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Championing creativity

Advertising • Animation • Art • Graphic Design • Illustration • Photography •

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Work / Illustration

Illustrator Cécile Dormeau captures the humorous nuances of adult life

Words by Rebecca Fulleylove, Monday 23 January 2017

French illustrator Cécile Dormeau consistently depicts the tribulations of adult life in one neat, nuanced illustration. The Paris-based illustrator addresses a wide range of issues using her sharp wit to create work that is relatable and thought provoking.

We’ve shared her images countless times and in this latest portfolio update, Cécile uses a roster of female characters to express the universal insecurities and worries of so many people. The brilliance of her work however, is the way in which she reveals these vulnerabilities but celebrates them as well, bringing a sense of empowerment to the figures she depicts.

Her personal work sits seamlessly alongside her commissioned work, which includes clients like ASOS, The Sunday Times, and most recently Google, where she was commissioned by Anyways (part of the HudsonBec Group) to create a set of stickers for its messaging app, Allo.

www.cecile-dormeau.tumblr.com

Most Recent

Seulgi Lee’s textiles artwork acts as a means of anthropological theory 15 November 2018
Kristine Kawakubo’s handmade books focus on typographic experimentation 15 November 2018
Early Russian colour photography and Spaghetti Westerns collide in new book from S_U_N 14 November 2018
Illustrator Grace Helmer on protecting her work life balance 14 November 2018
Music, experimental typesetting and Buckfast: Left Alone Zine returns 14 November 2018
Take a look inside John Booth’s exuberant and chaotic dream bedroom 14 November 2018

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Work / Illustration Courtney Barnett discusses her love for illustrators, animators and her own creativity too

Courtney Barnett is a name audiences will recognise for her songwriting more than her practice as a creative. Beloved since the release of 2013’s The Double EP: A Sea of Split Peas and her debut record Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit in 2015, the Australian musician’s own illustrations have sat on covers, lightly illustrated in black and white with use of an impactful spot colour or two. The use of her work on these covers always giving audiences a glimpse into another side of Courtney, masterful at using a pen to illustrate as well as write.

Lucy Bourton — 13 November 2018
Work / Illustration Illustrator Charlotte Edey builds soft yet bold dream-like worlds across mediums

“A lot of my interest in drawing came from reading,” illustrator Charlotte Edey tells It’s Nice That. “I was always reading and it was usually fantasy, which definitely explains the interest in world-building! I would usually draw things I couldn’t or hadn’t seen. As I grew older, I realised I drew when I felt unable to articulate myself and to pacify myself. I always found drawing to be instinctive, and it’s hugely important to me as a means of communicating.”

Laura Isabella — 06 November 2018
Work / Illustration Klaus Kremmerz illustrates his first book, The Swimmer

Around this time two years ago we spotted illustrator Klaus Kremmerz, pens in hand, making some of the most eye-catching artworks ever created with a fuzzy felt tip. Since then, Klaus has been busy illustrating works for publication after publication, from The New Yorker to The New Yorker Times. With a wealth of commissions under his belt, Klaus has now took some time out to create his very own publication, visually interpreting John Cheever’s short story The Swimmer, from 1964.

Lucy Bourton — 05 November 2018
Work / Illustration Sophy Hollington's latest commissions cover all kinds of myth, superstition, and ritual

Sophy Hollington’s practice has long been imbued with folklore, mysticism, and the odd nod to the, undoubtedly brewing, apocalypse. “Myth, superstition and ritual all say so much about where we come from and our psyches” says Sophy. “There’s an unknowable element to these things which is naturally intriguing – something I like to take advantage of in my work.”

Billie Muraben — 31 October 2018
Work / Illustration Jon Burgerman’s latest book on pizza is bound to make you laugh (and hungry too)

Jon Burgerman’s latest book How To Eat Pizza is immediately giggle-inducing and squeezes out all the character imaginable through illustrations of pizza. Not just for children, Jon’s iconic doodle art brings to life the all-encompassing personalities of pizza slices through his playful illustrative style. This humorous story about pizza is Jon’s third picture book, showcasing his brilliant wit at its best, full of pizza-related puns and laugh-out-loud characterisations of different food; this book truly is a slice of happiness.

Jyni Ong — 30 October 2018
Work / Illustration Pat Bradbury's illustrative battle between choosing a limited number of shapes, or a billion

Illustrator Pat Bradbury is renowned for his work in the realms of abstract shapes, vivid colour and very well-observed, often hat-based, humour. Recently, he’s been thinking about how to refine his process, and new ways of approaching the balance between readability and abstraction, order and chaos: “My earlier work was busy and intentionally overloaded – one piece of work might have 10 different ideas all jumbled together – and I wanted to break these down and explore them one by one, more exclusively and intensely”, he tells It’s Nice That.

