Fly

Jenny Bowers

I love these illustrations from Jenny Bowers. I always enjoy an illustrated series.

Link of the Day

Amaamo

Former FGOTW Leslynette Vega recently started Amaamo, a paper and apparel based screen-printing studio where she uses inspiration from her Puerto Rican background to create her designs. I love what she had to say about Amaamo:

All my designs are original and inspired mainly by Puerto Rico (I was born and raised there) and Latin America. What I want to achieve with my designs is to expose and connect everyone --- it doesn't matter your race --- with the latin community --- through a modern, joyful, colorful and unique apparel line complemented with all the other items I want to develop.

Design & Me: Art + History

A few months ago I had the lovely opportunity to be featured in the Creative Quarterly's Design New Talent Issue. I turned to this page and there I was. Although I am truly honored and grateful for the feature I couldn't help but feel saddened at what I saw. Do you see what I'm talking about?  Look closely.

 

I am the only brown face on the page, the only African-American featured.

Everyday in some form or fashion history is being made. As history unfolds, artists with pens, paintbrushes, cameras, and recorders are there ready to capture every moment. Without them, us, the past would not have a voice. Think about it, without Michaelangelo's paintings, Toulouse-Lautrec's prints or Erte's fashion illustrations we would not have a visual representation of the daily lives of the people who came before us. Surely now we have television and youtube to capture everything but there are so many ways to interpret one story (i.e. I love historical illustrations). And this leads me to my point. Without diversity in the fields of art the interpretations of our stories, our history, becomes very one-sided. This goes for the way it's depicted and who's doing the depicting.

We need all forms of art and we need every kind of person to be in those various areas recording our history. Whether it's behind the camera, easel, on the keyboard, in front of the computer or at a drafting table — it's purely mandatory. Through multiple perspectives we can get an accurate account of the world around us and also avoid mistakes like the controversial Vogue cover with Gisele Bündchen and Lebron James (I bet there wasn't anyone of color in that meeting to say, "hey this cover is way wrong").

So what does it take to make it happen? It's a question I always ponder over. I have some ideas, I guess it's just a matter of doing them. It's 2008. We have the very first African-American president, Edris Elba (so beautiful) is rumored to be the first African-American James Bond. All this is great but it has taken too long. We need more diversity in media production, design and fine arts ASAP!

Good on Paper Design

I can never get enough of wonderful stationery goodies. Here are some great paper products from Good on Paper Design Shop. I have their little birdies Sticky Note Set which I purchased a while ago at the Bust Craftacular.

Link

more lettering!

FGOTW

Who? Tabitha Green, 27
Where? Currently living in Chicago, IL, but arrived here a year ago by way of Los Angeles, CA, Seattle, WA and Vancouver, BC. I'm slowly making my way to the east coast.
What? I'm a Marketing Manager for a daily publication and manage marketing efforts for the Central Region - that's my 9-5 job, but all my other time is spent networking within the fashion and retailer community in Chicago. I blog at Fashion Therapist about shopping/fashion and aside from posting my random thoughts, I try to highlight events, retailers or designers in the Chicago area. I do what I can to support local designers and small boutiques because it's my way of giving back to what's been given to me.
What inspires you? My parents' rags to riches story — they migrated to Canada in the late 70s and my dad worked at a 7-Eleven just to support my mom and brother. A few years later my dad and uncle started their own importing/exporting business which made them one of the most successful companies in the industry. It's an inspirational story that keeps me humble, but proves to me that if I set my mind on something I can achieve great success.
Why are you fly?  Because I can admit that I have flaws and am comfortable with my imperfections because I know that makes me unique.
Advice: It sounds so cliche, but never let anyone or anything bring you down in life.

Cacharel

Chic and fabulousness from French clothing company Cacharel. I love the patterns and prints on these pieces.

Link of the Day

i miss watching NYCTV. kela walker is great.

Cool Photos

Love these photos from Live 4 This design studio. The top one is my favorite.

More Lettering

Check out this work from lettering artist, Sebastian Lester.

Link of the Day

MJ

Ending the week with fabulousness from Marc Jacobs' Spring/Summer '09 collection.

Lovely

Beautiful letter-pressed letter-forms from The Paper Nut.

PIXNIT

Love these wall illustrations/installations from PIXNIT.