THE BOOK OF CONVERSATIONS

Two more great illustrators

2007-06-16T20:21:00.000+01:00

Rachelly Plaut

Born in 1981, Petach-Tikva, Israel.

Graduate of Bezalel Academy of Art and design, Jerusalem.

Since 2005, Rachelly has worked as a freelance illustrator.

She has illustrated for most of the leading newspapers and magazines in Israel.

Her illustrations are used in childrens books, youth books, book covers, children's magazines, special projects, social projects etc

See her work at:

rplaut.carbonmade.com

Matt Murphy

BLACK COFFEE PROJECT
HTTP://WWW.BLACKCOFFEEPROJECT.COM
HTTP://WWW.PROJECTGENIE.ORG.UK

Bio to follow shortly.

A list of great people with bios to follow

2007-06-12T15:02:00.000+01:00

Here are some of the last entrants and we are really proud to have them on board.

As soon as we have bios, I will update you with more info. For now, have a look at their sites. Some really cool work.

Catty Flores
www.cattyflores.com

Rah Crawford
www.rahcrawford.com

Carsten Witte
www.carstenwitte.com

Bea Kraus
www.beakraus.com

Rafa Mendoza
www.rafamendoza.com

Yuko Shimizu
www.yukoart.com

Tanja Szekessy
www.szekessy.net

Mateo Dineen
www.mateo-art.com

Patrick Latimer
www.patricklatimer.co.za

Macvirne Etienne
www.mcvirnetienne.com

Jenny Mörtsell
www.jennysportfolio.com

Vera Tataro
www.veratataro.com

Michael Rytz
www.inkforest.dk

Lio Beardsley
www.liobeardsley.co.uk

Hei Shing
www.lebook.com/heishing

Andrew Rae
www.andrewrae.org.uk

Christian Partl
www.christianpartl.illustration.de

Mark Graham
www.ilovedust.com

Nico Beyer
www.chasedbycowboys.com

Snar
www.snar.nl

Boxie
http://web.mac.com/boxieart

Andy Walker
www.andytwalker.com

Hannes Winkler
www.marcoandhannes.com

180 Amsterdam
www.180amsterdam.com

Dylan & Chiara
(website soon)

From the studios of an independant man

2007-06-01T16:55:00.000+01:00

Barnaby Irish

Barnaby lives in Amsterdam and currently divides his time between making websites and screenprinting.

A day to day collection of inspiration and visual stimulus can be found on www.barnism.com

The people of Pocko

2007-04-15T23:05:00.000+01:00

Paul Bower

I studied Illustration and Graphic Design at the Licoln College of Art and Design before moving down to London, where I've been working as an Illustrator and Artist ever since. I joined the great agency 'Pocko People' and clients have included The Paramount Comedy Channel, Merrydown Cider, Virgin Atlantic, Sceptre Books and recently, Habitat .

My work is heavily inflenced by the comic book world and all things throw-away and cheap and nasty. The materials I use are anything I can collage together really along with lino printing because of it's hand-made quality. It's nice to let mistakes happen and see where they take you. My favourite colour is pink. I really must try to use it less.

If he hasn't been there, it's not far enough away.

2007-03-27T15:58:00.000+01:00

Simon Stock

After studying, Simon Stock quickly gained a foothold in the business shooting for editorial clients such as Condé Nast. He made his presence felt by winning the Association of Fashion, Advertising, & Editorial Photographers Assistants Awards and soon Simon was undertaking commissions for many of the top advertising agencies in London. His client base now extended into Europe and the US.

Past projects have included documenting the landscapes and people of Chile, Tibet, Mount Everest, the Artic Circle and the Northern Territories of Australia. His commercial work has led him to some of the furthest corners of the globe in search of striking imagery of prestigious clients worldwide. His first solo exhibition (featuring work from a personal project which was shot in New Zealand) was held at the Blink Gallery, London in 2005.

Simon has also recently directed three short films for the Discovery Channel, and commercials for the Jaguar XJK and Mercedes C220.

He has been a consistent award winner at the Association of Photographers Awards in London, and has been invited to become a member of the Design &Art Directors Club after having work for BMW included in the D&AD annual.

http://www.simonstock.com/

Another Partner

2007-03-21T19:20:00.000+01:00

Steve Hanson has teamed up with Ruben Paris:

Name : Reuben Paris

lives: Edinburgh

occupation: Commercial Photographer

loves: His wife,light,working on film and cold beer

Should not: DJ at parties

Should: Still be invited

current clients: New Balance,Russell Europe,Scottish Power,RMJM

www.reubenparis.com

Direct from Rotterdam

2007-03-20T14:22:00.000+01:00

I'm JAC

My mother comes from Germany and my father came from the Netherlands. We moved around a couple of times, a lot of things change when you move, what stays the same are the things you like to do on your own, drawing has always been one of those things for me.

Because I couldn't draw anything else than girls, I always drew girls with different clothes.

Then in 1993 I received a Bachelor of Arts degree and started working freelance, with a group of Illustrators and designers at an advertising agency as a visualiser and design-assistant. I started to work on the Macintosh with Photoshop and Illustrator and got really exited about it.

In 1996 I moved to Rotterdam and developed my Illustration skills. At that time I was inspired by Japanese art, manga comics and the Designers Republic.

Nowadays still in Rotterdam I'm inspired by many things like nature, music, people, graphic design, movies, architecture and fashion.

Clients include: Vibe, Marie Claire UK, ESPN, WIRED, Jimmy'z, Moonstruck, Beyman Club, Bijenkorf, Ferrero, Coca Cola, La City, Toyota, Gavello, L’Oreal, Primark, Sainsbury’s, Printemps.

