Saturday, 21 December 2013
Santa classics
“Santa Classics is a new series of images created by artist, photographer and Santa devotee, Ed Wheeler. Wheeler imagines Santa entering into the great masterworks of art, with humor and reverence for the originals.” – Santa Classics
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Tuesday, 17 December 2013
Sinister Santas
The weekend before last I met up with some of my Falmouth friends for a little pre-Christmas/end of the year get together. We did the typical Christmas time things of eating gingerbread, drinking mulled wine and watching a Christmas film (as well as Pitch Perfect, but that’s irrelevant). However, it wasn’t your typical cheery and merry, child-friendly Christmas film…
“In the depths of the Korvatunturi mountains, 486 metres deep, lies the closest ever guarded secret of Christmas. The time has come to dig it up! This Christmas everyone will believe in Santa Claus.” – Rare Exports
Rare Exports is a Finnish [subtitled] film set in Lapland, on the border of Russia – a place as dark and cold as the humour in the film. It made for a far more interesting film than most festive rubbish.
The Santa in the film is a ‘Joulupukki’ or Yule Goat – which might not sound so scary but legends tell of a devil-like creature who terrified children.
“Joulupukki was once a symbol of fertility and more of a frightening figure back then than today. He was clad in thick fur-lined coat turned inside out, wearing a mask and a pair of horns on his head.” – dlc.fi
But Finland isn’t the only country with a more sinister kind of Santa, in fact many countries around the world have their own variations. I read a great little article at the weekend, courtesy of Scroobius Pip on Twitter (as in, he led me to it – he didn’t actually write it).
“Earlier this year I set out to research the history of Father Christmas. I was fascinated by this mythical housebreaker who rewards the good and punishes the naughty. Santa struck me as being an older, gentler Robin Hood and I wanted to discover how and why the fabled gift-giving of St Nicholas had transformed into this magical character with a home at the North Pole and a workshop of elves.
What I discovered instead were stories of strange and terrifying creatures that wandered the winters of medieval Europe. Before Santa, and before Christmas firmly took hold in Europe, the middle of winter was seen as a harsh, sinister time filled with deadly and demonic monsters.” – Paul Hawkins, Naughty or Nice?
On Paul Hawkins’ blog he has been posting a different Bad Santa article everyday as part of an advent calendar, which accompanies the book – Bad Santas: and Other Creepy Christmas Characters. The first two of the illustrations below are featured in the advent calendar (and book) and link to those posts. The others I’ve found elsewhere on the Internet.
“In the depths of the Korvatunturi mountains, 486 metres deep, lies the closest ever guarded secret of Christmas. The time has come to dig it up! This Christmas everyone will believe in Santa Claus.” – Rare Exports
Rare Exports is a Finnish [subtitled] film set in Lapland, on the border of Russia – a place as dark and cold as the humour in the film. It made for a far more interesting film than most festive rubbish.
The Santa in the film is a ‘Joulupukki’ or Yule Goat – which might not sound so scary but legends tell of a devil-like creature who terrified children.
“Joulupukki was once a symbol of fertility and more of a frightening figure back then than today. He was clad in thick fur-lined coat turned inside out, wearing a mask and a pair of horns on his head.” – dlc.fi
But Finland isn’t the only country with a more sinister kind of Santa, in fact many countries around the world have their own variations. I read a great little article at the weekend, courtesy of Scroobius Pip on Twitter (as in, he led me to it – he didn’t actually write it).
“Earlier this year I set out to research the history of Father Christmas. I was fascinated by this mythical housebreaker who rewards the good and punishes the naughty. Santa struck me as being an older, gentler Robin Hood and I wanted to discover how and why the fabled gift-giving of St Nicholas had transformed into this magical character with a home at the North Pole and a workshop of elves.
What I discovered instead were stories of strange and terrifying creatures that wandered the winters of medieval Europe. Before Santa, and before Christmas firmly took hold in Europe, the middle of winter was seen as a harsh, sinister time filled with deadly and demonic monsters.” – Paul Hawkins, Naughty or Nice?
