Meet RAFA JENN : Denver, CO | VISIT THE SITE The world of the artist, graphic designer, and illustrator is specifically different and strangely similar. Do you feel that you compartmentalize the three or combine them? I compartmentalize them conceptually, but in practice I inevitably combine them. In my art I incorporate elements that have come to be understood as “illustrative” and “design” elements. In turn, in my graphic-design and illustration projects I am artistic. It’s a tricky question because today the boundaries of those fields blur into eachother. Graphic Design and illustration really emerge out of a capitalist world-organizing structure, which co-opts the aesthetic achievements of artists in order to sell products. So while we still have artists, many ‘would-be’ artists become agents of product-driven enterprises as illustrators and designers. It’s interesting to notice that now that artists have been displaced by capitalism many adopt a rather capitalist mode of operating. But to resist a cynical stance for a moment, one could frame this new dynamic optimistically and say that, thanks to artistic illustrators and designers the useful objects we come into contact with in our every-day lives are infused with artistic embelishment. Correspondingly, the artist can take advantage of the scaffolding set in place by capitalism and endeavor to make a living through his or her art-making. An unfortunate effect of this capitalist situation is that the value of artistic contribution is mostly seen in terms of financial investment, or status-boosting, which marginalizes the inward, soul-nurturing potential of aesthetic experience to such a degree that it can fail to emerge as a possibility altogether. Can you describe your studio or workplace? I have two studios. One has all my art stuff— paper, canvas, brushes, paints, pencils, art-books, etc. The other has my office stuff: Computer, printer, scanner, speakers, etc. They’re both medium-seized rooms with high ceilings, good light, wood floors, art on walls, and a minimalist decor that struggles to stay clutter-free. Aside from the visual arts, is there a hidden skill that you have and feel comfortable disclosing to us? I have tons of partially developed skills that I love to practice… my most recent one is running (which recently led to running my first marathon!). What are some of your upcoming projects this year? A letter-press print. And a best-of Rafa Jenn look-book.
Meet KRISTINA WOLTER : Mixed Media : Appleton, WI | VISIT THE SITE Let’s get right into it. You’re a woman. You’re an artist. And you’re under the age of thirty. What’s your idea of success in this stage of your life? Success is a mindset, or something that is accomplished with each project. I feel fortunate to call myself a working artist and believe it’s somewhat of a luxury at my age. Every day that I am able to create feels successful to me. It was never about making x amount of money or selling x amount of pieces. Success comes with innovation… being able to experiment, to enjoy the process, and to enjoy the result. You work with many mediums including glass and assorted metals. How much of an impact would you say working with hands on materials has in this onslaught of the digital age? I studied advertising art direction in college and spent most of my time in front of a computer screen. Though I enjoyed graphic design and the digital medium, I always found myself going back to a more hands-on approach. Even my ad design usually started with pencil and paper. Same with type design. I never felt connected to my work unless it started naturally, organically, in the palms of my hands and from the tips of my fingers. The digital age has made creative expression so much more accessible, and as a result, it can be difficult to find gold amidst all the garbage. There are no shortcuts to be had when working with glass, metals, collage, or ceramics. They are definitely mediums with niche markets and are not in high demand to mass consumers, but that’s where I’ve found pleasure in it. I don’t create for clients; I create, and the clients come. Generally, I’m not sure how much impact it has, but personally, it has allowed me to slow down, remain creative, and pay attention to craftsmanship rather than to deadlines. Some may say that photographers are a dime a dozen these days, especially with the filter manipulation software on cellphones. How do you pull yourself away from the crowd and create original and authentic works? I wouldn’t say photographers are a dime a dozen, more like photos are a dime a dozen. Anyone can buy an iPhone and manipulate photos with Instagram (which I utilize myself, in everyday documentation). No one can buy vision. The only way to be authentic is to trust your intuition, which I rely heavily on. I only shoot on impulse, as unstable as that sounds. I can’t force a moment, the moment has to naturally occur and either I am there to document it or I am not. As a formally trained artist and as a professional photographer, I have learned to notice a lot of things, compositionally and otherwise, that your typical camera-phone-shooter or hobbyist blows right past. I believe my vision is formed by the trust relationship between my trained eye and my creative impulse. Would you say that living in the Midwest hinders or increases your creativity, in comparison to living on the the west coast or in New York? You know, it’s a hard question to answer since I’ve been reppin’ the Midwest side my whole life. I love the west coast, I love New York, but I can’t say how either coast would affect my creativity. One thing that I’ve heard about folks from the Midwest is that they’re hardworking and professionally dependable. The Midwest seems to have become quite a creative hub over the last decade, with a lot of work coming out of the Twin Cities & Chicago. My neck of the woods isn’t super cutting edge or forward-thinking, but I do believe there is a certain amount of magic blowing through the air around here and I am fortunate to be a part of a great and supportive creative community. We all hail from different places, have done a fair bit of traveling, and inspire each other regularly. To me, remaining open to new ideas and staying intentionally innovative is more important than geographical location. It’s a new year and the possibilities seem endless and very promising. Could you give us a little preview of what we can expect from you this year? This year should yield more photographs, more glass pieces, more personal journals, a sprinkling of graphic design here & there… but the thing I’m most excited about is learning more about metals and creating avant garde jewelry. Things that are more like art statements than like every day ready to wear pieces. I look forward to collaborating more with my contemporaries who work in different mediums. I’m all about expanding my skill set this year. Cheers!
