New Illustration / Steve Bell’s cartoons

October 31, 2008 | New Illustration | by Francis Andrews |

Guardian newspaper cartoonist Steve Bell is a bit of a household treasure in England: a very astute political observer who picks up so well on the little nuances in speech and image that are key to good cartoonists. His work is nothing short of hilarious. So he must have felt like a present landed on his lap the day Bush came into power — depictions of him as a monkey, a lame duck, his ‘special relationship’ with Blair, and so on, are some of the best I’ve seen. No-one gets an easy ride: he’s now having a whale of a time with Palin.

October 28, 2008 | Video | by Yuko Shimizu |

My friend and artist Emily Gearhart just sent me this video. It’s probably the funniest video I have ever seen. Oh, what a great way to remind your friends to vote. You can customise it with your friend’s name and then send it out them. Fun, fun, fun.

October 17, 2008 | New Film | by Xavier Toby |

Recent developments in technology and communication mean that the critiques of any event hit the news faster than ever before. This allows artists to react while events are still happening. Redacted is one brilliant example. The film industry is producing a raft of films around the ongoing ‘War on Terror’, but none reproduces the reality of the Iraq conflict with more honesty. Read more

New Trends / Spelling Change for Obama

October 9, 2008 | New Trends | by Casper Johansson |

Spelling Change was developed by a group of creative professionals to spread awareness and passion about the Obama campaign. Its goal is to encourage one-to-one communication by creating tools that help people get out the word on issues that are important to them. Artists and designers were asked to create a letter of the alphabet inspired by the Obama campaign. These letters were then printed on t-shirts and distributed to photographers, who shot Obama supporters from all walks of life wearing them. The result is a living alphabet that shows the incredible breadth of Obama’s appeal and a widespread desire for real change in Washington. Read more

October 6, 2008 | Video | by Yuko Shimizu |

I love Sarah Silverman’s borderline offensive dark and bold sense of humour. Marcos Chin sent me this short video on The Geat Schlep site, which makes me want to vote and convince my grandma to vote too. Well, I am not Jewish, not a US citizen, and my grandma is not in Florida. But at least you should watch. And vote.

New Design / Hope Gangloff says down with ‘doomocracy’

September 29, 2008 | New Design | by Zolton |

Illustrator Hope Gangloff has a stack of her ‘election’ tees from the previous US election available for sale which she created with the talented New York-based artist (and her hubbie, no less!), Ben Degen. Even though they were done to mark Bush’s reappointment, they still kinda sum up her mood on the tussle between Obama and McCain. ‘If the election gets stolen’, she says. ‘What say we burn down the capital instead of blogging about it?’. Hmmm, now there’s an idea.

New Products / George W. Bush coloring book

June 5, 2008 | New Products | by Joy Andrada |

With President Bush’s exit from the White House just months away, commemorate our 43 head of state’s illustrious eight years in office with the George W. Bush coloring book! Yes. These books have memorable illustrations with quotes to remind you of all the notable remarks he made regarding race, international affairs, economics, religion, and more. No need to color in the lines, this is a great way to show your respect to the leader whose tenure produced the Iraq War and the Patriot Act. Illustrator Karen Ocker took pains to capture the look of courage under fire and sought out quotations to exemplify Bush’s legacy.