy shop.

Somerville also sent us a copy of Symmetricrite, a small, single colour printed zine containing perfectly symmetrical spreads of illustrations, each page mirroring the one opposite, creating a kaleidoscopic effect.

See more of Somerville’s illustration work at murraysomerville.blogspot.com

Also to land on our desks this month is Images of Engraving In Private and Business Communication, sent to us by the British Engraved Stationery Association. Yes, it sounds a little dry, but I wanted to include it here as it contains, besides an enlightening introduction to the history and techniques involved in engraving and associated printing types, stunning and varied examples of engraving, printed with a variety of colours including silver and gold – and some intricate blind embossing. With the camra’s “macro” setting on, here’s a look at some of the examples…

More information about the British Engraved Stationery Association at besaprint.co.uk

Last but not least is Obsolete by Danish comic book artist, Mikkel Sommer. The comic is the latest publication in Nobrow‘s highly collectible 17×23 series of illustrated narratives and is also, the darkest most disturbing story to be published by Nobrow. The comic follows two burntout ex soldiers as they embark on a drink and drug fuelled bank heist with minimal planning and maximum mental baggage. The result is as compelling as it is tragic thanks to the brilliant rhythm and pace created by Sommer’s illustrated panels. Don’t read it just before going to a party, though. This is powerful stuff. £6.50 from nobrow.net