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Features / Miscellaneous We take a look back at the best stories of the year to date

The Easter weekend here in the UK has given us at It’s Nice That the chance to put our feet up for a few days, but we still want to provide you with your regular dose of creative ideas and inspiration. So we’ve decided to pull together some highlights from the year so far, including a handful of the most popular articles of 2019 and a few of the team’s favourites as well. From an in-depth study of the benefits of boredom (worth reading if you’re heading out of town to visit the family this weekend) to a story about Michael Bierut’s fresh identity for Mastercard, we’ve got all angles covered. There are even a few alpacas thrown in for good measure, courtesy of photographer Daniel Gebhart de Koekkoek. Check out all this and more below.

It's Nice That — 18 April 2019
Work / Product Design Renowned set designer Gary Card embarks on his dream project of designing toys

It’s Nice That favourite, set designer Gary Card, has once again surprised us with his weird and wonderful imagination. The much-loved set designer, known for his colour-filled scenes for the likes of Comme Des Garcon, Liberty and Nick Knight, has just released a collection of toys, now available from Dover Street Market’s worldwide stores and Unbox Industries. “It has always been a dream of mine to design toys,” Gary tells It’s Nice That. “Ever since I was a kid, it was the only thing that I really wanted to do.”

Jyni Ong — 05 March 2019
Regulars / Ones to Watch 2019 Natsai Audrey Chieza rethinks how designers and scientists can solve the world’s toughest problems

Imagine a world where architects use algae as a sustainable building material, where textiles can be dyed, not by toxic chemicals, but by brightly coloured microscopic microbes, and where leather can be artificially produced without harming any animals or using plastic-based materials. Finding it hard? Well, luckily for the rest of us, Natsai Audrey Chieza is doing all of that imagining for us.

Matt Alagiah — 25 February 2019
Work / Digital A Pint in London: a new game where the quest is for the perfect tipple

A Pint in London, a game created by London-based writer Ana Kinsella, is a narrative-led, web-based game taking the user on a multiple choice journey through London in search of the perfect pint spot. It’s a game that’s simple in its idea, but finding “your pub” is one of those personal joys of London – a city that to some seems like a stressful metropolis, but to others is a collection of tiny villages to wander through and make your own.

Lucy Bourton — 18 February 2019
Work / Miscellaneous Is robotics set to be the next creative trend for artists and designers?

AATB is the collaborative practice of Andrea Anner and Thibault Brevet. Having studied graphic design at ECAL, the duo, now based in Marseille, focusses their attention on robotics and the fascinating, unexplored territory of how it can be utilised outside of industry for creative (and sometimes counter-productive) means.

Ruby Boddington — 07 February 2019
Work / Miscellaneous Thibault Le Hégarat's collection of eight-bit video game skies is a design gem

Last year Thibault Le Hégarat, a doctor of contemporary history and a teacher, was showing his students some impressionist paintings by the likes of Monet and Boudin. During the class, Thibault asked the class to describe one particular and always consistent element of any landscape painting: the clouds. “It was a good time to reflect together on the ever-changing nature of the sky, and also the fact that each of us can see something different represented,” he says, “even when looking at the same skies.”

Lucy Bourton — 31 January 2019

Work / Illustration Meet illustrator Hollie Fuller's characters, with their piggy eyes and protruding ears

Despite having not yet graduated, illustrator Hollie Fuller has a distinctive, playful style which caught our attention for all its endearing charm. Characters, although part of different scenes, very much inhabit the same world and share one thing in common: their protruding ears.

Ruby Boddington — 25 April 2019
Work / Film Ellen Evans' latest film zooms into the tiny world of miniaturism

London-based filmmaker Ellen Evans’ latest film – an instant Vimeo staff pick and a short worthy of the many accolades it’s already received – zooms into the fascinating, and tiny, world of miniaturists.

