Ukiyo

The portfolio of commercial illustrator Bertrand Demay aka Beb Deum is both captivating and an inspiration on many different levels. Born and living in France, Beb-Deum is noted as being one of the masters of digital design and numerical drawing. His fabulous works are influenced by the Italian data base and Japanese culture, thus offering an interesting and complete mix of subject matter: something between retro-futuristic surrealism, techno-psychedelic and a kind of euro-manga. All these flavors combine into a very distinctive style; a style marked by subtle shades of (mostly) vibrant/bold colorings, and an excellent use of light and composition.

Nowadays, Beb-Deum works feature for advertising campaigns, but occasionally he will illustrate for both press and certain comics too. See a convenient list of his work here, or visit his portfolio here. You can also see some of my personal favorites after the jump. more…

McDonalds Cowgirl

Let me introduce to you the brilliant and typically paintalicious (New york based) Agit-Pop artist, Ron England. Ron’s inspiration comes from a variety of sources, though mainly through an interesting mix of Pop art, Cartoons, billboards to Pop culture itself. Equally interesting is his style of painting, this could be said to be fun, bright, surreal, raucous, playful, colorful (Plutonium Yellow seems to be a favorite), odd, humorous and absolutely full of more…

If your a fan of quality coffee and photography, you’d be interested to know about the 2008 Lavazza calendar, photographed by renowned Scottish photographer Finlay MacKay. His series of six images depict ‘The Most Majestic Espresso Experience’ and follow in the illustrious footsteps of previous calender photographers such as David Lachapelle, Thierry Le Goues and Ellen von Unwerth. Finlay’s contribution to the 16th edition of the calendar, nevertheless, is the most lavish and glamorous I’ve seen to date. His art nouveau inspired imagery give us plenty of insights into the dreamlike worlds of the French and Chinese imperial courts, chivalry of the Middle Ages and bejeweled queens enjoying a most majestic “Lavazza espresso” experience. In many ways, It is work that reminds me of lynn Goldsmith’s in the looking glass series - particularly, the imperial subjects and the surrealistic quality conveyed through hints of identity, irony, sensuality and elegance.

For more info visit Lavazza. Enjoy the rest of this beautiful series after the jump. more…

Lyndon Wade

Lyndon Wade is a NYC based commercial photographer, who shoots for world’s most famous ad agencies: ads for Nintendo, Sonic, Vox vodka and many others. Wade’s vibrant, iconoclastic style brings a fun, whimsical, dynamic, contemporary aesthetic to every advertising campaign he shoots. Many of his vibrant compositions synthesize elements of humor and fantasy, in conjunction with depictions of subjects starring in a kind of paused movie; their frozen motion conveys a much more complete narrative within a single image - the image above is a very good example of this… more…

Untitled, Magnified Eye
2004

“A really great photograph, one you return to over and over, is one that isn’t answering any questions,” Smith said. “It’s continually puzzling to the viewer. There’s something unresolved, which is why they return.”

• Rodney Smith

New York City-based photographer Rodney Smith explores the serene and the surreal through black & white photography, using simple subjects, natural lighting and some outstanding compositions. The moments he tends to capture are unique and very thought provoking. They convey a strange and dream-like beauty that entices or even challenges the viewer with subtle hints of wit. Aside the otherworldly sensibilities, Rodney addresses the psychological issues between photographer and subject, which form the underpinnings of his great photography. more…

• Dixonbaxi

Dixonbaxi is UK award winning design and directing duo Simon Dixon and Aporva Baxi. They have been most active with TV channel campaigns, with clients such as MTV, VH1, Sony, 02, NBC Universal and Motorola to name but a few. Drawing on their experiences as International creative directors at all times, Dixon and Baxi are well-versed in many forms of creative execution, from their totally unique concept creations to art direction alongside pure live action.

Dixon and Baxi opened their studio in the Winter of 2001. Their studio is based around their lifestyle; it is relaxed, fun and free from almost all the usual stresses of a design studio. They keep things simple and are very honest with their clients and keep the creative process open to new things. “That way we can work in the commercial world with large clients but operate as a very small independent shop”.

We have a small circle of people who help produce the work we create, production companies, post houses, writers, thinkers, illustrators, photographers and other designers. It allows us to move around the different mediums we work in and frees us to think about ideas that would be hard to create with just the two of us.

Pioneering the commercial grind in particular, are two Dixonbaxi self-creations: the design publication Great Graphics on a Budget: Creating Cutting-Edge Work for Less, and the ongoing “graphic novel” (in a redefining sense) Zero. Their portfolio is stunning and real bleeding-edge stuff, visit it here: dixonbaxi.com