Way back (2008) we had a small online shop selling things we thought were worth selling, ranging from design notebooks to genius toys. One of the things we sold were hand sewn fabric footballs from Klas Ernflo. He moved from being a designer to illustrator to artist and with his latest work exhibited at Marta Los Angeles it feels all these worlds coming together in a beautiful way.
“Anorak” presents new large- scale, free-hanging textile paintings alongside several unique blanket- works and existing sculptures. The pieces, which variably suggest coverings for inclement weather, non-wearable shelter, and communal or familial garments, infer a soft network of voids and connectors atop canvas scrims that both describe and delineate space. [ Continue reading ]

Paris-based illustrator and artist Yann Kebbi has been among our favorites from the moment we discovered his immaculately executed raw style in The New Yorker some years ago. His color pencil drawings are one of a kind: combining hard, sketched lines that mark his figures, buildings, streets and anything else that make up his captivating (city) scenes, overlaying them with clouds of primary colors to give the depictions warmth, but most importantly Kebbi excels as a master of the act of omitting to complete his works. His drawings seem joyful at first glance, but always show another mysterious layer of wry- and sometimes even sadness, to be observed within his perfect bursting chaos of lines and colors, which infinitely seem to fascinate us.

In recent years he continued on the particular stylistic road that gathered him international acclaim very quickly, but Kebbi also seriously challenged himself by exploring new areas. One of these explorations was the introduction of watercolors to create similar scenes as he had been doing with pencils, but this time implementing rich areas of color and even using similar techniques as, another one of our favorites, Dutch artist Rop van Mierlo does — for instance in the project 'Howdy – drawings of America', created together with his friend Idir Davaine, in which they portray their travels through the USA. His most recent 'Monotypes' series (brought to our attention two weeks ago by It's Nice That) shows a more radical development going beyond lines as the markers of his depictions, using monotype printmaking. A medium used before Kebbi by iconic French artists like Degas, Matisse and Picasso, being a technique of printing layer by layer, to create a single unique print — proving to be another discipline in which Kebbi succeeds marvelously to bring his unique artistic vision to life. [ Continue reading ]

Last year we had a clear favorite out of all the graduates that left the Dutch art academies in the person of painter Jurre Blom, who we will write about again in the near future. This year is was a little bit harder to distinguish an undisputed favorite while visiting the different graduation shows, but after the passing of some months it is safe to say that artist and illustrator Jan Hamstra's project 'Manifesto of Doubt' resonated the most.

Hamstra graduated as part of a highly talented Illustration class of nine from the Groningen-based Academy Minerva, being the most politically outspoken artist of the lot. Having cut his teeth while interning at two artistic icons; Berlin-based illustrator Henning Wagenbreth and Oslo-based woodcut artist Thomas Kilpper, Hamstra's forsees a path somewhere in between the two, working with a raw impactful aesthetic signature focussing on precarious personal and societal (political) issues. The latter being an artistic ambition slowly turning into a rarity these days, with Hamstra proving the point that it continues to be amongst the most interesting and urgent fields for artists to reflect on.

His graduation project exemplifies all of his ambitions, having both a strong personal and political layer distilled into a captivating form. Every image of the book 'Manifesto of Doubt' is printed by hand, using intensive woodcut technique, which has been the technique Hamstra focussed on for the last two years at the academy. The left and right side of the diptychs form two components of a whole, standing in dialogue with each other. All images explore the theme of (political) resistance as found in the last 80 years of human history, portrayed from Hamstra's individualistic perspective, measuring ideology and terror with his conscience — resulting in a remarkable project promising a lot for the talented artist. [ Continue reading ]

Feeling like the perfect hybrid of the figurative, finer, work of Dutch illustrator and artist Jordy van den Nieuwendijk mixed with the abstract strokes of Moroccan-French artist Najia Mehadji, but instead of paper or canvas put on display in the most impactful majestic size of murals — we really appreciate the work of Los Angeles-based visual artist Erin D. Garcia, who's been creating some of his most impressive projects over the course of the last three years. Erin’s geometric abstractions derive from a mother structure of stacked blocks and volumes rendered in a series of colors. He deconstructs this architecture of color into a simpler lexicon of lines, arches, and curves in an ongoing search of other primary structures, which he names elements.

