Friday, May 29, 2009

Sorry I'm Late from Tomas Mankovsky

This outstanding achievement in stop motion animation is a colorful and creative journey played out on the floor in the style of the widely successful Her Morning Elegance video. Shot through production company Blink Sorry I'm Late is a testament to the fact that no matter how big of a crew, or how many resources you might have at your disposal when it comes to this type of animation the real art comes from a few meticulous tests and a lot of going with your gut.



The result is sure to bring a smile to your face, and how great is the use of forced perspective?! There is also a website full of test footage and behind the scenes goodies for those that want to know more. Enjoy!

Thursday, May 28, 2009

Photographic Collage Artist Jessica Burko



While on the SoWa Art Walk a few weeks ago one of the collections that really caught my eye was these collage pieces from Jessica Burko. Each piece is a unique combination of found patterns, papers, fabrics, clothing patterns and photos hand stitched together creating beautiful, complex, and tactile, final works of art. One of the things that i love most about this series is that you never see a face clearly - I think the hidden identity really helps the viewer to relate to the image on a much more personal level because of it - at least I did!


















Jessica also has an extensive collection of Polaroid transfers some of which she has turned into illustration. Again, taking something that could be a piece of art in its own right and pushing it one step further. Beautiful work, check out Jessica's website for more!

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

CHANEL No 5 Aurdey Tautou in Train De Nuit

The follow up to the gorgeous Nicole Kidman/Baz Luhrman Chanel No. 5 short film is this gem from Amalie director and actress Jean-Pierre Juenet and Audrey Tautou.



Ah love, Jean-Pierre's film always looks so rich and romantic it suits Chanel perfectly.

The special treat? A making of video. "Recreating with pictures the emotions induced by a scent is an interesting challenge" Enjoy!

What is Masterpiece 2.0?

Masterpiece 2.0 is a social media art project by Dutch artists/designers Baschz and Selfcontrolfreak. What makes it 2.0? It's a single canvas being repeatedly painted over a six week period that is directly influenced by the viewers via the web and social media. Viewers are encouraged to interact, suggest subjects to be added to the painting or even have a cameo in the animated painting (for a small fee.)

In addition to the actual Masterpiece 2.0, Baschz and Selfcontrolfreak have been documenting the experience daily through the site with making on images and daily time lapse videos on YouTube. And the animation, eventhough it is essential a work in progress is great, when you take the creative process into account it brings it to a whole other level. Very cool, I suggest heading over to Masterpiece 2.0 to check it out right away.


Masterpiece 2.0, a social media art project by Baschz and Selfcontrolfreak.

How in the world did I stumble onto this? Wooster Collective.

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Photographer Barbara Cole for Anthropology

How gorgeous are these? and what a great pairing of brand and aesthetics for Anthropology and Barbara Cole? These photos are fit to hang blown up huge in a gallery, yet we are all lucky enough to get them for free in our mailboxes for the Anthropology summer 2009 catalog.
Beautiful right? Barbara speaks about this shoot, using water to distort imagery, and how it affects light on her website.

Friday, May 22, 2009

New Illustrations from Mario Sughi

I awoke to find these colorful, intriguing, and delicately sexy illustrations from Mario Sughi in my in box. The vignettes seem to me like snap shots of idle moments within larger scenes of action. I was instantly drawn in first by the lines and colors only to be held further with exploration of the scene and the possibility of moments that might occur immediately after these freeze frames which may or may not hold any significance in and of themselves.

Mario was kind enough to offer some of his own thoughts about these latest illustrations, all of which were created in the last three or four months:

My first preoccupation is always about forms and colors. And my aim is to create balanced, elegant and clear images. They are very colourful but when they are terminated I regard them successful only if, despite the strong colors, their main quality is still a delicate one.

All of them focus on people and apparently there is always a sort of narrative going on.

The main feature of both the figures and narrative moving in those illustrations is a sense of lightness that at moment becomes almost emptiness, with the result that at any moment those figures (the women as well as the men) can lose entirely all their possible meanings.

thanks so much Mario! To see more of Mario Sughi's work visit Dripbook.

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Cookie Machine by Romain Chassing

While browsing through Vimeo today I found this great piece of work,a music video for "Cookie Machine" by PacoVolume directed by French Director/Photographer Romain Chassing. I love the pops of stop motion color combined with a black and white canvas, I think it's really beautiful and whimsical, and the detail that I am obsessing about is the precision of the typography recreated in stop motion. Romain did such a fantastic job controlling the handmade fonts, staying true to the type families, and using a diverse selection of type.

PACOVOLUME "CookieMachine" from discograph on Vimeo.

