Work / Uncategorized

Jeremy Deller, Clip Art and the It’s Nice That annual in this week’s podcast

Words by Liv Siddall, Friday 05 December 2014

This week we chat about the It’s Nice That Annual, Jeremy Deller’s encounter with Andy Warhol and waving a sad goodbye to the much-loved Microsoft feature: Clip Art.

As ever you can listen using he SoundCloud embed below or subscribe via iTunes here.

Int_cop2_grande — The It’s Nice That Annual 2014

Jeremy Deller and Andy Warhol. Photo courtesy of The Guardian

Most Recent

Nazif Lopulissa rethinks the shapes and forms of the children’s playground 12 December 2019
Egg is an animation about attempting – and failing – to take control of something you are afraid of 12 December 2019
Why creatives should take the election advantage 12 December 2019
Adrienne Law on making something digital feel physical 12 December 2019
Kyuho Kim imagines the shapes of words in his inventive design practice 12 December 2019
Stomping boots and pouting lips, Taylor Silk’s woven women are icons of female sexuality 12 December 2019

More like this:

Work / Uncategorized My 2014: Print Editor James Cartwright sums up the best bits of his year

This year feels like it was over before it even began – which is a total cliché but it’s God’s honest truth. It feels like just yesterday I was launched blinking and hungover into the first days of 2014 and now I couldn’t really tell you what I got up to. Anyway, it was a whirlwind, a rollercoaster ride full of emotional ups and downs, physical highs and lows, triumphs of spirit and ingestions of spirits. Yeah 2014, you were alright, I liked you, though at times you were a bit of a t**t.

James Cartwright — 19 December 2014
Work / Uncategorized ECAL's website MAAD is a comprehensive archive of their MA in Art Direction

You could be forgiven for taking a cursory glance over the MAAD site, as I did, and assuming that it was dedicated to a design collective more diverse and comprehensive than we’d ever even seen before. Because that it kind of what it looks like. In fact, MAAD stands for Masters in Art Direction and belongs to ECAL, aka the Ecole cantonale d’art de Lausanne, in Switzerland, and the website serves as both a pamphlet for prospective students and an archive for the projects of previous ones, making it one of the best thought out university sites that we’ve ever seen.

Maisie Skidmore — 04 November 2014
Work / Uncategorized We love Tom Sewell's lunar calendar for his residency over on Post Matter

The difference between artists and normal proles is shown in the ease at which an artist can convey a very simple idea with visuals to make it shine. For instance this new work by our much-loved local artist Tom Sewell, in which he created a 31-day lunar chart when asked by digital art blog Post Matter to take part in a month-long residency. To me, Tom’s work is like having a toe constantly submerged in anonymous, otherworldly fluid – he takes the online world and melts it down until it resembles pools of history, typography and coding all glooped together into one. This series of serene planet GIFs gives me the same ambient pleasure as my desktop Mountain, and I’m going to keep up with this lunar July calendar even though it’s August tomorrow.

Liv Siddall — 31 July 2014
Work / Uncategorized Japanese artist Ryo Kuwabara's incredible eye-popping poster design

Ryo Kuwabara is a master colour coordinator and a geometric genius: scrolling through his Tumblr page, it’s kind of unbelievable when you realise that he has designed every single one of the decorative, eye-popping posters in the spectacular online portfolio. His work is space age but also early computer age, composed out of highly artificial patterns and rounded shapes that contain just a hint of Keith Haring. I’m not entirely sure what the posters are for, as the only English words that I can decipher are “Circuit Disarray” and “Blink” and “Symphony of the form,” but I do think that all of these words are very evocative of Ryo’s fantastically playful designs.

Madeleine Morley — 25 June 2014
Work / Uncategorized The new issue of art, culture and surfing magazine WAX has launched with a bang!

You don’t get much cooler than a fluorescent publication about art and surfing produced in Brooklyn, but luckily WAX magazine has proved itself not to just be another trendy rag, but a bonafide pleasure for all who see it. Take, for example, Printed Pages editor James Cartwright’s reaction when it plopped into the It’s Nice That offices the other day – he squealed like a little piggy and ripped off its plastic binding to flick through its fresh, untouched pages.

Liv Siddall — 19 June 2014
Work / Uncategorized Graphic Design: Kigi combine design and illustration to create great identities

Kigi are a graphic design company based in Tokyo, Japan, who combine two of our absolute favourite things: design and illustration. Their identities for bottled products are sparse, playful and eye-catching, so that they become the things that you find really hard to throw out of your bathroom cabinet when all of the product’s gone. Some of the designs for the little jars and vials make them look like they belong on an alchemist’s shelf, and we particularly like Kigi’s logo for a line of natural face products that’s been inspired by the Rubin vase. Kigi have also designed the fabric prints for Liberty, and they started off by making big pointillist posters out of monochrome stickers, but what we like most about them is their incredibly tactile and imaginative approach to design.

