Brain Balloon

A promotional device for The Economist. The brain balloon suggests that if you read The Economist your will gain intelligence. As the balloon is blown up the image of the brain grows. Simple and effective advertising.


Advertising Agency: BBDO, New York, USA
Creative Directors: David Lubars, Bill Bruce
Art Directors: Frank Anselmo, Jayson Atienza
Photographer: Billy Siegrist

Human

Images from Mohammad Reza Mirzaei, 2006 photogrphic series, 'Humans'.

Mohammadreza Mirzaei is an Iranian photographer who was born in 1986, in Tehran and graduated in Graphic design from IRIB Artschool. His photographs are reminiscent of silhouette paintings and show dark anonomous figures, shot from a long distance, set against stark empty backgrounds. The frozen figures and expansive white backgrounds give the images a quiet, calm, minamalist quality.

Francesa Tallone

I came across the work of Francesca Tallone on an online blog. Francesca Tallone is a photographer, an art director, and a curator from Halifax, Nova Scotia. She is intrigued by angles and off-centeredness in composition and produces images that show the world from a different perspective.

In 2006 she was the winner of the avant guardian competition by surface magazine (Fashion and Architecture). A title given for young and rising fashion photographers.

New Angular

Beatriz Milhazes

I really like the work of Brazilian artist Beatriz Milhazes. Her paintings are colourful, bold and full of energy. She creates vibrant layers of motifs and patterns, fusing images inspired by sources as diverse as folk art, embroidery, carnival imagery, geometry, botany, music and modernist abstraction.
The artist applies paint to plastic sheeting which when dry is peeled off, carefully positioned and glued onto canvas to achieve extraordinarily smooth surfaces. Milhazes uses contrasting colours to great effect, her painting are in no way subtle.

Pacaembu, 2004


Mariposa, 2004

Keep It Unreal

The illistrations of Mr Scruff (a DJ from Manchester) are quirky, original and instantly recognisable. They are doodle-esque, lighthearted and often make little sense, which makes them all the more entertaining. Mr Scruff creates his own world within his drawings and his music, although he maintains that the two are virtually unconnected, "they are separate , but come from the same warped mind."

“I always drew cartoons as a kid, and never stopped,” says Mr. Scruff, “my style evolved in schoolbooks when I was in my teens, and ended up as the very simple stylized characters that you see today. I quite like Bod, Stoppit and Tidy-Up – Terry Wogan’s finest moment! And The Clangers” (Fused Magazine, Charlotte Dunckley)


Mr Scruff has a long-standing club night 'Keep it unreal' at Manchester's Music Box and also tours around Britian and the world. A great name for a night in my oppinion. A unique feature for Keep It Unreal is Scruff’s Tea Shop. “The concept is serving tea in a club! Simple, but hardly anyone seems to do it. I assumed because I like drinking tea in clubs, other people would too. The idea came from playing at the Music Box in Manchester. It has 2 rooms, but I didn't want another DJ in there, so I served tea instead.”

Scruff doesn't consider himself an artist, however, he does all his own record & cd covers, most of his gig flyer designs, and all the artwork for videos & club visuals.

Music video for Mr Scruffs' 'Get a move on' can be seen on
http://www.ninjatune.net/videos/video.php?id=22&type=qt

Prada designs costumes for a cartoon.

Designer Miuccia prada was so impressed by the 2004 '3D Live animation' movie Appleseed that she offered to design two costumes for the upcoming sequal, Appleseed:Ex machina. "Watching the previous 'Appleseed,' I thought that the expression of contrast in man and machine, violence and love was wonderful," (http://www.fashiontelevision.com/infashion/industrynews/industrynews_1233.aspx)

The Chinease animated film is directed by Shinji Aramaki and based on a comic series by Masamune Shirow. The film is set in a future city with the main theme being the love and conflict between humans and bioroids (cloned humans). "The female lead, Deunan knute, will be wearing a futuristic wardrobe created especially by Mrs Prada for the film" (ID, Sept 2007, pg 94).




This collaboration shows the cross-branding initiative that is becoming increasingly popular as brands attempt to reach wider audiences. Several fashion publications have also noted that Prada’s 2006 fall collection, Metropolitan Armor, clearly shows the designer drew some of her futuristic and cyberpunk influences from Appleseed.

Freitag

'Individual - Recycled - Freewaybags.'

Freitag's innovative designs have been growing in popularity since 1993, when the company launched the first bag to be made entirely from recycled materials.

Inspired by the Zurich transport route that passed by their house, design duo Markus and Daniel Freitag began creating bags entirely made from truck tarpaulins, inner tubes and seat belts. Every bag is unique, very durable, easily repairable and waterproof. You can even build your own bag online. You choose what your bag will look like by placing a pattern over a unique tarp (virtually).

http://www.freitag.ch/

Freitag has also teamed up with the Tate Modern to produce a reusable tote bag made from recycled exhibition banners.
Freitag and Tate Modern are already considering new lines incorporating the works of other artists. "We are looking at expanding the range, but obviously it will depend on the materials available," (Helena Lawrence.)