Portland is the new Brooklyn, or something like that. I say this because I can’t stop coming across a ridiculous amount of talented work from designers and artists based there. Dan Stiles is one more to add to the list. Amazing posters? Check. Amazing illustration work? Check. Silkscreened goodness? Check. Dan’s got a lot more than that over at his portfolio, so go ‘check’ it out now.

Take a look at Jiminie Ha‘s work, really beautiful stuff there.

Off the Wall
Yale MFA Graphic Design Thesis Show 2010

May 15-22, 2010
Closing reception: Saturday, 7-10 p.m., May 22, 2010
Yale University
Green Hall Gallery
1156 Chapel Street, New Haven CT 06511

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From the Press Release:

“Off the Wall is an exhibition of the print, motion, site-specific and interactive work of this year’s fifteen MFA candidates in the Graphic Design program at the Yale University School of Art.

Faced with the challenge of presenting their work in a way that celebrates both the individuality of each designer and the spirit of the class as a whole, the students decided to take their work off the walls. In a gesture that reduces the exhibition to its most essential form, all works will be placed on the floor. As the title implies, Off the Wall is unorthodox and intuitive. Instead of grouping the work by maker or medium, it will be arranged loosely, letting visitors make their own links and connections between objects. By presenting their work on the floor, on the same surface that viewers stand, the designers ask the viewers to engage with objects they encounter. Each piece becomes accessible, allowing visitors an opportunity to pick up, read, view and directly experience all works on display.

During Yale’s intense, two-year program, students build a coherent, investigative, and experimental body of work, culminating in a thesis. Though each student’s thesis project expresses a singular methodology, they share common features: the application of a visual method to studio work and the writing and design of a catalogue raisonné. Alongside designers’ print, video, and interactive work, Off the Wall will feature the fifteen thesis books, which contextualize the designers’ work in relation to their emerging practices.”

Msenna & Co. launched their new site today which will house new work as well as be the home for a blog that will keep up with the life and times of the brand, artist and projects within the Msenna & Co. go’on check it out and stay tuned for the launch of the Msenna store which will carry work as well as random artifacts picked up through out their travels. check it HERE

Shaz Madani is a 2008 London College of Communications graduate in graphic design. Having worked for the likes of The Partners, Why Not Associates and Mind Design, you can be sure that Shaz has some incredible work.

Once in a while I’ll come across something online that just leaves me speechless. This is one of those things. As a book designer, this project by Isabelle Vaverka really strikes a chord with me on so many levels.

Smashing Magazine put together a large collection of typographic posters from around the world check them out HERE

Recent Paris design graduate Xavier Barrade has some really incredible work in his portfolio. I especially like the identity for Philharmonie de Paris, shown above.

Komboh is the online portfolio of two recent design graduates from Alberta College Art & Design. Hans Thiessen and Michael Mateyko certainly have some nice work going, I like what they did for Pendulum Magazine (above). This concept of dual/collaborative portfolios is an interesting one and I wonder if we’ll be seeing more of it from students preparing to graduate from design school.

One of my favorite studios right now is Project Projects. Their work makes up an impressive collection of websites, exhibits, books, identities and environments. Their work is consistently effective in it’s communication and aesthetic. I think that what they do best is focus on the message behind every project, rather than attempting to dress it in some trendy graphics or type. Smart and beautiful, that’s it. Must be why they were named finalists in this year’s National Design Awards by the Cooper-Hewitt.

Michael Thorsby (A.K.A. PMKFA) has some really fresh stuff in his portfolio of graphic design, illustration and apparel graphics (for It’s Our Thing).

I gotta say, I really like some of the work happening over at Nazario Graziano‘s portfolio.

Congrats to one of our contributors, Rich Arnold, for getting some of his work up over at inPRNT. If you haven’t checked them out yet they’ve got great artwork by awesome designers/artists at really decent prices. That Death Star print is looking sweet.

There happens to be some lovely work coming out of Sweden via 1-UP, the design studio of Joakim Jansson.

Mr. Alex Goose has a dope portfolio, the kid makes beats too. Nice.

There are some great books over at Mark Batty Publishers, including the one above titled Skateboard Graphics. Check out some spreads below.

Via Core77

Marque is the kind of studio that makes me want to relocate to the UK. Amazing work.

All I have to say is holy smokes. Deanne Cheuk‘s work is stunning. No, better yet it’s mind-blowing. Nope, that’s not good enough either. Her work is unreal. Best part is Deanne’s portfolio is massive and covers multiple disciplines.

Photo by Dan Lurie

My good friend, and Princeton grad, Andy Chen has a great post up about his first week interning for Paula Scher at Pentagram. Keep up the good work Andy!

