VHS: We love this awesome series of fake VHS covers imagined by Golem13 as an April Fools Day joke entitled ‘La VHS n’est pas HS’ (VHS is not dead). The modern movies and television series adapted for VHS include everything from ‘Game of Thrones’ to ‘Gravity’ through to ‘Dexter’, ‘Breaking Bad’ and ‘Interstellar’. Very cool!
Conrado Salinas: While flicking through our daily feeds, we stumbled across the amazing work of Los Angeles artist Conrado Salinas who is a freelance illustrator with a background in digital art and graphic design. Conrado Salinas has an impressive digital illustration portfolio. He was featured in Versus Magazine’s 2014 Summer Issue and had his ‘Bone Collector’ piece printed and featured at Adobe MAX 2014. Conrado Salinas also has a few more process steps of certain digital pieces that you can see on his website. Below are a selection of illustrations from his Behance portfolio which can also be purchased from his on-line store. LOVE!!
Alexia Sinclair: We love the outstanding creations of photographer and artist Alexia Sinclair, including her latest series ‘Rococo’, which depicts a dreamlike world bathed by the influences of the 18th century and the court of Marie Antoinette. Alexia Sinclair notes that “Rococo is a series of theatrical artworks inspired by the lives, fashions, gardens and motifs of 18th century high society. Following the design aesthetic of this period, the series is sensual, playful and flamboyant. During this period, powerful women of the French court became fashion icons and their tastes swept across Europe. Their excessive, luxurious and exotic creations have inspired many aspects of the costuming within this series; from Madame de Pompadour’s porcelain flowers, to Madame du Barry diamond necklace, Marie Antoinette’s muslin chemise and the Duchess of Devonshire’s towering plumes. The floral backdrops within the series pay homage to the dreamlike landscapes of the Rococo period. Known as the pleasure playgrounds, their hidden gardens, mazes and wild flower meadows formed the backdrop of decadent garden parties and mischievous encounters.” Alexia Sinclair is an award winning Australian Artist and Photographer whose distinct style is easily recognisable and highly original. Using a visual narrative, Alexia Sinclair’s art is both dark and seductive, baroque and symbolic yet her multilayered photographs present contemporary notions of fashion and beauty through innovative digital media, whilst restoring antique notions of classicism, elegance and luxury. Sinclair is an artist who skilfully balances the worlds of Fine Art and Commercial Art. Whilst her evocative Fine Art imagery adorns the walls of museums and is held in important art collections, she often translates these skills and signature style into highly polished campaigns in the commercial arena for clients such as Harpers Bazaar and Canon Australia. Completing a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Hons I) and Master of Fine Arts, Alexia Sinclair is the recipient of a travelling arts scholarship, and two postgraduate scholarships. She has worked in New York as a digital artist and exhibited in numerous exhibitions including at the Australian Centre for Photography and the Art Gallery of NSW with her latest series ‘Rococo’ most recently on display at the Black Eye Gallery in Darlinghurst, Sydney Australia. Below is a selection of Alexia Sinclair’s amazing work but for a more detailed look, we suggest a visit to her website.
Walt Disney Logo: Ethan Jones has created an amazing compilation video of Walt Disney Pictures‘ various animated logo openings featured in their films over the past three decades. According to Jones, the 1985 animated film The Black Cauldron was the first to showcase a modified version of the intro logo with animated variations of the logo initiated by Toy Story in 1995. Although in 1989 and 1990, Disney began to use digital ink-and-paint animation via CAPS (Computer Animation Production System), the Walt Disney logo (along with Disney-produced animated programs made for TV) still used traditional cel animation, with two computerised variants introduced in 1995 and 2002. Even after 1995, Disney still used production cels painted by hand throughout the late 1990s and into the mid-2000s. They last used the production cels for the Walt Disney logo in a theatrical trailer for the 2005 movie Chicken Little. The hand-painted cels looked pretty outdated and cheap by this time. In 2006, Walt Disney Pictures started using a new intro with a new CGI animation containing a very complex depiction of the Cinderella Castle and its surroundings. It was a clear change from the old blue and white intro with its stylised castle and 2D animation. The new intro was first used on Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, which premiered in the United States on July 7, 2006. The first Pixar movie to feature this logo was WALL-E. Starting with the release of The Muppets, the words ‘Walt’ and ‘Pictures’ have been removed from the theatrical logo, which was shortened to ‘Disney’. This was used before 2011 as the on-screen logo for Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment starting in 2007. This video concludes a great journey through history with the 2014 film Into the Woods with Disney always seeming to add a little something extra to the Walt Disney logo to fit the film being watched. Walt Disney Pictures, Inc. is a film production company and division of The Walt Disney Studios, owned by The Walt Disney Company. The division is based at the Walt Disney Studios and is the main producer of live-action feature films within the Walt Disney Studios unit. It took on its current name in 1983. Today, in conjunction with the other units of The Walt Disney Studios, Walt Disney Pictures is classified as one of Hollywood’s “Big Six” film studios. Nearly all of Walt Disney Pictures’ releases are distributed theatrically by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, through home media platforms via Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment and through television syndication by Disney–ABC Domestic Television. Check out this fantastic video below – it’s long but well worth watching!
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!
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.
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!
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:
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!
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.
