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Archive For: Design

Bubbles Erotica’s ‘Super Unnatural’ – Video of the Day

Bubbles Erotica's 3D-animated music video features trippy morphing humans

Bubbles Erotica: Very cool human figures, rendered as polygonal 3D graphics, morph and fly through a surreal futuristic world in this tripped out original music video for ‘Super Unnatural’ by Bubbles Erotica. This amazing video was created by very talented artist and animator Ali Manesh from 3E Visuals who specialise in animation and projection mapping creating the concept, design, animation, compositing, and smoke simulation that you will see. Hailing from Chicago, USA, Bubbles Erotica are a driven, passionate and charismatic 4-piece hard rock band who have set out to develop an eclectic blend of rock and roll, unleashing a few weapons within their arsenal: fuzz distortion, war-beat drum patterns, granitic riffs and powerful vocals. Bubbles Erotica strikes with a sonic assault that offers a great compromise between energy and melody with band members made up of Brad Springer (drums), Michael Hasso (guitar), Colin Stone (bass), Philip Edward (vocals). They note their influences include Queens Of The Stone Age, Muse, Queen, Rush, Foo Fighters, Alice In Chains, Elvis Presley, The Beatles, The Misfits, Tool, Johnny Cash, and System of a Down and ‘Super Unnatural’ is off their debut EP ‘Elephants Never Forget’ which was released in June 2014. Check it out – this video is a must-watch visual feast!

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Butcher Billy’s Post-Punk Marvel Superheroes

Butcher Billy mixes his favourite pop & trash punk universes to create amazing mashups

Butcher Billy: ‘Superpowered Post-Punk’ is a new series of illustrations created by Butcher Billy, who continues to mix his two favourite universes to offer us beautiful mashups between the pop world of Marvel superheroes and the trash world of Punk and Rock. A creative director at a busy digital agency in Brazil by day, Butcher Billy was just a kid when he first realised with just a pack of crayons in his tiny hands – no walls were safe. It’s that sort of rule-breaking, devil may care, chaotic attitude that inspires Butcher Billy’s art. He takes what is considered pop culture from a variety of sources – music, comic books, movies, games, etcetera – and mashes them all together to come up with something that draws on nostalgia while, at the same time, provides the audience with a fresh take on a familiar scene. In this side of the world, making a pop culture reference can be tedious and common place. Everyone does it these days, but somehow only a few people, Butcher Billy in particular, get away with it. In Butcher’s case, it could be because of his use of dynamic colors: bright, bold, hard to miss or it could be because of his unique take on childhood favourites. Butcher Billy is a one-man assembly line when it comes to his pieces and can churn out new creations at a cracking pace, drawing stuff without sacrificing quality. It’s that passion for his craft that, like one of his superhero mashup creations, seems to make him virtually unstoppable. For a complete look at Butcher Billy’s entire portfolio of amazing work, we strongly urge you to visit his Behance site and if you are interested in purchasing any of his pieces, visit his website.

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James Curran’s Cute Animated GIFs

James Curran's amazing work will blow your mind!

James Curran: We have become obsessed with these adorable and fun animated GIFs created by animator, Illustrator and designer James Curran, from Slim Jim Studios. James Curran is widely known as the man who created the amazing fan-made opening credits for TINTIN. Curran, a London-based designer and animator, created the TINTIN credits on a lark and somehow they found their way back to Steven Spielberg (the Director of TINTIN). Curran created the video in just about a month with music from the original TV series and as a huge fan of the series, he incorporated elements from all 24 books, even though they weren’t a big part of the movie. Steven Spielberg saw the opening credits on the web, loved them, contacted James Curran, invited him to the UK premiere and hired him to work on his next film. So it seems you just never know who’s going to see your work on the web. But Curran didn’t do the work to get noticed. He did it because he’s an artist and he loves TINTIN. So a lesson for us all is just do what you love and that passion will come through in your work. We have posted some of our favourite GIFs below but for a complete look at James Curran’s portfolio of work, we strongly encourage you to visit his website. Enjoy!

