Under The Influence

Tuesday, 30 June 2009

Furniture socks

This is a cute idea that I can't see catching on - but it might. I like it all the same - socks for furniture legs - called 'Personality Socks' by Chris & Ruby...

Monday, 29 June 2009

Last Tues we had another UTI down at our local - The Garrison. This was essentially an illustration showcase and battle between Harry and Serge. Here's a blow by blow account of how it went. If you don't like nob gags and other rudities, best stop here...

Myself, Steiner and Shahnaz did this poster to promote it. Quick little thing - but did the trick - we had a full house of nearly 40 people crammed into the basement. Harry's the one on the right, Serge on the left.

First up was one of Debut's agents - Jono. He talked for about 20 minutes and showcased some amazing new work by a host of illustrators in numerous styles. They represent over 120 illustrators - all impressive stuff - check it here

Next up was Harry Malt showing off his work, talking about what he does, what inspires him and so on. I've known Harry for yonks - he's a very funny guy. Quick witted and doesn't take himself too seriously. You'll like his blog and his Debut Art folio

Whilst Harry talked, Serge drew this of him...

Next up was Serge Seidlitz who did a little showcase of his work and a talk. Again I've known Serge for while - from Camberwell College days - before bumping into him again randomly at Cartoon Network where he created the entire identity for the Toonami Channel back in the day. He's funny like Harry, pretty quick and had been locked out of his house all day so drank Pimms in the sun and got sun burnt all afternoon. Nice life. You'll like his amazingly choca block full site, his blog, and here's his Debut Art folio

So whilst Serge talked, Harry drew him...

Then we had a break whilst Harry and Serge got all greased and limbered up. The battle worked like this:

- 10 x 2 minute rounds.
- Items to draw pulled randomly from two hats.
- One hat had things to draw - the other how to draw them.
- At the end of the 2 minutes Harry and Serge show their work off to the audience
- We vote for which one made us laugh the most.

Ding Ding... Harry was in all black; Serge all white - had that been planned??

Here they are in action:

In the pictures below it's always Harry on the left / Serge on the right.

Round 1: Osama Bin Laden + In Robotic Form.

Harry wins - Harry 1 / Serge 0

Round 2: A Zoo + Being Sick.

Serge wins - Harry 1 / Serge 1 (Harry had drawn a Shitzu. Nice dog, but technically wrong)

Round 3: An audience member + taking drugs.

Harry wins - Harry 2 / Serge 1 (it's amazing how they both randomly drew Ben Steiner who happened to be drawing along with them who had in turn drawn our CD being anally injected which is certainly one way of furthering your career.)

Round 4: Cow + being jizzed on.

Serge wins - Harry 2 / Serge 2 (it's amazing what the random hats throw up. It's not amazing that Serge won Harry has drawn a cow of the human / female variety which is nearly illegal - but he's from Norfolk so hardly surprising).

Round 5: Cityscape + wearing high heels.

Serge wins - Harry 2 / Serge 3 (both guys had the same idea - sweet).

Round 6: Mermaid + Being Milked.

Serge wins - Harry 2 / Serge 4 (as Harry hadn't bothered to draw a Mermaid he couldn't really win although his was funnier in many ways).

Round 7: The Grim Reaper + with spiders legs.

Harry wins - Harry 3 / Serge 4 (the come back is on?)

Round 8: An Ad exec + made of meat.

Serge wins - Harry 3 / Serge 5 (no surprise as Harry insults half the room)

Round 9: A nob + doing a robbery.

Harry wins - Harry 4 / Serge 5 (that was a tight one - all down to the last one)

Round 10: The Delorean + gone wrong

Harry wins - Harry 5 / Serge 5 - tie break.

Round 11 - the decider: A wart + wearing a global hypercolour t-shirt (wtf??)

Serge wins!! Harry 5 / Serge 6. We have our winner. Luckily Serge and Harry have known each other for yonks and there isn't much bad feeling. If the trophy had been better (Serge - it's in the post), then maybe there would have been...

Then we had a bonus round where Serge took on Ben Steiner, an iris copywriter. They had to draw Stephen Hawkins + sick in his mouth. I seem to remember Steiner won it (left hand side)...

But of course they were both winners:

So that was that. Then we got a bit drunk. Was a great night - the format worked well and it was pretty funny + we got close to two decent, quick minded illustrators... and loads of content for the blog.

Thanks to all those who came down, who drew along and who made it what it was - piss funny. Thanks to Jono and Debut and massive thanks to Harry and Serge.

Who you gonna call?

We like Wallpaper's Tart Cards - there are over 450!!

It goes like this:

Tart cards are the means by which many London prostitutes advertise their services. Step into almost any central London phone box and you can contemplate up to 80 cards inviting you to be tied, teased, spanked or massaged.

Even if a police crackdown, the internet and the increasing use of mobile phones suggest their days are numbered, tart cards are still so pervasive they are now regarded as items of accidental art and have something of a cult following. Once on the periphery of design, tart cards have influenced the work of many mainstream artists such as Royal Academician Tom Phillips and Sex Pistols designer Ray and Nils Stevenson.

In conjunction with St Bride Library and Type, we asked designers – from students to superstars – to find the tart hiding in every type and create their own graphic numbers. Along with a selection in the magazine, all 450 cards can be viewed here. They will also be on display at KK Outlet, London from 22nd to 29th June. Click here for the invite to the show.