Dominika Kaczmarczyk

Yesterday I was contacted by a lovely lady that goes by the name of Dominika Kaczmarczyk who is a fan of Origami Chicken and was keen to show her work to its readers. Here we have her illustration titled: Love Conquers All. As you can see it is a very large piece and it is all hand rendered when fine liner pens! She certainly has some patience! 

It takes Dominika approximately 30 hours to complete an illustration at this scale but she doesn't really notice the time flying by as she finds this type of drawing really relaxing. The idea for this illustration crossed Dominika's mind when she was driving back to Cracow as some had written 'Amor vincit omnia' on a wall. It wasn't really even a piece of graffiti it was just a scrawled caption.

Dominika draws inspiration from everything around her including songs, movies, dreams, objects and normal everyday life, which she then transforms into an image. Should you want to see more of her illustrations, origami or architectural drawings have a look at her Behance Portfolio by clicking here.

Inspiration Monday - Colours

Do you ever find it difficult to create a palette of colours that work well together? Well, I do quite often. And recently I have discovered a little site called Design Seeds. Over on their web site they create colour palettes for you using beautiful photographs. I have not numbered any of these images because they are all in fact from the same source. Design Seeds. It is update on a regular basis and has many many many different colour combinations. Not only this but you can click on a single colour that you like and it brings up similar colours in different combinations.

So if  you are stuck for colour inspiration this week check out Design Seeds.

Joanne Hawker .co.uk

My newly designed portfolio site has finally gone live! This time I have opted for a more clear, simple and uncluttered approach. I also felt that it needed to 'grow up' a little bit. I wanted my work to do the talking for me and not the over crowed decorations. I have also put more thought into the thumbnails as to be honest were bit of an after thought on my old layout because they were not really used or in view. 

You can view my site here! www.joannehawker.co.uk

Any constructive criticism is most welcome! I hope you like it.

Chronic Bitchface - Kris Atomic

This is without doubt one of my favourite illustrations ever and is by the super talented Kris Atomic. It completely sums me up in one image! I walk around looking as if I am absolutely miserable even when I am not. Its just the way my face is! Therefore it does in fact lead to people telling me to smile and saying 'cheer up love! It might never happen!' Which does get a bit tedious at times. Its also a problem when it comes to photographs. There was a running joke at 6th form because I thought I was smiling in photos when actually I wasn't. I looked grumpy and straight faced...

'Kristina is a freelance illustrator, photographer, blogger, cat lover, avid reader, only child, tea drinker, filofax user and Stephen Fry fan. She graduated from Camberwell College of Arts with a BA (Hons) degree in Illustration in '09. She currently lives in Brighton with her boyfriend Andrew and her cat Matilda.'

'Kris Atomic is an alter ego necessitated by a 13 letter long surname that no-one can ever spell (and a fondness for Blondie).'

'Kristina is available for commissions, freelance opportunities and afternoon tea.'

Robin and Mould

Aren't these gorgeous! I discovered Robin and Mould through etsy some time ago but only recently rediscovered them through Mollie Makes. Everything in their delightful shop is hand screened and hand made which makes their items that little bit more special. Robin and Mould are based in rural Wiltshire in the UK and in their spare time are designers, crafters and makers of printed home wares and other lovely things.

Birdy Calendar 2012 - Giveaway Winner!

Its finally here! The announcement of the winner of the birdy calendar giveaway! I expect many of you will be pleased thats its all over because it means I will stop polluting your twitter feed with many plugs of said giveaway.

So I counted up everyones entries, wrote down names, badly chopped them up and popped them into a hat. I shuffled them, accidentally dropped them and then asked my brother to pick one out of the hat!

*Drum roll........* and the winner is...... Sam X a.k.a @polkadot_dreams! So if you could send me your details I'll pop one in the post for you as soon as I can!

At this point I would really like to thank everyone who took part by following Origami Chicken and kindly spreading the word, it means a lot to me. So thank you! But don't be disheartened if you didn't win! All is not lost! You can still purchase one over on my etsy shop! Have a lovely weekend everyone :)

Kemp Folds

I discovered this blog yesterday and found it absolutely genius/hilarious. I was sat in a silent room laughing at my laptop. Kemp Folds is exactly what the title says it is. Pictures of Ross Kemp's face folded in different ways to create funny images of his face. If you like this sort of thing pop over to Kemp Folds to see even more silly photos :)

Mr Bingo - Does he work for free? No.

This is incredible. It would appear that Mr Bingo is fed up with people asking him to work for free and rightly so. If only I had the client base and guts to put this on my web site! Maybe we should all take a leaf out of Mr Bingo's book. Take a look at the rest of work if you get a chance!

Colour Matching Game

This is an ace little interactive activity where you are required to test your colour matching skills! As a designer you expect to be good at this sort of thing! Needless to say I didn't score too badly! It was made for Method of Action, which is the same people who did Kern Me (see previous post). Hopefully there will be more to come! But in the mean time have a go at this colour matching game.