Take a look at Irene’s work, it is really cool:

http://www.im-jac.com/

The numbers that count

2007-03-20T11:54:00.000+01:00

Here is a list so far of which charity people have donated their money to:

War Child
12 1/2

The Global Fund for Children
5 1/2

SOS Children's Villages
17

All Three

21

Welcome to Aardman

2007-03-19T14:34:00.000+01:00

Three of Aardman's Oscar winning design team have joined the project.

Aardman's unique style and charm make them one of the world's best animation houses.

We are proud to have you guys on board.

Darren Dubicki

Darren Dubicki, is a trained Illustrator. Having worked as a freelance illustrator for numerous books and magazine publishing houses, his illustration style led him to work in animation. This included the creation of conceptual designs and visualizations for short films and commercials.

He then joined Aardman Animations in November 1998, working in the Art department for Features such as Chicken run and Curse of the WereRabbit. Working as a graphic artist/ set designer, he then moved into the world of CGI and Pre-visualisation and subsequently found 3D to be a primary tool in his work.

Since 2001, he has become a key member of the Aardman CGI department, and works specifically as a Senior in Lighting. In 2004, he was involved with visual development on Aardman’s feature film ‘Flushed Away’, and has recently been gearing up as a Director.

Darren is currently the Art Director on Chop Socky Chooks, an animated action series for Cartoon Network.

Bram Ttwheam

After studying sculpture I found myself working completely in 2D with cel animation.
It was the beginning of the digital revolution and as the physical craft quickly died
away I decided to dive in.

I taught myself as much as I could, finally ending up back in the 3D world with
CG animation.

I freelanced around London for a few years and finally found a home in a small
studio called Pizazz. I stayed there for quite a while and played a part in it's
metamorphosis into the now famous StudioAKA.

Whilst there I got my first taste of directing on some ad's and a very camp Shirley
Bassey video.

I also got the chance to work on two BAFTA winning short films ('The Canterbury Tales'
and 'Jojo in the Stars').

Three years ago I came to Aardman where I have become their senior compositor
and had the chance to direct a film festival trailer and a couple of personal pieces, not to mention working on a huge variety of films, ads, and tv series.

I have just immerged blinking into the light from very involved work on Aardman's
first short film for quite a number of years (The Pearce Sisters) and this one's
going to suprise you.

Andrew Proctor

Andrew Proctor has worked in the CG industry for the past 9 years. He specialises in modelling, texturing, lighting and compositing. Since joining Aardman he was worked on commercials, several short films and the feature film, Flushed Away.

He is currently putting his CGI experience and creative efforts into Art Directing the children's TV series Planet Sketch.

Project partners

2007-03-19T14:29:00.000+01:00

A few other people have mentioned they might team up with someone. Eva Mueller has teamed up with Stefan Roloff and we welcome him to the project.

Stefan Roloff
Film/Video - Biography

Stefan Roloff is an independent artist and film maker, working in New York. From 1974, he studied painting and video at the art academy (HdK) in Berlin, Germany. After spending one year in Mexico, he graduated in 1981 and moved to New York in 1982.

In 1984, he was invited to experiment on prototypes of digital video and imaging computers at the New York Institute of Technology. Here, he created “Face”, his first Moving Painting which, produced by Peter Gabriel, was the predecessor of his video “Sledgehammer”.

From 1989 to 1999, he worked on his first documentary film “Seeds”. In 1995, he received an Art Matters grant for this project. In 2005, Stefan Roloff built two installations in Potsdam, Germany. (see www.einspluseins.info). In 2006, again in Potsdam, Stefan Roloff built the prototype for his installation “Prinz Albrecht Strasse 8”, based on identification photographs of political prisoners taken by the Gestapo in 1942.

His collaborations with musicians continue, following the concept that music and images are international languages that can communicate free from translations. (See for example www.martinrev/video.com)

Currently, Stefan Roloff is working on two new film projects.

Le Swedes

2007-03-13T13:13:00.000+01:00

Tobias Carlson & Jonas Wittenmark AKA The Greta Garbos

Tobias & Jonas met on their first day in advertising college, (Berghs School of Communication, Stockholm) and have worked together ever since.

After graduation they left the land of blondes and suicides for Mother in London where they spent their following two years. A life in Amsterdam was next before returning to London to work at M&C Saatchi.

They’re home again in Stockholm and are now at the one year old creative hot-shop Le Bureau.

From the attic to the Palace

2007-03-12T01:21:00.000+01:00

James Sommerville
Co-founder and Creative Director - ATTIK

Soon after graduating from Batley School of Art in 1986, James Sommerville co-founded ATTIK in his hometown of Huddersfield, England. With a grant from the Prince’s Trust and a good deal of ambition, James and partner Simon Needham set up shop in an attic bedroom in the house of James’ grandmother – the very room the company would be named after. They bought themselves the then-revolutionary Apple Mac and set about evolving the design sensibility that would eventually gain them a trip to Buckingham Palace.

In 2004, Simon and James were invited to the royal residence to be honoured, in an audience with the Queen, for their contributions to British (and global) design. It pleased the Queen no end to learn that the £1,000 grant James and Simon had received from her son’s trust was the starting point for an exploration in progressive imaging that, like a work in progress, continues to surprise and provoke the world of design.

Some of the best names in the business

2007-03-11T18:53:00.000+01:00

Bahareh Badavi / Copywriter
+
Jelsen Lee Innocent / Graphic Designer [www.jelsenjargon.com]
- - - - - - - - - - - -
= Hoi Polloi

And now a man that doesn't sleep

2007-03-06T18:19:00.000+01:00

Graham Fink. FRSA. RBAC

On leaving Art school Graham Fink applied for a job at Collett, Dickenson, Pearce, London’s top creative hot shop. He was told that unfortunately they didn’t take students but were looking for someone older and more experienced.
He returned the following day dressed up as an old man.
They hired him.