Effortless in appearance, his work is a calculated process of designating, defining, arranging, and permuting elements and colors with algorithmic thoroughness. Lines that edge triangles appear completed, but upon closer look, are actually disconnected and superimposed with unmet corners. When applied directly in the public sphere, as Erin has been doing frequently in recent years, a new dynamic is added to those inherent qualities that make up his elements, both from the (sharp-lined and edged) buildings, but more so the context that lays around them. It results in the most playful and powerful display of Erin's talent, empowered directly by what has inspired its aesthetic in the first place: the beauty and color palette of the Californian sunshine. [ Continue reading ]

We are big fans of the very gifted Austrian artist and illustrator Stefan Zsaitsits. Having an extraordinary strong signature running through all his work, the artist who's still based in his country of birth, creates captivating dark pencil drawings of mostly childlike figures in which he oftenly seems to hybridize particular thoughts and emotions directly on or with the body part which is involved. The highly delicate and at times slightly repulsive raw images evoke a sense of unsettlement, although there is also great beauty to be found even in the smallest details, sometimes under a layers of scratched pencil marks — underscoring the many, at times literally, layers one finds in his thought-provoking creations. As of recently he has moved beyond just the pencil (after having worked with paint some years ago too) and in his latest works color —mostly a blood colored red— is thoughtfully applied, creating another level of depth in his depictions. A collection of these latest works open for the public today, in the Salzburg-based Galerie Trapp, where Zsaitsits presents his newest creations in an exhibition named 'Zwischen Luv und Lee'.  [ Continue reading ]

Last November we wrote about the beautiful Art Print Project, which was presented to celebrate the first CITIx60 travel guides by inspirational Hong Kong-based publisher viction:ary and mentioned more guides coming up. Some months later the first new additions are here, with Los Angeles, Hong Kong and Amsterdam being added to the growing catalogue of guides. We were honored to be one of the people to share a favorite for the Amsterdam guide, next to the fact that Tenue de Nîmes has also been mentioned by 100% Halal filmproducer Gijs Determeijer. The aim viction:ary has with their CITIx60 guides is to present a list of handpicked hotspots that illustrate the spirit of the world’s most interesting design hubs. Built on a unique collaboration with local talents all known for their accomplishments from film making, food, advertising to design, the pocket-sized guides are packed with artistic twists and practical info essential for a satisfying trip - presented in playfully designed and illustrated guides. [ Continue reading ]

Monica Ramos is a Brooklyn-based illustrator who has been having an impact in recent years through her highly recognizable beautiful work. Known for her delicate and humoristic watercolor illustrations, her work has been embraced all over the globe, not only because of her unique style, but also through the playful nature that is ingrained in many of her pieces. The subjects of Ramos' work are ranging from baked goods, spirits, animals, blobs, naked people and basically anything which represents her feelings at that particular time. Her love for watercolors, pencils and ink stems from its unique qualities like the textures and little mistakes that come with paint, giving her work some significant edge in the form, compensating the often-times lovely subject matters. Monica was born and raised in the Philippines and graduated from Parsons in 2012. Her work has been featured in The New York Times, Lucky Peach, Pulp Magazine, Rookie Mag and Oh Comely!. Make sure to follow this very talented illustrator. [ Continue reading ]

A little while ago we became familiar with the fascinating work of the very talented Tokyo-based artist Ei Kaneko, who just opened a new solo exhibition named 'YEN' at the Clear Edition & Gallery in his hometown last Friday. With his moody and slightly surrealist style, Kaneko's work, which he creates strictly with graphite, is at once strikingly beautiful and also a little disconcerting, a combination which we find particularly fascinating. The work of Kaneko often features limbs and facial features cut out and re-assembled, using the fragments of images to create a new ambiguous meaning within his juxtapositions. Through the use of the toned down color palette of pencil graphite the images all inhabit a certain softness in their core which clashes strongly with the hard juxtapositioning of the image fragments, creating something like a second layer of contrast beyond just the fragmentations. Without a doubt Kaneko's work inhabits everything to absorb the spectator and leaving an intrinsic impression. Make sure to catch his show when in Tokyo. [ Continue reading ]

