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Despite having interesting topics to write about, there comes a time when whatever I type looks and feels uninspired. When that happens, I visit the online abodes of my favorite artists. The team stumbles upon new sites and artists often, and that’s what You! Be Inspired! is all about! We hope you enjoy these creative folks as much as we do!
You’ll never look at literary and historical figures the same way when you read Kate Beaton’s well-loved comic, Hark! A Vagrant. The artist’s simple drawings paired with witty lines are always fun to read. Her hand-drawn comics do not have that overly-edited look, making them easy to read.  We believe that one should always have access to any form of art. Katrine Knauer has been helpful enough to collect photos of architecture, store fronts, exhibits, and public art in Barcelona. Take a look at more of her photos and check out your local art scene, too!  Get your fill of graphic design topics, from tried-and-tested techniques to relatively new practices. 100 Ideas that Changed Graphic Design by Steven Heller is one we’re thinking of adding to our growing “library” here at the office!   Most of the graphic designers I know started with fan art. Anyone who says otherwise is lying. The Internet is teeming with fan-made art, and sometimes they become more interesting than the original material. Check out this video about how the fan art community is one of the most active and creative online. Speaking of fan art, you may have heard of Rule 63. It’s part of the Rules of the Internet, and it states that “for any given male character, there exists a female character” and vice versa. It’s interesting to see how artistic different fandoms get when it comes to creating designs for this rule. Gender-swapping is a good illustration exercise for beginners who’ve yet to come up with their own characters and stories.  Ever wondered how other creatives arrange their workspaces? Where They Draw is a blog that posts photos of tools and spaces used by artists. Take a look at the site and see if your desk has the cluttered-but-still-organized look like some of the ones featured there!   See your favorite heroes in Helvetica form! Rene Mambembe used the popular typeface to portray some of the most popular heroes in pop culture. Which hero in alphabet form is your favorite?    We hope you enjoyed this week’s roundup of inspiring work. Send us your creative designs and get a chance to be featured in one of our weekly inspiration roundups! You can also add us up on Facebook and Twitter for more updates on our latest You! Be Inspired! compilations.  |
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Posted: 09 May 2012 06:55 PM PDT
When we say rock and roll, we automatically conjure images of rebellious and non-conformist teenagers. Of course, that's what the media constantly shows us, so it stuck. But thanks, too, to media rock and roll and its children reached the right audience – the rebels, the creative fellas, and the graphic designer.
We've seen different compilations of legendary, amazing, and classic designs of both rock posters and album cover art, but there's no mention of the artist or their background. We all know that graphic designer and rock stars are alike in many things, more than the music they like. The mere fact that there are musicians who, aside from making music, also create art work for their bands, proves that there's a lot in common between graphic designers and rock musicians. Here's a shortlist of notable graphic designers and photographers whose artwork have graced various album art covers: Peter Saville Peter Saville first worked with Factory Records as an art director, where he created album covers for bands like Joy Division, New Order, and OMD. Saville's style is a fusion of modern typography and design, and the anarchic style of punk graphics. During his stay with Factory records, he designed almost every album cover for New Order. But it was his design on Joy Division's Closer album that'll become controversial, because of the later suicide of Ian Curtis, the band's vocalist. Joy Division's Closer album cover, depicting Christ's funeral, compliments the somber tone of the band's second studio album. The album would go on to become one of Rolling Stones' 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. 
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Rob Sheridan Working with the band Nine Inch Nails (NIN) for more than 11 years, Rob Sheridan's art and work has appeared in almost every media – from album covers, web design, publications, and videos. His current works include album design for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and The Social Network OSTs. NIN's influence on Rob Sheridan's style is evident in the industrial textures and somber overall feel of the albums that he has worked on. 
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Bob CatoAn industry mover, Bob Cato has been more than a graphic designer when it comes to the music scene. He has contributed countless album covers that became classics in both design and music circles. As a VP for creative services in Columbia Records, he handled various bands and their album cover art, and even going as far as handling the naming of the record. His most notable works, that won him two Grammy Awards for Best Album Cover, are Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits and Barbra Streisand's People. These two albums have become iconic to the generation that popularized Rock and Roll. 
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Norman Seeff Norman Seeff is one creative person you'll love more once you've seen his collection of well-known artists and celebrities. He started out as an immigrant in New York and took photos of people on the streets of Manhattan. Then a well-known graphic designer, Bob Cato, noticed his shots and introduced him to designing album covers for different bands. His photography's subjects are meant to capture "human creativity and the inner dynamics of the creative process". His style in taking photographs is spontaneity and is in black and white. Some of his notable works are for the bands Blondie in their album Eat to Beat, and Santana's Inner Secrets. 
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Mick Rock Another photographer known for his album covers and portraits of bands and artists is Mick Rock. He began to work with David Bowie, and documented much of Bowie's performances as Ziggy Stardust. He would later create album covers designs out of his photographs, while taking pictures of other iconic musicians. Mick Rock is best known for the album covers that he has produced for acts such as Iggy Pop, Queen, Lou Reed, and The Ramones. He's still active in taking photographs of other musicians today; some of his recent subjects include MGMT, Pharell Williams, Queens of The Stone Age, and Daft Punk. 
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There may be a lot of digitization going on today, but the classic sleeve-and-case packaging won't die (well, at least not soon). Even if Peter Saville himself talks about the album cover being dead, there are people who will still buy albums off record stores because of their love for music and the art.Watch out for our next post about the Art of Rock: The Reemergence of Rock Posters. Make sure to like us on Twitter or Facebook for updates. If you're the e-mail junkie, you can also subscribe to our RSS Feed!  |
