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My first animated book cover for A Bite of the Big Apple by Monica Trapaga.
I built a NYC skyline out of paper with a blue tablecloth for the sky and cut up aluminium foil for the stars. We gently tilted the stars and took a few different shots which we then compiled together as a stop motion animated gif. So many of our books are now discovered online rather than through brick & mortar bookshops, so I wanted to create a way for our future readers to engage & interact a bit more with books in an online context. It's a fun idea to start thinking about and playing with in future projects.
Photographs by Chris Chen.
Me at work in the studio, by Phu Tang
Lucy at The Design Files came into our studio the other day to talk to our publisher at Lantern/Penguin, Julie Gibbs, about our work and creative process, in a very lovely interview.
Paper mache pinatas made with my friend Clare for the band Shady Lane as a month long installation at Oxford Art Factory. The idea behind Shady Lane's album was releasing your inner demons, so we decided to manifest this into colourful large scale pinatas. Each week people coiuld write their inner demons down on pieces of paper and put them into the demons mouths. Then at the end of the month the band bashed them apart, and out came all the demons, along with glitter, lollipops and a fake hand. A cathartic ritual!
Out today!
My latest book design, A Bite of the Big Apple, by Monica Trapaga & Lil Tulloch, with photography by the amazing Chris Chen.
This was a really fun project, a kind of culinary journal of the author's love affair with New York City. We had a lot of fun on the photoshoot, creating wacky backgrounds and scouring Monica's amazing home for unusual props and toys. The book's design references old street signage, musical scoresheets and poster design from New York in the 1950s; a mix of eclectic typography, banner designs and duotone colouring. The result is a really riotous, colourful and most of all delicious book!
The cover was inspired by the incredible Metropolis posters of Fritz Lang. I created a 3 dimensional paper New York skyline with a red felt apple, blue tablecloth sky & alfoil stars. In the printed book we added foil to the stars and windows of the skyline to make it glimmer like the real NYC. In a digital version of the cover (which I'll upload soon), we created a stop motion animation by gently nudging the alfoil stars to give the impression of a twinkling night sky.
Design, layout & photographic art direction.
I've been having quite a bit of fun this year creating posters for gigs put on by the wonderful Adam Lewis & his Radiant show on local Sydney radio station, FBi. They have all been quite illustrative and poppy, often including excellent puns, and are such a pleasure to create, I just want to keep making more and more!
New cookbook for Sydney Seafood School, out now!
Illustration, design & photo art direction.
By Roberta Muir & published by Lantern, an imprint of Penguin, November 2012.
Photography by the very talented Alan Benson.
Last night my friend Clare and I made a magical tree for a music clip.
The previous week spent haranguing friends into helping us make paper lanterns
finally paid off - thanks guys!
The Australian Wedding Book is now out in stores, a 384pp bible involving design, illustration and photographic art direction. The lovely embossing and foil stamp on the uncoated cover, as well as a 5th metallic colour throughout the glossy internals, make for a particularly lovely feel. Click through to see the full book! x
Grandiflora Celebrations was the most wonderful project, a catalog of the amazing installations of Sydney floral artist Saskia Havekes. I was given free reign to create ink illustrations, ranging from the subtle to the wild, to echo her beautiful arrangements. The typography and layout are quite restrained, allowing the photographs and the illustrations to create a riot of fun and colour. I'm particularly proud of the cover, which was a bit out there but ultimately encaptures the book perfectly. Click through to see the whole project!