Madeleine Morley — 19 June 2014

Work / Art Nazif Lopulissa rethinks the shapes and forms of the children’s playground

Much is said about the influence of childhood experience on personal development, and in the case of Dutch artist, Nazif Lopulissa, it is those early years that continue to shape his creative output. “A lot of my work is actually inspired by childhood memories, inspired by objects or events when I was a child,” he says.

Charlie Filmer-Court — 12 December 2019
Work / Animation Egg is an animation about attempting – and failing – to take control of something you are afraid of

Animator and director Martina Scarpelli talks us through her critically-acclaimed 12-minute short Egg, a highly personal reimagining of a woman who has to eat an egg, but doesn’t want to.

Jyni Ong — 12 December 2019
Opinion / Miscellaneous Why creatives should take the election advantage

As we reach the day of our third general election in five years, Creative Brief’s Izzy Ashton looks at why creativity could do with getting a little political.

Izzy Ashton — 12 December 2019
Regulars / Nicer Tuesdays Adrienne Law on making something digital feel physical

With nostalgia at its heart, Adrienne Law from Ustwo Games explained how they made their latest project Assemble with Care at November’s Nicer Tuesdays.

It's Nice That — 12 December 2019
Work / Graphic Design Kyuho Kim imagines the shapes of words in his inventive design practice

The Seoul-based designer showcases a mammoth amount of innovative design work on his website. As someone who works with book, poster and web design, the highly creative designer talks us through three recent projects and how he first got into design.

Jyni Ong — 12 December 2019
Work / Illustration Stomping boots and pouting lips, Taylor Silk’s woven women are icons of female sexuality

Introduced to underground art by the comics of Robert Crumb when she was young, Taylor’s woven artworks comment on sexuality, queerness and feminism.

Peach Doble — 12 December 2019

Work / Illustration Jooyoung Kim’s illustrated book is about a long boi in a world of fluffy short bois

Emerging from a refreshing swim, a long dog leaps onto the grass to swish and shake the water off its body. In her hilarious new book, Leipzig-based illustrator Jooyoung Kim creates a world of day-to-day dogs.

Lucy Bourton — 12 December 2019
Work / Photography Stephanie Lüscher turns the food of The Netherlands into the mountains of Switzerland

Having worked as an art director at KesselsKramer since 2016, this is the first personal project Stephanie has produced. It sees her creating a tribute to the mountains she grew up with in Switzerland through the food of The Netherlands, in a tongue-in-cheek nod to her new (very) flat home.

Ruby Boddington — 12 December 2019
Features / Illustration Celebrating 100 issues of the It’s Nice That Weekly Comic

Over the past two years, the It’s Nice That Weekly Comic has seen 26 illustrators create 100 brilliant Instagram comics. Here we highlight just a few of our favourite moments…

Simon Smith — 12 December 2019
Work / Photography Hick Duarte uses his camera to document the plurality of Brazilian youth culture

Based in São Paulo, Hick is committed to portraying the visual codes of Brazilian youth in all their complexities. He does so through considered casting, experimentation across media, and a collaborative mindset.

Ruby Boddington — 11 December 2019
Work / Graphic Design Fhuiae Kim explores “the third language” in her calming graphic design works

The Seoul-based designer is interested in pursuing the third language through her delicate graphic design works. This is not a written form of language, nor a pictorial one, but somewhere in between.

Jyni Ong — 11 December 2019
Work / Graphic Design Folch designs a typeface embodying the “energetic universe” of acid house

The studio’s senior designer tells us about their new venture into education, Acid House, and the typeface designed for the project’s communications.

Ruby Boddington — 11 December 2019

Work / Illustration Illustrator Michael McGregor turns the mundane into something extraordinary

The LA-based illustrator looks towards his immediate surroundings for inspiration. Whether it’s the market, the cafe, something stumbled upon in his home studio or found on a glorious morning walk, it’s the simple things that he finds most interesting.

Ayla Angelos — 11 December 2019
Work / Publication All together now: Pascal Claude compiles a visual history of the beloved footie record

The Zurich-based curator behind Football Disco talks to us about transforming his 1,000-strong collection of football-related 7-inch records into a book celebrating the wins and own goals of design.

Laura Snoad — 11 December 2019
Work / Illustration “Part-animal, part-household object”: Frédérique Rusch on her wonderfully cryptic illustrations

Encompassing both 2D illustrations and 3-dimensional sculptures, the illustrator’s work challenges and toys with the idea that objects need to have a use or a purpose, and that they should communicate a clear message.

Ayla Angelos — 11 December 2019
Regulars / Nicer Tuesdays Ines Alpha on imagining a future with digital pets and 3D makeup

At her Nicer Tuesdays talk in November, Ines spoke with enthusiasm about the future of AR and digital expression, and about how her practice is propelling this unique area of creativity forward.