Two days ago the first collaborative effort between Christian M. Andersen's Creative Future and the iconic Parisian concept store colette was launched for pre-order. Compiled as a close collaboration between de two parties involved, the elegant book which was created examines not only colette’s affiliation with art and design, but also the artistic processes, approaches and ideas of the many artists that have worked and exhibited with colette since 1997. The project took more than one-and-a-half years to develop and features a long list of notable artists including KAWS, André Saraiva, José Parlá, Kevin Lyons, Erik Parker, Curtis Kulig, Michael Dupouy, Pedro Winter and Julia Chiang. In addition, the cover artwork of the book is created by the Brooklyn-based artists, KAWS. [ Continue reading ]

The Amsterdam-based Raymond Lemstra has been one of our favorite Dutch artists for some years now. The creatures he creates (mostly drawn) show his interest in distortion as a result of selective emphasis; parts of interest are emphasized, unimportant parts reduced or left out. His distinct characters therefore often come out big headed, with focus on the faces and the body trimmed to its essential properties, all marked with his personal style, tough often very different in specific form. As he has stated on his vision and aesthetic: "The contrast between my naive and at the same time sophisticated approach to my work gives it a somewhat awkward taste. It is a clash of intent, simultaneously assuming simplicity and complexity, randomness and reason, flaws and perfection." We've been following Raymond since the very beginning of Another Something & Co and feel extremely grateful to have collaborated with him during the first Our Current Obsessions. Having been this inspired by his work for all this time, we now ask him about his inspirations. [ Continue reading ]

Yesterday marked a highly significant milestone in the 9 year history of our close friends online magazine Fontanel, after the release party on Friday evening at Mendo they officially released their very first printed publication: the definitive showcase of the best design talents who graduated in the Netherlands named 'Dutch Design Talents 14'. The 208-page hardcover book features 19 talents, agency visits, sharp columns and an inspirational dialogue with leading creatives on "the gap" between education and work. This first introduction to an international audience was elegantly designed by Rob van den Nieuwenhuizen (drawswords) and mainly resolves around the 19 talents graduated from renowned Dutch art schools like Eindhoven’s Design Academy, Amsterdam’s Rietveld and The Hague’s Royal Academy of the Arts, after which subsequently a narrative on the overal climate of the current dutch creative culture was formed. Each of the talents is remarkably distinct, one of them is for instance Bob Schiller, who created the EPO Bicycle which we wrote about last year. But despite all the differences in what they created and why, they all share something special in the eyes of Fontanel Chief-editor Willem van Roosmalen: "the combination of a promising attitude and unspoilt creative thinking." [ Continue reading ]

Joe Cruz is a very talented artist, illustrator and textile designer, which we have been following  since we discovered his work some years ago. In this period he has been consistently creating very strong images, distinctly using a toned down color palette and collage techniques. Joe was born in London in 1988 from a multi-cultural background: with roots in France, Spain, Austria and Morocco. He graduated from Norwich University of the Arts in 2010 with a BA in Graphic Design, specializing in Illustration after which he worked on commissions for clients such as Mary Portas, Stussy and Nokia, next to his free work which seems to have been influenced by his eclectic background in one way or the other.  We were very happy to collaborate with Joe in Journal de Nîmes Nº 9, for which the artist created an extraordinary collage using vintage photographs out of the Tenue de Nîmes private collection named 'Denim Anonymous'. Having been inspired by Joe's incredible work for all this time, we now ask him what inspires him in life. [ Continue reading ]

Andy Rementer is an award winning graphic artist from USA. He grew up in a Victorian beach town where an early exposure to the sun faded, local signage educated his love of type and hand-painted lettering. A sense of timelessness and nostalgia is to be found in the world he creates. Another reoccurring theme of Rementer’s work is isolation, something he cites as an effect of his abrupt relocation to an urban environment in formative years and often depicted in his work through his characters’ underlying unease with their surrounding. He graduated from The University of the Arts in 2004. After working with Benetton's Fabrica in northern Italy, he relocated to the East Coast where he divides his time between drawing, painting, and developing his first graphic novel. His work has been featured all over the world, among them Apartamento Magazine, The New York Times, Le Monde and Creative Review. We've been following Andy for many years now and therefore asked him what inspires a bright mind like his. [ Continue reading ]