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Apple Watch & New MacBook

Apple products continue to innovate and impress

Apple: A further and more in-depth look into the new Apple Watch and the new MacBook were announced at a live Apple event in San Francisco, California. So awesome!! And although the Apple Watch is clearly the most exciting new kid on the block, it is definitely the new MacBook that is the talk of the town. Apple’s new MacBook now becomes the thinnest notebook ever at just 13.1mm at its thickest point and a weight of just under a 1kg (907 grams). The newly designed Apple MacBook runs silently with a fanless logic board that is 67% smaller than the 11-inch MacBook Air. The batteries themselves have been redesigned as well, allowing them to be built with a contoured design to maximise the available space. The result provides enough power for all-day battery life, according to Apple. One major change is that the Apple MacBook features just one single USB-C port that will be used for multiple purposes including charging, video output, and USB data transfer. USB-C also has a reversible design, eliminating frustration when trying to orient a USB cable correctly. The new notebook is available in space grey, silver, and gold tones, and in two different versions. One version starts at $1,299 (USD) with a 1.1GHz Intel Core M processor, 8GB of RAM, and 256GB of flash storage. The $1,599 version (USD) has a 1.2GHz processor, 8GB of RAM, and 512GB of storage. Both versions of the new MacBook will be available in the United States beginning 10th April, 2015. The Apple Watch is Apple’s first wearable device that will be launched on 24th April, 2015. The Apple Watch collection features highly polished stainless steel and space black stainless steel cases. The display is protected by sapphire crystal. And there’s a choice of three different leather bands, a link bracelet, a Milanese loop, and a band made from high-performance fluoroelastomer. Siri is also integrated allowing users to experience the familiarity of features found on other Apple devices such as navigation, keeping track of events, and messaging friends. Take a look at both the Apple Watch and the new MacBook below:

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‘Cosmopolitan’ Magazine Brings Sexy Back

Cosmopolitan recreates the covers of cheesy romance novels with real people

Cosmopolitan: Of course, everyone knows of the cheesy romance novel – the novelettish and sentimental literature made to tickle the senses, covers emblazoned with virile young men and young ladies in search of fierce love that are clearly marketed to woman with ‘healthy and active’ imaginations. Well, world renown and bestselling women’s magazine, Cosmopolitan, has recreated these covers using real, everyday people in an clever and amusing series that will definitely make you see their funny side. The ‘romance novel’ or ‘romantic novel’ is a literary genre. Novels of this type of genre fiction place their primary focus on the relationship and romantic love between two people, and must have an emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending. Some scholars see precursors to the romance novel in literary fiction of the 18th and 19th centuries, including Samuel Richardson’s sentimental novel Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded (1740) and the novels of Jane Austen. British company Mills and Boon began releasing escapist fiction for women in the 1930s. Their books were sold in North America by Harlequin Enterprises Ltd, which began direct marketing to readers and allowing mass-market merchandisers to carry the books. In North America, romance novels are the most popular literary genre, comprising almost 55% of all paperback books sold in 2004. The genre is also popular in Europe and Australia, and romance novels appear in 90 languages. Most of the books, however, are written by authors from English-speaking countries, leading to what is deemed an Anglo-Saxon perspective in the fiction. Despite the popularity and widespread sales of romance novels, the genre has attracted significant derision, skepticism and criticism. Erotica is a term used to describe scenes in the novel that are risqué but not pornographic and ‘Romance erotica’ seems to be on the rise as more women explore this new sub-genre – You only have to look at the popularity of Fifty Shades of Grey...enough said. Enjoy!

