London 2012 OLYMPIC Posters

Rachel Whiteread – LOndOn 2O12

While Rachel Whiteread is best known for her sculptural work, drawing has always remained a critical part of her practice. She has described drawing as being like a diary of her work, whilst memory remains a key theme. For her print, she has composed a pattern of overlapping rings in the Olympic colours. The rings explore the emblem of the Olympic Games, and also represent marks left by drinking bottles or glasses. They act as memories of a social gathering, such as the athletes in the stadium during the opening ceremony or the spectators of the Olympic Games. [Wikipedia Entry]

Howard Hodgkin – Swimming

Howard Hodgkin describes his paintings as representational pictures of emotional situations. For his Olympic print Hodgkin has created Swimming – a deep, swirling mass of blue flooding across the page. In the darkest area of colour the outline of a figure can be made out as if pushing off after a tumble turn. The fluidity of the brushstrokes perfectly captures the movement of water and the sensation of swimming. [Wikipedia Entry]

Martin Creed – Work No. 1273

Martin Creed imposes simple rules on his creativity. He might create a painting using only paintbrushes bought in a multi-pack, or make only one mark a day with the same felt-tip pen until the whole paper surface is covered. Repetition, stacks, and intervals are familiar motifs in his work, along with ascending and descending structures. For Work No.1273, Creed has made five single brush marks using a palette derived from the Olympic colours. The marks are arranged in an ascending form that seems to represent an extended podium offering places beyond first, second and third. Creed’s image can be seen as expressing respect for the excellence of all competing Olympic sportsmen and women. [Wikipedia Entry]

Anthea Hamilton – Divers

Anthea Hamilton creates narrative environments through sculptural assemblage and collage. Her work in part is informed by the history of physical prowess and representations of the human, especially female, body. In Divers the poised legs seem to capture a gymnastic pose or show, perhaps a synchronised swimmer diver holding a balletic position. Interestingly, the only Olympic sport exclusively contested by women is synchronised swimming. Divers evokes the engaging theatricality of synchronised swimming, perhaps the most artistically challenging sport of the London 2012 Olympic Games. [Website Bio]

Chris Ofili – For the Unknown Runner

Chris Ofili creates paintings inspired by personal experience, race, folklore, biblical narrative, and, for the last few years the island of Trinidad where he lives. In For the Unknown Runner a figure, somewhere between super-athlete and mythical being, sprints past a watching crowd. The figure is framed by a vase motif – a reference to the Ancient Olympic Games, which provided an arena for artistic and cultural expression as well as sporting excellence. For the Unknown Runner is a powerful dedication to both Olympic history and the future stars of the London 2012 Games.
[Wikipedia Entry]

Bridget Riley – Rose Rose

Bridget Riley is one of the most original painters of our time and is celebrated for her optically vibrant paintings. By manipulating relationships between colours and shapes, she creates illusions of movement and light. For her Olympic print, Riley has arranged colours in horizontal stripes, indicating the direction of athletic tracks or swimming lanes. The relationships between the colours create a sensation of movement capturing the energy of sport and the Olympic Games.
[Wikipedia Entry]

London 2012 Paralympic Posters

Tracey Emin – Birds 2012

Tracey Emin shares her life, beliefs and feelings through her work with compassion and wit. Emin took the Paralympic values of Inspiration and Determination as the starting point for her print and created what she describes as a ‘love letter’. Two small birds, delicately perched on branches, appear to kiss beneath the words ‘You inspire me with Your determination And I love you’. The Agitos floats below them like feathers or leaves falling from the tree. Birds have frequently appeared in Emin’s drawings to symbolise freedom and strength, whilst her use of handwritten text expresses personal thoughts and emotions. Her print is an inspiring dedication to the Paralympic Games and athletes. [Wikipedia Entry]

Sarah Morris – Big Ben 2012

Since the mid-1990s Sarah Morris has been creating complex, geometric, abstract paintings derived from cityscapes and architectural detail, origami patterns and signs and symbols. To celebrate the Paralympic Games coming to London Morris has created an abstract representation of one of the city’s most iconic landmarks – Big Ben. The grids and vivid colours create a sense of dynamism and also evoke images of athletic tracks, swimming lanes, and field markings. [Wikipedia Entry]

