Bode Cartoon

Originally created by Vaughan Bode and now continued by his son Mark, the Bode cartoon has generated somewhat of a cult following, I have always been interested in the cartoons and spent a lot of time copying the cartoon and creating my own. It was one inspiration of mine to want to learn to draw cartoons. It has since been used by brands such as Puma, Ecko, A Bathing Ape and many others including artwork for the Beastie Boys.

Berlin street art

I visited Berlin for a few days when travelling through europe this summer and was impressed by the quality of some of the street art I came across. These are some of my favourite pieces that I found.

Interesting use of a Lighter

Pieter Hugo

I find this photography very inspirational showing a life so foreign to my own. www.pieterhugo.com

Shoreditch Murals

This wall in Shoreditch constantly changes with huge hand painted murals. These are some of the more recent ones that have been put up there. Photo's thanks to flickr.

Madmen

Set in 1960s New York, the sexy, stylized and provocative drama Madmen follows the lives of the ruthlessly competitive men and women of Madison Avenue advertising, an immensly ego driven world where key players make an art of the sale. It's a very interesting incite into how the advertising world may have worked at the time. They have to deal with changing views and information in the world. Most notably the changing views on smoking in season 1 where many ad campaigns are claiming that it's good for you and how they deal with the realisation of the public that it is infact not so. It also depicts the roles of men and women in this era underneath the guise of traditional 1960s family values. I have watched the most part of the first season and would recommend it as some very interesting and entertaining viewing. It's easy to find it online.

Love Letter

Something I found whilst looking at another blog www.hurtyoubad.com, I find this work very inspirational as I'm very interested in hand drawn/painted advertising and this is an example of it on a huge scale. 'Love Letter' is a project that has been produced by Stephen Powers alongside the City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program. It is an 'ambitous urban beautification' project with messages are about love and reconciliation, something I think is very important in inner city environments encouraging people to feel and respond to it.

"After I stopped writing my name on stuff, I made a lateral move into sign painting. The materials were essentially the same, (enamel on metal), the colors were similar, (bold and garish are best) but the effect was totally different. When you paint graffiti, you are an outsider that is broadcasting your signal to the center of the community. When you paint a sign, you are broadcasting from the center of the community to the periphery. Graffiti is youth testing out a microphone, Signs speak into the mike eloquently and with authority. Even as a teenager I could see a huge difference in how my work was percieved versus the painted signs that commanded respect.

The is an amazing painted sign tradition that permeates the landscape in West Philadelphia. I'll be adding many more pictures in time, but look at these and see the direction we're going to take this project. We'll be reviving the dead arts of sign painting and wall-writing; The bricks were painted 40-80 years ago and they remind us that West Philly was a powerful place of mercantile style and industrial might, and could be again."