www.hybridworks.jp

This is one of the most interesting and well laid out websites I have ever visited. From the moment the screen loads, you are drawn in to the bright colours and fantastic animations it has to offer. It is only after a few seconds that you realise all the subtle details which it contains. You can chose the volume settings, which types of links you wish to veiw, and even the layout of the homepage itself. Really worth a visit, just to experience something so beautiful yet simple in website design.

www.hybridworks.jp

Wordboner.com

Typography with personality.

A lovely little website all about wordplay. Some examples…

Really nice and funny way to look at some simple type and layout, with a message behind it.

www.wordboner.com

Tutorial Test

Well, after being down with the flu for a few days, I managed to get round to testing out one of the tutorials on the tutorialmagazine website I had posted about earlier. It was pretty good, well explained and encouraged the user to add their own creativity to the work rather than just copy straight off the page. It also had a few links to other useful sites, which is always a good thing.

This was my first time properly using photoshop on a MacBook, and without the time it took to figure out various things, hotkeys etc, the piece itself only took around half an hour. Not bad in my book. Let me know what you think and Ill add some more as I get them completed.

Just a nice little design with a bit of typography to waken it up a bit. The typeface is called ‘coolvetica’, would really recommend it, its easy to read yet modern and stylish at the same time. Job well done I think.

Hannah Stouffer

A really talented artist with some fantastic illustrations. Although you may not think it when first viewing her work, her illustrations work really well in a commercial way, as CD covers, printing on clothes or textiles, and even marketing campaigns. More of her work can be seen at www.grandarray.com/home.html I would really recommend checking it out.

Amy Dresser.

www.amydresser.com

This is the address of the website for Amy Dresser, a graphic designer from Maine. Origionally a graduate of Fine Arts, she began to work as an illustrator and managing editor for Nonsense magazine.  She then moved to New York where she was hired by Jill Greenberg to be her photo retoucher in 2000.

Now based in L.A. Amy has worked as a freelance photo retoucher and illustrator for the past seven years.

The great thing about her website, is not only does it show a great portfolio of illustrations and photographs, both before and after retouching, but that its really well laid out and designed. The typeface and interaction of the website is really well thought out and makes the experience much more pleasant.

Tutorial Magazine.

Heres just a really quick post on www.tutorialmagazine.com

I really love websites like these which help improve your skills in design software, like photoshop and illustrator, and tutorialmagazine.com looks like a really good one. I have yet to use it in depth, but if I find the time to recreate something they have on the website, I’ll be sure to post it and let you guys have a look.

Freaky photo manipulations

Here are some pretty awesome pictures which Jan Oliehoek has created using photoshop.  Jan sees his photoshopping mostly as a hobby, although he does accept some commissions for clients. The great thing about treating it as a hobby is that he can be picky about which work he wants to accept, although a downside is that he doesn’t have a lot of time to do it.

Alot of his manipulation features animals. He says the reason for this is that when trying to create impossible yet photorealistic images, combining several animals into one hybrid is a cool way to do this.

Its bizarre photographs like this that really show you how much of a variety of things photoshop can be used for, instead of just touching up glamour photographs or creating a layout.

Creativity Test

Heres a great little idea from the Panamericana School of Art and Design, an advertising campaign that encourages people everywhere to test their creativity.

Its a really simple idea where the objective is to draw as many things as possible that originate from X’s or O’s. The fact that these little pieces of graphic design can be easily printed out on any normal computer and left anywhere, for easy replication and distribution. It wouldn’t be hard to imagine people picking these up in a cafe or bar and start doodling.

Heres some examples of what other people have created.

There are other examples of this text, in ways which make it more visually interesting and even more tempting to partake in.

Some examples…

And it can become as detailed as you want it to…

This really fantastic idea can be attributed to AlmapBBDO, an advertising agency based in São Paulo, Brazil.

Seamas Gallagher

Another great illustrator, this time who uses mostly computer based programs to create his work.  His illustrations are used as concept art for a variety of projects, most notably the latest ‘tombraider’  game for the xbox.

His blog is available at http://seamassketches.blogspot.com/  One of the great things about it is he includes a tutorial on some of his work, his own sketches which he uses to create a final illustration, and a number of links to other artists who inspire him and his work. Definatly worth a check out.

 

Nicolas R Giacondino – Illustrator

I first discovered Nicolas’ work on a random website many ages ago. The unusual style of his work was instantly captivating, and in my eyes, almost cinematic.  Since then, I have activly searched out his work on the internet until I found his workpage on that great website deviantart.com, where he is better known as ‘Aerion-the-Faithful’.  Regularly updated, his webpage is a great source of inspiration, not only because of the great artwork he creates, but the fact all of it is created with a wide array of markers and other traditional tools.

One of the great things about his work, and which sets it apart is his use of colour. Alot of his illustrations only contain black, white and one other colour, though this can be used in any variety of shades. Another interesting thing to note is the simplistic use of lines the Nicolas uses, although these lines are used to create great detail.

His work is mainly based on sci-fi works, and although alot of his art is of some popular science fiction characters, he has himself had a graphic novel published which he himself has written, and I believe he is working on a second.

More of his work can be seen on his webpage – http://aerion-the-faithful.deviantart.com/