It's Nice That — 11 December 2019
Work / Art Artist Panayiotis Terzis creates vibrant works inspired by his upbringing in Greece

The Thessaloniki-born and NYC-based artist is a man of many disciplines. Not only does he create colour-rich paintings and drawings, but he also lends his hands to Risograph printing and publishing at Mega Press, a RisoLab in Manhattan.

Ayla Angelos — 10 December 2019
Regulars / Nicer Tuesdays Vikram Kushwah shares the intimate and revealing backstory behind his award-winning series

The fashion and documentary photographer tells us about his beautiful series The Education I Never Had in which he visits the Indian school his father has taught at for the last 35 years, and reflects on how their lives have become so different.

It's Nice That — 10 December 2019

Work / Graphic Design Can you translate a memory into a digital font family? Klim and Dia collaborate on Söhne

The renowned New Zealand type foundry talks us through its latest typeface Söhne, inspired by Unimark’s visual system for the New York subway. For its release, Klim collaborated with kinetic type foundry Dia to further encapsulate the analogue process behind the new font family.

Jyni Ong — 10 December 2019
Work / Illustration Satirical and humorous, Megumi Ono-Chan illustrates a “lustful labourer”

Funny advertisements on trains, construction sites, hipster clothing from secondhand shops, messy rooms, traffic signs and rural mountain roads: these are the pillars to the work of the Japanese illustrator.

Ayla Angelos — 10 December 2019
Work / Art Jessie Makinson on the intuitive process behind her fantastical paintings

Featuring dandy hats and highwaymen, alien-like creatures and forest on the brink of ecological disaster, the ideas for Jessie’s paintings appear from the random shapes she daubs on her canvas.

Laura Snoad — 10 December 2019
Sponsored / Event The Adobe MAX Creativity Tour shed light on how to creatively empower ourselves

Last week, on the evening of Tuesday 3 December, creatives around the world tucked into an evening of innovation on screen or in person for The Adobe MAX Creativity Tour. Bringing some of the UK’s most creative minds together in a bubbling line up, the event delved Adobe’s latest updates and programs on offer.

Sponsored Content — 09 December 2019
Work / Graphic Design “We want to challenge and disturb the audience”: meet graphic design studio Alliage

Going about its daily business, the Brussels-based studio meets every day of the week – you will rarely see its two founders working separately. “The way we work together is very organic, while having our own single approach to design."

Ayla Angelos — 09 December 2019
Work / Illustration Abang’s illustrations of 15 women aim to reveal her true self

The Seoul-based illustrator talks us through her latest book Ladies consisting of 15 illustrated portraits of expressive women.

Jyni Ong — 09 December 2019

Work / Photography Sepia-infused and cinematic, Sam Nixon turns his lens on the stories of the world

This photographer’s outlook is formed via a harmonious blend between documentary, portraiture and fashion, with a tonal glow running throughout – as seen in his most recent project, Yafo to Jericho, published in Document Journal.

Ayla Angelos — 09 December 2019
Regulars / Nicer Tuesdays Here are our most inspiring, moving, honest, funny, memorable moments from Nicer Tuesdays 2019

Before we kick off the new year and another run of Nicer Tuesdays, we wanted to take a moment to say thank you to every who took to the stage or sat in the audience during 2019’s events, and to reflect on some of our highlights.

It's Nice That — 09 December 2019
Work / Publication Somnath Bhatt compiles a series of charming pixelated drawings for his new book, Ode

Risograph-printed with scarlet, cornflower and metallic gold inks, the book is a 40-page emblem to his multi-media approach as an artist. “My work has no loyalty to a specific form or media,” he says. “It might be described as a shuffle between genres, centuries, cultures and emotional states."

Ayla Angelos — 09 December 2019
Sponsored / Events How will pineapple leaves, algae and mushroom cement save the future of our cities?

Overconsumption – and the way we as humans have chosen to live our lives in recent decades – has left us in an unprecedented state of emergency. Rapid urbanisation is one of the many factors contributing to the current threat to our planet, and around 55 per cent of the world’s population currently lives in cities, a figure which is set to rise to 68 per cent by 2050, according to a 2018 report by the UN’s Department of Economic and Social Affairs. And while these cities are incredible hubs of creativity, innovation and diversity, there is a myriad of issues associated with urban living.

Sponsored Content — 06 December 2019
Work / Graphic Design “I’m a bit afraid of colours”: Romina Malta on her illustrative approach to design

Romina’s multi-disciplinary approach lends itself nicely to the types of projects she likes to take on. Namely an art director, she focuses primarily on editorial and sound design, as well as taking on commissions for various clients, studios, artists, galleries and record labels.

Ayla Angelos — 06 December 2019
Work / Illustration Meme supreme: Daniel Keogh's maximalist illustrations are impossible to scroll past

The Australian-based illustrator starts each project on paper, before moving on to hundreds of layers in Photoshop to make his incredibly detailed images. In his Where’s Wally?-style illustrations, he encourages the viewer to create their own stories.

Alif Ibrahim — 06 December 2019