Siggi Eggertsson mastered the idea of ‘graphic illustration’ very early on in his career and it’s his acute interest in the gap between illustration and graphic design that has held him in good steed ever since. One of the best examples of the way Siggi investigates the act of image making can be seen is his ‘En Plein Air’ series of images. In these images Siggi set himself the brief to attempt to replicate Impressionist painters from the 1860s using his computer instead of a palette and canvas. His illustrative experiments in creating typefaces and letterforms have yielded similarly intriguing results. Currently represented by influential creative agency Big Active, Siggi now divides his time between his personal and commercial work. Commercial clients have included Coca Cola, H&M and Zune and publications such as Dwell, Little White Lies, The New York Times and Wired. Recently he has started accepting invitations to go lecture at various events which he does in his typically unique and inventive style.
— [vanillusaft.com]

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Some Random References:
[bigactive.com/illustration/siggi-eggertsson]
[vimeo.com/3029219]
[productofgod.net]
[ifyoucould.co.uk/prints/08/mar.html]
[idnworld.blogspot.com/2008/10/siggi-eggertsson-is-featured-in-idn.html]

Typographic Illustration for Plastique magazine

‘Ready Mech’ flatpack toy design for FWIS [readymech.com]

Dani Klauser [dkgd.ch] is a Graphic Designer from Switzerland who has just independently produced his first comprehensive typeface family called Planeta and damn fine it is too. So darn fine, in fact, that Slanted magazine [slanted.de/magazines/buy/7], German ‘Mecca’ for all things typo-graphic has chosen to set most of it’s current edition is said typeface. The accompanying poster is rather fab too (unlike my shoddy rephotographed version above which is… well shoddy).

Available via BonBonKakku [bonbonkakku.com], featuring the typeface developed for Linefeed, name of Rhodia.

It’s only a couple of weeks now until KesselsKramer deliver their strange cargo to an unsuspecting Australian public in the form of a poster exhibition, a workshop, a seminar and exclusive screening of their film entitled ‘The Other Final: A KesselsKramer Documentary’. So an event to suit all comers then. I want to go to all four, although a poster exhibition is usually enough to placate your humble author. The whole she-bang goes under the title of KesselsKramer Exports and is held in conjunction with the willfully obtuse agency… er, thingy… The Surgery from June 5th [thesurgery.com.au/kesselskramer]. In the meantime here’s a couple of posters for the Hans Brinker Hotel [hans-brinker.com] that helped hoist KesselsKramer into the public eye featuring artwork by Anthony Burrill [anthonyburrill.com].

Katie Kirk sure is getting around [katiekirk.net]! Not only is she a partner in busy design firm, Eight Hour Day (wishful thinking, mayhaps?) [eighthourday.com] with husband Nathan Strandberg, but her sideline in cute but graphic illustration is flourishing too. Springing up in all sorts of random places, you can check out Katie’s work via her [Flickr] account (not forgetting to check out images of her picture book, Eli, No! while you’re there), purchase chunks of it via [iStock] or catch a glimpse of it in any of the venerable publications that her work has been surfacing in lately such as US Design institution Print [printmag.com]. She is also part of the Sweet Hair Poster Show [sweethairpostershow.com] at Art Minion in Minneapolis in June.

You could call Hi-Res digital pioneers, but that would infer that they were part of some mass movement when it’s closer to the truth to call them mavericks, forging their own path, never running with any sort of pack. There was a brief period about the time their promotional website for the film, Donnie Darko began to garner attention when it looked like they had the future of online media down pat. Luckily online agencies then served away from obtuse, multi-layered Flash driven sites and left Hi-Res to keep on investigating what fascinated them most, producing their own special brand of site and motion graphics for projects as diverse as the film Requiem for a Dream, the TV show Lost, musician Beck, BMW, MTV (natch) and loads more. Hi-Res continue to endeavour to imbue the online experience with unique a type of warped psychology that never ceased to fascinate and is rarely seen on yer bog standard website. A Book about their, now extensive body of work, entitled Amantes sunt Amentes, stands as testament to this.
— [hi-res.net]

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Some Random References
[hi-res.net/blog]
[gestalten.com/books/amantes_sunt_amentes]
[nanikawa.com]
[marckremers.com]
[ventilate.ca/issue06/hi_res]
[digitalschweinshaxe.net]
[mrdoob.com]

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Entry suggested by Aaron Moodie [aaronmoodie.com].

