My tribute to El Día de los Muertos!

I decided that if I ever get to participate in El Día de los Muertos, I would want to draw out the masks I would make. Here's one with a Whale Tiara and an open wound.

Hark! Kahlo

This is a little gem from Hark, a vagrant. A comic interpretation of history. Ingeniously written and drawn.

Change A Reputation

I would have never guessed that I would be lecturing in my life - Let alone for a bunch of MA students who are about to embark on their 3rd pivotal brief. This is where they get to pitch their revamp of a product to Design Bridge in London.

I'm going to let them in on some of my experiences winning this brief and some key insights to get some ferocious, cut throat designs out on the table.

Humor As Seen On Paper

India : The Short Story

There isn't a better opportunity than a friend's wedding to sharpen up your photography skills - Last week I made my way down to India for my friends wedding and did just that. The Saris, the mendhi the ceremonies are so intricate and detailed it could overwhelmed the most experienced wedding goer/traveller. Not to mention the variety of dances, temples and markets. 

In between the ceremonies, a bunch of us had time to venture around Mumbai in the street equivalent of a roller-coaster - Rickshaws. On Sundays you can catch a wedding that's taken to the streets with dancers causing roadblocks and painting the town in flowers. Sometimes elephants to make their debut on the street as they shift large amounts of luggage across states.

If you ever get the chance, I strongly recommend you do an Indian wedding at least once and go to India a dozen times.

Poppin' Cherries : MA 2010 Cohort Present Brief 1

I was very lucky to be apart of a Judging panel (which also consisted of Damian Chapman and Tim)  for the first brief given to this year's newbies at UCA.

Here were some of the highlights:

I was truly inspired by some of the rawness that was just bludgeoned on screen by Bring Back the Bacon.  They made a video 

What made the day for me? Shi introducing his team, Alchemists. He started off a toned down but very spirited version of Axel Rose dancing and mixing flasks of food colouring. Then drank it before starting their presentation. They then burst their shirts 

After Dark - subtly clever and the ones to watch. They really set the tone  and were full of magic.  Our panel were taken aback and needed a breather at the end of their presentation before continuing on to the next team. 

One More Sense played the brand narrative like a fiddle. And they are Live. 

The winners of the day were the Alchemists. With four major briefs in the wings I wonder who will oust them. 

I'll link all the teams  once they get their sites go LIVE. hint hint. 

 

The Bunny Suit

A self-portrait.

Doodles

                                    Fruit Man & Owl

                                   What Was Her Name?

Sketching out some of the faces I try to remember in my dreams. 

Yeti In the City - Lookin for work

England has been one crazy story right up to this day since I moved here two years ago. So I've decided to make a few sketches of my experiences as I deem them strange and note worthy. Recently, I've revamped my 'folio and started making the rounds at big companies. As I walked through the doors of one very reputable company, I saw the secretary drinking up a tub of mayo. Utterly Rank. 

My photos exhibited in the Roundhouse !

The Roundhouse ran art programs throughout the summer and I decided it was a good idea to join Aperture Bootcamp, a photography class that allowed us to run around with Canon 5 d's  in Camden Town. 

Simon Rowe and Marta set us our brief to interpret the song, 'Smells Like Content' by The Books. Full of paradoxes and moods, there was a lot to explore and play with. 

I was lucky enough to have my work exhibited in the Roundhouse Gallery. The show wraps up in three weeks so if you are there to catch a concert, shop around in the Lock or performance swing by. 

And some briefs feel like...

Summer Sketches

Pimp My Portfolio

Hello,

I've been a busy stranger - hopefully I'll be blogging straight from my website in a few weeks time. I promise some tasteful previews of what I've been up to as they come to launch.

Listen up UCA graduates 08/09 and everyone else who has recently graduated from an art course - Pimp my portfolio is a site that links creative graduates to industry. I've personally had the pleasure of speaking to the ladies who've set up the site and let me tell you this - they are very well connected and extremely passionate.

First 500 places are free so get your butt registered. Pronto Tonto!

My Sketchy To-Do Lists

Hey guys, Just started to make my to-do lists and notes slightly more exciting. Comment away.

A Wolf Loves Pork!

