Monthly Archives: June 2011

Coming this fall yall! Its time to get badass!

For my viscom class I will be producing a series of instructional demos covering basic graphic design principles for the industrial designer and graphic artist. We will cover introductory Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign as well as basic color theory, gestalt theory and typography. These lessons will focus on beginner visual communication skills for the industrial designer creating product layouts and presentations.

One of my favorite books when I was a kid was a book called Seven At One Blow by Jay Williams. It’s about a tailor named Pipkin who kills seven flies with one swat. After this, he thinks he’s the ultimate badass, so he sews himself a championship belt, WWF style, and wears it into town. Long story short, Pipkin gets wrangled into killing some giants, because when people see his awesome belt, they believe he is the man for the job. I guess the moral of the story is ‘fake it ’til you make it.’ But the real badass here is actually Friso Hentra, the amazing illustrator behind the pictures.

Born in 1928 in Amsterdam, he became a very prolific comic book artist and illustrator. In 1968, Henstra became a teacher at the Art Academy in Arnhem. When he met Jay Williams they worked on ‘De Koningskruistocht’ together and then many projects followed, after which Hentra’s illustration work really took off and he worked on a number of international projects, even writing and illustrating a few books of his own.

Henstra has a unique style and I think it is his bold figures and clean cross-hatching that draw me in the most. I remembered his work as I began studying tattoo techniques and was particularly reminded of him by tattoo artists like Duncan X and Liam Sparkes. Henstra is very old now, but his illustration work back in this time was very classical but with a hint of psychedelia. Like this cover for ‘De Meester en Margarita’. The makeup, the smoke, a cat with a hat on! Fantastic!!! There’s something always slightly off-putting in Henstra’s work, which is also one of the qualities that draws me in.

I love Friso Henstra most because his vision is so unique, so consistent and well-realized that his work takes the viewer to another place. This is what an illustrator should be. And in a time when information is exchanged so freely, everyone is copying everyone else’s style and everything is made to order, it is so awesome to find artists with such well defined personal style. The children’s book format is also a huge departure from the typical mediums that radical young artists would be most accustomed to working with today. His books frequently sell on ebay for very cheap, so if you can find any of Henstra’s work anywhere, pick it up. It is well worth it.

Just as summer is heating up Angie is keeping it cool with this brand new mix. Experience the desire. Experience the romance. Experience the Summer Times with some cutting edge disco, electro and French house.

I have been a synthesizer and drum machine nerd for quite some time now. Some aspect of the intersection of interface design and sound production has kept me endlessly fascinated for the last few years. Vintage machines like the Roland TR-909, the Yamaha DX-7, Moog Source, etc. I could go on, but vintage equipment like this had a great aesthetic design as well as simpler interfaces and a FUN experience when exploring the world of music. Somewhere late 80′s early 90′s this magic died, and synthesizers got to look about as lame and as corporate as can be. No character, no soul. Tiny digital screens with menu after menu of confusing parameter adjustments and absolutely no attention payed to making the boxes look cool.

Then after all these years comes Teenage Engineering. A small design company out of Stockholm Sweden, Teenage Engineering has come along and by combining great interaction design with excellent industrial design and electrical engineering they have created one of the most cutting edge and innovative little synthesizers of all time. FINALLY! Some great designers got together and used modern technology to create a full musical experience that is easy to use and FUN.

The Operator 1 is their biggest project yet and they seem to be enjoying a lot of buzz around this little synthesizer. The first batch of only 700 units sold out on their website in just a couple of days and the second batch has already sold out as well. I was fortunate to snag one out of the first batch and I have to say that it is, hands down, one of the simplest and most versatile little synthesizers I have ever used. Within minutes you can create expressive multi-track recordings. I was also immediately struck by the attention to detail in the design and interface of the product. The packaging, the graphics, everything about the product is well considered and honest and I have not had such an enjoyable product experience since picking up my first iPhone.

Not only is Teenage Engineering innovating in the music-world, but they have other great projects in the works. Machina is an electric bicycle design they are currently working. Their Studio System light line is also beautifully designed and currently available on their website. Pictured below is their project for Absolut, Absolut Choir.

Show Teenage Engineering some love and visit them here. And if music equipment isn’t your style, maybe you would be interested in the Lamborghini Diablo VT they are offering in their webstore!