He went on to win countless awards including 4 BAFTAS, D&AD pencils and Cannes Gold Lions. His groundbreaking work includes the famous British Airways ‘Face’ commercial.

In 1995 Graham started directing commercials and music videos at the Paul Weiland film company. In 1996 he became the youngest ever president of D&AD and a few years later directed a short film (‘Z’) for the Millennium. Commissioned by David Puttnam. (It was shortlisted at BAFTA.)

In 2001 he created thefinktank, a conceptual production company and ideas forum. Thefinktank is home to Graham’s commercials directing career and also to his video, photography and illustration work.

In his ‘spare time’ he runs what some have called Britain’s most radical art school with monthly meetings held in different venues. theartschool recently went online, offering the chance for people all over the world to visit the school, work on its briefs and get feedback.

July 2005. Joined M&C Saatchi as Creative Director.

Sept 2005. Awarded Honorary Doctorate at Bucks University.

England, America, Europe and Australasia

2007-03-06T16:32:00.000+01:00

John Parker

John is a still life and animal photographer who has shot one of the most beautiful images of a horse I have seen. www.johnparker.biz

Fayaz Jafri

Faiyaz Jafri is a New York based artist. Originally of Pakistani and Dutch decent, he was born and raised in The Netherlands. Upon graduating from Delft University with a Masters degree in Industrial Design Engineering in 1996, he moved to Amsterdam to pursue a career in computer art. Faiyaz then moved to New York in 1998.

He specializes in the medium of computer-generated art and design. Faiyaz Jafri describes his techniques as a combination of virtual sculpture and virtual photography. His art features original 2D and 3D digital characters, which are solely computer generated.

Faiyaz Jafri has held solo shows of his digital work, in the form of giant wallpaper installations, large billboards and life size sculptures. He has also directed short animated films, which have been screened at festivals and shown on the internet. The web works as a powerful exhibition space for his work. Faiyaz hosts his own web site gallery space (http://www.bam-b.com). His web site has gotten critical acclaim around the world.

Claudio Ventorini

Claudio Venturini was working as a designer developing visuals and icons for wireless devices before having to change his field to advertising during the dot com crash. He spent the next five years working for prestigious agencies like Goodby Silverstein and Partners.

Working in Europe now brings back a lot of childhood memories of spending his childhood in Rome. After this experience, Claudio will be looking for his next big challenge, working for the fast growing AKQA agency in San Francisco. His life goal is to meet as many of you as possible and hopefully, as he learned about the great ones in Advertising, be remembered.

Andy Smith

Since graduation from London's Royal College of Art, Andy's work has featured in advertising campaigns, book jackets, editorials, animations and interiors earning him D&AD, AOI and Creative Circle awards. He has also animated and directed 'Run London', a commercial for Nike.
His work is about characters, humour and events and is inspired by his immediate surroundings to create a visual world that is all his own. Illustrations are combined with strong typography and copywriting skills to create work that speaks for itself.
A range of hand silkscreen self published books and prints are available from this website and from various stockists such as Playlounge, Magma (London) and Colette (Paris). He lives and works in East London.

www.asmithillustration.com

Nigel Buchanan

New Zealand born, I have worked in Sydney Australia for over 20 years, currently in a warehouse studio with other illustrators and designers. I like to dabble in the surreal when illustrating for editorial clients to make an image which leaves a few questions for the viewer. I like to make an image worth a second look. Work comes from all over: from TIME magazine, the Wall Street Journal to the Radio Times in London, and La Repubblica in Rome. I spend time at the beach when I can.

http://www.nigelbuchanan.com/

James Taylor

Hello, I'm James Taylor. I'm an illustrator, image maker, visual problem solver.
I studied painting at Brighton University. Illustration was something that I fell into,
loved, and have pretty much stuck at for the last five years.
Editorial clients include; Marmalade, Nylon, GQ, Carlos, New York Magazine, The New Yorker, Time Out, The Independent,
Advertising: Honda, MTV, Sony BMG, VH1, Liberty.

http://www.debutart.co.uk

Only a few spots left to confirm. Here are three great new additions.

2007-03-01T12:49:00.001+01:00

EbOY

EbOY is Steffen Sauerteig, Svend Smital and Kai Vermehr. They create re-usable pixel objects and take them to build complex and extensible artwork. Some of their clients include: Adidas, Amazon, Arena Magazine, Attenda, AXE, and that is just A. B to Z is even more impressive. Their stuff just makes you feel good. If you haven’t seen it take a look.

http://hello.eboy.com/

The Chase

Ben Casey
Co-founder and Creative Director

Ben set up The Chase in Manchester in 1986 to offer a credible, regional alternative to London’s brightest and best design consultancies. Since then, The Chase has opened offices in London and Preston and has earned an outstanding reputation for creative excellence. Over the years Ben has been invited onto the boards and steering committees of some of the country’s most respected and influential design advisory panels. In 2004, The Chase was ranked 2nd most creative agency in the UK and is now one of an elite band of companies to have had work accepted by D&AD in each of its 18 years of existence.

www.thechase.co.uk

Peter Sylvada

Peter’s love of the ocean, everything sunlit, great literature, the human existence and a love of the great painting masters seem to permeate throughout his works. People seem to like this as Peter’s list of awards begins like: The New York Times best Illustrator of the year, a Christopher Medal, a Smithsonian award, a Society of Illustrators New York Gold Medal etc Hi s work is beautiful and his style will complement the project beautifully.

http://www.petersylvada.com

Black is the New Gold

2007-02-27T17:27:00.000+01:00

Mark Porter was born in Scotland and educated at Oxford University. Initally self-taught, he learnt from some of London and New York's best designers.

