JUUSmedia

The Lost Art of Inglourious Basterds

// February 18th, 2010 // View Comments // Illustration, Inspiration

I regard Inglourious Basterds to be one of Quentin Tarantino’s best films. I know that statement will probably irk quite a few ‘QT’ fans out there but the characters, the set-pieces and the dialogue are just plain fantastic.

A while back I read about James Goodridge, an illustrator who actually designed a poster for the film but was eventually rejected. His style of artwork for film posters is quite iconic and provides a very unique alternate look for the film.

On the left, James Goodridge’s verison and on the right the official Inglourious Basterds poster.

What fascinates me are the different ideas and interpretations artists can get from films and use in their poster designs. Unfortunately to hire many different artists to design the poster of just one film would be a costly project and honestly wouldn’t be that necessary as its the job of the designer to capture exactly what the director/producers want in the first place.

Luckily, Quentin Tarantino, Upper Playground and The Weinstein Company have teamed up to present, The Lost Art of Inglourious Basterds — This creative team has assembled the following select group of accomplished artists, David Choe, Sam Flores, Estevan Oriol, Grotesk, Jeremy Fish, Patrick Martinez, Alex Pardee, Dora Drimalas, Munk One, N8 Van Dyke, Rene Alamanza, Morning Breath and Skinner Davis, to create their own poster art based off their interpretation of the Oscar Nominated film, “Inglourious Basterds” artwork.

The Upper Playground Art Gallery in Los Angeles will be previewing this artwork on February 18th 2010 from 6pm – 9pm as a fundraiser for The American Red Cross to help the victims of the Haiti Earthquake. You can purchase prints of these posters (apparently only six of each will be made) for $300 which will be signed and numbered by Quentin Tarantino.

Few shout outs to /Film, Unreality Magazine and FirstShowing.net for some of the info.

- Jason

Visa ‘Life Flows Better’ Campaign Takes You to the World Cup.

// February 16th, 2010 // View Comments // Advertising, Inspiration

Visa has launched a campaign to celebrate its sponsorship of the FIFA World Cup. Using the ‘life flows better’ strapline an obviously unfit man makes his way through various locations around the world and progresses to score a goal at what I can assume is the World Cup.

It’s been a very clever campaign so far, great soundtracks with a nice sense of freedom and this advert looks to continue that trend.

Also wanted to post a couple of the other Visa adverts from this campaign.

- Jason

Flickr Groups: Thing A Week

// February 8th, 2010 // View Comments // Inspiration, Photograhy

When I first started this site almost a year ago the platform I’d use primarily to show off my work (and others) was DeviantArt. There’s a huge community and a fantastically diverse gallery displaying thousands of works of art from users around the world. Unfortunately I’ve never really felt apart of that collective group of artists and I suppose you could say that for me, DeviantArt felt ‘too big’.

Flickr was a site that I’d always heard about, sort of tried but never really used. I’d upload a few ‘test’ pieces, found that it connected well to my social media and mobile devices but really had no great use for it. I then stumbled upon the Thingaweek group.

Thingaweek which is now running into its 34th week (join the fun now!) is inspired by an annual photographic event in Cardiff, UK called the Photomarathon:

A Photomarathon is a photograph competition with a twist: You receive a 12 picture film. Over 12 hours you have to take pictures on 12 given topics. It’s not your physical condition, but your sense of improvisation, fun and creativity that is stressed throughout the Photomarathon.

Thingaweek was created by a few members that took part in the Photomarathon using a similar concept and started a group on Flickr of which there are currently over 140 members. The rules are fairly simple:

One theme. One week. One photo. (Repeat)

There are a few other details that should be followed as in no digital manipulation and a deadline of midnight on a Sunday each week but other than that it’s wherever your imagination can lead you!

What brings this all together for me and what makes Flickr such an ideal platform is the community that has been created and the work that is inspired by that same group of people. The strength comes from the group itself as it boasts photographers of all skills; anyone is invited to join in no matter how much practice you’ve had behind a camera. The task set each week creates a challenge to be creative, it keeps your mind working and in my case breaks me away from my usual work within the design field. The photographs that come through each week are always inspiring, always come with discussion and always vary. A range of ideas and concepts come through that not only inspire but provide the other members with new and exciting ways to look at a particular theme.

My own Thingaweek collection

I feel obliged to get my next shot up for the week and to also see what others have contributed. I enjoy discussing the photographs and always appreciate any feedback that I receive (good or bad) about my work. If you’re the type that strive for awards then Thingaweek also gives out ‘Badges‘ to those photographs that really inspire. Anyone can create a badge and are encouraged to do so to show recognition for a great shot.

A few Thingaweek Badges

It’s an environment that’s built to grow. Foomandoonian (the ring leader as I’d like to dub him) has been at the forefront when it comes to getting Thingaweek running like a well-oiled machine. Twitter enables the group to stay connected instantly while users are invited to contribute ideas for upcoming themes using Flickr’s discussion posts. A tumblelog has also been setup creating a live feed and countdown of all things ‘thingaweek’ and even an arranged meet-up is planned for the near future.

Join in the fun and get you’re next Thingaweek submitted today!

If you’re still a little curious as to what its all about I’ve decided to include some of my favorite shots over the last 30 weeks:

Flipped - By Thiefree

#thingaweek 25 - Word Art - By pjmowbs

Windy Woo - By Kathryn Parker

Gabalfa / A48 - mark.stevenson1983

Park Leaf - By Foomandoonian

Fly big can! Fly! - By Renato Pequito

And one of my shots that I had the most fun trying to figure out without completely embarrassing myself!

A Tragic Discovery- By Jason W Stanley

- Jason

20 Inspiring Animal Logos

// January 26th, 2010 // View Comments // Illustration, Inspiration, Logo Design, Photoshop

Not long ago I started a project that involved using an animal as a logo. As with most projects I decided to do some research and gain some inspiration from other animal-like logos. There are a ton of resources scattered all over the web when it comes to logo designs and I’m sure there’s many more logos that I’ve missed but I wanted to share 20 great logos that brought me some inspiration!

Also if you’re interested all the logos here were found at logopond.

Out of all these logos, which was your favourite? Are there any other animal logos you can think of that you find inspiring? Feel free add your feedback below!

- Jason