You may have noticed an animated Carphone Warehouse advert by Kristofer Ström featuring the track ‘Hitchhikers Choice’ by Minilogue. If so here is a different video Ström created for Minilogue for the original release of the track back in 2006. You can view more of his work here.
I love these sleeves designed for Parisian jazz-house label Circus Company. Unfortunately I can’t find any mention of who illustrated them but you can check out the label website here.
On Saturday I visited London’s newest art gallery Chapter One. When I found out some of Stefan Marx’s brilliant illustrations where on display as part of the ‘Genesis’ exhibition, I had to see them. Other artists in the exhibition include Mike Swaney, Erosie, Merijn Hos, Samuel Francois and Mudwig Dans – some of whom exhibit for the first time in London. I was impressed by Dutch artist Erosie’s Horror Vacui paintings, check his blog here.
Stefan Marx
Merijn Hos
Erosie Horror Vacui
Apple has recently launched a slick new Magic Mouse and it’s top of my shopping list. It works using the same multi-touch technology as the iPhone (the mouse is essentially one button). You can also scroll around a full 360 degrees by dragging your finger in a particular direction and at last Apple have removed the small scrolling ball which is forever getting jammed up with dust. Full details here.
I had to write a post about German illustrator Stefan Marx. I first discovered his work when I stumbled across Hamburg house label Smallville Records, who Marx illustrates for. His artwork mainly consists of romantic landscapes and peculiar characters who portray the world as Marx sees it. His record sleeves capture everything from nightclub scenes of primal hedonism to smiling mountains and aeroplanes. You can view more of Stefan’s work via his blog here.
My friends and I have finally got round to organizing the next Coma party in Maidstone which I’m much looking forward to. For the new flyer design I have stuck to the original dark and minimal theme (see earlier post), only this time I have decided to use a photograph instead of a drawn geometric shape. I have used quite an abstract picture of a sea urchin which I’m sure must be a first for a club flyer! I like the idea some people will not recognize the urchin and will wonder what it is.
This artwork was designed for my own monthly music event in Maidstone called Coma, which I run along with a group of friends. It is a minimal house and techno party which delights and strains us in equal measures!
After liaising with with my friends we decided to use a minimal design concept using only black and white colours (which also helped reduce the cost of printing). This suited the minimal and often dark and twisted music we play at our parties. We also got the idea to use symmetrical shapes and patterns, which worked well with white on a black background. I drew influences from child hood memories of spirographs and the crystal maze TV show for some of the patterns!
The logo was designed to be simple and one that could be used with a variety of fonts on future posters. After a few experiments (with Futura) we decided to stick with our original font choice to accompany the logo, which was called Justus. The font adds to the minimal effect we were trying to achieve with the artwork. I’m currently working on a new theme involving photographs whilst keeping the same minimal concept (we agreed to change the theme every six months to keep it fresh). Much fun was had doing the designs, as is normally the case when combining my two passions in life – design and music.
I was recently lucky enough to go on a 3 month work experience placement at Esquire Print in Maidstone where I had a great time and met some very kind people.
It was also a very interesting learning curve and by the end I had become very familiar with preparing images for print, pantone colours, mixing inks, printing plates, litho printing, trimming, font games, snooker books and scalextric (of which Paul the printer was an expert and enthusiast!).
I must say a big thank you to David, Christine and Paul for making me feel so welcome.
In 2007 I went to the TDK festival in King’s Cross, London. The 2 day festival featured some of the most cutting-edge electronic music acts around. Inspired by the festival I decided to re-brand it as a university project, using features and textures from the festivals unusual warehouse/goods yard location, such as steel shutters and old wooden dance floors.
Hello! My name is Mark Vidler and I am a freelance graphic designer from Maidstone, Kent. I graduated from UCCA in 2008. I have decided to start a blog to showcase my own personal work and favorite designs, hope you enjoy it. If you have any enquiries regarding design work or would like to view my full portfolio then please visit my website here.