On Paul Hawkins’ blog he has been posting a different Bad Santa article everyday as part of an advent calendar, which accompanies the book – Bad Santas: and Other Creepy Christmas Characters. The first two of the illustrations below are featured in the advent calendar (and book) and link to those posts. The others I’ve found elsewhere on the Internet.
The Greek Kallikantzaroi (illustration by Mel Four)
The Dutch Sinterklaas (illustration, again, by Mel Four)
The German (and Austrian, Hungarian, Slovakian, Croatian… etc.) Krampus
The Icelandic Yule Lads
Merry Christmas!
Sunday, 15 December 2013
Let's talk turkey
I feel sick and I haven’t eaten turkey for about 13 years (maybe more?).
“Around ten million turkeys will be eaten in the UK this Christmas – 90 percent of them factory-farmed. Salford design agency Raw has launched a colourful yet shocking animated campaign explaining the controversial process, and hopes it will convince some consumers to opt for meat-free or free range alternatives…” – Creative Review
“Around ten million turkeys will be eaten in the UK this Christmas – 90 percent of them factory-farmed. Salford design agency Raw has launched a colourful yet shocking animated campaign explaining the controversial process, and hopes it will convince some consumers to opt for meat-free or free range alternatives…” – Creative Review
Thursday, 5 December 2013
Back to the Future Birthday
I made this birthday card for my favourite Back to the Future fan person. When I say made I mean I drew the letters several times, referencing the BtF logo, then re-drew them once more on the computer and added a gradient. I think I did a fairly good job of making it look like the original logo lettering? It was well received by the birthday boy at least.
This is the most creative thing I've done outside of work for ages. Life is busy. But Christmas is coming.
This is the most creative thing I've done outside of work for ages. Life is busy. But Christmas is coming.
Tuesday, 19 November 2013
Glory Days
My latest record sleeve design – I say as if I’m a professional record sleeve designer, haha! (this is my fifth) – has been signed off and sent to the printers. The actual record, of which there will be 500 copies, is not due to be released until February but hopefully I can get my hands on my own copy before then. It’s a gatefold sleeve which is something I haven’t done before so I can’t wait to see it in the flesh.
Just the front of the sleeve (with sticker) to share for now.
Just the front of the sleeve (with sticker) to share for now.
Sunday, 17 November 2013
Afterlife
Arcade Fire and Spike Jonze made this video live at the YouTube Music Awards, need I say more?
“If only all emotional break-ups culminated in you dancing through Narnia to a live Arcade Fire show complete with a group of children’s violinists and Win Butler serenading you out of your misery.” – It’s Nice That
“If only all emotional break-ups culminated in you dancing through Narnia to a live Arcade Fire show complete with a group of children’s violinists and Win Butler serenading you out of your misery.” – It’s Nice That
Sunday, 10 November 2013
If best-selling albums had been books instead…
I stumbled upon these amazing book covers based on best-selling albums yesterday at the Rough Trade record shop near the Old Truman Brewery, East London.
“The Record Books are cunningly fabricated trompe l'oeil pictures of well-thumbed but imaginary-books, whose titles derive from classic records, old and new. What started as a handful of doodles turned into a labour of love comprising over 100 carefully wrought images inspired by words from the world of music and visuals from the world of words.” – Rough Trade
The images are the genius creation of Christophe Gowans – his website is well worth a visit. There are so many great ‘book covers’ he’s designed but here are some of my favourites…
“The Record Books are cunningly fabricated trompe l'oeil pictures of well-thumbed but imaginary-books, whose titles derive from classic records, old and new. What started as a handful of doodles turned into a labour of love comprising over 100 carefully wrought images inspired by words from the world of music and visuals from the world of words.” – Rough Trade
The images are the genius creation of Christophe Gowans – his website is well worth a visit. There are so many great ‘book covers’ he’s designed but here are some of my favourites…
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