Lucy Bourton — 25 April 2019
Work / Photography Kent Andreasen on how he embraces the transience of light in his photographs

“With commissions I find I am always looking for something specific, so to contrast with that, I do these trips. This means I can just go and make images of whatever I find unusual or out of place,” says Cape Town-based photographer Kent Andreasen. “Some of the photos will become memories or postcards that I can look back to as a reminder of the experience. It returns me to the simplicity of why I like photography, rather than just focusing on the outcome of the images.”

Daniel Milroy Maher — 25 April 2019
Work / Illustration Illustrator Baptiste Virot describes his work as an “iron punch in a velvet glove”

“I always want my illustrations to be like a punch in the retina of the viewer”, says Baptiste Virot on his visually-explosive illustrations. As one half of the French-Korean publishing house Animal Press, that he operates with his girlfriend Jinhee Han, Baptiste produces a wealth of Risographed comics, digital illustrations and all sorts of other commissions simultaneously; explaining why we’ve written about his colourful work a couple of times previously.

Jyni Ong — 25 April 2019
Work / Graphic Design Slovenian design studio Ljudje on how it turned the information crisis into a visual identity

“We don’t have a specific design style we apply to every project,” says Ljubljana-based creative studio Ljudje. “We remove the clutter, focus on the essence and choose the most suitable language for the challenge that’s ahead of us.” A team of designers, artists, strategists and writers, Ljudje was tasked with designing the identity for the 26th edition of the Ljubljana Design Biennale, called BIO 26, concerned with the current crisis of information.

Ruby Boddington — 25 April 2019
Work / Animation Tomek Popakul's short film Acid Rain shows the perils of falling in love with a wrong'un

Tomek Popakul’s animated short Acid Rain has been storming the festival circuit, turning heads with its noisy animation style, spot-on observations and powerful use of an original (and pretty eerie) score. In many ways it’s a classic coming of age film, but in many ways it’s really not. We meet our protagonist as she’s running away from home and takes a shine to a bad boy – a guy with cool trainers and a sleazy pencil moustache who she finds playing chicken on some railings above a motorway. An innocuous-seeming visit to his granny’s house turns out to be a magic mushroom picking session, and in no time at all, he’s given her an undercut, they’re breaking into abandoned houses to set stuff on fire, smuggling drugs across borders in his rave-mobile, and heading to free parties in the woods complete with some proper rave goblins and a lot of psychedelic puke. It’s all whirlwind, heat and flash and (avoiding spoilers) things do not end well.

Laura Snoad — 25 April 2019

Work / Photography Photographer Mark Hartman's series is an ongoing portrayal of a traditional Sikh warrior order in India

The Nihang, taking their name from a Persian word meaning crocodile, are a Sikh warrior order originating from India. Traditionally constituting an important part of the Sikh Empire’s armed forces, their role in modern society is mainly ceremonial – though they are still duty-bound to protect the public against crime. Known for their striking uniforms, which have remained unchanged for over 300 years, their attire consists of an electric blue robe, high turbans adorned with military symbols, and an assortment of weapons including swords, spears and daggers.

Daniel Milroy Maher — 25 April 2019
Work / Photography Lucia Sekerkova documents the rituals of Romania’s social media savvy witches

“I love the strange split between the old and the new world, as well as between magic and the internet,” says photographer Lucia Sekerkova about her four-year project capturing the vrăjitoare, or witches, of Romania’s Wallachian Roma community. Working with ethnologist Ivana Šusterová, the pair have documented how ancient traditions have transitioned into the modern world, through savvy social media promotion and live-streamed rituals.

The Wallachian Roma people were formerly nomadic groups who moved across Europe until it was made illegal, explains Lucia. Once banned by the communist regime, a vrăjitoare’s work is defined by fortune-telling and spell-casting and has seen a distinct upsurge in Romania in recent years. Working with Ivana, an expert in the everyday life and culture of Wallachian Roma people, was a huge boon to the project, especially given her language skills. “This group has many traditional norms, specific forms of behaviour and its own community rules and laws. I think that people should know about them and respect them before they just demand something from them,” says Lucia.

