Illustration within design

This interests me greatly due to fact that when compared to other forms of design, such as photography, you mostly have to use what is available to you or hope you find a moment in time to fit your idea.  With illustration the boundaries are less defined and it's more to do with how far your imagination takes you and your skill with a pen.

No one needs to know what you did last night

If you are skilled enough and you know your idea through and through, there is a chance to create an original, stylized, solution, where it is displayed exactly how you intended.  No interruptions or accidents.  Just 100 percent idea with only a pen limiting your thoughts.

Image received from this website

4 Elements through music

Photo by Myriam Santos-Kayda for 

Moat Anticipated of 2007 issue of AP.

This band gained my interest due to their concept albums they have recently created.  They are a two-part, duo of albums, called the alchemy index.  It basically is a band, called thrice, that have attached their music to elements.  They have 4 sets of about 5 to 6 tracks which are centered around either fire, water, earth or air.  It sparked my interest to see a band taking a different approach to creating an album.  They set out a mood and tried to create music which matched this mood.  Not only is their music centered around this theme but their whole advertisement of the album.  The photography matches the elemental theme and the concept itself is refreshing to see.

It allows the band to create acoustic, electronic, heavy rock and calm-atmospheric music in the four separate chapters.  It's an amazing variety of approaches and altogether an amazing look at this bands talent.  The whole idea of combining music to elements makes this an exciting project from the off and I recommend listening to the end product.  Very satisfying...

The website also mirrors this concept and is pleasant to scan.  It can be found here.

Memory and Humanity - Album Art

Funeral for a friend

Art as a form of advertisement.  It takes the title of the album and seems to convey it in a form of art.  The visual itself is a clever interpretation which uses the title and adds depth to the words.  It allows the viewer to think the words relate to the image and therefore makes you explore their meanings in correlation with the composition.  Or it allows you to think "ooh, that's a pretty picture".  That's the beauty with some pictures.  It satisfies the deep thinkers and the easily pleased alike.

(19-Nov-2008)

When I actually bought this album I was pleasantly surprised with the way it was presented.  The case was in the form of a book, not the usual plastic cases you find!  It combined the CD case within the book which made it stand out compared to the shelves of clear plastic copies.  It is something I haven't seen before and I commend the company for such a different approach.  The book has the exact dimensions of a CD case, is hardback and holds the CDs in each cover with the accompanying booklet infused into the books pages.  This is a new medium to store the contents which I like due to it relating the CD to a book.  Very unique indeed...

Mr. Toledano will see you now

Hope and fear is the external manifestation of the internal desires

and paranoia that are adrift in America

There is nothing more beautiful than absence

This website is the nicest one I have found in a while. It's so easy to navigate, the work is displayed professionally and there isn't a bundle of writing to confuse you.

It essentially advertises Mr. Toledano's work through a simple online portfolio. He has some stunning photos which are backed up by some in-depth topics. Some address very personal feelings and subjects and he shows a kind of understanding in his subject matter that is hard to achieve.

Through his photography he manages to capture what he intends to and each portfolio is titled with a fitting name. One that adds depth to the images within it and heightens their meaning.

View the Website

Chucky for Halloween

Diane Bondareff / Polaris

Fitting in with the time of year I noticed this photo.  Actors in Chucky outfits promoted the 20th Anniversary of the film Child's Play around New York.  They look really creepy to me and I thought this was a very real, in your face, campaign.  A fitting form of promotion for a horror film.  This promotion is alive and makes you feel insecure.  Well it would make me if I saw one of these little fella's in a dark alley.

Guiness Advert

Guiness have a simple yet perfect concept it seems. Always playing on the quality inside the pint and that it's worth waiting for. However I came across this advert which is so ridiculous and isn't what I'm used to seeing from these guys. The music created is just as splendid, love it! ...just watch:

Poster for EventBrand.net

Poster for EVENTBRAND -

the leader in event industry in Ukraine.

Dinal Kryvoruchko works in Moscow and his work is visually stunning. He has done work for EvantBrand (featured above) and a campaign to advertise MTV Russia Movie Awards 2008 depicting a creature with one eye and two pupils. As you look at his work the ideas are complex and impact is always there. He must spend a massive amount of time on each of these to keep this standard up. A good source of inspiration.

Check his work out here

Toyota, Lower Emissions

Bringing us closer to nature

This is a beautiful poster which represents Toyota's goal to lower fuel emissions and therefore being less harmful to nature. It is visually stunning however the concept is a little difficult to follow. It is in need of a short explanation to make it understandable, however, I do like the idea a lot and the thought of a tree being human bodies is very imaginative. Nice execution!

The Limerick Animal Welfare (L.A.W)

GHQ. 2002 Campaign

I thought this was a very clever campaign. The message is simple. It encourages the need for action by the receiver and the tone of voice depicts the suffering of animals. The concept is clear and it hits the audience where it should, their hearts.

Hell is for heroes album art

http://www.hellisforheroes.net/index.php

I came across this album and really got drawn to the technique used for illustration. The photo is taken from the view everyone is used to, whilst sitting in a car, however the windows have been used to depict images and light is blocked where the paint is used. The way the light penetrates through areas of the paint and illuminates the inside of the car creates beautiful siluettes on the fabric. In this isolated atmosphere, the car, it transforms the space into something new. The viewer can be "inside" the work of art and be surrounded by it. The flowers on the dash board also reflect colour onto the windows which makes the paint glow and the illustrations themselves are effective. It's the whole idea of transforming something ordinary into something new, a piece of art. I love the end result but wouldn't like to have it there permanently if it was my car...

Photo of the day

Ok so there's not actually a photo a day but this blog contains a collection of photos and graphic designs which are very funny and inventive. The captions created by the blogger help to make them funny as well. Worth a gander for a few minutes if you want to be inspired.

http://photo-of-the-day1.blogspot.com/