Memories

Troika Animation from Patrick Niall on Vimeo.

Patrick Niall is an Interactive Media Designer from Leeds. He has plans to move to London, but is currently happy (and cold) studying Interactive Media Design at Northumbria University. He believes good things work better, thinks of usability as an Octupus on a pile of toys, loves the bookshop at the Baltic art gallery and approves of cashpoints which dispense fivers.

www.patrickniall.net

New York, New York! The city is doing us proud this week, with a third artist based in NYC joining the Memories project. At just 27, Mario Hugo is one of New York’s brightest creative stars. He illustrates using his incredible drawing skills, but also designs an array of websites for bands and fashion brands, art directs on various different projects and helps run an illustration and design agency. I spoke to him at the beginning of December and despite all this great work and his high profile, he’s a very humble and thoughtful guy. He has a very particular approach, in that he doesn’t like mixing handmade and digital elements – he keeps these aesthetics very separate, although he is comfortable with both.

Mario’s going to come up with something for the poem Swimming With Pink Dolphins and My Dead Mother by Patrick Woodcock, which is a very visual piece. Coincidentally, Patrick emailed me yesterday letting me know that his poetry book is the number one bestseller in poetry in Canada at the moment. Nice. Meanwhile, the work you see above is a detail from Mario’s work Severed Heads and the Celestial Sea, a personal piece done on vintage paper.

We are honoured to have Mario onboard, and suggest you check out his personal portfolio here, and his agency Hugo & Marie’s website here. We ‘heart’ New York.

Great news. The New York-based designer, illustrator and art director Deanne Cheuk has joined our growing list of star creatives. She’s going to create an image for Memories and we’re so pleased to have her on board. Deanne’s one of the most talented people I’ve ever come across. She illustrates in a light, refreshing and honest style but also has amazing skills in pattern design, collage, type and layout. I was recently in touch with her about a collaboration she did with the Australian illustrator Fontaine Anderson. The image you see above was the cover of Tokion issue 44, a style mag she used to art direct. Check out her amazing portfolio here. Thanks Deanne – we’re honoured.

This really resonates with what we’re doing on Memories. The Costa Book of the Year 2009 award went to the poet Christopher Reid for his book, A Scattering. It consists of a series of poems about losing his wife to cancer in 2005. I haven’t read the book but it sounds extremely emotional, particularly considering that she died in his arms.

Poetry seems much maligned by many members of the public, but we like it and there are poems going into Memories alongside prose entries. It’s fanatastic that Reid wrote this book in the first place, and even more so that it has won a top award. Our congratulations go out to him. You can read the Guardian’s report here, or order a copy of the book here.

Paul Skerm is an independent graphic designer specialising in creative solutions for brand identities, literature, packaging and exhibitions. Previously senior designer at Pentagram London and Lippa Pearce, he set up Paul Skerm Design in 2008, a creative multi-disciplined practice based in North London.

www.paulskermdesign.com

We are pleased to announce Si Scott as our latest illustrator. Si was one of the first artists to express an interest in the project in discussions at last years OFFF festival. If you were at OFFF some of you may have noted Si’s involvement with DAHRA’s next project during his speech.

For those of you not familiar with Si Scott here is a quick Biography:

After gaining a degree in graphic design at Buckinghamshire University College, Si Scott used his skills to develop a characteristic style which combines hand-inked and penned artwork with modern typography.

That style has won him a prestigious and ever-expanding client list, including Volvo, Hugo Boss, Nike, Guinness, Orange, MTV, Absolut, Tiffany & Co, Miller and American Express.

www.siscottstudio.com