Fiona Banner – Superhuman Nude

Fiona Banner creates nude studies from life, transcribing physical scenarios into verbal descriptions. These ‘wordscapes’ define the shapes and forms of the body as well as fleeting moments such as the tension in a second of shared eye contact, or a nervous finger tapping. Banner’s print is a nude study of a Paralympic Athlete. The title alludes to the extraordinary physicality of this body. She focuses on strength and physicality but also on the fragility of a human awaiting competition. Banner says ‘I liked the idea of comparing the athlete to a superhero, with some extraordinary prosthetic gift. Looking at an athlete naked made them powerful and vulnerable at once.’ [Wikipedia Entry]

Michael Craig-Martin – GO

Michael Craig-Martin combines quotidian objects such as light bulbs, chairs, and umbrellas with everyday words. His pairing of language and image is based on both familiar and unexpected associations. In combining the word GO with a stopwatch Craig-Martin conveys with a sense of immediacy the excitement and anticipation experienced in the moments before the starter pistol is fired, and the roar of the crowd as they encourage their favourite athlete towards the finish line. [Wikipedia Entry]

Gary Hume – Capital

Gary Hume creates paintings with distinctive colour palettes, reduced imagery, and rich surfaces. Hume has abstracted elements from an image of a wheelchair-tennis player, combining them with foliage and a soft and subtle colour palette. The large, circular form represents the wheel of the wheelchair and the black tennis ball hangs suspended in space, with the tennis racquet poised to smash the ball across the net. The large circular form can also be seen as a mouth cheering from the audience. Hume has created an aspirational image celebrating summer sport in London. [Wikipedia Entry]

Bob and Roberta Smith – LOVE

Bob and Roberta Smith use the immediacy of language to create hand-painted signs on pieces of found wood. These signs – painted in the style of community action banners, street signs, and fun fair posters – relay direct and often humorous messages. Taking the values of the Paralympic Games as a starting point, Bob and Roberta Smith propose the core elements of the athlete experience: courage, inspiration, love, and of course sweat. [Wikipedia Entry]

Which do you like?

For me it has to be Fiona Banner’s – Superhuman Nude it’s all about the words that paint the picture, although not very striking it certainly adds a different thought provoking twist to the Olympics.

Credits – Words & Images

Guardian, Telegraph, Tate, BBC, London2012

Living and working in Nova Scotia, Canada James has over ten years experience as a designer and has worked on an array of personal art projects and with clients ranging from Toyota to Wired & Computer Arts magazines plus various other publications.

Thanks to James for using the CC license (Creative Commons) and allowing us to showcase his wonderful work.

Comments

Seen any cool logos around? let us know in the comments

This is an extract from his folio which I hope will inspire you.

“Recently I was commissioned by my friends Accept & Proceed, to create a black & white illustration, which was a “Call to Arms” to a Mexican soccer club called Club America, and this piece may reflect its essence and passion for this sport.”

Here is what he produced

The Typography below looks alive, im sure i can almost see a heart with the main arteries and blood vessels flowing through it.

Her illustrations immediately struck me as being fantastically detailed. Drawn in a moleskin they have a quiet unassuming quality that makes them even more interesting.

You might also enjoy these past posts:

• Ornamental Design Inspiration – Baroque Style
• Floral Typography Inspiration

I’m sure you will see more of Irina’s work around the design interweb as she is very talented.

Jaguar 2040 : What is Luxury in 2040?

The Initial Idea

In an intelligent and self-developed age, society will bring luxury to a new status. Indulgence in the harmony of a tailored experience designed to match individual ideologies. Luxury is having the opportunity to fulfill life.

What is it?

The Jaguar L-type is designed to be a Luxury vehicle for a modern era, it is designed to be a cruiser for the modern city inhabitant. The objective for the L-type is to become a piece of sculpture when not in use, and it can do this by parking on special hub’s installed around the city, which are positioned upright to drastically alter the vehicle’s appearance.

