June 22, 2010
Need something named? Erik the Red suggests checking out A Hundred Monkeys, a naming and branding company that creates names you can sink your teeth into.
Photo by Michael Croxton.
My rough-edged viking and Brent Croxton’s design make up the two-color screen-printed promotional poster commissioned by A Hundred Monkeys founder Danny Altman.
May 15, 2010
Chronicle Books, publisher of the MoMA Modern Play House and Family, asked me to lend a hand in designing this unique children’s toy for the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
Four possible play house combinations. The family is visible in the upper right arrangement.
The play house consists of a set of modular nesting boxes with walls, flooring, furniture, lighting and other home accessories to create any number of modern space arrangements. My input focused on developing the family of five figures that inhabit the space with over 150 mix-and-match vinyl cling clothes, a cat, a dog, and a doghouse.
MoMA Modern Play House’s principal designers were Chronicle Books creative director Michael Carabetta and children’s design director Kristine Brogno. The product was released on May 5 and is part of the MoMA Modern Kids collection.
April 16, 2010
The California Academy of Sciences’ Extreme Mammals exhibition and the graphics I created for it are now on view. The show originated in New York City’s American Museum of Natural History where I had the opportunity to research this project. Both the AMNH and the Academy deliver on their promise of The Biggest, Smallest, and Most Amazing Mammals of All Time, providing great material to illustrate.
I designed the new graphics to be stylistically consistent with my previous CalAcademy work which continues to be featured on apparel and merchandise throughout the museum’s three retail stores. The main Extreme Mammals image, shown above, features (clockwise from left): the extinct shrew-like Batodonoides, the smallest mammal ever documented, which weighed less than a twentieth of an ounce or the equivalent of a dollar bill; Indricotherium, an ancient rhinoceros-relative that was the largest mammal to walk the Earth; Homo sapiens; pangolin; Smilodon skeleton; platypus; and Ambulocetus, a “walking whale.” The graphics were commissioned by creative director Rhonda Rubinstein who I had the pleasure of working with on the original theme illustrations for the Academy’s graphic wall panels, retail products, and print collateral. Extreme Mammals is on view through September 12, 2010 at the California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco.
February 1, 2010
Another recent Target release I worked on are their all-new GiftCoins which, as the packaging describes, are GiftCards with a twist (and a nifty new way to be gifty!).
The colorful medallions are sold in sets of five $5 GiftCoins featuring Bullseye the
Target dog as a king, cowboy, knight, pirate, and explorer.
Best of all, Target donates $2 of every GiftCoin set purchase to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
Much thanks to art director Julie Hoppner and the Target creative team for another fun project!
January 4, 2010
Happy new year! Target and I marked the holidays with two festive GiftCards: a die-cut design featuring Bullseye the store’s bull terrier mascot, and an illustrated candy tin containing real (and real good) M&M’s.
Special thanks to Ted Halbur for his awesome art direction on these and many past projects. We have some more cool stuff in the works right now. Look for them here and at your local Target store soon!
December 29, 2009
My wife Lili Ong and I often collaborate as a designer-illustrator team on various printmaking and graphics projects. Among our favorite materials is fabric, which we return to time and again to create characters, toys, and books with.
Percivale, front and back.
Our latest fabric project is a series of hand-made plush toy owls, debuting with four prototypes named Percivale, Lancelot, Arthur and Galahad. They take their names from Nights of the Round Table, a perennial favorite of classic owl literature.
Lancelot, front and back.
Our production process starts with my drawings which Lili then translates into patterns for cutting cloth and assembling the dimensional figures. As our nocturnal noblemen take shape, we improvise with colors and textures through to the stitching and final details.
Arthur, front and back.
Each of the owls is awake on one side and asleep on the other. They are embellished with rare vintage buttons and feature unique motifs and personalities.
Galahad, back and front.
Percivale, Lancelot, and Galahad are currently on exhibit at Gallery Hanahou in New York City through January 9. The space is located in SoHo’s landmark Cable Building and is managed by CWC, the creative agency that represents my illustration work Japan.