Meet RUBEN IRELAND : Gloucestershire, UK | VISIT THE SITE Most of your work consists of beautifully painted women. Is there a specific reason or deeper meaning behind this choice I’ve always leaned naturally towards depicting women rather than men, although I’m not opposed to the idea of including men in my work, I haven’t so far found the inspiration in them that women give me. Visually, women can express a rich variety and subtlety in their emotions and somehow carry narrative behind their eyes, saying one thing to universe and one thing to the beholder simultaneously. I also enjoy their understanding and exploration of beauty and style, allowing me to create surreal make-up and decoration and have my work remain somewhat realistic, or at least possible. Has your success hindered your idea process or do you feel it has given you more confidence when approaching new work? My idea process changes through many factors and I’m enjoying the natural evolution of how I think and how I approach my creative work, I’m not sure success has much to do with that, although it’s very encouraging to know that people enjoy what I’m doing. Can you give us a sneak peek into what this year holds for you? I can’t really show you anything just yet but I’ve become involved in an exciting new art collective along with some great international artists and we’re planning several exhibitions and collaborations through 2012 and 2013. I also have more t-shirts coming out as well as pillows and limited edition prints.
Meet NATASHA ALLEGRI : Burbank, CA | VISIT THE SITE Where do you see the future of traditional illustration going? Woah! I have no idea…. I haven’t worked much in illustration… I know my friend Phil McAndrew does, and he writes about it a lot. He’s talked about finding work over the internet… how to make your portfolio page and stuff… I feel like it’s easier for art directors to find artists now, since everything is online, which is amazing! In your opinion, are art schools relevant these days with information being so readily available for free online? It’s different for everyone, right? It’s a great way to meet other people who want to do the same thing as you, you might eventually end up working with or for your classmates… depending on where you go. But some people don’t need school at all… for me, school was like some kind of horrible-weird vacation… i had an excuse to not have a full time job, i had to sit in classroom sometimes though…. but it left a lot of time for me to sit in my dorm and draw comics on my computer… which i think helped me… end up where i am now. Is there an illustrative genre that you derive your style from or was it a product of practice and trial and error? I started drawing when I saw my first episode of sailor moon. All I wanted to do was draw sailor moon! And Rumiko Takahashi stuff. My sister and I would sit in my bedroom and just trace over the mangas we had… to try to learn how to draw that stuff…. but i kinda grew out of anime… when i started doing comics, i wanted them to look like the really old gurl.com comics!! where all the girls look kinda gross but the drawings of food look awesome… with weird textures and kinda nutso colors… If you could recreate ANY film or television program into an animated feature, which would it be? I’d really like to see an animated version of maybe jersey shore…but they’re babies. jersey shore babies…. is that awful? Where do you hope to be twenty years from now? I want to be cryogenically frozen with my cat… so i wake up when theyhave hover boards…
Meet GRAHAM ERWIN : Illustrator : Columbus, OH | VISIT THE SITE Your style of illustration is extremely layered and in some ways subliminal. Do you have a difficult time balancing style and meaning in your work? Balancing style and meaning has never been difficult for me per-say, but I will admit that composition and form are the starting point for the majority of the work I do. I try not to over think a project at first, and begin by just doing care free doodles of the main subject matter, usually a face or the body of a character. Once I see some potential in the sketch, I scan that in and pick out the main shapes in Adobe Illustrator, and it as it this point when I begin to find a context for the character and search for a back story. In a piece like The Frog Prince (Der Froschkonig) it wasn’t until half way into the project that I found important details from the original Germanic version of the folklore to sneak into final illustration that really made the conceptual aspect of the piece come together. The fortunate thing about my detail obsessive style is that the more nuances I find while researching a subject, the better. If someone takes one of my prints home, I want them to find new meaning in the details a week later that they didn’t notice upon first glance. Some see screen printers as a dime a dozen, how will you set yourself apart from the pack? The problem with screen printing tends to be that once you have a medium that forces you to limit colors and remove the artists hand directly from the work you have a lot of work that looks similar. Not to mention that once you work in a vector program and have a very geometric style like mine you find that many other artists make similar aesthetic decisions and arrive at similar points stylistically. I do not see this as a negative thing necessarily and is just one of the obstacles to over come. I hope that by sketching daily and drawing inspiration from outside the world of design that I will find a way to really stand out. I also feel that putting in an insane amount of hours into each and every project can’t hurt either! Skill and talent can be measured in many ways. What are some of the things you look for and admire in work other than your own? Honestly one of the main factors that draws me into someones work is attention to detail and complexity. I like to see a lot of good ol’ hard work when looking at art. I don’t dislike minimalism, but looking at a piece that could have taken someone weeks or months to make just really does it for me. Also, although I am still trying to bring these elements into my work, atmosphere and mystery are also great to see. The less digestible, the better. Just being 22 and with your career firmly in front of you, where do you see yourself 20 years from now? Still illustrating? 20 years is a long ways away, but I definitely see myself creating art, although I hope to be creating more personal work than commercial work. Don’t get me wrong, I love working with other people but I will be very choosy once I am more financially secure. I do see myself sticking with printmaking for a while though, my interest in creating multiples is more than just a business decision. The idea of spending countless hours on a painting and just selling it to one person sever sat well with me. I like to share! In 20 years doing single prints could be a bit boring though…maybe I’ll try doing a whole screen printed book series? Who knows!