Inspiration Monday - Mountains

1. Chairlifts by Kerry Hyndman
2. Mountain Notebook by Little Alexander
3. We Can Move Mountains by We Are Yoke
4. Winter Photo by Eye Poetry Photography
5. Mountain Tops by Troubled
6. Mountains Typographic Illustration by Sam Ossie

This is the start of a weekly feature I am hoping to do each monday called Inspiration Monday. Its where I will gather images of a variety of things or a theme that is inspiring me some how or something I am excited about! I will find images that represent this through etsy, society6 and other shops/sites whilst at the same time showing off some of the work available through these means. Most if not all will be available to purchase by clicking on the links that I shall provide!

This monday I have chosen the theme of Mountains because I will be going on my very first ski holiday in  March! So needless to say I am excited/nervous and doing lots of googling of mountains. The images I have chosen represent what I imagine the experience will be like, cold and fresh but with a feeling of being on top of the world. I also have a few of my own little mountains that I need to conquer such as getting a job in the field in which I trained hard for, editing my web site so that it represents my work in the best way it possibly can and lastly to push obstacles out of my way and actually get on with things that I want to do in life.

It's not the Mountains ahead to climb that wear you out; its the pebble in your shoe. - Muhammad Ali

'My First Hardcore Song'

I saw this video yesterday when it only had a few thousand views and its been stuck in my head all day. In 24 hours it has gone viral and had nearly 5 million views! So I just had to share it with you. Enjoy :)

Pencils, Paper, Scissors - Colouring Book

The Pencils, Paper, Scissors colouring book is good to go! After a few minor hiccups its ready to be printed and you can have a little sneaky peek! We've themed it around the circus and it has many lovely images waiting for you to scribble over! So keep your eyes peeled and get your pencils sharpened because in the next couple of weeks we will be revealing how you can get your hands on a copy. If you want to see a few more little snippets pop over to the PPS Collective blog :)

Scott Weaver - Rolling through the bay

Scott Weaver's Rolling through the Bay from The Tinkering Studio on Vimeo.

This is incredible!

Rolling through the bay is an abstract toothpick sculpture of San Francisco. It has about 100,000 of toothpicks. The amazing part, is that is has four ping pong ball paths that roll through different landmarks of San Francisco. He has spent about 3000 hours on it over a period of 34 years!

Ingunn Dybendal

This is the lovely work of Ingunn Dybendal who is an illustrator currently based in Norway. This illustration is part of a full Norwegian alphabet where each letter is constructed from buildings and little characters. Each letter can be seen as its own little world but they can also work together in word formations as shown above. To see more of her lovely work just click on her name above to go to her online portfolio page.

Laura Wood

I have recently discovered the gorgeous illustrative work of Laura Wood. Her illustrations are beautifully rendered and full of tiny details. There is also an element about them which no matter the storyline is warm, welcoming and makes you smile. I can most definitely see her work in children's books in the future. To look at even more lovely work of hers why not check out her portfolio? Its here.

This is a Print Handbook

This week I ordered myself a copy of the This is a Print Handbook. It is exactly what it says it is. There's no long winded faff, just sweet and simple diagrams with a few pieces of text here and there. It covers over printing, the golden ratio, paper sizes, colours on different papers, line weight, dots per inch (dpi), blacks, skin tones, colours and inks, glyphs, Pantone vs CMYK, point sizes, tints and text, monotone, duotone, file types, folds, trapping, typefaces and conversions. Its basically everything that I was taught in University in one simple handbook which is really easy to reference and is an absolute steal at just £4. It is beautifully designed and put together and will come in very useful. I must also point out that the images above belong to them and there are many more you can go and have a look at.

You can buy the handbook by clicking here.

Their web site is also rammed full of other useful things. For example there is a free downloadable binding guide. As well as many articles including the best file type for print and what printing plates actually look like (just in case you don't already know, its actually quite interesting).
So if you have some spare time have a little rummage around over here.

Museum Of Me - Intel

These are a few images from my interaction with Intel's Museum Of Me. You simply use your Facebook login and it analyses all your data which creates a visual archive of your online social life. You are then guided around on an exhibition style tour to look at your facts and data. If you want to view it again you can simply press reply but if you want to share it with the world then you can upload all of your 'exhibition' photos into a new folder automatically on your Facebook page. I've done a few of these type things before but nothing has come close to the standard of this one. I must say, I really am quite impressed. Why not give it ago?

If you want to create a Museum Of Me click here!

Finger Painter

This incredible video appears to be doing the rounds on many social networking sites. I assume this guy is a street artist? (Correct me if I'm wrong as there is no information with the video) He paints incredible landscapes in seconds using his fingers as the paint brush! I've seen these sorts of people before when I was a lot younger and on a school trip to Germany but they used pieces of card. This is a whole new level and a lot quicker! Have a watch, his skills are amazing.

