Saturday 28 July 2007

Sanna Annukka

Sanna Annukka is a half Finnish and half English illustrator and printmaker with a love for nature and folklore. She is best known for her remerable illistartions for the cover of the keane album "Under The Iron Sea". Her works are a combination of shilouette block shapes and intricate decorations. Colour is used in a bold, saturated way to make the illistrations stand out against the background.

The style is influenced by Finnish folk art and in particular Finland’s national epic known as The Kalevala, a collection of folklore songs which Annukka finds magical. her favourite method of working is silk screen printing her illustrations into large poster size prints. However due to time restrictions on the Keane project she used photoshop, "I created lots of elements (illustrations) inspired from each of the songs and the plan was to merge all the elements into a surreal world or a dream sequence. There is no definite narrative but lots of little ones that merge in and out of each other. I want the viewer to keep noticing new things in the sequence."


Friday 27 July 2007

James Deavin, a New York Based British photographer, produces art directed photographs that provide the viewer with visual patterns and harmonies.

Deavin was born in 1973 in London and graduated from King's collage with a degree in Classics. After this he went into full-time practice as a photographer with his first assignment being to travel to Bosnia during the ceasefire in 1995 with an aid convoy. Since then he has produced documentary and portrait work published in magazines including London Times, Sunday Review, Creative Review and Next Level

In his work 'These Games We Play" Deavin produced photographs of empty sports venues such as an ice hockey rink, an indoor cricket pitch and a climbing wall.


The images are taken to make the ordinary seem extraordinary. By taking a space that a viewer would possibly be familiar with and using compositional techniques to change the viewers perspective. Deavin creates images that are interesting and visually stimulating. By cropping and changing perspective Deavin shows the space in a new light.

"It just fascinates me how it is possible to approach an entire world through the medium of perspective" (Interview with James Deavin, November 28th, 2006)

Sunday 8 July 2007

The Museum of Brands, Packaging & Advertising


This small museum hidden away in Notting Hill has thousands of examples of everyday packaging and other everyday items. The museum records the British way of life over the past 100 years and how it has changed through the evolution of consumer brands, showing how they have had to evolve to keep up with changes in society, fashion and technology. Visitors are immediately drawn to the decade of their childhood, recognising sweet wrappers and toys as they remember them.

'The Museum of Brands, Packaging & Advertising not only tells us the incredible story of our consumer society, but also revives our own memories placing us in the context of history - of which we are all a part.'
http://www.robertopiecollection.com/Application/Corporate/museum2GB.asp