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Mad Men Illustrations from Dyna Moe

As they're ramping up for the 3rd season of Man Men (which i believe starts at the end of summer) AMC and Mad Men have been doing a good job rallying excitement via facebook and the Mad Men blog.

Today they are featuring an interview with freelance illustrator Dyna Moe who was commissioned to help design a Mad Men illustrated Holiday Card and from there went on to do an extensive series of designs for screensavers, iphones, calendars and more based on the story line of each episode. Of course, all of the illustrations are in a mid-century modern style, see some of my favorites below. Joan Hollaway as a paper doll? of course!



For Dyna's full series visit her flickr set.

Monday, May 18, 2009

SoWa Art Walk

Were any of you Boston locals able to stop by the SoWa Open Studios this weekend? I made a point to stop in on my figure drawing instructor, Brigid Watson to see what she has been working on... these beautiful, colorful, textural oils that i really couldn't resist touching - and these 'beads' - a really interesting combination of loose organic forms and super disciplined details.

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Samsung Camera Trick Challenge Revealed

A few weeks back I posted a viral video for Samsung from The Viral Factory with a 'how'd they do it' challenge attached. Well, if you are still wondering how they did it, stop staying up nights and check out the making of video below with all the reveals and tons of clues that might have tipped you off. Fun stuff...did you get? I gotta say I had it figured out but i didn't notice there were so many clues!

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

LA Gear Stardust is Back

Tonight at 11:59 PDT a ltd edition of only 89 pairs of L.A. Gear Stardust for women sneakers will go on sale for the first time since the 1990s. The promo, thanks to SLAM and Sportie LA, has sent me in a tailspin thinking about my two-toned shoe laces, layered socks and skip-it.

Here are some of the original ads to help bring you back, doesn't the first couple look an awful lot like Zack Morris and Kelly Kapowski?



Paula Abdul


Michael Jackson


Monday, May 11, 2009

Stop Motion Socks = Love

When I was in college i made an animated film about a girl who looses her guitar pick in the couch cushions-when she goes in after it she ends up in the land of lost things. Socks, pencils, etc.

This video from Grand Pocket Orchestra about "Odd Socks" is such a fun take on the lost sock idea. Made entirely with stop motion cut outs by directing duo Keenon.Enjoy!

Friday, May 8, 2009

Bizarre but Beautiful, CS4 Film from Cisma

The latest experimental film piece from Blacklist's Cisma is hauntingly beautiful, with soft gentle colors and what are becoming signature Cisma visual transitions. The project for Adobe's CS4 supports the philosophy that reality is only what you make out of it with your own senses. View the Film here.

“Le Sens Propre” written and directed Blacklist’s Cisma, for Adobe’s Shortcut to Brilliant campaign for CS4 (Creative Suite 4). Agency is Goodby, Silverstein & Partners.

Thursday, May 7, 2009

Paper Magazine Rebrands America

Paper Magazine approached 15 of the top creative minds in the country to design a new identity for Amercia. The results are clearly inspiring, as well as diverse- and thankfully optimistic.

Visit Paper for the full story and more from the creators about their projects.


Top to Bottom: Alex Bogusky, Andy Spade and Anthony Sperduti, Mike Mills; Alex Kalman, Chris Johanson, W+K12; Geoff McFetridge, Ivan Chermayeff, Jonathan Horowitz; Kevin Roberts, Stephen Powers, Ron English; Shepard Fairey, Peter Buchanan-Smith, The Bruce High Quality Foundation

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

When a Cab Driver is Just a Friend, from Heineken

This is one of Mike's favorite commercials on air at the moment, and I know exactly why. It carries the essence of great times with great friends, a carefree singalong session, and an awesome cabbie. It's rare - but we've all been there, and it's so good when you are. Any Plans this weekend?

"Oh baby youuuuu - you got what I neeeed..."

This Heineken Spot is via Wieden + Kennedy, the song of course, is Biz Markie.

Monday, May 4, 2009

T-Mobile Gathers 13,000 to Sing Hey Jude

T-Mobile's latest spontaneous social stunt gives me such a warm fuzzy feeling - unity, togetherness, and music - how can it be bad?

Friday, May 1, 2009

The Music Videos of Michel Gondry

I was really dying for some music this morning and felt like it has been a while since I've posted any - so I decided to go all out and feature some of my favorites from one of the most creative and acclaimed directors out there, Michel Gondry. His surreal stories, whether told through live action or stop motion animation, always hold your attention firmly on the screen - I'm always dying to see what happens next (and then I try to figure out how he did it!) Enjoy!

Stereogram Walkie Talkie Man


Devendra Banhart


Beck Deadweight




White Stripes



Lucas With the Lid Off


Daft Punk Around the World


Paul McCartney Dance Tonight


Beck Cellphone's Missing


Chemical Brothers Let Forever Be