Design Is Kinky
Our friends over at Design Is Kinky [DIK] have undergone somewhat of a facelift, revealing a fresh new look through which to channel all the awesome creative talent they feature. We caught up with founder, and sometime Lost At E Minor contributor, Andrew Johnstone: What’s been up with DIK over the past few months? There’s the new look site, Empty magazine kicking along, Semi Permanent planning … any other fun projects on the boil? ‘Yeah the new interim site is going well. We got to a point where we were sick of the old design but haven’t had the time or inclination to put together a new full site as it’s quite time consuming to re-do all the content. So we thought something small would be enough for now. We’ll hopefully design a full site sometime soon, but it may take a while. We have a couple new projects in the works. All top secret for now of course! Everything else such as Empty and Semi Permanent [SP] are going along nicely. We’ve just launched the 2008 SP site and have a new issue of Empty coming out soon’. What was the original agenda behind setting DIK up? ‘There never really was — or ever has been — an agenda. I set the site up originally just to get involved in the, then quite small, online design community. I enjoyed getting to know people and being a part of that world of like-minded individuals. I would never have thought that the site would become so popular. It’s awesome that people like it and support us’. How do you feel Australian design is placed within the international community? ‘I think Australia is as well respected as anywhere these days. The internet has kind of made what country you’re from irrelevant anyway. But I think that Aussie designers have a good rep world wide. They are generally very creative because they are used to soaking up ideas and styles from all sorts of cultures. I think this is a really strong aspect of the local design work and people overseas appreciate that’. You guys are well known for spotting cool websites. Any in particular that have really caught your eye lately? ‘I really like the site of illustrator Alex Trochut [illustration above]. His artwork is beautiful and the site is really simple and well laid out. We had seen his work before, but he sent us the link again a week or so ago and we liked his new work so much that we invited him to speak at Semi-Permanent. Thankfully he said yes!’
- 1
- 1
Also by ZOLTON
The vision of South Korean design consultancy Heerim Architects, the 35 story Hotel Full Moon is being built in Baku, Azerbaijan, on the west coast of the Caspian Sea.
Benjamin Johnson and Vince Agostino
I like the retro colours and subtle detail that permeates the work of Australian illustration and design duo, Benjamin Johnson and Vince Agostino.
Crazy chairs from the Campana brothers
Who said chairs had to be boring? Or practical? This range of chairs from designer brothers, Fernando and Humberto Campana, nicely blurs the line between form and functionality, art and science. Read more
YOU'RE SAYING (1)
HAVE YOUR SAY
If I was a fashion photographer instead of an illustrator, I would probably be Maki Kawakita, or at least be like her. Read more
Wow! So whilst Australia is quickly becoming known for its Ed Banger-styled modular stream of music, there is a little known Brisbane artist called Yeo Choong who is just insanely talented. His music is full of summer fun and Kanye West-Phoenix influences. Take my word on it, this is going to be Australia’s next answer to Sam Sparro, Mika or even Jamie Lidel, and he is only 21 years-old.
I’ve loved 3D art ever since I was a kid, especially the kind that requires 3D glasses to really appreciate it. My studio, Thunderdog, is working on an art book right now of just three dimensional art, featuring a hundred artists. It should be out next Christmas.
I’m one of those people who lament the death of analog film as a medium, not because I romanticize the process, but because I love the unpredictable imperfections inherent in non-digital formats. Read more
Leave it to perennially crunchy Portland, Oregon, to open the world’s first vegan strip club. Read more
This little Greenwich Village shop is a blast from the past for me. From 1985 to 1993, I lived in West London and have always missed British candy and special foods. Low and behold, Myers of Keswick has it all. Weetabix cereal, Quality Street candy, Scotch Eggs, PG Tips tea! It’s absolutely amazing. But it’s not all just imports, they make fresh food everyday that you wouldn’t find anywhere else.
Saltwater is a British clothing design label based in London and Cornwall who aim to bring a fresh approach to fashion with their use of beautiful colour, selected cloth, and close attention to detail. The store also has a great selection of carefully sourced accessories from around the world and a growing range of other clothes.
WE'RE RESPECTING
WE'RE POSTING / SOME OF THE BEST
Argentine illustrator Poly Bernatene miraculously creates many of his beautifully textured, painterly images in Photoshop. Despite his twenty-first century method, his illustrations achieve a sort of timelessness that is bound to mesmerize children for years to come. Read more
Marci Washington’s gothic paintings have an Edward Gorey-esque romanticism about them, her vampiric figures suggesting dark and mystical narratives. Read more
This remarkable construction is located in the Swedish village of Jukkasjärvi and is built entirely from scratch every year. It features 10,000 tonnes of ice from the nearby Torne River, and 30,000 tonnes of snow, covering more than 30,000 square feet in total. Oh, it even has its own ice chapel. But be sure to bring your winter woollens. It could get a little, errr, chilly at night. Read more
While I am as impressed as anyone with an artist’s ability to render accurate and lifelike human figures, I’m more often compelled aesthetically by looser and more stylized images such as Camilla Engman’s. The wide-set eyes, bulbous bodies, and skewed proportions of the people and animals in Engman’s paintings lend them a certain expressiveness and melancholy. Read more
Japanese designers Keiichi Muramatsu and Noriko Seki founded the Tokyo-based fashion label, Everlasting Sprout, in 2005, based on their mutual interest in knit design. Each intricate creation in their Spring/Summer 2009 range took up to a week for them to construct. Read more
Legendary pop culture artist and Agit Pop founder Ron English will be a guest compiler of an upcoming issue of our email newsletter, writing about his favorite cultural discoveries. To read Ron’s edition of Lost At E Minor, simply sign up to our weekly newsletter. It’s free, you win!
This beautiful ultrachrome print on Hahnemuhle rag paper, measuring nine by twelve inches and in a limited edition of just 100, is available for purchase through the Lost At E Minor store. Read more
Discuss
- hdacvt on "The Relentless Eye"
- Stomp on "Gutter Twins Announce Sideshows"
- JamieD on "Melbourne Bride Wedding Expo"
- shoebuy on "art in shoes"
- lucebaz on "Freelance Graphic Designer in London"
- lucebaz on "Freelance Graphic Designer in London"
- JaneAbma on "The Grafik Museum"
- teacut on "Illustration vs fine art"
DISCOVER MORE
SO...
SEARCH: Can't find what you're looking for? Do a search..
IS IT GOOD FOR YOU TOO?
We hope you're enjoying your time on Lost At E Minor, but it’s not over yet. Got something to share? Tell us about it and we'll look to publish it. If you want to have your work featured on the site, we'd love to hear from you. Or if you’d just like to talk amongst yourselves, that’s cool too. Pssst, we also have an online store stocking some of the goodies we feature on the site.
If you're a media agency and want to use this platform to connect with our readership, then drop us a line and tell us about it. Oh yeah, and we do digital consulting for cool brands that want to reach the sort of demographic that visits this site.
Mofa said | 8 February, 2008
Nice! It really is amazing how popular DIK has become. Not only is the website popular, but to me, and many of my peers down here in Cairo, DIK is THE design hub you’ll have to check out on a daily basis if you want to have anything to do with design and whatever’s going on out there.