design:related - salsaman2963's inspirations

Silhouette Masterpiece Theater

Thu, 05 Mar 2009 19:04:16 GMT

“Wilhelm Staehle is a horribly disfigured gentleman who often frightens small children when he emerges from the seclusion of his sprawling estate on the eastern coast of the America’s...”

There’s something to be said for playing around at work; especially when the results turn out this good.Wilhelm Staehle is the creation of Will Staehle, a southern-California-based designer, and recently Art Director for HarperCollins in NYC.

While Will Staehle seems like your normal, everyday, overly-talented designer, it would seem he uses his alter ego as an outlet for those dark thoughts one hopes no one else ever hears. And he presents these ideas in a way that’s impossible not to like.

The illustrations themselves appear innocent on the surface, channeling some sort of victorian/scrapbooking matchup. But it’s the subtle commentaries straight from the deranged brain of Wilhelm himself that adds the irreverent, sparkling wit to each composition.

What’s notable about what Will Staehle has done (apart from creating some beautiful pieces of art) is that he’s found the perfect outlet for his own brand of humor, and turned it into a way to promote his personality. Viewing these compositions, I wish not only that I had done them, but hope that someday I’m able to get a burger with the man behind them. And did I mention you can buy these? Please, sign me up.

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The Heads of State

Wed, 14 Jan 2009 16:07:22 GMT

If you don't know who the Heads of State are, you should. Only two guys, they seem to excel at blurring the line between illustration and design. You can see a ton of their work at their fantastic website. Below are some of my favorites:

Swiss Chocolate Knife

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 17:27:56 GMT

I don't know how "edgy" or earth shattering this concept is, but the coolness/novelty factor is definitely a big 10. Sometimes design can become overly intellectual, and it's refreshing to see something that's just for fun. And who doesn't like chocolate?

Hitler Moves East - A Graphic Chronicle

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 15:04:18 GMT

What at first appears to be archival images from WW2 combat is actually....toys? I find it amazing how an artist can use different materials not usually associated with the subject matter to create a visceral, unexpected emotional response. From the CR Blog:

Hitler Moves East: A Graphic Chronicle, 1941-43 is a unique photography project from US artists David Levinthal and Garry Trudeau that was originally published in 1977. But the book, which documents the German invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II, isn’t quite what it appears to be at first glance. While all the images are photographs, they’re actually all of toy soldiers arranged upon a series of intricately modelled dioramas.

Darren Haggar + The Penguin Press = SMILES

Tue, 16 Sep 2008 15:46:35 GMT

I don't know much about Darren Haggar, other than he's a British designer that was stolen by Penguin Group USA, and now art directs and designs some really fresh and well crafted covers for The Penguin Press. He has a revamped website, which is a great place to see some truly beautiful work, both from him and from designers he's art directed.

Paul Buckley mentions Darren Haggar in this interview as well.

A Grayspace Poster Gallery - Polish Poster Design

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 21:27:10 GMT

Great online resource for design inspiration. All manner of interesting and conceptual ideas and styles are represented here. From the Grayspace site:

This gallery mostly consists of Polish posters designed since 1940 (with the exception of some posters by Czech and Cuban designers as well as US born, Saul Bass). This is a favorite design era of ours and we wanted to share these great works. There are over a 200 posters so it may take a little bit to load all of them on slower connections. Enjoy the inspiration.

I found the link to this page on FFFFOUND! Another great resource site.f ours and we wanted to share these great works. There are over a 200 posters so it may take a little bit to load all of them on slower connections. Enjoy the inspiration.

Undercover Book Designer - David Gee

Wed, 04 Jun 2008 16:19:03 GMT

Every once in a while you stumble across someone like David Gee...a hitherto unlauded talent, working two jobs for some reason. Self described as "Advertising copywriter by day, freelance under-the-radar part-time book cover designer by night," one can only hope that David is as good a copywriter as he is a designer...and he's a damn good one. His conceptual work reminds me briefly of David Drummond's work, but he has a different sensibility for type and image that I find striking.

You can see more of his work at his blog. Hopefully we can see more from David in the future.

Leanne Shapton - Designistrator/Author/Publisher

Mon, 19 May 2008 17:23:07 GMT

Leanne Shapton, though perhaps I didn't know it, has been behind many of my favorite book jackets. I only recently became aware of her talents, as she has been selected as one of TIME Magazine's Design 100. Her beautiful and tactile illustrations are a delight to behold. She's also worked with a veritable "who's who" list of book designers. Below is her description from the Design 100 Website:

"In the tradition of versatile designers, Canadian-born Shapton not only designs book covers (and, incidentally, the cover of this magazine) but also writes and illustrates books, including Was She Pretty?, a collection of stories published in 2006. A former art director for Toronto-based Saturday Night, Shapton now draws illustrations for magazines, designs textiles, paints and edits an imprint, J&L Books, specializing in art and photography books."

You can view more of her work at leanneshapton.com.

Book Autopsies - Brian Dettmer

Fri, 28 Mar 2008 15:18:02 GMT

Brian Dettmer carves into books revealing the artwork inside, creating complex layered three-dimensional sculptures. See more work at Centripetal Notion.

Action Figure Photography

Sat, 01 Mar 2008 01:26:31 GMT

Amazing artistry and skill goes into the creation of these (for lack of a better term) action figures. Hardly able to be called "toys," these sculptures show an amazing amount of detail when viewed close; glancing quickly, you'd swear they were real people. These heroic sculptures come so much closer to my perception of a super hero than any actor ever could. The photographer (Powerpee, from Flickr) also gets credit for these dramatic photographs. Check out more comic book action here.