Serenata
4th April 2012
Serenata - I love Jose Pulido’s Gocco screenprints.
Our beautiful friends Shell and Jacob gave us this Sirena Serenata screenprint as a wedding present. I love it.
CommentSea of Sin
2nd April 2012
I thought this was cool, although I’m not sure where it comes from originally.
(via SeaOfSin which is definitely NSFW)
Inspiration vs Imitation
29th March 2012
Today I’m going to write about inspiration.
A couple of months ago I read an article by the awesome Jessica Hische called Inspiration vs Imitation about why we should question inspiration that can end in plagiarism in the creative world.
As a designer I’m inspired by all kinds of things – living in Cape Town, sexy photography, gorgeous typography, my friends, the sunshine, the list could go on. I believe that inspiration can be found anywhere, you just have to know how to look. I also believe that to make something totally original is almost impossible and that almost everything can be linked back to something else.
After reading Jessica’s article and her point number 2 “Not everything you make should be on the internet” I wondered whether I should post my picture, but I thought it was a good example of how as a designer, you can take ideas and inspiration from a number of people and places and use them together to create something new.
This is how it went…
When my brother and his wife told me they were using an owl theme for their baby’s nursery I was so excited because I love owls! I began looking for inspiration and thinking of ideas so I could give him a print as a gift when he was born.
I discovered a Mengsal print in a store on London’s Portobello Road (coincidently, Mengsal was started by a London based South African designer) and I thought the style would be perfect for a baby’s room. Simple, cute and colourful. I found the boat cushion on their website and I thought the idea could work nicely, plus I LOVE traditional Seigaiha waves (which I hand drew on my Wacom). Logically, because of the boat, my train of thought followed onto the story of The Owl and the Pussycat.
Long before this little project came about I’d saved some images from The DieLine of a branding project by an Australian graphic designer called Meagan Brown. I thought the owls she’d created were awesome and her work was amazing. Before I go on I will say that if there’s one thing about my print that’s a direct copy, it would be the owl. I traced it in Illustrator and tweaked it only slightly. The pussycat is more or less the owl with ears, tweaked a little more again and also inspired by the Maneki Neko or Lucky Cat.
Initially I designed a sailboat very similar to the Mengsal one, but decided in the end that an origami boat would work better. Simple, sweet and in keeping with what was becoming a more Asian design by the minute – and also fitting as the baby was going to be half Chinese!
So the question today is How original is my design? I believe that while not entirely original, it is my own work and it did take creativity on my part to bring all these elements together. I’ve written a couple of things about copyright before, including this post about how inspired design can get you in trouble, and this post about designers being directly ripped-off, but each case really needs to be looked at individually.
Comparing Jessica Hische’s work with Marian Bantjes is a good example of how we can see a designer’s influence (although it may be only a very small part) and Jessica is always quick to admit she doesn’t “…own swirly decorations, no one does.”
At the end of the day however, this was a gift for my nephew Maddox and I have no intention of trying to sell it (a proposed 8th point in Inspiration vs Imitation by one of Jessica’s readers was, “There’s a difference between making an imitation and selling it.”)
To be honest I would feel uncomfortable selling The Owl and the Pussycat because I don’t think it’s original enough, particularly the owl. Although perhaps with a new owl…
Absolut London
21st March 2012
A cool collaboration between Tank Girl/Gorillaz artist Jamie Hewlett and Absolut celebrating London. Need a better excuse to buy a bottle of Vodka?
Habitat
19th March 2012
I saw this Timbuktu kids’ dinnerware at Habitat over the weekend and thought it was really cool. I’m pretty sure it would make eating much more fun as well!
Alberto Seveso
16th March 2012
Amazing photographs of ink in water (amongst other very cool things) over on Italian graphic designer Alberto Seveso’s site.
(Thanks Han)
The Invincible Summer
15th March 2012
Another beautiful print by Matthew Kavan Brooks with this sweet and inspiring quote by Albert Camus.
If you’d like this as a print, a cover for your iPhone or iPad, on a tee, a hoodie (practically anything!) check out the very cool Society6 for all the options.
Coco De Mer
13th March 2012
Our extremely awesome friend Yael got us a gift voucher from Coco De Mer as a wedding gift. Yay!
Thought this Booby Trap Card by illustrator Andrea Kett was pretty cool and I’m so excited to go on a shopping spree!
Paper Jet
7th March 2012
Paper Jet was one of the Emerging Creatives stalls at Design Indaba and I couldn’t resist buying this ‘Around the globe in a spin’ card to give to our awesome friends Shell&Jacob. They left on Monday to travel in Mexico for 4 months before moving to Toronto, so the envelope swayed it for me!
The best bit though? A super tiny and super cute paper aeroplane that fell out from inside the card when we went to write in it. Too cool.
Paper Jet is a collaboration between two Jo’burg based designers and I’ll be looking out for their stockists here in Cape Town.
Love & Neon
6th March 2012
Yay! I’m back!
Hello everyone!
After what was by far the best and most amazing love-filled month of my life, I’m sat again in front of my computer trying to get back into the swing of things… and it’s hard!
I’ve still got wedding fever on the brain and I promise to post some of the bits and pieces I made and designed for the wedding as soon as we get our photos back from the *oh-so-awesome-and-cool* welovepictures but in the meantime…
On Sunday morning I went to check out Design Indaba (A Taste of Sónar on Friday night was also very good fun) and the first thing I saw were hartedief hearts. Beautifully made, collectible pieces of art, I thought these sweet designs were rather appropriate in keeping with my theme of love.
The rest of my Design Indaba finds will be coming soon…
PS *Sweet wishes to The Joys and The Johnsons on their anniversaries today*
♥ Mikado
14th February 2012
This gorgeous decal is by the cool folk over at Mikado. More sexy hearts for Valentine’s Day.
♥ LOVE Japan
14th February 2012
More hearts this Valentine’s Day by Zakee Shariff for Love Japan. Share the love kids.
♥ Be Together
14th February 2012
Thought this ad, designed by Cape Town agency Am I Collective, was rather cute for ABSA Bank.
Be playful, be together…
Happy Valentine’s Day!
Jasper Goodall
6th February 2012
Here’s a little something for a sunny Monday afternoon from one of my all time favourite illustrators, Jasper Goodall.
Design Indaba 2012
6th February 2012
Design Indaba is fast approaching and I’m looking forward to seeing what’s in store for 2012.
Spanish industrial designer, product designer and artist Jaime Hayón is high up on my list of people to check out (Hope Bird is one of his) as is MDC Interiors.
I am also crazy excited about “A Taste of Sónar” which is on at City Hall on Friday 2nd March. I love that Design Indaba is broadening its creative scope and throwing some awesome electronica into the mix!
Shine Shine
1st February 2012
Oh! The crazy illustrations and gorgeous colours of Shine Shine fabrics are bea-ut-i-ful.
Shine Shine graphics are designed by Heidi Chisholm, a South African who now lives in Brooklyn. Check out stores like Heartworks and African Image in Cape Town for their products.
Kama Sutra
30th January 2012
Part of Penguin’s Graphic Classics series, where every classic re-edited is paired with an artist to produce collectable works, the cover of this new edition Kama Sutra has been illustrated by vector queen Malika Favre.
A playful, bold alphabet makes up the words Kama Sutra, while the colours are a nod to the books Indian origins. With original text by Vātsyāyana and no pictures inside, I think in this case you can definitely judge a book by it’s cover. Sexy.
(via Core77)
Peace & Love
20th January 2012
Some Peace & Love from London based artist and designer Zakee Shariff. Aside from having an awesome name, she also makes amazing designs.
Happy Friday Kids.
