Unfold is a small independent digital agency that designs innovative applications, websites, games, digital installations, and campaigns. The agency is comprised of seven creatives with a variety of backgrounds, and decades of combined experience. They are currently developing a new Unfold website, but the way their transitional website was designed and developed points towards this being an exciting agency.

Unfold’s transitional website (sections, pictured left) is a first-rate example of single page web design. The team employed automated parallax scrolling to move the user to sections up and down the page. There are HTML5 and jQuery flourishes to make an interesting interactive experience—without requiring Flash. They even included a few easter eggs for users who scroll around on their own. The site is a great way to introduce the agency and generate interest in what’s to come.

The agency has produced a small body of work, which is currently visible on Behance. The transitional website states the Unfold team is “driven by strong research and a sensible use of technology.” We believe this ethos translates to the clean, impactful designs that are visible throughout their growing portfolio.

Unfold is on Behance, Facebook, Twitter, and GitHub (for the developers out there).

Hailing from New York City, BoyBurnsBarn is a graphic design studio with a penchant for pushing the limits of design.  Their outstanding portfolio of work has been recognized by a who’s-who of national and international design authorities, including but not limited to Communication Arts, HOW Magazine, HOW publications, Step Magazine 100, Graphis, The Rebrand 100, and the Webby Awards.

As evidenced by the wide spectrum of work in their portfolio, it is abundantly apparent that BBB is able to produce a wide variety of extremely high-quality design collateral in a variety of media.  What we at Ballista find most impressive is the array of, for lack of a better term, tschotskes that somehow imbue the identity of their owner client.  The featured image to the left is a prime example: a simple, elegant, and tactile steel menu tent that creates an experience that sets the Three Sixty apart from its competitors.  The beautiful, yet functional miscellanea that appear in so many of BBB’s projects are truly exceptional.

To say that the provided portfolio is a mere scratch of BBB’s portfolio is to say that the Grand Canyon is a hole in Arizona.  There is a wealth of additional information on BoyBurnBarns’ website and Tumblr pages, so visit them if you like what you see — BBB also carries a Twitter page, but hasn’t updated in some time.  Let’s give them some love/follow/likes and get the conversation going again!

Ruben Ireland is a London-based illustrator that uses a fusion of traditional and digital imaging techniques to create spectacular and mysterious portraits.  There is no shortage of artists that employ a mixture of media in their work; however, we struggle to find a likeness in Ruben’s particular style of delivery.  He is a master of his craft — a craft that may be unique to him alone.

Ruben’s portraiture series has an unarguable mystery about it — a majority of his “subjects” (which we cautiously assume to be fictional) are often depicted with ornamental headpieces, face paint, or poor lighting, obscuring the very identity a typical portrait would attempt to capture.  This approach is quite novel, resulting in a lively, raw, and interpretive product.  Ruben has also applied his unique style to the likes of Sir Peter Cook and a cult icon/personal favorite, Ms. Mia Wallace of Pulp Fiction fame.  

Here at Ballista, we try as often as possible to put our money where our mouth is by supporting the efforts of our featured designers and artists.  As an owner of two Ireland’s pieces of my own, I can say with confidence that his work will look great on your wall.  His website is currently under construction, but adequately serves as a jump-off point for his Society6, Twitter, Behance, and Facebook pages.  Make sure to check him out!

Edgewood was founded by product designers, George Dubinsky and David Short, in 2012. The founders met while attending the Rochester Institute of Technology School for American Crafts. Following Mr. Dubinsky’s successful MFA thesis show at RIT, Edgewood was founded. From the beginning Edgewood has focused on honest methods and materials, allowing the firm to address contemporary needs of the home while producing low impact goods.

Take for example, the No Glue Cutting Board and Tray (pictured left), an exceptionally eco-friendly product. The width of each cutting board is determined by the size of raw stock Edgewood receives from the mill. By matching the cutting board to the size of the stock, waste is reduced. The need for glue is eliminated by using a pressure fit sliding dovetail to attach the feet to the cutting board. Finally, a food safe and environmentally friendly finish is applied to the cutting board, ensuring it can be used for generations.

Edgewood’s current product line is a smartly curated selection of home goods, and we anticipate the young company will continue to inspire and delight with new designs. You can find Edgewood online and on Facebook.