Billie Muraben — 29 October 2018

Work / Exhibition Seulgi Lee’s textiles artwork acts as a means of anthropological theory

Seulgi Lee’s new solo exhibition opens today (15 November 2018) at Seoul’s Gallery Hyundai. With a practice that focuses on textiles and installation, the Paris-based artist creates a visual examination of anthropological theories through the intricately engineered pieces. She applies new meanings to banal objects such as blankets which utilise traditional Korean hand-quilting techniques, Nubi. The use of Nubi emphasises the importance of Korean oral culture in Seulgi’s work. Historic Korean proverbs, which are expressed verbally, are translated into geometric textile patterns that tie into the artist’s interest in the origins of colour; particularly within the artist’s native culture.

Jyni Ong — 15 November 2018
Work / Graphic Design Kristine Kawakubo’s handmade books focus on typographic experimentation

For many of us graphic design enthusiasts, there can be a disconnect between the design process and the bookbinding. For the graphic designer Kristine Kawakubo, the art of handmade bookbinding is at the centre of her design process from conception to completion. Experimentation is the key to Kristine’s beautifully hand-bound books as the type and imagery interact to create unique compositions. Speaking to It’s Nice That, she discusses how “when you actually experience the whole process of book making, you are inspired by the tactility of materials and the book’s structure”, which enhances an understanding of the entire design process.

Jyni Ong — 15 November 2018
Work / Publication Early Russian colour photography and Spaghetti Westerns collide in new book from S_U_N

Bill Sullivan’s Pure Country is an exploration of the history of colour image-making, told via Sergey Prokudin-Gorskii’s early colour photography, “remixed and recast” by Bill; representing “the Russian landscape in the manner of a Spaghetti Western… transposing the look and feel of the United States with that of 20th Century Russia”. It’s a complex set up, with two poles, dual histories of both places and colour image-making. “It all started when I first came across the images of The Russian photographer and colour scientist, Sergei Produkin Gorskii, about eight years ago – they just stopped me in my tracks”, Bill tells It’s Nice That.

Billie Muraben — 14 November 2018
Regulars / Nicer Tuesdays Illustrator Grace Helmer on protecting her work life balance

Illustrator Grace Helmer joined us from her south London studio for Nicer Tuesdays October, discussing how keeping her practice personal has encouraged herself, and her client base, to grow.

It's Nice That — 14 November 2018
Work / Publication Music, experimental typesetting and Buckfast: Left Alone Zine returns

Run by Alex Gross and Ashton Holland, east London club night Left Alone has garnered a healthy – and loyal – group of attendees who come to nod their heads to whichever under-the-radar DJ or artist the duo has decided to champion. In July of 2017, Alex and Ashton released the Left Alone Zine, an outlet to produce something physical from these basements nights, and the second issue has just followed.

Ruby Boddington — 14 November 2018
Work / Art Take a look inside John Booth’s exuberant and chaotic dream bedroom

In The Artist’s Bedroom, John Booth has fulfilled the pretty much universal dream of creating the bedroom of his teenage dreams. The immersive installation represents the variety of expressions and forms integral to John’s multidisciplinary practice – layers of colour, patterns and floral displays – and takes them a step further. There are portrait vases and prints, printed cushion covers and woollen floor rugs, mirrors, ceramic side tables, a desk and a hand-painted bed, as well as an embroidered sweatshirt draped over the artist’s chair, espresso cups, and a ceramic pencil holder. And all of it is for sale.

Billie Muraben — 14 November 2018

Work / Film Greg Barth directs Easy Life’s new music video about nightmares

The director Greg Barth is known for his live action videos full of animated colours and crisp visual content. From adverts for MailChimp about a black hole, to surreal self-initiated films, Greg’s director’s vision is candidly punchy and rich with expressive narratives. His latest endeavour releases today and involves the music video for the up-and-coming band Easy Life. The track, titled Nightmares, debuted on Jools Holland last month and shortly after, Greg agreed to direct the music video in his personal aesthetic approach.

Jyni Ong — 14 November 2018
Work / Miscellaneous PlayLab, Inc. says it doesn't “want to do the same thing twice” in its practice

PlayLab, Inc. is a creative studio working across the disciplines of art, architecture and graphic design to bring innovative ideas and experiences to life. With a portfolio of over 240 projects executed since the studio’s inception in 2009, the New-York based practice takes on a variety of projects. From architectural branding to a compilation of all the times Joaquin Phoenix has walked in his films titled Walking Phoenix, this multidisciplinary studio is centred around strong concepts and intriguing visuals.

