Finished this last week, i had intended for it to be used for an upcoming project, which to my dismay got pulled at the very last minute ahhhhhhh super frustrating….. Not to worry one for the archives ehh, and i still get to share it with you lovely people.
Back in May, good friend of mine and freelance music writer Ian Hsieh, notified me that he would be doing a review of Quantic’s new record dropping in July and a feature on the project for Notion magazine’s August issue. When he suggested doing an illustration inspired by the new album “Tradition in Transition” i was a little reluctant to jump on board with the idea because i was swamped with commissioned work… That was until i received a promo of the album a week later and quite literally fell in love with the summer infused, Latin American music inspired 12 track Long Player.
I have always been a fan of Quantic and his music and the more i listened to the album the more compelled i felt to create a piece of work inspired by the albums captivating sound.
Amid all the other work i had going on this month im really glad i stuck through with this illustration and saw it out till the end. Can’t remember last time i got 2 design something for me that wasn’t commissioned… a warm sense of accomplishment .
HELLO THERE!! Soz it’s been a while I know so let me get straight into it as this is gonna be a hefty one.
March was a bit of a mad one, I completed work on my last issue of SuperSuper, wanna shout out to everyone at the mag your all crazy talented people, was pleasure to be a part of the team and a honor to include Super as a vital stepping stone in my career HOLLA!!
Since leaving the mag i’ve been doing some hardcore freelancing, one of the most interesting projects being a collaboration with club promoter, DJ and producer WARBOY, who sat me down and informed me about his new club night GETTIN DIRTY and asked if i would be interested in creating the promotional artwork and branding for the event. I was really taken in by the concepts Warboy was proposing and liked his creative thinking and welcomed the opportunity to work on such an exciting project.
Logo concepts.
I wanted to do something quite unique with the flyer design, I was adamant that I didn’t want it to resemble in any way your standard club flyer you see everywhere around London, I wanted it to possess it’s own identity and feel. I wanted to create something that would work on an A6 format but could also be blown up and have an even stronger impact, which is why i opted to go for a portrait like canvas approach for the characters we were planning to use.
Sketches for flyer work.
This months design, to co-inside with the anniversary of the Portuguese revolution, also referred to as ‘The Carnation Revolution’
Upcoming characters and designs in the GETTIN DIRTY series.
More GETTIN DIRTY stuff to come watch this space. DONE!!
Holla! que pasa me amigos?
Issue 15 of SuperSuper has landed, just in time for London’s fashion week, expect glam, glitz, celebrities and…a whole lot of hair?(you’ll see)
Finally got to feature an illustration, which was a nice touch to the creative process this time around. Knocked this out over two days when the south east was hit with a major snow blizzard about two weeks ago and I couldn’t get into the office (although i probably could have if i tried hehe.)
If i had a lil’ more time i would have liked to spent a little more attention over capturing a closer resemblance for some of the people featured, but for the most part i am proud, 2 days of snow, hot chocolate and GRIME!!
The next spread was one of those rare opportunities you get as a designer to re-live your childhood and create a piece of work simply for the love of it.(That and a limited edition scratching vinyl, lol)
Right no more freebees SUPERSUPER issue 15 out NOW you know what to do.
Yesterday saw the release of Ugly Duckling’s fourth studio album Audacity and to commemorate the occasion I knocked this illustration together. I’ve had the album on heavy rotation for the last 2 weeks, it’s come as a real comfort amid all this B.S surrounding credit crunch, unemployment and a whole lot of negativity in the news lately. Uplifted and inspired i had to show my love for Young Einstein, Andy and Dizzy’s latest work of art.
Still not convinced then check out my main man Ian Hsieh’s (freelance music writer (i’m proud of you money)) review at Planet Notion.
PEACE.
EASY PEOPLE!!
Ok, so i’m at work on Tuesday and this dude i work with, who also happens to be a DJ approaches me with this problem he’s encountered with a designer who had promised to create a flyer for a New Years Eve bash he was organising with a group of promoters. Basically the designer had left them in the lurch for about two weeks with no soild certification of when his design would be complete. I was approached and asked if i wanted to take on the project.
I was still a little burned out from the previous weeks deadline at SuperSuper, but at the same time i was excited to work on something that was quite different from the magazine and would take me back to my illustration roots; also i liked the idea of being in competition with another designer. See he was who they first approached, so they had time to sit down and discuss a general plan and creative feel for the flyer, i was told i had a day to do something eye catching and interesting that people would want to pick up, which in itself was a challenging incentive because with him they had a rough idea of what they were expecting and with me i had a short time to produce something that the collective wanted to back and would outshine the first designers’ initial proposal.
I don’t know about u but i think i delivered. I knocked this out in about 5 or so hours Wednesday afternoon, quite an interesting brief as they didn’t want anything figurative (which is my strength) and i was restricted to only working in black and white. A challenge none the less, but an enjoyable one that was a pleasure to confront.
Preferred listening this time comes in the form of
TERRY LYNN: KINGSTON LOGIC
EASY!!
Wha’gwaan People!! Issue 14 of SuperSuper is in stores now!!!
Phew….. that was a tough old deadline met with many an obstacle, let me tell you. A week of little or no sleep a diet of coffee and cigarettes (with the odd sausage roll in-between) and i’m proud to say, content wise we have produced one of the most engaging and accessible issues to date. Whatever your fancy SS14 has a page, feature, article ,tip waiting for you, go ahead pick up a copy tell me i’m lying 
Very pleased with my contribution this issue, really wanted to raise the bar on what i had implemented in the last issue (check out last blog post) and i feel i have achieved just that. Took a few more risks with my layouts thought a lot more about structure and methods of guiding the viewers eye across a page in a coherent manner as well as injecting a bit of ViZCom spice off course and am happy with the results. As always there’s room for improvement, i was given more responsibility, and more pages to design this issue and i’m confident i met those challenges whilst still adhering to the SuperSuper ethos.
OK!! nuff chit chat let’s look at those pages right!
One last thing i’d like to suggest that whilst viewing these pages you take the opportunity listen to an album that really guided me through my work on this issue, relived stress, was a solid source of inspiration and will give u a brief insight to my mind-state as i put these pages together.(Who said work can’t be fun)
Tribe Called Quest: BEATS, RHYMES, and LIFE
ENJOY!!
WHOA!! heyheyhey….What do you think this is some sort of free 4 all? For more of my pages and a truely epic issue check out SuperSuper magazine issue 14 in stores now.
HOLLA!!
