Saturday 30 April 2011

Process Journal - Ed. 4


“Founded in 2009, Published by Process is the Melbourne-based publisher of quarterly publication Process Journal and other various design publications. Process is dedicated to capturing beautiful work in print, stepping back and allowing the design to do the talking. Published by Process proudly supports the Australian design industry and all publications are printed and produced to the highest possible standards on Australian supplied paper stock in Melbourne, Australia.” That's what it says on their site.

Last week I received Process Journal Edition 4 through the post and it is top notch. To start with; the design is flawless, from the type through to the front cover through to the layout it's all perfect. The content is just as good. With interviews and features on creatives such as Build, Give Up Art, Inhouse Design and Tom Munckton, you're going to learn a shit load of stuff reading this.

Very inspirational.









Friday 29 April 2011

When The Sky Fell Down

Guy Bourdin: the little man with the big reputation.

By Kara ter Morsche

Guy Bourdin was nothing short of legendary, if somewhat short in height. Man Ray’s protégée has been resting in peace for 20 years this year, and to mark the decades that have passed, a film has been created to uncover the stories behind the decadent images he produced.

Guy insisted that his work be destroyed postdating his death, but as he did not keep much of it within his personal inventory, it continued to be visible and play a vital part in influencing young creatives. Nick Knight and David LaChapelle are amongst the vast array of photographers who have cited Bourdin as a great imparter of inspiration in their work.

The documentary film, entitled ‘When The Sky Fell Down: The Myth Of Guy Bourdin’ was created by Guys former assistant, Sean Brandt. It features interviews that attempt to both retrospectively appreciate his devilishly creative genius, and uncover the rumour-laden dark personality he radiated to his colleagues. The cinematic offering is set to be screened at Cannes, and as Brandt told the Guardian, ‘It will serve as both the definitive film on one of the worlds most influential visual artists, but its also the story of a sons struggle to rescue his fathers legacy from obscurity.’

Bourdin had a long-standing relationship with the most biblical of fashion publications, most notably Vogue. The images he produced contained strong surrealist association, an obvious quality that Bourdin inherited from Man Ray, alongside formations of death, sex and the manipulation of fashion items into more sinister objects.

Though his work has made a name for itself as undeniable provocative brilliance, his manner left more to be questioned. There are many tales of Bourdin that construct the image he was extremely demanding and difficult to work with. He lead a troubled life from the word go; his mother abandoned him as a baby, his wife died in 1969 for inconclusive reasons and his lover Sybill Danner committed suicide in 1981. It has been claimed he pushed his models to their absolute limit, striving to claim the best images possible in the days before picture manipulation technology. Two models even passed out on a Bourdin shoot, after he attempted to coat their entire bodies in a layer of glue covered in black pearls.

Following Bourdin’s death, his work was shown in prestigious museums worldwide. This was something he never partook in during his life, preferring to elude his work exclusively to print in magazines. His only son, Samuel Bourdin took on the premise of ensuring Guy’s work was still seen and appreciated by the public. However, he sued Madonna for her music video for ‘Hollywood’ after it was decided the scenes included were too similar to images shot by Bourdin.

Brandt told the Guardian that the best analogy for working with Bourdin was good sex, stating that it involved, ‘A lot of foreplay, mucking around, games, teasing, hard work and then, usually very late at night, a miracle.’

Greatest Doggy Get Up Ever

No shadow of a doubt.



Thursday 28 April 2011

Abandoned Giants

These structures were commissioned by former Yugoslavian president Josip Broz Tito in the 1960s and 70s to commemorate sites where WWII battles took place (e.g. Tjentište, Kozara and Kadinjača), or where concentration camps once stood (e.g. Jasenovac and Niš). They were designed by different sculptors, including; Dušan Džamonja, Vojin Bakić, Miodrag Živković, Jordan and Iskra Grabul, to name but a few, and architects such as Bogdan Bogdanović and Gradimir Medaković. In the 80s, these monuments attracted millions of visitors a year, especially young pioneers for their "patriotic education." After the Republic dissolved in early 90s, they were completely abandoned, and their symbolic meanings were pretty much forever lost.

