Category: Arty sparks

Posted in Arty sparks

Really short films

Posted on by Cate

I love movies. From the classics, to quirky arthouse films, to those sort of pathetic teeny flicks where the smart, funny girl gets the dream guy when she removes her spectacles and takes down her ponytail and OMG SHE’S STUNNING. Yep, those ones. So I really like these prints, which I found on Fab.com. Here’s the story: Cooper Blacula, named for the great typeface and even greater movie, is a print series of classic films summed up in one brief and broken sentence and typeset in Cooper Black. These posters, sold exclusively through Fab.com, are museum quality prints on enhanced matte cover stock and printed with archival inks. All posters float in a quarter inch white border. Like so…

So much more than a handyman, Mr Miyagi.
And nobody puts baby in a corner.
Who ya gonna call?
Save Ferris.
And little Drew Barrymore screams.
Oh Maverick, you’re a goose.

You can check out the range of prints at the Cooper Blacula site here. And the collection makes me realise how many more dodgy films I have yet to see!

Posted in Arty sparks

Hey, Four Eyes

Posted on by Cate

If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you’ll know that I’m a sucker for prints of animals as humans. Give me a cat in a suit or a dog driving a car or a bird reading a newspaper and I’ll laugh every time. Kevin Lucius of LuciusArt in Chicago is a master of the animal as human print and I love his work. Too many for just one post, so today I’ll just focus on the smartest animals in town. Uh huh.

Here is Tony, the Inquisitive River Otter. Tony was always asking questions. He had an irresistible thirst for knowledge.

Tony

And here is Marvin, the Book Smart Bear. Marvin took his studies very seriously.

Marvin

And here is Tiger (no name required). Some Tigers are cooler than others.

Tiger

Ah, Roger, the Studious Owl. As you can imagine, Roger was picked on more than anyone else in the 4th grade.

Roger

I know a monocle isn’t the same as spectacles, but here’s “Mr Fancy Cat”. Johnny was best dressed cat at the winter formal. Relive the memories of that night with this original print.

Johnny

If you’d like to see more, you can check out the LuciusArt shop on etsy here.

Posted in Arty sparks

Here’s looking at you…

Posted on by Cate

I’m all for different creative ideas to liven up your walls with quirky works of art. And if you want to add a little science to your art, then so much the better, I say. And if you want to add a little bit of yourself – literally, in this case – to personalise your art, well then, go nuts. Which is kinda what the good people at DNA 11 have done.

Exhibit A: their DNA Portraits (TM) series. According to the website, here’s how it works: (1) Customise your artwork (choosing colour, style, size, frame), (2) Order your DNA collection kit, (3) Collect a cheek cell swab using your kit [uh huh], and (4) send the sample back and let the DNA 11 people work their magic. Whether you want your genetic code artwork to look like the sparkling lights of a big city, or perhaps golden rays of sunshine, there is an option to suit you. You can also get a print made of your pet’s DNA, if you prefer.

Or maybe you’re not a huge fan of DNA, incredible though it may be, but you still want some sort of personalised art on your wall. How about a fingerprint? Yep, there is a Fingerprint Portraits (TM) series. In a similar process to the DNA series, you purchase a Fingerprint Collection Kit and then print away til you’re happy with one, which you then send back to make your artwork with your chosen colours, size, style and frame.

And then there’s the KISS Portraits (TM) series. With this series, you get a gift with purchase – a lipstick, of course. Again, you order the Kiss Collection Kit, ‘apply the provided Revolution Organics lipstick’, then you ‘kiss the kiss sheets till you make the perfect lip print’, send it back and you’re set.

A unique gift idea for someone who has everything. A different twist on personalised art. A way to make sure that prints of you (well, parts of you) last forever. Whatever your motivation, this is definitely an interesting idea and the DNA 11 website is well worth a look. And don’t worry, they ship fingerprints, DNA and kisses all around the world.

Posted in Arty sparks

Pop Charts

Posted on by Cate

Some people need charts and visuals to really make sense of the world. I see how it can sometimes be helpful to reduce the confusion of something big or complex into a series of connected boxes on an A3 piece of paper. In the corporate world, accountants have their ‘mud maps’, HR people have their ‘org charts’, management consultants have their ‘stakeholder maps’ and marketing people tend to have something brightly coloured and written in code, so that it doesn’t make sense to outsiders. But that’s just work. What if there were clever people who used their charting prowess to help us navigate and better understand the real world? Ta-da, here’s Pop Chart Lab.

