Emanci-PAINTER: The Bold Work of Blase

What do you get when you unite a talented, young, rebellious artist with discarded artwork? Renaissance paintings that demand a double-take, for one. French artist Blase, aka Blasepheme, has artistic skills rooted in time-honored techniques. But his subversive sense of humor will not allow him to simply restore flea market finds. Blase does much more…

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Fruits of (Unpaid) Labor

While client-driven work can certainly be fulfilling and satisfying in many ways, there’s something to be said for personal projects. Sure, they can be a little indulgent, but the lack of constraints and pressure, at least from outside sources, often yields fantastic results. As designers, the process is sort of freeing, and can lead to…

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Restaurant Branding Fit for a Silver Platter

Call us tortured designers, but being exposed to really bad menu design in an otherwise decent establishment can be slightly agonizing. A business lunch with the Barbour crew inevitably ends up being a design critique of the menu (good or bad) upon the first few minutes of being seated. Yes, it’d probably make for a…

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We Love Lathe

When London-based designer Alexander Klement sets a personal design goal, he follows through in a big way. And his Lathe typeface is a shining example. As fellow designers, we understand that typeface design is no easy task. How do you create something fresh and new, when it has been done over and over in so…

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Brilliant Blue Ballpoint Illustrations

Um, wow. That’s our initial reaction to the impressive work of Paris-based illustrator Helena Hauss. These days, being a fantastic illustrator isn’t necessarily enough to stand out in a very crowded landscape of creative professionals. Hauss finds her sweet spot in her love of the color blue. A good portion of her work is done…

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Fresh Picked Typography

Sometimes you’ll find excellent examples of experimental typography in the most unexpected places. Take this terrific print ad from a Lithuanian grocer, for example. Under the art direction of Lithuanian designer Ignas Kozlovas by way of McCann Erickson, this typographic arrangement of real produce displays mastery in Photoshop, as well as an excellent eye for…

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