Marcos Martín is a Spanish comic artist who has worked for both of the major American comic book publishers: DC and Marvel. He has illustrated several titles for both publishers including Batgirl: Year One, Doctor Strange: The Oath, Breach, and The Amazing Spider-Man. He is currently working on a creator-owned comic, The Private Eye, in partnership with Brian K. Vaughn.

Martín grew up reading Italian reprints of Disney comics, Asterix, The Adventures of Tintin, Mafalda, and other comics from the disciples of Hergé. Martín started contemplating drawing comics as a teenager, and published his own comic magazine as a senior in high school. During his third year at Facultad de Bellas Artes de la Universidad de Barcelona, Martín started working for Forum, the Spanish publisher licensed to print Marvel comics, where he created covers and illustrations for Spanish reprints of Marvel comics.

Martín’s first work for an American publisher was in 1997 on the twelfth issue of DC’s The Batman Chronicles. After spending some time adjusting to the American comic business, Martín was given a monthly book at DC in 2001—Batgirl: Year One. This book exposed Martín to the industry-at-large, and led to bigger books including The Amazing Spider-Man. Earlier this month Marcos Martín and Brian K. Vaughn released the first issue of The Private Eye, and all signs point towards it being an important book as well.

The Private Eye is set one hundred years in the future. America is celebrating its tricentennial, and maintaining privacy is the rule following the burst of “the cloud” when everyone’s digital secrets poured into the public eye. The story is relevant and novel, and the book itself is bringing new ideas to the comic industry. Martín and Vaughn created their own website to handle the distribution of the comic. Readers can choose to pay whatever they wish to download the first issue. This is a common model in music distribution, but new to the world of comics. The pages of the book are also laid out in a landscape format to take advantage of the widescreen digital surfaces readers will be using to view the book. The traditional portrait aspect ratio of comic book pages does not always translate well to digital, and it’s refreshing to see an artist taking a different approach.

Martín and Vaughn’s The Private Eye embraces the digital future of comics. The book, and its distribution, will likely be a milestone in the history of comics publishing. You can download a copy at panelsyndicate.com.

“The demand for his services speaks to the creativity and ingenuity of his work, and to a vague yet persistent hunger for the tactile in modern American culture.”
- Ben Bishop, Ragged Band

The subject of that quote is Jon Contino, a Brooklyn-based freelance designer and creative director. Jon has worked with some of the largest brands in the country, including Coca-Cola, Nike, AT&T, General Electric, Kellogg’s, The New York Times, and Jack Daniel’s, among others. The menswear label CXXVI Clothing Company was co-founded by Jon, and he is also the creative director for the brand.

Jon is an exceptionally talented hand-letterer. Throughout his portfolio this skill is expertly utilized, in conjunction with typographic illustrations and a modern, minimalistic sensibility. This blend of old and new is perfectly suited to today’s design and fashion landscapes, where a renewed emphasis is being placed on honest materials and handmade craftsmanship. It would not be a stretch to say that Jon is partly responsible for this aesthetic gaining widespread traction in both disciplines. CXXVI was one of the first men’s clothing lines to emphasize the handmade heritage of menswear in America; several others have since followed suit.

The design and clothing that Jon produces has staying power. Both feel at the same time old and new. Both feel like they’re standing on the shoulders of giants, but are entirely unique at the same time.

If you would like to view more of Jon Contino’s work you can find him online and on Twitter. CXXVI Clothing Co. has an online shop and is also on Twitter.

Jilly Ballistic is perhaps one of the most well-known, unknown street artists working today. This is an assertion Jilly likes to make herself, and there is truth to the boast. Jilly’s work is located throughout the New York City subway system, which has a ridership that noses 5 million daily. For comparison, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, a top tourist destination in New York, reported an attendance of 6.28 million for the 2012 fiscal year.

We realize we’re not comparing apples to apples. The Met’s attendees are a willing captive audience. The daily riders of the New York City subway are rushing to catch a train or reach the surface, and they pay little attention to their subterranean environment. This general lack of focus is the basis of Jilly Ballistic’s work.

Jilly’s predominant form of subway art takes user interface elements from laptops, phones, and other digital devices, and introduces them into the physical environment. The radical change in context draws attention and through judicial placement, highlights the absurdity of consumer taste and advertising, in general. For example, Jilly provided a “Low Expectation Warning” for the recent Sandler/Samberg vehicle, and often places error messages on products of questionable quality.