He worked as Art Director on a range of award-winning magazines including ES, Wired, and Colors, and joined The Guardian full-time in 1995, later becoming Head of Design and then Creative Director. In 2005 he masterminded the seminal Guardian relaunch, which has become a benchmark of contemporary newspaper design. He also consults for newspaper and magazine clients worldwide.

His work has been awarded the highest honours including World’s Best Designed by the Society for News Design; a gold medal from the Society of Publication Designers; and a black pencil (the best pencil you can get) in the D&AD global awards.

He is expecting a baby soon. So we wish you all the best and can't wait to see what you do on your return.

http://www.markporter.com

He Shot the Queen

2007-02-27T16:02:00.000+01:00

I have written in Rankin’s entire biography because each paragraph is too impressive to edit out.

RANKIN

A photographer, publisher and most recently a film director, Rankin brings a mischievous wit to whatever he does. His intimate portraits, distinctive fashion and commercial work and groundbreaking art projects have marked him out as one of the world’s leading image makers.

Recent work has varied from shooting Tony Blair for the Financial Times to a series of nudes featuring ordinary people who answered an advert in Time Out. He made headlines again last year with his campaign for Dove cosmetics showing women who differed from the usual stick-thin advertising stereotype.

Rankin was selected as one of ten photographers to shoot the Queen for the Golden Jubilee. The image was exhibited in Windsor Castle for the celebrations and is now in The National Portrait Gallery.

Not content with still images, he has just turned his lens to filmmaking. The short film he directed for Film Four, ‘Perfect’, was one of the few shorts shown at the Los Angeles, Raindance and Edinburgh film festivals. Commercial work has included adverts for Guinness, Rimmel and Elle MacPherson’s underwear Elle Intimates. He is currently working on his first feature film.

Rankin started Dazed & Confused magazine with Jefferson Hack in 1991, overseeing its rise as creative director. His photos and the magazine’s irreverent style insured the rise of both in perfect symbiosis.

Rankin has recently completed a feature length film ‘The Lives of the Saints’. Financed by Dazed Film and TV and the Italian denimwear brand Meltin’ Pot, the film is a darkly comic morality tale whereby fantastic events take place in the ordinary surroundings of North London.

He lives in London and has a nine-year old son, Lyle.

What a great CV. Amazing news to have you on board.

http://www.rankin.co.uk/

Some exciting new additions

2007-02-27T13:54:00.000+01:00

LUiGi – The young man for Buenos Aires that continues to punch way above his weight. When he is at work, he draws, when he is not working he paints and when he is not painting he sleeps and dreams about what to draw and paint.

People I am waiting to get a bio from that have joined the project:

Alex Breuer from Esquire magazine. www.esquire.co.uk

Nora Fehr – Fantastic artist. Bio to come shortly. http://www.norafehr.ch/

Subha Naidu – Art Director

Erik Holmdahl – From Strawberryfrog

Corinna Falusi – Art Director/Creative Director

Pirate - The boys from Pirate are in - http://www.thisispirate.com

Graham Carter - Illustrator with a really great sense of humour. www.graham-carter.co.uk

Marco Marella - Illustrator - http://www.lillarogers.com/artists/marco/portfol.htm

Bee reynolds - New York Creative

Guy Billout - French illustrator and Mark's idol at college. www.guybillout.com

Joe Sondo - illustrator from the North of England

Carmen Kemmik - Really cool photography - http://www.carmenkemmink.com/

Tim Marrs - One ofthe Uk's hottest illustrators - http://www.timmarrs.co.uk/

Always Hungry

2007-02-25T16:07:00.000+01:00

"iamalwayshungry is the studio of Nessim Higson. An advocate for the convergence of mediums. Detester of the word mundane. Sucker for French films. Influenced by Robert Rauschenberg, Tibor Kalman and John Heartfield. Endorsed by no one. 1/2 Limey and raised in a place known as the "Big Easy." A firm believer in the intrinsic value of life. But more importantly, always hungry for it.

IAAH functions of of the core belief of good design = good business. That design has a responsibility of not only contributing to the economic market but to the social fabric of society. The studio has been recognized nationally and internationally by the likes of Communication Arts, Print, Graphis, DGV, and was recently named a young gun by the Art Directors Club of NY."

Are you looking forward to seeing what he does? We are.

The best UK magazine Art Director. Almost.

2007-02-24T14:31:00.000+01:00

David Ashford

After achieving both of my earliest professional ambitions in my 20’s by art directing a sex manual (The Lover’s Guide) and a football magazine (BBC Match of the Day Magazine), my 30’s turned me into something of a ‘Scorsese of the customer publishing world’. For four successive years for my work on BA’s magazines I was shortlisted as APA Designer of the Year but ended up finger clapping somebody else every time. Rather than chancing the indignity of a fifth straight wasted tux hire, I uprooted my family of four (now five) and shipped us all to the other side of the world where I now Art Direct Australia’s Men’s Health magazine in Sydney and spend long sunny days on Sydney’s beaches encouraging those ever so-shy Australian celebrities to remove their shirts for me.