Meet JULIAN CALLOS : Illustrator : Los Angeles, CA | VISIT THE SITE Your work can be very conceptual and dreamlike, is there a common goal or feeling you hope to achieve with each piece? Each piece has its own mood that I’m trying to convey. Some are more whimsical, some are a bit more melodramatic, others are humorous. It’s nice to switch it up tonally, but I do find myself exploring certain themes—such as death, nature, uncertainty—over and over again. The main goal that I hope to achieve with any piece is that the viewer can fathom a story out of it. The story in a commercial illustration like an editorial piece has to be clear, but with my personal work, I like to keep things a little more vague so that the viewer can get a sense of what’s going on but still maybe come up with his or her own narrative. I know the stories playing out within my paintings and the meaning behind the gestures or the symbols, but it’s really fun to hear how other people interpret them. Also, I hope I can provoke the same feelings that I’m trying to convey in my work…or even an opposite feeling! I just hope I can elicit some sort of response, whether it’s a thought, an emotion, a chuckle. Anything. That to me is a successful piece. Giving your time with LA Weekly, what are your thoughts about the decline in print vs. the rise of digital? I think illustrators are really malleable as far as the types of jobs they can do or where their work appears (a lot of illustrators are showing in galleries, for example), so I think there will always be an outlet for illustrations that would have normally been in print. But it is unfortunate that print is seeing its decline. We should just all start an underground zine movement. Or did that already happen a few years ago? I don’t know. Let’s do it again. The future of commercial illustration rides predominantly on the success of advertising. Do you ever struggle with the direction you hope to steer your own work towards? I usually try to make things that reflect what I enjoy and let those works represent me and my art so that hopefully I get jobs that are related to those interests. It doesn’t always work, but it’s a start. Even though finding one’s artistic voice can be a long journey and requires a lot of time and patience to really figure things out, it’s definitely more helpful to consider it a learning experience rather than a struggle. I’m always learning new things about the media that I use all the time, and I love experimenting with new media every now and then, so I don’t know if I can say that I’m steering my work in a particular direction. It may actually be the other way around. Has the gallery scene helped build your sculpture portfolio or has sculpture work always been an important avenue for you? I’d never really seriously considered doing sculpture until I got an opportunity to experiment with it a couple years ago. When I realized how exciting it is to see your 2D drawings translated to 3D, I fell in love. So I make a sculpture every once in a while, usually when I think a particular idea would just be way more interesting in 3D. It’s fun to do sculptures for gallery shows because then people actually have a chance to look at them in person, walk around them, and see all the little details rather than just look at pictures of them online. Where do you see your work in the future? I would love the opportunity to explore different avenues of art and illustration—character design, book covers, comics, posters, more freelance editorial stuff—and add a lot more variety to my portfolio. So hopefully in the future I’m trying something new!
Meet ALEXANDROS VASMOULAKIS : Mixed Media Artist : GREECE | VISIT THE SITE You’re known for working in large scale, can you describe how it feels to be that high off the ground and so close to your canvas? It’s great. It’s also commonly associated with exhaustion and excessive perspiration. Working on scaffoldings is a nice way of keeping you fit! Due to their high visual accessibility in the urbanscape, large scale murals can sate the vanity of every artist, either emerging or established. However, viewers are often impressed and moved by the scale of a big mural forgetting to dig deeper into the artwork. Showing them the very same image applied on a small canvas, they would possibly ignore it, completely. Size matters indeed! How much has living in Greece played a part in your subject matter? Greece is a sort of heaven, full of little devils. We, Greeks, are disgustingly disorganised and deeply corrupted and that prevents us from making our homeland a nice and hospitable place to live. Moreover, contemporary Greece has no clear identity. It is officially a part of the European Union but actually, it seems that it has more things in common with the so-called “third world countries”. In 2004 Greece hosted the Olympic Games and at that time the people experienced the peak of the “European/American dream”. Now, seven years later, Greece is facing bankruptcy having an awfully big debt on its shoulders. Despite all that, now it looks like the right moment for a visit! The beauty of a collapsing nation can be incredibly inspiring and fruitful as well. THIS is a video I did in collaboration with the artist Manolis Anastasakos which is stimulated by the social situation described above. If you were to move into another field, perhaps something not so creative, what would that field be? Retirement. If possible can you tell us about some of your future projects coming up? Currently I am reading about the decreasing sperm counts of men in industrialised countries. It is a juicy issue and I’m considering making a few pieces about it.
