Category Archives: General Info

JibJab’s success continues!

General Info, Illustration Alumni, Illustration Industry, , , , , ,

Illustration Alum Evan Spiridellis passed along this exciting news about the success of JibJab, a site he co-created with his brother, Gregg.

Four years ago we launched ‘This Land’ which, after almost 5 years of hard work, brought us overnight recognition.  Last night we had the honor of world premiering our 2008 election parody on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno!  That was our 12th premiere on the show in the past 4 years and after the west coast airing of the show the video went live on our newly remodeled website.  We have been working hard for the past 9 months redesigning and rebuilding JibJab.com to better reflect who we are as a studio and a company and I couldn’t be happier with the results.

A final bit of news is that the new video contains a Starring You!® component which enables you to cast yourself, friend or family member in the grand finale.  Since we launched Starring You! less than a year ago our audience has created over 12 MILLION heads (which is larger than the population of our home state, New Jersey!)

So, if you have a few minutes please swing by http://jibjab.com and, if you like what we’ve created, share it with your friends.  Or better yet put your friends IN it and then share it!

Bonus:  Here’s a short video about JibJab’s creation.

[vodpod id=ExternalVideo.646157&w=425&h=350&fv=]

Way to go Evan and Gregg–keep up the exciting work!

Display Opportunities in the Illustration Department

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Illustration Students and Faculty Members,

You might notice how fantastic our display cases are looking these days.  That’s thanks in part to Illustration Faculty member Noel Claro, who has taken on the huge task of scheduling exhibitions and shows in the 8th floor lobby.  On display now is:

–an entire case devoted to Frankensteinia, in conjunction with the Illustration Department Summer Reading Project.  Illustration Faculty and Alum Les Kanturek curated this case with fabulous paraphenalia and publications from his own collection.  Check out his Concepts blog for entries about other Frankenstein-related information.

–a case devoted to work by our two newest faculty members: James Gallagher and Isabelle Dervaux.  James will be teaching Digital Presentation and Isabelle will be teaching Senior Thesis.

–two cases devoted to international publications picked up by our full-time faculty members Nora Krug and Ben Katchor, as well as some collected by Steven Guarnaccia, our chair.

–a case full of fascinating current works by current students Zach Zezima and Ana Mouyis.

So of course, you’re wondering: I’m an Illustration faculty member/student!  How do I get my work in those cases?  Look no further.  Instructions for the whole process are after the jump!

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Pictoplasma takes place next weekend!

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Pictoplasma is coming to New York City for the very first time and it’s happening next weekend, Thursday, September 4th through Saturday, September 6th.  Excitingly enough, two Parsons Illustration Alums will be featured speakers–Aaron Stewart and Motomichi Nakamura.  Here’s the official description:

Characters are taking over…

Our visual culture is being taken hostage by a new wave of characters, abstract and reduced to minimal distinguishing graphic features. In the process of a truly explosive movement, they invade digital media, animation, advertising, art, fashion and street art. They playfully quote and remix such diverse phenomena as pop culture, tribal and folklore, brand logos and comics without restricting themselves to any single one of these genres. In such a way, characters speak to observers at an emotional level as well as crossing cultural boundaries.

Starting in 1999 with the world’s first extensive inventory, collection and archive of contemporary character design, the Berlin based Pictoplasma project is defining the shape and velocity of this trend. Besides giving the characters a timeless and worthy manifestation through their acclaimed publications, Pictoplasma has been bringing together a growing international community of designers, artists, critics, producers and fans at their annual conferences in Berlin.

Go here to see the day-by-day program, including Motomichi and Aaron’s talk, which happens on Friday night from 9-11:30 p.m.  Register here!

Pictoplasma NYC
Festival of Contemporary Character Design and Art
September 4th-September 6th
Skirball Center for the Performing Arts
New York University
566 LaGuardia Place at Washington Square South
New York, NY

Work in the Illustration Department!

Current Students, employment, General Info, Interviews, ,

The school year is almost upon us, which means that the Illustration Department is looking for Federal Work-Study students!  This is a great opportunity to work closely with members of the Department and get valuable experience with Photoshop, art installation, and various other exciting areas.  We need people who are reliable, punctual, meticulous, and ready to try new things.  If you have experience and expertise in taking photos, hanging art, working with digital imagery, or website development, you are exactly what we are looking for!

There will be an open interview process on Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons, August 19th and 20th AND Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons, August 26th and 27th.  If you are eligible for Federal Work-Study and are interested in working for us, we invite you to stop by one of these afternoons between 2 and 4 p.m.

Bring a resume and be ready to tell us why you are perfect for the job.  If neither of those dates work for you, make sure you at least email us so we know you are interested in a position.  Working here in the department is a wonderful experience.  It’s a chance to really get involved with departmental events and processe and generally, it’s a great opportunity.

Those dates and times again:

Tuesday, August 19th 2-4 p.m.
Wednesday, August 20th 2-4 p.m.
Tuesday, August 26th 2-4 p.m.
Wednesday, August 27th 2-4 p.m.

Requirements: Current student at Parsons or the New School, a resume, Federal-Work Study eligibility, enthusiasm, high levels of skill, and willingness to learn.

We hope to see you soon!

Guy Billout written up at “Lines and Colors”

General Info, Illustration Faculty, , ,

Charley Parker over at Lines and Colors did a great little write-up about longtime Illustration faculty member Guy Billout.  Here’s a taste:

Like all of those artists, Billout excels at that aspect of art that brings us to a refreshingly different point of view on the world. He lays out a a geometric grid of stillness to quite our minds, and then drops a pebble of irony into the pool, allowing it to gently ripple through our unconscious mind until it dawns on us that, indeed, something’s not quite right here; but not quite right in a most delightful way.