Great work from soon-to-be graduate Mark Adamson.

Lovely work by the UK’s own Chris Clarke. Oh, and he just graduated last year.

Born in Vienna. Raised in South Florida. Graduated from SVA. Now at Pentagram. ‘Nuff said. Oh, yeah…amazing portfolio…duh. Above is her project for the U.S. Government.

Amazing group of materials for Carhatt’s brand & retail guidelines designed by Fitch. This is true graphic design folks.

I just came across these Unicef ads while doing some research.. dont know how old they are, but i think they are pretty interesting and quite effective….

Chicago’s Dustin Kilgore has some happenin’ work on his site.

Great work over at Tell Me Something Nice done by Mr. Ryan Cole. He gets extra points for having interviewed Takeover contributor Lars Amhoff last Fall. Is there something in the water at the University of North Texas, I’m noticing some good work coming out of there in recent years.

A graduate of RISD, Jessica Walsh has been fortunate to work with Pentagram, AIGA and now Print Magazine. You’ve all seen her work, now go drool some more.

The work from Plural has left me stunned and speechless. Some studios shouldn’t be this good.

Thanks Andy

Great work by Mark Cinesco (a.k.a. ppwrk studio), including typeface designs and some great print materials for Otis College of Art & Design.

Thanks Andy for the link.

Gorgeous work from Mark Brooks, check out his album covers too.

Ms. Laura Alejo has some lovely motion and print work.

I can’t believe the amount of great work going on over at Mark Weaver’s site. Just mind-blowing beautiful stuff.

Some really great work over at Matthew Bednarik’s portfolio site.

Love the work of Chris Ro (A.K.A. ADearFriend™), one of the editors behind the infamous GraphicHug blog. We love GraphicHug, you should too.

-NAME
Don Clark

-WHERE ARE YOU FROM?
Seattle, WA

-WHAT DOES YOUR WORK CONSIST OF?
Illustration and graphic design, mostly.

-HOW DID YOU GET STARTED?
I’ve been interested in art since … well, since I knew how to say “art” I guess. Our (my brother Ryan is also my partner at IC) grandfather was an extremely talented artist and illustrator who worked at NASA for many years. Our father is also a very skilled woodworker and luthier. They were both a really big influence on us as kids and definitely inspired us to take this path. We never really thought about doing anything else.

-WHAT IS THE BEST THING ABOUT WHAT YOU DO?
Well, getting paid for your ideas (and your interpretation of those ideas) isn’t so bad. Being able to use vintage children’s books as a tax write-off is pretty cool too.

-WHAT IS THE WORST THING ABOUT WHAT YOU DO?
The business aspect of being self-employed can be stressful. If it weren’t for my accountant, I might be in jail. Things get confusing!

-IF YOU WEREN’T DESIGNING, WHAT WOULD YOU BE DOING?
Playing music or left field for an obscure single A farm team.

-WHAT INSPIRES YOU?
Life around me – and that changes all the time … but more specifically I’d say Southern California mid-century modernism.

-WHERE DOES CREATIVITY COME FROM?
The Creator.

-WHO’S WORK DO YOU LOOK UP TO? (Either currently or in the past)
Past: Alfred Paulsen, Alvin Lustig, Herbert Matter, Paul Rand, Jim Flora, Dr. Seuss, Martin & Alice Provensen, Ward Kimball (and many at Disney), Richard Scarry, Bernice Myers, J.P. Miller, etc.

Present: Chip Kidd, Stefan Sagmeister, Bob Staake, Geefwee Boedoe, Tim Biskup, Lou Romano, Teddy Newton, Ralph Eggleston, Johnny Yanok, House Industries, my brother Ryan, etc.

-WHAT DOES THE FUTURE LOOK LIKE FOR YOUR INDUSTRY?
For us, “our industry” used to mean the music industry. We’ve been fortunate to branch out in new directions as a result of dwindling CD sales, piracy, etc. Lately we’ve seen a large increase in illustration projects for a variety of clients, from retail to editorial. While the music projects are still coming in, we’ve been able to be a bit more discerning with the records we work on. I think that’s been a good thing for us.

As for music, as long as people want to sell it, you’re going to need art. Yes, the budgets are shrinking, but packaging won’t go away entirely. In fact, we’re in an age where we aren’t limited to a jewel box or a CD anymore. I’m rather optimistic in terms of what kinds of packaging options might be out there in the future. Why not an Interpol book that comes with a digital download card? I think we’ll be seeing all kinds of cool things …

-WHAT CAN WE EXPECT FROM YOU NEXT?
I touched on this in the last question, but as a company (and personally), we are seeing a fairly dramatic shift from design projects to illustration projects. We obviously love doing both, but we really enjoy drawing. If people want to see more of it, we’d like to keep doing more of it.

