Mark Laita

© Mark Laita

Mark Laita is a commercial photographer originally from Detroit, who is based in L.A. His work is both straightforward and witty. His animals caught my eye, and when I saw these snakes posing in the most calligraphic positions I thought, "Oh! I absolutely have to show you these!" Look at the way they draw their beautiful curves like chinese and japanese calligraphers; truly wonderful!

http://marklaita.com/serpentine.html

http://www.marklaita.com

Nancy Fouts

© Nancy Fouts

Nancy Fouts is an American born-London based fine artist. Her visual puns are both whimsical and unexpected. She is a self-proclaimed hoarder, and her work reminds me of surrealists like Dali and his lobster telephone! You might think the recipe is easy, but it simply isn't! She really has a knack for marrying unrelated, ordinary objects. Absolutely astonishing!

http://www.nancyfouts.com

Why your passion is not enough

"Passion lights the spark; it's what keeps you going when times get hard but in the end of the day it's your skills, ideas, hard work and commitment that make you successful." says Maggie Doyne, a young extraordinary woman who got envolved in an incredible humanitarian project in Nepal. It's not often that I find something to post that has nothing to do with design and yet...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marianne-elliott/why-your-passion-is-not-e_b_1256424.html

http://blinknow.org

... something else I'd like to quote from the article: "Starting small is surely no barrier to progressing professionally." Sound advice! Click on the first link to read the article that made me want to know more.

The Neighborhood Studio

© The Neighborhood Studio

The Neighborhood Studio is a design studio that does the most appetizing packaging design (among other things), whether it be camembert or fertilizer! Mmmmm... is right!

http://www.neighborhood-studio.com

Matthew Haysom

© Matthew Haysom

Matthew Haysom is another recent graduate from Bournemouth, now working for London based studio Camber Group. He has a gift for minimalism, with a keen eye for simplicity and detail. His portfolio is simply slick and chic. What's interesting about this piece is that is spite of the spelling mistake, you can still read the word "make"; a nice use of semantics. I'd like to add for those of you in fear of failing, that not only do we all make mistakes but we also learn from them!

http://www.matthewhaysom.co.uk

Julian Hansen

© Julian Hansen

Julian Hansen is a young danish graphic designer, recently graduated from the Danish School of Media and Journalism in Copenhagen. This project, which sort of looks like a mind map or flowchart around the idea that "you need a typeface" is quite clever. The question is , how do you choose one that works? Most beginners have the hardest time choosing an appropriate typeface for their layouts as there is no real recipe for that, so perhaps this poster will help some. I would say that whichever you choose it's got to be legible and it should enhance the overall design. Most designers limit their palette of typefaces to a dozen or less, and as the saying goes: "Less is more."

http://julianhansen.com

Yann Legendre

© Yann Legendre

Yann Legendre is a graphic designer from France, who studied at l'IAV in Orléans, where he was born. He is extremely eclectic and multifaceted. Choosing this poster certainly doesn't summarize the variety of his work but it's a good example of his talent for playing around with shapes and concepts. I bet you will never look at potatoes again like you used to!

http://www.yannlegendre.com

Super Bowl Ads

Last sunday, the day before yesterday, february the 5th, was the Super Bowl, the final game of the NFL playoffs, which is probably the most watched American television broadcast of the year. Last year 111 million people watched the number one annual football game! Because of the very high cost of advertising during this broadcast, companies pay huge amounts of money and develop their most expensive advertisements for the occasion. I probably shoudn't be saying this but here goes anyway! The commercials are what I like best; they are absolutely extraordinary. You should go and see some of them.

http://superbowl-ads.com/article_archive/

The Holstee Manifesto

© Holstee

Sometimes it's interesting to see type covering the whole surface of the format like here; it doesn't have to be systematic however. I always tell you to use white or negative space as an element of design. It shoudn't feel like emptiness that you ought to be afraid of. Please read this sensible and refreshing manifesto too and check out the company while you're at it and how it all started in 2009.

http://shop.holstee.com

http://shop.holstee.com/pages/about

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/on-small-business/how-the-holstee-manifesto-became-the-new-just-do-it/2011/11/17/gIQA2AYyUN_story.html

Wayne Thiebaud

Sorry, no picture! I wanted to post the four cupcakes painted by Wayne Thiebaud, a key figure in Amercian contemporary art, known for his paintings primarily of food like cakes, pastry, ice cream cones (absolutely mouth watering!), land and cityscapes (simply exquisite!) and portraits. There is a very distinctive and personal touch to the way he paints and interprets his subjects, a beautiful sense of color. Art critics have often catalogued him somewhere between Pop Art and Morandi.Well, go see for youselves!

I tried to contact him for permission to use one or more of his visuals but my request was transfered to the ADAGP here in France, who agreed if I paid 7€ plus tax a month! This is the reason why I always ask beforehand, so as not to get into any copyright trouble!!! So my advice would be, always ask for written permission before posting anyone's work on a blog, and type "Wayne Thiebaud" on google image to see some of his work. There's plenty to see. Truly inspiring!