intangibles

2nd Yr illustrators are looking at intangibles. Which is hard to do because intangibles have no physical form. You can't see 'em you see. Or not. I'm confused. To get them on their way, here are a few examples of intangible concepts being visually depicted.

 

Jazz & How Art Directors really feel about one and other. Bob Gill.




Twitter getting out of hand, Creative Review App, New Year & Processing Info. Jean Julien.




Detection, Fearless & Expired. Grillust Lecturer 04



Brad Holland. Although the exact subject for these editorial pieces isn't given, they are still very emotive and communicative and anything but literal.

First Years+Tv Go Home+Title Sequences=

Grillust YR1s have just completed a two week title sequence project that is built around a series of After Effects tutorials, delivered by our very own A.V. Sith Lord, Darth Dave. 

Working in pairs or for the more cosmopolitan, trios, students were challenged with giving intro sequences to titles from Charlie Brooker's TV Go Home - well worth a look if you're not familiar. 

Mr Brooker's creations are irreverent, often side splitting and, we warn you now, not always for the easily offended. Some of the work delivered followed all of those characteristics.

On that note, we start with this hefty delight from Jake Barber and Nathan Linney. Both 21

Ahem...
Moving swiftly on

  

 











Logic Problems, The Movie. Sunday Afternoon telly-tastic.
Created by Maddy Mould (21), Ben Newboult (21) and Katie Lock (21)
















Shot on location in England's beautiful Lake District by Hannah Holmes and Laura Meszaros (both 21).


 









Created by Amy Sims, Rachael Sims and Vincent Walden (3 X 21)


 
 













 From the twisted imaginations of Amber Currithers (21) and Amy Jackson (21)...





 
Here's James Reay (21) and Sophie Taylor's (21) take on what sounds like a lovely Sunday evening situation comedy




 
Mollie Barker (21) and Drew Burns (21) enter the mind of 'Wombles' composer Mr Mike Batt.

 The titles for a romantic comedy from the trio of twenty-one year olds Hayley Newell, Rhian Wood and Ben Pinkney.

Finally we see what Rachael Tunstall, Iinu Karna and Lisa Kerr (all 21) made of a tessellated  thriller.

Jean Julien. Again.

time to kill?

Here at Grillust we may specialise in GRaphic design and ILLUSTration but we also love film. So this caught our eye.



We also like a healthy dose of obsession, so we like this - and yes, we know it's basically an advert for a Sony gizmo so here's what we suggest. Watch the film then don't buy the gizmo so you get the double hit of enjoying the ad and then get to stick it to the man and show Sony who's the boss. Or do buy the camera and make a film about obsession. It's your call.



and just because why not?

Dave Wharton / The Fonz

Last year, bold Barrovian* Dave Wharton (21) graduated with honours and secured a paid Internship with our friends at The Neighbourhood in Manchester.  It wasn't long before he (now 33) was taken on as a Junior Designer; they were obviously as impressed as we were with Dave's wartime austerity haircuts and sartorial 1940's dress sense. As the song goes, "you either have or you haven't got style".

The Neighbourhood website

It appears as though Dave's head has been turned by the big city experience and the understanding people at The Neighbourhood have been able to drag Dave's fashion styling bang up to date - that date being sometime in 1955. For the Neighbourhood website revamp, Dave's modelled himself on 'The Fonz'. 

Dave Wharton (33) from The Neighbourhood website

In accordance with the 'The 30 Year Rule' of the Furness Urban Culture Treaty (1949),  the once popular TV series 'Happy Days' is due to air for the first time in Barrow-in-Furness next summer.


*Dave, we know you're from Dalton-in-Furness really.

Bob Gill - "design as an idea"

Bob Gill is a graphic designer, an illustrator and a writer but what he is most is intelligent and opinionated.
"There's nothing in my head that's original and I'll wager that there's nothing original in yours either. Why? Because our heads are full of junk that's put there by the culture. The only way to clear out the junk is to have an opinion - and if it's an interesting opinion, then the design [that it informs] will be interesting." Bob Gill (33).

Gill's process of working - which has remained unchanged in principle for the 55 years - is all about having an opinion about any given brief and then expressing the resulting idea in the clearest possible way, without having a colour, typeface or particular aesthetic in mind but to let the idea find it's own visual execution.

only watch this if you can handle overly loud jazz

Bob at home doing some of the thinking that's made him so successful and influential. (photo by Mark Mahaney)

Do yourselves a favour, go and research Bob Gill.

Ralph Steadman

Scenes from the Life Room

This week brush drawing!

understanding illustration

The good people of Bloomsbury books have gifted me an inspection copy of 'Understanding Illustration' by Derek Brazell and Jo Davies - the authors have form, being behind both 'Becoming a Successful Illustrator' and the wonderful 'Making Great Illustration'. As with the authors' other output, we can't recommend this book enough. It's a real piece of eye candy, which let's admit it, we all like but more importantly, it's crammed with insight and understanding as well as work not from 'trend' based illustrators but from successful current practitioners and real legends or the art such as Victor Ambrus and Ronald Searle - why their like aren't in every other illustration book produced, we'll never know.

Grillust's recommendation - buy it.

Reminiscence of being ill

Pity me, Dear reader for I'm stuck at home caring to an ill child with Wotsits (other corn based cheese snacks are available) and soothing words (awwww). Seeing the little grillustite sat there on the couch watching whichever box office flop has caught her eye on Netflix this morning I can't help remembering, nay, becoming reminiscent for those bygone days off school with a sore throat / sore belly / broken something or other and watching kids telly. Being whisked away to magical worlds through the judicious application of plasticine and cobbled together sets, programs with budgets that could at times reach into the tens of pounds. Blimey, I feel old.

Stop! Banner Time

cartoons aren't just funny

If you enjoy editorial cartoons and would like to understand the psychology behind them or if you want to take a glimpse into the selection process then this is for you. Contains gratuitous over laughing.



While we're on the subject of cartoons and terrible jeans. Patrick Chappatte



Further cartoon intellectualisations from Ben Katchor



Not cartooning as such - Maira Kalman

JEAN JULLIEN

With an understated and deceptively simple delivery, Jean Jullien's illustrations may be eye catching but they never put style before communication and he's got a real knack for getting his (or his clients) point across. We like the playfulness and humour as well as the joy of hand-drawn mark that is at the centre of his work. Jean Jullien, Grillust salutes you.
For more of Mr Jullien's gorgeous work take a look at his site