Still from website for Beck [beck.com]

Still from website for Channel 4’s Red Riding Mini-series [redriding.channel4.com]

Julian House is a reasonably quiet but prolific achiever, yet has never felt the need to set-up his own studio, preferring to work with UK-based design group, Intro (formerly headed up by Adrian Shaughnessy). House and Shaughnessy worked together on the popular ‘Sampler’ series of books on music packaging. Working with Intro has allowed House to be able to indulge in his distinct fascination with music. Through the studio he has orchestrated whole campaigns (from packaging to various print collateral to music videos) for musical groups as diverse as Primal Scream, Stereolab, Broadcast, Martina Topley Bird, The Progeny, Razorlite and Oasis, often under the credit ‘House @ Intro’. He has also had the time to help set up the Ghost Box record label, for which he creates all the artwork, and records his own music under the moniker, The Focus Group. As reported previously on Linefeed, he is currently launching his first solo exhibition based around the work of various artists on the Ghost Box label, expanding the ideas behind it into a fictional village where unexplained phenomenon occurs on an irregular basis.
— [introwebsite.com]

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Some Random References:
[linefeed.presspublish.info/2335]
[list.co.uk/article/17484-julian-house-the-new-spirit-happening]
[ghostbox.co.uk/reviews/fact01]
[books.google.com/sampler2]
[books.google.com/sampler3]

A5 Booklet for Ghost Box

Limited Edition Print for This is Real Art

M/M Paris was founded in Paris in 1992 by Michael Amzalag & Mathias Augustyniak, hence the name M/M Paris. Michael originally studied at Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs in Paris whereas Mathias graduated, after completing his MA, from the Royal College of Art in London. Since then they have completed a vast and transgressive (in a good way) body of works that flip from Editorial Design & Art Direction (for magazines such as Paris Vogue, Interview, Purple Fashion, Arena Hommes Plus and i-D) and Book Design, to Music & Fashion Campaigns for Björk, Madonna, Balenciaga and Stella McCartney amongst others, to Theatre and Exhibition Design with a sharp focus on custom typography (although they have yet to release any typefaces commercially). They have even produced various large scale public sculptures in countries as far flung as Iceland and China. Much of their work is collaborative, and they obviously enjoy this aspect of it, though the end result is always easily identifiable as being part produced by M/M Paris. Artists they have collaborated with include Liam Gillick and Gabríela Fridriksdóttir. They are currently represented both commercially and artistically (by galleries in London and Paris, Haunch of Vension and Air de Paris respectively).
— [mmparis.com]

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Some Random References:
[bjork.com/special/treeofsigns]
[interviewmagazine.com]
[haunchofvenison.com/artists.m_m_paris]
[airdeparis.com]
[2kbygingham.com/mm_paris]
graphicthoughtfacility.com/projects/5]

Tree of Signs, a collaboration with Gabríela Fridriksdóttir

Special Limited Run Cover Version for i-D magazine

Even though linefeed HQ has moved all the way to the broadband black hole formerly known as Australia, magazines and publications are still miraculously finding their way into my mailbox. Please keep ‘em coming. Anything sent guarantees a mention either here or via me Twitter feed [twitter]. If you need the address please send publications for review to:

Linefeed
c/o Michael Bojkowski
514 / 220 Commercial Road
Prahran Victoria 3181
Australia

…and don’t format to write a note to the lovely people who keep opening my packages before I get to them. Something along the lines of “Nose out, you filthy curtain twitcher!”. Cheers!

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Varoom [varoom-mag.com]
This is sadly the last issue of excellent illustration mag Varoom with it’s current editorial line-up ie, Adrian Shaughnessy as editor and Non Format [non-format.com] as it’s designers. They’re going out on a high note with an ‘illustrated typography’ special and interviews with recent creative superstars Alex Trochut [alextrochut.com] and Mike Perry [mikeperrystudio.com] amongst others. Now we just have to wait and see what Varoom’s next incarnation will be like. It’s going to be a tough act to follow.

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Arena Hommes Plus
Ever wanted to get yer mitts on some prints of M/M Paris‘ Album of Covers collaboration with Liam Gillick [airdeparis.com]? Sure you have. Well now all you hav to do is dish out a paltry £6 for the latest edition of Arena Homes Plus. Most of em are in there as section dividers, strangely enough. It’s interesting that magazine has the confidence tie in artwork created 3 years ago with current trend sin men’s fashion. Actually, it’s odd, huh. If I was a mean spirited sort of person I might go as far as to suggest that maybe M/M [mmparis.com] have stretched themselves too thin, taking on too many magazine art direction jobs, and are having to plunder their archive to keep up. But I’m not mean so a shan’t. Just you try and make me.

