Saturday 30 April 2011
The Forum Theatre, The Atrium and Federation Square
Melbourne, Australia

Taking place over multiple locations in Melbourne’s city center, including
The Forum Theatre, No Vacancy Gallery at Federation Square, and
The Atrium, Sugar Mountain will celebrate the diverse creative forms of music and visual art, with a focus on the natural meeting points between.

Sugar Mountain’s visual arts program is curated by Creative Director Pete Keen, with support from No Vacancy Gallery. We are pleased to have the following selection of Australia’s finest young creatives, alongside some very special international guests, exhibiting at Sugar Mountain.

Musicians VIRGO FOUR (USA), Aa (USA), NO KIDS (Canada), YELLOW FEVER (USA), COOLIES (NZ), CANYONS, QUA with the Ritmo Giallo Ensemble, YOUNG MAGIC, COLLARBONES, RAT VS POSSUM, OSCAR + MARTIN, GALAPAGOOSE, OTOUTO with the No Lights, No Lycra Dancers, TWERPS, BROUS and NO ZU.

Visual artists AINSLIE FLETCHER, ALEX KOPPS (USA), BECI ORPIN, BEN BARRETTO, BRETT CHAN, CHARLIE CALLAHAN (USA), CLARK GOOLSBY (USA), CODY HUDSON (USA), CORNELIUS BROWN, DAVID POTES (USA), FERRIS PLOCK (USA), GEORG, JAY HOWELL (USA), JULIAN HOCKING, KATRINE HILDEBRANDT, KELSEY BROOKES (USA), KILL PIXIE, KYLE FIELD (USA), LEIF PODHAJSKY, MARK DREW, MARK TRZOPEK, MARK WARREN JACQUES (USA), MEL KADEL (USA), MIKE PERRY (USA), MONICA CANILAO (USA), NAILS, NAT RUSSELL (USA), NEIL KRUG (USA), OLIVER HUNTER, OSCAR VINCENT SLORACK THORNE, RHYS MITCHELL, RAPHAEL RIZZO, RYAN HEYWOOD, RYAN JACOB SMITH (USA), RYAN TATAR (USA), STEFAN MARX (DE), STEVEN HARRINGTON (USA), TWO ONE, EIGHTY FOUR FILMS (USA), THE AMIGO UNIT (USA), THE CREATIVE LIVES (USA) and SERPS.

Kelsey Brookes

Two One – Hiroyatsu Tsuri

Brett Chan

Plus a live painting performance by THOMAS CAMPBELL (USA), live visual and light show by KIT WEBSTER & JAMES WRIGHT, ‘Every Shape Has A Secret’ starring JANE BADLER, curated by ANITA SPOONER & DANIELLE GEPPERT, Screening of ‘Gaudy Romp’, scored by FOOTY and curated by ANITA SPOONER & DANIELLE GEPPERT; and social experimentation via TAPE PROJECTS COLLECTIVE in conjunction with guest curator LOUISE KLERKS.

Buy tickets here
More info here

For anyone who picks up a Sydney Festival brochure, browses the website, Facebook and blog, or catches a glimpse of a Festival banner on George Street – it’s all about Marcela Restrepo! Restrepo is responsible  for all the beautiful illustrations of Sydney houses, parks, buildings,  icons, and of course, those sulphur-crested cockatoos. A left-handed illustrator, Restrepo finds inspiration in the blend of nature and city that the Sydney landscape offers. But the main ingredient in her work is everyday life where ideas come from a trip to the shops, and seeing an antenna covered in a flock of native birds.

Restrepo started out in web and graphic design before a short course in illustration with Christopher Nielson opened up a new creative path. Introduced to the Festival by Saatchi Design  (who have done the overall design and branding for the 2010 and 2011 Festivals), Colombian-born Restrepo is now based in Sydney’s inner west, and clearly loves a lot about Sydney. Restrepo’s work features many things that are intrinsic to Sydney, and is characterised by warmth, naiveté and freedom.

See more of Marcela’s work here
Sydney Festival 2011 runs January 8 – 30, more info on what’s on here

A lush visual history of the Golden Age of travel

The metabolism of travel changed more in the last century than in the previous half-millennium, a stunning transformation triggered by American wanderlust. In less than 100 years, the U.S. mass-produced the automobile, invented airplanes, freeways, motels, even sent men to the Moon. Travel grew ever faster and easier. Above all, it was democratized — enabling millions to explore distant lands, or see their own more fully.

At the start of the 20th century, only people with extensive disposable income and time to spare could enjoy leisure travel. By the century’s end, journeys took hours, not days, and mass travel — especially brief air flights — became the new normal. Along the way, ocean liners broke speed records, aerodynamic trains roared down the tracks, stylish boat-plane clippers evolved into jumbo jets. Whether aboard high-speed locomotives or ships, jets, or Greyhound buses — or when setting their own schedule on the open road — Americans demanded ever greater mobility and wider choice of destinations, thereby setting a new standard for travelers around the world.

