DIAGRAM :: 8.2

I'm at a loss, both at how awesomely intriguing Diagram is, and as to what they are exactly. So far as i can glean, they are an online magazine dedicated to writing and poetry.

"We're interested in representations. In naming. In indicating. In schematics. In the labeling and taxonomy of things. In poems that masquerade as stories; in stories that disguise themselves as indices or obituaries." www.thediagram.com

Me being more graphically orientated, I prefer the visuals on the site more than the writing on it's own, the mixture of existing diagrams with unrelated yet somehow meaningful text is brilliant.
[via theDiagram8.2]

A one lady fashion catalogue

Ok. I'm not sure where to start, when I started my blog I had intended (or at least imagined) it to be full of graphic design (of the print variety), but as I sit here and contemplate my previous post trends, it would seem I'm far more interested in fashion that what I had thought. Thankfully not to the point of excluding all other disciplines of graphic/visual design. It's rather enlightening to see the things I've found visually appealing through the time I've been posting here. I blame Gary of SprayGlue for my subtle shift towards fashion.
Anyway. This post is actually about a miss Liebemarlene Vintage. I came across her Flickr page whilst browsing the net for fashion reference for work, and OMF is her sense style good. The pictures are awesome too. So far as i can gather (I'm not one for research), she buys her clothes at thrift/antique stores, then sells them on via Ebay.

[Coincidentally the sunglasses she's wearing remind me of my beautiful girlfriend]

Paul Willoughby illustration

Some awesome illustrations by Paul Willoughby, I particularly like the above one, seems like its printed on or in the style of traditional Chinese porcelain. I dig it, check out his portfolio at the link below.
[via www.paulwilloughby.com]

Papercraft Trabant 601

This is what i got up to during my lunch-break on Friday last week. I found Perpenduum.com thanks to ffffound, and on his blog found his template for the above Trabant 601. Its surprising how realistic the photgraphic texturing make the very simply folded paper. but i suppose thats the theory/practice behind most 3D/CGI modeling and texturing. I quite liked it, so I took a pic to share. If you want the template, you can get it from Perpenduum.com

Farewell & Adeiu To You

Noooooooo, SprayGlue aka Gary Payn has bid the blogging world farewell. For me SprayGlue was my introduction into blogging especially withing the category of design, the fact that he was a local (Durban, South Africa) made me appreciate his informative and well thought-out posts, all the more keenly. I for one will miss his posts Sorely, and Durban (and South Africa) has lost a brilliant blogger and representa! I bid you a sincere farewell.

See you around dood.

[image from SprayGlue]

Moar Post-its

My last post was of the idea of doing a varnished Post-it Bird... well heres the result (the first atempt anyway) It lasted all of one day before passers-by started vandalizing it. how dare they (hehehehe kidding). I quite like the weathered look though.
I must say I prefer it from a distance more than up close. The whole point of the project is: "Aiming to bring a childlike admiration and appreciation back into the hearts of Durbanites, Durban really is a beautiful city, if only people would take the time to notice."
Right/Ctrl click on the above images and view, to see larger sizes.
And here is what my agency (Modern Museum Communication) gets up to along the same lines when the power goes out, in the comfort of our own agency.

LLLLOST & Post-it Birdy

Firstly, this is a most sincere request to anyone to happens to cross paths with my blog, and is in possession of a ffffound account, from which they can invite me. I love ffffound and am llllost without an account. Please ... please find it in your graphically orientated hearts to invite me.

Anyway... The above image is a mild excursion into urban/street pixel art that I found myself doing to pass the time during a power outage at work. The idea is that I will create roughly 8x8 images with Post-Its then varnish/wheat-paste them in place. So far all I've done is the above experiment on a piece of found wood. But, urban canvas here I come. Inspired by boredom and space-invaders.
[image from my flickr]

UPADTE:


After making the above half of the post, I was browsing ffffound, and came across the red pixel image above. Its a silk screened poster available at Hybrid-Home. I thought it was cool, and relevant, so added it to my post.
[via ffffound: Apartment Therapy : Hybrid-Home]

Fertigo font by Jos Buivenga

I found this unbelievably brilliant font by designer Jos Buivenga, he has 8 free font that he offers on his site, but of them all I think this (Fertigo) is the most beautifully crafted. I think the above image speaks for itself. See the full font at the above links. [via Fawnt]

Keri Smith, Guerilla Art

I found Keri Smiths flickr Page, via the above picture, on ffffound. and after going through her stuff, I've fallen in love with her typographic doodles, however simple they might be. I particularly like her "Guerilla Art Signs". check out her website www.kerismith.com.

"For the really bad days, for the days when you want to quit, when you feel like everything you do is shit, when you feel your self-esteem plummet, when you decide that you would rather wait tables for a living, when you start to think you will never make a living making art, when you are working on something and feel like you hate it more than you've ever hated anything in your life, when someone makes an offhand remark about your work and afterwards you feel dejected, when you wish you had gone to school for accounting, when you start to believe that maybe your family was right, when you want to lie in bed for a month and eat chips.

It pays to have a sense of humor.

The artist's survival kit offers some help." Keri Smith

You Dont Matter

"We converted a plotting machine into an output device, that can draw, scratch or cut with almost any traditional drawing technique, in order to achieve aesthetics looking neither drawn by hand nor produced with only a computer. Most interesting and inspiring are all the little mistakes this machine produces, because of too much data, too much water, color, pressure etc. There are always gradients because the color gets less and less as the machine draws on. This expansion space describes the machine's actual identity. No Image looks like the other. And if you put a camera infront of the machine and take a time exposure it draws with light in the air like Picasso did with his hand." You Dont Matter
Very cool experiment, looking at the role of the designer, and in the end showing that you don't need human intervention for that "mark of the maker" effect. I especially like the work done by etching/scraping into wax (abive). I vaguely remember using this technique in primary school. [via ManyStuff]

Hiber & Procrasti Nation

As seems to be the case with most designers and their blogs. I've been totally bogged down with work, which is both good and bad, but because of it, I've had to give blogging a rest.
But I missed to far too much, so I'm back.

