Geoffrey Todd Smith

Lauren Nassef

Chicago-based RISD graduate Lauren Nassef has some unimpeachable skills as a draftsman, but I appreciate her work for its restraint and elegant minimalism. Check out her A Drawing A Day blog to keep up with what she’s working on. Read more

Dave Jordano

The vibrant and intricate work of photographer Dave Jordano is full of subtle meaning and deft use of colour. His series on African-American churches is particularly illuminating. We spoke to him about it: How long have you been documenting small African-American churches in Chicago and what made you decide to embark on this project? ‘The project of documenting African American storefront churches came about quite by accident. I was working on another project just over the Illinois/Indiana border and my route took me over the Chicago Skyway Bridge. I would often look down onto a small plain industrial building that had a large hand painted sign above it’s door that read, “Cathedral of Divine Love Church.” I was impressed that this pastor felt that his little nondescript building was worthy of being called a cathedral. This notion stuck with me for quite some time and I just couldn’t shake it off. Finally, after several weeks of driving by the building, I decided to stop and introduce myself and ask if I could photograph the church. The pastor’s obvious remark was, “Services start in about an hour, you can come by after everyone has arrived.” My response was, “No, what I really had in mind was to photograph the church empty and that I was mainly interested in how he had decorated and set it up.” This threw up a cloud of suspicion as he thought my request was rather odd. I persisted, and after much discussion about my intentions, God, and religion, he granted me permission. I felt as if I had been the center of an inquisition, but rightly so. It was important that I had the trust of every pastor, that they knew my intentions were sincere, and that I had a great deal of respect for their church. I went back several times over the next month and made more photographs’. Read more

Cheer Accident

Chicago’s Cheer Accident started as a post-no-wave weirdo band typical of the Skin Graft roster, but of late, they’ve been doing some unrestrained pop and rock. They even have harmonized vocals and an occasional horn. This isn’t to say they’re commercializing – their songs are just as complex as ever, and there’s still a hint of discordance beneath the shimmering new sound.

James Joyce

It takes guts to be simple. Overcrowding, overworking and over-thinking are far easier. London-based artist and illustrator James Joyce shows how good color choice, clever concepts, and a keen eye for type can get you work with big clients, such as Wallpaper, Nike and Penguin Books, to name a few. Read more

Supermundane

I can tell how much I like a designer by the the speed at which I bookmark their site. With Rob Lowe (aka Supermundane), it was on the home page. That’s a pretty good sign. Supermundane is a multi-disciplined creative who impressively creates all text himself for every project he does. Prepare yourself to be jealous.

Matt Taylor

I’ve been searching for the artist of the clever Day Of The Dead Presidents piece since it flashed past me somewhere last year. Luckily Brighton based Illustrator Matt Taylor has just contributed to Graniph, throwing his work back into the spotlight. Along with National Geographic Taylor is influenced by comic books. There’s a definite Paul Pope vibe in some of his more detailed pieces.