Julian Opie

first off, this man has the GREATEST website i have seen in ages. i'm not even a Mac OG--it is impossible not to appreciate, especially because it works so damn well.



I came across Julian Opie's work as some teeny pictures in a Japanese magazine. The super-small images caught my eye because they were so bold. Opie's drawings are incredibly simple, almost chunky, yet they all feel extremely real--the way he captures poses with such simple strokes is kind of awe-inspiring. I love the feeling of the drawings. While they give a lot of visual information, they seem emotionally kind of blank--purely documentary.

Anyway, I'm obsessed. Not a fashion illustrator per se, but an AWESOME illustrator whose work has something to say about drawing humans.

fifi!

models wearing designer clothes are pretty

but a little hand-drawn rabbit wearing designer clothes is CUTE. oh, and awesome.



fifi lapin in tommy hilfiger



fifi lapin in carolina herrera

go check out fifi's blog, where she does quite a bit of lovely modeling. the drawings are just wonderful. i wish i had done them!!

http://fifi-lapin.blogspot.com/

advice

from the book How to Be a Graphic Designer, Without Losing Your Soul" by Adrian Shaughnessy, but which I believe to be not limited to graphic design:

"...Cultural Awareness (you can call it research, if you like, but it's really something larger) ranks higher than technical ability and academic qualifications in the designer's portfolio of attributes."

keep your eyes open!

some encouragement

"There is a lot to be said for taking the time to ensure that the product is dope."

-KR, guerilla artist,
on work ethic

TOTALLY SWEET

girlfriend is wearing NIGHT VISION GOGGLES while sewing. she is doing this to practice for a project where she will be sewing unexposed negatives together, in a dark room.

i dont care what she is doing really, because this photo is awesome in its own right, and because she looks like a robot. a sewing robot. which is what we all feel like sometimes i think. but we dont look nearly as bad-ass.

brought to you by my fave, Craft:zine Blog.
http://www.craftzine.com/blog/archive/2007/08/sewing_with_night_vision_goggl.html

dorky but cool

...well, i think it's cool anyway.

these pictures are from the second issue of Steampunk Magazine, from an article about different steampunk fashions. Steampunk began as a subgenre of science fiction writing:

The term denotes works set in an era or world where steam power is still widely used—usually the 19th century, and often set in Victorian era England—but with prominent elements of either science fiction or fantasy, such as fictional technological inventions like those found in the works of H. G. Wells, or real technological developments like the computer occurring at an earlier date.

-Wikipedia

The literature movement has grown into a lifestyle and aesthetic movement. And while it is totally, totally geeky, I think these illustrations are beautiful and the styles could be really inspiring. For the full text of the article, download the magazine (it doesn't take too long). The article includes wonnnnderful tips for achieving these looks, and there are many more lovely illustrations throughout the issue.



The Tinkerer/The Inventor:


The Street Urchin/The Chimney Sweep:


The Explorer:


The Dandy/The Aesthete:

Free Patterns (not to be used for design projects duh)

Now, I understand that we are all basically too good for this, but if anyone ever wants to throw together something for fun just as a personal project, there is a selection of free (and printable!) patterns at:

http://www.burdastyle.com/

Burda is a pattern company that sells in stores, but screw going to JoAnn's for the millionth time AND paying money. Plus because we are all awesome at patternmaking these could also be used as a starting point and modified as desired.

And I see that there's also a contest at the top? Not like we really have the free time, but still.