People who inspire me lately
Before taking a break for 2 weeks, I thought it would be a good idea to let you go with some good art to follow, right?
Hello my friends,
How was your week? Here not that good without really knowing why. Probably the bad weather and long winter have something to do with my mood :)
But I am on vacation tonight for 2 weeks. Time to log off for sure and enjoy time with the family. We will be visiting some of it in Virginia and spend few days in NYC.
But before closing my computer for some time, I wanted to share with you people who inspired me lately and had an influence on my work/ideas. These are not essentially focused around type. There are also many illustrators, curators and even an art channel. For each of them, I will post a picture taken from Instagram so you can follow them easily on social medias. Ok, so let’s dig into that list!
I discovered the work of JF pretty recently thanks to my mate Oncle John. The art of John Flaming has a lot of what I like. First, it is a lot about the western part of the US, Nature with a big N, cowboys, and it has a vintage style I love. John does also mono prints which are fantastic.
Cody, alias Struggle_inc has something to do with John Flaming for sure. But what I find so good in his work is his way to create a fantastic atmosphere with simple (naive maybe?) shapes. Colors are always perfect and it is for me a great way to realise that this type of work works great with branding too. And in my work, I would like to create more visuals with that intention. Nice colours, imperfect shapes and humanity for a great branding.
Exactly the same vibe from Bart Lanzini, a French artist but in more “Pop” way to me. Again, great ideas for vibrant identities.
Matt Lamont is the guy behind Design Reviewed. Matt collected for yeeeeears many magazines and shares his collection through this account (also available on Twitter I think). For me this is a gold mine of ideas taken from the past. I can find so many good design from the 60/70s. It can be illustration or type, this is totally my sh*t. Here an example with the cover of a book from the great Ken Garland:
Carmen is a great Berlin type designer. I really like her work because this is so unique and vibrant. I could post many great works of her but I will post here her last font, Violet. She is one of the top type designers you should follow.
Ok, here an UFO for me. The work of YY is so unique and has its own vibe. It is difficult for me to describe why I am so attracted by his work. It is these lines and curves, and a strange mix between Japanese art/graphic design and Saul Bass, maybe? But I like it so much and makes me want to try some restructured lettering with his color palette.
Olivia is for me the person who mix the best simple letters, great illustration and perfect colour palette. This seems so delicate, and I can smell a great and fresh rose flavour out of her work. Again here, I love the style, always in my 50/70s vibe, with modern and pop colours and that unique touch of small type in it. You got to love her overlays to. Great mix!
I discovered Art21 few weeks ago through their YouTube channel where they do short films about artists. These films are so good and give you a positive vibe when you feel like what you do is not worth it. This became my daily dose of positivity. This morning I watched their last film about Amy Sherald and again that was a great see. Check it out!
I am sure you know Muti, the studio from South Africa. Their work is shared everywhere online. I love their illustration but also love their type because it is so expressive and far away from techniques. It goes perfectly well with their style of illustration. They are actually doing the #36daysoftype challenge. Really looking forward what they are going to produce. But for today, I want to share with you a perfect mix of illustration and letters :)
I am a huge matchbooks lover :) And especially polish and Czech ones. This is through one of their ads that I discover the account of CI and their curation of Czech matchbooks. They published a book too. This account, a bit like Design Reviewed is a gold mine for me to get inspired by East Europe design. So many ideas for great lettering and illustration.
Ok, I have been a long time fan of Brett’s work. But since he works with Young Jerks, he had the opportunity to do great projects and express his style. Here is his last work for The Athletic. Check out this great mix of letters and illustration, especially the third shot:
Ok, I will share that third shot here so I am sure you see it haha :P
This is it for today! What are your best inspirations lately? Here I share with you the ones I still follow online and who brings me positive vibes. I stopped following many people on Instagram lately to stay away from anxiety, envy and toxicity. I tried to keep the real people, sharing real and honest works. I hope you like my list and don’t hesitate to share your inspirations in the comments if you think they should have more visibility :)
As usual, if you like this post, don’t hesitate to share it online or to your friends. And if you feel like it, help me keep this publication on rails by becoming a paid supporter :)
Enjoy the rest of April, don’t hesitate to take a break, to log off and go out for a walk or two? :)
Take care,
Francis
Love these sorts of posts, since I'm not on IG or Twitter so much, I feel like I'm missing out on seeing these sorts of inspiring works!