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Interview [interviewmagazine.com]
Oh yeah, speaking of M/M Paris, their revamp of Interview magazine follows hot on the heals of Fabien Baron’s [baron-baron.com] recent departure (the opposite of which happened over at Paris Vogue earlier in the decade). Whereas the Baron revamp stumbled along with some highly dubious typography, looking like it needed more love than anyone had time to give it. This new edition continues M/M’s proper refresh giving the magazine a more relaxed character will some lush new typefaces. Possibly one of which is Nick Shinn’s new ‘Scotch Modern’ [shinntype.com], if anyone knows what they are for sure I’d love to find out. Leave a comment below. As fer M/M, see I am a fan.

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File [file-magazine.com]
File is good enough. I can’t help feeling a little duped though. For one, the general blurbage suggested this was a new ‘visual communication’ magazine when there is very little of what I would call visual communication going on, in fact as Creative Review noted [creativereview.co.uk], it’s more about Film Makers and Motion Graphics a bit like… Special Ten [specialten.com]. Which brings me to my second point… it is bloody Special Ten! But better looking with a much nicer format and ace Geoff McFetridge [championdontstop.com] limited edition print. It’s a vast improvement on Special Ten. I still feel jibbed though.

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Uppercase [uppercasegallery.ca/uppercasemagazine]
Let me stress here that I really want to like Uppercase. There’s a lot to recommend it, not least it’s connection to the Uppercase gallery in Calgary [uppercasegallery.ca]. I just don’t think it’s a magazine meant for me. It’s bringing up all sorts of prejudices I never knew I had, ie it’s too girly or it’s too Canadian… what does that last bit even mean? Pluses are the paper stock is really lovely, like total paper geek porn. Everything looks good on it. You’ll have to give me the recipe… er… name. There’s is also a whole little encapsulated world in here and if it’s the type of place you appreciate, you’ll want to hang out here all the time. And there’s the crux of it for me. It’s too inwards facing, I want something rougher and more expansive. But then that is just me. I’m still hanging out for Issue 2 but and I’d suggest checking it out for yourself.

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Dispatches [rethink-dispatches.com]
I tried to get my Mum to help review the mags this time around but unfortunately we didn’t get past Dispatches, which is a good thing because she really liked it – and my Mum does a lotta lotta of reading. It’s also the reason I’m trying to say ‘publications’ instead of mags this time around cause it’s a curious beast. Maybe it’s more of a journal… although it reads more like a book only you can start anywhere… and there’s pictures in the middle. Mum liked the design as well, the large type and roomy paragraphs making for a very comfortable read. Not a lite read by any means but a publication you may want to spend a bit of time with.

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More Space [spacefurniture.com.au]
I’m trying to include at least one Aussie mag in each of these Reading Lists. This time around I’ve chosen a contract title for glossy Furniture store, Space [spacefurniture.com.au]. More Space is designed by the fine folk with the unwieldily name, Fabio Ongarato Design [fodesign.com.au] and should be encourgaed as it is something very few Aussie mags are and that is brave. Brave enough to break with convention, throw things around the page and generally get really stuck into designing a thing that looks current and is not hobbled by national or even interstate boundaries. Though most of the credit belongs to a client that asked for something different in the land where most business are obsessed with playing it safe.

Just a few of upcoming films that I’m totally excited about getting to (eventually) see. If you’ve seen them already let us know what you though and leave a comment below.

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Antichrist [iMDB]
This one is going to be harsh. Lars von Trier continues his weird journey through the various Hollywood genres by flitting from comedy (The Boss of It All [iMDB]) to horror with Antichrist [antichristthemovie.com]. Curiously there are only 2 cast members listed for the whole film. I’m guessing the ‘Final Girl’ rule no longer applies then…

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Adoration [iMDB]
Atom Egoyan can’t help himself. The king of the multi-layered plot, he imbues each film with a depth and texture that either gathers you in or creates heavy layers of bittersweet cinematic goo. Either way so can never assume anything is going to be as simply told as it seems which is just the way we like ‘em. The trailer looks way promising…

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Hissss [iMDB]
I don’t know whether to be excited about this one or not. It’s hard to know what to make of Jennifer Chambers Lynch’s follow up to the not un-commendable ‘Surveillance’ [iMDB]. Hissss [hisssthemovie.com] is the story of a ’snake woman’ and looks pretty darn gruesome. The twist being that is this film is made in India and is considered by many to be a Bollywood production. Jennifer Lynch does a Bollywood horror film. Now that is weird.