Category Archives: Illustration Industry

Quick Hit: The Work of John Howard

General Info, Illustration Industry, , ,

bugmen

Bugmen, John Howard

Born in London, John Howard graduated Camberwell School of Art, BA Fine Art (painting).In the ’70s he joined the artists co-op, SPACE at St. Katherines Dock travelling extensively throughout Europe and exhibiting in London, Amsterdam and Berlin . The first one-man show in New York at Belgis Friedel prompted a move and by 1984 a parallel career in illustration had developed. Recipient of many awards including 4 silver, a bronze and a gold medals from the NY and LA Society of Illustrators, his work is included the permanent collections of the Smithsonian, the Library of Congress and the NY MTA. Two years ago he joined the faculties of Pratt and Parsons Universities and for the last ten years has been represented in NY by the Newborn Group (illustration), and Kim Foster Gallery (painting and sculpture).

See more images of his work here.

Illustration Alum & Faculty featured in Society of Illustrators Exhibition

Exhibitions, Illustration Alumni, Illustration Faculty, Illustration Industry, News, , , , , ,
nora for society of illustrators
Gold Medal Winner Nora Krug (Associate Professor, Illustration)

Congratulations go out to Nora Krug on being awarded the Gold Medal by the Society of Illustrators for her illustration work, which is included, along with works by Parsons faculty Steven Guarnaccia and George Bates (who is also an alum) in the Society’s Sequential Category.

 

august wilson by george
George Bates (Illustration Alum and Adjunct Faculty)

 

Here’s the official announcement from the Society:

January 30—February 16, 2008: Kicking off the 50th Anniversary of the ILLUSTRATORS ANNUAL is the Sequential Category of the Annual Exhibition. This juried competition features the best sequential illustrations of the year. This category includes any multi-image project for which a sequence of images is necessary to fully convey an idea or story. Examples include: comic books, art journalism, graphic novels, pre-production art and animation.

steven @ society

Steven Guarnaccia (Illustration Department Chair)


Society of Illustrators
128 East 63rd Street (between Park and Lexington Avenues)
New York, NY 10065
Tel: (212) 838-2560
Fax: (212) 838-2561
E-Mail: info@societyillustrators.org

Illustration Adjunct Faculty Deroy Peraza gets his shot in the Spraygraphic Spotlight

Illustration Faculty, Illustration Industry, Interviews, , , , , ,
marquez-hyperakt

Deroy Peraza, an Illustration alum and faculty member, discussed his business Hyperakt and artistic process with Spraygraphic’s Sprayblog back in January. Here’s an excerpt:

SG: Describe your working process when creating a new work.

DP: There’s two answers to that. The creative process and the pragmatic process. The trick is getting the two to get along.
On the creative side, there are always some vague ideas floating around in my head that are waiting to get matched with the right project. They are usually inspired by something I saw, read or heard somewhere, and tend to be unfinished fragments that don’t really mean anything until they are activated by a concept. But all of that is bullshit without answering some very basic, practical questions first:
1. What does it need to do?
2. Who needs to get it?
3. Why?
Whether the work is personal or commercial, print or interactive, 2d or 3d, the same questions apply. I need to be able to define what I’m trying to do concisely in one statement before creating anything. Otherwise, I feel lost. Like most things in my life, the process of creating any work is one of structured chaos.

SG: What kind of things do you do when you get blocked or find it hard to create something?

DP: Ask for help. One of the great things of working in a collaborative environment, with people I like and respect, is that I can ask them for help. Everybody gets stuck sometimes. Whether your brain forgot to power up that day or whether you’ve been working on something for so long that you’ve been blinded to reality, there’s nothing like a little perspective from your peers for a reality check. At Hyperakt, we don’t really have the luxury of letting a project sit around waiting for brilliant ideas, so we tag team on them when we get stuck. We’ll just trade projects and hit reset. Its a practice that is not easy to learn. It requires putting the ego aside, and trusting your baby to someone else. Both are hard. Other than that, there’s the usual. I dig for inspiration in our library or on the web. I go for a walk. I try to travel as much as possible. I’m also very competitive, so nothing fires me up more than seeing good work from the competition.

Read the rest of Deroy’s interview here!

From the Vault: Illustration/Animation Used in United Commericals

From the Vault, General Info, Illustration Industry, , ,

For such a large corporate company, United Airlines is using animation to create some unconventional advertisements. I rustled up an old USAToday article with this quote,

Why drawings? “We really wanted a unique look and feel, and that’s how we hit on the animation and illustration,” says Alex Leikikh, group account director at Fallon Worldwide, the agency that created the ads.

Here’s one of the (award-winning) spots called, “The Meeting,” created by Wendy Tilby and Amanda Forbis :

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nU5DasW5nUY&rel=1]

You can see other spots at United’s website and read an article/analysis of the ad-series in the Slate archives.

Early Notice: Splat: A Graphic Novel Symposium, featuring R. Sikoryak

Events, Illustration Alumni, Illustration Faculty, Illustration Industry, News, , , , , ,

splat

Among a host of others, Illustration Adjunct Faculty and Alum Bob Sikoryak will be taking part in Splat: A Graphic Novel Symposium. Here’s the official scoop:

SPLAT! A Graphic Novel Symposium will take place on Saturday, March 15
at the New York Center for Independent Publishing (NYCIP) in
Manhattan, with keynote speaker Scott McCloud. The NYCIP is a
non-profit educational program (part of the General Society of
Mechanics and Tradesmen) dedicated to promoting and supporting
independent publishers across the United States.

Graphic novels are becoming increasingly popular, creating a
groundswell of excitement and interest. Addressing the graphic
novel’s considerable impact on the public consciousness, the SPLAT!
Symposium, organized by the NYCIP, will provide an intensive
educational forum for the publishing community, educators, librarians,
and people eager to find out more about the comics universe. It will
also supply prospective creators with a unique opportunity to learn
what it takes to be a graphic novelist.

