gluebook

Am I Collective

2009-05-21T01:57:00.000-07:00

Am I Collective is a Cape Towen based studio that specialises in illustration with a strong South African flair.

The am i collective is a studio of diversely talented individuals each bringing
to the table their own unique creative ability, be it design, illustration or
fine art. Working in collaboration builds the collective as a group where
original styles and techniques are introduced, implemented and encouraged in
order to hone new skills and ensure diversity as a result. The am i collective
was created to inject the advertising industry with fresh ideas and furnish the
agencies with polished work. Catering primarily to advertising agencies, the
collective also indulges in projects of its own on an ad hoc basis as
inspiration dictates.The am i collective is a dynamic environment where
different styles are constantly explored and new possibilities are discovered
through the merging of individual methods and techniques.

Going Green

2009-05-16T01:54:00.000-07:00

Congratulation to Nivesh Rawatlal for coming in as the second runner-up in the Woolworths/House and Leisure Going Green Competition.

My design is sustainable as it’s durable and nontoxic. My place mats would be
cost effective to produce. The material I chose was canvas, as it’s great to
work with. I got my inspiration from looking around me … in my studio, wherever
I walked. It was a combination of many things that had been building up in my
headspace.

Egg and milk

2009-05-03T00:41:00.000-07:00

Egg design is a South African Company founded in 1996 by Greg and Roché Dry.

“We fuel our creativity by working across the genres of design, in our environments we apply a pragmatic approach while still striving for excitement and innovation as well as strict attention to detail, while in our furniture we take a more exploratory and provocative approach to hopefully excite or agitate”

Egg has won the local arm of the Elle Décor designer of the year award in 2004 and 2005, as well as best seating in 2008.

Egg’s works have appeared in diverse local and international publications; Visi, House & Leisure, Elle Décor Metropolis, Surface, Interni, Ottagono, I.D, AD&D design issue, Icon, World of Interiors to name a few.

Egg’s signature “yellow desert rose locker” was auctioned at Christies prestigious 20th century design auction, New York in 2007.

Kind pockets

2009-04-25T03:07:00.000-07:00

Richard Hart of Disturbance held his debut solo exhibition Whatiftheworld in Cape Town recently.

Kind Pockets is an exploration of the concept of the marsupial girl, an
imaginary archetype. Aesthetically the work references the visual vernacular of
popular youth culture, bringing to mind the work of artists such as Rita
Ackermann, Aya Takano and Yoshitomo
Nara. At surface level the work seems to deal with the ephemeral – themes
such as beauty, fashion, innocence and adolescence. But on closer inspection the
girls and their animal companions populate a disquieting world where the fragile
present threatens to shatter into something more sinister.
Read and see more at Whatiftheworld.

Hylton Warburton

2009-04-20T12:44:00.000-07:00

For those of you that haven't been to Hylton Warburtons flickre site yet...[see side bar], here's a sneak preview.

Hylton recently completed his B Tech in Graphic Design and illustrated a book, 'The boy who wished'. You can view all the pages on his flickr site.

Colwyn Thomas

2009-04-15T09:59:00.000-07:00

We've featured Colwyn Thomas in passing, but we think he deserves another mention.

Colwyn graduated from the Michaelis school of Fine Art in 2003. A classical
training in line drawing has gradually merged with a variety of modern styles
and techniques to create a body of work rooted both within and without
traditional codes of the old and new.
Work ranges from poster design and magazine illustration to online animations

You can read about him at Sparx Media and have a look see at his work. Or you can visit Stone the Crows or the Bank Gallery which features more of his photography.

Lomo

2009-04-15T02:18:00.000-07:00

Our students recently completed their Lomography assignment. Go to our flickr site to see the pics. Fabulous as always! [Under Lomo tag]

Milan and Madhoo!

2009-04-08T07:39:00.000-07:00

Nirma Madhoo Chipps, a lecturer in the DUT Fashion Department recently won the C'N'C Plug Generation logo competition. Her winning design was showcased in Milan at the C'N'C Winter Fall Fashion show 2009! Go to the C'N'C site to read her diary of the trip. The site scrolls sideways.

