I’m gonna keep this short today, as I injured my hand late last week and am still on the one-handed mend. I recently came across this creative project by Angelica Dass and was really drawn to it. It’s a gem of an exhibition, and when I first saw it, I thought it was from Pantone’s marketing team and was quite pleased to see an effort beyond branded merchandise.
Then, I realized it was an outside project. In the world of mug, makeup and fashion collaborations, this initiative speaks to the soul, touching the entire human race. Everyone’s skin color fits within Pantone’s classification system and the neutral portraiture is quite striking. If I worked at there, I’d get on the phone with Dass immediately and try to broker a collaboration.
Phillip Dunne is an artist from northside Dublin, Ireland. For the past five years, he’s been working as an artist on a variety of commercial, personal and published art projects. His distinctive style of colorful, intricate work is a combination of traditional and digital mediums such as pencil, pen, watercolor, ink and digital coloring and rendering using computer applications. He is a member of Depthcore, an international modern art collective.
When flipping through the January 2012 Vogue, it took us about half a second to notice something familiar about the Lexus ad (as seen on the left). Immediately, we called to mind the meticulously dissembled works of Todd McLellan (example on the right) that we spotted last February whose images were quickly disseminated throughout the blogosphere with glee. Could Lexus have gotten their inspiration from Todd who incidentally also photographs cars and advertisements?
A little digging finds that this photograph from Lexus was only the beginning of a project in which four fashion designers – Moss Lipow, Eddie Borgo, John Patrick and Alejandro Ingelmo – were challenged to “rethink their notions of automotive design” for an ad campaign slated to appear in Vogue.
A Lexus CT 200h hybrid car was taken apart and from the pieces the designers created clothing and accessories. The results of the project were on display at the recent Art Basel Miami Beach.
We think the approach is interesting and certainly touches on a number of markets. Of course, fans of Todd’s work (and probably the mechanically inclined, too) will appreciate the peculiar beauty of seeing a machine taken apart and laid out piece by piece. Enthusiasts of repurposing goods, especially the parts of gadgets (example: watch parts) to make accessories will also likely take note. Intent on showing off both their goals for sustainability and their innovative engineering – and likewise an apparent appreciation for creative thinking – Lexus also might make you think about the cycle of inspiration and of the lines in which art, advertising and design blend, merge and where, if any, are there boundaries.
Every artist loves a happy accident. For those who are unfamiliar with this term, a happy accident is an unexpected and unintended creative mistake that ends up being more brilliant than your day’s work. For those in search of a tool that offers a degree of uncertainty and requires little to no prep, spray paint is the way to go. Many designers have taken note, as this technique has gained momentum in creative studios throughout the globe. Curiosity, the Japanese brainchild of Gwenael Nicolas and Reiko Miyamoto, was established in 1998 and caters primarily to the design needs of luxury clients. Combining saturated pigments with Shu Uemura‘s eau de toilette collection, Curiosity’s bottle art emulates the textural results of a prolonged spray.
ABC Carpet gets a lot of airtime on Pattern Pulp. Their retail installments set an industry standard and usually showcase an organic interpretation of modern materials. Their latest window display accentuates plant growth with the use of neon paint and an imperfect stencil. Adding russian flair and gold pigment, Stoli’s recent marketing campaign revives it’s expressionist roots, stenciling illegible phrases alongside chic photography.
Tapping academic and artistic references, John Powell’s 1990 MIT exhibit, Partial Lines, uses holographic installations to convey depth and plane. Utilizing a similar technique for their hair powder packaging, the creative ingenues at Bumble and Bumble encase their alternative shampoos in subtle spray dust. Tying this collection together, silhouette graffiti, such as this colorless image, is a careful execution of expressive markings paired with restrictive boundaries.
Back in February, Pattern Pulp cited Andre Saraiva’s Monsieura graffiti on the streets of Silverlake. Ever since our highlight, the commercialization of this toothy character has upped the ante. Belvedere Vodka’s latest marketing campaign, entitled One-X, tiles edgy party pics from Belvedere influencer nights with hot pink graffiti faces. The campaign is currently papering walls on Prince street as well as trendsetting magazines such as Interview and Anthem.
Marketing teams love to engage their clients’ customers. For loyal fans, nothing can quite compare to customizable products that are both useful and super cool. Last week, a friend and former colleague, J. Nordberg, passed along the link to Champion’s Hoodie Contest, the athletic company’s latest attempt at rebranding their 80’s style sweats. “I think the contest appeals to its core audience who are urban individuals exerting control over their lives and their style, not to mention, its fun! You can totally make mistakes and not have to pay for them and if you come up with a beautifully designed hoodie, it feels like your own creation. It also internalizes the brand,” says Nordberg. Though this concept certainly isn’t a new one, the submissions thus far are staggeringly different and quite striking. Spend your lunch hour getting creative, facebook servers could use the break!
