Nate Williams iPod Skin

Nate Williams, one of my favourite illustrators, has just designed this super cool iPod skin.

Hirst Shark 2.0

Cristina Ruiz and Gareth Harris report in the Art Newspaper that "Damien Hirst is in talks with US hedge fund manager Steve Cohen to replace the shark in his iconic work, The physical impossibility of death in the mind of someone living, 1991."

Portrait Gallery Project Stalled

"You would think that the proposed Portrait Gallery of Canada would be a project that a Conservative government would love: no difficult art, no greased cones or high-concept videos -- just a stirring assemblage of Great Canadians, and those who've come under the scrutiny of Great Canadian portraitists. Just a big, accessible gathering of 17th-century first-nations chiefs, Sir Joshua Reynolds's depictions of stern military heroes, and photographs from Karsh to a haunting Bryan Adams image of jazz singer Diana Krall. And all this in a new gallery based around the former U.S. embassy at 100 Wellington St. across from Parliament Hill." Read the rest of Val Ross's Globe and Mail article here.

Sadly, the fight goes on for Canadian culture.

Honest When Watched

Apparently simple photocopies of eyes on the wall make people behave honestly, even when alone in the room.

"Eyes are known to be a powerful perceptual signal for humans. People behave more cooperatively when they are being 'watched' by a cute image of a robot or even abstract 'eye spots' on a computer screen. But this is the first time anyone has observed the effect in a natural situation, with people using their own money. It could have far-reaching implications." Read the rest of the New Scientist article here.

Will being surrounded by portraits make you a better person, I wonder?

New Work

This is one of two illustrations I recently completed for the Milken Institute Review in California, for an article adapted from the book "Making Great Decisions" by Charles Cooper, a decision theorist, and David Henderson, an economist at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey.

Bruce Gilden

"Like a bull in a china shop, Bruce Gilden lets loose with Fashion Magazine, a high-concept, tongue-in-cheek take on the glossy conventions of the fashion world. In the seven-part magazine, Gilden recasts the world of beauty and glamour through his up-close and aggressive street photography style." His work reminds me of Weegee. Check out the interactive essay by Gilden on his project on the Slate Magazine website.

Wall Decals

Grace Bonney, of the wonderful design*sponge blog, writes this week about the wall decals created by the swedish design group wallconcept. Playful designs, and inspiring, too - this could be an interesting way for illustrators to expand their own repertoire, working on walls instead of on paper (or digitally).

iPod Everywhere. Really Everywhere.

Atech Flash Technology want to make sure you can listen to your iPod anywhere and everywhere, and to that end have introduced the "Stereo Dock for iPod with Bath Tissue Holder." Available July 21.

Dr Lakra

"Dr Lakra is more of a Vincent Price, Hammer Horror doctor than a medical one. This Mexican artist is fascinated by the macabre. He works on found images and objects, transforming them with drawings into tattooed ladies and little voodoo toys." See a review (and photos) of his current show at London's Kate MacGarry gallery on the BBC's Collective website. More of his work can be seen on the Saatchi website, too.

The Logic Alphabet

"In 1953, while working a hotel switchboard, a college graduate named Shea Zellweger began a journey of wonder and obsession that would eventually lead to the invention of a radically new notation for logic. From a basement in Ohio, guided literally by his dreams and his innate love of pattern, Zellweger developed an extraordinary visual system - called the "Logic Alphabet" - in which a group of specially designed letter-shapes can be manipulated like puzzles to reveal the geometrical patterns underpinning logic." Read the rest of Christine Wertheim's article here.

Oops.

"A museum visitor who tripped and smashed three 17th-century Chinese porcelain vases will not face criminal damage charges."

Clear Toaster

Elium Studio has created a clear toaster, which allows you to watch your slice of Wonder bread turn golden brown as you wait. Making morning toast can now feel like a scene from the movie 2001...

Illustration Growers of America

The Illustration Growers of America was formed nearly two years ago to promote the use of commissioned illustration rather than stock by art directors and designers. Now it looks like all their hard work has paid off, as today they were happy to announce that an ad from their campaign, featuring the work of Canadian illustrator Gary Taxali, has been nominated on the shortlist to receive the prestigious Lion Award at this year's Cannes Lions Festival. Final awards will be announced this Thursday. Hope they win.