We also have a brand new website / store / blog in the works that should launch sometime towards the end of summer.

-WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO OTHER PEOPLE IN YOUR FIELD ASPIRING TO GET TO WHERE YOU ARE TODAY?
“Don’t try to be original, just try to be good” – Paul Rand

-ONE DEFINING MOMENT OF YOUR CAREER SO FAR.
A phone call from an extremely nice lady named Gaby who represents a band called Foo Fighters. Second on the list would be an e-mail from a man (and now friend) named Dave Cuzner who runs a website called Grain Edit.

-WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW?
I Am X “Kingdom of Welcome Addiction”
Silversun Pickups “Swoon”
Mastodon “Crack The Skye”
Hot Leg “Red Light Fever”
Doves “Kingdom Of Rust”

SEA Design is a London-based graphic design studio. They have to be one of my favorite studios around right now.

Check out Frank Chimero’s contribution to the Un Sedicesimo series. I always get so much out of his work. Frank has an unerring sensibility that combines graphic simplicity with substantive wit.

Frank Chimero Shop

August Heffner is a graphic designer, art director and illustrator living in Brooklyn, New York. Between 2004-2007 he worked directly under his design heroes Matteo Bologna at Mucca Design and Stephen Doyle at Doyle Partners. His work is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G.

Just the kind of thing to start your week off right, Nina Jua Klein is a designer based in the UK with some tasty work.

Let me begin by saying that it kills me a little to post this. Christopher Brand has some amazing book covers up, I graduated from design school the same year as him. This week’s goal is to step my game up. Kudos on all the nice covers Chris, keep up the good work.

I love this Flickr set of Mike Cina’s work from 1999.

Beautiful graphic design and typography from French studio Atelier Aquarium.

Thanks to Jason Gabbert and the lovely people at FaceOut Books/The DesignWorks Group for featuring one of my new book design projects.

You can read about it here or see more pics here.

One of my favorite studios, Build, has a super-minimal, super-modern, grid-based screensaver available for download on their site. Click here to preview.

Stefán Kjartansson is the designer/illustrator/typographer behind the heaviest slab serif in the world, Black Slabbath. Originally from Iceland, he’s now in Atlanta.

-WHERE ARE YOU FROM?

Barcelona, Spain

-WHAT DOES YOUR WORK CONSIST OF?

Graphic Design and Illustration

-HOW DID YOU GET STARTED?

I always liked drawing, went to design school and started working for different companies.

-WHAT IS THE BEST THING ABOUT WHAT YOU DO?

The satisfaction doing things your own way.

-WHAT IS THE WORST THING ABOUT WHAT YOU DO?

The stress and time consumption.

-IF YOU WEREN’T A DESIGNER, WHAT WOULD YOU BE DOING?

I wish i could do music, but i learned it’s not my thing.

-WHAT INSPIRES YOU?

Basically Nature.

-WHERE DOES CREATIVITY COME FROM?

From the overcoming of idea crisis.

-WHO’S WORK DO YOU LOOK UP TO?

Non-Format, Marian Bantjes, Sagmeister, Mario Hugo… among others.

-WHAT DOES THE FUTURE LOOK LIKE FOR YOUR INDUSTRY?

Mmm,… I believe 3d and motion graphics will be more and more incorporated to the designers regular tools. And 72 DPI will be the futures standard resolution.

-WHAT CAN WE EXPECT FROM YOU NEXT?

I’d like to work more on a physical support, learn new techniques and programs.

-WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO OTHER PEOPLE IN YOUR FIELD ASPIRING TO GET TO WHERE YOU ARE TODAY?

Love your work, respect it and take good care of it. Your work is what you’re worth.

-ONE DEFINING MOMENT OF YOUR CAREER SO FAR.

Being able to design the cover of Rolled Gold Plus for the Rolling Stones.

-WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW?

I’m listening to Resident Advisor Podcast Num 145. DJ Koze

3dotr is the design partnership between Peter McClelland and Mily Nguyen. Amazing minimalist work…how did I miss this?

Gotta say, I’m loving this shirt by GDloft. And shirts aren’t even their thing, they’re a super-cool design studio in Philadelphia headed up by Yale MFA grad Allan Espiritu. GDloft is a collaborative studio that specializes in working with non-profits and limited budgets. Basically, their work is awesome.

Awesome packaging using moiré patterns by Part of Me.

Via TheDieline

WIRED Creative Director Scott Dadich has a nice little article about how operating within restraints can often boost creativity in a design project.