Very Clever! Enjoy this stop motion story by Takeuchi Taijin.

Gaming with Vector Park

If you have ever come across some of Vector Park's ambient flash worlds, then perhaps you may be interested in having your own lil piece of Windowsill.

If not, this is for anyone who gets easily bored of online games. Your level of curiosity narrates where you go with the simple goal of finding the cube to move on from one stage to the next.

This thing giggles your illogical and logical crazy intuition, it silently screams at you and leaves you abruptly wanting more.

Its almost like this creature of a game pulling at your brain as you play.

La Vie En Poupre

Hello, Who is up for it. I feel like practicing my dying french, let's knock their socks off. Any takers?!

Matt Small

does these fabulously bursting portraits. ah. He paints on pieces of metal and you feel the painting instantly. In two words: Poised Hastiness.

Word To Mother

Mixed Media that is somewhat refreshing. For the asking price of £2000, I wouldn't necessarily fork it all out but I appreciate the simple style and craftsmanship.

My apologies for not blogging of late.. but you will soon discover why. ;)

Balls Dipped in Cheese

Yes I deserve to be shot for posting this...but I love Caruso. And his hairline.

Mow it Do it!

Ladies, summer is edging nearer .... and you can put those old baking stencils to use with a sword ;) a Wilkinson one that is.

And on The Side - New Religion

When I first saw this I just thought okay a cross. I think after a few runs down Bond St. I finally noticed that there were pills adorned on the cross. This was apart of a four piece sculpturet by Damian Hirst which now sits alone in a random shop window. It was a refreshing new approach for the often grotesque sculptor who had previously depicted the Last Supper in a installation with bludgeoned cow heads. He often has a way of placing his questions and ideas through his artwork : Is faith a drug? Is religion medicated?!

Exciting as a Pizza Box

Murakami's exhibition was very disappointing.
Seriously.. ONLY FOUR PIECES OF WORK, who are your brokers, hire me instead.

White Collar Weapons

I got the chance to come along to gig at Brixton Jamm (turned out to be a hidden gem of venue) to see White Collar Weapons! With a violin, sax, harmonica paired up with killer vocals, piano and guitar the crowd ate up each of their songs.

They oozed super energy, they will be the ones to watch... labels hello!
I will bring my army to their next performance and so should you.

Band From TV

Hugh Laurie, Jesse Spencer and James Denton are apart of a musical ensemble that features cast members from varies TV shows performing on Jay Leno.

YETI IN THE CITY

Looks like a colourful yeti.

Other Criteria

You betcha, and this is on Bond Street.

MY Maktoob Debut

Check it out. I'm on Maktoob and my traffic has just spiked up!

EXCLUSIVE - Scouting Locations for Claire

Listen up! I have the exclusive video scouting locations for the up and coming independent film Claire. Take it away Vimeo.

If you can't put your heart on your sleave..

Put it on your shoe. Honesty is affordable at a mere £ 65.

Getting the Hang of It

Twitter and Tweeting would never cross your mind as a possible means of employment or collaborating with others on jobs. Well, it can provide that opportunity for you. With Google eying to buy the social networking site for over $ 250 million, there's a lot more to those 140 words than what you initially think. Companies use the website to advertise jobs, problems etc as they day progresses, which gives the idle twitter the chance to apply or help out. An interesting way of building a network of contacts and bringing traffic to your site, attention to your portfolio. Join and follow me on there too. Cheers!

Squirrel Fishing

Squirrel Fishing : An Instructional Video. This will be all the RAGE this summer. You heard it here first. W00t.

Charities Are Violent

Grey London recently released this ad to bring awareness to Domestic Violence that will be shown in 15 rated theaters across the U.K beginning today...

GENIUS ALERT

They've done it again! Cheap thrills AHOY! So... want to catch a sneak peak of a video at work, Gmail have enabled it on their gtalk feature in their mail. HOW AWESOME..

Riding the Umemployment Saddle

Big Topic - Tons of things to consider.

As a lot of people know, all the big ad agencies sent out a cold and harrowing email back in December claiming an International freeze on recruitment ongoing into it's third quarter. For those of us designers in London, that was one of the stillest months we had ever experienced. However, this was a superb opportunity to take a honest look at what our portfolios had, revamp and have a game plan.