We have written about the very gifted Austrian artist and illustrator Stefan Zsaitsis, when we discovered his fascinating work earlier, in October of this year. Zsaitsis has an extraordinary signature running through all his work. He creates highly fascinating dark pencil drawings of childlike figures in which he oftenly seems to hybridize particular thoughts and emotions directly on or with the body part which is involved, mostly the head. One can always observe that sense of astonishment combined with a touch of fear, with the results surrealistic and sometimes even slightly repulsive raw images, which evoke a sense of unsettlement. Last week the very talented artist presented his second publication with work stretching all the way back to 2012 until this year. The artist published the beautiful book himself, like the predecessor 'Headsongs', with his second publication given the name 'Homunculi'. The hardcover specimen consists of 180 pages with 82 images, basically forming an elaborate catalogue of almost all drawings Zsaitsis created in the past three years.  [ Continue reading ]

The Offenbach am Main-based David Schiesser is a very talented (tattoo-)artist of only 25 years old. He recently opened a small private tattoo studio where he works at least two days in the week, with the rest of the days focussed on his free work and preparations for exhibitions. After graduating in visual communication at the HfG of Main in the city of Offenbach he’s been working hard and slowly getting his work out, through his two main outlets. And even now he still follows the advice from renowned mentors, famous artist Manfred Stumpf and like-wise known graphic designer Eike König, who support Schiesser in his endeavors. His drawings show typical tattoo-aesthetic elements although in some work one even gets a sense of medieval artwork. Schiesser draws in ligne claire, reducing his work to the bare essentials, in which the artist succeeds to infuse a lot of personality through his unconventional juxtapositioning and overal subject choices. His main inspiration in these choices are the human body and its coexistence with technical expansion: how the sense of body have or will transform in the future. [ Continue reading ]

CITIx60 is a new pocket-sized collection of travel guides by Hong Kong-based viction:ary, the publishing brand of leading publisher viction workshop ltd, founded by Victor Cheung 13 years ago. The guides feature an artistic edge with a handpicked list of hotspots loved by 60 stars of the cities' creative scene, wrapped in a city map drawn by talented artists. Recently viction:ary presented, as an addition to the maps, a collection of collectors items in the form of beautifully illustrated maps, which were specially commissioned for the CITIx60 City Guides. The maps are produced as high quality art prints, in a limited edition of 60 respectively at A1 and A2 formats. Exaggerated details produced at gallery quality enable its collectors to re-explore the distinctive and elegantly portrayed landscapes of  Tokyo, which was illustrated by Masako Kubo, Paris by Allan Deas and finally Berlin, by the talented Finnish illustrator Vesa Sammalisto. [ Continue reading ]

The Austrian-born and -based illustrator Stefan Zsaitsits creates highly fascinating dark pencil drawings of childlike figures in which he oftenly seems to hybridize particular thoughts and emotions directly on or with the body part which is involved, mostly the head. And even if he chooses to portray his subject in a more traditional fashion, one can always observe that sense of astonishment combined with a touch of fear. The results are surrealistic and sometimes even slightly repulsive raw images, which evoke a sense of unsettlement, clearly representing the unfiltered stream of thoughts one mostly finds within the disclosure of the world in all its beauty and hardships during childhood. And although most people lose that particular perspective on the world with the years, Zsaitsits rightfully seems to question if growing up inherently has to mean the end of sincere astonishment, despite the fact that most people choose it to be the case. [ Continue reading ]

Last week the amazing work of the highly talented Singapore-based Michelle Yu was brought to our attention. In everything the 25-year old creates there is a sense of dark brooding energy to be found, and we particularly love the work named 'mad girl's love song' which is inspired by the poem with the same title written by American poet Sylvia Plath in 1951. Plath who suffered from depression most of her adult life, which she ended by suicide when she was 30, left an oeuvre of poems, short stories and a novel which are considered to be a significant milestone for the genre of confessional poetry, which focusses on individual experience, the psyche, personal trauma, and taboos. This sentiment of personal trauma, very apparent in 'mad girl's love song' is beautifully caught in the black and white drawing by Yu. All figurative elements in the drawing, a girl's head, hand and feet, two birds and what appears to be a set of lungs are drowning in a fire-like pool. Beautifully catching the emotions of despair and misunderstood love which are expressed by Plath. [ Continue reading ]

