Chicago, Illinois

You can find lots more Lunchbreath here.

Madrid, Spain

I really like the way illustrator Fernando Vincente uses maps in his work… inspiring.

New York, New York

Puerto-Rican-born Antonio Lopez (1943-1987) was a major figure in fashion illustration from the 1960s through the mid-1980s; his work appeared in  publications such as Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Elle, Interview and The New York Times. Lopez is attributed with discovering and launching the careers of Jerry Hall, Grace Jones, and Tina Chow.

Shown above are Lopez illustrations from a 1967 editorial in Elle Magazine.

(source)

São Paulo, Brazil

Ronald Kapaz has sent me yet another of his lovely sketches on “questioning…” keep them coming, my friend!

Durban, South Africa

It’s been a while since I’ve featured i-jusi and the work of my friend Garth Walker on this blog… from 2011, here are some spreads from the third issue in “a series of type-specific themes, encouraging artists and designers to create typefaces, hand lettering, and the like, based on their own personal South African experience.”

These are fun… (source).

London, UK

On the occasion of the London 2012 Olympics, Virusfonts has release Olympukes 2012—with the support of FontShop and TYPO London. Olympukes is a new set of pictograms for the London games designed by Jonathan Barnbrook, Jon Abbott, and Marwan Kaabour. In 2004, VirusFonts originally took on the Olympic pictograms— the ultimate designer’s commission—but with a witty subversion. Rather than expressing ‘inspirational’ human endeavour, the Virus pictograms acknowledged the complex contradictions of the modern olympics. “The occasion of the London 2012 games gives us an opportunity to revisit this concept, not only because VirusFonts is based in London but also because much has changed globally in the last eight years,” says Virus founder Jonathan Barnbrook.

The 2012 games come at a time of great economic and political uncertainty. Since 2008 the global economic system has lurched from one crisis to the next. Greece—the host of the 2004 games—now sits at the epicentre of a crumbling Eurozone. Ironically, the last time London hosted the Olympics, they were nicknamed the Austerity Games. Sixty-four years later, we find ourselves back in an era of austere cuts which serves to highlight the absurd expense of the 2012 games.

Another aspect of the Olympics that is back for 2012 is the unfettered commercialism. If you think the games are about sport alone, think again. “In Beijing we took it for granted that a dictatorial one-party state would suppress human rights in order to deliver the perfect games. What was a little more unexpected is the excessive security measures due to be employed by a supposedly liberal democracy.” says Barnbrook in his press release. And: “In a country with an estimated 1.8 million cctv cameras, maybe we shouldn’t be so surprised.”

Where the 2004 Olympukes celebrated the general greed, manipulation and skulduggery in the Olympics, the 2012 version looks more specifically at complaints, controversies and accusations leveled at the London games and associated events. Countless hours went into researching accurate and thought-provoking stories, presented here in pictogram form. Olympukes 2012 is available in dark and light weights in the multi-platform OpenType format.

Download Olympukes 2012 at Virus. (Thanks to Toze Coelho for the link).

New York, New York

Marion Bolognesi lives and works in The Big Apple, where she divides her time between accessories design and her personal passion for expressive, illustrative watercolor paintings, such as those shown above. Her work has been seen around the world, and she sells both originals and limited edition prints… view more here.

Melbourne, Australia

“Respectful depiction and referencing of Indigenous visual iconography has become an important issue around the world—especially when designers and their clients choose to visually represent national identity. This new emphasis on cultural authenticity raises ethical issues of appropriate engagement and knowledge ownership.”

On 9 August 2012, Russell Kenedy will give a talk entitled ‘Appropriate or Appropriate? Strategic considerations when representing Indigenous culture in communication design and branding’ at The Museum Theatre/Melbourne Museum (full information here). He will speak on the need for the design profession to establish a framework of engagement with Indigenous knowledge, which will educate and inform practitioners on issues relating to cultural ownership and respectful development processes. He believes a dedicated policy in this area will help facilitate the transition to an authentic national identity, one that celebrates Australia as the home of the world’s oldest continuous living culture.

My good friend Russell Kennedy is a Research Fellow at Swinburne University in Melbourne, Australia. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufacture and Commerce (RSA) and a Fellow of the Design Institute of Australia (DIA). He was Chair of the International Design Alliance (2009- 2011) and is currently serving as immediate Past President (2011-2013) of Icograda, the International Council of Communication Design and is Co-Chair of INDIGO, the International Network of Indigenous Design.

The poster design shown above is entitled “Peace Roo” (done for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games) and is by another Aussie friend, David Lancashire.

Peaks Island, Maine

Born in New York City, Douglas Smith began drawing early. To Douglas, the most appealing aspect of making art was storytelling, and with this in mind, he chose to attend the Rhode Island School of Design, earning his BFA in Illustration in 1974, also studying sculpture, painting, and printmaking. What followed was a truly remarkable career in illustration, art, and teaching (that you can read about here)… today he lives a short walk from the ocean, in a house full of art, odd stuff, and three cats.

Above: a small sampling of Smith’s engaging b/w illustrations… (source).