The Dieline: Package Design

So, because I’ve been on this whole “switch it up” kick lately, and because I haven’t really seen much that has caught my eye the last couple of days, I have decided once again that  I am going to  try something new on my blog (because it’s all about experimenting right?). I know that I’ve been posting a lot of unique art installments on my blog (they are just so interesting! people come up with the craziest things!), so just thought I would give you something else that was just as visually appealing and cool. As I try to find things that I think are extremely interesting, I tend to come across a lot of different websites–TRUST ME, it takes forever! I do so much Googling it’s almost sick! Anyways, there just so happened to be a website that caught my eye… SO, because I love it so much, I just thought that it would be cool to talk about one my of my newly favorite places to visit. For those of you who love design as much as I do, you’re welcome! For those who don’t, I’m sorry.

If you haven’t heard of thedieline.com, you’re really missing out. The website consists of the best product packaging in the world (seriously) and showcases beautiful and übercreative packages. Yes, yes I know it sounds silly, but the art on this stuff is amazing. Again… just trust me and check it out for yourself. If any of you remember my feature on Snoop Dogg’s Rolling Words a while back, I just so happened to find it while browsing thedieline. The site not only contains amazing package art, but also allows people to list and find jobs (did you just get fired?). Thedieline also holds “The Dieline Package Awards” which allows people and companies to enter a packaging contest (if you hadn’t already guessed by the name). Below are some of the packages off the site. To get to the direct site where I’m pulling these photos from go here!

Enjoy my visual friends!

Chad Person’s Money Collage

Hello my dear followers! I hope all of you had a wonderful Easter and got at least one day to kick your feet up and relax! Over this past weekend I finally had the opportunity to show my family my blog (hello, mom!) and have really been thinking about the direction it’s headed… What do you all think? Are you enjoying the posts? Is there anything you would like to see? I’m just so curious… Well anyways, I hope the following post excites you, enjoy eating your visual hearts out!

If you have any extra cash lying around (HA!), this feature is for you! Today’s installment was created by Chad Person, and while I would love to tell you about it, I feel as if Person does a much better job. Here is his story and journey in creating “TAXCUT.”

“In 2002 I was teaching digital photography at a University near an Air Force Base. I’d had several talented and creative soldiers come through my class. And while I tend to forget the bad students pretty quickly, Harold is one I would always remember.

Three semesters after the course ended I got a phone call from an administrator at the base. Apparently, Harold had used Air Force money to take the class. Since he had failed my class, the cost of the tuition (around $400 with fees) was to be reneged. This meant that Harold would have to repay the military out of pocket so they could reassign the funds elsewhere.

In a time of war, we all need to make tough choices. I chose that day to change a grade, passing a failed student with an A+ to ensure that his tuition fees – which had fortunately found their way into education via a defense allocation, would remain there. He didn’t deserve to pass based on his performance, but I saw it as a rare opportunity to take a little back from our government’s excessive defense spending, even if it might have been just enough to halt the purchase of one box of ammunition.

This series, playfully titled TaxCut, functions in much the same way. I have been destroying currency for my work for the past two years. As a professional artist, I deduct my material expenditures as a write off. If I slice up a hundred dollars to make an image, or a thousand, or just five, I am taking it out of the IRS coffers. Imaging the weaponry that I’m not buying with those dollars is a reminder for me that a little creativity can be quite empowering” (Chad Person).

Click on the above link to see more of Person’s work. Enjoy!

&& some extras from one of Person’s different money collages!!

Mark Powell’s Amazing Biro Pen Envelopes

Who knew drawing on the back of old envelopes with a black pen would be so cool?
Mark Powell did.

Powell, who is based in London, primarily focuses on portraits of the elderly, capturing not only the intricate details of aged faces, but also the forgotten beauty of vintage envelopes. From these astounding pieces, it seems that Powell is not only creating eye-catching work, but also preserving the forgotten allure of vintage postage and envelopes.

“[Powell] has been on an absolute tear the past few weeks, cranking out new portraits every few days, so I couldn’t resist sharing a few more with you. Powell executes each drawing with a standard Bic Biro pen using stamped and faded envelopes that traversed the European postal system more than a century ago” (Christopher).

Check out more of his work (which I HIGHLY recommend) at
http://markpowellartist.com/
and let me know what you want to see this coming week by commenting and subscribing to my blog!!

ENJOY!

Annie Hastings: Breathtaking Imagery

How I’ve missed thee!! With spring break last week (and the days leading up to it), it seems as if I got a little off track (do you honestly blame me?). But woe! I am back! As I stated in my previous post (yes, yes, I know–it was forever ago–I’m truly sorry), today finally, I will be doing a post about some beautiful pictures edited in Photoshop.

The below photos were created by the amazing photographer Annie Hastings, and are quite honestly stunning. The photos were captured with a Canon Rebel T3i and edited in not only Photoshop but Lightroom as well. Her photos are inspired by everything. Hastings stated in a personal online interview, “I pull ideas from everywhere. I’m currently working on a new series about memories.”

You can check out more of her work (and follow her as well!) at www.theaane.wordpress.com

Enjoy!

