This was going to be a post on a dark and morose music video from last year, but then, while flicking through other links, I was directed to this… and it was like coming across an old friend. The warmth, the colour, the playfulness and the delicacy that is found in this clip could only be that of Hayley Morris, a Frontier favourite. 

Hayley Morris is the queen of stop motion, not only is she an absolute pro at this ultra time consuming craft, but her signature aesthetic is so beautifully naive that it’s instantly comforting. For me, it’s her lighting. Not concerned with whats considered ‘high’ production in lighting, Hayleys coloured filters and tungsten lights not only give off a certain aesthetic, but also a tenderness and intimacy. And the song helps too… by Iron and Wine, Joy is soft and melts into the visuals as Hayley’s scenes melt into one another.

And if you like this work then I highly suggest you watch the making of it too. What struck me when watching this was that her process reinforces this feeling of warmth. Hunched over she creates, and on set… well it’s only her, working slowly and methodically and intricately. I’m in love with it and I’m in love with the process. Make sure you take a look at the rest of her work here.

Logan Bradley

At first glance these images look like some kind of collection of crazy screen savers. It takes a few seconds to ‘see’ what you are actually looking at, and it’s this quality that makes the photographs of Michael Wolf so compelling.

The aptly named series Architecture of Density gives the viewer a jaw-dropping dose of reality in terms of what human growth and population looks like in some parts of our world. Photographed in Hong Kong, this depiction of apartment block housing gives me a stifling feeling of claustrophobia. Adversely, there is a stark beauty to these images. Some of the colour palettes are strangely quite soothing to the eye, especially the pastel and grey combinations. The way that Wolf has taken these shots from a straight angle (like he is looking out of an apartment window himself) lends a two-dimensional quality to these works, flattening them out so that they’re quite surreal….Thiebaud’s warped street scenes spring to mind for some reason.

Michael Wolf is German born but lives in Hong Kong, he plays the role of voyeur well. It’s worth checking out his other series based in Hong Kong here, I particularly like the 100 x100 works. Wolf has exhibited internationally and published no less than 13 books documenting his reflections on ‘the vernacular culture of metropolises.’

Renee Barker

Humour me for a moment. Yes, this is a graphic design post, and yes, this is a bunch of black lines. But this book for Onomatopee is one of those things that I wish I had been able to create.

Designed by one of my new favourites Lesley Moore, the book is an artist publication on the work of Andrés Ramírez Gaviria, an artist I was unfamiliar with prior to this article, and now that I am, I’m considered a convert. Made up of perfectly arranged blacks, systems and grids, Gavira’s stark work is heavily influenced by gestalt theory. Gestalt theory stems from the idea that that the whole is greater that the sum of it’s parts. It’s about systems and how we, as humans perceive and break down what is around us. It argues that the brain is holistic, parallel, and analog, with self-organizing tendencies.

Here, in this beautifully arranged book, Moore has taken this idea of ‘parts making a whole’ literally and applied this to her type treatment. The idea might be simple but the result for me is captivating. Breaking up a geometric font into parts, Moore prints these over three separate pages so that when laid upon each other, the words are formed and become readable. It’s a visual treatment that visualises gestalt theory in a different, but supporting way to Gavira’s work. It’s not done in a tacky way, the transparency level of the paper is just right. No this work is amazing. Simple. Beautiful.

Lesley Moore is an award winning graphic designer from the Netherlands. I suggest you hop it quick and take a look at more of her astounding work. Click here to see it all. And stay tuned to our Facebook page, we’ll be featuring another great project by Moore over there throughout the day.

Logan Bradley

Ok all you 3D loving, sci-fi addicts out there, here’s one for you. These titles directed and created by Spanish motion designer Jordi Pages in collaboration with Combustion (sound design) for the 2013 London Sci-fi Festival are crazily cool and very well-executed.