Our South American Mother

2007-02-24T14:30:00.000+01:00

Madre

Madre is the Spanish incarnation of the brilliant London agency Mother. The agency was started by the mother of all mothers, Gabriela Bayala and her husband Carlos. They are two of my favourite people on the planet and have been very careful to assemble a group in Buenos Aires of super skilled people who share a simple trait. They’re really nice. This strategy seems to have paid off already as large accounts like Camper, and Nike want to work with them. They spend their days as an agency on one big table that is just about to get a lot bigger and we welcome them to ours.

http://www.madrebuenosaires.com/

Art Director of the Era

2007-02-24T00:31:00.001+01:00

David Carson

We are so happy to tell you David Carson has joined the project. London-based Creative Review magazine dubbed Carson "Art Director of the Era" and, "the most famous graphic designer on the planet".

The International Center for Photography (NY) singled out Carson as the "Designer of the Year" for his use of photography and design. Print Magazine proclaimed his work "Brilliant," while USA Today described it as "visually stunning," adding that his design of Ray Gun Magazine "may actually get young people reading again."

His client list is basically anyone that has ever done anything great. He has inspired me and I am sure everyone else in the creative industry. We are truly honoured.

http://www.davidcarsondesign.com/

Filmakers, art directors and Illustrators

2007-02-23T16:09:00.000+01:00

Richard Gibson

Richard Gibson, founder of Luscious Films, is a film director from Sydney who has done music videos, commercials and short films, one of which was short listed for an Academy Award (A Message from Fallujah). This led to several feature film projects which Richard is now working on. He is a perfectionist who has methodically studied his art and has an amazing energy and sense of style.

Gavin Elder

Gavin shoots rock stars on the road. He then edits the footage into intimate backstage Tour Films. Recently he worked with Duran Duran, Robbie WIlliams, David Gilmour & Antony & the Johnsons. But the highlight of last year was interviewing David Bowie with David Gilmour at the Royal Albert Hall. He’s super talented and a really great guy. Welcome.

Katja Knoblich

Katja has been working as an art director for 10 years on clients like Coke, Nike, Mercedes Benz, Adidas, Motorola and Universal. She is also very passionate about being an artist and regularly has exhibitions of her work which include pieces using dc-fix, traditional old german adhesive foil. However, as she puts it, “right now I adore my 6-week old son all day (and night, too)". You can see her stuff at:

www.katjaknoblich.com

Tuesday Poliak

Tuesday is one of those people that smiled her way to the top. But don’t let that fool you. She has been pushing boundaries ever since she started. She gained her first job by dropping a wallet that was made out to be that of Lee Clow’s (The CD of Chiat Day) in the men’s toilet. Of course some diligent employee gave it to his boss. When Lee inspected what looked to be his wallet he found her portfolio printed the size of bank notes and a number to call her on. And so her ride in advertising started. She has worked in LA, Amsterdam and has now moved back to New York where she spent a large portion of her career to enjoy life, shoot documentaries and freelance in advertising. Her website will be posted as soon as it is up.

Kenny Kiernan

Kenny wielded a mean crayon in his early days back in the Bronx, spent seven years in ad agencies as a Mac production artist, a season at MTV Animation, and had numerous on- and off-site freelance art and animation jobs. For the last few years, he’s been working from his apartment studio in Manhattan, creating a slick-but-funky urban style. He also enjoys doing the really cool retro/classic comic book and anime styles. When he’s not working, he’s probably re-stringing his bass for another bar gig with one of his three cover bands, Almost Famous, Air Dogs, and Tighty Whitey, which perform regularly in the NYC area and sometimes on the road. Take a look at his site:

http://www.kennyk.com

Wherefore art thou Tim?

2007-02-22T18:50:00.000+01:00

Tim Georgeson

Tim is a regular assignment photographer for National Geographic and that takes him to all kinds of places. Judging from his short response which started with, “I will explain later where I am but” he is in one of those far flung areas right now. Wherever he is I am sure he is doing some magic stuff like the images on his site:

http://www.timgeorgeson.com/

I can't wait to see what these guys do

2007-02-22T18:22:00.002+01:00

Julian Wolkenstein

Julian is a photographer with a great sense of humour. He thinks like an art director and shoots like a copywriter. He loves a good idea and is relentless in his pursuit to keep producing creative fresh entertaining images. You can see what he has been up to recently:

http://www.julianwolkenstein.com/

Daan Brand

Daan started out as a crazy illustrator and then became a crazy photographer. He recently decided to do something even more crazy and mix them together. He has dabbled a bit in directing and done some really great photography work for Elle Magazine and Nike women amongst others. You can see his stuff here:

http://www.houseoforange.nl/

Emma and Andy

2007-02-22T18:22:00.001+01:00

Emma Pritchard

After studying fashion and graphics Emma worked as a designer and art director before making a successful return to the fashion world to became a stylist. Based in New York she has styled for a number of magazines, bands, commercials and celebrities like Justin Timberlake. You can see her stuff or use her for a job at:

www.artwingny.com

Andy Horsefield

Andy was a photographer whose love of music led him to sell DJ mix tapes out of the back of his car. It became such big business he had to start his own record label. Dj’s around the world are thankful that he did, as his creativity and business mind transformed the DJ industry into what it is today. Recently celebrating ten years of Global Underground one of the world’s biggest dance labels, we have managed to twist his arm and get him back behind the camera.

www.globalunderground.co.uk

On the up

2007-02-22T18:17:00.000+01:00

Here are another two rising stars and what they said about themselves, I couldn’t put it better myself:

Mathieu Garnier

Mathieu Garnier
1m91
85kg
Hair: Slight brown coat.
Eyes: Brown
Nationality: French
Never won any medals of any kind
Likes: good laughs, odd stuff, cheeseburgers, la pétanque et le pastis en été
Dislikes: everything else

Joy-Ann Bouwmans

I am a Dutch girl that has yet to figure out what I want to be doing in the future, although, becoming a fisherman in the Philippines when I turn 30 is a serious option.
Until then I am designing, art directing and 'making funny' in various areas. Despite my hippie name I hate flowers but have the great ability to spit in my own eye.