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Pop Chart Lab – The Vocations of Heroes & Villains

Pop Chart Lab imagines business cards of comic book superhero & villain alter egos

Pop Chart Lab: LOVE! This awesome print imagines the business cards of famed comic alter-egos, from Clark Kent to Tony Stark to ‘The Bruces’ both Banner and Wayne – as well as a slew of notable CEOs notably Green Arrow and Green Goblin, mallet-wielding psychiatrists like Harley Quinn, and patriotic military personnel including Captain America and War Machine. The credentials of over 30 secret identities are featured here – all beautifully designed and hand-illustrated – to form a brave, bold, and business-casual rolodex that makes for an uncanny addition to your wall. Each print is signed and numbered by the artists from a first printing of 500, and comes packaged in a Pop Chart Lab Test Tube. Finishing options include print with hanging rails, print mounted on a panel or simple framing available in white, black, oak or walnut. Also note that framed prints require an additional 3-4 business days of processing time from the date of order. Using 100 lb. archival stock certified by The Forest Stewardship Council, this fantastic poster is pressed on an offset lithographic press with vegetable-based inks in Long Island City, Queens. Not to mention for $29, its an absolute bargain! This is a ‘Want, Love, Need’ with some ‘Gimme, Gimme, Gimme’ thrown in for good measure.

Natalie Shau – Lost in Wonderland

Natalie Shau's dark, strange and surreal world

Below are a selection of the latest creations by Natalie Shau, a photographer, artist and graphic designer who combines illustrations and photographs to lead us into a dark, strange and surreal world populated with beautiful creatures. Natalie Shau is a mixed media artist and photographer based in Vilnius, Lithuania who has an amazing talent in fashion and portrait photography as well as digital illustration and photo art. Coupled with her personal work, Natalie also creates artwork and photography for musicians, the theatre, fashion magazines, writers and advertisements. Her specialties include digital art, painting, CD artwork, photo manipulation, book covers, illustration, CD design, collage, digital painting, art direction, production design, advertising and fashion photography. Her digital masterpieces have graced the pages of French Vogue during a Lydia Courteille jewellery campaign and her extensive client list of music labels includes Island Def Jam, Sony Music Entertainment, Century Media, and Nuclear Blast. Gothic horror fiction, fairy tales and Russian classics (e.g. Dostoevsky and Gogol) are among the influences she lists for her surreal and strange creations. Natalie Shau uses a range of media, mixing photography, digital painting and 3D and the quality she seeks is “at once fragile and powerful”. “My works are digital mixed media. I mix photography, 3D elements, vector elements and digital drawing. I also enjoy creating surreal and fashion photography. My photography and digital works are often surreal portraits of women; however, I love portraying animals sometimes.” Natalie Shau regards her works as ‘pretty motionless and doll-like’, but they express the burden of waiting, and the inner conflict that boils within the characters. You can sense this in their expressions or in some contradictory elements or symbols hidden in the work. When questioned whether there is a reason that most of her illustrations and images are of women, Shau notes that she does not choose her characters, they choose her – she’s unable to explain how this happens. Her influences are many however Alexander McQueen, Eiko Ishioka, Trevor Brown are amongst them. Describing her creative process, Shau reveals “I have a flash of an idea or vision and, after exploring it in my mind, I try to sketch it and see if I can express it. I collect all the materials I need for that, take portraits, photograph elements, find any elements needed, and then I start working on a piece.” Take a look at Natalie Shau’s beautiful work below and be sure to visit her website:

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Horror Movie Bow Ties

Be dressed to kill in a stylishly scary bow tie

Horror Movie Bow Ties: So we stumbled across these awesome Horror Movie Bow Ties on Etsy by the very talented ‘The Vintage Beau‘ who specialise in hand crafted bow ties made from vintage, themed, and reclaimed fabrics.

The Shining inspired adjustable with chocolate brown strap

Here’s Johnny!!! The Shining inspired pre-tied bow tie will be the perfect addition to your wardrobe or horror collection. First date, a wedding, being a hotel caretaker for the winter… this bow tie is perfect for any occasion. Each bow tie is handmade with an organic cotton that has a nice shine to it.

