It’s an uphill climb to the bottom

WE'RE SUPPORTING

Timelessness is surely one of the most sought-after characteristics that any artist, writer or musician can aim for in their work. It’s a wonderful feeling to know that what felt good a generation ago still holds true to this day; perhaps even better to know that what made one tick as a child still draws a smile years down the line. I often feel this with certain children’s illustration — they evoke an innolinecence every adult still retains somewhere deep inside. The work of UK illustrator Jenni Desmond does just this to me — there’s a real sense of adventure running through it and vision of the world being far, far larger than it really is.

WE'RE TRAVELLING TO

A Dutch insurance company recently launched a pretty creative ad campaign that was put on the backs of buses in Amsterdam, making them look like they were actually moving backwards.

WE'RE WEARING

There’s a fun range of prints up on the Boo Ware site, a Sydney based t-shirt label that began selling at the legendary Paddington Markets in 2003. You can still find them there every Saturday morning. Their tees are ’soft and comfortable with original, quirky prints’.

WE'RE THINKING

I’m really digging Los Angeles-based illustrator Jon Han’s textured, colourful, almost scientific work. I find it particularly refreshing how Han frequently eschews most of the physical detail within his tiny figures, which lends itself all the more to further enhancing the diagram like quality of his work.

WE'RE READING

San Francisco-based illustrator Luke Feldman has just had his first children’s book published, Chaff n’ Skaffs: Mai and the Lost Moskivvy, a collaboration with writer Amanda Chin. The book artfully tells the story of Mai, ‘a young girl who never ventured too far from her home. When a lost mosquito interrupts Mai’s sleep, her friend Chaff suggests they escort Moskivvy back home to a faraway land. So begins a courageous girl’s voyage into a fantastic world’, all communicated beautifully through Feldman’s colorful, dynamic and considered illustrations. Read more

In Japan, when one makes squeezing gestures with both hands at chest level, one is gesturing that one wants candy — soft, round, bouncy candy. At least, that’s what this commercial would have us believe.

WE'RE LISTENING TO

I don’t do yoga. I have nothing against it, but it just seems a little too new agey for me. However, if I do eventually try it, I’d like the instructor to put on Fabio Orsi’s moody, ambient, drone experiments. Using piano, guitar, percussion, field recordings, and various sampled elements, Orsi creates some beautiful, meditative pieces that, while undeniably fruity, are still weird enough to hold my interest.