John Metcalf - Blackwood

Allan Deas

This is a guy who I've mentioned before on here. He's got a great website and some great work on there. Go check it out :)

http://web.mac.com/allan.deas/iWeb/allandeas.com/index.html.html

I've also been in touch with him and while back and also very recently to ask him a few questions about his style of working and where he sees his work contextualised. He was a great help and got back to me straight away. Someone who I'd like to possibly maybe incorporate into my design context product. The communication we have had so far is as follows...

Re: Illustration‏
From: Allan Deas (allan.deas@mac.com)
Sent: 21 April 2010 00:23:14
To: Liv Greaves (liv_952@hotmail.com)

Hi Olivia,

Thanks again for your continued interest!
In answer to your questions - I have been working in design for over 10 years doing illustration as well as graphics & apparel/print for the fashion industry.
I do work in vector though vector made from scanned drawings. I would describe my style as bold, block colours retro modern. fun. cheeky.... To be honest that's the question I hate! How would you describe it?

I had a quick look at your blogs... there are many!! looking good... :)

Anyway keep up the good work!

Best

Allan


On 19 Apr 2010, at 16:38, Liv Greaves wrote:

Hi Allan,

Thanks for getting in touch with me earlier last year - Sorry for the lengthy gap in between now and then!! I am still really interested in having a chat with you about your work. I am currently doing a bit of research into vector based graphic illustration. I was wondering how you would describe your style and if I might be able to ask you a bit about vector illustration? How long have you been working as an illustrator? Vector illustration is what I would like to do myself and I am currently looking at where this kind of work can be contextualised. Would you be able to help? This is a link to my blog home page:http://o-greaves0710.blogspot.com/
Would you be able to have a peek and tell me what you think?

Many thanks,
I look forward to hearing back from you soon,

Olivia Greaves.

From: allan.deas@mac.com
To: liv_952@hotmail.com
Subject: Re: Illustration
Date: Tue, 26 May 2009 22:53:22 +0100

Hi Liv

Cool - yes feel free to send me some or a link to your website/myspace etc.

I do freelance, though freelancing does require working with other designers/art directors etc. I used to share a studio with other illustrators but now I work on my own from home.

If you have some things you particularly want to know then make a list of questions and I'll try & answer them when I get a chance.
I'm off on holiday tomorrow for a few weeks so will look at it when I come back and hopefully I can help you with your queries.


Cheers

Al

On 26 May 2009, at 22:45, Liv Greaves wrote:

Hi,

Thanks for getting in touch so soon!
Well, I'm currently working on some illustrations of my own and wondered if it would be possible to perhaps send you some and see what you think of them. Do you work with any other illustrators or designers or do you just freelance? I'm really into tshirt graphics myself but didn't know if my own illustrations were strong enough. I'm currently studying graphic design at The College of Art in Leeds and leaning more towards practice in illustration and image making.
It would be great to learn a bit about your way of working and design generation.

Olivia


From: allan.deas@mac.com
To: liv_952@hotmail.com
Subject: Re: Illustration
Date: Tue, 26 May 2009 16:17:58 +0100

Hi Olivia

Thanks for your interest in my work. Glad you like it!

I'm based in East London.

What was it you wanted to know? At the moment I'm working on a tshirt graphics project as I do that as well as the illustration but I'm really trying to push for more illustration work as that's the direction I want to go in.

If you were interested in working with me let me know what you had in mind and we can take it from there.

best

Allan

On 26 May 2009, at 16:07, Liv Greaves wrote:

Hi Allan,

I was accidently directed to your website today, searching for a piece of illustration and I must say it was a very pleasant surprise! What a fabulous blog and website you have. Your style of illustration is exactly what I love and I would love it if I could possibly have a chat with you or get in touch about illustration and your work. Where abouts are you based? And what other projects do you work on?

Would be great if you could get in touch.
Many thanks,

Olivia Greaves.

