Featured
Interviewed & Featured: John Gilsenan of IWANT design
It’s probably safe to say that one of the most inspirational things in a young designers life is the album artwork adorning their favorite music. So, we thought it would be fascinating to get a look behind the scenes with an interview and some perspective from John Gilsenan of IWANT design. Based in London, John designs for Buzzin’ Fly Records, the electronic label of Everything But The Girl’s, Ben Watt. If you’re not familiar with them, you probably do know Tracy Thorn (the other half of EBTG) who was featured on Massive Attack’s prolific song, Protection.
Now at the at the forefront of the British dance scene, Buzzin Fly will be releasing it’s 50th single called Bright Star featuring Stimming, Ben Watt and Julia Biel. Buzzin’ Fly is well know for their quality audio and their attention to packaging and developing a visual brand with award winning artwork has helped to define the label. It’s no surprise then that the Bright Star single will be lovingly packaged as a double gatefold with gold foil block and a poster insert. We caught up with John recently to learn a little more about his background and the creative process of designing for a record label.
Full interview after the jump.
Featured: Michael Vincent Manalo
“I am a lover of life. I get inspired from a multitude of things, from what I see everyday, from what my mind collects from its wandering state and from what my dreams and daydreams are made of.”
“I am Michael Vincent Manalo, a person who likes to dream and forge them for people to believe in dreams.”
Featured: Eyvind Earle
Going back into the vaults on this one, but this is an artist you should know about. Eyvind Earle (1916-2000) is best known for his art direction work for Walt Disney (you’ll recognize his forest-scapes and background art in Sleeping Beauty next time you find yourself watching that movie), but he spent the great majority of his career as a full time solo artist/painter/silkscreener. I love his graphic style, and fantastic color/detail work in his trees (especially the trees) and natural scenery. The images here don’t do the originals justice. Not even close. So if you can see some of his work in person, jump at the chance.
Info on the artist is here. And his official site is here. Check out the serigraphs and oils in particular. Lots and lots of stuff to soak in, and you will be inspired.
Featured: Dilyana Dineva
The “Signals” project by Dilyana Dineva, broadcasting from Sofia, Bulgaria. This is a fascinating topic to me, and I love how she has visualized something that we all are surrounded with every second of the day. This series depicts the invisible signals that weave through our day – television, radio, wireless data, mobile phones. In Dilyana’s words, we all share an “addiction to receiving”. I’d have to agree.
The photos are from Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey – wonderful lighting and color saturation mix in with the nighttime cityscapes.
More side projects and design work at deemight.com
Featured: Able Parris
Able Parris is a collage artist and typographer doing some really cool crossover design/art work. Nice identity portfolio too. He’s all over the internet, but you can start at his Cargo site and take it from there:
Featured: Maximus Balder
Mixed-media art from Maximus Balder. Picardie, France – found on the Gestalten Blackboard. Really cool layered artwork weaving in typography, commercial/design stuff… all found-imagery, as far as I can tell, and the resulting compositions have a rich design&type-infused feel to them.
Site and info is here.
Featured: Irene L. Peu
Beautiful layered photography from Irene L. Peu. She’s surprisingly mysterious when you try to track down her info, but images from her Flickr set have been picked up by photo/visual blogs left and right since she was featured on Fubiz earlier this year. Oddly enough, she’s known as “i.Anton” on Flickr… so who knows who this photographer really is? No, seriously, who knows her? Very curious, and we’d love to know more.
Featured: Cristina Francov
Digital art from Cristina Francov in Mexico. Check our her diverse range of work stretching from the surreal to the fantastic on DeviantArt.
Featured: Michael Ferris Jr.
These are remarkable — sculptures crafted in recycled wood and pigmented grout — capturing a unique realism through a vibrant array of colors and patterns. I’ve never seen anything quite like it. Michael Ferris Jr. lives in NYC, and has shown his work in galleries from coast to coast. See more here:
Featured: Carolina Torres
Digital illustration from Carolina Torres in Buenos Aires – a beautiful and playful mix of vectors, patterns, textures and tones. I dig those clouds! More illustration (+other design/ad work) on display at:
![Phase 01 Brainstorm [pdf]](http://www.phasecollective.com/images/phase01_thumb.jpg "Issue 01")
![Phase 02 Community [pdf]](http://www.phasecollective.com/images/phase02_thumb.jpg "Issue 02")
![Phase 03 Play [pdf]](http://www.phasecollective.com/images/phase03_thumb.jpg "Issue 03")