"Without monsters and gods, art cannot enact a drama."

-Mark Rothko

YouWorkForThem

Some exciting type design coming from YouWorkForThem. The forum collects a large range of styles by top notch designers and combines them with a clean, navigable site to make for quite pleasant shopping (or window shopping). While browsing, you can test out the font with your own text input and size/weight adjustments.
The images below are only a small peek at their inventory, in which you will begin to envision an incredible variety of applications. YouWorkForThem client list includes the biggest of the biggies: Apple, Victoria's Secret, Nike, Diesel, Wired Magazine, Cartoon Network, Harvard University, aaaand on and on....

Have no fear of perfection. You'll never reach it."

-Salvador Dali

Ana Montiel

TAKAHIRO KIMURA

Japanese collage artist, 

TAKAHIRO KIMURA, focuses on distorted faces, but states..

"...if you feel some complicated emotions of human beings are expressed out of my work [faces], it might be projections of what you have inside. The broken faces might be mirrors to reflect your emotions."

Simón Prades

 Simón Prades

Japan I - Ink & Watercolor

 

 Japan II - Ink & Watercolor

 

 The Mask of the Red Death

 

 Mexico

 Me, Myself & I

Artist Feature

Paolo Lim, originally from Manila, now works out of southern Australia and the beachy vibes of his two homes imbue his style with a hot-cool dichotomy that makes for some fun work. I'm so impressed by his palette and his synthesis of graphic color blocks with photorealistic illustration, not to mention whatever  technique is behind the pieces. He has done quite a few album covers and editorial work. You can pick up a pretty rad t-shirt over at his site.

This Modern Life

"The things you own end up owning you."

-Tyler Durden, Fight Club by Chuck Palahnuik

I believe this concept can be a struggle for designers, as we are so enmeshed with the material world and all its manifestations. At this point in my life, I seek to shed most everything but the bare necessities, and I have to fight urges to sweep peachy little things into my keep (yard sale finds below were a gift, albeit somewhat of an impulse).  The quick sketch was inspired by conversations I've had with my roommate about the expectations we place on ourselves regarding success and status.... how we tie our happiness to a rubric we didn't even write. I challenge you (and myself) to identify something in your life.. a habit, a bill, a goal.. that you've acquired vicariously..... and throw it out the window.


This post is a departure from most of the posts at 'You are Here', but identifying what drives you is important... and so is knowing that you don't have to pick it out of a catalogue.

Found Objects

Great deals on a yard sale down the road..

Animal Rummy

I envy this dude's gig. So much. Animal Rummy is 'Rob Jones' out of Austin, TX who has landed consistent clientele such as Jack White and The Black Keys. His identifiable style, strong in integration of type  and spontaneity of imagery, delivers consistent dark delight. I posted some of my favorite gig posters, but there are so many more over at his site.

Bernhard Lang

Lang, a photographer from Germany, captures whimsical aerial snapshots with incredible color, contrast, and atmosphere. You can access his work at Behance. I've also shared a couple pieces from his 'Winter Aerials' collection below.

Eudoxia

"But if you pause and examine it carefully, you become convinced that each place in the carpet corresponds to a place in the city and all the things contained in the city are contained in the design, arranged according to their true relationship, which escapes your eye distracted by the bustle, the throngs the shoving. All of Eudoxia's confusion, the mules' braying, the lampblack stains, the fish smell is what is evident in the incomplete perspective you grasp; but the carpet proves that there is a point form which the city shows its true proportions, the geometrical scheme implicit in its every, tiniest detail."

-Italo Calvino

"Box in the Air"

Charles-Édouard Jeanneret-Gris, more commonly known as Le Corbusier designed the Villa Savoye in 1928, a holiday home for the Savoye family, as the culmination of his 5 points of New Architecture...

Stilts

Roof Garden

Open Plan

Free-floating Facade

Horizontal Window

Although, the Villa is a major landmark in the history of modern architecture, I was bowled over by how the successful implementation of these concepts affects the inhabitant's experience of the home. And certainly, it feels of home instantly.. one is never cornered, continuously drawn here and there, and always bathed in subtle light, (when the Parisian skies so provide).

Chairs of Corbusier's design dot the west end of the living room, while a single aluminum chandelier emphasizes the linearity and clarity of the space. A wonderful relationship between this room and the courtyard invites fantasy of dinner parties resplendent with laughter and mirth. And tasty cheese and wine. Speaking of food, the kitchen was the most efficient use of service space I have ever seen, but still maintained a heavy dose of soul. I wish I had a photo, I will post plans when I have them uploaded.

To think Villa Savoye would not exist today, if it were not for a forward thinking property owner who had intended to raze the building but instead contacted the proper organizations to begin it's restoration and preservation. There was apparently quite a bit of drama between Le Corbusier and the Savoye family over major leakage due to a new sealant specified for the project. I provide links once I figure out how to get all my search engines in english :)

Sempre Perso

Enjoying Venice requires accepting a certain level of consistent perdition. The joy becomes the scape just beyond the bend in your narrow path and a smart itinerary always has small print. Questions of way-finding and legibility come to the forefront, and as such... I am reminded of a buildingblog post about labyrinths. I will post it here, and then further elaborate on Venetian navigation after I've made my sister drink some grappa.

