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.”
Gastón Caba
Gastón Caba is an artist and collaborator extraordinaire. His company, We 
Patterns, produces cute, colorful repeats and illustrations. What you might not know though, is that Caba collaborates with his daughter Lara for a majority of their designs, converting her sketches and illustrations into polished repeats. The results are thoughtful, commercial and a refreshing combo of street meets junior. Check out our Q & A for a window into the world of this Buenos Aires family man.
Artist Profile: Joachim Castaneda
Every once in a while I get an email from a designer that’s not on my radar and it makes my day. Not long ago, Joachim Castaneda reached out, sending along a vibrant portfolio filled with cartoon whimsy. Originally from San Diego, Castaneda grew up in San Francisco and is now living in Barcelona. This is his first collection of paintings and drawings and it’s currently on display at La Petita Galeria. It’s mighty impressive for a first exhibition.
The mission behind Castaneda’s work reveals the conflict between desire and materialism in relation to our value system. The goal aims to provoke and provide awareness.
Book Review: D&AD 2011
As 2011 heads steadily toward the New Year, people start to think about the holidays and review the past twelve months. With that in mind, for this week’s book review we have up for offer D&AD 2011, which feature’s the year’s best creative work. The D&AD awards panel judges over 20,000 works from design studios, ad agencies, branding consultancies, film production agencies, digital media pioneers, and other creative firms from all over the globe. Winners receive the legendary D&AD Yellow Pencil Award—or in the case of exceptional and outstanding work, the rare Black Pencil Award. This review of the winners serves as a one-stop-shop for everything that’s hot in the field. Anyone interested in creativity, communication, design, or advertising would love to have D&AD Annual for their coffee tables and book shelves.
Fashion: Texture & Tweed
It’s always refreshing to see the art of the illustration hasn’t been completely lost to mass market CAD drawings. This past Fall, the FT Weekend ran a story by Nick Foulkes highlighting five satorial personalities coming out of new money England. The piece is tongue and cheek and I’ve held onto the scans waiting to pair them up with something, but finally figured the detailing is remarkable on it’s own. If anyone knows the artist, do share, as the credit was missing in the spread.
Artist Profile: Claudio Parentela
Claudio Parentela gets collage. He also gets patterns, chaos and illustration. Parentela recently reached out and it took but a second to get lost in his work as each piece is a mastery in storytelling. On a budget of scissors, magazines, paint and pens, each design takes you to an alternate universe of lucid imagination.
Which piece speaks to you?