On more than one occasion I’ve found myself trying to explain to my “non-designer” friends that there’s a major blessing and a curse to being a designer, or any artist for that matter. It’s virtually impossible to turn it off. Whether sitting in front of a computer screen with the Adobe Creative Suite open or not, subconsciously or consciously, I look at the world in spacial relationships, color, composition, etc. And yes, that foot mark instead of an apostrophe on that billboard along the highway is making my eyes bleed! The blessing part is when you see that image in front of you that’s so unexpected and serendipitous that you just have to grin from ear to ear. The curse? That you forgot your camera. Well, Matt Stuart doesn’t forget his camera. If you need a bit of a pick-me-up… browse through his collection of incredible “Happy Accidents” photographs. They warm my little designer heart. Here are a select few:
(Have a Happy Accident you’d like to share?? Email me your images and I’ll post the collection to the re:mused blog. { hello@remusedstudio.com })
Trend spotting: Astronaut art.
Jeremy Geddes. AMAZING paintings I only wish I could see in person.
Vincent Fournier. Beautiful photography project entitled “Space Project,” fittingly.
Joby Hickey & Victor Ash. Street art.
Cory McAbee’s The American Astronaut. I was drawn in by the movie poster… but the trailer is something else! A little bit La Jetée, a splash of 1984, and a hint of Metropolis. A press quote reads, “Imagine a long Laurel & Hardy skit directed by Salvador Dali” – Entertainment Weekly. It apparently came out in 2001 and cleaned up on the festival circuit. Don’t know how I could have missed this one in my film studies during art school. I mean, a space-western/musical? Yes, please. Definitely going to have to rent it. I’ll let you know if it’s out of this world.
One of my favorite design blogs, Notcot.org, had a featured post on one of my favorite illustrators, Andrew Bannecker, this week. I stumbled upon his work a few years ago and came oh-so-close to having the opportunity to work with him on a project, and my heart sank when there was a last minute change in direction. I love love love his work, so in honor of the upcoming “holiday,” here are a few of my favorites…
It brought me Happy Joy to see that a selection of his prints are now available in his online shop.
Listening to the new Midlake album, The Courage of Others, while simultaneously going through some fantastic old photos of my parents “hippie” years. Seems fitting. Going to have to find a way to sneak The BeeKeeper into some album artwork someday…
Listen to track:
My talented friend, Philipp Streibe, has relaunched his website, updated with some of his newest breathtaking fine art photography. Some of which were even shot here at the home of re:mused studio. I can’t decide which I like better, his color work or black and white, his portraits or landscapes… Here are a few of my personal favorites (click to view larger):
I quite often introduce Philipp as “Possibly the nicest German you’ll ever meet,” so it’s pretty easy for me to get behind this artist with my genuine support. I have no doubt you will be seeing a lot more coming from his lens. Perhaps a future collaboration project with re:mused? (ahem, hint hint, Philipp.)
View the rest of his work here.
And check out his blog for updates, inspirations, Holga photos, music recommendations, etc.
The phenomenal Bay Area talent, Elliot Randall (no, NOT the guy from Steeley Dan) came to re:mused before the holidays to do the artwork for his new album with his band The Deadmen. We’ve been working together since the first EP he put out, but collaborating this time around proved things do keep getting better with time.
First off, Elliot Randall & The Deadmen have truly hit their stride with “Caffeine & Gasoline.” Elliot co-produced the album with David Simon-Baker (ALO, Mother Hips, Jackie Greene… and just happens to be one of my favorite people), creating an alt-country/americana rock record to be reckoned with. The album officially releases on February 9, 2010. You can watch some behind the scenes footage here:
The album artwork was a blast to create, drawing inspiration from the warm, gritty, southern sound the band creates. Special thanks to photographer David Arnspiger of Traumantic Studios for letting me play with his photographs!
The band is currently touring up and down the west coast in support of the album. Check out the dates here and preview the music on their myspace page or at amazon.com (my favorite track so far: “Judgement Day”).