Oops!

2009-04-05T09:44:00.000-07:00

Seems as though we slipped up on the Makhulu Polane 2008 announcement re their annual t-shirt winners.

Much fun was had by all it seems, with Gerrit Breitenbach bagging himself R20 000 in cash as well as Makhulu fame for his interpretation of Funny Galore.

Going green

2009-04-05T08:02:00.000-07:00

See what socially conscious brands are up to at myBrandedLife! This fleece is by Cape Union Mart.

Interview with Trevor Paul

2009-04-02T01:48:00.000-07:00

Trevor Paul is a designer and illustrator that lives and works in Durban under the name Firebrand...

Marie Claire: Astrology Illustrations

Loeries Awards: finalist in Environmental Design and eventual runner up

Q: Where did you study?
A:I studied the graphic graphic design course at the Art Foundation in Johannesburg, which I completed in 1993.

Q: Why did you decide to settle in Durban when the world is your oyster?
A: I grew up in Johannesburg, but have no connection to that place at all. Durban is home. Maybe it's the ocean and the warm weather. Durban's full of interesting, creative people and isn't as image or money conscious. It's down to earth, sea-level.

Q: Do you believe in design process? And if so, what is your modes operandum?
A: Good design and illustration have to have process. which gets easier with experience (directly linked to how relaxed and confident you are in your own creativity). One shouldn't get too hung up on creative blocks early on.

A strong idea is more important than execution - a polished poop is still a poop. Sometimes the conceptualizing and looking for inspiration and reference, takes longer than the final artwork. I try draw inspiration from unusual sources. That will result in the project at hand being unusual and memorable.

Q: Tell us about the Design Indaba magazine feature.
A: I lived in London,and traveled, and over the course of two years produced a journal. Mostly in felt pen, pen and ink, ballpoint pen and collage.

A lot of the content could be criticised for being narcissistic, cynical, contrived or just plain infantile, but it was fun. It was therapy. That’s all that mattered at that stage of my life. It was a growth process. It was a trusty companion during some lonely patches while travelling around.

(Trevor’s pages were first exhibited at Beanbag Bohemia. At the gallery opening (a sell-out!) the work was spotted by fashion designers The Holmes Brothers. An exhibit at their store launched their winter range, and sold there for a few months. Tales from the Shallow End featured in Design Indaba 4th Quarter 2006. here )

Design Indaba: Tales from the Shallow End.

His work for Iron Fist won him a coveted spot in the '200 Best Illustrators Worldwide' Archive

Q: Tell us about Black Burru!
A: Black Burru is a close descendent of the Black Rat and is the true culprit behind the 14th century pandemic, the Bubonic Plague, or Black Death. I created plush versions of the Burru for the Bigwood 1 exhibition last year. Go to Mojizu vote for Black Burru!)

Q: How did you create the fella?
A: I sketched the character first, and scanned and traced him in Freehand. Then dropped the character into Photoshop and lifted the eyes and some textures from the bird.

Q:If you had any advice to give students what would it be?
A:If I have an illustration to do, I won't look at at other illustrators' work. Inspiration is everywhere, why be that loser who steals? So many younger artists are copying other artists' work think they won't get noticed. Just because you don't know that artists work doesn't mean nobody else does.

Like someone did the Sunday Magazine cover this weekend and they ripped off Miss Van completely. That artist will battle to find credibility ever again, because even if they do something original, or develop their own style they'll never shake that hack reputation. People will always wonder where they stole it.

That's not to say you can't learn from other people's work. Students should look at trends, or styles and do their own adaptations of those things and then move on. Then it becomes a learning process.

It's when you adapt it in your own way that it becomes original. And it should be fun. Nobody can do good work if they lack confidence in themselves or are taking it all too seriously. You have to really believe you're good at what you do, it'll reflect in your design and illustration and eventually other people will start believing you too.

Go to Firebrand to see more fantastic work.

Vava-Visi

2009-04-01T07:10:00.000-07:00

The latest issue of Visi is now on the shelves, and features the hottest home-grown talent. As always their section double page spreads are a delight: this time in contour line drawings and flat colour.

