• To most, Dick Bruna is the man who created Miffy*, the cute white rabbit known and loved by children the world over. Bruna created Miffy back in 1955 while on holiday with his wife and child, but before that he worked in the family publishing business A.W Bruna & son which had originally been founded by his Grandfather back in 1868. History shows that Bruna spent a while in Paris. In an interview with the Telegraph Bruna says, ’I really went from one gallery to another, all day. I was so much impressed by the work of Picasso and Léger, Matisse, Braque and all those people’. This clearly shows that he had an appreciation of art and a definite creative streak, so I guess that it was inevitable that he would turn his hand at designing book covers for the company. Inspired by the work of Henri Matisse, Dick Bruna created covers for a new line of books from published by the family business. Following the success of these books he went on to rebrand the company, creating a new corporate identity and promotional posters. Before the company of A.W Bruna and son was taken over in 1982 by De Friese Pers, Dick Bruna created over 2000 covers, most notably for the Leslie Charteris ’The Saint’ series and detective series of novels O.S.S. 117 by Jean Bruce. These covers are deceptively simple yet they are great examples of mid century print design. There is a wealth of information and examples of Dick Bruna’s work right here on the Internet box so do yourself a favour and go looking. You’ll discover some real gems if you go digging and because I’m such a nice chap I’ll give you somewhere to start. »Iconofgraphics. »O.S.S. 117 *Miffy’s original Dutch name, Nijntje, is a shortening of konijntje, meaning little rabbit. Article No.173

    To most, Dick Bruna is the man who created Miffy*, the cute white rabbit known and loved by children the world over. Bruna created Miffy back in 1955 while on holiday with his wife and child, but before that he worked in the family publishing business A.W Bruna & son which had originally been founded by his Grandfather back in 1868.

    History shows that Bruna spent a while in Paris. In an interview with the Telegraph Bruna says, ’I really went from one gallery to another, all day. I was so much impressed by the work of Picasso and Léger, Matisse, Braque and all those people’. This clearly shows that he had an appreciation of art and a definite creative streak, so I guess that it was inevitable that he would turn his hand at designing book covers for the company.

    Inspired by the work of Henri Matisse, Dick Bruna created covers for a new line of books from published by the family business. Following the success of these books he went on to rebrand the company, creating a new corporate identity and promotional posters.

    Before the company of A.W Bruna and son was taken over in 1982 by De Friese Pers, Dick Bruna created over 2000 covers, most notably for the Leslie Charteris ’The Saint’ series and detective series of novels O.S.S. 117 by Jean Bruce. These covers are deceptively simple yet they are great examples of mid century print design.

    There is a wealth of information and examples of Dick Bruna’s work right here on the Internet box so do yourself a favour and go looking. You’ll discover some real gems if you go digging and because I’m such a nice chap I’ll give you somewhere to start.

    »Iconofgraphics.

    »O.S.S. 117

    *Miffy’s original Dutch name, Nijntje, is a shortening of konijntje, meaning little rabbit.

    Article No.173

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  • These delicate cup drawings are created by Cheeming Boey. He’s been doing this for quite some time, since the mid 2000’s as far as I can gather but, as usual, I’m late to the party. If you are too you can see his work here: http://iamboey.com/ On You Tube here. On Flicker here. Article No.172

    These delicate cup drawings are created by Cheeming Boey. He’s been doing this for quite some time, since the mid 2000’s as far as I can gather but, as usual, I’m late to the party.

    If you are too you can see his work here:

    http://iamboey.com/

    On You Tube here.

    On Flicker here.

    Article No.172

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  • The sub-aquatic photography of Mark Mawson Article No.171

    The sub-aquatic photography of Mark Mawson

    Article No.171

    2 notes →

  • I’ve been an admirer of Evan Hecox for years. This all too brief film from Vimeo allows us a peek into Mr. Hecox’s process.

    Article No.170

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  • The image of Mr. Les Daleks from the last post has been re-posted by Tumblr user Cakes Jason (surely a made up name) who was also kind enough to follow this humble printmakers blog. After following his re-blog link I discovered this great cut away image of the anatomy of a Dalek. I’m a sucker for cut aways and diagrams as much as I am a for Daleks and Dr. Who paraphernalia. But this image in particular struck a cord with me. In true Time lord style, lets travel back to the Christmas of 1977 when Marks and Spencer, the most quintessential of British retailers, produced a book entitled ‘The Dr. Who and the Daleks Omnibus’. Back then it was a ritual that once a week, mum and I would go to M&S to do a spot of shopping in the food hall, and it being the run up to Christmas (or ‘the day after my bitrthday’ as I like to call it) I would always be on the look out for that one item that I just needed to unwrap come Christmas morning. Over the years there have been many such items. There was the Pink Panther car with ‘Dynamic Power’, the Smith Corona Typewriter (in Robins egg blue) and The Goodies’ Book of Criminal Records. With the aid of pester power I was able to obtain each of these items and with a little ‘can I have’ and ‘I reeeealy need need this’, the Dr. Who and the Daleks Omnibus was destined to be mine come Christmas morning. During the few weeks that followed Christmas I remember reading this book from cover to cover, over and over again. If memory serves, the Omnibus contained art by Frank Bellamy, famous for his tenure on the Eagle magazine and the revamp of it’s flagship strip, Dan Dare. There was some truly beautiful art between the pages of this book yet despite the wealth of classic Who imagery I found myself coming back, time and again, to this Anatomy of a Dalek cut-away diagram. Having studied it closely for hours on end I probably considered how I could build a Dalek in our own back yard. Stumbling across this image again after so many years reminds me how great this internetery contraption can be. Finding something that triggers memories which have long since been buried can often be a total joy. Article No.169

    The image of Mr. Les Daleks from the last post has been re-posted by Tumblr user Cakes Jason (surely a made up name) who was also kind enough to follow this humble printmakers blog. After following his re-blog link I discovered this great cut away image of the anatomy of a Dalek. I’m a sucker for cut aways and diagrams as much as I am a for Daleks and Dr. Who paraphernalia. But this image in particular struck a cord with me.

