London-based Up the Resolution have crafted some amazing creative in the form of commercials, music videos, and virals for clients both large and small. There is some really amazing work on their reel and there is also some great behind the scenes footage on their site.
Well, I had known about this before it even happened and I apologize for not writing about this earlier. Banksy held a one-of-a-kind show this week simply titled, ‘Cans Festival’ (a word play on the Cannes film festival). He invited more than 3 dozen international artists but also encouraged visitors to contribute their own grafitti starting Saturday. The festival was held in an apparently rarely used South London tunnel. Banksy told the Times of London, “I’m hoping we can transform a dark forgotten filth pit into an oasis of beautiful art - in a dark forgotten filth pit.”
The interesting thing to note here as it is a sharp turn in the career of the outlaw artist is that the show was approved and facilitated by Eurostar. Eurostart manages tunnel as it lies under an old train platform belonging to them at Waterloo Station. It’s an interesting development for Banksy as he has in the past been considered a wanted man by London authorities. It begs the question also as to whether or not he has unofficially been adopted into the mainstream. I am hoping not because it always seems like you can apply an expiration date to an artist once they reach that critical mass. I think Banksy is a true innovator though and I can easily imagine him reinventing himself, maybe even in another medium, under another name where he will no doubt burn another new and amazing trail.
Pictures from the show:
At Flickr
At Notcot
At the Pinewood Design Blog
News of the show:
At The International Herald Tribune
Video of the setup:
At Youtube
Johnson Banks is a really interesting creative agency based out of London. They have created work for a broad spectrum of clients with no real discernable style. They prefer to be style-less and create according to the client’s needs, generating creative the most aptly solves the problem at hand. It’s a sincere approach that is worth taking note of. No surprisingly they have some really accomplished work in their portfolio including the stamps created for the Beatles above. Talk about a cool project, how much fun would it be to make stamps for the Beatles?
As a part of Nike’s Art of Football project (soccer to all us yanks), London-based illustrator James Dawe was asked to produce a series of art inspired by football. Only one copy of each was produced making them all true 1 over 1’s. The end result of the project can be seen at Dawe’s Flickr page. There are some really great pieces of original collage there.
You can also see more of Dawe’s work at his Agency YCN page, who also represents him.
He also has a page at POCKO People.
Acclaimed London illustrator Hellovon has stocked his store with some new goods. He has a simple tote bag and a t-shirt available now if you are interested in supporting him through rocking his wears. You can find them, along with his art prints for sale at his Shopvon online store. I am a big fan of his work which you can view at his site. His work keeps appearing in a lot of the magazines I read and he has collaborated with some of my favorite art and designers lately.
Beautiful images of beautiful people doing beautiful things in the portfolio of London-based Photographer and image maker Klas Strom. It’s refreshing to see a ‘personal’ section on his site as well where you can peruse some photographs taken during downtime that really showcase his eye for composition outside the fashion world.
Strom is represent by Zara Grey if you are interested in commissioning his services.
Chrissie Abbott is a London-based designer/illustrator who likes drawing, crisp autumn mornings, trash tv and train travel. She doesn’t like alarm clocks, queuing up, fish and people who sulk.
You can view her work at her website and read more about what she does and does not like at her blog.
Partners Will Perrens and Jenny Cobden established their London-based studio Atwork in 2007. Although their studio may be young Perrens and Cobden are veterans to the design and art direction world having collective experience working with the likes of Pentagram, Nexus Productions, Prada and GQ Style.
I particularly enjoyed the resulting posters from their 3 day typographic workshop entitled ‘A Bunch of Idioms’. You can see some of them in the image above and the rest of them here.
Design Friendship is the collaborative effort of Natasha Shah and Chris Hilton. Their friendship was born through a shared love of design that was fueled by their meeting and working together in 2003. They have been friends ever since. They have a a combined 15 years of experience with working for clients like Nike and Sony PSP. In 2007 they left their respective employer and made their shared dream a reality in the world’s greatest city for the arts, London.
I have been familiar with Accept and Proceed for a while now but for some reason have slipped on writing about them. They have some exceptional posters for sale at Blanka, which I did mention in a post a while back. They also run a group project from time to time that other Designers participate in. According to their website, “Accept and Proceed is a design and art direction facility, providing print and interactive design for a wide range of sectors including the music, fashion and advertising industries.” A&P are London-based and claim to deliver innovating, pioneering yet effective solutions for their clients and approach each project with full gusto regardless of budget. That is the way it should be but often isn’t.
Seymourpowell was founded in 1984 by Richard Seymour and Dick Powell. They are now a team of 65 strong in London. Companies seek out Seymourpowell from around the world to help them answer three basic questions: What should we do? Why do we do it? How do we do It? They provide the answers through; ethnographic user research, brand and design strategy, trends, innovation process, transportaion design, product design and development, packaging and interactive.
They are fueled by a passion for all things creative and an absolute commitment to the cause of creating better products. They believe design is about making things better. Better for people. Better for business and better for the world.
Now that is a philosophy I can get behind.
Jamie Cullen is a London based illustrator and graphic artist who has delivered work for the likes of Esquire, GQ, Rolling Ston, Elle, PS3, TimeOut, VW, Billboard and IDN to name a few. He is currently represented by Bransch. His portfolio is bursting with original imagery.
Multistorey was established in 1997 by Saint Martins graduates Harry Woodrow and Rhonda Drakeford. Their alma matter left a recognisable stamp on the way they approach their work and helped them develop a blue print for how to approach a potential creative project. They have no discernible style and seem to prefer to let the clients do the talking when it comes to their work. They aren’t afraid to experiment in their work and enjoy using other tool and formats when it comes to their creative process. They are located in London where they are still working hard on generating original advertising and graphic design.
Stylo is a London-based design studio whose work is subtle, refined and classic. They are the kind of studio that prefers to let their clients do the talking as you will see from their website.
UK Illustrator Miles Donavan has updated his site with some exceptional work. Donavan’s work has been used internationally for both editorial and advertising. He has generated creative for clients including The New York Times, The Observer, Billboard and Creative Review. He is extensively featured in publications including ‘Illusive’, ‘The Fundamentals of Illustration’, ‘Pen & Mouse’ and ‘Illustration Play’. He is also a co founder of Peepshow Collective that was previously listed here at Changethethought. At Peepshow he has worked on design, art direction and animation for clients such as The BBC, Nike, Coca-Cola, Toyota, Diesel and The Victoria & Albert Museum. He is currently repped by Art Department in New York and Serlin Associates in London.
If you would like to purchase some of his prints you can do so at Peepshow’s shop, aptly titled Peepshop.
Saturday is a creative agency that offers branding and advertising from concept through execution. The agency is the brainchild of the Swedish duo Erik Tortensson and Jens Grede. The idea driving their unique philosophy was to birth an agency that serves clients who believe that aspirational design is a commercial advantage. Four years after it’s inception it has crafted brilliant work for clients like North Face, H&M, Kurt Geiger and Jenny Packham to name a few.
The, apparently, laser-etched packaging for North Face above is an absolutely gorgeous piece of iconic design.
Proud Creative is a creatively-led multidisciplinary design studio based in London. Founder, Dan Witchell is also the full time curator of Kemistry Gallery in Shoreditch. Witchell can take credit for breaking Parra in the UK, whilst also bringing over Geoff McFetridge, Gregory Gilbert-Lodge and Experimental Jetset, not to mention his support of UK talent - UVA, Daniel Eatock and Eine.
London-based Studio Small creates and art directs work for exhibitions, packaging, identity and literature. There work is solid all the way through and exudes a sort of contemporary classlessness.