http://www.joythearmy.com

Singaporean Elite

2007-02-22T18:12:00.000+01:00

Roy Zhang

Roy Zhang is right at the heart of the great Singaporean print army that continues to dominate award shows around the world. He started as an interior designer which led him into still life photography. But a love of fashion moved him into new worlds in advertising where he has flourished. With two kids under the age of two, he must be one of the most tired photographers around but also one of the most talented.

http://www.royzhang.com

Jonathan Nah

Jonathan is one of those guys that continues to be successful in whatever he does. Bastard. He excelled in tennis and went to the Bollettieri tennis school where he shared a room with Pete Sampras, he is a Dj (DJ Kiat) that just signed a deal with Goldie's label, METALHEADZ, and is just about to open the doors to his latest venture, OHPLAY, a boutique design house. Check them out:

http://www.ohplay.net

Two more outstanding people

2007-02-22T02:54:00.000+01:00

Tim Tomkinson

You know how some people mix styles together and it looks ok and then others do it and it just works and looks amazing. Well Tim falls into the second category. He’s created iconic campaigns for clients like Garrard Jewelers and done some striking illustrations for galleries and clients alike. Check out his site:

http://www.timtomkinson.com/

Eva Mueller

Eva is a Bavarian born, New York based, A-list photographer who has shot Album covers for Des’ree, Roger Sanchez, Green Day, Mary J Blige, Goldie and Air. Her advertising campaigns include some beautiful work for Chanel, Givenchy, Guinness, Puma and Louis Vuitton. A great CV and another amazing addition to this project. Welcome and thanks for joining. Have a look at her work:

http://www.evamueller.com/

Santo Buenos Aires

2007-02-21T18:18:00.000+01:00

In the last few years Buenos Aires has finally been recognised as a creative hot spot. With that came the rise of Santo. Opened only two years ago by Sebastian Wilhelm and Maxi Anselmo they have already done beautiful work for Coca-Cola, Coca-Cola light and some other big names and have a reel that agencies that have been around 10 times as long would kill for. Working together with Camilla, photographer and Sebastian’s wife, it’s really nice to add them to the project.

www.santobuenosaires.com

An illustrators illustrator

2007-02-21T17:29:00.000+01:00

Gary Taxali

Where do I start with Gary Taxali? He is a Founding Member of IPA (The Illustrators' Partnership of America) and sits on the Advisory Board of 3x3: The Magazine of Contemporary Illustration. He makes limited edition vinyl toys for the Whitney Museum in NY, has loads of solo shows and makes clothes and lots more collectible stuff. He also works on projects for Rolling Stone, Converse, Levi's, Sony, MTV and Coca-Cola, has won loads of awards, lectures, is working on his first children's book, 'This is Silly' and has another solo show this September at Magic Pony in Toronto. Look at his site if you haven’t already:

http://www.garytaxali.com

If you are at work, here is some inspiration

2007-02-21T16:36:00.000+01:00

Andreas Smetana

I have known and admired Andreas’ work for years and have always wanted to do something together. That’s why we contacted him about this project. Finally, I get to do a project with him.

He is a commercial photographer based in sunny Sydney where he lives on an island and gets to work with his wife Rachel. Sounds perfect. They do images for clients around the world including some really great stuff for XBOX. Have a look at:

http://www.smetana.net/

Edo Kars

Have you ever heard of someone having a good eye? Well Edo has two of them. Photography as a main job and then, as he puts it, directing on the side. On the side means worldwide jobs for ABN AMRO and URSUS Vodka. Edo has won many awards including the prestigious European Epica Photography Award (Stone Prize). He’s nominated this year for the forthcoming AOP Awards 2007 so we wish you luck. You can see what Edo has been doing at:

http://www.karsphotography.nl

Women of design

2007-02-21T14:28:00.000+01:00

Alex Lier

Looks can be deceiving, and when you meet Alex you won’t realize what lies beneath. She is one of those women you talk to that makes you feel that you have been sitting around wasting your time. She was in the all girl German punk rock band, Twiggy Killers, then wanted a day job so entered advertising, all whilst shooting muscle cars throughout the US for the last nine years. She just signed a publishing deal to print her book, a mix of design and muscle cars, called Speedseekers. This is the webpage for the book. There is just a holding page now, but it will soon be a portal for race interest, info, history, pictures and music.

www.alexxx.org

http://speedseekers-world.com/

Eline Groeneweg

Another one who has her finger in a lot of pies. A friend of mine met Eline at a Grafisch Atelier screen printing course. She is a promoter of young artists and is in the middle of setting up her own company designing wall pieces for interiors, combining text and image on paper and textiles. As soon as the website is up I will post the address to have a look at.

Fine Art Photography

2007-02-21T01:16:00.000+01:00

Julia Fullerton-Batten

Julia is one of London’s best photographers and has just finished a solo exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery. She has a page full of awards, a long list of achievements but most importantly beautiful beautiful photographs.