Studio Oscar

I have also sent an email to Studio Oscar in the hope they might get back to me on their style of work. I used a similar email to others I have sent out to other inspirational illustrators and studios. Hopefully they'll have a minute to get in touch and I might be able to incorporate them into my design context product too. I really love their work and it would be a great help to be able to have a chat with them about their style. I am particularly drawn to their use of colour. Most of their work uses just flat block colour, however in some they use tints of similar colours to create depth and shading. This is something I haven't mastered nor have I really tried to use much within my current work. A technique I feel would give my work more depth and help it to stand out a bit more. Here is a link to their site:

http://www.studiooscar.com/docs/work.php

This is the email which I sent to them:

Hi Studio Oscar,

I've been checking out your website and really love the work that you produce. I am particularly interested in vector based graphic illustration and hand drawn type. I'm really interested to learn a bit more about this style of illustration and about you yourselves! I'm intrigued to learn more about where this style of work can be contextualized and where you find the majority of your work being used. Vector based illustration is the style in which I am personally trying to develop and I wondered if you might possibly be able to have a quick peek at my blog and tell me what you think. This is the link to my blog home page and all the other pages are linked from there: http://o-greaves0710.blogspot.com/
Would you be able to help?

Many thanks,
I look forward to hearing from you soon :)

Olivia Greaves.

Revenge Is Sweet

Design Context Product

Today I've been emailing various illustrators and studios which I find inspirational and admire the work of. All of which I hope will get back to me in the hope they might be able to help me a bit with my design context research. I have been collecting and collating the work of people I like on this blog for a long while now. But what I really want is first hand communication with these people and studios. To be able to interview them, grill them a bit about their wisdom and get feedback from them about my own style of illustration. fingers crossed they'll reply soon!
The following are the illustrators and studios I have contacted so far:
- Allan Deas, Illustrator
- Alec Doherty/Lonely Punks, Illustrator
- Parra, Illustation Studio
- Studio Oscar, Illustration Studio
- Damien Weighill, Illustrator

Vector Pictogram Set - Behance

Ben & Jerry's

After looking at adverts produced by Unilever, I had a look at some of the illustration work produced to advertise Ben & Jerry's. I found it really helpful to be able to navigate around their website to quickly learn a bit about the brand. What interested me most however is their very iconic and easily recognisable vector style of illustration. They use quite blocky areas of colour which I was interested to see too. Their illustrations are very simple but really effective and I feel this is all because of very careful colour considerations and how they use it. Reall great vibrant work.


















I also like the way in which they consider type to combine with the illustration and colour. It works so well and is really in keeping with their style. It almost has a hand drawn feel to it. Really nice.

Unilever Design - Marmite

Unilever Design - Marmite

Flicking through Heat Magazine I came across some adverts by Unilever featuring some really nice illustration for food brands. So I set about to try and find some information on the brand. I also found some info on the logo design. See below.

'Unilever is an Anglo-Dutch company that owns many of the world's consumer product brands in foods, beverages, cleaning agents and personal care products. Unilever employs more than 206,000 people and had a worldwide revenue of just over US$50 billion in 2005. Some of their most famous brands are listed below:

Foods : Lipton, Knorr, Ben & Jerry, Walls, Brooke Bond
Home care : Surf, Sun, Skip
Personal care : Ponds, Rexona, Lux, Dove, Axe

In 2005, Unilever decided to change their logo to represent their new theme of vitality. The new logo was also planned to coincide with the 75th anniversary of the company. The new logo tells the story of Unilever and vitality. It brings together 25 different icons representing Unilever and its brands, the idea of vitality and the benefits Unilever brings to consumers.'

Jack Wills Shop Front

These photo's were taking in town yesterday. I went in to see if I could gather any more research for my Paul Smith shop window display brief. As soon as I arrived I was greeted by this amazing display. It is to advertise he Jack Wills Varsity Polo math on June 12th 2010. But is exactly the style of display work I am working on with my Autum/Winter display. They have illustrated their designs and then produced them on life size cardboard stand ups, held up by wooden supports and stands. It looks fantastic. I wanted to take more pictures but I wasn't allowed and these were the only sly ones I could manage from outside the shop. A great example for me of the type of context I could see my work positioned in.



I thought this was a great example of a shop strap line. It really draws the customer into feeling part of a lifestyle and status. They feel accepted and better off if they are considered to be a Jack Wills customer. This is what I want my Paul Smith customers to feel when they are buying Paul Smith clothing.



Another great example of being 'Fabulously British.' Very fitting to my Paul Smith brief.