From 2006 to 2009, Kempenaers toured around the ex-Yugoslavia region (now Croatia, Serbia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, etc.) with the help of a 1975 map of memorials, bringing back a series of 25 melancholy yet strikingingly beautiful images. His photos raise the question: can these former monuments continue to exist as pure sculptures? On one hand, their physical dilapidated condition and institutional neglect reflect a more general social historical fracturing. And on the other hand, they are still of stunning beauty without any symbolic significances.

Concrete bliss.


























Greatest Televised Event Ever? Or Merely A Day Off?

By Jack Webster

This Friday sees the culmination of months of hype and interest that have surrounded Kate Middleton’s transformation from regular girl to Princess, as she marries Prince William. But are people really bothered about the ceremony, or are most people simply glad of a day off?

April 29 will be a public holiday for Britons to ‘enjoy the ceremony’, however it remains to be seen how many people will indeed be tuning in.

One person who certainly will be watching from home is singer Lily Allen who has not only not received an invitation, but appears jealous of at least one of the guests who has been. She posted a comment on Twitter that said: “You can quote me as 'outraged', why does bloody Joss Stone get an invite and not moi?" Perhaps this is a perfect time for her to sing her song ‘It’s not fair and I think you’re really mean.’

So it appears Joss Stone will be in attendance along with numerous other celebrities. Probably the most high profile guests will be the Beckham’s. David and Victoria will fly over from Los Angeles to attend the ceremony on Friday and were quoted as saying they were ‘delighted’ at being on the list. Fellow sportsman Ireland Rugby captain Brian o’Driscoll has however declined an invitation as his club side Leinster face Toulouse in the Heineken Cup Semi Final on the Saturday. His wife Amy will be attending alone as Brian was quoted as saying: “Rugby comes before anything.” I wonder how his wife feels about that?!

Film director and Madonna’s ex-husband Guy Ritchie will also be in attendance, though there is not invite for his girlfriend Jacqui Ainsley. One interesting fact you may not know is that Guy Ritchie is in fact Kate’s sixth cousin once removed. How does Madonna feel now, knowing she could have been (however tenuously) linked to the Royal Family!

Another of the more surprising guests is controversial and outspoken rapper Kanye West. Let’s hope he doesn’t run up on stage as the wedding is in progress and tell Kate that Diana’s Royal Wedding was better in a stunt reminiscent of that he pulled at the MTV Video Music Awards 2009 when he ran up on stage and told winner Taylor Swift that Beyonce’s video for ‘Single Ladies’ was better.

Also in attendance will be comedian Rowan Atkinson, who is probably best known for his portrayal of the blunder-prone character ‘Mr Bean.’ He, along with Kate and William will be hoping Friday goes much smoother than any of Mr Bean’s escapades.

One thing this guest list shows is that this is a Royal couple who are trying to bring the
Royal Family into the 21st century inviting sports stars, music stars and comedians among many others. Will they succeed in updating the Royal Family’s image? One thing’s for sure … we can all have a lie in on Friday!

Wednesday 27 April 2011

The Ride Journal

The Ride Journal is most definitely one of the most beautiful magazines I've clapped my eyes on. Printed on nice thick matte paper which only adds to the illustrious feel.
They say: “Born, as all good things are, out of a conversation over Mexican food and Pacifico beers, The Ride is an all encompassing read. We know that most people who share our obsession with bikes don’t want to be pigeon-holed as roadies, freeriders, track racers, BMXers, XC riders or even commuters. They are just riders. So we wanted to create something for them, and also for us. Something that crosses both cycling and international borders.”
The look of the mag was also high on their list of priorities, “As well as the incredible writing we also wanted the magazine to be equally strong visually. Artists, illustrators, photographers were all approached and they have helped give The Ride the stunning visual style it has.”
For the first 5 issues, I Love Dust have illustrated the cover and parts of the content too. Seriously, how amazing are these:





I Love Dust, say this on the matter, “We have been working alongside Andrew Diprose since the beginning of The Ride Journals life and have worked on 4 covers to date. 
Each cover takes a look at different aspects of biking and is designed to reflect the season in which it is released.” All marvellous. Im the proud owner of issues 4 & 5.





