Mural of Wapping - Rudi de Wet

The talented Rudi de Wet, a good friend of Pocko's, was recently commissioned through us by Mark Smith Design to produce this fabulous mural for Ballymore Properties.  The final mural is displayed in their Wapping marketing suite, with the mural itself illustrating 'a celebration of Wapping, past, present, and future'.  The client provided Rudi with a list of items from Wapping's rich and colourful history which they wanted to showcase with a combination of typography and illustration, including amongst many other things a tiger, zebras, a bottle of rum, Captain Kidd and the Prospect of Whitby pub.  The final piece was blown up to around 2600 x 4200mm; giving the offices a very striking and unique focal point (we've seen the photos in situ, and they look great!) and we are delighted to say the client love it as much as we do. 

Andrew Holder and Paul Bower for Google

Andrew Holder and Paul Bower were commissioned by our friends at DHM London to create illustrations for Google’s “The Book of 4x”. The idea was to translate and dramatise facts for the branded book, to be sent out to media buyer clients and industry professionals. The book is based on the fact that the Google display network offers 4x the click-through rate compared to the industry standard. Andrew’s brief was to depict how “human bones are four times stronger than concrete.” True to form, Paul was asked to show how “women are more than four times more likely to suffer from an overactive bladder than men.” Both works are absolutely spot on, and have very well received by the agency and client alike.

IC4 Design for Africa Agency

IC4DESIGN were recently asked by our good friends at Africa Agency to create an image to champion the branding of their New York office on Madison Avenue. The image features an enormous panoramic NY cityscape, rampaged by hundreds of African animals. As you can see, the work is absolutely spectacular and immaculately detailed. We cannot wait for the range of marketing materials to be produced, including iPhone cases, posters, envelopes, CD’s.. the works! Please note that this is only a cropped section of the full, magnificent piece. Click here to find out more about IC4Design, or just call us at Pocko!

Ben Newman at Nobrow

After months of hard work, Ben Newman’s ‘Masks’ exhibition is now open at Nobrow on Great Eastern Street (East London) as part of the London Design Festival. The exhibition features 11 printed masks, 3 wooden masks which were constructed by Ben’s dad, 3 felt monsters, brought to life from ‘The Bento Bestiary’ by The Felt Mistress, and 2 tiny hats based on Ben’s designs by Sahar Freemantle (Ugly Lovely).

The masks are an exploration of traditional masks from around the world. Ben has taken his inspiration for this project from totem poles, folklore, and European deco, whilst using his distinctive colour palate and love of symmetry and mysterious creatures.

The felt monsters (including the infamous Dateotoko Fishu San, or ‘Mr Fish Dude’) have to be seen to be believed; The Felt Mistress (aka Louise Evans) has worked closely with Ben to bring these fantastical mutants to life.

This is definitely worth checking out if you’re in town- the work is genuinely a delight to look at and is very refreshing it it’s originality; it has also won vast critical acclaim including The Guardian and It’s Nice That.

‘Masks’ is currently running at Nobrow until 11th November 2011.

For more information on Ben Newman or to discuss a project, please call us at Pocko!

James Dawe for Tusker

James Dawe has had an incredibly busy few months, and we are delighted to finally be able to reveal his recent, very striking new collage for Tusker beer! The bottle had recently undergone a re-design, and James was asked to reflect this new shape using imagery associated with the African landscape to reflect the beer's African heritage. To see more of James' work just click here or call us at Pocko Towers.

LesJeanClode for Teva

Well, the leaves are starting to turn and we've certainly noticed it getting a bit nippier in the evenings and mornings. Sadly the glorious British summertime seems to be coming to a close now, so to cheer things up we are delighted to present you with this fabulous new illustration from LesJeanClode for healthcare brand Teva!

The boys worked with the lovely team at Woolley Pau to come up with this very playful image, which we think is a great representation and reflection of the boys' signature style: colourful, playful and more than just a bit quirky! For more information on or to commission LesJeanClode, just drop us a line at Pocko.

James Dawe for NatWest

We are delighted to announce the new NatWest Business campaign by James Dawe! We’ve had to keep this one under wraps for quite some time, but now the UK campaign can be seen all over. The personalised service from NatWest helps business owners move forward with their banking needs and reach their goals. James had worked very long and hard to create a variety of artwork for the campaign, so please do us a favour and pick up a brochure or two from your local branch!

Olaf Hajek - African Museum

The fabulous Olaf Hajek was recently commissioned to by the African Museum in Tervuren, Belgium, to produce this striking image. We love it, and hope you do to.

Olaf Hajek's elegant, figurative, colorful, textural work holds a strong sense of character and fine art sensibility, and he exhibits regularly in galleries all over the world. He has an impressive client list and has previously worked with the likes of Montblanc, Bloomberg, Pirelli and Rolling Stone Magazine to name just a few. Click here to see more of Olaf's work or just give us a call at Pocko HQ to find out more.