The Lab began a couple of years ago, founded by a book editor and a graphic designer who joined forces with one modest goal in mind: to render all of human experience in chart form. Uh huh. Their range is amazing – they have tackled everything from beer to culinary devices to the story of a boy’s migration to a town called Bel Air. Here are some of my favourite prints (they also print their charts on t-shirts, in case you want to educate the masses).

(c) Pop Chart Lab

Oh yes, from Bill Haley in the top left to Lady Gaga in the bottom right corner, this is indeed A Visual Compendium of Notable Haircuts in Popular Music. It’s a signed, limited edition print that is sure to get people talking. And if you like this, you’ll probably like its cousin: A Visual Compendium of Notable Haircuts in Hollywood. (That one even includes Chewbacca’s impressive ‘do, along with several cast members of the Harry Potter franchise.)

(c) Pop Chart Lab

And here’s the chart that I think is my favourite – a collection of 13 pie charts about pies. Yep, they’re breaking down the ingredients that go into those delicious desserts and it is just as scary as you might imagine. All the old favourites are there – including Fig. 12, Peanut Butter Pie, which is full of gooey goodness: by my calculations, almost 50% peanut butter, around 20% Oreos and almost as much butter, with a fair dose of heavy cream, vanilla extract and bittersweet chocolate. God bless America, I say. (If pies aren’t your thing, you might like The Delectable Kaleidoscope of Candy Bars – a pretty, colourful and super-detailed examination of the common ingredients and textures linking a bzillion different types of sweet treats.)

(c) Pop Chart Lab

And finally, Constitutions of Classic Cocktails breaks down nearly 70 famous drinks into their constituent parts. Apparently, this is the most elaborate chart that the Lab folk have ever made – it is beautifully designed and unbelievably detailed. Whether you’re looking for inspiration to get shakin’, know a dedicated barfly with a birthday coming up, or just like the design, this is a good ‘un. I love it because to me it looks as though the cocktails are at the centre of a mysterious sort of galaxy. Or perhaps cocktails are like the Wheel of Fortune. And let’s face it, when the drinks are flowing, both of those statements are generally true.

If you’re thirsty for more info, you can check out many more educational works of art at the fabulous Pop Chart Lab site here.

Posted in Arty sparks, Sparky gifts

Bunny with a Toolbelt

Posted on by Cate

Yes, that caught my eye too. Bunny with a Toolbelt is the very cool name of Hilary Pfeifer’s business in Portland, Oregon, where the focus has been ‘making you smile since the late 20th century’. Hilary creates sculptures, animals and wedding cake toppers from recycled wood and other materials. And they are brightly coloured and very quirky. Hilary has also written a couple of books and sells t-shirts and mugs adorned with her work. This Bunny is busy.

(c) Bunny with a Toolbelt

I’ll start with my favourite. This dog is made of painted, upcycled wood and stands about 4 inches tall and 11 inches long. The piece is called ‘Oh Happy Day’. And with this brightly coloured piece of magic in your home or office or classroom or shop, I’m tipping you’ll have a very happy day indeed. If you’re a deep kinda person, you can probably read something into the placement of the clouds, or the fact that the dog is happily supporting three animals of another species, all of different colours. But I just like it because it’s bright and cute.

(c) Bunny with a Toolbelt

If you’re looking for a customised gift for that certain someone, you can help Hilary to design your own Mini Me. You send photos and thoughts about the subject to Hilary and she creates a mini version of them. In brightly coloured monster form. Uh huh.

And then there are the elephants that Hilary created to illustrate her first alphabet book – Elephabet. As you might expect, it’s no ordinary alphabet book. Y is for Yippie-ki-Yayiphant, S is for Sushiphant, R is for Radiophant. But my favourite is probably this guy: V is for Vice Versaphant.

(c) Bunny with a Toolbelt

Oh, and the wedding cake toppers – not normally even remotely my kind of thing, but these have a quirky style. Granted, they won’t suit every couple, but for some people, I think they’re probably just perfect…

Like that really tall couple that you know.

(c) Bunny with a Toolbelt

Or those two IT geeks who fell in love in the server room.

(c) Bunny with a Toolbelt

Or that couple that took forever to make it down the aisle.

(c) Bunny with a Toolbelt

And with more than 60 varieties, there’s plenty more where those came from! You can check out the Bunny with a Toolbelt website here and the etsy shop here. Love your work, Hilary!