A house warming card inspired by the houses of Richmond (welcome to your new home Philippa & Cutie)!

VERY EXCITED!

Just booked tickets for the OFFSET2010 Creative Conference in Dublin being held this October. My lovely creative partner at CEMYK, Emma Stebbings will be joining me so hope to see you there. Hmm, Guinness!

OFFSET2010 features a week long programme of club nights, live performances, gallery shows, in-store events and much more taking place all over the capital. Showcasing world-class creatives in design, illustration, fashion, photography, publishing, advertising, animation and more, we intend to turn the spotlight on the incredible creative scene thriving around us each day.

I have distinct memories of childhood holidays in Devon. After a day on the beach, sitting in front of a tiny TV and watching Jacques Cousteau’s undersea adventures.

Jacques used a converted Royal Navy Minesweeper to use as his research boat. Named after Greek mythology’s Calypso, the vessel housed a laboratory to carry out field research and included observation holes in its bow under the waterline.

Keep your eye out for more in this underwater series.

Scuba gear pattern inspired by Equipment from the 60s and 70s. Brands such as Cressi have a rich history in such product and have invented some iconic items throughout their 70 year history. And were one of my sources for researching this piece.

The Association of Illustrators recently joined forces with London Transport Museum to run a competition about cycling as an emerging form of transport in London.

“Whoever you are and wherever you look a revolution is taking place. Cycling is quickly becoming a part of the fabric of everyday life in London. During Summer 2010, Transport for London will will join the revolution with the launch of its Cycle Superhighways and Cycle Hire Schemes as well as a host of other initiatives to improve cycle safety and security. In conjunction with these programmes, London Transport Museum and the Association of Illustrators are delighted to announce a call for illustrations featuring cycling as an emerging mode of transport in London.

Students and professionals are invited to submit entries that demonstrate the environmental, health and/or recreational benefits of cycling. It is the task of entrants to create an illustration that shows cycling as a fun and efficient way to get around the city.”

Source: www.theaoi.com

I looked at a few solutions in regards to the brief but kept returning to the word revolution. The connotation of circular movement is linked with so many elements on a bicycle. I also imagined the idea of cyclists reclaiming the streets from a sort of tyranny imposed by motorised transport .

The Cycle Superhighways will create their own map of destinations across the city, and I though it was interesting how the cycle sign sat well as an interchange on our existing underground map.

Results are announced 31 May so fingers crossed!

Last night I had a look around what was described as the UK’s “first contemporary Graphic Art Fair”. Pick Me Up! was an exhibition of graphic artists and collaborations housed in the Embankment Galleries of Somerset House.

Glug hosted some talks providing an insight into what inspires talent by the likes of  Chrissie MacDonald, Emily Fogot, & Nobrow’s Sam Arthur.

There was a numerous amount of talent and inspiration throughout the show but here are a few that caught my eye.

Tom Rowe

Tom’s art has an air of nostalgia particularly when his subject matter is old analogue recording equipment. This work was created in conjunction with Nobrow and you can read more on their Blog. Tom is a graduate of the University of Brighton and part of Evening Tweed a graphic design collective.

Andy Gillmore

This guy takes me way back to colour theory at Art College. His colour work is abstract, geometric, and well what other way is there to put this but colourful. Andy Gilmore is based in Rochester, New York and clients include the likes of The New York Times and Wired Magazine.

But that is just one half of Andy’s story. His hand drawn work is in contrast far more organic, demonstrating this artist’s exceptional draftsmanship.

Claire Scully

Claire graduated from Central Saint Martins in 2006 with an MA in communication Design and has an exemplary client list including The New York Times, The Guardian, Penguin Books, Wallpaper* to name but a few. She applies her skill over many mediums from photography to painting, drawing to printing, moving image to digital art, and it her ability in all that I find incredible. Visit her site The quiet revolution and enjoy.

Rob Ryan

Rob’s whimsical and delicate work involves enormous yet intricate paper cuts that are replicated as screen prints. For Pick Me Up, Rob and his team relocated their studio to Somerset House to give visitors an insight into his process.

They captured this production while in situ at the exhibition.

Rob Ryan timelapse at Pick Me Up gallery from karl sadler on Vimeo.

I recently completed a project working with Puma’s retail marketing department and during the development process I managed to create some updates on the Puma patterns I started last year. The style featured in this design is the Puma Dallas which as been re-released as part of Puma’s SS10 collection. The Dallas was adopted by the European B-Boy community in the 80′s and was regarded as a classic of the time.

London Fashion Week passed recently and I worked up a couple of sketches as fashion illustrations.

Starting with Issa London’s show from Tuesday 23rd February. Brazillian Daniella Issa Helayel’s range of slick tight leather pants, heavy shades, high hair, the dresses short with a slink confidence.

Directly before Issa’s show, Burberry Prorsum were one of the many fashion houses streaming live around the globe. Burrberry offered said service in 3D. Christopher Bailey oversaw this forces inspired range, taking us back to a Britain at war with references to aviator jackets, military tailoring & twists of combat.

The collection was romantically and indisputably British.

You can see the show as it was broadcast by clicking here.

I started with some pencil sketches that were based on the catwalk shows. A majority of LFW’s shows were streamed at LFW’s website during the week. After refining these by hand, the sketches were then scanned into Photoshop, re-worked in Illustrator, and then some final touches added back in Photoshop.

Issa’s collection had strong, vivid styling thus the clean image here in comparison to the vintage look inspired by Christopher Bailey’s nostalgic collection.

Part of my experience in the fashion industry required drawing designs (or flats) in order to communicate concepts to a factory who would in turn to work them up into an actual garment.

Do get in touch if you need you ideas or designs visualised or require help with technical garment illustrations.

I have always been slightly obsessed with the iconic glasses of the 80′s Cazals. Hip Hop culture fostered the German brand as its own with the likes of Run DMC.

Some day I’ll get hold of a pair but until then, here’s the 607′s in all their glory