Last but surely not least. The third delivery of our 10th Anniversary collection arrives at Reed Space and other stores across the world today. It’s a doozy of a collection so I’m gonna expand on these in different posts.
This group I dub “The Craftsmen”. I am really inspired by people who are dedicated to honing their skills…whatever their skill may be. They don’t seem to be concerned with anything but their trade. I really envy that level of dedication.
Just because you come from small places, doesn’t mean you do small things. Phunk Studio is a design collective hailing from Singapore that does very big things. Its funny how all these different people come to arrive at this modern age of culture we currently live in. Some come via graf. Some DJing. Some via fashion. And some, like Phunk through hardcore traditional graphic design. We’ve been in touch for many years now…mainly thru graphic design nerd networks like Newstoday. Also, Singapore has been early adopters to our clothing line since Day One. So we were pleased to introduce Phunk to NY at one our early Reed Space art exhibitions. It was one of the most successful ones we ever put on. Their anagram is ORIENTAL/RELATION. The sign on the shirt means “LOVE”. I guess that means they got love for their peoples.
Matzu also had an exhibition ar Reed Space. I would have to say that in the past 5 years, no artist has evolved more impressively than Matzu. I must admit, while I was very happy to have the exhibition we did with him…with each passing year, i find myself saying “Damn! I wish we had THIS stuff!” Just because each year it gets that much better. Matzu was a professional snowboarding in a past life and a bad accident took him off the slopes and firmly planted him in front a computer. We have the snow gods to thank for giving us an artist like Matzu. The anagram assigned to him was AIDES/IDEAS. The complexity and beauty of this piece must be seen in person. It’s really dope.
Kenji Hirata, good friend of Matzu, was the followup show to Matzu’s exhibition at Reed Space. While many artists are like frenetic whirlwinds of inspiration; I would equate Kenji’s work to that of a madman with a paintbrush—freighteningly intense precision. You might remember a recent Absolut Vodka ad campaign that featured his work. Kenji is also a member of The Barnstormers. He was one of the few collaborators blessed with using the word “Staple”. His anagram was STAPLE/PETALS. Check out his 8-bit inspired full frontal design.
While we’re on the subject of past Reed Space exhibitions, I’d like to introduce Andrew Sutherland (yes, brother of photographer and director Peter Sutherland). About 4 years ago, some New Yorkers might have noticed these ceramic-looking plaques placed around the city. They were usually depictions of a colorful cloud/mushroom type object and the entire tile was glued directly to outdoor walls. I knew of these artworks before I knew of Andrew. Recently he has been redefining his craft even further by making his own wood. Not that way perv…but making his own wood out of paper. Its incredible to see. Check it out for yourself. I assigned Andrew the anagram STAPLE/PASTEL. Whenever I think about his first creations I discovered, the word “pastel” springs to mind.
Stina Persson is a Swedish based illustrator and artist. I first met Stina while designing t-shirts for Uniqlo Japan. I really loved her sensual artistic style and she was a real joy to work with. Her watercolor illustrations hark back to a historic time; pre-computer and Adobe Illustrator. But yet the scenes are distinctively modern and edgy. I gave her the anagram SECURED/SEDUCER because that’s what her works evoke—an ability to seduce the viewer without even trying in the slightest bit.
More to come soon….
wait a minute, what is the username of STAPLE on Newstoday?!? you got a huge following over there man…
wow
Yea, WOW, really inspirational. Solid designs man. Loving the anagrams theme.
love the new t-shirts. one from sing is cool, but they shoulda used the traditional character for “love.” the abbreviated one lacks “heart” literally and figuratively. i’m sure it’s too late to change, but maybe for the next run?