Idea Painter - Nikki Farquarson

Randomgotbeautiful.com by Nikki Farquarson



In our world of vintage-this and vintage that, I am always impressed with what elevates from the sameness. A recent post on the site THECOOLHUNTER.COM featured the illustrations of Nikki Farquarson, but she is much more than a mere illustrator with and undeniably fresh look - she is what I call a idea painter - visualizing new expressions out of most any material, regardless of any rules or limitations. I especially like her work on the site RANDOMGOTBEAUTIFUL.COM and her type which is hand executed.



Reminiscent of textbook cover doodles, Nikki's illustration demonstrates a rare gift today - a distinctive and authentic style that although influenced from the past, delivers newness. Call it collage, retro doodles or craft, I believe her work is nothing but pure genius because it takes me to an entirely new place, visually.

The technocolor world of Steven Wilson

"What Happened to the Future? 2008 © Steven Wilson

UK artist/illustrator/designer Steven Wilson has somehow managed to keep off of my radar, but just like many of the planets hottest creatives, he has already designed for global clients like Coke and Nike. His unique imagery takes the omnipresent vector and ornament look to a new level. I even must say that some of his earlier work ( the outline imagery below from 2005) is even more fresh feeling. The perfect example of creativity today as mash art. 80's, 90's, photography, RGB images, gradations, ornament, and a hefty dose of style make Steven's work incredibly new feeling. It's work like this that makes me want to design again. Invigorate yourself with the following from his portfolio.

Cross Influencing - Creatives share to achieve new expressions.

As one who is frequently called upon to craft exciting experiences at corporate events, I was so pleasantly surprised to run across one of the kings of event design's new blog, New York's David Stark. As someone who continually is hungry for creative experiences that deliver high impact, David's work also is documented on his blog in a most unique and refreshing way - with the influence that inspired his project.

How rare it is, to see both the result and the original idea, in fact, David also shows the process, the presentation boards he has created to sell the idea to the non-visual, the client. Believe me, often brilliant ideas slink away once presented to the 'committee' for whatever even one is planning. Hooray for David, and look at the results!
The Party in the Garden at MOMA was inspired by David Starks passion for Marimekko and Liro A Ahoka's pattern, below. Digital meets green, with a retro splash.

Iiro A. Ahokas designed pattern for Marimekko. Iiro himself is an interesting talent in his own right, with a degree in glass and ceramics and as a designer for Marimekko, he also is an artist and a designer, certainly one with a bright future.
A pattern by designer Iiro A. Ahokas for Marimekko
Iiro A. Ahokas, designer

David's design for the America's Society Gala last month in New York City, is an excellent example of how he shares his influence. How many times are we challenged by trying to communicate a cliche? Image such themes as globalism, or being global, or "reaching for the stars". How innovative can we be? But look at what Davids team created with postcards from all over the world.

It is always about light, color and atmosphere first, I say. THen, the big thing....whatever it is ( the big weenie in my Disney days- a castle, a spinning globe, a giant tree- whatever, as long as it is huge, dynamic and makes people go WOW)/ Here, it manifests itself as giant of giant chandeliers, made out of postcards from all over the world. Talk about being global without showing a spinning globe, and it is beautiful, stunning and goosebump material. I want to go to the event.


David was inspired by the recent windows at Bergdorf Goodman in New York City where the window displays were constructed with thousands of Post-it notes, to create a pixelated picture. (I'm sure a bit of artist Chuck Close was added too!).

I get to use ø - Tank Design

There are other reasons for me to want to visit Tromsø, Norway ( their famous botanic garden and alpine plants), but after seeing the work of TANK, I now have another. Tank Design was founded in 1999 and now has staff in both Oslo and Tromsø. I am so impressed with their design, that I am sharing it in a new series where I will share my "dream list" of firms I find impressive for one reason or another, mostly for their visual work.

Just look at what the talented creatives at Tank Design have done with packaging graphics for both a water company, and a Beer Brewery. Outstandingly elegant, and fresh.

UNDIFFERENTIATION Syndrome

I'm starting to believe that most people, when given the challenge of choosing something new, or something familiar, default to what is familiar. SO I have this theory - one which is not unlike the current trend of overusing antibacterial soap with the hope that one is eliminating germs and virus', while the germs and virus' mutate at a faster rate, becoming immune to the antibacterial soap.

Stay with me now....