Florian’s Double Exposures

Alright people! This week I am going to be featuring a couple of photography installments (one with no Photoshop editing and the other with Photoshop editing)! For todays feature, you will be able to see the work of Florian Imgrund, a German photographer who shockingly didn’t start shooting with a film camera until 2010 (you’ll see what I mean here shortly)! “The unique charm of analog photographs connected with the original handcraft of photography fascinates me. After I got my first analog camera in summer of 2010 I started shooting more and more. This growing portfolio is the result of my passion. All of these photographs are captured on film, self-developed and without any computer manipulation” (Imgrund). His work, which includes both human and natural landscape, comes at its finest when combined together as one (as seen below), and uses double exposure to capture his striking photographs.

To see more of his work, check out his website: www.inthoughts.de, his flickr page: www.flickr.com/photos/inthoughts/, and also his facebook page: www.facebook.com/pages/inthoughts-photographs/293068830705153 (I strongly suggest this, his work is amazing!) Now go eat your visual hearts out! Enjoy!

Source: www.thisiscolossal.com

Debombourg Staples Aggravure III Mural

The use of different mediums in art amazes me, and over and over again it seems as if I am always surprised—this week proves no different. Today, I came across a piece entitled “Aggravure III” created by artist Baptiste Debombourg that captures a strikingly visual and impactful mural. The mural, which was composed entirely by staples (YES, STAPLES), depicts Icarus (the protagonist), also known as “the Mannerism of the Renaissance and the symbol of sublime power [of] Air Force One (the official plane of the President of the USA)” (baptistedebombourg.com). The mural, which uses 450,000 staples (imagine how cramped his hand must have been!), interested Debombourg when he combined it with ‘Mannerist’ engraving. “Mannerist engraving, is the representation developed around mythological and religious themes and their potential echoes in today’s super-heroes, bodybuilders…and the violence of ‘Male-Power cult’” (baptistedebombourg.com). The mural, which also took a whopping 340 hours (or around 14 days with ZERO sleep), was “inspired by drawings from 16^th century engravers Hendrick Goltzius, Jan Harmensz, and Cherubino Alberti” (baptistedebombourg.com). Both insanely captivating and uniquely vintage, Debombourg captures the essence of old school imagery, with a new school twist.

Debombourg’s installments at www.baptistedebombourg.com

Ana Soler’s Cause & Effect

If you haven’t seen this yet, brace yourself, it’s awesome. Ana Soler, a Spanish visual artist created an art installment entitled Causa-Efecto (translated Cause & Effect).Her installment, which displays over 2,000 tennis balls that are suspended in space, appear as if they are continually and effortlessly bouncing around the Mustang Art Gallery. “The balls are carefully aligned in suspended trajectories that appear to bounce off walls, floors, and other surfaces providing an uncanny sense of motion similar to a photograph taken with a strobe light” (thisiscolossal.com). If that isn’t visually awesome, I don’t know what is. Good job Soler.

Check out more of Ana Soler’s work at www.anasoler.es

Pictures: Thisiscolossal.com

Chewing Gum Just Got a Whole Lot Sweeter

This shit just keeps getting weirder. The creator of one of this week’s art installment features is Maurizio Savini, an Italian sculptor who makes his sculptures out of chewing gum. The artist, who was born in Rome, intricately pieces his work together with the pink chewing gum and later seals the finished pieces with antibiotic and formaldehyde.  Savini says he chose to work with gum because, “it seemed to me an amazingly versatile material compared to those used by the traditional arts such as painting…I believe that in my work…this material is redeemed and acquires a capacity and it has an expressive dignity of its own” (thewonderous.com). Just as any material such as clay is molded and manipulated with a knife, so is Savini’s gum. The sculptures, which are not only oddly intriguing to look at but also beautifully created, not only encompass Savini’s unique talent, but also sell for as much as $63,691.27 (equivalent to £40,000.00)! Whoa!

‘Penciling’ in a Whole New Light

I’m not going to lie. For today’s art installment feature, I must admit that I had a really hard time finding something that I thought was truly visually awesome. I mean, let’s be honest here—for this blog, I really want to focus on things that are super interesting and visually appealing (it’s what you all deserve!). So, after some long hours of research, I finally found something that caught my eye. This art installment, which was created by Jennifer Maestre, focuses on sculpture—but not just in the ordinary sense. The sculptures, which Maestre composes out of pencils (YES, PENCILS. Crazy, right?) were, “originally inspired by the form and function of the sea urchin. The spines of the urchin, so dangerous yet beautiful, serve as an explicit warning against contact. The alluring texture of the spines draws the touch in spite of the possible consequences” (Maestre). Maestre creates the pieces by turning one inch pencil sections into beads by drilling holes through the middle. She then sharpens the ends and joins them together by a peyote stitch. “Using this combination of technique and materials allows me to retain all the qualities that I want in my work, with the potential for more variety of form” (Maestre). Overall, I think the concept of this art installment is brilliant. Different and captivating, Maestre does a great job exploring objects that would normally go unnoticed.

Be sure to check out more of her work at www.jennifermaestre.com

 

Three-Dimensional Goldfish

Wow. I continue to be surprised. This weeks installment is by Riusuke Fukahori, a Japanese artist who paints incredible three-dimensional goldfish by using  multiple layers of resin. On each layer of resign, Fukahori meticulously and effortlessly (that’s what it looks like anyways) paints on new layers of goldfish after they have been sealed. This technique, which adds to the illusion that the fish are real, create stunningly beautiful and intricate pieces of work. Crazy and intriguing, it’s safe to say the Fukahori is on to something.

For those of you who have skipped ahead, note: THESE FISH ARE NOT REAL!