Press the button and see:

http://www.juliafullerton-batten.com/

Two sides of the Channel

2007-02-21T00:38:00.000+01:00

Joshua Kogan

Beginning in Hollywood as a film gaffer, Joshua Kogan then road-tripped across the American Southwest shooting landscapes, environmental portraits and reportage projects. With that covered, he moved to Paris in 1999 to focus on fashion and beauty photograpy, as well as his love of travel. To keep up his passion of the American West, he’s also the Art Director for ‘Stitch’s Jeans’ – a cool niche brand in the US.

http://joshuakogan.com/

Nishant Choksi

And now for something completely different, London based illustrator Nishant Choksi. A great unique style that has graced the cover of books, ads and editorial pages. Check his work out here:

www.nishantchoksi.com

The Dutch Masters

2007-02-20T22:51:00.000+01:00

Alrik Koudenburg

Alrik is one of those truly inspiring people. He studied graphic design in Rotterdam, Fine-art in Sweden and Industrial design in Eindhoven. He has worked a lot with Nike designing interiors, event spaces for the World and European Cups, a lobby bar for Heineken’s head office and up-market displays for Levi’s. When at home doing nothing he does something. Like designing and producing a tent that is hung from a tree branch. As he describes it, it’s a nest for humans. Another one who’s website is between jobs, but bookmark this site and come back in a few weeks to check it out.

www.alrikkoudenburg.com

Edel Verzijl

Another extremely talented Dutch photographer joining the ranks, Edel Verzijl clients include Levi’s, Tommy Hilfiger, ECKO and Footlocker which she handled between New York and Amsterdam. Now well and truly grounded back in her native Holland, as one part of the Tom&Edel show, she continues to raise the bar in Dutch photography.

www.EdelVerzijl.com

Two Noblemen

2007-02-20T16:51:00.000+01:00

I know this questions has crossed your mind a thousand times, "What is the meaning of the name Ali?" Well I can tell you, it means Noble and Sublime. And we have two examples of that here. Really great to have both of you on board.

Ali Augur
Designer/Typographer

Ali is a Designer and Art Director at Bartle Bogle Hegarty (They do Levi’s, Lynx and Audi). Combining his love of music and illustration he developed collectable 'sets of 8' flyers for the legendary Plastic People. His design work has featured in two recent exhibitions as well as in articles for The Face magazine and the book "Proud 2 be a Flyer".

www.aliaugur.com
www.myspace.com/aliaugur

Ali Kirby

Ali is the head graphic guy at BlueBlood one of the world’s top denim design houses. The company is based in London and Amsterdam and Ali is responsible for the words and pictures on their clothes and in their catalogues.

You can get a taste of them here but try them at a store near you.

www.bluebloodbrand.com

Another really great photographer

2007-02-20T14:54:00.000+01:00

Tom Van Heel

I first saw Tom’s work when he did some amazing stuff with Edgar Davids and others for Nike. It was such a unique style for print and made a static media feel alive. But don’t let me explain it, take a look at his site.

http://www.tomvanheel.com/

The stuff I am talking about is under archive 2001. Since then he has done loads of stuff for Adidas, Hugo Boss, and now The Book of Conversations. Thanks Tom.

Keeping up with the Larssons

2007-02-20T12:35:00.000+01:00

Malin and Tobias

Malin and Tobias are part of a new breed of Swedes taking the creative world by the meatballs. I was lucky enough to teach at their old school Hyper Island. This is the future of education. Take a look at the talent here. http://www.hyperisland.se

Below is what they wrote about each other.

Tobias grew up in Stockholm and dreamed of becoming a train conductor.
When that failed miserably, he turned to advertising. Except for
sitting around waiting for gold lions to fall from the sky, he enjoys
the canals of Amsterdam, indie music and trips to IKEA.

Malin grew up on the picturesque west coast of Sweden and suffers ever
since from a severe west coast complex, making her yearn for
everything remotely urban such as urban art, urban music, urban
literature and picking up things from the streets.

www.malinhanas.com/portfolio

Working together

2007-02-20T12:13:00.000+01:00

A few people have emailed me about working together.

You are more than welcome to work together. Either with people already signed up on the blog or what would be more helpful is if you find someone out of the blog. So a designer that wants an illustrator or photographer can add to the list and photographers that need some help with layouts can add a designer or typographer.

The more talented people we can get together the better.

High Achievers

2007-02-20T12:10:00.000+01:00

Scott McClelland

Has anyone else had that secret desire to get a sexy someone on the office photocopier. Scotty did. But he took it one step further and made giant photocopiers and he made famous people wear nothing but a pair of Levis. And then he made them sit, lie and dance on the photocopier. What does he do now? Smile.

Marion Averbeck

Instead of fighting against the system of being a young mum in advertising, Marion decided to open her own agency basically the week she gave birth to her daughter. Now it’s one of Berlin’s hottest agencies and every time you want to see how long they have been in business you just look to her daughter running around.

www.plantage.de

Al Kelly

Al’s greatest achievement was not when he won the Grand Prix at Cannes for a campaign he did for Nike to gain respect for skateboarders. His greatest achievement is finding his bike after it had been stolen 6 months earlier. In a city with more than a million bikes that is a little something to write home about.

Our man in Bangkok

2007-02-20T03:37:00.000+01:00

Joel Clement

Joel lives in one of the world’s best countries, Thailand where he works at the Saatchi & Saatchi Asian Regional office. He heads up everything visual for them and gets to travel all around Asia using someone else’s credit card.

We have our first Wrestler

2007-02-19T23:55:00.000+01:00

Jon Wall

Jon is a Swedish born Mexican Lucha libre. On the side he is also a part time art director who holds the record of coolest tattoo. Check out the pictures of him on his myspace page in full wrestling gear.

http://www.myspace.com/dutchfromabove

Neil Stevens

Neil graduated from St Martins College London with a Masters in Illustration after doing a degree at the Kent Institute. He is now working on a new project about the sky which is quite interesting as he is about 8 feet tall. In the meantime Nelly has worked around the traps including a stint at Pepe jeans and is now at strawberryfrog.

theskyisblue.info

Selwyn Senatori

Selwyn is an accomplished painter living in the Netherlands. Painting buses, pianos and canvas, Selwyn has just released his second book Selwyn, Numero Due. You can see his work at:

www.selwyn.nl

New Zealand/America/France

2007-02-19T22:25:00.000+01:00

Vincent Dixon

The man behind most of the great Perrier ads you have seen. Based in New York, Mr Dixon was just voted the best photographer in France, that's how good he is. He has also won loads of awards this year for different clients including Virgin and Wonderbra. I think the award for Wonderbra should be taken away from him as it is the first time a beautiful sexy woman wasn’t in the shot. Who do you think the ads are for, women?

www.vincentdixon.com

Fumi Watanabe

Based in Seattle, Fumi has the privilege of helping millions of Japanese people get up in the morning as it is her designs on the Starbucks mugs in Tokyo. She has done loads more stuff including trend spotting, CD covers and her own blog.

