by Nick Cortes | Jul 7, 2015 | Inspiration
Farewell NYC did a beautiful job with the signage for Miss Lily’s Caribbean cafe’ in the heart of New York City. Each sign was painstakingly designed, laid out, and hand-painted by skilled artists. This piece is especially close to my heart because I made my entrance into the world of graphic arts through sign production. My first job out of college was in a sign shop in Rochester, NY. I was working in a large shop owned by an experienced old-time sign maker called Chuck DiSalvo. Chuck cut his teeth on signs back when each one had to be hand-drawn and hand-painted like the ones below. I, on the other hand, belonged to the newer era of designers who could make and output everything with computers and plotters. I always admired Chuck’s skill with layout and paint. His visual style informed many of the design choices I made during my time working with him. To this day, I always tell young fresh-out-of-school designers, that they can learn a lot by working in a sign shop. The work you see below is proof that even the lowly sign can be a work of art. See all the work on Behance here ...
by Nick Cortes | May 31, 2015 | Inspiration
Even though it’s a couple years old, I found this great video game trailer by Platige Image in Poland. I wanted to share because the visuals are incredible, and the Behance post takes us through the making of the animation in great detail. After watching it a couple times, it reminds me of Blade Runner in many ways, or even the Judge Dredd movies. They did a superb job creating a futuristic city and news broadcast presence. I also love how they slow down a key plot moment to almost a frozen moment in time, slow enough for us to see bullets streaming through the air. The realism of the characters is also fantastic. They actually physically scanned a woman in this clothing and pose for the shot. You can see all of that in the process shots (see below) Great job by this studio! You can see the full animation on Vimeo HERE See all the artwork HERE ...
by Nick Cortes | May 26, 2015 | Inspiration
These kick-ass snowboard designs by Alexis Marcou show a real talent for hand-drawn illustration. I’ve never snowboarder before, but I was always fascinated at how each board became an artist’s canvas. The same holds true for skateboards. These particular boards will probably never see the slopes, but they exhibit a level of captivation that comes from the fusion of engineering and art. Marcou’s hand-work is precise and imaginative. I’m guessing the skulls and scenes are first drafted with pencil and illustration markers, then filled in with layers of watercolor and gouaches. You can see some of the process images below. Great work, Alexis! See all the artwork...