Adam Hayes and Music redraw Chester Zoo's identity

We are delighted to finally reveal the fantastic work Adam Hayes was recently commissioned to produce for Chester Zoo. Adam was briefed by Music (based in Manchester) to produce a new playful new hand-drawn typeface and logotype for the zoo, as well as a map and several stand-alone animal icons. You can read the full review (by Creative Review) here, or click here to see more of Adam's work.

Paul Bower: Come And Get It

On Wednesday 17th August, Sanderson will host the latest exhibition of graphic works by Paul Bower, curated and produced by Pocko. "Come And Get It" features a collection of screen and block prints by South London based artist. Here, Bower exhibits his favourite “lost, but not forgotten” song lyrics, and an array of instant, throw-away messages. His typographical posters play with the familiar and the recognisable in popular culture; twisting the meaning of words to amuse and confuse the audience.

Bower’s signature style balances between candyfloss characters, raw typography and razor-sharp wit. His technique is varied, but always packs a punch, using a range of lino-cut and screen prints, acrylic paint, ballpoint pen, paper-cuts, stenciling, and collage to create his pieces. In an age where media is saturated with overly-polished imagery, Paul Bower’s somewhat “unfinished” approach proves a breath of fresh air.
Come And Get It private with 17th August from 6-8 pm, and the exhibition will run until Wednesday 31st, 2011at the Art Space - Sanderson Hotel, 50 Berners Street, London W1T 3NG. We hope to see you there!

Ben Newman: BBC Radio 4 "Life & Fate"

Ben Newman was recently commissioned by BBC Radio 4 to design a poster for the upcoming dramatisation of Vasily Grossman’s epic novel “Life and Fate”. The idea behind Ben’s work was to convey that controversiality of the book during its time of print, that it was essentially ‘placed under arrest’. Starring Kenneth Branagh, Grossman’s extraordinary work is increasingly hailed as the most important Russian novel of the 20th century.

Ben Sandler + Le Creative Sweatshop for Orange

Photographer Ben Sandler and craftwork geniuses Le Creative Sweatshop have teamed up once again to create this stunning campaign for Orange. In a world where aesthetics and technology have merged, the artists propose a vision of future telecommunications through an Art Deco fashion accessory. Très chic!

Zim & Zou loves paper, glue and POCKO too!

Zim & Zou have joined our outstanding roster of artists, and they are truly the bee’s knees. Composed of Lucie Thomas and Thibault Zimmermann, the French Graphic Design studio is based in Nancy, and proposes a contemporary approach of design thanks to a mix of different fields such as paper sculpture, installation, graphic design, illustration. Zim & Zou’s strength is to be a complementary and polyvalent duo. The duo only work with PEFC papers, and always try to use the paper scraps to the maximum. Take a look at their wonderful creations here

Ben Newman: Masks Exhibition

September 16th marks the beginning of Ben's 'Masks' exhibition at the Nobrow gallery in East London. This will feature Ben's incredible designs for masks; a project he has been working on for the past six months and which has already won critical acclaim with mentions in The Guardian.

For more information about Ben Newman, please click here or call us at Pocko!

Lesjeanclode: The Horrors

LesJeanClode were invited to participate in an exhibition at Paris’ Metro Station Duroc, organised in conjunction with Rock en Seine 2011 festival. Each artist chose to work with one band, and here our fab trio set out to make a stunning faux stained-glass artwork for the über-cool The Horrors. A larger expo will be held during the festival late August, with over 60 illustrators participating. See more of our LJC over here!

IC4Design commissioned by Sanfrecce Hiroshima

IC4Design were recently commissioned to produce a charity t-shirt for Sanfrecce Hiroshima. The project is to invite the refugees of Tohoku earthquake in Hiroshima to Sanfrecce’s home game by selling this charity T-shirt. Lovely work guys!

For more information about IC4Design please click here or call us at Pocko Towers.

Ben Newman & Felt Mistress sneaky peek....

Ben has recently been collaborating with Felt Mistress to produce 3 fuzzy felt characters (Yokai) from his book The Bento Bestiary.The preview photo below is of the terrifying Taimatsu Maru!

You can click here to buy a copy of Ben's book, and please do call us at Pocko Towers to commission Ben or for more information.

Hennie Haworth for Hyundai

Hennie Haworth's signature teacups were recently used by South Korea's Hyundai department store to create a beautiful picnic mat....

For more information on Hennie or to make a commission please give us a ring at Pocko towers!

Soka Afrika wins the Golden Whistle Award at Kicking and Screening Soccer Film Festival in New York!

Congratulations to The SRK for scooping an award for their documentary 'Soka Afrika'!

