music inspired

While listening to a Michael Jackson song on the radio during our drive back from Buffalo, F and I were telling E about MTV and its impact in our teenage lives during the 80's. Music videos became a new medium, a new vessel, a new voice to our generation.

What instantly comes to mind is Aha's Take On Me, from their 1985 debut album "Hunting High And Low". To this day, I still find it very evocative. This music video was ground-breaking in those days it was so rich in its visual content, that it immediately engaged its audience. It most definitely influenced my decision, two years later, to become a graphic designer.

tv inspired: water tanks

As a rule of thumb, reality television is a no-no in our humble abode, however, a few shows have hurdled the ban, as we find them very entertaining. A family favourite is The Amazing Race.
A personal preferred of mine is the Antiques Road Show, which has been faithfully followed since the late 90's, and most recently, AMC released its latest brilliant venture, The Pitch (the other brilliant show is of course Mad Men). Not only does it provide a lot of insight regarding the behind-the-scenes in the world of advertising, but a lot of the visuals are spectacular.
The very last episode, 8, landed a beautiful shot of water tanks on the rooftops of NYC. I was immediately hooked in their simple beauty. The sketchbook awaits.

TV shot from the AMC's "The Pitch".

Water tanks by Sandro Tedde, from the National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest 2011.

View of an old water tank in Manhattan. Image property of photo.zoommer.ru

inspired by literature: book of clouds

Chance is what brought this book around. In preparing for a weekend getaway, a quick visit to the library provided the perfect book. First, because it was small enough to fit in a traveling hand bag, and second, because it undeniably had a very interesting aura to it, including the fact that I found the author's last name most intriguing, as she is related to Homero Aridjis.

Book of Clouds, by Chloe Aridjis, is a gem of a book. It is filled with beautiful vignettes of incredible surreal content, a poignant account of contemporary Berlin through the eyes of a foreigner. Needless to say, the pages of my sketchbook were definitely impacted by this book, resulting in  very compelling, playful imagery. A few visual references came to mind almost immediately, lending themselves to the dissection of their fabulous palettes.

Aaron Morse, Cloud World, 2003

From the film: Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain, 2001.
Immaculately conceptualized by Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Guillaume Laurant.

This image conveys one of the perks of sitting in Toronto traffic on a perfect cloudy afternoon.
Magritte's Empire of Light always comes to mind on such days.

on colour palettes and moonrise kingdom

A long time ago, still in University, my first job in textiles defined me as a freelance colourist. The task: Create colourways for a particular design. The norm was to render ten colourways per design assigned, permitting an expedite and successful editing process. These colourways had to be resolved in gouache and at a size of 8x8 inches. "Pan comido"--piece of cake--I thought.

Of course, nothing could be more removed from the truth.

By the sixth colourway, I was on absolute panic mode, scrambling for new palettes--and my general quota was of three designs--at ten colourways each, it meant thirty colour renderings a week!

That was when the Designer's Guide to Color books came into the spotlight. They showcased a vast amount of colour palettes, which in the end, provided a remarkable colour education, inspiring me to create my own palettes (which by the way, it is a common practice in industry) out of images that caught my attention from magazines, my photographs, from walks around the city, movies, and those imagined through literature and music. Ever since then, I have been a "collector" of colour, and this blog presents the perfect vessel for many more palettes. Today, the Color books continue to be favourites of mine, mainly, because even after all these years, the palettes don't feel very dated. In fact, some palettes have remained timeless, the best quality in a good colourist.

Today's palettes branch out from Wes Anderson's new film Moonrise Kingdom. Brilliant in every aspect, including my all-time favourite: styling. Genius! A must see. Of course, there is a lot of khaki and green, nevertheless, some of the palettes are deliciously sophisticated.

Suzy's light

Suzy's props

Suzy's Sam

nyc in the spring: out and about

Besides Surtex, some of the most memorable stops were:

Marimekko on Fifth Avenue, the new flagship store. Pilgrimage, is the word that describes this visit. Repeat-pattern at its best. Textile print design bliss. The cherry on the top: a dear former student of mine (from SCAD), works at the store (!!!).

Habu Textiles. If fibres is something that defines you, a visit to this store is imperative. A true gem, in the smallest scale; it reminded me of these words:

"In small porportions we just beauties see;

And in short measures life may perfect be."