Jyni Ong — 14 November 2018
Work / Photography Cornelius de Bill Baboul's latest project is "like Baudelaire in the age of McDonalds"

Cornelius de Bill Baboul’s latest project sees the Berlin-based artist ask and answer a simple question. What, he wondered, would happen if you let white flowers sit and stew in half-filled bottles of the sort of lurid energy drinks that men with seriously swollen arms clutch to their heavily-developed chests at the gym?

Josh Baines — 14 November 2018
Work / Film Palestine Underground shines a light on the West Bank’s underground music scene  

Palestine Underground is a 25 minute documentary released by Boiler Room today. The film documents the flourishing underground music scene in Occupied Palestinian Territory, the West Bank. Shot last June, the film follows alternative Palestinian music collectives, including techno DJs, hip-hop producers and rappers, over a week in the lead up to Boiler Room’s first party in Ramallah.
 
The Palestinian artists are blossoming in their creativity despite enforced constraints from the Israeli government; and although their movements are restricted and there is a midnight curfew, the Palestinian music scene refuses to dwindle, as seen in the film’s interviewees, who are brimming with musical passion and freedom of expression.
 
Produced by Boiler Room’s Anaïs Brémond and directed by BBC and Channel 4 documentary filmmaker Jess Kelly, Palestine Underground “connects the dots between club culture and cinema to stretch the boundaries of what a film experience can be”, recording a musical subculture that is little known in the West. The director Jess tells It’s Nice That that “this was exactly the kind of project I was looking for.” The filmmaker and journalist explains: “I’d been doing a lot of current affairs documentaries and I was keen to make a film where I could have more artistic freedom and the scenes breathe.”
 
Jess is a freelance documentary maker who made a career in filmmaking after studying Arabic at university. “Documentaries are a good way of mixing the language with my interest in what’s going on in the Middle East as well as visual creativity”, says Jess. Having made numerous films in the Arab-speaking world, Palestine Underground continues the director’s legacy of “challenging the stereotypes that we have in the West about this part of the world.”
 
The film seamlessly represents differing depictions of the complex environment of the West Bank. The unlawful Israeli raids are intertwined with segments of the booming music scene to accurately convey the disturbing sociopolitical tones that the West Bank’s artists endure. Of the filming process, Jess explains, “I’ve filmed in the West Bank and Gaza so it wasn’t a big shock, but the reality of that separation wall and the heavy Israeli military prescience is not something you could ever get used to.” For Jess and the rest of the production crew, one of the most significant scenes that was essential to execute accurately, is the road trip scene with Jazr crew from Haifa to the West Bank. “As Palestinians with Israeli passports, they have the privilege of being able to travel freely from Israel into the West Bank, but people in the West Bank can’t do the reverse. To even leave the West Bank they have to apply to the Israeli authorities for a permit, and it’s often denied”, the director explains. “It was really important to me to capture their mood during that trip, which was a mix of excitement and anger or unease at the fact that they have to cross that separation wall to get to their friends. It makes them feel like outsiders.”
 
From our privileged, European positions in front of the TV, we are presented with a media angle that focuses on Palestine’s destroyed areas of Gaza. However Jess describes the West Bank as “incredibly beautiful and peaceful.” The discovery of the music scene immediately evoked the “tight knit community of people” that are a part of Ramallah’s music scene, “and as a Londoner, I really envy that”.
 
Members of the production team spent a year getting to know some of the artists online before going out to the West Bank as a lot of the musicians are rightfully suspicious of the Western media misrepresenting the complicated political situation. The level of trust between the film crew and the artists is evident, particularly in the opening scene where the DJ Oddz jumps the separation wall into Israel. The intimate footage throughout the film similarly interweaves between the devotion to music and the brutal political tensions demonstrated by the handheld camera footage of Oddz crossing the wall. While going over it, he says: “you can’t build a wall and say you can’t go and do this, it’s music, it’s a right for everyone”. For Jess, this quote and the physical action of crossing the wall “sums it up”. The artists risk their lives for their right to musical expression.
 
Although Palestinian musicians face multiple restrictions on a daily basis which “rile up” Jess and the rest of the production team; it induces inspiration for what these artists have achieved and their musical talents. Finally, when asked about the future for the communities in the West Bank, Jess adds: “sadly, I don’t think the future looks bright in terms of the political situation for people in the West Bank, especially now under the Trump administration. But there’s still a lot we can do as individuals. One of the best things we can do is visit the West Bank. It’s not a ‘danger zone’ like the Israeli authorities refer to, it’s a beautiful place to visit. There’s an incredible underground music scene to discover, too.”