Meet LINSEY BURRITT & CRYSTAL GROVER : Window Display Designers : CHICAGO, IL | VISIT THE SITE I believe a belated congratulations is in order for your newly acquired award from the Make Believe competition. How does it feel to overcome so many incredibly talented designers? LINSEY: An extra belated thank you! We were bewildered since we considered ourselves the underdogs. There was a drop-out so we were added on days after the other designers started installing. It was an honor to be up against such great talent. Window display design is sort of a lost art form, what’s the motivation behind working in this realm? CRYSTAL: Our motivation is quite mixed. Our materials from the waste and re-use streams and we are always pushing to find the next object to use. We hope that our material choices encourage people to reflect a bit, as what we do is in such a public space. So we definitely are motivated by being involved in the streetscape and having that access to the community through art. I love that you work with found objects in your installations. How much does that contribute to the conception process? LINSEY: Every project comes from a different place so the material could be a driving force or it could be the last element chosen. For the Make Believe we developed the concept and basic structure first and the styrofoam came after experimenting with several other materials first: clear packaging wrap, plastic and paper coffee cups, all being taken out of the waste stream. CRYSTAL: Experimentation and discovery are crucial to our process. Do you find it easier to work on projects with two people, or do you sometimes romance the idea of working in a larger team? LINSEY: We have romanced the idea of working on a larger team. We used to have creative sessions with our former studio mates Ted and Sharon from Strand (www.stranddesign.org) and a few others years ago. It is hard to facilitate a big operation, especially since we are all trying to keep our own businesses afloat. Right now I feel we are perfecting our process and establishing ourselves, but I wouldn’t call it easy! I see us collaborating on a larger scale in the future for sure. The new year is upon us. What great projects are inline for you two? LINSEY: Right now we are in the production of a display for a new showroom in the merchandise mart. Next on the list is a display for Doejo, a web agency on the north side. We have been developing our new website which will be in tangent with a show we plan to have semi-annually in our workspace called Reservoir. Details to come!
Meet SAM WEBER : Illustrator : Brooklyn, NY | VISIT THE SITE Do your real life instances and situations play a substantial part in your illustrations? I think they must, although I’d be hard pressed to tell you exactly how. Living in New York, the colour palette of the neighborhood my studio is in, and going to museums and galleries all filter into the work some how. A lot of my work is based in fantasy though, I’d like to think I have a fairly active fantasy life. My work is as much rooted in that as it is in anything real. For me at least it’s always been easier to pull subject matter from books and movies. I think my visual vocabulary however is far more easily swayed by what excites me visually at that moment. A certain type of light or texture, a facial expression I saw in a magazine, etc. How has the recent collapse of the American economy affected the amount of work you’ve received in the past few years? I’ve been really lucky these last few years, I’m grateful for all the opportunities and projects that have come my way in spite of the economy. I’ve always worked slowly and try to be selective about what projects I take, so it doesn’t take much to keep me busy. Who would you say is your primary inspiration? David Lynch. Can you walk us through your creative process when beginning a project? In a perfect world I have enough time to read all the content(the whole book, the entire article). I’ll often make little scribbles while I read, which can tend to ruin the fun of reading but is really great for capturing things that come to mind. Afterwards, I do a lot of small sketches, nothing that I could show a client or use. They’re intended purely to generate ideas. This part of the process is really valuable, I usually end up with results that are more interesting than what I was initially planning to do. There’s something about drawing, seeing relationships between multiple images and making new images out of those that is really important. This is also the time to see how my own interests and agendas can intersect with the problem at hand. I’ve never had much luck trying to find the best or smartest solution. For me the best results always involve finding where what I’m interested in creating intersects with what the project or problem requires. Once I’ve got an idea the hard part is in many ways over. I’ve been working with a lot of reference lately, so I’ll often shoot photos and look through books to help me refine the details and nuance of a picture.