Visit their site and read their new blog.

Miller's marvelous

2009-03-05T05:24:00.000-08:00

Karin Miller is a South African artist and graphic designer who combines traditional artwork skills and photography with modern technology.

Karin manages to fuse past and present in a true ecclectic African style, which reminds us of our Trechikov favourites. She works with meticulous attention to detail and conveys a theatrical flamboyance, rich in quirky humour and playfulness. Her work has been featured on numerous De KAt covers and well as in Visi magazine.

She recently launched a range of notebooks which can be found at Fat Tuesday in Kloof.

Woolworths

2009-02-26T03:37:00.000-08:00

' Woolworths is switching from plastic to cardboard packaging for its ‘to go’ range of sandwiches. The cardboard used in the new pack is certified as coming from a sustainable and well-managed forest. While the transparent window may look like it is made from plastic, it is in fact made from corn, another renewable resource.'

For full story go to Design Magazine.

Tip-top-tees

2009-02-25T01:01:00.000-08:00

Mingo Lamberti selects designers to illustrate for his t-shirt range.

Lawrence Lemaoana

2009-02-21T08:00:00.000-08:00

Lawrence Lemaoana is Lions rugby player turned artist who specialises in Photoshop, photography and fabric collage. Listen to his interview and read more about what inspires him at The Times. See more of his work at ArtExtra.

Gameplan for 2010

2009-02-20T05:26:00.000-08:00

Southern Art Ceramics is mentoring and assisting Sim and Goodman in the creation and management of their art business trading as Tsepe Tsepe Design. They have their eye firmly on the 2010 ball by applying their skills and creating prototypes for later development. So far they've experimented with mugs and these amazing platters.

Black Coffee

2009-02-16T23:48:00.001-08:00

Danica lepen and Jaques van der Watt are 'Black Coffee'. A cutting edge design duo that are inspired by local living. The couple won the True Love SA Fashion Award in 2007 and on the 4 February 2009, the prestigious Mercedes Benz Award for SA Fashion 2009. Read more at The Times. Their website lives up to their clean and refreshing style.

Bigwood goes big.

2009-02-11T23:54:00.000-08:00

Our Durbanites have gone large and exhibit at Artspace Berlin this month.
Exhibitors include the likes of Wesley van Eeeden, Richard Phipson, Trevor Paul, Hylton Warburton and Ross Turpin. Opens 20 Feb!

Heather Moore

2008-11-28T08:19:00.000-08:00

Heather says 'I'm an illustrator, writer and designer from Cape Town, South Africa...' but somehow this doesn't quite sum her up. There is very little that she doesn't seem to be able to do. From illustration, designing, photography, and screenprinting, to vinyl and paper cut outs. Find out more about her and her work on her blog or flickr.

{All pics from Skinny laMinx}

Seconds shine!

2008-10-28T11:51:00.000-07:00

'Street Art' by Jess Lee

The Second Years held their exhibit this week, and as usual they pulled some great rabbits out of the hat. We loved many, but thought the following deserved a mention.

For Arts sake!

2008-09-01T00:45:00.000-07:00

Aniboom animation

2008-08-23T06:23:00.000-07:00

Radiohead commissioned AniBoom to conduct an international competition for their next animated music video.
Gerhard Human from Soak Productions entered, and his video "All I Need" is currently in the semi-finals.. You can watch it on you tube or see more stills here.

Dexinger

2008-08-21T05:31:00.000-07:00

If you want a list of every possible design competition open to you go here.

ArtSpace

2008-08-19T00:43:00.000-07:00

This week at ArtSpace...

“Formation”
Dee Donaldson, Grace Kotze, Anet Norval, and Janet Solomon – Paintings (Main Gallery)

"Aids Prayer-Flags" -
Anne Cameron – Installation (Front Room)

This is an installation of 947 prayer-flags representing the 947 people who die of aids every day in South Africa. These numbers are based on the official 2006 statistics.

Hurry, the exhibition close on Saturday 23 August at 13h00.