So If you are in this position here is what to do :

1- Redesign Your Portfolio - give it a big idea and make sure it flows through

2- Scout Out The Companies - Aim for the small Agencies - Submit and Call in 4 days

3- Develop Personal Projects - Plenty of time on your hands ? Make your portfolio available online and take the time to develop a personal project or enter competitions. There's a Levi's on right now. Go for it.

4- Brush Up On Your Computer Skills -whether its programming, video-editing or intern - You never know what new skill you will need to fulfill your job - Remember employers want a one stop shop so make sure you are the best candidate for the position

5- Network Baby -Dig up all your old contacts and start sending out your portfolio/self promotional items. There's bound to be something there. Get on twitter/delicious/etc. Live projects from a simple business card to a brochure can keep your caffeine habit boisterous and your wallet half full.

Found this Helpful? Bookmark or Twitter about it.
This sent you bareback into a antelope joust? Tell all

Egypt Tourism Sponsors Naked Pole Vaulter

Ah, a good cause. Romain Mesnil, a silver medalist at the Osaka games has been stripped from his sponsorship deal. In protest he ran around Paris, butt naked. Thanks to the crisis, BBC has put some sponsored links throughout their website; and in this instance it's Egypt Tourism. Quiet the change of heart since December when they wouldn't air some relief ads for Palestinian Relief.

Naked Men = Good Arab Sponsorship
War Relief = Bad Arab Sponsorship

Just saying....

Do It Yourself Dress

Never found the right colour to your outfit? Well Berber Soepboer approached Michiel Schuurman in August 2008 to design the textile for a series of dresses. The COLOURING & the ASSEMBLY dresses were shown on the 7th of September in Bergeick in 'De Ploeg', a very famous textile factory. Although Michiel spent a lot of time to design over a 100 patterns and Berber worked around the clock to get the sewing and the hundreds of buttons done, the result proves the chemistry between them. (Reported by Yatzer)

Claire in the Making

I've got the exclusive on a movie in the making : Claire . It touches on some interesting issues including virtual tombstones. According to the director, Dan, Claire plays upon both Ego and Obsession.

Jack is the high school football hero. He couldn't care less when Claire, a girl he didn't know, is struck and killed by a drunk driver. But when Jack discovers a photo of Claire where she is staring directly at him, things change. Clues pile up that indicate Claire may have had an interest in Jack. He plunges into Claire's life, learning little by little who she was. His interest in Claire sparks issues within his own social circle as he uncovers friends who had wronged her in the past. His own life spirals out of control as curiosity turns to obsession and high school drama escalates, pushing his friends, future and sanity to the edge. The final blow comes in the form of a terrifying question: Did he unwittingly play a role in Claire's death?"

If any of you out there happen to travel out West to California this summer, you can volunteer or be cast as an extra. For more info log on to:

http://www.claireisdead.com/
http://www.indiegogo.com/claire

Avez Vous Deja Vu?

A super short animation where viewers find themselves seeing interesting ironic/dark/humorous scenarios, directed by Pierre-Alain Bloch.

Art Dubai 09

Ah I miss Dubai and the shows that keep coming and I keep missing.

Six Senses in Technology

How Awesome is this! Perhaps not the best way to pick up people.. but doubly impressive if you can draw a watch on your hand and tell the time.

Personal Fudge Factoring : Sweaters make cheaters!

Abstract :

Ariely has long been fascinated with how emotional states, moral codes and peer pressure affect our ability to make rational and often extremely important decisions in our daily lives -- across a spectrum of our interests, from economic choices (how should I invest?) to personal (who should I marry?). At Duke, he's aligned with three departments (business, economics and cognitive neuroscience); he's also a visiting professor in MIT's Program in Media Arts and Sciences and a founding member of the Center for Advanced Hindsight. His hope that studying and understanding the decision-making process can help people lead better, more sensible daily lives.

I am a huge fan of TED.com, and here is a guy who.. intrigued me to say the least with his experiments on pain, and personal fudge factoring.

Towards the end though he did state something that caught me off guard..
Can intuition be systematic??????