Friday The 13th Jason Voorhees Pre-Tied

Friday the 13th Bow Tie

Be dressed to kill! This bow tie features a repeating image of Jason Voorhees over a dark green background printed on an organic cotton sateen. Perfect for any occasion, you can dress it up or wear it down. It can also be accessorised with a machete, pitchfork, axe, etc. Be truly unique in this amazing creation from The Vintage Beau. Camp counselor tested, mother approved. Fabric designed by Travis Falligant.

A Nightmare On Elm Street Freddy Krueger Pre-Tied

Freddy Krueger Bow Tie

One, two, Freddy’s coming for you! This shockingly awesome bow tie features the famous red and green sweater stripe over a knit design. It also features Krueger’s burnt skin coming through several slash marks on the sweater design. Both fabrics printed on a high quality organic cotton sateen. Perfect for any occasion, you can dress it up or wear it down… or just wear it while you haunt teenagers dreams. Be truly unique and indefinitely sleepless in this rad creation. Fabrics designed by Travis Falligant. Each bow tie is unique and no two are alike. Placement of stripe and slashes will always slightly vary.

Halloween Michael Myers Inspired Pre-Tied

Michael Myers Bow Tie

Be dressed to kill at any occasion with this stylish and scary pre-tied bow tie. Each Michael Myers bow tie is handmade with an organic cotton and nice shine to it. The fabric was designed to perfectly display this amazing image and you will not find it anywhere else.

Poltergeist Retro TV Static Inspired Pre-Tied

Poltergeist Bow Tie

They’re heeeere… Be dressed to haunt at any occasion with this stylish and unique pre-tied bow tie. This bow tie features a retro television static print which was inspired by the movie Poltergeist. Perfect for any occasion, you can dress it up or wear it down. Stand out in this truly unique creation.

Blood Splatter Horror Pre-Tied

Blood Splatter Bow Tie

Be dressed to kill with this stylishly bloody pre-tied bow tie. Each bow tie features a blood splatter design over a white cotton. Perfect for any occasion, you can dress it up or wear it down. Be truly unique in this rad creation as no two bow ties are alike and the blood spatter design will always vary.

Danil Golovkin – Addicted To Glamour

Fashion photography as seen by Danil Golovkin

Danil Golovkin: The amazing Addicted To Glamour series created by photographer Danil Golovkin for the magazine Fashion Gone Rogue, offers us a twisted and yet unique look at fashion photography. Danil Golovkin shows a different side of glamour for FGR’s most recent exclusive featuring Anastasiya Kolbasko. Rather than wearing the jewellery designs, the blonde model “eats” the adornments of gold styled by Liliya Simonyan. Daniel Golovkin’s images certainly bring a whole new meaning to the term “golden touch”. Hair and makeup artist Elena Zubareva worked on the beauty for the shoot.

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Banana Art by Stephan Brusche

And then there was ‘Banana Art’: So it would seem many artists are inspired by fruit these days including Dutch artist Stephan Brusche who continues to find creative ways of turning bananas into works of art via his new series of banana art entitled Banana Doodles. The artist first began by doodling directly onto the banana’s surface a few years back as a way of showcasing his creativity on Instagram. Since then, Brusche has incorporated the fruit’s shape and skin (through carving and peeling), continuing to find new ways to reimagine the same space over and over again. The 37-year-old graphic designer turns humble bananas into iconic characters such as Marilyn Monroe and Homer Simpson as well as animals and famous artworks and although the Dutch artist hadn’t expected his banana art to be so popular, positive feedback has lead him to release his very first book, Fruitdoodles, which documents his initial 50 banana art creations. He also has his own Fruitdoodle calendar with a different creation for each month of the year. Although Stephan has now found his banana art to be rather lucrative, the designer says that his famous fruit had very humble beginnings. ‘I took a ballpoint pen and just started drawing. I was pretty amazed how pleasant a banana peel is to draw on.’ Ba nah nah na indeed.

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