Keep the Faith: Illustrators for Haiti

4 February 2010 // Filed under Commando Group

To celebrate its reopening Humac invited four illustrators for a friendly showdown at the Nobel Peace Center on Friday 29. January. The illustrators who participated in this collaborative event, were Jon Burgerman, Robin Snasen Rengård, Jimmy Andersson, and Bjørn from Commando Group. In four hours the four illustrators swapped four illustrations four times to produce four unique art prints which is to be auctioned for Haiti relief. The chosen themes for the illustrations were: Faith, Hope, Love, and Help. The signed prints are up for bids now on the Humac site.

Above is the first stage of the illustration by Bjørn themed ”Faith” before it was passed on further. Below are some of the different stages of the other illustrations and photographs from the event.

Photos: Our good friend Mona Ødegård

 ::  Share or discuss  ::  2010-02-04  ::  bjorn

The Smell of Thunder

21 January 2010 // Filed under Commando Group

Sketches for the “Ugress” gardening column in D2 magazine. The article was about the use and preparation of a fermented brew of stinging nettle (Urtica dioica) for fertilizing, and the olfactory experience thereof – which is apparently very manly, indeed. Hence the connection with the most virile member of the gods, namely Thor, God of Thunder. (The final illustration can be seen here.)

Below are the two original scans before they were mashed together in Photoshop. The watercolour of Thor worked quite well on its own terms, but it needed some extra “pop” to stand out in the magazine lay-out. The original watercolour was pushed to the limits colorwise, and for some reason or other, it did not fall apart… 

 ::  Share or discuss  ::  2010-01-21  ::  bjorn

Plush Kamenatt

15 January 2010 // Filed under Commando Group + analogue + design

This plush was created for my nephew Timian when he was born. Kamenatt is awake at night. Kamenatt is very kind. Kamenatt looks scary, but it is just to chase away imaginary animals that might be in the room. Kamenatt has a magical tail that plays Brahms Lullaby and whisk away the imaginary animals. Kamenatt is Timians buddy. Check also out Plush Alenei

1 comment  ::  Share or discuss  ::  2010-01-15  ::  pie

Mack Dark Season Beer

11 January 2010 // Filed under Commando Group

By appointment of our friends in the north; Tank Design in Tromsø, we have illustrated the frieze on top of Mack breweries redesigned seasonal beer. Spring, summer and autumn beer has been launched successively throughout 2009, ending with the “Dark Season Beer” (shown below) which will be on sale until March. The four friezes follows a typical northern Norwegian landscape through shifting weather and changing seasons. We have tried to stay as truthful as possible to life up North – which explains the absence of polar bears, but according to what we hear, the “Dark Season Beer” has nevertheless been selling well since its release in October.

1 comment  ::  Share or discuss  ::  2010-01-11  ::  bjorn

Illuminating the Invisible

21 December 2009 // Filed under Commando Group + analogue + illustration + sketches

We were appointed by D2 magazine to do the illustrations for a cover story on perfume.

On our first meeting I presented these sketches – pastels on coloured paper. Although well received, there were expressed concerns about the “crudeness” of the sketches – admittedly, there was a certain “art-schoolish” flair to them (which I thought were rather funny, at the time). Moreover, the editors wanted to show perfumes through the decades – as well as celebrity endorsement – thus establishing a need for a historical take on the subject.

This was the last shot at a typical still life rendering with pastels on coloured paper.

With the new brief in mind, I searched vintage perfume ads for inspiration – particularly the eminent work of  still-so-fresh fashion illustrator Rene Gruau (1909-2004).

After some tinkering, it became obvious that pastels on coloured paper were not going to give the contemporary shtick we were looking for. There was clearly a need for an edge, which (quite literally) led to the addition of paper cutting. Confident that the combination of scissor sharp shapes and natural textures would do the trick, I  proceeded to make some more elaborate sketches.

First coloured cut-outs: A bottle of  L’Eau d’Issey by Issey Miyake and a pretty Mitsouko-inspired face. Further down some tests with watercolour-blotches.

Sketches for the perfumes of the 80’s, drawing inspiration from the cut-out style of Grace Jones’ album art and quintessential 80’s artist Patrick Nagel.

As things go, the brief eventually changed – uncomfortable with the retrospective angle, the journalists dropped the initial idea, turning to the “here and now” of perfumery instead. This was a brilliant move – definitely all for the better – but it meant that I had to do some serious rethinking and also had to scrap most of what I had done so far. The illustrations would now focus solely on the experience of smelling and applying perfume, which opted for a much more contemplative, uncluttered design.

Below are the last sketches, many of which can be seen in the final editorial. It was particularly interesting to depict men smelling perfume, without being overly effeminate. Furthermore, all the perfume bottles from the different perfume houses had to move away from the front seat in order to give the single page illustrations enough breathing space. To see them up close: Click here.

2 comments  ::  Share or discuss  ::  2009-12-21  ::  bjorn

Tree Kings

16 December 2009 // Filed under Commando Group + analogue + design

The birch veneer rack made for Cathrine Kullberg’s Christmas mini lampshades is now standing on the sales desk of Vitra’s Norwegian concept store. Quite flattering actually, as they very seldom sell non-Vitra products. Big up to Cathrine!  (The mini lampshades are a great tip for a last minutes Christmas gift by the way.)

 ::  Share or discuss  ::  2009-12-16  ::  maria

Felt Like Teen Spirit

11 December 2009 // Filed under Commando Group + analogue + design

The new wrapping paper just arrived from the printers, and we are very happy. The print is inspired by the Flanellograf, once state of the art technology for storytelling in the kindergarten, and (surprisingly) still on the market. The pattern is colorful and naive, and suitable for any gift. Get it at Hunting Lodge.

 ::  Share or discuss  ::  2009-12-11  ::  pie

Sketches for a Treehouse Pattern

4 December 2009 // Filed under Commando Group + analogue + illustration + sketches

First sketches for a new textile pattern made for Mette Møller. Inspiration is drawn from the 50’s song book “Syng med Barna” (Sing with the Children) and this strange little poem: Den som er liten og ikkje fer sove, han kan gå i skogen og byggja seg ei stove, ospelauv og bjørkelauv det skal han ha til tak, oksekjøt og kveitebrød det skal han ha til mat, i si vesle stove. (The little one who can’t sleep, he can go out in the woods and build a cabin. He can use leaves from birch and aspen for roof, and eat beef and white bread.) The pattern is built over children’s treehouses, at the same time constructed and organic, and made with great visions and hope for the future. A further developed version of the treehouse pattern will appear in Mette Møllers summer 2010 collection.

 ::  Share or discuss  ::  2009-12-04  ::  maria

Designers Christmas Fair

1 December 2009 // Filed under illustration

Cecilie is again attending “Designernes Eget Julemarked” (Designers Christmas Fair) at DogA, and this year she also illustrated the invitation. She will be selling her calendars, prints, jewellry, and even mustaches. The fair is this weekend, 5th and 6th of December, and a perfect place to by unique christmas presents. If you are not in Oslo, you can order through her Etsy shop. Happy shopping!

 ::  Share or discuss  ::  2009-12-01  ::  maria

Bugs – Colour Test

30 November 2009 // Filed under Commando Group + design + illustration + sketches + unpublished

Click on the picture to enlarge it

 ::  Share or discuss  ::  2009-11-30  ::  maria