Meet DEAN FISHER : Interior Designer : Chicago, IL My Little Apartment | VISIT THE SITE Although good design is based on a certain criteria, it’s mostly decided by personal preference. What are some of the key factors you look for when deciding on a particular piece to go into your own home? When something catches my eye, be it in a thrift store, antique shop, online, or on the side of the road, I’m usually convinced that it saw me first. I know that sounds crazy, but…there’s a tiny, crazy part of me that thinks that maybe that kinda stuff is real. I often don’t seek out the things that I end up with…they just seem to find me. Ninety-five percent of my home consists of things that once belonged to someone else- furniture, art, clothes- and I love that almost everything has a story to tell. When I buy furniture from Craigslist, I like to ask the seller about the origin of the piece so that it maintains its history. I dunno, maybe it’s the Southerner in me…But I’m really attracted to people who tell fascinating tales, therefore I feel it’s perfectly logical that I prefer to acquire objects that do the same. But on a purely superficial level, I look for pieces that appeal to whatever my current taste and current palate dictates. It’s funny to think about how much my style has changed just in the last 5 years. I remember being overwhelmingly focused on very typical “mid-century” in the early stages of my interest in interior design. I was so convinced that I would never have a thing to do with anything glam or 80’s or Asian-influenced…But now I look around and I’m really pulling from all eras. In fact, at the moment I’m almost anti-mid-century, except in very small doses. Currently, I’m totally jamming on a desert-y, Southwestern vibe, which surprises even me. My palate is whites, greys, sandy gold, cool greens, and that perfect ashy grey-purple that you find on some succulents. Lastly, I try to only bring in furniture pieces that I truly love. It’s so easy to buy a crappy dresser at IKEA, thinking “I’ll keep looking for something great, but I just need something for now.” I guarantee that dresser will end up sticking around for much longer than you intended. Bottom line, be patient…don’t just things because you feel the need to fill your space. In your opinion, what will be the next great artistic movement? I’m not sure that I can speak in terms of an ‘artistic movement’…That term feels very big to me. But certain looks, items, and eras are definitely becoming more prevalent. The 90’s are obviously coming back big-time in the fashion world. And I think native prints, American Indians, prairie wares, natural textures (hides, hairs, feathers)…those seem to be inspiring a lot of interiors lately, definitely my own. It’s nothing new, everything is recycled with a bit of a twist. I did a little House Tour for The Vintage Bazaar recently and stated that Marcel Breuer’s Cesca chairs are going to become the next “it” chair, and I still stand behind that…My Eames shell chairs are in storage- one is hanging from the ceiling in my laundry room- I really think they need a break…but I am so super excited about the Cesca dining chairs I found on Craigslist. They’re unassuming. I like that. Actually, I guess there is an artistic movement happening that I’m really digging: young designers selling limited-edition or custom-made wares directly to buyers/collectors. It’s so easy now to start a blog, an etsy site, or a pop-up shop and I feel like clothing and furniture designers have such a great platform to be independently successful. The big-box stores- Crate & Barrel, West Elm, Pottery Barn, Restoration Hardware, etc— were kinda blinding for a while and I felt like everyone just turned to them to outfit their home. While I’m a huge fan of IKEA for so many things, I think people my age are becoming more interested in buying something unique, rather than something that everyone else has. I also think it’s so rad and important that the concept of having a “trade” is coming back into fashion. Maybe I’m just catching on to it, I dunno…but I get really excited when I see people “like me” who are crazy-talented weavers, stone masons, furniture-makers, jewelers, etc. who are making a name (and a great living) for themselves. How has the DIY conscious affected the creation of authentic works? The concept of “DIY” has become increasingly popular, overwhelmingly so in interior design. I for one, am always up for a project and more often than not, I’ll opt to do something myself rather than hire or pay a professional. I’ve learned how to install flooring, to re-wire lamps, to build furniture, to spray-lacquer. I’ve improv-ed framing, attempted reupholstering, and re-purposed pretty much everything in Home Depot’s plumbing department. I love figuring out cheaper, more inventive ways of accomplishing a look and it’s half the reason I really love interior design. I encourage friends and clients to DIY whenever possible and have seen some jaw-dropping DIY accomplishments on design blogs and in shelter publications. Not only are you usually creating a piece or a look that’s wholly unique, but you’re also learning a skill. Additionally, I think the DIY mindset has sparked a lot of creative people to pursue talents that they might not have previously considered to be marketable or profitable. And because of that, we now have independent designers and craftspeople who are DIY-ing and making their efforts available to us. That totally deserves a high-five. But I guess the flip-side of the DIY coin is that since more people are doing it themselves, less people are hiring professionals…When it comes to DIY, I think it’s important to know your limits. Know when it’ll be a better investment to use an upholsterer to bring new life to a sofa, rather than risk a time-consuming project with a disappointing outcome. Be realistic when it comes to large-scale endeavors…Will wallpapering your dining room take forever and make your brain explode? If so, it’s probably better left to someone who can accomplish the job perfectly in one day. What’s the most life altering advice that you’ve not only received and follow, but give out as well? My life-theme is: Say YES to fun. I kinda invented it a few years ago when I was working a desk-job that I didn’t truly love…so I quit, started an internship in a field which I knew nothing about at the time (interior design), and took every roadtrip opportunity that came my way. I went on some amazing adventures, I discovered a lot about myself, and I also happened to meet the love of my life, ended up moving to Chicago, and am now (little by little) working on starting my own business. At times it can feel unsure and overwhelming, but I love the challenge. If nothing else, I always want to encourage people to go for it. Do it. Try it. Put yourself out there. Give it a shot. I mean…why not? The worst that could happen is that you’d be back where you started, right? This advice applies to anyone and everyone. It applies to all situations. So…If you’ve been thinking about changing your career, moving across the country, or even just repainting your living room….DO IT.
