Dec 28, 2011 Art, Design, Inspiration, Music Leave a comment
I love the artwork for this album cover (album is great too, btw)!! Isn’t it rad?! It was created by this dude, Japayork. He’s a musician and graphic designer who previously resided between Japan and New York and is now in London. I tried to find his portfolio but the links that turned up were down…oh well.
Dec 6, 2011 Inspiration, Laughs Leave a comment
A dancing advent calendar. Hilarious and genius!
Nov 3, 2011 Art, Design, Inspiration Leave a comment
As I was doing research for my next project, I came across an amazing illustrator named Hellen Jo based out of Burbank, CA. I can only assume that she’s Korean since she seems well versed in Korean folklore? Too lazy to look into it. Regardless, what impressed me the most was how she chose to embrace each story. Her dark sense of humor was the icing on the cake for me. Here are a few pieces I really loved.
This is a piece she was commissioned to commemorate a wedding anniversary. One of their wedding photos inspired her to draw the couple as “Gyeonwu and Jiknyeo, lovers separated by the universe in the Korean folk tale called Chilseok; they were permitted by God to reunite just once each year, on a celestial bridge formed by thousands of magpies and blackbirds.” Funnily enough, it was one of the few Korean children’s book I had at my disposal when I was a kid. Totally forgot about it and it was great to be reminded of it.
This one is called “Red Mask.” And the story behind it is: “The Red Mask (bbal gan ma su ku) is a Korean urban legend which finds its origins in 1970s Japan. She wears a blood-soaked surgical mask and she carries a knife. She approaches people to ask, “Am I pretty?” If you say yes, she’ll kill you, and if you say no, she’ll take off her mask and show you her horrific Glasgow smile, the result of a cosmetic surgery procedure gone terribly wrong. She asks again, “Am I pretty?” If you say yes, she’ll cut up your face; if you say no, she’ll follow you home and THEN cut up your face, and if you say, “You look normal,” she’ll grow confused and wander away.”
And here’s a more recent piece, outside of the Korean folklore. This one is called “Mortal Residue.”
Check out the rest of her work. She’s pretty bad ass.
Sep 27, 2011 Art, Design, Inspiration, Typography Leave a comment
From the moment my friend from Hunter said “You gotta see this video,” I’ve been obsessed. I can’t even begin to describe how inspiring it was watching Supakitch & Koralie create this wall painting. What I love, especially, is that they blur the lines between design, typography, calligraphy and painting…seamlessly. Incredible.
SUPAKITCH & KORALIE – VÄRLDSKULTUR MUSEET GÖTEBORG from elr°y on Vimeo.
Aug 17, 2011 Art, Design, Events Leave a comment
Come to the East Village this Sunday, 8/21, for a benefit supporting Pasalubong, a photobook of images of the Philippines by Grace Villamil, plus a raffle of works by various artists. Oh! And did I mention that I am a participant and raffling new work? Swing by and check it out.
Details are on the flyer below, hope to see you there!
Pasalubong flyer design by Haena Kang
May 27, 2011 Awards Leave a comment
Earlier this month, the Blenderbox team received a Webby Award for the redesign of blenderbox.com. This was the last project I worked on with the Blenderbox team which was an ongoing collaborative project between the design, user experience, and tech team for almost a year – actually, I need to reword that. It was a collaborative project between design, user experience, tech, AND project management. What an honor!
Jan 11, 2011 Art, Inspiration, Photography 1 Comment
I’m so glad that Tina Roth Eisenberg, aka Swiss Miss, featured Paul Octavious’s photo in her newsletter recently. I loved his interpretations on everyday objects and scenes. Below are a few of my favorites. One other series, not represented below, called “Same Hill, Different Day” is worth checking out.
from the series “The Black Stuff”
from the series “The Black Stuff”
from the series “The Book Collection”
from the series “Lines“
Oct 30, 2010 Inspiration, Motion, Music Leave a comment
Asif Mian has a vision and I like it. A lot.
He directed Aesop Rock’s “Fast Cars” video back in 2005 and it’s still sick five years later. It’s one of my all time faves and remains permanently placed in my memory bank. If you’ve seen it, you already know why. If you haven’t, you will.
He did this one for The Roots “Trilogy Video” (feat. “All in the Music”, “Here I Come” & “Don’t Feel Right”) in 2006. I love how it starts all dark, builds anticipation and then segues stylistically into the two other songs. Seamless and smooth.
Because three is the magic number, here’s another one that’s waaay different from the two above – both musically and stylistically. It’s the video he did for Woodhands “I Wasn’t Made For Fighting” in 2008. What I really appreciated about this video was the sharp contrast between what you hear, and what you see…instead of a textual oxymoron, it was a sensorial oxymoron. I saw it as a metaphor for the moments we felt like we were going in slow motion while everything else continued speeding past. At least that’s how I interpreted it.