Now She Has Their Attention

"An amateur 20-year-old who posted homemade videos to YouTube was signed to a network production deal last week. 'Major TV studios have also started trolling YouTube and similar destinations for the next generation of acting and directing talent. In the process, the Web is offering the kind of instant connection to Hollywood that countless denizens of public-access talk shows have craved and seldom received.'" Read all about Brooke Brodac's surprising success story here.

My Life as a Sitting Duck

"Can one really be both critic and artist, and do the skills of one inform or undermine the other? Matthew Collings is both, and the one bumps into the other..." as he discusses in an essay in the Times Online.

Guerrilla Girls

"Since the mid-80s, the Guerrilla Girls have sought to expose gender and race discrimination. Adopting the names of dead women artists, their work is both provocative and humorous, uncovering shocking facts about discrimination in society and the art establishment. "

The Guerrilla Girls recently participated in an Amnesty International exhibition of contemporary art, part of its global Stop Violence Against Women campaign. See their contributions here.

Years ago, when I worked in a bookstore, I was lucky enough to meet Gloria Steinem when she was on tour promoting her new book "Revolution From Within." I ended up chatting with her briefly about the Guerrilla Girls, which was very cool.

Update July 3 2006: Zoe Williams of the Guardian reports back from her recent interview with the Guerrilla Girls, who were in London this week to give a series of lectures and to see the room at the Tate Modern dedicated to a show of their posters.

$135 Million Klimt

"A dazzling gold-flecked 1907 portrait by Gustav Klimt has been purchased for the Neue Galerie in Manhattan by the cosmetics magnate Ronald S. Lauder for $135 million, the highest sum ever paid for a painting." Read the rest of Carol Vogel's article in the New York Times here.

Booklist: Penguin by Design: A Cover Story 1935-2005

"By looking back at seventy years of Penguin paperbacks, graphic designer Phil Baines charts the development of British publishing, the ever-changing currents of cover art and style, and the role of artists and designers in creating and designing the Penguin look." (Design Observer)

Another one I'm adding to my reading list.

Genius at Work

"In the Manchester neighborhood of Pittsburgh's North Side, (Bill) Strickland has forged a series of programs to bring new life to the community. At one end of the lifeline is the MCG, which aims to rescue at-risk school kids by using the arts to teach them life skills." An older article from Fast Company magazine that I've only come across now, but still a good one. The one downside is that the web version isn't accompanied by the Mary Ellen Mark photos that appeared in the print version.

Packaging: Thievery Corporation

Beautifully designed website by Ashby Design, on which Neal Ashby and Matthew Curry describe how they designed the "Revolver"-inspired packaging for "The Art of Versions" from Thievery Corporation.

Website: Saul Bass

A great site that celebrates the movie titles design of Saul Bass. Have another look (and get the background about) such classics as The Man WIth the Golden Arm, Psycho, Vertigo, and more. Interesting side note by Beth Gilligan about Bass's work on Psycho: "Bass was also credited as a 'pictorial consultant' for his role as an advisor on some of the movie’s critical sequences, including the famous shower scene. In an interview with François Truffaut, Hitch downplayed Bass’ role in the filming, but most other accounts credit him with fashioning the drawings that became the basis for several scenes."

Picasso Goes Home

"For the first time, Picasso's work is hanging with the masterpieces that inspired him. How does it compare? Adrian Searle sees a magnificent exhibition at the Prado."

Searle's essay is not only a good analysis of Picasso's influences, but a meditation on the nature of what being an artist is: "As absent, honorary director of the Prado, Picasso said he was director of a 'phantom museum'. In a sense, all artists are. Each has a head full of other people's works, talismans and obsessions."

Object: Teastick

A clever design idea: the teastick, which combines a loose tea ball with a spoon. From the Relish website.