Check Fumi out at:

www.alkemidesign.com
http://www.fireflyartists.com/fumi.html

Andy Blood

As you can see from his response, Andy Blood in New Zealand has joined,

“I'm in.

So that's the arse end of the world covered.

Cheers mate.

AB”

Really inspirational creative and chief creative officer of New Zealand's most highly awarded advertising agency in 2006.

Visit his myspace page: http://www.myspace.com/thebloodster

Check out his Youtube channel, visit 'www.bondedbyblood.co.nz' to see how he put the DNA of the 2006 All Blacks into a poster.
(For all of you outside New Zealand, the All Blacks is their national Rugby team.)

And another 4

2007-02-19T19:52:00.000+01:00

FA Cesar

With boyband good looks and German precision Alex and Faruk are some of the best car and lifestyle photographers around. They have just signed up as well whilst currently on location in Cape Town. Check out their work at:
http://www.facesar.de/

Alex Brunner

Mr Brunner’s long list of credits include designing cd covers for Rammstein. But what he is most known for is his ability to seemingly press one button on his computer and turn something wrong into something very right. I believe everyone needs an “Alex Button” on their computer.

Tony Williams

Tony is the Executive Creative Director of Saatchi & Saatchi in Tokyo, the guy that I worked with longest as my creative partner and at a Christmas Party survey named the man most likely to be famous.

www.saatchi.com

People Continued

2007-02-19T17:12:00.000+01:00

Karl Dunn

Our man in L.A. Karl is currently writing movies and being a professional star spotter. Inventor of the celebrity spotting scale, Karl has revolutionised the way we judge the impact of a sighting. And with a lot of work making its way down the pipeline I know that before long people will be using that scale on him.

www.karldunn.com

Jake Noakes

The star of design company, “Shooting the Breeze” Jake can be found at a former Mortuary which is now a design centre for like minded creatives (only in Amsterdam). Jake is also working on the Book of Conversations logo.

www.shootingthebreeze.com

Sam Koch

Online producer by day, photographer by dusk. Sam has done some amazing work. One such always astounds me. The penis wearing sunglasses. It’s like a cross between Top Gun and Pinocchio.

Ute Geisler

Apart from having something alive in her stomach (and I am not talking about what she ate for Chinese New Year) Ute is a great Art Director. And what’s really amazing about her is she is the only German in the world with a Scottish accent.

More People

2007-02-19T16:20:00.000+01:00

David Smith
Aka: World Famous Artist

Dave is currently at Weiden and Kennedy but you can see how this man's brain works at his blog http://theideathatnevergotsold.blogspot.com/ or check out his website: www.iamcuriousdave.com

Mark Chalmers

Apparently he was conceived backstage at a Rolling Stones gig. Years after that he studied architecture, but that wasn’t rock and roll enough and is now in advertising and CD at strawberryfrog.

Steve Hanson

Artist, great creative, book guy, brand developer. Steve has done everything except for putting it on the net. “I'm in Glasgow right now and I don't have a web site, but people can send me a postcard at 76 Albert Road, Glasgow, G42 8DW and I promise to reply.”

Andrew Watson

Art Director extraordinaire. If the paper is sprinkled with a bit of Watson magic you are guaranteed it will look good. Also the best guy to tell a secret to after 11pm on a night out. I promise he won’t repeat it to anyone, including himself.

Bianca Manzana de Agustin

Half Swedish, half Spanish with the cool bits from both. Bianca is studying at Holland’s famous Gerrit Rietveld Academie. She is currently working on some really cool projects including trying to find me a Swedish girlfriend. Or Spanish.

Roald Van Wyk

The funniest guy on the planet. Hands down. As he wakes up he reads at least 20 newspapers and knows everything. Ask him. Roald is in New York in advertising at JWT but has previously lived in Cape Town, Singapore, Amsterdam, Oslo, Tokyo and probably another 4 or 5 places.

Some of the first to respond

2007-02-19T13:56:00.000+01:00

Mark Carolan

The Father of Advertising. Is there anything this man can't do. Art Director/illustrator/photographer and as I read on his daughters t-shirt the best dad in the world.

You can see his stuff at www.markcarolan.com

Dave Bell.

The Mr Big of Kessels Kramer. If you have never seen the work he is responsible for, buy the book "2 kilo" and visit www.kesselskramer.nl. The more you visit the more you like it.

Kirsten Schambra-Stevens

Kirsten was sent to Amsterdam by Nike to start up their European footwear department. She has created shoes such as the Cityknife 2 (origami shoe), The silverfish and the Chav classic the LTD. She is currently doing stuff for Onitsuka Tiger and has started her own Work and Travel Bag company. Her site will be up soon. www.schambra.com

Olaf Heine

Apart from having the coolest loft on the planet, Olaf is one of the world's great celebrity portrait photographers. Check out his stuff at www.olafheine.com.

Are you in?

2007-02-14T22:53:00.000+01:00

Hi welcome to the B.O.C. Blog. I hope you are here to join.