In a short space of time Pages manages to pull you into an unknown fantasy scape consisting of weird and wonderfully slippery, organic life forms that seem to live and breathe light from within. This strange matter is detailed beautifully in 3D form, using a combination of Cinema 4D, Photoshop, Illustrator and After Effects.

Jordi Pages has also done titles for Playgrounds Festival in the Netherlands and some awesome projection mapping on site-specific buildings and DJ sets. To see more of what he has been getting up to check out his website.

Inspiring stuff. Have a watch – it’ll take less than two minutes!

Renee Barker

Okay, we want to help you to travel and learn this summer! So … stop what you’re doing right now and start creating. Why? Because Frontier is giving away two Summer Design Scholarships to your choice of three special universities in two amazing locations – Milan, Italy and San Diego, California.

And there’s some extra icing on this travel cake, Frontier is giving you an additional $1000 to spend on accommodation / travel expenses. All you need to do is have a current portfolio on Frontier and fill in the online application form (more details below).

So let’s get this straight… Travel. Study. Art. Cash. And it’s a scholarship!!!
We’re all about pushing creative boundaries on Frontier, and there is no better way to do this than visiting new, exciting locations and getting exposed to different knowledge, people and cultures. Frontier will award two members with summer scholarships to some of the hottest design short courses available!

These awesome summer short courses cover a wide palette of design disciplines, so wether you are in to graphics and photography, fashion, interior design, or you might want to improve your English language skills, you will find the most suitable programme for you.

San Diego is offering an immersive general exploration in design and the English language, while you get very specific courses in Milan that will take you to the next level in your chosen discipline.

And what do you have to do? NOTHING … well almost. We’ll be looking at your Frontier portfolio. So sign up to set one up or spice up your current one.

All you need to do to enter is:

1. Log in or sign up to Frontier (if you haven’t done so already!)
2. Upload a cool portfolio on Frontier  - we’d like to see a minimum of 6 pieces (preferably more) and all artwork must be your original creation of course
3. Fill out this short scholarship application form here

This is too good an opportunity to pass you by.

Who knows…it might just be you winging your way to a foreign land, armed with a free Summer Scholarship and a $1000 cash to support you getting there. So get busy getting creative, pretty up your portfolio and APPLY NOW!!

Some people just fall into the genius category. Michel Gondry is one of them. I’m a fan because a) well, as mentioned, he’s a creative genius, and b) because he is also a fan of my favorite, Bjork. The two have partnered many times and every time, Gondry’s in-camera-effect technique produces a fairytale aesthetic that is completely unique.

Gondry’s latest venture is L’Ecume des Jours, which directly translates to Froth on the Daydream. Already released in France, it’s yet to reach English speaking shores, but even though the preview is in French, you can tell that this is going to be a goodie. Based on the novel by French author Boris Vian, it tells the story of a man who falls in love with a woman whose taken ill on their honeymoon with a lily in her lung, a rare disease that can only be treated by surrounding her with flowers. And the surrealism doesn’t stop there. A suicidal mouse, little men in pantries, philosophical obsessions and murder! It looks to not only be beautifully made, but also a whole lot of fun!

Watch the preview… you can see Gondry’s masterful eye for detail and his painstakingly laborious technique of in-camera trickery (there’s no special effects here!) at work. As mentioned, the preview is in French, but seriously, it doesn’t matter. Oh and the soundtrack… it’s none other than Frontier’s favourite Woodkid, taken recent full album release. If you don’t know him then definitely click here and here! You won’t be disappointed.

(L’Ecume des Jours is being released elsewhere in the world with the English title Mood Indigo. Not sure why, Froth on the daydream is so much better!)

Logan Bradley

Man oh man! These lights are so beautiful, very chic and very dramatic. This is the work of new brand Wonderglass, recently debuting at Salone del Mobile. Each of the four glass lights, or chandeliers if you will, embody their own unique atmospheres.