Louvre Bans Photographs

The Louvre, bless them, has now banned cameras inside the most visited areas of the museum, including that most photographed image, the Mona Lisa. Culture Kiosque reports that it was the countless complaints of visitors, retinas seared by the continual flashes, that moved them to take this bold and surprisingly low key step last fall. Read Harold Hyman's report here. I wish it was in force when I visited the Louvre two years ago...

New Work

A new piece by me, the first in a series illustrating the Seven Deadly Sins. Meet Anger.

Website: AIGA Design Archives

Beautifully designed website for the archives of the "...annual juried selections of design excellence and the work of designers honored by..." the American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA). Stunning work.

The Man Who Heard His Paintbox Hiss

Intriguing article by Ossian Ward in the Telegraph about a new exhibition of Wassily Kandinsky's work at the Tate Modern, which explores "...how the artist used his synaesthesia - the capacity to see sound and hear colour - to create the world's first truly abstract paintings."

Coconino Classics

Lovely French website featuring classic early cartoons such as Little Nemo, Krazy Kat, and lots of others. Run, don't walk, over to check it out. Thanks to Overton Loyd for the link.

Tom Waits Said He Would Glue My Head to the Wall

Or, Jim Jarmusch recalls his favourite musical moments in film, as recorded by Laura Barton.

Cut Through the Roaring Thunder With Your Swing!

Really fun article on Japanese children's baseball cards by John Gall.

“Cut through the roaring thunder with your swing!
Bark! Fight! Advance toward glorious victory!”
—Japanese baseball fight song

I couldn't say it better.

Technology Doesn't Solve Everything

Good article by John Jerney, a San Francisco-based writer whose Silicon Valley news column appears in the Japanese paper Daily Yomiuri. In it he discusses the pitfalls of assuming that technology is a cureall for the problem of copyright. With the US Orphan Works Act moving closer to being approved, it's a good wake up call to the illustrators, photographers, and other creative professionals who still assume that they won't be affected. Unless more changes are made, you will. More info on the background to the Orphan Works issue and what it means for creatives can be found on the Illustrators Partnership of America's website, where they have a resource page for artists, as well as on the Graphic Artists Guild website.

New Yorker Cartoons 24/7

The New Yorker has launched the Cartoon Network on their site (link is on the main page, about halfway down), which allows you to view a new cartoon every 30 seconds in a handy little pop up window that floats nicely beside your working window. Cheerful.

New Work

Another new illustration in the more colourful collage style I'm working in, this time on the subject of allergies.

Groovy. Baby.

It only lasted a couple of years, but the 60's psychedelic art scene in London was very groovy while it lasted. A new exhibition at the Victoria and Albert museum explores its brief legacy - Emily King checks it out here. That's a detail of Martin Sharp's Mr. Tambourine Man poster on the left.

Website: Bauhaus-Archiv Museum of Design

"The Bauhaus Archive and Museum of Design in Berlin is concerned with the Bauhaus school of twentieth century architecture, design and art (1919-1933). Its collection focuses on the history of the school and its work." Instructors at the Bauhaus School included Josef Albers, Vassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee, Walter Gropius, László Moholy-Nagy, Marcel Breuer, and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe - all of whom eventually emigrated, fleeing the approaching darkness. The Paul Klee to the left was produced during a happier time at the school, and elegantly represents a diagram of a failed system transfer.

Website: The Sheep Market

Draw a sheep facing left, 10,000 times. Various sheep, some happy, some angry, some wonky, all drawn by online workers. Click and relive their drawing experience! (From the Design Observer)

Phaidon Design Classics

Phaidon Press has just published Phaidon Design Classics, an ambitious three volume set devoted to the art of design, ranging "...from the paperclip, to the Alvar Aalto Savoy vase, to the Jaguar E Type, all of the objects featured in the book fill our desks, cupboards, kitchens, purses, dreams and pockets." With both a hefty size and price tag ($225 CDN), this set definitely requires a reinforced wallet as well as reinforced shelving. Lots of happy reading for the design geek, though.

New Scanner

Today I got my new scanner, which was a bit of a surprise as I only ordered it yesterday. The Apple Store is awesome. It's a Canon CanoScan 8400F, was quick and easy to set up, and works just great.