Dora Drimalas

Dora Drimalas' work has a crisp, clean style which is said to be reminiscent of Swiss design.  I like this work as it is almost like an infographic.  You can tell just by looking at the piece that the bikes are male and female, and are in love.  Drimalas also creates logos and retail identities with her husband under the name of 'Hybrid Design'.  You can see how this reflects in her personal style of work. 

It is strange how the human nature of this piece reflects so clearly on our own lives.  Is it two bikes in love, or one bike chasing the other?  Either is a very human experience indeed, for the subject matter to be made from metal.  Drimalas uses silk screens to produce most of her work which I feel gives a lovely handmade effect.  Each piece will be slightly imperfect compared to the original, which is the beautiful thing about it.

I could imagine this work in a kitchen, on a napkin or a branding on a bag (such as the Cambridge Satchel Company).  The colours used are quite unisex/ambiguous which works brilliantly as a selling point for this piece.  It could be put in any space, for any audience and with very little meaning at all, other than the fact that it is beautiful and sweet.  The only I would change about this piece is to have a simple line text to really set it off the page.  I feel it is slightly lacking in excitement as a piece with meaning.  However, the simple, non-typographical nature of the print allows for a personal thought.  I suppose it all depends on what you are looking for from a print; something pretty, or something with a message?

UNICEF Tap Project.

As part of the research for my final project, I recently came across the Unicef Tap Project.  For every minute you can stay away from your phone, UNICEF's 'Next Generation' will donate on your behalf.  I think this is a very clever campaign for sponsorship and awareness.  Staying away from your phone may seem easy but when you actually take part, you realise how difficult it is.  This shows how much people are addicted to looking at their phones and keeping up to date with their virtual worlds.  

The website produces images of children getting clean water for every minute that you last and also includes facts of how your abstinence from picking up your phone will benefit the UNICEF cause.  The use of real photographic images combined with hard hitting facts creates the basis of a great campaign.  Maybe this will encourage people to look around them and see what else is happening in the REAL world.  The use of blue and white to create the colour scheme creates a sense of hope and life, with blue also symbolising clean water.  At the end of the abstinence period, UNICEF also give you the option to donate, meaning that your own personal part in the Tap Project becomes significant.  If people are willing to donate by the end, it means that UNICEF have created a successful awareness and sponsorship campaign. 

I feel that UNICEF have cleverly and successfully promoted awareness on phone addiction and how it can be curbed by doing something to benefit their charity.

'Above' street artist.

Street Artist 'Above' has created a very interesting stop motion animation outlining his thoughts on the way we use social media as a form of primary communication.  I love how Above has used a public wall as his canvas because many people will walk past and see his work.  I feel this is vital to the overall cause of this piece as it needs to target everyone who uses social media.  Then again, Above is making the point that people don't look away from their phones often enough anyway and they end up missing out on life.  

The impermanent nature of using paint is excellent.  By using paint, Above can easily tell his story and erase words as accessibly as you can on social media sites.  This allows for the fast paced time frame in which he completed this piece.  He makes very valid points about the fact that people would check their Facebook whilst driving, watching a movie and even during sex. Has real human interaction become that unimportant in the 21st Century?  I think the most harrowing question he asks is 'When is too much simply too much?' because most people have no idea they are even addicted to social media in the first place.  Checking your phone every 5 minutes has become normal, you don't even realise you're doing it.  I feel that Above effectively communicated the obvious message that we are addicted to social media.  However not enough people actually talk about it, or consider it as a problem.  This stop motion animation would be a useful tool in promoting awareness of this new generational problem facing us.

 

Parisian artist 'Above' underlines how people waste too much time on social media, by painting statements as street art and taking 9,000 photographs of it over five days to construct a stop-motion animation. 
The time-lapse painting—executed at GALORE festival in Copenhagen, Denkmark—was ironically reblogged and seen on social media outlets all over the world.  
In a statement on the video’s Vimeo page, he says: “People look at me like I’m from another planet when I tell them I don’t have social media like Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.” 

“We live in a ridiculously hyper fast pace life where information exchanged so rapidly that it makes us feel inadequate and drains our attention span.”

