31 May 2010 // Filed under Commando Group + design + illustration
Here are some brand new pattern samples Cecilie ordered from Spoonflower Inc in the USA. The company specializes in digitally printed D.I.Y. fabric designs. If you are looking for an unique pattern for your next tote, skirt or scarf, please let us know!
:: Share or discuss :: 2010-05-31 :: bjorn
25 May 2010 // Filed under Commando Group + illustration + sketches + unpublished
Preliminary sketches for an illustrated house style for fresh and daring market research company Moods Research. Using guerilla ethnography and triangulation we are confident that they will uncover new territory yet unseen by man.
3 comments :: Share or discuss :: 2010-05-25 :: bjorn
11 May 2010 // Filed under Commando Group + Photography
Big up and congratulations to Mr. Chris Harrison who has entered into a long term agreement with Wilfa to shoot their products. They ran a very smooth and professional selection process, and here are the test pictures that sealed the job for our fav Jarra lad.
:: Share or discuss :: 2010-05-11 :: nico
2 May 2010 // Filed under Commando Group + analogue + illustration + sketches
Some sketches for the “Ugress” gardening column in D2 magazine. The article was basically about composting, and the odour challenges thereof. The composition was really simple, meaning everything had to rely on a clear and strong pose. Bottom: The final illustration, which also can be seen in full colour here.
:: Share or discuss :: 2010-05-02 :: bjorn
26 April 2010 // Filed under Commando Group + illustration
This illustration was for an article on Hollywood hair. I wanted to do something with the huge wavy hair style of the lustrous bombshells of the Golden Age, and used the (very platinum indeed) Veronica Lake for reference. I decided upon a monochrome look, and gave the face and the trees a slightly washed out look, to bring more sheen and volume to the hair. For the background I added some palm trees from the Sunset Boulevard.
Above: For reasons unknown, there was a moment of frenzy after the first sketch.
:: Share or discuss :: 2010-04-26 :: bjorn
22 April 2010 // Filed under Commando Group + Photography
Marius has shot the staff of Liberty for the May issue of i-D magazine. Check out his other groupshots of shopkeepers here. Shopkeepers of London, Unite!
:: Share or discuss :: 2010-04-22 :: nico
16 April 2010 // Filed under Commando Group + analogue + design
Invitations for the spring 2010 press release at Star-PR’s showroom.
:: Share or discuss :: 2010-04-16 :: maria
12 April 2010 // Filed under Commando Group + Photography
The new Arena Homme + summer/autumn 2010 issue is now out on the streets, with Marius’ pictures in it. The magazine is a must for the modern man, run out and buy it. See the rest of Marius’ photos here.
:: Share or discuss :: 2010-04-12 :: maria
24 March 2010 // Filed under Commando Group
This is the story of how an idea went from Jane Austen to Little Bo-Peep and back again, and how almost everything got lost in the process.
The theme for the gardening column in D2 was titled “Hyrdelandskap” or “Shepherd’s landscape”. I though it’d be quite nice to use the title quite literally, and did some sketches of victorian girls with bonnets and shepherd’s staffs in pastoral landscapes. Infused with a twist of goth sensibility I thought it would make for an interesting illustration.
An interesting reference is the Lolita fashion style, which has an immense following in Japan. It has nothing to do with Nabokov’s Lolita, but refers rather to Victorian clothing, and porcelain dolls in particular. This makes the wearer look like an upscaled puppet, as all details seems kind of oversized.
During the research however, I ran into Little Bo-Peep from the nursery rhyme. I was struck by the naive earnestness of the illustrations from the children’s books, and decided to do a fully fledged, oatmeal eating, milk drinking shepherdess.
I was doing the last touches on the illustration, when I realized that I in a haze of jolly stupor had eradicated everything remotely interesting in the original idea. It seemed as if the whole thing had traveled across the Atlantic and crashed in a barn in the Midwest, and what was worse: I hadn’t seen it coming! I had to scrap everything and start all over again.
Below: The inspiration from the Bo-Peep charachter in Toy Story is apparent, but is not translated to anything useful OR intersting. The illustration isn’t going anywhere. To the right: The evil face of despair.
Fast rewind to Bleak House and Pride and Prejudice. Panic was imminent as the deadline crawled closer. What I needed was some real british gloom, and I felt that heavy rain and dark clouds would put the illustration back on track again. Hoping it was possible to get into a state of “method illustration”, I put Wuthering heights by Kate Bush on repeat, cranked the volume to eleven, and proceeded to draw some new sketches. For the rainy weather I looked at Japanese woodblock prints for inspiration.
I selected (what I thought was) the best composition for the final illustration (above right, second from the top). All the main elements were done separately, and I tried to piece the whole thing together as best as I could in Photoshop.
Below: All the scanned elements before being assembled in Photoshop.
The illustration ended up as mumbo jumbo of lost and found ideas, failing to reach its potential. I cannot truly say I like the final result, but I have nevertheless kept it in the portfolio. As an illustration it is rather contrived and weak – yet I think it has something to it. To sum it up: In a herd of bright ideas, the black ones stand out. End of story.
To see the final illustration, click here.
:: Share or discuss :: 2010-03-24 :: bjorn
16 March 2010 // Filed under Commando Group + illustration
The leading Norwegian culture and design blog Kjeft a! invited 10 visual artists to do posters for their 3 year anniversary party (which eventually also turned out to be their farewell party). The posters were exhibited at Blå on the night of the party. The colours allowed to be used were the primary colours and black. The theme, or title, for each poster had to be picked from a selection of strange internet searches leading to the Kjeft a! blog. Bjørn chose “Subcultures in Bulgaria”, and set forth to do some trashy Balkan-pop art inspired by chalga (or Pop Folk). Typical chalga lyrics goes like this: “Oh, Tiger, Tiger. If you have money, if you have money, beautiful women. Oh, Tiger, Tiger. If you don’t have money, if you don’t have money… old ladies.” Below are some of the sketches. To see the final illustration click here.
:: Share or discuss :: 2010-03-16 :: bjorn
