Category Archives: Randomly Intriguing

NYC Zine Fest

Events, News, Randomly Intriguing, , , , ,

zinefest

NYC Zine Fest ’09

June 27 & 28, 2009

Brooklyn Lyceum, Brooklyn, New York, USA

Makers of Zines, Chapbooks, Affordable artists’ books, Indie ephemera:  all WELCOME and DESIRED!

It’s only $25 for a 4′ table each day ($40 for both days), so if you are inclined to whip up some zines or already have, consider booking–the deadline is May 30th and you get applications here!  If you attend but don’t exhibit (or even if you do), bring lots of dollar bills (zines are usually cheap).  They are also looking for zines, art, gift certificates, etc. for a RAFFLE, either at the Party or the Fest. If you have something to donate, please contact the organizers!

There will also be a FUNDRAISING PARTY at the Brooklyn Lyceum (sneak peak to the venue) on:
Friday, May 29, 2009.
8:00-midnight, $5 – $15 sliding scale.

Call for entries: MINI design competition

Call for Entries, Competitions, Current Students, Illustration Industry, Randomly Intriguing, , ,

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Creative Briefing/Some Tips For You
Reinterpret the topic “MINIMALISM” in an artistic and philosophical way by designing a sheet for the MINI Wall Calendar 2010.

Twelve winning jury-picked designs will become part of the MINI Wall Calendar 2010 that will be available worldwide to celebrate MINIMALISM, MINI environmental initiative.

MINIMALISM is the communicative umbrella for all activities of the MINI Brand, which contribute to reducing CO2 emission and fuel consumption. MINI has made several new advancements designed to reduce environmental impact and increase fuel efficiency. MINIMALISM includes features such as aerodynamically enhanced bodies, low rolling resistant tires, light weight engines, engine stop-start features, brake energy regeneration systems, optimal shift time indicators and electronic power steering systems.

The inspiration for the name came from the Minimalism movement in various forms of art and design, especially visual art and music, where the work is stripped down to its most fundamental features.

For this special competition your designs do not have to work as a background for MINI Space, and they should not include the MINI logo. We will, however, be providing you with official MINI artwork that must be incorporated into every design. You MUST use at least one of the provided images from the “Required Silhouettes” folder. You can tease, stretch, crop, copy, colour, and otherwise alter the artwork image as long as it finds it’s way into your design in some way. It is there to serve as the foundation of your design. We have provided some other design elements that you can use as you like, they are in the “Optional Forms” folder.

Remember to use your space creatively, but this time, think about how your design could work as a stand-alone printed image. Please do not include the month name or numbers in your design. MINI will do that for you after the winners have been chosen.

The MINI Space Team and MINI Design Team will act as the jury and select the twelve winning designs. Only published designs will be awarded.

We are accepting all forms of still media, but for this competition unaltered photos will not be accepted as final designs.

Your name, country of origin, and the title of your design and description of your motive, along with a link to your MINI Space profile will be mentioned in the calendar.

To sum up:
– Create a page for the MINI Wall Calendar 2010 by interpreting the topic MINIMALISM.
– The design can be made out of any type of still media (photographic, illustration, graphic, etc.) as long as you have the rights to all design elements that you use. Remember, unaltered photographs will not be accepted as final designs.
– Designs should work as stand alone designs.
– Check out a sample of what we are looking for here.
– You must include at least one piece of official MINI artwork in your design.
– Do NOT include: Logos, Calendar numbers, Days or months

Technical Specs:
– Your first upload image should be 1280×1075 pixels in size and JPG format.
– If your design gets selected by the MINI Design Team we need your artwork in the following printable format: 500mm × 420mm, 300dpi, eps or psd files.

Prizes:
Top twelve jury prizes: Apple aluminum 13-inch Mac Book 2.0Ghz AND Your Design and credits in print in the MINI Wall Calendar 2010 with a print run of planned 30.000 calendars worldwide.

Deadline:
Upload at least one (and up to 9) designs until the 8th of May 2009, 11:59am GMT.

Go here for ALL the details.