Laura Snoad — 24 April 2019
Work / Art Charlie Roberts' paintings are inspired by hip-hop culture, sports and screenplays

Born and raised in Kansas, artist Charlie Roberts later relocated to Oslo after studying at the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design in Vancouver. Working between various mediums, and different modes within those mediums, he often switches between wood carving, ceramics, painting on canvas and watercolour on paper, and between monochromatic drawing, relief sculpture, flat cartoonish figuration, and a more fleshed out and shaded figuration.

Daniel Milroy Maher — 24 April 2019
Work / Photography In Whispering Blooms Jack Orton documents the eerie perfection of the town of Poundbury

Brexit, we know you’re tired of everyone and their mum weighing in on the topic, but hear us out, this one’s interesting. Titled Whispering Blooms, a series by photographer Jack Orton aptly encapsulates the utopian (or dystopian, depending on which side of the fence you’re sitting) ideals that many have about the hotly-discussed, ever-extending Article 50, and the world that potentially awaits us on the other side.

Ruby Boddington — 24 April 2019
Work / Graphic Design Studio Nuno Fontes on its clean and ordered work for the cultural sector

“Graphic design’s most extraordinary work is often the result of amazing partnerships between client and designer,” explains Nuno Fontes. Heading up his own multi-disciplinary studio in the small Portuguese town of Santa Maria Da Feira, for Studio Nuno, it is essential that “every project in our studio starts with dialogue.”

Jyni Ong — 24 April 2019
Work / Illustration Darren Shaddick illustrates his version of “the ultimate cool person”

Despite being based out of the “sticks of Devon” where the illustration scene is not as fully flourished as some other regions of the UK, freelance illustrator Darren Shaddick is proof that you can still acquire clients such as the likes of giffgaff and Ralph Lauren, and not live in London.

Jyni Ong — 24 April 2019

Regulars / Bookshelf Team Thursday's Bookshelf is full of souvenirs, zines and exhibition catalogues

Every other Wednesday we bring you a selection of books owned and curated by a different creative. Limited to just five – a near impossible task for many – we ask them to choose a line-up of titles which have been influential or important to their practice in some way. This week, the responsibility lies with Loes van Esch and Simone Trum, founders of design studio Team Thursday. Based in Rotterdam, the studio has spent a significant amount of time in Seoul and is well known for its bright, colourful, Risographed aesthetic.

Ruby Boddington — 24 April 2019
Work / Animation Truba Animation reimagines behind the scenes anecdotes from Game of Thrones

Truba, the animation studio behind not one but two of our favourite music videos of 2018 – Unknown Mortal Orchestra’s Honeybee and Feels Like Summer by Childish Gambino – has now created an animated tale imagining behind the scenes of Game of Thrones.

Lucy Bourton — 24 April 2019
Work / Publication Pedro Destefani explores the relationship between Stan Smith the man and the brand

In a recent personal project, the designer Pedro Destefani explores the relationship between Stan Smith, the man, and the brand he has become synonymous with over the past few decades. Arguably best known today for his name’s attachment to a particular Adidas trainer, Stan Smith was in fact a world-famous tennis player back in the 1970s and 80s. In this self-initiated editorial project (which is not affiliated with the sports brand), Pedro looks at the man on and off the court, as well as that famous shoe.

Jyni Ong — 23 April 2019
Work / Photography Xiaopeng Yuan reinterprets the Chinese fable, The Butterfly Lovers, in a series for Télévision magazine

Whilst working as part of Same Paper, Xiaopeng Yuan keeps up his own photographic practice. We’ve covered some of his work in the past, and so when we saw the newly-released issue of Télévision magazine, the cover of which features a new story shot by Xiaopeng, we had to find out more.

