skip to main |
skip to sidebar
I just felt like posting something bold and Scandinavian today for our Friday eye candy, and it doesn't get much bolder than these large colourful flowers by Finnish graphic artist Antti Kalevi. Based in his Helsinki studio Antti works on his own personal design projects in between working for commercial clients such as The New York Times and Yoox. I love these simple stylised flowers in bright flat colours which are best described by Antti : "My aim is to create work which displays things at their bare essence–while keeping the poetry." If you like their style you can see more from Antti Kalevi online here.
I am staying with Finnish designers for this post with a beautiful showcase of work from another Helsinki based artist Linda Linko. Linda loves to work with mixed media using ink line drawings, bold painterly motifs and colourful collage shapes. She loves her work to look joyful and carefree and has worked with clients such as Apple, Adidas, and the Design Museum. Linda would also love to do more projects in surface design and work with patterns; textiles, wallpapers, and fashion.
I am so pleased to introduce another entry in the Designers for Hire Directory this week. Ann Kelle is the studio name for designer Kelle Boyd, a designer and illustrator based in Nashville, Tennessee. Kelle specialises in children's design and describes her style as simple, bright, and happy with playfulness mixed in. She takes inspiration from her childhood and remembers the patterns she grew up with from her father's tie to the sweater she wore in second grade. Kelle has been licensing artwork for over ten years and has created best selling fabrics for Robert Kaufman, and had her designs sold in stores across the world such as Walmart, Joann's and Target. Kelle would welcome new licensing, collaborations or commission opportunities, especially in the areas of children’s books, wall paper, and kids decor. She has an an extensive catalogue of designs ranging from holidays (Christmas, Valentines, etc.), to animals, hand lettering and everyday designs. You can get in touch with Kelle via her website here.
One of Kelle's favorite design projects to date has been creating a group of characters called, The Girl Friends. They’re an adventurous group of girls based on friendship. They first appeared on fabric and most recently were made into doll sewing panels. Many stores sold out of the doll panels shortly after their release. This diverse group of girls touched the hearts of many resulting in personal messages, emails, and letters of appreciation and gratitude for the Girl Friends’ individuality and their spirit of inclusion. Each girl has their own unique personality - from a skateboarding, entrepreneur baker to a veterinarian. I have had many requests from customers inquiring as to when I would do a series of children’s books on the Girl Friend’s characters and additional products such as, pre-made dolls, coloring books, etc.
Polleni is a new design agency founded in Bristol and it's creative director is Cat How, previously of on online store Howkapow. Cat and her husband Roger sold Howkapow in 2016 to co-found their next venture : Pollen Studios, a work and event space. And just a year later they founded Polleni. Besides Bristol they also have bases in London and Lisbon and their small team of creatives bring together experience from lots of different backgrounds. As a branding agency they combine skills from marketing and journalism, to e-commerce and graphic design. I particularly loved their colourful pattern based branding for Co.Lab. Alongside client work designing brands and websites, they are currently tinkering away on an idea to automate branding design for small startups.