The Italy-based jewelry label Loha Vete, which was founded by Max Zubari in 2012, is inspired by crime, by taking this rather large associative concept and creating unique and beautifully crafted items in their italian atelier. We still particularly love their most recent, and possibly final, Autumn/Winter 2013 collection which includes a skeleton hand ashtray, a smashed glass bracelet and a bootlace knuckle duster. The equally striking lookbook depicts illustrated people wearing the jewelry, perfectly conveying an aesthetic connotated to crime, which was created by the Paris-based fashion designer and illustrator Evelina Romano. [ Continue reading ]

We like everything the lovely Portuguese company Serrote produces, from their special notebooks to the crate with a selection of blue and white products they released last year, and with their latest addition to their catalogue they have created yet again another elegant and beautiful product which we love. Last month Nuno Neves and Susana Viela of Serrote presented the truly beautiful Sky Chart. It is an interpretive map of the night sky, where you can find the constellations and major stars visible from the Northern Hemisphere, throughout the year. The star Polaris, in the constellation Ursa Minor, is in the center of the chart. As this star is aligned with the axis of rotation of the earth passing through the poles, it remains motionless in the sky during the night, while the other stars appear to rotate around it. [ Continue reading ]

On the 8th of May the Toronto-based gallery Narwhal opened an extensive solo exhition of The Godfather of Japanese Eroticism, Toshio Saeki. His beautiful but at the same time sometimes repulsive artwork draws from the basement of a collective subconscious, depicting universal taboos through surreal narratives and dark humor. Filtering imagery from his photographic memory and childhood experiences through imagination and dreams, Saeki splits open a universally erotic world where iconic characters subject themselves to grotesque behaviors staged within traditional Japanese environments. [ Continue reading ]

We proudly present the second installment of our Another Collection Illustrated. This time we collaborated with the very talented Tavan Maneetapho, who created four beautiful illustrations based on several Boro cloths we have in our collection. Tavan is an animator and illustrator currently finishing up her third year at Kingston University, London. She combines traditional and digital techniques and tends to draw inspiration from her Asian background. The culture and symbolism in Thailand can often be mystical and alluring and definitely filters through to her work. She tries to communicate these ideas using imagery only and hopes that they are thus understood universally. The good things in life for her are reading a good comic in the sun, drawing with ink, drawing girls, longboarding and books by Douglas Coopland. We are extremely happy with her beautiful and slightly creepy interpretations of the Japanese cloths, which in our eyes are the perfect hybrid of pure craftsmanship and utmost aesthetica.

— As published in Journal de Nîmes No 10 — [ Continue reading ]

On the 1st of May graphic artist Andy Rementer returned to New York City-based gallery Mondo Cane, with his third solo show of new and previously un-shown paintings and drawings. The 'Meet Me Later' series transports the spectator to seemingly familiar street corners, domestic situations and subway platforms populated by characters caught in frozen moments of furtive activity. The work has a timeless quality which seems to draw from influences as diverse as Léger, The Italian Renaissance and even the narrative economy of Raymond Carver. Ambiguous narratives connect the work, while the spirit of Rementer’s work, with his familiar high key colors in the paintings, bold decorative patterns and the familiar but odd characters which interact in unexpected and often humorous ways with the surroundings in which Rementer has placed them.  [ Continue reading ]

Recently the fascinating 'The Ghoda Cycle Project' was brought to our attention. The project is a visual document of the myriad avatars of bicycles in the rural and urban landscape of India by Mumbai-based illustrator Sameer Kulavoor, who works under the name Bombay Duck Designs. The linchpin of 'The Ghoda Cycle Project' is to lay emphasis on the framework, structure, decoration and design of the cycles of India. Ergonomically these cycles may not be the best examples of bicycle design, but they have the strength to carry the hopes and aspirations of a big section of the Indian population. No wonder they are called ghoda, which translates to sturdy or durable, cycles. In India basic necessities like cooking gas, milk, bread, newspapers and tiffin are delivered to people's homes on a cycle. And next to this activity, there are the mobile cycle shops that sell, among other things, tea, vegetables, waist-belts, ice-creams, SIM-cards and so on. Bicycles in India are truly multifunctional beyond Western imagination, which is caught perfectly by Kulavoor. [ Continue reading ]