IBM Smarter Planet





Here’s a great series of poster for the IBM Smarter Planet campaign, created by Ogilvy Paris. The posters make use of the excellent Lubalin Graph typeface by Herb Lubalin, and simple illustrations to create something pretty stunning.

You can read more over at Fonts In Use about how the typeface is used in the campaign.

We Need A Miracle...

The Christchurch earthquake, The Japanese earthquake and tsunami, Manchester City making it to The F.A. Cup final, and now this. Geordie Shore. The Mayans were correct. The world will end in 2012. Quit your job, stop going to school and uni, they don't matter any more. Enjoy yourself while you can. Although the folks at MTV are really trying to make sure you go out as angry as an 8 year old trying to get onto the PlayStation Network.

I just “met the cast” of Geordie Shore on MTV's website. They could bore the legs off an oil rig.

First, we have Jay. He says his biggest fear is getting wrinkles. You don't need to worry about that you'll be dead next year. Second is Vicky. A “geordie girl with a VIP edge”. She couldn't be less very important if she were a fly banging against a glass window.

Next; Gary. Who proclaims he should have a degree in pulling women. I doubt he passed key stage 3 never mind GCSE's or A-levels. The ridiculously named Charlotte-Letitia is next. What the fuck was her mother on? Nearly as bad as the New Zealand parents who called their offspring Number 16 Bus Shelter (that is a true story). She tells us she would never kiss a man who didn't have a six pack. That's good, because usually the kind of prick that has a six pack also has the same brain space as her.

James next. The hardest graft he's ever done is doing his hair he says, he should have worked harder on that. Sophie then tells us she could talk the back legs of a donkey. Im sure the donkey would use those back legs to kick her face off if she went any where near the poor mammal. Keep your donkeys locked up, just incase she manages to sneak up on one, it would take about a millionth millionth of a second for even a donkey to get bored of her, and then your donkey wouldn't have any back legs. Not much fun then.

Greg next, who is “dressed to impress”. He's been the only one dressed at all so far. Last and least, Holly. Who admits she is fake, flirty and has double F's. You're fake? Really? I thought MTV only employed down to earth and honest people. I am bereft of any hope for mankind. I'm hoping someone fills up their favourite club with killer bees and bricks off the exits within seconds of the show starting.

Please make sure you're busy when this is on. Hopefully I'll catch you all for a pint before the end of the world, I'll be in The Barrels, crying.

Jamie Beck - Cinemagraphs

Thanks to @alan_turnbull for bringing these to my attention. Photographer Jamie Beck has an amazing series called "cinemagraphs". They're GIF's, but instead of the whole image being animated, only a small part is, making the images a glorious fusion of still and moving images. Genius. 

Think you may have to click on the images to see the moving parts. Not sure why, just blogger being ridiculous.






Pretty amazing ey? Check out more at http://fromme-toyou.tumblr.com, especially those of the cookies and brownies. Makes you stupidly hungry. Enjoy these, I'm off to eat my body weight in Marylands.

Tuesday 26 April 2011

LINE Magazine


Launched in Spring 2010, LINE is a Scottish art publication that provides a platform for both emerging and established artists and writers across Scotland and beyond.


Independently funded, LINE is a non-profit magazine that is supported by a programme of events and exhibitions.

I picked up the 4th issue recently from The Baltic in Newcastle, it's great. So amazingly designed, very inspirational and it opened our eyes to the possibility of producing a magazine in the style of a newspaper.




Brilliant stuff.



Paul Hermes

These photographs amused me. 














http://paulhermes.com