Hi guys!
I thought I would share a design I really love with everyone just for fun. A few years ago, I visited a friend of mine who had the most interesting stuffed animal sitting on her bed. I instantly fell in love with this stuffed rabbit with a mustache and had to get one for myself. After doing some research, I found out the little guy was called a "labbit" and was a creation of Kidrobot. Kidrobot produces what they call pop art and "designer" toys, most of which has kind of an adult or mature spin on it. Anyhow, after snagging up my first labbit, I later found out Kidrobot had created a mini one, and I had to have it. So my labbit on my bed was joined by one more little companion. A few months later they created a mega labbit (not kidding this thing is about 2 feet long and 1 foot high) and not your average stuffed animal. I had grown so in love with these guys and ended up with one more, basically having them take over all my space. I just thought I would share this with everyone, because I consider these guys art, and everyone who sees them can't get enough! So check out http://www.kidrobot.com and some of their awesome stuff! And here's a few picture of my labbits so you all can understand how fun they are!

Introduction: Ella Charon

Hello to all!

I'm Ella.  I am a Freshman Spring admit, so I am among the newest of the students at USC.  I am from Baltimore, Maryland and extremely excited to be living on the west coast after experiencing many years of brutal winters.  I am a Fine Arts major in Roski and my area of interest is photography.  Being in a design class is a completely new experience for me, but after just two classes, I feel eager for the rest of the semester and all this class has to offer to help me improve my design skills.

For this first blog post, I would like to share an art initiative that was born in my hometown.  I came across the Baltimore Love Project my senior year of high school when its founder, Scott Burkholder, came to speak at my school on Valentine's Day.  The end of my senior year, I interned with the Project for two weeks.  During this time, I learned so much about the flourishing art community in Baltimore and witnessed how powerful art can be to people.

The Project aims to connect people from different parts of the city through public murals, all of the same design, hands spelling out the word LOVE.  They are truly beautiful to me, and during my internship, I painted an actual mural with Michael Owen, co-founder and designer for the Project!

Check out the website to learn more: baltimoreloveproject.com 
Check out Michael Owen's other artwork: michaelowenart.com

Here are some pictures of the mural I helped to paint

Here are some other beautiful murals that Michael has painted in Baltimore that inspire me every time I drive or walk past them

Warp Records' Album Art

In design, we are presented a set of constraints and prompted to come up with solutions. One such example of a unique constraint set are those presented in album cover art. The designer must pick a representation that is cohesive with the track list and the mood that the band wants to convey, while also being memorable enough to make a splash in the industry. Warp Records' 2013 album releases are showcased here, and allow you the convenience of listening to songs from the albums without even opening a new tab! I encourage you to check them out, and see if the album cover provides a coherent face to the music contained therein. Here's an example by Clark, the cover of Feast/Beast. The artwork was a collaboration between the musician and Alma Haser.

Inspiration - Santtu Mustonen

Hey Guys,

Just thought I'd share one of my favorite designers I've come across recently, Santtu Mustonen. His work is very unique. His use of 3D in his graphic designs with the help of abstract patterns and awesome color make his work striking and fun. In addition, he's able to create nice organic texture digitally that I have found really hard to do in my own experience - don't know how he does it! Below is some of my favorites of his work. Enjoy.

http://www.santtumustonen.com

My Favorite Designer

Hey Guys! While I'm not very familiar with many designers, one inspiring artist whom I came across recently is Jenny Liz Rome.

"Pisces" by Jenny Liz Rome

"Bear #3" by Jenny Liz Rome

I found her work on this great website: http://society6.com/ where anyone can create a profile to upload their art and the company Society 6 will make prints and products (such as phone cases, shirts, bags, etc) out of it to be sold to the public. Also the artist receives part of the profit!

Here is the direct link to Jenny's Society 6 profile: http://society6.com/artist/JennyLizRome

Art. sy

Hey guys!
I recently discovered and joined this website Art. sy, it's basically pinterest but completely art based. You can follow artists, genres, filter searches by color or medium, and browse pieces they choose specifically for you based on your personal preferences/style. Really helpful for research and inspiration!

TED Talk on Advertising

Stumbled onto this TED video on advertising and marketing... Enjoy!

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/2HFiv1/www.ted.com/index.php/talks/rory_sutherland_life_lessons_from_an_ad_man.html

Hipster Weddings

Oncewed.com is an awesome website! I randomly stumbled upon this site and I became obsessed! Personally, this site is appealing because it focuses on wedding design and photography. Even if you aren't interested in looking at wedding pictures or invitations, the style of design is unique, the weddings are trendy, and the type of photography is my favorite! It's actually really cool because there are numerous links to vendors that have put work on the website (which is primarily why I love it so much). Ahh and even while I was just looking at the vendor guide I came across this website! --> http://www.wscottchester.com/ I am pursuing a career in graphic design, and I would love to be able to do a website that looks like the page of the link I just included!