Meet JANINE VANGOOL : Designer/Editor : Canada Founder of Uppercase Magazine | VISIT THE SITE Has the decline of successful printed periodicals in the past several years increased your energy towards creating a magazine that could sustain in the print world? It was the demise of some of my favourite print magazines (Blueprint, Domino, ID) that propelled me to publish my own magazine. I felt that there was a pocket of readers out there that would appreciate an independent, content-driven, quality print publication. Our target readership was small and measure of success was simply to create a sustainable publication supported through subscriptions. What was the inspiration behind taking a printed approach with UPPERCASE vs. taking a digital one? I’m a graphic designer with a background in book design and print promotions. I have always loved the tactile aspect of being a designer, so creating a physical publication was always a must. Now that the majority of our initial issues are sold out (and reprinting them is too costly and not in the spirit of the ephemeral nature of magazines) I am investigating releasing the older issues as digital downloads or even for the ipad. UPPERCASE has a great sense of patience and thoughtfulness in it’s design. Would you say that’s in correlation to your working atmosphere or working content? Thank you. The working atmosphere for the last number of issues has been a challenging one! I had a baby last year and had to move all my magazine design work “in house” — ie, into the basement. I have had to edit, design and otherwise manage the magazine between baby feedings, changes and playtime! I think that the content of the magazine and its design has become more focused. Perhaps because I have so little time to actually design these days, the decisions are made quickly and decisively, but without compromising on quality. The magazine is put together by one person, so there is an inherent cohesiveness. The new year is upon us, what’s in store for UPPERCASE? This is a big year. The magazine continues to do well and I look forward to completing each quarterly issue. I am also releasing three UPPERCASE books this year: A Collection a Day is Lisa Congdon’s 365-project in which she photographed a collection every day in 2010. The book design is a massive 1.5” thick brick housed in a collector’s tin in which readers can store their own small treasures and collections. From a design standpoint, it was a great experience to be able to design an object like a tin and experience materials beyond paper and beyond 2D. Also coming out in the next month or so is Work/Life 2, the UPPERCASE directory of international illustration. It features 100 illustrators with peeks into their personal studios, sketchbooks and lives. Later this summer is Dottie Angel, a book all about crafty blogger Tif Fussell.
Meet MARKUS & SIMON : Art Directors/Designers : New Zealand Founders of Pie Newspaper | VISIT THE SITE The term “Print is Dead” is being used more and more these days, and with the spawn of tablet-style electronics like the iPad it’s definitely easier to see why. Do you think there is still a substantial market that can support the creation of independent style newspapers such as Pie? Simon : ‘Substantial’ is maybe an over statement but there is definitely a resurgence of self publishing probably in the wake of diy online publishing. In regards to print being dead, there is something more tangible with the printed item which relates to the other senses, so until the digital medium starts to evoke these sensations, then there will be a place for print. We recently upscaled Pie as a point of difference to be more immersive than a digital screen and we’re still in love with all the imperfections and anomalies that come with printing a newspaper. The latest issue uses some of these defects to effect, we used to the qualities of the newsprint yellowing to create limited edition covers. That’s not to say Pie couldn’t become something like an ipad app in the future, we’re well aware of the environmental costs of production and shipping. In your opinion, how important is the grid system in communicating information visually?  Simon : It’s an important component of the design as much as typography, composition, colour and form are. Markus : Most people are used to ‘order’. Commonly ‘order’ communicates professionalism and tidiness. People like that. But I guess the new generation of kids is more open for ‘loose’ things. They are already used to overwhelming explosive visuals in which anything goes. Generation float. I guess we are part of that. Hence we like to break the grid and set some impulses. The conceptualism in Pie is quite interesting. Where do you absorb most of your inspiration from? Simon : The paper was created to keep our eyes and minds open, so inspiration comes from anywhere and everywhere. For example we were all listening to a song when a sample was played that a fried of ours immediately recognised as the Wilhelm Scream, that became a source of research. How do you decide what to display without falling into the category of the ‘too familiar’? Simon : Quite often when things become so familiar we stop looking at them, sometimes the most surprising things are found right under our noses. As much as we’re fascinated with the surreal or the wonderous, it’s also interesting to try and look at the everyday with a different perspective. Markus : In these times of broad access to almost anything via the internet it’s definitely hard to come up with the ‘unfamiliar’. We find ourselves scrolling down all those blogs rapidly having seen it all before too… Nevertheless we source a lot of our content from the www, which means we are not necessarily uncovering anything new. I guess what keeps Pie off the norm is that we put our feelers out into fields which often are new to us. We study a theme as a whole and try not to be stuck at art and design. Pie is a big open research project which often makes worlds collide in an interesting way.