You can read the rest of the article here and then find more of Guy’s work at his own website.

[image by Guy Billout from Wired Magazine]

“Beautiful Losers” screening at Open Space Gallery

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Straight from the Illustration Inbox:

Open Space Gallery in Beacon, NY has the honor of hosting one of the far and few between screenings of the inspirational film “Beautiful Losers.” This film basically features all of our favorite artists such as Barry Mcgee, Margaret Kilgallen, ESPO, Geoff McFetridge, Shepard Fairey, Jo Jackson, Chris Johanson, Harmonie Korine, and many others and focuses on a culture and period of time we find very close to our heart. This film is a must see and once you see it you will leave inspired to make art.

Below are the details for the screening.

Sunday July 20th
6pm to 9pm
The Howland Cultural Center
477 Main Street
Beacon NY

Seating at the Howland is very limited ( about 80 people) so we have set up a place where you can pre purchase tickets to assure that you get a chance to see this amazing film.

Click here to pre purchase tickets

Hope to see everyone at the Howland!

Thanks to Adjunct Faculty Dan Weise for passing along this info!  Also, as a bonus, here’s a trailer for the movie:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JyRAHKTy6hI]

Japanese Illustrators in NY Cre8

Exhibitions, General Info, Illustration Industry, ,

Straight from the Illustration Inbox…

JAPANESE ILLUSTRATORS IN NY Cre8-Vol. 5
NY Coo Gallery
July 9th-July 26th, 2008
Opening Reception : July 11th, 5:00PM-7:30PM

“JAPANESE ILLUSTRATORS IN NY Cre8-vol.5” is the fifth installment of group exhibition presented by Cre8 (pronounced “create”), the Japanese artist management agency established in 1972. The company, which represents over 300 illustrators, acts as a bridge that spans artists and businesses.

In Japan, illustrations can be found in every printed medium – from advertisement and magazines to newspapers and even textbooks. As a result, there is an abundance of work opportunities for illustrators including freelancers.

Illustrations were originally conceived as ways to literally ‘illustrate’ complex matters, ideas and information to make them easier to understand, or see. With advancement of computer graphics and new creative materials, as well as growing popularity of anime and manga, the importance of illustrations as communication medium has increased dramatically in recent years. Today, illustrations, with a seemingly endless array of available creative possibilities, have become the centerpiece of Japanese media culture.

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Parsons Illustration at Comic-con in San Diego!

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Parsons will host a panel at Comic-con in July 2008, featuring Parsons Faculty and alumni in a conversation about how art school, and in particular a Parsons Illustration education, prepares young artists to enter these areas of professional activity. The panel is titled:

“Toys, Comics and Characters: Illustrators as Entertainment Entrepreneurs”
Friday, July 25th, 2008
3:30-4:30 p.m.
Comic-con International
Room 32AB
San Diego Convention Center
111 W. Harbor Drive
San Diego, CA

Faculty and alumni joining us on the panel include: Tara McPherson (Parsons faculty, Vertigo Comics creator), Abby Denson (Alumna and Lulu Award Winning Cartoonist/Author of Tough Love: High School Confidential), Nora Krug (Parsons faculty, BLAB! contributor and internationally published illustrator) and Brian Wood (Parsons alumnus, iconoclastic indie creator of DMZ among other works).  The event will highlight the Illustration department’s curriculum and career paths our alumni have followed, while offering attendees information on Parsons degree programs.

Following the panel will be an alumni reception hosted by New School Alumni Relations.  Alumni attending Comic-con (or located in Southern California) and industry friends are invited to join Parsons faculty and representatives from Alumni Relations and Career Services for refreshments and conversation.  Details to follow!

From the Vault: Cartoons for Peace–The Global Art of Satire

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Nora Krug (Associate Professor in Illustration) passed along this interesting article about revolutionary international cartoons and animations. Here’s a snippet:

In the fabled ‘60s, Japanese students joined the Revolution, rejected the career-track production-line model of education, hit the streets, shut down the national universities. (Many were inspired by manga). Some set about creating their own idealized institution, based on academic and intellectual freedom, autonomy, internationalism: Kyoto Seika University opened in 1968. (Seika may be translated as something like “quintessence”). Yoshitomi signed on. In 1972, after a grueling series of faculty meetings, he finally gained approval (Seika emphasized democratic debate) for setting up a Cartoon Department. Every day of the next academic year, he invited mass media in, to build the department’s profile and challenge his students’ motivation.
…
The Kyoto International Cartoon Exhibition, which Yoshitomi-sensei founded (or commenced conducting) in 1996, exposes Seika students every two years to role models from all over the world, and gives them a wider perspective on the role of cartooning (the 2000 show debuted in the UN headquarters in New York). It creates a priceless accumulation of teaching material, since all submissions remain in the department. And it educates the Japanese general public, revealing that cartoons thrive worldwide as a vital form of expression (serving to “ridicule, inform, and entertain”), and demonstrating beyond all doubt that cartooning is indeed a fine art.

Read the whole write-up here.

Thanks, Nora!

Reminder and Repost: Parsons Illustration Pre-Commencement Reception

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Parsons Illustration Pre-Commencement Reception

This Afternoon–Wednesday, May 14th, 3-5 p.m.

Theresa Lang Student Center

55 W. 13th, 2nd Floor

Graduating Seniors–Bring your family and significant others for a reception featuring:

*Wine by the glassful!
*Snacks including cheese and cookies!
*Live quasi-experimental music!
*Fancy diploma covers!
*Possibly even some tote bags!

This is a great chance to meet up with all your classmates for one last time as Seniors.
Dish with your instructors, present and past.
Introduce everyone to everyone.

Don’t miss it. It is *the* graduation-related event of May, 2008.
All Illustration Faculty and Graduating Seniors are invited.