As someone who is perpetually frustrated with the lighting situation in my home (bad shadows and harsh down lights abound) I just can’t get enough of these awesome creations. Wonderglass is headed by Maurizio Mussati, CEO of Established & Sons, and is based in both Venice and London. Mussati enlisted four prominent designers to each create a light that reflected the Venetian culture of glass-blowing. And boy did they come to the party. The designers consist of (in order of imagery above) Nao Tamura, Zaha Hadid, Nendo and Jaime Hayon.

I love Tamura’s Flow(T) series, the murky greens mixed with whites evoke the dynamic of a water-logged city…..the ‘horizon’ line that runs through the series of lights ties the cluster together perfectly. Another goodie, shown in the next two images, is Swarm by Zaha Hadid which consists of 16,000 crystals. The way that form protrudes from this curtain of crystals is subtle, yet quietly decadent. For more on the other pieces of this collection check out wonderful wonderful Wonderglass here.

Renee Barker

I first came across Timorous Beasties when I was covering Salone del Mobile and was instantly taken by the bold use of colour in their fabrics and the manner in which is was then used. Full of imperfections, bugs, butterflies and flooding water, Timorous Beasties definitely approaches this furnishing in a unique way. The company was founded in 1990 by the Glaswegian Alistair McAuley and Paul Simmons, after meeting while studying textile design at the Glasgow School of Art, a school with a heritage in the Arts and Crafts movement.

They pair quickly became known for their contemporary take on ‘Toile de Jouy’, a style of imagery painted onto fabrics in Napoleonic France times. Like the original Toile de Jouy’s, which often depicted drinking and debauchery, Timorous Beasties focus on the under-belly of society. Bugs and moths and decay are the basis of their repeated compositions, but created in these beautifully saturated colours. The result is something that is not only striking but also incredibly detailed all with a hint of the macabre.

Working with all sorts of top companies (even Nike has had them in to work), the full collection from Timorous Beasties is well worth a look. Check it all out here:

Logan Bradley

Watch this. You won’t be disappointed. Umbrella is the new work that’s just been released by one of my favourite directing duos Tell No One. Tell No One, as they like to be known, consists of Luke White and Remi Weekes, writers/ directors from London, and these two guys are seriously talented. Their short clips are titled Experiments, as they explore a subject matter from a different point of view, sometimes mythical, sometimes purely from a creative direction. But with all of their work, beautiful aesthetics, sound, and post production fit together seamlessly and exquisitely.

In terms of tone, Umbrella is a slightly different work I guess, however again, the combination of simple but clever creative idea mixed with perfectly executed visuals means that it’s a winner. There’s nothing to it… from a conceptual point of view anyway, it’s purely a work that is playful, light… and just a little cute. What I also like is how they’ve taken this everyday object and created something so brilliant out of it. As an object, the umbrella is definitely iconic and I can’t help but think of Rene Magritte with this work. He used umbrellas in a lot of his work, maybe this is the type of thing that he would have created if he was living in todays world.

Make sure you check out our previous writings on Tell No One here and here. They are definitely people you should know about.

Logan Bradley

These punchy little numbers by Estonian Illustrator and Graphic Designer Eiko Ojala are so good I have to share them with you. The ‘hand-made’ aesthetic is obviously on my radar at the moment, what with Jordan Bruner’s music clip on Frontier last week and now this. Hand-made art has been in vogue for a while now, but it is not always well executed. Not so the work of Ojala! This stuff is brilliant, I’m in love with it and would proudly exhibit it in my home if he would deign to give me one….

Snappy, vivid and full of character sums up this series of illustrations labelled Forest. Ojala uses a winning combination of simple composition and pastel tones to create something that is new, but somehow nostalgic at the same time. The colour palette and geometric shapes he uses remind me of this old pattern making book I have from the fifties. Beautifully constructed shadowing emphasizes the simple narratives within each work perfectly. And tree people! This hybrid between trees and people is such a fun idea.

That’s all from me – check out his profile here, there is a whole stash of goodies to sift through!

Renee Barker