Ruby Boddington — 23 April 2019
Features / Film Creativity and control: Stanley Kubrick's obsessiveness and the meticulous films it produced

Bobby Fischer sat forward, his hand covering his mouth and his elbow resting on the table in front of him. His eyes firmly fixed down on the chequered surface below, the American leant forward out of his black leather chair and moved his Bishop from E6 to D7. Across the table from him sat Boris Spassky, a Soviet. They were engaged in the 21st game of their World Chess Championship match, in the Laugardalshöll arena, Reykjavík and with that move, Fischer emerged as the world’s 11th chess champion. It was a politically charged win, which humiliated the country that had gone undefeated for 24 years, and was dubbed “The Match of the Century”.

Ruby Boddington — 23 April 2019
Work / Graphic Design Oscar Maia translates the essence of his native Porto into a new publication

“I have learnt to see graphic design as a kind of puzzle,” explains Oscar Maia. Based out of the historic city of Porto, Oscar has been practising for more than a decade in some of the romantic city’s renowned studios. From Atelier Martino&Jaña to the White Studio, Oscar has honed a career specialising in design in the cultural sector which he continues today as a freelancer.

Jyni Ong — 23 April 2019

Work / Art Louise Bonnet paints exaggerated bodies as symbols of melancholy and loneliness

“I am interested in the body. In what having a body feels like, or how we try to hide the way it feels. To contain it or control it. How it brings shame and humiliation because we cannot control it,” says artist Louise Bonnet. “I am fascinated by the ornamentation of it, the extreme ways of hiding our primal origins with all this external stuff. For example, with the Hitchcock Blonde, or the renaissance portraits, where any sign of wildness is eradicated. I love all the intricate techniques used to achieve this. It’s so prevalent and all-encompassing.”

Daniel Milroy Maher — 23 April 2019
Work / Illustration Mathieu Larone illustrates the "elusive liminal space between the cryptic and the understandable"

Describing, his drawings as falling into “a grey zone between cartooning and colour based-rendering”, illustrator Mathieu Larone says he is able to morph his practice depending on the project he’s working on. “I’m also hellbent on exploring the limits of what can and cannot be understood in an image, and using the practice and form of illustration to communicate in subtle and nonlinear ways,” he adds.

Daniel Milroy Maher — 23 April 2019
Regulars / Ones to Watch 2019 Micaiah Carter interprets Uniqlo’s linen range with a sultry sun-drenched shoot

One of the unique strengths of young American photographer Micaiah Carter (who we picked as one of our Ones to Watch earlier this year) is his ability to conjure a rich mood, an evocative atmosphere, in a straightforward studio setting. His shoots often feel like a heady distillation of the last days of a long summer – there’s a lot of warm sunlight on skin, deep blue and purple-hued skies, and clothes that flow breezily off radiant bodies.

Matt Alagiah — 23 April 2019
Features / Miscellaneous We take a look back at the best stories of the year to date

The Easter weekend here in the UK has given us at It’s Nice That the chance to put our feet up for a few days, but we still want to provide you with your regular dose of creative ideas and inspiration. So we’ve decided to pull together some highlights from the year so far, including a handful of the most popular articles of 2019 and a few of the team’s favourites as well. From an in-depth study of the benefits of boredom (worth reading if you’re heading out of town to visit the family this weekend) to a story about Michael Bierut’s fresh identity for Mastercard, we’ve got all angles covered. There are even a few alpacas thrown in for good measure, courtesy of photographer Daniel Gebhart de Koekkoek. Check out all this and more below.

It's Nice That — 18 April 2019
Work / Graphic Design Atelier Brenda and Amélie Bakker create “squidgy” identity for Beursschouwburg

Squidgy, unicorn-coloured lettering, holographic foil and some hand-drawn illustrations that look like the inner workings of a particularly puzzled psyche – there’s a lot to love about Atelier Brenda’s identity for Beursschouwburg’s Spring programme Normal Schnormal. Working with Amélie Bakker, the Belgian studio has developed a “playful and abstract approach” for the Brussels cultural house’s programme of music, performance, art, screenings and talks, which aims to analyse, question and dismantle the idea of ‘normality’.