In our over-designed world, where little seems new, visually, the problem may be greater than many of us believe. I've noticed that as I present new designs that are more original, they rarely are selected, while the more cliche solutions are often the winner. This safer choice seems to reassure people who I believe are growing dangerously immune to the idea of NEW. Fearful of anything different, are people growing conservative in our unstable financial world? Or does anything NEW seem strange since we rarely encounter ANYTHING original any more? For that matter, is originality, itself becoming extinct?

Familiar = safe
Original = risky

We can't be familar and risky, and we cannot be Original and safe.


Obviously, people want what is familiar to them. Any brand that can ride the coattails of an established concept instantly can be endowed with a particular identity. We hear it all the time. ‘How very Starbucks-y” “Hey, That ad was so Ikea”, “Those Macy ads are looking alot likeTarget”. Copycat design and homage design can only go so far, at the end of the day, these trends signify a despartate uncertainty that our global visual culure is reaching a point of slow development, but this has happened before.
For thousands of years, human cultures have grown, flourished and died, but generally, not without first having their effects on other cultures. Think about the connection between text today as we know it and the Romans... architecture today and the Greeks... China and cuisine... Italy and music. The lists are long and the influences are complex, but undeniably, influences are there and we’re working with them every single day.
Visual and artistic culture often develops towards idealism eventually reaching a zenith, often right after a period of contradiction, then flamboyant expression (such as the Italian Renaissance or Victorian architecture), and then eventually exhausting itself once it has exercised a full range of possibilities. Most cultures then enter a long period of undifferentiation. It all sounds a bit like today, doesn’t it?

Olympic Torch Evolution

The New York Times article on the design on the olympic torch over the years is fascinating. ( Via core 77 ), is worth reading, if only for the images. I can only imagine how many people are involved in approving such designs, ( an we think we have it bad!). In design, new isn't always best - but sometimes, it is. Evolution, sometimes can be subjective - or stunning.

BEYOND TREND - the Book: Now at your local bookstore, worldwide

OK, it's not about plants, but it is about design!

I think what is most different about this book, is that this is the book I wanted to buy. This is a book about trends, about the future of design, written not by a marketer, or a business person, but by a designer - a creative's vision on why the future is so hard to design.

It's not negative, it's optimistic ( for creative people). Basically, it's easy today for ANYONE to call themselves a designer, heck, they can buy a computer, buy the software to design a logo, and buy the fonts, and the best thing is, the computer comes with all of the colors you would every need!


At Home Depot, on a Saturday morning, young house mates choose color palettes themselves, to design their own space. On TV, reality shows pit everyday people in designing against each other, DIY has become a trend, and design is suffering for it. Design today is trivialized, diluted, and yet, it has never been in such demand by big-business.

Mass retail now knows that 'Design sells', Target and competitor, Wal Mart know the secret, heck, we are even fooled and challenge ourselves to identify the differences between a TV commercial from JC PEnny, Sears and Target - they all start to look the same.....so what's next? And Is there a next? Or, can there always be a new 'next
?

Those are the sort thoughts that keep designers up at night, and this is what my book BEYOND TREND is all about.

Please consider picking it up, you might enjoy the 200 pictures, or the quick and hopefully, easy read!


Thanks


BEYOND TREND - How To Innovate In An Over-Designed World by Matt Mattus hit's the shelves in bookstores and your fav. online book stores from Borders to Amazon to Barnes and Noble in the States, to Kinokuniya in Japan, and Asia, David and Charles in the UK, and, well, it seems most major retailers from Wal Mart to Target. ( eeek ).

A little more about BEYOND TREND.

I was asked by the publishers of ID magazine, HOW magazine and PRINT magazine, F & W Publications ( also the publishers of HORTICULTURE now, strangely enough!) to write a book about design trends and the future of design, something that I speak about at design conferences, and what I do, at Hasbro, as a Visual Brand Strategist.

The result, this little hardcover book with over 200 color images of everything from Sir Norman Foster's architecture to Zaha Hadid's renderings for the 2012 Olympics to Hand bag designer Kate Spade and everything in between. Visual design today is becoming boring, as is gardening, I must say. We live in a world where we are obsessed with the idea of 'New', and trends seem to come and go faster than ever before. As a trend hunter, I was being asked, "what is next?", and after traveling the world, I had to say " not much". But that was not the entire story.

BEYOND TREND examines my journey through this realization of discovery. As I edited the visual sameness searching for the next, hot color. What I discovered surprised me. Maybe you will find the read and the visual ride exciting too.