'Designtaxi.com'

http://vimeo.com/48736559

Lex Wilson

Lex Wilson - Moleskin Typography

I like how Lex hasn't been restricted by one side of the page and has spread across both pages with ease.  The quote, 'release the house!', is quite ironic as it comes from a small black dog.  As a result, the dog almost seems as though it has human qualities and thoughts.  This reminds me of something which a Hunt Master would say during a fox hunt.  The typography is chunky and all in lower case which I think works well as it comes from an animal which does not speak human words, in the real world.  I'm unsure of the shadowing in this typography as the recent trend is to produce everything in flat design.  I find the text quite hard to read and found myself having to focus on it for it to become legible. However, this could have been Lex's intention all along, to catch the eye of the viewer and make them really look at his work.  I'm not sure if there is any particular message behind this piece other than it is strange that a dog wants to 'release the hounds', unless he is begging for some sort of freedom.  In that case it could be linked to some form of social/political art about freedom policies; or it could just be a strange, little talking dog.

Review by http://designtaxi.com/news/354742/Artist-Creates-Beautiful-Hand-Drawn-Moleskine-Typography/

"While we found the doodles in the Moleskine notebooks of famous creatives to be fascinating, Cambridge-based British artist Lex Wilson has definitely up the ante on Moleskine art with his hand-drawn typographic illustrations."

"Using the pages of the legendary notebook as his canvas, Wilson creates cleverly expressive typography."

"We think that the artist should consider turning these gorgeous pieces of typographic art into prints and posters."

Lauren Earl

Lauren Earl - The Flathates Handbook

Review by: http://www.kiweye.co.nz/the-flatmates-handbook/#.UvOYHXna7L8

'Flatmate’s Handbook, created by Wellington Designer Lauren Earl has right of place in our themed “Book Design” week. The hard cover book uses a combination of hand drawn illustrations, mono photographic imagery and chic typography.' 

'Currently, information on the topic of flatting provides very limited answers or guidance to better prepare first time flatters, or to help overcoming situations which may arise in this environment. The ‘Flathates Handbook’ provides a detailed, yet creative and captive, option to fill this gap of information. Through discussions with experienced flatters, the book has been developed to share real life situations and scenarios making the content more relatable to its readers. It uses humour and unpredictability to ensure one is more prepared for flatting and to enhance their overall flatting experience.'

Personally I love this handbook by Lauren Earl because of the beautifully handwritten typography mixed with quirky polaroid photographs.  The simple, handwritten typography works because it suits the subject matter; being a good flatmate is quite a personal affair.  The bright yellow/green contrasts well with the black and white giving the impression of simplicity and modernity.  It is clear that she has done her research in this area as the colours are youthful and attractive to the eye.  Her target audience was probably students, as they are usually first time flatmates.  I feel that she has been successful in the design of this handbook, both in creating an inciting cover and also humorous inside content.  As a first time flatmate, the title 'Flathates' would entice me into picking up the handbook in the first place, as I have plenty of 'flathates' myself.  The comical illustrations on the cover are reminiscent of a students' qualms whilst house sharing; thus again targeting her audience successfully.  Lauren has been able to make such a boring topic, such as 'being a flatmate', into something fun and interesting by using her simple line drawings to compliment the personal typography which is streamed throughout the handbook.

Nathan Pyle

Nathan Pyle is a New York based illustrator who has created a series of GIFs which he posted online.  He then got the opportunity to make them into a short illustrated book.

I like his illustrations because they are fun, quirky and most of all comically blunt.  The straightforward  black and white colouring combines wonderfully with simple concept behind this book.  I think this GIF is so interesting because it doesn't have too much detail packed into it.  The images are quite simple yet I find they work well with the short, punchy sentences that are given to each frame.  I find it quite comical that in the last frame Pyle thought it was essential to include a 'Wood' sign even though it was quite obvious that there was wood everywhere.  However, some may argue that this type of design could be quite offensive as it intimates that people who dine in these kind of places are 'dim' or 'dull'.  I like the layout of this GIF as the flashing images appear one after the other in the way that you would process them.  This indicates that Pyle has considered the logical thought process when creating this simple yet effective design. I also think the frame layout works well as it could read as a 'graphic novel' or a moving image series of frames, depending on the form you see it in (on a computer or in paperback book).