Firstly, I was surprised that Rose looked very normal, in a kind of shy librarian sort of way; nothing like the ironic xmas sweater and glasses type I was expecting. Shame on me for my stereotyping. Best of all she opened by admitting that she can't draw - obviously she can but she certainly fits into that exclusive group of honest and modest designers, along with David Pearson and Si Scott. This is a personality trait that cannot be faked and should not be underestimated.
So to her work. Despite my reservations regarding contemporary illustration, there is something I really like about some of her stuff, especially her depiction of Gilbert & George playing volleyball with a tomato on top of a kebab:
I guess it appeals to my love of the surreal, and Gilbert & George of course. I also liked her illustration depicting a visit to a Henry Moore exhibition, in part because I like Henry Moore's stuff:
Some of her work for No Brow was very generic, looking just like about a quarter of last year's degree show (and the year before), but at least that is only one of her styles. She also showed an example of an illustration that was used repeatedly on the BBC website, earning her around £3000. Not bad at all and perhaps a reason why I should never say that I am definitely not an illustrator - surely I can knock out some of this naive stuff too, even if I do it *choke* ironically. Isn't it all ironic anyway?
Rose does quite a lot of editorial illustrations and some of these have been commissioned by The Independent and even The New York Times. Her work for the latter reminds me very much of Maira Kalman, which may be why they commissioned her in the first place.
Rose does quite a lot of editorial illustrations and some of these have been commissioned by The Independent and even The New York Times. Her work for the latter reminds me very much of Maira Kalman, which may be why they commissioned her in the first place.
I was also delighted to hear that she had designed a bunch of t-shirts based on Robyn Hitchock songs. I have a soft spot for his unique brand of lyrical madness - who wouldn't love The Cheese Alarm?
Illustration aside, Rose had her fingers in a couple of other interesting pies. Firstly she is involved in a collective called This Is It, that started out with a 'zine (like Artshole perhaps?) and now makes mental art films. These look like fun projects to be involved in, providing a bit of a break from drawing while keeping the creative juices flowing. I think it is important to occupy yourself with a range of creative pursuits outside of design.
Finally she showed us her Studio Music project. This is a simple website that lists what famous designers (and Kevin Spacey!) listen to while they work. It's an interesting project in itself but more than that it has opened a lot of doors for Rose - she has made some serious contacts in the design world off the back of it and continues to build on it. A very clever marketing ploy and not half as cynical or calculated as most of these kind of things seem to be these days.
As with all decent people, I wish Rose Blake every success!
Illustration aside, Rose had her fingers in a couple of other interesting pies. Firstly she is involved in a collective called This Is It, that started out with a 'zine (like Artshole perhaps?) and now makes mental art films. These look like fun projects to be involved in, providing a bit of a break from drawing while keeping the creative juices flowing. I think it is important to occupy yourself with a range of creative pursuits outside of design.
Finally she showed us her Studio Music project. This is a simple website that lists what famous designers (and Kevin Spacey!) listen to while they work. It's an interesting project in itself but more than that it has opened a lot of doors for Rose - she has made some serious contacts in the design world off the back of it and continues to build on it. A very clever marketing ploy and not half as cynical or calculated as most of these kind of things seem to be these days.
As with all decent people, I wish Rose Blake every success!
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