Meet TARA LYNCH : Illustrator/Designer : Chicago, IL Founder of HOTBOX Mobile Gallery | VISIT THE SITE HOTBOX could end up being one of the most brilliant ideas ever, how did you come up with it?Well first off, thanks for even implying such a status, but the way it all came about feels more like a constant evolution of a bunch of good and bad ideas instead of one brilliant notion. To keep a really long story kind of short short, I was working in advertising and was getting super burnt out on all of it, so I quit my job and decided to chase after the things that I love. Fuck the money and the ‘career’, I needed to work at something I actually cared about. It started as an idea of a truck that travels the country, having live art shows where artists would do their thing on the outside of the truck, eventually becoming a countrywide collaboration on a medium that could be displayed anywhere. That idea was the spark that fueled everything after. I was in love with it. My creative partner-in-crime and I drove to the east coast and back, building the dream the whole way, but the team dynamics didn’t work and the dream seemed to fade as we got back home and things went back to how they were, sort of. I started hustling as a freelance designer/illustrator and was becoming more and more self-independent as an artist. Having this kind of control over your work life is inspiring and empowering. I had more time to focus on my ideas. Then I moved into a little gallery /co-op in Wicker Park called Happy Dog Gallery and got the unique opportunity to run a creative space with a group of very different people. I loved being a part of the behind the scene process. So much goes into an art show besides the actual show itself and having a team of people come together to make it happen was really magical to me. The gallery was fun but too unstable to really be successful, so I packed up and moved on the my next adventure; HOTBOX. It seemed like everything I had experienced that year was all there to prepare me for making the mobile gallery idea actually happen. I was lucky enough to have time and money on my side, so I got to work. Hella do-to lists, planning, meetings, repairs, appointments, inspiration and support from friends made it gain momentum. In two months the truck was completely built out, websites and blogs were launched and the plans for the Summer 2010 Season of shows were laid out. No doubt there were challenges, but everything that made HB real seemed to happen in perfect time. HB has taught me one of the greatest lessons of my life; the power of following your heart.  You’re both a California and Wisconsin native, would you say that living in two incredibly different scenes has benefitted or hindered your creative process?The west coast and the midwest are very different, but without a doubt i would say living in both places has formed my creative process for the better. The west coast is abundantly beautiful and the pace of life is all about taking time to really enjoy that beauty. The midwest is about rolling up your sleeves and getting shit done. Two parts that balance out the whole creative process nicely. Both places have a piece of my heart. Being an especially talented designer and illustrator, do you ever get the urge to have your own show in HOTBOX?Again with the compliments, thank you! Of course I have thought about showing my work in HB, but it feels weirdly vain to me. The process of curating a show is such a collaboration, that I indirectly feel like I’m a part of the shows already. With season one of HOTBOX complete for the year, how will you manage to top it next year?Next year is going to be RAD. We got a late start last year so it’s exciting to know we have the Spring and Fall to do it up. We’ll focus on making artworks even more accessible to Chicagoans with a mural ‘campaign’ in the Spring. We hope to get up three different murals in three different hoods. The rest of the year is still in the works. We CAN’T WAIT to get back out there.