When parked on the hubs, it’s secondary use is to gather solar electricity, like a blossomed flower reaching above the shade of undergrowth. The vehicle is continuously connected to the national grid, where it draws power via the front wheels, which in turn powers electro magnetic thrust, which react with specially adapted roads.

Scenario 2040

The world is a figment of its former self…

Society

• Overpopulation requires fully sustainable cities to be developed local to existing cities.
• After seeing the effects of global warming, world governments prioritise the environment and integrate society with nature.

Technology

• Nano revolution has dawned and nuclear fusion is still not ready for mainstream use. Maximising renewable energy is important. Aiding this, development into ultra efficient and powerful electronics.
• Nano materials, Nano computers and Nano solar voltaic cells change the way the car is packaged, centralising the user.
• Products are designed to provide human satisfaction rather than to fuel consumerism.

Economy

• Recession brings a generation who are aware of financial matters, buying into timeless products / cultures, which fuel a healthy product lifespan.
• The standard of living is increased dramatically in the eco city, due to a natural lifestyle the population will begin the accept a happier place, with equilibrium in human behavior.

Ecology

• The environment is warmer due to global warming, however the damage caused by CO2 emissions is slowly reversed with advancements in technology.

Political

• Break down of traditional governments makes way for a scientific driven leadership.
• World peace is within grasp.
• Eastern superpowers merge with western societies creating a increasingly diverse World.

Luxury and Design

• Overconsumption is no longer a sign of success
• Cultural experience over material possession.
• Timeless quality thinking with technology
• Sustainability where material and design matter most.

Augmented reality lets you create and interact with your environment : example : Drift amongst the stars as you travel

Final Concept

Exterior design work and clay modelling completed by Amar Vaya, Thomas Tzortzi and Louise McCallum in a joint project with Jaguar’s advanced design team.

I tried to choose a variety that covered a broad selection not just the gimmicky and in vogue cards that whilst being creative and original can be over done.

Uno Design

Clint Shuttlesworth

Cross Section Studio

PataPri

Thought & Theory

Business Card for: Running Doves Press

Business Card for: Erich Hartmann

Business Card for: Dan Springer

Business Card for: Paul Wilson

Yunikon Design

Santaclara Business Cards

Erik Merkow

wildlabs

MacLife Business Card

Fenson Jeremy

This was a fun post to create so leave a comment if you liked it and we’ll do more like this in the future.

You might also enjoy these posts:

• 25 Examples of Clean and Well designed Web Sites

Paramore Redd

Colly

Esteban Munoz

Onstuimig

Acosmin

Iamdocto

Concentric Studio

Aran Down

My Brain Art

Carol Rivello

We Design Wise

Go Mammoth

Ichabod Media

A Modern Eden

Zee

Upstate Design

Project 1000

Truf Creative

Marcus Holmroos

The escape

By Jaxe

Air + Exo

By Sciencewerk

Force of Nature

By priteeboy

Zermatt

By David Mascha

Desktopography

By Priteeboy

A lovely tree

By Seb Creane

IMSS

By Khairil osman

Pack Systems

By Pawel Nolbert

Pond

By Pete Harrison

The Roadside Daydream

By Justin Maller

Field of arts

By iuneWind

Nature View

by ~iamboredr1

LONG WAY HOME

by tigaer

Krust

By Leigh Flurry

Open source

By Jerico Santander

Brian Hoff

Kyle Steed

Spoon Graphics

Sushi and Robots

New To York

Adrian Pelletier

Ribbons of Red

Purple Rain Cloud

Snook

Tobias Ahlin

Srburns

8 Interactive

Stuff and Nonsense

Lift Interactive

Jason Reynolds

Marten dejongh

Mutt Ink

Rainbeau Mars

Mark Boulton

Simple Bits

Ainsworth Studio

The Darling Tree

Pixel Craft

z8

Glue

Comments

Have your seen any well designed web sites on your travels around the web, if so feel free to post a link in the comments?