Jyni Ong — 13 November 2018
Work / Graphic Design “How does an identity express itself in 3D?”: Common Name on design for environments

For New York-based graphic design studio Common Name, working in exhibition design – or design for an environment – offers the opportunity to work with the otherwise elusive third dimension. “Most design applications in the print or digital space exist in two dimensions or, at least, are displayed on a 2D surface. Working in the environment allows us to think about how physical scale and perspective shift a viewer’s understanding or experience of content” co-founders Yoonjai Choi and Ken Meier tell It’s Nice That.

Billie Muraben — 13 November 2018
Work / Illustration Courtney Barnett discusses her love for illustrators, animators and her own creativity too

Courtney Barnett is a name audiences will recognise for her songwriting more than her practice as a creative. Beloved since the release of 2013’s The Double EP: A Sea of Split Peas and her debut record Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit in 2015, the Australian musician’s own illustrations have sat on covers, lightly illustrated in black and white with use of an impactful spot colour or two. The use of her work on these covers always giving audiences a glimpse into another side of Courtney, masterful at using a pen to illustrate as well as write.

Lucy Bourton — 13 November 2018

Regulars / Nicer Tuesdays Studio Dumbar on how it encourages its team to find their voices as designers

Joining us from her home in Rotterdam for October’s Nicer Tuesdays was Liza Enebeis, creative director of the renowned Studio Dumbar.

It's Nice That — 13 November 2018
Work / Photography Sophie Green's latest project ventures into England's unlikely cowboy country

“Human life is so eclectic,” says photographer Sophie Green. “There are so many different facets of life, and people to be celebrated. I make photography to connect and communicate. I think that photography can have a huge influence on people; it’s a universal language than can reach everybody.”

Josh Baines — 13 November 2018
Work / Photography Chow and Lin documents the world’s inequality of wealth using Google Earth

Chow and Lin – AKA Stefen Chow and Lin Huiyi – is a married couple whose collaborative practice lies in the “methodology of statistical, mathematical and computational techniques to address global issues”. The duo’s work involves probing into “big data” such as satellite imagery that reduces individuals and societies into data points. Stefen and Huiyi’s aim is to draw attention to social issues through problematising multiple issues in society. Speaking to It’s Nice That about their latest project Homeless, the artists explore the inequality of the most privileged sociopolitical environments, and the least, through a large-scale photographic installation.

Jyni Ong — 13 November 2018
Work / Photography Etinosa Yvonne's poignant photographic montages reflect on trauma and memory

Is it possible to “move on” from a traumatic event? What does it take to make peace with the thoughts and memories of a difficult past? How does society help or hinder individuals affected by PTSD?

Daphne Milner — 12 November 2018
Work / Publication Design studio work-form talk awkward typography, black holes and metallic gold

Everything is Sculpture: Immaterial Constructions, Material Realities developed out of a series of talks held by the Royal College of Art’s sculpture department on issues and ideas relating to the production of, and potential contexts for, sculpture today. Designed by London-based studio, work-form, the publication is a magpie’s dream – oversized, metallic gold and glossier than a 90s hair advert.

Billie Muraben — 12 November 2018
Work / Digital Boook.Land is a new and massively collaborative approach to novel writing

Tied in to the ever-popular National Novel Writing Month scheme — which sees aspiring and established novelists producing a 50,000 word manuscript in November’s 30 dark and dismal days — Boook.Land is one of the most intriguing and exciting digital propositions come across in quite a while.

Josh Baines — 12 November 2018

Sponsored / Digital Creatives ask ANNA — the accounting app set to manage your freelance invoices — their burning questions

You might remember ANNA from an article we wrote profiling its creative campaign and concept, when it first launched.

Sponsored Content — 12 November 2018
Work / Graphic Design SomethingMoon is one of the few designers working in independent publishing in Macau

SomethingMoon is a design studio in Macau and sometimes Taipei. The studio’s output includes beautifully bound books, typographic identities, web design and more. Despite the variety of output, each project is highly refined and crafted with a sense of distinct character. With such a mammoth output, it is surprising to know that SomethingMoon is in fact, only one designer, Ck Chiwai Cheang. Garnering international acclaim for the last ten years from Warsaw’s International Poster Biennale to the Tokyo TDC Annual Awards, Ck’s powerful design output champions independent arts and cultural groups in Macau.

Jyni Ong — 12 November 2018
Work / Photography “Photography can illuminate multiple identities”: Makena Mambo on her series, A Part of Me

Makena Mambo is a Kenyan-American photographer, filmmaker and writer based in New York City. Her latest photographic project, A Part of Me, draws on her cultural heritage through a series of soft, elegantly shot images of two close family friends.