Meet DEREK STENNING : Illustrator : Vancouver, B.C., Canada | VISIT THE SITE Your work has such dramatic energy and imagery, would you say the reason for that stems from the drama within yourself or the drama which exists in the world?I think any energy, emotion, or drama that comes through in the pieces in this project comes from within. Most of the pieces start as emotions, or images that boil up from my subconscious, and are pretty divorced from the real world. There are a number of historical, and mystical themes and symbols involved in the work but these are secondary to the primary aim of creating art that naturally flows out of me.     You think one day we’ll have to live in a world where we’ll need the suits your characters wear?I certainly hope not. The idea that we would have to wear some sort of protective suit to live on earth isn’t very appealing, but given the way we treat the planet, and each other, I guess it isn’t out of the realm of possibility.I personally still maintain faith in humanity, and barring some random disaster, I still believe that we will be able to avoid destruction. So I just “do my part” and keep my fingers crossed.  ‘Entartete Kunst’ or ‘Degenerate Art’ in it’s English translation is a term generated by the Nazi regime to describe modern art. What’s the motivation behind coupling your work with that term?This whole project started when I came across the term “Entartete Kunst”. As I read about the concept the ideas and visuals of this project suddenly hit me like a lightning flash, and flooded my mind. The cosmonauts with their big helmets, the hexagrams, the orbs etc. were all there. I immediately felt the the need to translate these images into art. It was one of those beautiful moments of inspiration. So that was the immediate motivation, just feeling the need to create these images. That being said, as the project evolved I’ve recognized a couple of more practical reasons for using the term “Entartete Kunst”. First, on a personal level, I find the idea of “Degenerate Art” very discriminating, and for me this project is about shedding my own discriminating ideas about art and particular art techniques. 10 years as a production artist in the entertainment field had narrowed my view of art. Production art for games and animation is heavily designed. It has to tell a specific story point, or elicit a particular emotion, or communicate a gameplay mechanic. After doing this for a long time I began to feel that production art, given it’s apparent complexity, was a “higher”form of art than purely expressive art. So I’ve been trying to shed this once held idea by exploring a more expressive creative process and confronting any biases I had toward particular tools and techniques . So I’ve been letting these images flow out of me, without overly designing them, or thinking about them too much and integrating techniques that I would not of used before, such as looser planning stages, different painting techniques, the integration of textures and 3D in the work and the use of more reference materials. So in a sense I’m creating art that the “old” me would have potentially looked down on. Secondly the term Degenerate Art relates to this work from a design point of view. These images all seem to incorporate figures in suits that are reminiscent of Soviet era cosmonaut outfits and Jewish symbolism, mainly hexagrams (Star of David). In the Nazi interpretation of Entartete Kunst, the real culprit was Judeo-Bolshevism, the idea that the Jews were the driving force behind Russian Bolshevism. The Nazi’s felt that this movement was subverting and corrupting European society, and that modern art was a visual expression of this Judeo-Bolshevist influence on society . I think these ideas are horse shit, but the combination of these two design elements in this work, the Soviet-esque cosmonaut suits and hexagram, speak to the idea of Judeo-Bolshevism.     As an aside, the term “Entartete Kunst”  wasn’t generated by the Nazi regime, but it was adopted by them. Degeneracy (Entartung), was a concept that was developed in Germany in the late 19th century and early 20th century. Authors like Max Nordau (himself a Jew, and co-founder of the World Zionist Organization), and Paul Schultze-Naumburg argued that modern forms of art such as Impressionism or Cubism, were a visual expression of the social decay that they saw in modern society. They believed that modern life was corrupting the human spirit, and called for a return to more traditional morals, modes of life and the creation of classical, or “healthy” art. These ideas were incorporated into Nazi ideology during the 1920’s and early 1930’s by party ideologists like Dietrich Eckart and Alfred Rosenberg. It was at this time that the jewish angle was incorporated into the concept of Entartete Kunst.  For the Nazi’s, the social decay that was being expressed in modern forms of art was largely the result of a Judeo-Bolshevist influence on society. After the Nazi’s came to power in 1933 they used the term Entartete Kunst to label art and artists that the felt were  “un-german” or Judeo-Bolshevist in nature. Theses artists were censored, their work banned, and in some cases the artists were prohibited from producing new work.  How much of your Canadian background is filtered through your illustrations?None. I don’t see any elements in my work that are particularly Canadian, or that are influenced by the fact that I was born and raised in Canada. Canada is a nice place to live (particularly the west coast), and there are some great things about Canada, but it is not without it’s problems. I don’t feel that I am a very nationalistic person, so I don’t try to distill any “Canadiana” into my work.  In 2011, will your characters still be dawning enlarged helmets, or will they shift into another realm?I think I will be continuing to draw large helmets throughout 2011. This project will have to run it’s course, and given the limited amount of time that I have to work on it (I have a full time job as a concept artist, other freelance side projects on the go, and two young kids that I love spending time with so my “spare time” is tight!), I can easily see it running on through 2011. That being said, Entartete Kunst will not go on forever. I’m lucky that this project has revitalized my creative energies, and I have a bunch of other art projects brewing in my head that I would like to get moving on. So hopefully by this time next year I’ll working on some new projects and ideas. Until then there will be more helmets, cables, orbs etc.
Meet LUDO : Street Artist : Paris, France | VISIT THE SITE You recently produced original drawings in order to raise funds for “Skateistan,” the first skateboarding school which is located in Afghanistan. How important is it for you to be involved? It was important to do something as soon as I had some time. I was touched by this organisation maybe because of the skate idea but much more by the concept of giving young people access to a “culture” they could only watch on MTV for example. Good or bad at least try to give options and choices. And Kids are not responsible for adult acts. The color green is used a lot in your work, is that because of your love for the outdoors or does it have a more sinister meaning? It’s the only color I use, it’s fresh and vibrant and it creates an effective contrast with the buildings color. I have my own green, mix of acrylics and pigments. One of your drawings referenced the Ludo Institute, the center where they cloned the sheep Dolly from a test-tube. In your opinion, do you foresee cloning to play a big part in mankind’s future? I believe it’s done already for a lot of things, just that nothing is official and not in the headlines.   What are your plans for the new year? Some nice projects this year. I don’t want to speak before it’s done, but 2011 is getting quite busy…

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