The Essence of Contemporary Illustration

In recent years, illustration has evolved from a purely service-oriented trade to an expressive, poetic, and esteemed voice in contemporary visual culture. Even today, it continues to flourish and grow as a creative discipline––especially in its more artistic forms. Editorial design increasingly uses illustration in place of photography because of the way it depicts and enriches content in a manner that offers an expanded dimension of communication. Illustrators Unlimited presents the work of the latest cutting-edge illustration talents scouted from around the world.

October 6, 2011 | By: Shayna Kulik

Book Review: Digital Textile Design

Digital Textile Design is a practical and inspiring book written for fabric designers and those looking to learn more about the burgeoning world of digital printing. Filled with more than 300 photographs and screen-grabs, this book offers 23 tutorials presented in an easy to follow, step-by-step format that guides the reader through the process of creating designs suitable for traditional and digital textile production.

Against the backdrop of the development of digital print, the book discusses how designers can access this new technique, looks at the work of those currently exploring it’s possibilities and has profiles of designers currently excelling in this form of design.

The book also features the growing movement of combining digital textile design skills with those of surface design to bring hand-rendered touches that offset the apparent flatness of print. Digital Textile Design is an excellent resource for anyone looking for the skills to translate their ideas into digital textile art.

September 30, 2011 | By: Shayna Kulik

Louise Bourgeois: The Fabric Works

Louise Bourgeois has been creating art since the 1930’s, but it was primarily in the 1990’s and beyond when she started incorporating the clothing of her loved ones into her sculptures and drawings. Her uniquely visual approach to fabric transforms decorative accessories into emotional and personal references, creating representations of womanhood.

In 2002, she began exploring the iridescent colors and formal structural properties of her own clothing, which resulted in “The Fabric Drawings.” These pieces are astonishing works alternating between floral figurative pieces and chromatic abstractions. Louise Bourgeois: The Fabric Works reflects the work from her solo show and goes beyond with its immersive collection of 300 sculptures, assemblages, and collages.

Fabric drawings via A Controlled Substance

September 22, 2011 | By: Shayna Kulik

Book Review: Design*Sponge at Home

The much anticipated Design*Sponge at Home by Grace Bonney is finally out and we couldn’t be more thrilled! The large and luscious book is a testament to all of the things that have made the blog the institution that it has become since it’s 2004 launch. Bursting at the seams, the book contains fifty exciting do-it-yourself projects; home tours of 70 interiors featuring artists and designers; step-by-step tutorials on home improvement skills; fifty before-and-after makeover submitted by readers; essential tips on flower arranging; and, not least, 700 photographs to boggle your design hungry mind.

We love the content and spirit of the site and its namesake book for making home design exciting, interesting and most of all accessible to all, which is, in our opinion, just as it should be. It’s not every day that a blog translates into a book as well as Design*Sponge at Home, so watch the trailer, pick one up to get inspired offline today. For more images, click here.

September 15, 2011 | By: Shayna Kulik

Book Review: Graphic Design Thinking

A good part of creativity may be an inborn talent, but it’s also a hard-earned skill that improves with time and practice. Graphic Design Thinking: Beyond Brainstorming centers on how to define problems, get ideas and create form.

These concepts are explored through a variety of informal techniques ranging from quick, seat-of-the-pants approaches to more formal research methods for stimulating fresh thinking, and ultimately arriving at compelling and viable solutions. As a designer, writer, curator, and educator, author Ellen Lupton is well suited for the task of extolling the virtues and vices of creative research that includs focus groups, interviewing, brand mapping, and co-design.

Cover image via Anny Mary Liu

September 7, 2011 | By: Shayna Kulik

Zandra Rhodes: Textile Revolution

Zandra Rhodes has been designing textiles since the 1960’s. Her outrageous, kaleidoscopic patterns took the world by storm at a time when markets were more conservative. When Rhodes’ work was considered too taboo for traditional British manufacturers, she took matters into her own hands, sewing her own dresses and pioneering print and production as a unified process. She’s been a iconic pink-haired working legend ever since.

Zandra Rhodes: Textile Revolution: Medals, Wiggles and Pop 1961-1971 is a exciting book that showcases her earliest and wildest designs. Featuring previously unpublished textiles, drawings, and archival images combined with fashion photography by Clive Arrowsmith, Guy Bourdin, Henry Clarke, David Bailey, Helmut Newton, and Richard Traeger, this stylish book is a must for anyone interested in textiles, patterns, fashion and fashion history.

August 26, 2011 | By: Shayna Kulik