Kid Koala’s “Music To Draw To” in BROOKLYN!

Current Students, Events, News, Performances, Randomly Intriguing, , , ,

koala drawing

1)  LOUD PARTY:  get up! get down!  indoor block party LOUD shake it loose turntable dance party at a concert venue or club in the town. bring your dancing shoes and some smiles and come on down and make some noise.  The NEW YORK LOUD Indoor block party May 3rd at Le Poisson Rouge.

2)  QUIET WORK:  Music to Draw to… soiree.  Our little event from Montreal is going to see the world.  This event will be a little quieter… 5-hour set of quiet time tunes to work to…  Bring your sketchbook, yarn or that lump of clay and come on down and get some work done.  Baked goods will be provided.  uiet people are invited.  o dancing.  $5 bucks includes a free cup of hot chocolate and a pencil.  The NEW YORK “Music to Draw to…” event May 4th in Brooklyn at House of Yes (7pm-midnight)

For more info:

http://nufonia.com/ice-cream-news/loudpartyquietworknewyork/

Quick Hit: Sketch Night at the Bodies exhibit

Current Students, Education, Events, Randomly Intriguing, , , , ,

bodies-sketch-signSKETCH NIGHT program was created to give artists unfettered access to The BODIES galleries in order to explore the possibilities and practice their mastery of human anatomy drawing. SKETCH NIGHTS are held after regular operating hours (7:00 PM – 10:00 PM) allowing artists to set up easels or bring chairs to help facilitate their work. Dry media only.  On April 29th, artist John Cichowski will be our special guest!

Attendance at SKETCH is restricted to artists only. Space is limited.

Artists must arrive at 7:00 PM sharp. Latecomers cannot be accommodated. Group rates (+20) available.

Sketch Nights Spring 2009: Mar. 24, Mar. 31, Apr. 22, Apr. 29, May 14, May 21

Email education@bodiesny.com for more information!

Guest Entry: Roxie Vizcarra at the Pictopia Festival!

Current Students, Events, Exhibitions, Follow Up, Illustration Faculty, Illustration Industry, Randomly Intriguing, Reviews, toys, , , , , , ,

Editor’s Note: This guest entry comes from Illustration Senior Roxie Vizcarra, who participated in the Pictopia/Pictoplasma Festival in Berlin, Germany this past March.

01

When the Illustration Department invited me to help represent them at this year’s Pictopia Festival (part of the acclaimed character design organization Pictoplasma), I was excited to be able to visit a city I’ve never been to, especially one with some much history as Berlin. What I didn’t know at the time was that there couldn’t have been a more perfect location for Pictopia to take place. It’s impossible to go very far without encountering some form of art that incorporates strong character design.

02

I spent a couple of days watching over Parsons’ exhibition, Ugly is Beautiful, at the Collegium Hungaricum, which also featured work by other Pictopia Character Walk artists. The set-up for the show was long and tedious, but in the end it was worth the effort as everything looked fantastic, and I can attest to the fact that most people who came by to have a look were rather impressed by the variety of unique characters Parsons students have to offer.

Continue reading →

The Beats get illustrated!

Education, History, Publications, Randomly Intriguing, , ,

beats

Cory Doctorow over at Boing Boing! recently highlighted The Beats: A Graphic History, which seems like a pretty exciting new book by Harvey Pekar (of American Splendor fame) and a host of others  Here’s a snippet of Cory’s write-up:

The Beats: A Graphic History is everything a radical history should be: critical, admiring, quirky and apologetic. The Beats is largely written by Harvey Pekar and illustrated by Ed Piskor, with a concluding section of more critical, less biographical pieces written and illustrated by a variety of critics and artists, including Nancy J Peters, Tulu Kupferberg, Summer McClinton, Anne Timmons and others.