Laura Snoad — 18 April 2019
Work / Photography Thomas Pratt photographs the effects of religion, natural disaster and globalisation on an island community

I think you need a relationship with what you’re shooting in order to get something honest,” begins photographer Thomas Pratt. “To seek out things of interest and beauty.” Travelling to Long Island in the Bahamas in 2011 for a fishing trip, this is exactly what the London-born and based photographer discovered. The humble beginnings of a project that would last eight years and is still ongoing, Thomas found himself in the midst of the small local community, but more specifically, the Fox family.

Daniel Milroy Maher — 18 April 2019

Work / Photography Viacheslav Poliakov shoots the “folk-baroque-industrial mess” of Ukraine and Poland

Viacheslav Poliakov is a Ukrainian photographer deeply interested in the public spaces of small, provincial towns. What particularly excites him are objects and structures that seem to lack a conscious author, or have been created without concern for their visual appearance. “You can call it a melting pot, you can call it chaos, but here [in Ukraine] we live in a visually strong, vivid and uncontrolled space,” Viacheslav tells It’s Nice That. “There can be an abandoned Soviet factory used as pasture next to medieval castle turned into a warehouse, and that will be surrounded by a market made of cheap glossy colourful plastic, with a golden church on the left side and just empty area with mud and puddles on the right.”

Laura Snoad — 18 April 2019
Media Partnership / Advertising “Even bad pizza is kind of good”: Five life lessons from David Droga

David Droga knows a thing or two about one of the world’s more complex industries. A former Executive Creative Director at Saatchi & Saatchi in London, the Australian advertising superstar has been based in New York for just shy of two decades now, and back in 2006 he launched his own agency, Droga5.

David Droga — 18 April 2019
Sponsored / Events Join Cachetejack and Dropbox for a collaborative workshop at OFFF Barcelona

From 25-27 April, Barcelona is set to be taken over by creatives of all disciplines at annual conference, OFFF. Alongside the jam-packed line-up of speakers including Edel Rodriguez, Kelly Anna and Man vs Machine, Dropbox is running a series of workshops for attendees.

Sponsored Content — 18 April 2019
Work / Film Men of Maize explores the preservation of Mayan culture in Guatemala

The legend of Popol Vuh can be traced back through the generations of Guatemala, reaching back through its citizen’s ancestors rich Mayan culture. The creation story reveals how the first humans were made of corn and the story survives, to this day, as a reminder of the unbreakable bond that connects descendants of the Maya with the ancient rituals performed by their forefathers.

Jyni Ong — 18 April 2019
Work / Publication “The time just feels right”: Stuart Brumfitt and Mirko Borsche, editor and designer of The Face, on its relaunch

The Face is a magazine that needs little introduction. From a pale, red-eyed McQueen to a grinning, young Kate Moss to Kurt Cobain in a onesie, it produced some of the most recognisable imagery in the worlds of fashion and culture during the 1980s and 90s. Started by Nick Logan, the former editor of Smash Hits, The Face employed and worked with a team who, although trailblazers at the time, are now considered some of the biggest names in the creative industry.

Ruby Boddington — 17 April 2019
Work / Art Philip Gerald's lowbrow, crude paintings are a reflection of his views on the art world

I’ve always been fascinated with crappy digital aesthetics. I think my style is actually a direct response to my ability and maybe some of my views on art in general. I think art should be somewhat easy. You can try, or you can not try,” says artist Philip Gerald. “I chose not to try that hard because I didn’t know if I was going to keep painting. So, instead of trying to get better, I thought I should just lean into the fact that I wasn’t going to be blowing people out of the water with mad painting skills any time soon, or ever – I just wanted a reaction.”

Daniel Milroy Maher — 17 April 2019