The conference will feature a number of movers and shakers from the
graphic novel world, including: Scott McCloud (Zot! and Making
Comics); Jim Killen (Barnes and Noble); David Saylor (Scholastic),
Raina Telgemeier (The Baby-Sitters Club), Ted Rall (Attitude), CB
Cebulski (Marvel Comics); Bob Mecoy (Bob Mecoy Literary Agency); R.
Sikoryak (The Seduction of Mike); Nick Bertozzi (The Salon); and
Charles Brownstein (CBLDF).

SPLAT will consist of three different tracks of panels, seminars, and
workshops designed for the publishing industry, would-be creators, and
librarians to be followed by the SPLAT Gala Reception. The first track
will feature panels, including “Who Reads Graphic Novels?” and “How to
Get Published;” the second track will consist of hands-on workshops
such as “Storytelling” and “Where to Start with Art;” and the final
library-oriented track will include seminars on “Using Anime & Manga
to Light the Fire in Your Young Adult Collection” and “Defending Your
Graphic Novel Collections from Challenges and Censorship.”

The cost of the day-long Symposium will be $125; this will include
lunch and the Gala Reception with the keynote speaker, Scott McCloud.

Spread the word and catch this great event if you can. More information about registration can be found here and a complete breakdown of the panels can be found here. Don’t miss it!

SPLAT
NYCIP, The General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen
20 West 44th Street, New York City. For more
212-764-7021
nycip@nycip.org.

Quick Hit: Illustration Alum in show at Cinders Gallery

Exhibitions, Illustration Alumni, Illustration Industry, News, , , ,

Illustration alum Keren Richter (whose wonderful work has been recently featured in the Illustration Department display cases as part of the Jordin Isip-curated show “Expatriates”) is part of a group show at Cinders Gallery in Brooklyn, called “Brevity’s Rainbow.”  Here’s an excerpt from the curator’s note:

Nothing against Christo and Jean Claude, but art isn’t meant to be big grand flourishes of orange gates. And really, I love Olafur, and huge waterfalls under the great bridges of New York are really cool, but art is supposed to be an intimate affair.

Which is why I asked some of my favorite artists and some of my best friends to interpret the idea of the Lilliputian and the temporal, the specks of dust that make up the world, the fleeting moments of pleasure and pain. I wanted the artists to bend over their workbenches and canvases and get inside of their tiny artworks. I wanted to freeze a moment so you could all lean in, get our faces right up next to the artwork, as close as you can possibly get, and see a tiny beautiful thing.

I wanted to make a galaxy of tiny art, a prismatic assemblage of little moments: this is Brevity’s Rainbow.

If you’re in the New York area, make sure you check it out. Congrats to Keren on her work!

Brevity’s Rainbow
A Group Show of Tiny Works
February 8th – February 17th 2008
Opening Reception Friday Feb. 8th 2008
Curated by Maxwell Williams

Marshall Arisman Moderates Illustration–a panel discussion

Events, Illustration Industry, , , , , ,
illustration night

Marshall Arisman will moderate a panel on Illustration featuring Nathan Fox, Sam Weber, Eddie Guy, and Yuko Shimizu. The official write-up reads:

For over five decades illustrators have produced a single image to illuminate an author’s text. Illustration is changing. What are illustrators today saying through their work? Are illustrators making a contribution that other art forms do not? Is illustration relevant? Can illustration be a vehicle for personal vision? Join us for a stimulating evening of words and pictures that explore the possibilities of an illustrator becoming an author of their own work.

Personal Vision
Thursday, February 7th, 2008
Katie Murphy Amphitheater at FIT
27th Street and 7th Avenue, NYC
7-8:30 p.m.
Students with valid ID = $5

Ray Hooper is interviewed on Spraygraphic

Illustration Faculty, Illustration Industry, Interviews, , , ,
ray hooper card

Our fine friends over at Spraygraphic Sprayblog caught up with Parsons Illustration Adjunct Faculty Ray Hooper, who has taught Type in the department for some time and who has branched into the world of greeting cards with his company, Ray Hooper Designs. Here’s an excerpt:

SG: Can you tell us a little about your business, Raymond Hooper Design, LLC.

RH: We design Greeting Cards, Appointment Books, Journals, etc. My company is a year old this month and after a year of building a staff and inventory we had our first sales last month. We are trying to appeal to people who are both sophisticated about art and design and don’t necessarily need someone else to write their sentiments. As a result many of our cards have very terse messages on the inside or none at all. A number of our cards are blank note cards with photographs, illustrations or just some kind of graphic on the front.

SG: Where has your work been seen?

RH: The books in book stores and museums across the country. The cards, so far, only at trade shows and in trade publications.

SG: Where will it be seen next?

RH: Trade shows in Atlanta, San Francisco and Seattle. Card stores in North Carolina, Texas, Washington state and upstate New York.

SG: What is your dream art assignment?

RH: No such thing. It’s a joy making my living designing.

SG: What is your favorite color?

RH: I like them all.

Make sure you read the rest of Ray’s interview here and check out his designs here.

Internship Fair at Parsons on January 31st

Events, Illustration Industry, Internships, , , , , , , ,

internship fair

Parsons Internship Fair!
January 31st, 2008
10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
T. Lang Center, 55 W. 13th, 2nd Floor

50 + businesses at Parsons’ largest internship fair ever! Employers include Target, Gucci, Cooper-Hewitt, BCBG Maxazria, Bloomingdale’s, Abercrombie & Fitch, Mad Magazine, Sesame Workshop, and many more.

Bring your resume!