    In true Time lord style, lets travel back to the Christmas of 1977 when Marks and Spencer, the most quintessential of British retailers, produced a book entitled ‘The Dr. Who and the Daleks Omnibus’.

    Back then it was a ritual that once a week, mum and I would go to M&S to do a spot of shopping in the food hall, and it being the run up to Christmas (or ‘the day after my bitrthday’ as I like to call it) I would always be on the look out for that one item that I just needed to unwrap come Christmas morning. Over the years there have been many such items. There was the Pink Panther car with ‘Dynamic Power’, the Smith Corona Typewriter (in Robins egg blue) and The Goodies’ Book of Criminal Records. With the aid of pester power I was able to obtain each of these items and with a little ‘can I have’ and ‘I reeeealy need need this’, the Dr. Who and the Daleks Omnibus was destined to be mine come Christmas morning.

    During the few weeks that followed Christmas I remember reading this book from cover to cover, over and over again. If memory serves, the Omnibus contained art by Frank Bellamy, famous for his tenure on the Eagle magazine and the revamp of it’s flagship strip, Dan Dare. There was some truly beautiful art between the pages of this book yet despite the wealth of classic Who imagery I found myself coming back, time and again, to this Anatomy of a Dalek cut-away diagram. Having studied it closely for hours on end I probably considered how I could build a Dalek in our own back yard.

    Stumbling across this image again after so many years reminds me how great this internetery contraption can be. Finding something that triggers memories which have long since been buried can often be a total joy.

    Article No.169

    10 notes →

  • Beware Les Daleks, he can be a right so and so. Article No.168

    Beware Les Daleks, he can be a right so and so.

    Article No.168

    4 notes →

  • Let me introduce you to Glaucus Atlanticus. At first glance you might be forgiven for thinking that Glaucus is a creature created for the sequel to 2009’s CGI-fest, Avatar. But this is not the product of some hi-end CPU and cleaver coding. Rather, Glaucus is the result of millions of years of evolution. This little creature, it only grows to a maximum of 3cm’s, is actually an hermaphrodite sea slug which spends most of it’s life floating upside down on the sea’s surface waiting for some unsuspecting jellyfish to pass by. Arter then attaching itself Glaucus will casually devour its host. It will even tackle the highly poisonous Portuguese Man-O’-War, swallowing it’s victims poison and recycling it as it’s own defence system. And when things get tough it isn’t averse to a little cannibalism, just until something better comes along. So thank you James Cameron and crew but we do not need you to dream up creatures like the small and beautiful yet deadly Glaucus Atlanticus, evolution has already done that for us. Article No.167

    Let me introduce you to Glaucus Atlanticus.

    At first glance you might be forgiven for thinking that Glaucus is a creature created for the sequel to 2009’s CGI-fest, Avatar. But this is not the product of some hi-end CPU and cleaver coding. Rather, Glaucus is the result of millions of years of evolution.

    This little creature, it only grows to a maximum of 3cm’s, is actually an hermaphrodite sea slug which spends most of it’s life floating upside down on the sea’s surface waiting for some unsuspecting jellyfish to pass by. Arter then attaching itself Glaucus will casually devour its host. It will even tackle the highly poisonous Portuguese Man-O’-War, swallowing it’s victims poison and recycling it as it’s own defence system. And when things get tough it isn’t averse to a little cannibalism, just until something better comes along.

    So thank you James Cameron and crew but we do not need you to dream up creatures like the small and beautiful yet deadly Glaucus Atlanticus, evolution has already done that for us.

    Article No.167

    3 notes →

  • Every wonder where your plastic originates from. This map, which was printed in Fortune magazine in 1940, depicted “a continent of fictional lands each symbolising different aspects of the then still new and exciting world of plastics is shown, floating on a sea of glass”. via Strange maps. Article No.166

    Every wonder where your plastic originates from. This map, which was printed in Fortune magazine in 1940, depicted “a continent of fictional lands each symbolising different aspects of the then still new and exciting world of plastics is shown, floating on a sea of glass”.

    via Strange maps.

    Article No.166

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  • This superb animation was created by Gareth O’Brien, a member of the Buck design team. Originally created as a contribution to the 10th annual Year in Ideas for the New York Times, this short film illustrates that the seemingly innocuous system of wind generated power is not with out problems of its own. Take a look at Gareth’s film for a cleaver and environmentally sounder alternative to wind turbines.

    Article No.165

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  • A J Fosik is a tremendously skilled and imaginative wood worker currently residing in Philadelphia. He crafts these 3D wooden constructions, these particular examples being reminiscent of Chinese dragons, from multiple, intricately cut and compiled layers of wood. An inerview with A J Fosik can be found here and he represented by the Jonathan LeVine Gallery Article No.164

    A J Fosik is a tremendously skilled and imaginative wood worker currently residing in Philadelphia. He crafts these 3D wooden constructions, these particular examples being reminiscent of Chinese dragons, from multiple, intricately cut and compiled layers of wood.

    An inerview with A J Fosik can be found here and he represented by the Jonathan LeVine Gallery

    Article No.164

    3 notes →