Trey Speegle

A unique mix of commercial and fine art has characterized Trey Speegle’s diverse career. Using one of the world’s largest collections of vintage paint-by-number paintings as raw source material, he draws inspiration from it as a “visual vocabulary.” In his work, Speegle explores themes of hope, love, longing, and loss by using affirmations, double entendre, and word play that resonate with a broad Pop appeal. The Texas-born artist was part of the 80’s East Village art scene, designing catalogues for art galleries, producing downtown club events and curated various shows. For 25 years, he art directed and designed for many publications such as Vogue, Vanity Fair and US Weekly.

In 2009, he collaborated with Anthropologie to adapt his artwork to a variety of decorative home objects such as gift soaps, plates, puzzles, pillows, rugs, and bed linens that were available throughout the United States and London. He was also commissioned by Stella McCartney to create a 18 X 32’ painting as a backdrop for her runway show in Paris in October of ’09. Smaller versions of the painting were also created for McCartney’s Los Angeles, New York, Paris, London and Beijing shops in April ’10.

February 15, 2012 | By: Shayna Kulik

Micah Lidberg

The work in Micah Lidberg’s portfolio is abundantly colorful and frequently inspired by nature and dream-like worlds. His star has been steadily shining as his exposure grows in the gallery, product and editorial worlds. Nearly every drawing looks like it’s out of the playbook of Where the Wild Things Are, only infused with colorful, random twists that push the genre 10 leaps forward. When asked by Jessica Goldfond, of The Shiny Squirrel, what inspires him, Lidberg’s answer reminds us why you should trust your creative gut, “I’ve only had one memorable epiphany. A professor I had in England, Japser Goodall, told a bunch of us students to draw whatever we wanted to draw. It sounds silly that that sparked my epiphany, but it did the trick. I’ve been drawing furry dinosaurs and deranged clouds ever since.”

February 8, 2012 | By: Shayna Kulik

Lisa Toff

Lisa Toff is an illustrator, designer, photographer, traveler and explorer. She lives between Coney Island and Manhattan and works as a footwear designer for DKNY.

When she’s not illustrating shoes, she’s penning magnificant alphabets and scouring Coney Island, Tokyo and Paris for photographic inspiration. Schooled in art history, photography and communication design, it’s no wonder her talent’s vast in scope. Toff’s creative career’s a fun one to follow as she moves from project to project with consistant and creative ease. Have a look!

February 3, 2012 | By: Shayna Kulik

Mike Perry

Mike Perry is a Brooklyn based designer and artist working in a variety of mediums, including—but not limited to—books, magazines, newspapers, clothing, drawing, painting, and illustration. Compelled by the ways in which the hand-drawn informs and deepens contemporary visual culture, Perry doodles night and day, creating new typefaces and sundry graphics that inevitably evolve into his new work, believing that the generating of piles is the sincerest form of creative process. By ceaselessly mixing colors, pulling prints and building sculptures, he exercises his belief in the transformative power of making things. And the fruits of his labors do not go unnoticed as his work pops up just about everywhere.

Perry works regularly for a number of editorial and commercial clients including Apple, The New York Times, Dwell, Target, Urban Outfitters, eMusic, and Nike. In 2004, he was chosen as one of Step magazine’s 30 under 30, and, in 2007, as a “Groundbreaking Illustrator” by Computer Arts Projects. In 2008, he received Print magazine’s New Visual Artist award and the ADC Young Guns 6. His work has been exhibited around the world in numerous gallery shows. In addition to his commercial, non-profit, and art work, Perry has also published extensively with 4 books and a magazine under his belt with plans for more.

February 1, 2012 | By: Shayna Kulik

Famille Summerbelle

The work of Famille Summerbelle first caught our eye with their whimsical and meticulously detailed paper cut city maps, landing them in the top of our pattern designers list. Created by Anglo/French duo Simon Summerscales and Julie Marabelle, the inspiration for Famille Summerbelle came from the combination of family life experiences and a love of design and interior decoration. Together, they sought create the things that they wanted for their own home. La Famille Summerbelle’s design aesthetic is grounded in creating a mix between France and the UK. Famille Summerbelle may be a growing global brand, but they are still clearly very much a family business, reflected in their family friendly designs and sustainably focused mindset.

All products are imagined and designed by Julie, whose background is a mix of Fine Art (which she studied in Paris), and Theatre Set Design (which she studied at St Martin’s in London). This provides a balance of both artisanal skill and an understanding of dramatic backdrop in her work. Simon is managing director, and comes from a background in advertising where he worked for the world’s largest independent advertising agency, Wieden + Kennedy. He has worked internationally with brands such as Nike, Honda, Nokia and the Guardian Media Group.

January 30, 2012 | By: Shayna Kulik

Julien Rivoire

Julien Rivoire first caught our attention when we took note of the burgeoning trend of zippers in design a few years ago. His zipper print for Sixpack’s t-shirt collection was a favorite of ours and his bold, colorful, shape-centric work has been impressing us and the world ever since. No one trick pony, Riviore excels at everything from art direction to patterns to live video, as a part of the visual collectionWOOD in addition to his own Bastardgraphics studio.