Visit Gallery Hanahou at 611 Broadway (at Houston), Suite 730, New York NY 10012 |
tel. 646.486.6586 | info@galleryhanahou.com
September 30, 2009
This summer saw the debut of fifty graphic icons I designed for the 2009 Wimbledon Championships. They were featured in an array of tournament literature such as the Ticket Holders’ Guide, Media Guide, Competitors’ Guide, and others. The designs also appeared
on signage and kiosks throughout the All England Club where the games have been held since 1877. I’m expecting photos of the signage and will post them as soon as they arrive!
The project was commissioned by Jules Akel, a nice bloke working out of a thoroughly awesome studio space in Dalwhinnie in the Highlands of Scotland. Jules is a real pleasure to work with and I’m honored to be involved with the world’s oldest tennis tournament.
August 31, 2009
I’m pleased to be among the inaugural contributors to the iBend Artist Series, adding color and whimsy to the thinnest mobile media player stand designed specifically for the iPhone and iPod Touch.
Night scene from the Owl pack.
The iBend is made of durable, lightweight vinyl designed to hold mobile devices in the horizontal position for hands-free watching of movies and videos, most handily while traveling. It simply bends to create a stand and springs back to its flat position when not in use. It’s only 10 thousandths of an inch thick and weighs less than a gram for easy portability in wallets, purses and pockets.
Day scene from the Owl pack.
Each pack contains two iBends screen-printed in rich colors. My “Owl” pack features a pair of avian scenes by night and by day, and “Trees” offers a pair of color variations on an array of stylized vegetation.
Both will be available shortly at the online iBend store.
Night scene from the Trees pack.
The Artist Series was commissioned by friend / iBend inventor / Cuban Council partner / Kaliber 10000 mastermind Michael Buzzard, who also invited Joshua Davis of Mineola NY and Vicki Wong of Vancouver BC to embellish the new generation of product and packaging.
Day scene from the Trees pack.
The Artist packs are a terrific value at under $8 each and make practical gifts. As the company web site states, “use your iBend on a plane, bus, or train – whilst lifting weights, eating breakfast, waiting at the sushi bar, getting your teeth cleaned, at a business meeting, sitting in traffic, serving on a jury or practicing yoga.” I most often use it to prop my iPhone up as a clock on the drawing table.
The packaging is colorful too.
Stay tuned to the online iBend store for ordering information, news, and FAQs. You can also follow the expanding product line on Facebook, Flickr, Flickr groups, YouTube, and Twitter.
July 11, 2009
The California Academy of Sciences just published an activity book I illustrated for their youngest visitors. Designed by Jon Schleuning and Takayo Muroga at Pentagram’s
San Francisco office, Slither Wiggle Waddle & More guides children and their parents to
the museum’s animals and exhibits and offers fun facts and activities along the way.
Pick up your free copy at the Early Explorers Cove, an interactive play area with hands-on exhibits and a California backyard garden display. The Cove is located right next to the Lab Junior store, one of the Academy’s three retail spaces where you’ll find my merchandise and display graphics.
June 26, 2009
Ralph Pucci is a design impresario best known for redefining the look of store mannequins through innovative collaborations with artists and designers. I’m fortunate to have created two kids’ mannequin collections for Ralph: the blocky Kool Kat Klubhouse Kidz and the more lifelike Whiz Kids set. The latter appears in his new book, SHOW, presenting 15 years of exhibitions in his New York showroom and gallery space.
Maira Kalman's mannequins on the left; my Whiz Kids figures and Pucci showroom mural on the right. Fashions by Manolo.
Since inheriting his parents’ mannequin business, Pucci branched out to deal in furniture, rugs, lighting, photography, painting, and print graphics too. His collaborators include designers Anna Sui, Jens Risom, Andrée Putman, Isabel Toledo; painters Kenny Scharf, James Brown, Ruben Toledo; and illustrators Maira Kalman, Anja Kroencke, Laura Ljungkvist and Jeffrey Fulvimari to name just a few featured in the book.
SHOW was published this month by Glitterati Inc. and previewed in Pilar Viladas’ recent
New York Times T Magazine blog post.