The Printorium

I've found what I want to do when I grow up! I went to The Printorium's exhibition of a selection of their graphic work from the Harry Potter films (which I adore) at the weekend. I wish I could have taken it all home with me, the prints themselves were beautifully designed. As was the way they were presented. Go studio Minalima! 'Beedle The Bard' and the 'Electric Shock Shake' prints were my favourites (everything was my favourite to be honest!).

Perpetual Plastic

Loft treasure! I like the disappearing type and the halftone border. Keep it simple. 

...But if they were running out of catchy names when this was made we must be completely lost by now.

O P T I C I A N S

C

L E 

V E R

Eye very much likes this Bristol opticians sign. 

Banksy and Circles

This is a joke, not a truth. OK?

Oz & Thatcher

So the news this week, Margret Thatcher has passed away, our first and only female PM so far, and she has been (dis)honoured by the meteoric rise through the top 40 of the song 'ding dong the witch is dead' from The Wizard of Oz. Once again showing the power facebook groups can exert over the British music chart, previously groups on the social networking site have been formed to prevent another mediocre x-factor christmas number one for example.

Speaking very generally... everyone knows of the yellowbrick road, the ruby slippers, cowardly lion and that 'there's no place like home' in a similar way that everyone knows the name Margret Thatcher.  Both the former and the latter are cultural monoliths, a part of our social and popular history, and it could be said that both have had positive and negative effects (I still have nightmares about flying monkeys).

The Wizard of Oz will be forever remastered from book to film to musical (wicked) spin off to film again (Oz the Great and Powerful), i'm sure i've skipped a couple of incarnations in there already, I can see it remaining relevant, popular and current for a long time to come, it is a good story after all. In a similar way that the politics and actions of Mrs Thatcher's government will resonate through modern politics for many many decades to come, the good and bad aspects of her achievements serving both as cautionary tales; the issue of poll tax for example, and as a role-model to follow as she showed women that the sky really is the limit.   

electrifying

Children's book on electricity from 1960, I rescued this from the bin because the colours are fantastic (and i'm a hoarder, but mostly because of the colours), looking at it a bit closer the technology on the cover has mostly been superseded, the modern version would be all ipads and laptops and flat screens and hover cars (maybe that's too far), actually the modern version would probably be a webpage or a kindle book.

Kaleidoscope quilt

(Urban Outfitters 'Kaleidoscope' Quilt)

(closer look)

My honourary auntie Chris is a quilting guru, she taught me the basics and has some serious skills - her stitches are so neat it is untrue and she can put colours together beautifully. This craft appeals to me because of its use of simple shapes and tone to make a more complex and beautiful pattern; from a basic geometric shape you can create anything, I love how you can build up a square (or any shape) block to make a pattern- like pixels on a screen. When I see an illustration with a lot of tessellating triangles (very in vogue in the last couple of years) it makes me think of quilting. 

And it is not just the shapes and pattern that make a design work, colour and tone are just as important, so for all that quilting is a craft (and 'craft' is a bit of a dirty word in the world of design) it can involve as much design as you like. I posted this urban outfitters quilt because I think the colour combination is fantastic, little bit Scandinavian perhaps? It works and it is a lot less fussy than a lot of examples you would see in a quilting book. 

Kigu

I saw this in an email that landed in my inbox last week, how nice is this? I have long been a fan of Kigu's brand styling and online presence, they ooze this friendly personality that is forever making me lust after fleecey animal costumes (if I have any more I wont be able to have any normal clothes in my wardrobe). This illustration is lovely, well balanced, it suits the festival theme and their brand. It made me smile in the middle of a shockingly cold and snowy march. 

Thanks Kigu. 

Pinning it

I have been 'pinning it' for a few months now, and I am not usually an advocate for the latest social media trend, I do not need to let the world know what I am doing every second of the day, I do not think it is healthy or particularly interesting, having said this though I do like being able to speak to friends who live far away and share photos with people and share experiences, these aspects of social media are fantastic, it can be really empowering and a powerful tool for businesses also.

I think pinterest has fast become my favourite incarnation of social media, why? It is a bit of a funny one, I am not speaking to anyone on it,  or sharing anything about my day to day life; but it is like having an online scrapbook/ sketchbook/ point of reference for any project or interest, I am a very visual person, with pinterest if I see something like the look of I can pin to one of my boards for a rainy day, I can plan my 2013 fashion look, my fantasy wedding, dream home or the next patchwork quilt I want to make. It is a slice of escapism. I likes it. I don't even mind that other people can look at my boards (although I would be so embarrassed if my boyfriend saw my wedding board, its just a nice fantasy, honest!)

Peg Box

People always say this but the mundane can be beautiful, so heres some of the contents of my pegbox, I think it's beautiful, but I am probably a bit strange.

I don't think there are two peg boxes/bags out there that are the same, thats quite a nice thought. Some of these pegs are probably older than me there and there are a couple of odd ones, where on earth do they come from? Peg exchange trip? You could write an essay on the origins of the pegs in that box, probably not a thriller that one, but maybe there would be some interesting social history.

Nice Wednesdays

http://www.itsnicethat.com/events

I went to the first (of many, I hope) 'Nice Wednesdays' evening hosted by itsnicethat.com. It was interesting, inspirational and i(e)ntertaining. The talks were themed on hobbies and passions, there were 5 speakers, all with very different backgrounds and practices (not all graphics) but all of them had passions that; they had made into a career / creative network / was the voice of their work.
I got home and sat down, thought 'wow' and tried to pin down what my passion is, there are lots of things I like and love but true passion? (Im still filtering)
Having a passion and successfully monetising it... thats something a bit special.

Speakers:
Matthew & Chris Dent, founders of SWFC
Stevie Gee, illustrator
James Fairbank, head of brand and central marketing, Rapha
Sharadean Reid, founder of WAH Nails
Rob Ryan, artist
Martin O'Neill, graphic artist

Thanks itsnicethat, you made my week.

A E I lOve U

Love is in the air, our national day of forced romanticism is nearly upon us, and I for one would rather spend my romantic gesture money to on something handmade than a bit of tat from a mega department store or chain, (they have enough of my moolah as it is). This is a screenprint from coniLab's Etsy shop, screen prints by nature are all slightly unique, it is not an exact process when used on this scale. So you are guaranteed something unique without it costing the earth. I know my heart would melt if someone gave me this... (hint hint)

http://www.etsy.com/listing/78116915/aei-love-u-valentines-day-black-magenta

New beginnings

Lets try again, its 2013, a brand new year (its still january, I can say this even now) I love 'eye likes it' and I hope it will forgive me for abandoning it.... lets kick off 2013 with a solid Lazy Oaf favourite, the Flower power knitted jumper.  Having had to dress up for a 1950s themed party a few days ago I have come to the realisation that I and my wardrobe are thoroughly 1960s girls, It took a lot of imagination and outfit changes but I did manage to step it back a decade in the end.

My point though is that although this jumper is very much rooted in the '90s colour and pop aesthetic that Lazy Oaf is so well loved for, it flower power in your face-ness sings to my 1960s soul, (thats right, a singin' jumper. bet that's a surprise on a snowy tuesday morning).

What more can I say, eye likes it. Welcome back.