Metro Life

"The buried paths of the Boston subway could not be related to the rest of the environment except where they come up for air, as in crossing the river. The surface entrances of the stations may be strategic nodes in the city, but they are related along invisible conceptual linkages. The subway is a disconnected nether world, and it is intriguing to speculate what means might be used to mesh it into the structure as a whole."
- Kevin Lynch on paths, "Image of the City"

In an intentional effort to get lost and find my way back to the city center, I hopped on the L2 at Placa Catalunya and decided to make my destination Glòries, as on the metro map, it appeared to be a dense intersection, linking many important paths. Little did I know, that it was an oppressive collision of major highways and that the city changed from the charming, historical character of Barrio Gótico to mass produced, concrete commercial sterility. It gave me the chance to find my way back to city center and mark the changes in neighborhoods as well as pedestrian activity, but the experience also started my brain ticking on how subway users could maintain orientation while they are down below...


Could compasses be placed on the walls or ceilings of the trains, the arrow turning with the changes in direction? This might be interesting, but maybe not that helpful as keeping track of a spinning arrow would do little for understanding your place in the city. It could be as simple as mapping the route through a google satellite feed. Fancifully... The route could be tracked with video above ground, and where buildings were cut through, renderings would fill in the details. Imagine visually crashing through Santa Maria del Mar or La Sagrada Familia as you bump along trying to maintain your balance on the train. Or popping in a fancy apartment building off Diagonal as a family sits down to dinner, you see the interior of places you may never enter. The endeavor would be expensive and maybe slightly ridiculous, but with a playful attitude it could be greatly entertaining to metro riders. 


I tried to find projects that tackled this disorientation, but all I could find was a tags outside subway stops in New York, marking the general cardinal direction. If you know of anything else, or have an idea, please share! I'll post some sketches when I have a reasonable way to upload photos...


*photo by heiwa4126

'It is dangerous to trust a man who is hungry"

I went to see Iñárritu's "Biutiful" this weekend, expecting to acquaint myself with the sights and sounds of Barcelona, only to be bowled over with emotional intensity. Javier Bardem's portrayal of a father trying to keep his family together through illegal, but well-intentioned business ventures is heart-wrenching, and as the title's namesake, beautiful. Iñárritu does a fabulous job of visual metaphors that follow the plot line and the rest of the casting was done incredibly well. If you make it to the movies in the next couple weeks, it's one of the best, if not the best option out there.

Video Love

The demo reel for The Mill Group is pretty incredible, albeit a little long. Wonderful story progression across multiple projects, driven by best choice in music I've seen on a demo reel..

The Mill Group Showreel 2011 from The Mill Visual Effects Studio on Vimeo.

Music + Type

Snagged from a FB friend, this UK site takes popular quotes and sets them in poster format of typographic design. Very simple idea, surprised I haven't seen this produced monetized before. I'll be waiting for lyrics that I resonate with ;)
speaking of which, this Lykke Li is a nice way to start the day..
"Dance, dance, dance, words can never make up for what you do..."

AIA San Antonio Lecture Series - "Still Here"

Last night at Pearl, Billy Tsien of Todd Williams Billie Tsien Architects, New York, presented 7 of the husband-wife team's projects, 4 completed and 3 in progress. The lecture addressed site, program, and progression. The subtle buildings emphasized access to natural light through various sky wells and a sense of materiality. Although I enjoy tactility of concrete and stone, I question whether shipping in stone from Palestine to Philadelphia is reasonable. Other than that observation, the designs were sensitive to place, and time.
Some memorable thoughts I jotted down..
.. The goal is to create a sense of quiet, an impression that the building will be there much longer than you or I.
.. Slowing down your perception of an object, the idea of quieting down the noise of daily life before entering a space
.. Taking away the sense of an object (in reference to the Cranbrook Natatorium being just a series of walls within the landscape)
.. Emphasis on a circular plan, if you can never get caught/cornered the space feels much bigger. She introduced this approach when discussing the American Folk Art Museum in NYC, shown below
.. growing as an architect means becoming less infatuated with object, and more concerned and aware of the experience

I found the Barnes Collection, a work in progress, to be the most intriguing program and solution. The idea of recreating entire exisiting galleries at a new location has interesting ramifications from a theoretical and logistical perspective. I will tackle that project in an entry of its own... You can find a little preview of the concept below. In the meantime, enjoy perusing their site, linked above, as you make it through your workday.

Daily Distraction

Apparently Beck set up an visual artist spotlight on his website called colorspace, and the latest feature is Devendra Banhart (thank you facebook). Who knew that guy danced around the visual world as well? I think his stuff is interesting enough to take a peek, page composition and color are pretty solid.
This portion of Beck's site is clean and navigable, as is the rest of the site. You can also listen to some new tunes while you're there.

:)

Line Love

Let's take a look at Aubrey Vincent Beardsley for our first exploration of fine lines.. I'm thinking "For the Love of Line" will be a reoccurring feature on this blog.
Beardsley was an important illustrator in the development of Art Nouveau and closely aligned with the Aesthetic movement, which included such artists as Oscar Wilde and James Whistler. I won't go into much personal detail of his life, as I have linked his wikipedia page where you can read further. He died at the early age of 25, leaving us only 6... 6 very marvelous years of work. Who knows what he would have produced if he had lived long enough to build on his momentum.
Let's take a look at a couple pieces..

This work is the frontis piece from Le Morte D'arthur. I've pulled these images from Aubrey Beardsley Art Images, where you can check out the rest of the volume as well as other illustrations. The line work is absolutely rich, with acute attention to contrast and balance. Below is the work "Salome", followed by "Isolde".

Beardsley was also well known for 'naughty' drawings, which referenced Japanese erotic illustrations and mythology. He  developed his printing technique using Japanese precedents in woodblock. I'm always blown away by the graceful power of the prints.. enjoy!