                                                 --Ben Jonson

NY Public Library, main branch. The Met, the Moma, the Whitney, the Guggenheim and many, many more must-see destinations, and activities, including gallery hopping.

While being out and about taking my digital images, the repeat pattern bug roamed free, reminding me of the work of Sue Gundy, whom I first learned about while pursuing my MFA studies in the late 90's. She had (and still has) a very complete body of work that stemmed from her urban digital photographs, a novelty in those days. I have always wondered, after so many years, if this is one way I could work, that is, straight from the camera to an image set up in simple repeat in Photoshop, and later printed on fabric. How would I go about resolving surface design issues in an innovative digital way, now that it seems all has been done? This very interesting question will easily become a very engaging August (2012) challenge. Can't wait.

From left to right: 1-The very talented D inside the Marimekko flagship store on Fifth Avenue. 2-Across the street from said store, an outdoor food court shaded by beautiful Marimekko umbrellas. 3-Habu galore (!!!).

nyc in the spring: surtex

Victoria Day weekend translated into a (very) short visit to NYC—early arrival on Saturday,  early departure on Tuesday.

Considering the season, it was impossible not to think about the movie "You've Got Mail", in which Joe Fox, delivers the perfect line to Kathleen Kelly: “I hope you feel better soon. It’d be a shame to miss New York in the spring.”

NYC always provides the perfect playground to take a break, while nourishing the artist within—hardcore city girl speaking, can't be helped. It's not a cliché, it's the truth, spring in NYC is unfailingly fabulous. Rain or shine, it is always conducive to stroll along, and keep at it throughout the day. Sketchbook open, camera prompt, senses at the ready.

This year, the main purpose of being there was to attend Surtex, the yearly marketplace for textile designers. Along with Surtex, two other shows take place: The National Stationary Show, and ICFF, all housed at the Javits Center. All very different and extremely inspiring.

Memory fails, yet I believe my last visit to Surtex was almost 10 years ago (!!!).

My succinct (unassuming) opinion: It is smaller (all three shows are), yet it is still relevant, worth considering exhibiting. The biggest change was the art work itself, In the past, not too long ago, showing digital artwork was a major no-no, a hara-kiri of sorts. Nowadays, most of the work is digital, definitely, catching up with the times—the textile industry took its sweet time on this matter. It was refreshing to see some hand resolved designs in a few of the booths. Don’t get me wrong, I believe technology is a mighty tool, however, it is important never to forget that the hand is, indeed, mightier than the stylus (or mouse—not my quote, btw). It is all about balance.

From left to right: 1-Surtex--It was most uplifting to see Kate cheerfully surrounded by her artwork. She was most definitely in her happy place. 2-NSS--Belle&Union is a relatively new business with smashing, beautiful products housed in a magnificent display booth. Said booth was designed by the very talented Liz, who was sitting very pretty inside this marvel helping Meg out. I had not seen Liz since my last visit to Savannah in 2008. It was such a surprise and treat to see her after all these years! The Savannah connection working at its best. 3-ICFF--Serendipity, that is how I feel about finding ROLLOUT, a remarkable wallpaper studio, right in my neck of the woods (!!!). So lucky.

If textile design is what defines you, make sure to visit these shows—all of them pertinent and of significant impact to any creative endeavour. Be there, at least once, and see how it fits in your professional experience. You may want to be a part of it time and again.

Update: June 26, 2012, Nora Ephron “exits”. From the “You’ve Got Mail” quote, it is evident I am a fan of her work—a huge one. Very sad news, however, she left us an extraordinary legacy.

¡comenzamos!

One of the perks of growing up in Mexico City, was being able to attend a few shows at the Arena México, including Lucha Libre--which, unfortunately, I never did.
What I remember being there for, were a couple of Holiday on Ice  presentations (known today as Disney on Ice). No eye roll, please. For a six-year-old, it was absolute nirvana, an almost out-of-body experience. A few minutes before the show started, the anticipation of every kid on the Arena could be felt beyond the Calle de Dr. Lavista. Finally, the booming voice of the master of ceremonies would come through the sound system, "¡coooomennnnzaaaamossss!", he would say, and so, it all began.

And so it all begins on this side of the screen, with the same sense of anticipation that little girl experienced, it is textile design time! The context: breathing, eating, drinking design, colour and repeat pattern.

¡Coooomennnnzaaaamossss!