A lush visual history of international wanderlust, this volume features 400-plus print advertisements from the Jim Heimann Collection, that illustrate the evolution of leisure travel — from domestic to global, exclusive to popular, exotic to standardized — and its crucial role in American culture.

With an introduction, decade-by-decade analysis, and  an illustrated timeline, this book highlights the cultural and technological developments that transformed travel from a cushioned journey of the elite into a convenient leisure pastime for the general public. 20th Century Travel takes us on a grand tour of travel’s golden age.

See more at Taschen

Gestalten.tv podcast featuring Established & Sons and the designers and artists behind the ‘Design Against the Clock’ show during London Design Festival 2010.

“Established & Sons hosted a series of exciting installations and events during London Design Festival, including a pop-up Gestalten book shop. So while we were on location, Gestalten.tv also documented the design process and interviewed some of the designers and artists – among them Committee, Richard Woods, Gavin Turk and Tord Boontje – using their vision and energy as well as their own bare hands to design against the clock.”

Source:Gestalten
See more at Gestalten here

The latest in the Cream series which brings together 100 of the most exciting contemporary artists emerging today, each chosen by prominent international curators. Each artist spread includes a newly commissioned text written by the curator who selected the artist, as well as full-colour images illustrating the most recent works by the artists, from exhibitions all over the world. Additionally, each curator chooses a key creative work for the Sources section. Fields of cultural activity such as cinema, literature, theory, music, design and architecture have become both subject and referent for artists, and the Sources section will reflect the heterogeneous nature of what influences contemporary art today, providing readers with a broader historical and cultural perspective and insight into the curator’s influences

Creamier, Contemporary Art in Culture: 10 Curators, 100 Contemporary Artists, 10 Sources, Phaidon

Creamier, Contemporary Art in Culture: 10 Curators, 100 Contemporary Artists, 10 Sources, Phaidon

Creamier, Contemporary Art in Culture: 10 Curators, 100 Contemporary Artists, 10 Sources, Phaidon

Creamier follows the award-winning Cream (1998), Fresh Cream(2000), Cream 3 (2003) and Ice Cream (2007)

Creamier can be purchased here at Phaidon

Modern Motor Cycle Company, Poster Series 01, © Copyright Modern Motor Cycle Company 2010

To commemorate their new workshop, Modern Motor Cycle Company commissioned a series of three limited edition screen printed posters. These posters are now available through their eBay store and at their new home: The Compound Interest, Centre for the Applied Arts – 15-25 Keele Street Collingwood 3066, Victoria, Australia.

The posters were designed by Chase & Galley, and screen printed in two colours by New Blank Document, both residents of the Compound. The posters are numbered and limited to 100 copies each.

More information here

Run in conjunction with Melbourne’s GPO and Ambush Gallery, the Semi-Permanent Launch consists of a popup gallery featuring the work of Beastman & Shannon Crees, an exhibition of Semi-Permanent speaker work, and art created for the launch by the Everfresh Studio crew. There will be bands, DJ’s and plenty of drinks.

Melbourne’s GPO, 350 Bourke St, Melbourne
15 September 2010. 6pm to 10pm. Free.

More information here

Inaugurated in 2009, and open to both professionals and students, the key objective of the AGDA Poster Annual is to promote graphic design to the Australian public as a voice for economic, socio-political and cultural change.

Entrants are asked to respond to a brief demonstrating their creative thinking, contemporary practice, as well as insights to issues or themes identified in the brief. Following a 3-person jury review, 30 finalists will be shortlisted. An additional panel consisting of a wide range of national and international designers and design-related personalities will each select a personal choice, 
and provide a brief rationale for their choice.

This year these 30 posters will form the AGDA Poster Annual Exhibition along Southbank in Brisbane during Icograda Design Week in October.

Competition closes today, however short extensions may be granted by contacting communications@agda.com.au

More info here

Art direction and design of all releases from Booka Shade. This one is showing the cover of the single 'Planetary'. Client: Get Physical Music, 2008.

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Caroline McCurdy

HORT is a Berlin-based studio that works in all fields of graphic design, specialising in pure creativity. Founder and head creative Eike Koenig explains the inspiring way in which the studio works and what it produces.

Beginnings
HORT was founded in 1994 by Eike Koenig. The studio is described as being an ‘unconventional working environment,’ and as a ‘particular space, or playground that gave him and the people he worked with the possibility of honing their abilities with the right expression’.

Eike explains that ‘Hort is all about being open, exchanging thoughts and ideas, letting things grow and develop. It is a place where people can bring their own personality. That is one side. The other side is that we are very focused, we reflect our client’s briefs, the brand, the product in a very intense but sensitive way.’

The studio produces a wide variety of work, from campaigns for top-end clients like NIKE, The New York Times, and Volkswagens’ ‘Project Fox’, to new emerging companies who need some assistance establishing themselves.