Another way Jilly attracts the attention of subway riders is through the placement of WWI imagery throughout the MTA system. Offered without commentary, we suspect the howizters, ordinance hauling horses, and dogs with gas masks are intended to highlight the absurdity of war and bring our contemporary conflicts closer to home.

In addition, Ms. Ballistic also creates her own public service announcements, and places these in the subway stations alongside the boilerplate messages issued by the MTA. A recent one warned travelers, “In the future everyone will be famous for 15mb.” Another reads, indicative of the times, “A penny saved is a penny declining in value.”

From our viewpoint, Jilly Ballistic is creating some of the most thought provoking art in the country. Her work won’t stop bad movies from being released, or worthless products from entering the market. But if her art causes a thousand New Yorkers daily to stop and think the work has done its job and then some.

Jilly posts her work on Tumblr.

Gin Lane Media is a full-service creative agency that has designed and developed some of our favorite websites of the moment. Their minimal approach to design places emphasis on each client’s story, rather than a designer’s virtuosity or a developer’s technical acumen. The websites and digital experiences coming out of the Gin Lane office are equally alluring and informative, and highly usable.

Gin Lane Media was founded in New York City in 2007 with the desire to help artists and creatives the agency believed in. The staff has grown to include creative thinkers, designers, and developers from five separate continents, who together speak over ten languages. The diversity of the Gin Lane staff is also reflected in their backgrounds; there are individuals with fine art portfolios to business degrees contributing to the agency’s output.

Gin Lane has produced an impressive body of work during their first 5 years. Their most notable project could be the redesign of Aol.com. Gin Lane topped over 40 other agencies to get the job. The redesigned website has been a key component in AOL’s new business model. Some of our favorite projects include the agency’s websites for Saturdays NYC, Blind Barber, and Roc4life.

You can view additional work from Gin Lane Media at their website. The agency is also on Facebook and Twitter.

Hailing from just outside of America’s capital city of Washington, D.C., El Jefe is a heavyweight among the ranks of up-and-coming designers.  His name, a clever guise for an admittedly less-theatrical Mr. Jeffery Everett, is almost an homage to the cultural iconography he often employs as the subject of his design work.  And let’s be honest…who doesn’t enjoy a good luchador?

Jeff’s design work (including graphic, web, creative direction, illustration, and branding/identity) has graced the pages of many prestigious industry publications, including but not limited to New Vintage Type, Design Entrepreneur, Print Magazine, HOW, and Step Inside Design.  These publications add to a resume that includes a shelf full of awards, most notably his gold and silver awards from The Art Directors Club and a best-in-category from the AdClub (Addys).  Not only has El Jefe excelled in the professional field, he has also shared his talents through professorships at American University, University of Baltimore, and the AIGA.

It should come as no surprise that the staff at Ballista has nothing but respect for El Jefe’s design chops — the list of awards should be enough of a hint — but we truly value Jeff’s delivery and dedication to concept without resulting in worthless kitsch.  His work is sensible and diverse, ranging from political literature to his Lucha LIBRAry.  To quote his website: “Simply put: El Jefe always delivers heavy-weight design.”  Truer words were never spoken.

For more of El Jefe’s work, make sure to check out his online store and website.  We know we’ve been a little MIA as of late, but we can assure you it’s been busy over here at the Ballista HQ.  We have some great things in store for the future.

Blacksheep was formed in 2002 by Tim Mutton and Jo Sampson. Ten years later and Blacksheep is a globally renowned creative agency with a reputation for designing exceptional hospitality environments.

Blacksheep works with the biggest hospitality brands in the world to develop spaces that “exemplify timeless style and contemporary glamour.” Their recent commissions include projects for Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts, Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Accor Hotels, and Hilton Hotels & Resorts. The agency also has a knack for designing restaurants, bars, and clubs that consistently receive praise from patrons and critics.

On the Blacksheep website you will find this powerful statement, “We create the crucial points of difference that allow your projects to transcend the merely good and become enduring examples of truly great design.” We particularly like this line, because it highlights an important aspect of the design process: deciding where to give a project 110 percent. For example, you could fuss over the fixtures in a water closet for weeks, but if no one will use them without proper signage why bother?

You can find additional work from Blacksheep on the agency’s website. Blacksheep also has Facebook and Twitter profiles.