While I was gone, my work saw fit to send me and a couple other colleagues from Modern Museum to the Design Indaba in Cape Town.
Its was totally awesome, and unbelievably inspiring, so I have lots of content to impart to any of the readers who as of yet have not abandoned all hope of me posting again. hahaha

But as a starter, I'm not going to jump in arms flailing, but rather ease into it again, so I started with an illustration/typeplay, of a line I saw at FriendsWithYou, it makes no sense, but I love it.
So I was wondering, if anyone reads this, if you also attended the Design Indaba Conference, who was your best speaker? Mine was Marije Vogelzang. She was amazing, but I'll leave that for my next post.
[tis good to be back]

Hommin, Trashcan

I found this really cool trashcan (by Hommin, Hung Ming Chen) whilst browsing Oblingo!. Its so brilliantly simple. Although one would have to stop using the standard black plastic bags that we get in SA. But I think it'd be well worth it.
You can buy the Hommin Trashcan directly from designer Hung Ming Chen’s website, or from the horrible to navigate, DesignTorgent website. [via Oblingo!]

Wolf wrapping-paper, A New Year

Well it seems I'm not the only one who's bin taking it slow towards the end of the year. But I must say it really has been a great one for me. I just finished by Btech desgree in graphic design, as well as my first year of working in the industry. 2007 was bloody fantasic, come on 2008.
Im still on holiday though (visiting faminly in Johannesberg), but thats not to say that I've been idle (although I havnt been able to make any posts till now).

Inspired by Jesse at jezzeblog, with her foray into fabric printing, I started doing some experimenting myself. And trust me to go about it backwards (and insideout), for christmas I decided to make my own wrapping paper. So I did lino/block prints using sceenprinting ink and acrylic onto papers like stamps.
Here are some of the pics I took.

So as soon as I get back to Durban, on the 6th, Im going to carry on experimenting with printing, it really is fun. And I'll most definitly post the results here.

Emergency Break Glass, Money box

"Add coins at your own risk: only by smashing the glass can they be retrieved. As you watch your money literally build up, you will be torn between the desire to save more or cash in. With money rapidly disappearing into plastic cards and online transactions, the physical presence of ‘In Case of Emergency' money box will make you think more carefully before you decide to splash out. What will be your moment of need?" SuckUK

Designed by Becky Miller, a recent graduate of the University of Brighton. Good enough to be scooped up and sold by SuckUK. I really like it, especially the fact that you can see the money inside.
(via ItsNiceThat)

5.5 Designers, Wallpaper Games

"How to design a wallpaper without confronting a decorative vision?
More than a simple wall facing, we have created a range of expression surfaces. Surfaces that become an area for playing. Alone or with several people, try find the labyrinth's exit, the hidden words or challenge your partner(s) with the well known tic tac toe square."

These wallpapers are awesome, especially good for bathrooms and waiting areas. I like how even though the user is scribbling on the wall, the "rules" or process of the games themselves limit that graffiti to small individual marks on the surface, not intrusive, and growing with time.Done by 5.5 Designers, and design research and consulting firm, founded in Paris in 2003. The company is dedicated to discovering the hottest new objects, developing innovative products at low cost.
(via DesignBOOM)

100 Posts, and a New Website

I had planned on doing a post on the website I'm working on. So I only just realized that this would be my hundredth post on The Empire Collective blog. The site is the coming together of a whole bunch of talented Durban designers, all with their own styles and skills.
The (true) Empire Collective.

I'm in the process of building the site, and waiting for content from each of the members. Here are some of the banner designs that will be part of the site to come.

Etsy of the Week, Kirstenlovesdinner

I've been faffing around on Threadless.com the last couple of days, trying to get some decent feedback on designs I submitted. Thats where I came across Kirstenlovesdinner.

So from there I found her Blog and her Etsy shop. What is it with all these industrious girls doing so much great crafting. Haha. Her stuff is brilliant. She tends to use bulky crocheted items with fine lace, and the overall look is flippin cool (although me being a guy, I'd never actually wear them).
Another great designer, with a great blog and great Etsy shop, well worth a look. Also you can she her Flickr page here.
(via Threadless)

BCXSY Play!, Swing Lamp

I came across this Swing by BCXSY, it forms part of their Play! range,
"a collection of products that was conceived out of a desire to bring a sense of nostalgia and playfulness into the grown-up environment."
The Swing Lamp creates a comforting ambiance through lighting and movement.
BCXSY really do have a great collection of nostalgic/quirky objects, from two sided coffee/tea cups, to a See-Saw Bookshelf.
The making of the "real-world" more childlike is definitely a direction I can see my own work going. Being grown-up can be mightily boring.
via ffffound.

Tropical storm blew through my backyard.

Wow! You should have seen the tropical storm that rolled through Durban (South Africa) yesterday. It was amazing, we could see the clouds churning as we watched, it was surreal.
Then the wind, rain, and hail hit, and was gone within 20 minutes. weird weird weird.

Konkord retro t-shirt prints

I'm not sure what inspired it, I was browsing ffffound, and had the sudden urge to do these rough t-shirt designs (I think I saw something with a similar font). I quite like them. Check more stuff out at my Flickr page.