These books are not easy reading and need some investigation to get beneath the surface. For ‘Invitation To A Beheading’ the idea for the illustration is centered around the ‘violin in a void’ statement, which appears quite early in the text, combined with the prison / isolation theme that runs throughout the book. The violin is representative of the main character, who is, in a sense, imprisoned by his own past.

The illustration for ‘The Eye’ is fairly self explanatory – it is about lost identity, and the events that lead to it.

These two new Penguin editions, illustrated by David Foldvari and designed by Pentagram, are now available from all good bookshops.

28 June, 2010 - Posted in Art Direction & Design, David Foldvari, Illustration | | Permalink

Mallorca Rocks is the bad-ass brother of Ibiza Rocks. The brand new Mallorca Rocks Hotel opened it’s doors with a sell out show by The Kooks, Zane Lowe and Bombay Bicycle Club. Designed in collaboration with Big Active the hotel features more shows this summer by The Prodigy, Dizzy Rascal, Calvin Harris, The Courteeners and Pendulum. ‘The look and feel of the hotel are a natural extension of the work we’ve developed for Ibiza Rocks for over the past four years’ says creative director Gerard Saint, ‘these last few months have been a really busy time getting everything together, so it’s amazing to now see the place really come to life…’ Designer Markus Karlsson described the opening as ‘an absolutely crazy party – no sleep for 24 hours…’ Big Active are design directors for the Ibiza Rocks and Mallorca Rocks brands. Respect.

21 June, 2010 - Posted in Art Direction & Design, Gerard Saint, Music | - Tags: Art Direction & Design, Ibiza Rocks, Mallorca Rocks, Music Design | Permalink

Klaus Haapaniemi’s work has been used for the cover of Shion Miura’s short story collection “Travels Through Heaven”. The theme of the work is ’shinju’ which translates as ‘double suicide’ or ‘a lover’s suicide’, a common subject in many Japanese traditional arts such as Kabuki and Bunraku. It is usually beautified and thus the audience reacts with tears, just like in “Romeo and Juliet”. However, in this case, Shion digresses from the traditional form as her characters reconsider their past and present situations, and contemplate the importance of love and hope.

18 June, 2010 - Posted in Art Direction & Design, Illustration, Klaus Haapaniemi | | Permalink

Posted by Letman

The artwork for the cover for The Last King of Scotland is inspired by African (Masai) bead-patterns. For the original drawing (A3 size) I used paint-markers on black paper. The chosen colors reference the flag of Uganda, where the story is situated.

The book is published in July as part of a series called ‘Revolutionary Writing’ from Faber and Faber. Art direction by Eleanor Crow.

17 June, 2010 - Posted in Art Direction & Design, Illustration, Letman | | Permalink

We’ve just done a major refresh of Jody Barton’s folios to include much of the new work he’s been doing over the last few months.

16 June, 2010 - Posted in Art Direction & Design, Illustration, Jody Barton | | Permalink

‘Saturday Night’ is the strictly limited new 7″ release from Das Pop – and it’s out this week. Designed by Mat Maitland for Big Active.

14 June, 2010 - Posted in Art Direction & Design, Music | - Tags: Art Direction & Design, Das Pop, Illustration, Music Design | Permalink

Posted by Filipe Jardim
“I’ve grown up going to Ipanema beach almost everyday. Rio has a very particular beach lifestyle because its a big city, former capital of Brazil (before Brasilia), home of artists and underground movements like Tropicalia. So it was nice to be asked by Wallpaper to do this illustration for their “Born in Brazil” special issue. It’s a big mix between a lot of origins, classes, races, sports…a kind of utopia on the beach.”

10 June, 2010 - Posted in Art Direction & Design, Filipe Jardim, Illustration | | Permalink

We’ve been big fans of Jim Stoten’s work for years and really happy to now be working with him. You can see a full portfolio of work on his section of our site.

09 June, 2010 - Posted in Art Direction & Design, Illustration, Jim Stoten | | Permalink

After the success of his recent lecture in Sydney, Jasper Goodall has been invited back down under to talk at the Brisbane Semi Permanent Design Conference on 4th June.

03 June, 2010 - Posted in Art Direction & Design, Illustration, Jasper Goodall | | Permalink