Thank You Postcards

Have you said thank you for all the lovely presents you received over the Christmas period? I haven't because I've been waiting for these to turn up! This year I decided to design my own little thank you postcards. I got fed up with all the horrible little fluffy glittery badly designed thank you note cards in my local town (its a tiny town) and so made these. I used it as an excuse to experiment with some different type brushes and techniques. In doing this I discovered an easy way to digitally create a screen printed type look. Its difficult to see it in this photo but if you saw the original file you'd know exactly where I'm coming from. I will definitely be using this technique again but for now I have quite a few thank you's to be writing!

Birdy Calendar 2012 - Giveaway!

The Birdy 2012 Calendar is finally here! And as promised I am going to give one away to one very lucky reader in Origami Chicken's first ever giveaway! The calendar measures at 6 x 4 inches so will sit nicely on your desk or can easily be pinned somewhere. It has been professionally printed on Fujifilm Crystal Archive paper.

How can you enter? Well its pretty simple really! The amount of traffic that comes through here everyday unfortunately doesn't match the number of followers. So all you have to do is follow Origami Chicken using the Google friend connect box in the left hand column or in the Navbar at the top of the page and then leave a comment to say you have followed. Simples!

Rules:
- You must be or become a follower of Origami Chicken
- Leave a comment to say you have (don't forget an email address or a twitter address so I can contact you if you win!)
- Anyone can enter! The more the merrier! I'll even ship it abroad if I need to :)

Extra entries:
-You can gain extra entries by promoting this give away on facebook, twitter or even your own blog. But if you do, remember to tell me otherwise I can't count them! You can tag me on twitter using the @joannehawker tag if you want to.

The give away will close at midnight (GMT) on the 26th January and the winner announced on the 27th January. So good luck!

If you don't want to wait to win and would like to purchase a calendar you can do so over on my etsy shop :)

ConiLab - Interview

Hello! First things first. For our readers who may not know who you are, tell us a little more about yourself and what you do:

Hi! My name is Costanza but everyone knows me as Coni and I am a Graphic Designer based in Barcelona. After working with diverse designers for many years I started my own journey creating and printing my own designs. I do this using my chosen technique of 100% handmade screen-printing. I love language and typography, old etchings, signs, symbols and icons! In my artwork you will find a little bit of all those things.

You have a great portfolio of typographical work, but where do you get your inspiration?

Inspiration comes from everywhere, in a song, in a book, watching a movie or even talking to someone. It also comes from aspects of my personal life, such as the birth of my youngest niece, which inspired me to do "we are a team".

If you don’t mind, would you give us a little insight into your creative process from start to finish so we can get a better idea how you create your work?

Once I have an idea the process starts: some notes, hand sketches, and then I work on the concept in my computer and when I "see it" (after many tests of composition, color, etc.) then begins the serigraphy-process.

Do you have anymore exciting projects in the pipeline that you’re allowed to talk about?

I’m thinking about doing some experiments with fabrics, wood and metal.

Are you available for commissions should any of our readers like to contact you?

At the moment I'm not offering customization but I'm thinking about it for the near future.

And finally, where can we find you online and purchase your lovely work?

All my silk screens are available on Etsy: www.conilab.etsy.com
And if you want to know a little bit more about me you can visit my web site: www.conilab.com

Andrew Bannecker

A simple yet grabbing Wi-Fi campaign by Andrew Bannecker for Amtrak. He has loads of varied beautiful over on his web site and blog. His blog is great viewing as the images are so large you can see lots of the small details on some of his other works which allows for greater appreciation.

'A collector of old ephemera and just about anything wood and metal, Andrew creates beautiful art that captures the imagination and tells a story. He works in a studio in Washington DC, beautifully cluttered with everything from toy rocket ships to vintage glass beakers filled with skittles. His work has been featured at the One Show, New York Festivals, Communication Arts, American Illustration, The Society of Illustrators, 3x3 Magazine, 3x3 Proshow, Lürzer's Archive 200 Best Illustrators, and exhibitions of note all over the world.The most recent was the much celebrated Monsters Inked in London, alongside other luminaries such as Pete Fowler.'

Wee Birdy - Desktop Background

Its that time again when the old desktop background needs to be freshened up (especially mine, since it had a calendar from November on it). As always, I trawl the internet for hours until I finally discover something that takes my fancy. I don't usually go for something this complicated as I prefer simple minimal backgrounds where I can easily find my folders. However, this is so lovely I made an exception.

You can download it for free over on Wee Birdy and is available in 3 colours; blue, orange and red. Not only can you get it for your desktop but also for your twitter, iPhone and iPad! These backgrounds are in a side bar to the right of the page about half way down. Enjoy! :)

Happy New Year

A day late I know but happy new year to all of you lovely readers! I trust all of you had a wonderful holiday? Origami chicken has been a little busy lately creating a little something for 2012. You may have spied the sneak peak above and you would be right in guessing that it is in fact a small calendar. Once they have been printed one of you lucky readers could be in with the chance of winning one! But you'll just have to be patient and wait to find out how in the coming weeks. Watch this space!