Presently there are twelve designers involved at HORT. Eike describes the studio as ‘a mix of Hort members that have worked with us for some years and several interns. Although we all work very closely and exchange ideas, we decide by project who is most linked to the task and what could be interesting to try out.’

HORT are unique in their approach to the brief, which in turn brings about a creatively rich outcome. As stated on their web site, ‘Whether it’s a poster for a theatre company, a catalogue for an art exhibition or working collaboratively with people of other design disciplines’; the studio is capable of producing a piece of work that is completely original: visually, as well as the construction process undertaken to achieve the result.

A new piece of work HORT has created that demonstrates their unique approach can be seen in their vinyl sleeve design for Resopal. The record consisted of two musicians, one track on each side of the record. The studio’s response was to have the sleeve design ‘based on this principle: two sides, two designers.’
Eike explains that the studio loves working for the music industry, with a long list of musical clients, most notably, their designs over the years for German electro-house duo: Booka Shade.
‘Our background and history is the music industry,’ she says. ‘We always loved working for them – and still do!’

Rebranding pattern for POS material, website background and player wallpaper. Client: Microsoft/Zune, 2008.

Approach
The importance of their specific approach to the brief is what makes HORT stand out from most studios. When ‘illustrating a companies personality by developing a brand; creating a visual connection with some music and its listener; translating the artwork of an album beyond its sleeve; working with or for people and companies in other creative fields,’ their creative process provides a more in-depth focus on where their ideas can be explored.

Another important aspect of the way in which HORT creates, is that they try to experiment as much as possible and produce work that is not completely reliant on the computer.
‘We feel that if you start your design right at the computer you limit yourself,’ Eike explains. ‘That is why we always try to work with different material. The computer limits you to the structure of it’s programming. We think it is important to include the room you are working in in your design process. The connection between brain and hand is perfect and that designing on a “real” format gives you a different perspective on the work you do. It’s great to touch the paper, to smell the glue, to pick the design and show it to people for feedback.’

Workshops
HORT not only works to make a difference in the design world through the work they create for their clients, but also through conducting workshops at universities and companies. The workshops help participants ‘unmask new things about themselves and how they work.’ The workshops mission states that ‘individuals will discover the process of communication through other people’s eyes; the people they work with. The open space also supports the development of interaction and discussion. We want this friendly exchange to open up and broaden people’s ways of engaging and thinking.’

Eike explains that the workshops started with ‘students’ workshops at universities, and found out that this could also be something really interesting for people that work as art directors or designers in agencies. So, now we offer these creative workshops to advertising agencies and to creatives in other fields. And they love it!’

Retail art poster for the Summer Hoops Program. Client: NIKE USA Basketball, 2007.

NIKE
HORT began designing for NIKE with a piece for the Visual Center, which Eike describes as a kind of ‘manual for Nike employees on how to work with the brand. We designed a special font, developed the graphic style, the illustrations in combination with the photography, a colour code, the book itself, motion pieces, 3D shop window displays, retail posters, etc. All the things you need to brand a product.’
Since then, the studio has also created posters, catalogues, t-shirts, interior designs and more for the global brand. On each design they work in unison with art director Michael Spoljaric (from NIKE) to create works that have an artistic abstract quality, not usually associated with such a large corporate name.
Most recently the studio has produced designs for the development of the NIKE USAB exhibition in New York City. The exhibition is dedicated to the US Olympic basketball team in NYC.
Eike explains, ‘Again we worked with Michael Spoljaric on different design explorations, like huge pull outs showing the history of the US Basketball Team, over 30 posters for each player and wall designs for the gallery space. Mr. “fantastic” Bruce Gilden took the photos of the 2008 team.’

Present and Future
Recently HORT were invited to be part of an exhibition titled, ‘Vertrautes Terrain – Contemporary Art in/about Germany’ at ZKM Karlsruhe. HORT’s contribution was ‘designs on a huge wall composed of artwork that spans our entire career,’ says Eike. ‘The idea was to put 10 layers of A0 size posters on the wall. The first layer was restricted to black and white typography and the last layer was full of colour. We hung them irregularly so you could see different elements coming through and the image in the end was a totally new one. A huge drawing of our work in way we had never seen before. The visitors were asked to pick their favourite piece from the wall and were allowed to rip it off. During the 4 week running exhibition the image of the wall changed daily. As new layers disappeared, new combinations of images arose.’

Some of the HORT crew. Photography: Rosa Merk © 2008.

When asked what was happening next for HORT, Eike replies, ‘We don’t know. We are open and will see. We did a lot of exciting stuff for Nike Europe, a special project for the MTV awards in Dublin, Ireland. At the moment we are working on the new Visual Center for LeBron James – The six. We just finished a branding and interface design for a music program. Working on a fashion store design for GoodTrueBeautiful in Berlin, developing a concept for a public space in Berlin, developing a visual system for Modular Recordings from Australia etc. etc. Lots of things that are pretty interesting, so we are having a great life.’

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