Daphne Milner — 12 November 2018
Features / Graphic Design Combining thoughtful design and big business: an interview with Made Thought

For Ben Parker and Paul Austin, the founders of London-based design agency Made Thought, a brand should consider its identity as the “current coat you’re putting on”. In turn, Made Thought’s process of creating an identity is akin to designing a tailored winter coat.

Lucy Bourton — 12 November 2018
Regulars / Friday Mixtape Friday Mixtape: photographer Molly Matalon's mix for wandering around New York in fall

When LA-based photographer Molly Matalon is commissioned to take a photograph of a band, the final images are guaranteed to catch your eye. Firstly, you’ll recognise the shots as distinctively Molly’s thanks to her particular eye for light-filled compositions. Then you’ll slowly start to decipher who the musician is, even if you’ve listened to them hundreds of times. Molly’s got a way with photographing people, you see. She picks up on personalities and extenuates them, whether it’s in the way Lana Del Ray is posed sitting on a staircase or the way Starcrawler’s Arrow de Wilde is holding a chicken, we even saw it in Molly’s ability to work with Devo’s Mark Mothersbaugh.

Lucy Bourton — 09 November 2018
Work / Animation Rudo Company skilfully transmits the emotion of fear in a colourful video for Siamés

You might recognise Rudo Company’s animation style from a video clip they created for Fer Suniga and Siamés last year. Currently at 57 million views on YouTube, it will come as little surprise that Siamés came back to Rudo Company’s directors Pablo Rafael Rodán and Ezequiel Torres for more. Mr Fear was Pablo’s favourite song on Siamés’ new album, and so the story boarding and animation process began.

Laura Isabella — 09 November 2018

Work / Exhibition Jean Jullien's new exhibition plays with perception and we have no idea what's going on

Jean Jullien has always been much more than an illustrator. From his beloved editorial pieces to his paintings and products, each time Jean releases a project the It’s Nice That studio is engulfed in a buzz.

Lucy Bourton — 09 November 2018
Work / Photography Eddie Wrey photographs the women of West African market Adjamé

Whilst on a commercial assignment in the Ivory Coast, photographer Eddie Wrey entered a small, roofed marketplace to source some props. In this market he became transfixed by the sight of laden ladies filtering effortlessly through the ordered chaos like floating sculptures. Dressed in well-worn Burberry polos, Malian burkhas, and waxes in bright and primary colours, it was as if these women had condensed full department stores into neat piles and stacked them into washing bowls. Once these bowls were skilfully balanced on top of the women’s heads, the store was open for business.

Laura Isabella — 09 November 2018
Work / Publication Skin Deep’s latest issue “deals with the lesser-known histories of black and brown activism”

Skin Deep is a London-based, multimedia platform that magnifies voices of colour through the discussion of race and culture. The platform’s work inspires much needed conversations around subjects that “are usually misrepresented or depoliticised by the mainstream media” which are then documented within a publication. The latest issue, Movements acts as “a tribute to those who came before, and a guide for those who will come after”, officially launching on 24 November at Goldsmiths University.

Jyni Ong — 09 November 2018
Work / Graphic Design Typeface Pickle-Standard both obeys and rejects the grid at the same time

Benoît Bodhuin claims to be “curious about everything” which is a useful trait for a graphic designer. Specialising in type design, Benoît has designed a wide variety of type families including Marriane, Zigzag and Mineral. Continuing to impress us with a determination to push the limits of the abstract letterforms Benoît’s most recent creations are two grid inspired typefaces Standard and Pickle-Standard.

Jyni Ong — 09 November 2018
Work / Photography Makina releases an intimately warm photography book by the late Patrick Doyle

Patrick Doyle was a Scottish musician treasured or his percussion abilities in Veronica Falls and his solo projects Boys Forever and Basic Plumbing. Outside of these musical abilities, friends cherished his warmth. Sadly, Patrick passed away this year, leaving behind what Malcom Jack noted in the Guardian as “a legacy of wit, whimsy and Fireman Sam lunchboxes.”

Lucy Bourton — 08 November 2018
Work / Graphic Design "We all need to spend more time looking beyond the surface": Trevor Jackson on 30 years of creativity

“There are no universal fixed rules in design, and having an ideal perception of how things should look can seriously hinder the enjoyment of the simpler things in life,” says Trevor Jackson. Given his 30-year long career in design, he should know. Actually, to think of him as just a graphic designer is to do the man a slight disservice.

Josh Baines — 08 November 2018

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