The opening section consists of Pekar’s biographies of the canonical Beats, Kerouac, Ginsberg, Burroughs, and then onto the less-celebrated members of the scene, including Rexroth, Ferlinghetti, LeRoi Jones, and so forth. These pieces are loving but harsh, sparing their subjects little sympathy for their misdeeds (which are many, ranging from murder and betrayal to vicious misogyny and naive, fleeting affairs with reactionary politics and mysticism). Pekar shows us that a mature person can admire the worthy deeds and art of historical heroes without glossing over their bad acts — or throwing away their art with their sins.

kerouac

Ed Piskor’s Kerouac (seen above) is just a taste of the great illustration included in this volume.  You can pick up your copy here.

Submit your poster idea for Make Music New York!

Call for Entries, cartoons, comics, Competitions, Current Students, Events, Illustration Industry, News, Performances, Randomly Intriguing, , , , , , ,

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Make Music New York, a unique, free outdoor celebration called “the largest music event ever to grace Gotham” (Metro New York), is now accepting proposals for a visual identity and urban intervention for this yearʼs festival, taking place on Sunday, June 21, 2009.

Over the last two years, Parsons students have designed the festivalʼs logo, websites, posters, and advertisements, appearing in Time Out New York, Metro New York, amNewYork, Filter Magazine, and more. This year, we are asking not only for designs to use in the media, but also for a related urban intervention, existing alongside the musicians on June 21st, who will perform on the streets, sidewalks, parks, plazas, and cemeteries of New York.

Please submit very short proposals, of no more than 2 pages (in PDF format), to makemusicny@gmail.com by April 15th. Proposals should have two parts: (1) a sketch of a poster design, and (2) a description of an urban intervention, to take place at a large number of concert locations on June 21st. There is no limit to the number of proposals you can submit.

Shortly after April 15th, the Make Music New York board of directors will choose the most promising proposal, and ask the designer to complete the poster design (by May 15th), and implement the urban intervention (by June 21st).  The chosen designer will receive recognition in our e-newsletter, press release, and websites, credit on the poster, and a check for $350.

ABOUT MAKE MUSIC NEW YORK
• All concerts take place outdoors, at 400+ locations throughout NYC on Sunday, June 21st — the first day of summer. Most musicians perform on sidewalks; many perform in parks; some close off streets.
• Every genre of music is represented, performed by amateurs and professionals of all ages. Last year there were 875 performances by NY Philharmonic musicians, high school rock bands, circuit benders, Beijing Opera companies, big bands, punk bands, bluegrass bands, and more.
• The spirit of the event is free and spontaneous, much like Halloween. Instead of stages with high production values, people just show up and play. See photos at www.makemusicny.org.

mmnyposter2008

ABOUT THE POSTER
• Metro New York will print 50,000 copies of a 4-color, 15″ x 22″ poster on newsprint, and include it in the concert listings as a centerfold.
• Musicians / locations should be able to personalize the poster to promote their concerts — please leave a blank section that can be filled with individual information (see example above–made by Parsons Illustration student Jay Moreno and Nicole Fowler).
• Posters should not lead audiences to expect a particular genre of music. They should be equally suited to classical music, punk rock, jazz, hip hop, etc.
• Posters should have some clear connection with the proposed urban intervention.

ABOUT THE URBAN INTERVENTION
• The intervention should be absurdly cheap.
• It should be present at a large number of MMNY concerts, in both street/sidewalk and park spaces, and should improve the festival experience in some way.
• The intervention should relate to the poster, and tie the various MMNY concerts together visually.
• The intervention can be consistently implemented. (For example, Carlʼs Carpet Warehouse donates 3,000 square feet of red carpet; each musician picks up a piece of carpet on June 20th and uses it as a “stage” on June 21st.) Or it can be a consistent concept, implemented in different ways. (For example, artists in each neighborhood design and weave carpets for their local musicians, with a different color scheme in each borough.) In either case, describe who will carry out the project, and how.
• The intervention should be legal. If youʼre not sure, submit it anyway, along with a backup proposal. Emily Colasacco from the NYC Department of Transportation will go over all submissions and ensure compliance with NYC regulations.

Questions? Email Aaron Friedman at aaron@makemusicny.org.

Good luck!

[Note: Make Music New York pigeon logo by Parsons Illustration student Danielle MacIndoe!]