Leon Chew has just completed a lovely reportage on Norway’s Nuart Scence for Nowness. Adopting building façades, abandoned tunnels and street signs as a giant canvas, each autumn the biggest names in street art transform the scenic burg of Stavanger into a showcase for their considerable talent during the Nuart festival. Since 2005, the festival has provided a unique opportunity for typically renegade artists to work freely in Stavanger’s quaint alleyways and side streets. With local residents and lawmakers embracing the urban art form with enthusiasm, the surrounding fjords and dramatic natural vistas serve as an equally idiosyncratic backdrop to the playful and subversive pieces on display. Love the story, and click here to see more of Leon’s fantastic portfolio.
IC4DESIGN was asked by our friends at Africa Agency to create an image to champion the branding of their New York office on Madison Ave. The image features an enormous panoramic NY cityscape, rampaged by hundreds of African animals. As you can see, the work is absolutely spectacular and immaculately detailed. We cannot wait for the range of marketing materials to be produced, including iPhone cases, posters, envelopes, CD’s.. the works. Please note these images are heavily cropped versions of the entire piece. See more from IC4DESIGN
Olaf Hajek recently produced this beautiful painting titled ‘I Travelled The World And The Seven Seas’ for an art salon in Berlin. Again, this is another breathtaking piece of work from an incredibly gifted artist. We like it very much. For more information on Olaf, or to discuss a commission please give us a call or email.
Following the great success of the illustrations Ben Newman was commissioned to work on for Radio 4’s dramatisation of Vasily Grossman’s epic novel ‘Life and Fate’, this animation was produced in collaboration with Devilfish and Wonky Films. Ben worked as the character and element designer on this, and Wonky did an incredible job of storyboarding and animating this startling 30-second animation. Â It is on air on the BBC now.
After months of hard work, Ben Newman’s ‘Masks’ exhibition is now open at Nobrow on Great Eastern Street (East London) as part of the London Design Festival. Â The exhibition features 11 printed masks, 3 wooden masks which were constructed by Ben’s dad, 3 felt monsters, brought to life from ‘The Bento Bestiary’ by The Felt Mistress, and 2 tiny hats based on Ben’s designs by Sahar Freemantle (Ugly Lovely).
The masks are an exploration of traditional masks from around the world. Â Ben has taken his inspiration for this project from totem poles, folklore, and European deco, whilst using his distinctive colour palate and love of symmetry and mysterious creatures.
The felt monsters (including the infamous Dateotoko Fishu San, or ‘Mr Fish Dude’) have to be seen to be believed; The Felt Mistress (aka Louise Evans) has worked closely with Ben to bring these fantastical mutants to life.
This is definitely worth checking out if you’re in town- the work is genuinely a delight to look at and is very refreshing it it’s originality; it has also won vast critical acclaim including The Guardian and It’s Nice That.
‘Masks’ is currently running at Nobrow until 11th November 2011.
For more information onBen Newman or to discuss a project, please call us at Pocko!
Our good friends at Icon Magazine are currently celebrating their 100th issue, which several of our illustrators (Kinpro, Adam Hayes, Tetsuya Toshima andJoey HiFi) were recently asked to design a birthday card for - you can see Tetsuya Toshima’s featured above.
Icon is a globally renowned architecture and design magazine and since launching in 2003 they’ve won a dozen awards. Â It’s beautifully presented and accessible, so we highly recommend you nip out and buy a copy now - don’t forget to look out for our Pocko illustrators!