Ffffffffffffffffffound

Ffffound (sometimes fuh-fuh-fuh-found when
I'm feeling fanciful) Dot Com

My spare time quakes in its little blue galoshes when it comes to FFFFOUND.COM; nothing eats it up quicker, but oh, is the time sink a delightful one.

On a plain white background, countless squares of art scroll past your eyes in a never ending parade of photography, painting, typography, package design, poster design, sculpture, product design, animated gifs, you name it.

The content is supplied by its members (invitation only) who share the beautiful and intriguing photographs they encounter on their day to day journeys through the internet.

I like it for its variety (of media, of styles, of creators) and its uncanny ability to suggests other works that I will like. It's also a good way to find other good design websites when you trace back the origins of the images you like.

Fortune_Gimme-moving design

Fortune_Gimme

http://www.f-o-r-t-u-n-e.com/

by Arthur King for Disque Primeur -disqueprimeur.com

Graphic designer:NMYV.COM

http://www.nmyv.com/

Korean designer working on MFA degree in RISD.

the website is mainly about graphic design.

I love popup cards most.

Clever Things

I love it when people redesign a seemingly everyday, or practical object, that, once commonplace, become works of art that evoke a smile (and in my case, usually an "I wish I had come up with that..."). This website is full of things that are brilliantly simple and endlessly creative. Here are a few of my favorites!

I didn't mean for both of these to be drinking vessels, but you get the point. Check out the rest of their website! I think these products are great for cultivating inspiration. Enjoy!

Think or Thwim

^ (link) So a friend just shared a cool page featuring two sculpture artists who make silhouettes of themselves via junk and other unrelated materials at thinkorthwim.com. Thought it might be interesting if y'all were having trouble thinking outside the box or something...

A Few Things on this website...

First off, I have a new found appreciation for anyone working in gouache. Second, I thought this was interesting because the artist works in black and white (although he does shade). Third is that although I don't like the images themselves I found myself admiring the design anyways instead of just dismissing something that wasn't visual candy to me. I dont' like the subjects but the designs have something to them. If you blur your vision it's cool to see how well the placement of the white works on the black background. Again, liked the designs and was unimpressed by content. Any thoughts?
-deb

http://designerscouch.org/show_news/489/the-stunning-gouache-paintings-of-kazuki-takamatsu.html

Tutorials on Photoshop

It's a pretty cool site where he shows you how to do various poster designs, fonts, and other tutorials using photoshop and other interfaces. This one on the left is one that he did and he even shows you how he created it. Check it out!

OMG It Even Has a Watermark.

http://www.itevenhasawatermark.com/

"OMG it even has a watermark" is a website dedicated to displaying the most creative and interesting business cards. It displays a range of business cards, simple to interactive, made for people of all professions, not just designers. One interesting card is one for a yoga director. It displays all the needed information and is unique enough for people to remember. I think what makes it so interesting is definitely that you can put your fingers in to create legs for the woman, something that is unexpected and therefore, memorable. I also like how the back is so clean, which I think reflects yoga.
Another interesting card is one made for a culinary correspondent. It also has all the necessary information and has an extremely unique card that clearly reflects the person's area of business. This card was made of steel. I like how the person incorporated the utensils in his card. I think the placement of his name and website could be changed maybe so that it was all below the utensils but I think overall this is a very good card. I also think that the texture of the card was very clever as utensils are usually metal.
There are many more cards displayed on the website that would be great ideas for eye-catching and memorable business cards everyone in the future so check it out.

Obey West?

Poster by Kayaakin

via design you trust

Other links to check out:
http://designyoutrust.com/2009/11/02/twelvetimestwo-design-illustration/
http://designyoutrust.com/2009/11/02/space-invaders-gone-wild/

International Year of Astronomy by Simon Page

via beginbeing

"Retrofied" Movie Posters

Thought this post was particularly applicable to the final project for class...

 

  

via design-fetish

Stina Persson

A friend of mine has been a fan of Stina Persson for a while now, and she introduced me to her when she changed her profile picture to a Persson piece a while back. It's kinda cool because whenever she sees a new one she likes, she usually makes it her default, so every once in a while I get a little taste of new art on facebook.

Stina Persson has a really cool art style, and it's kinda neat to look through her portfolio on the website, especially since we are doing watercolor and have been working with cutting paper as well.


here's the website:
http://www.stinapersson.com/