The film was awarded a Golden Whistle at the prestigious Kicking + Screening Soccer Film Festival in New York. After all the votes by the jury panel were tallied, the 2011 Golden Whistle was won by Suridh "Shaz" Hassan's / The SRK's Soka Afrika. Congratulations to Shaz and producers Simon Laub and Sam Potter, both of whom were on hand to collect the actual whistle.

Massive congratulations from Pocko Towers to everyone involved in the film. For more information on The SRK or for a possible commission, please give us a call or email!

Welcome Ana Benaroya!

Once again, we have a fantastic talent to welcome to the Pocko Family! Say hello to Ana Benaroya. Ana is a US-based illustrator, designer and typographer extraordinaire; and above all, a jolly good person. When she isn't photoshopping, screen printing or drawing up something brilliant, Ana can be found consuming large amounts of hot sauce. Ana's client list is impressive, including Time Out New York, The New York Times, ABV News Tonight, The LA Times, Nickelodeon Magazine and several high-profile musicians including The Donnas, Beardyman, Wilco and Nite Jewel. Her work has also been honoured by American Illustration, The Society of Illustrators and the PRINT Regional Design Annual. Get some colour into your day (have you seen the weather outside?) and check out Ana's fantastic portfolio here, or call us at Pocko Towers for more information or a commission.

Featured illustration: Make Magic Happen

New work from Estilo 3D

Estilo 3D's online portfolio has recently been updated! It includes some fantastic new work, including a Cannes Outdoor & Press Lion award-winning campaign for JWT Argentina (Ford Trucks).

Since its conception in 2005, Estilo 3D has been providing creative services for top agencies, photographers and production houses from Argentina, Mexico, Europe and the USA. Their skilled staff hail from different design backgrounds and have unique core skills. Each artist has committed to explore the most innovative tools and resources to create stunning and unique visual concepts specialising in 3D design, CGI, production and digital compositing for print, advertising, motion graphics and interactive projects.

For more information or to commission Estilo 3D, please call us at Pocko or click here to see their portfolio.

Welcome Hvass & Hannibal!

We would like to say a big Pocko Family welcome to our newest talent, Hvass & Hannibal! These guys are a multi-disciplinary arts and design studio based in Copenhagen. Since 2006, Nan Na Hvass & Sofie Hannibal (the founders) have worked in close collaborative partnership with illustrative and conceptual design in a number of different fields for numerous clients in Europe, Asia and the US. Whether in the digital realm or on a three-dimensional scale, the studio takes projects from esoteric illustrative beginnings to a full art direction and graphic design solution, all in-house. As well as being image makers we have also directed high profile photographic projects, and created sets and costumes for amongst others, one of Denmark's famous musical successes of recent years - Efterklang.

For more information on Hvass & Hannibal please click here, or give us a call at Pocko HQ!

Ben Newman BBQing with Science

Ben Newman was recently commissioned by Wired Magazine to illustrate an article titled 'How to BBQ with Science' in the famous 'how to' section. We think the results look rather impressive.... Now all we need is some BBQ weather so we can put these tips to good use! For more information or Ben or to discuss a commission, please click here or call us at Pocko HQ! Happy grilling...

Joey HiFi for The Science Museum

Joey HiFi has recently finished an exciting project with Creature London for The Science Museum; with the theme being 'Spend Your Summer in Space', just in time for the summer holidays. The inspiration was a mix of cheerful vintage holiday postcards (think 1950s 'Visit Skegness!'-style) and outer-space antics. This resulted in some delightfully playful illustrations depicting families holidaying in a typically British manner (we're talking banana boats, BBQs, body boarding and overloading the roof rack), but in far away galaxies: Brighton beach is swapped for the rings of Saturn, the family car is a space shuttle and the the sausages on the BBQ know not of gravity...

The advertising agency, Creature, are relatively new in town and the Science Museum was one of their first major clients, so it really has been an honour and an incredibly exciting experience working on this for everyone involved. Joey HiFi is based in Cape Town, South Africa and operates from his secret underground lair. As well as this project for Creature and Science Museum, Joey has has an impressive client list including Smirnoff, Levi's and Hodder&Stoughton.

The illustrations can now be seen at the Science Museum itself, on the London Underground as well as in publications including Time Out. For more information on Joey HiFi please click here, or call us at Pocko Towers!

Featured illustration: Banana Boat

Nomoco - Stolen Moments

Pocko artist Nomoco, renowned for her beautiful use of ink and its organic movement, has recently made a film with Spine TV, titled 'Stolen Moments'. 

Nomoco was born in Fukuoka, Japan and currently lives in London. She graduated from Osaka University of Arts, Japan, subsequently graduating from London College of Communication, UK, with a BA in Graphic Design, and Central Saint Martins College of Art & Design, UK, with an MA in Communication Design.  Her inspirations are nature and the French horn.  For more information about Nomoco please click here, or contact us at Pocko Towers.   

Lesjeanclode - new work

It's been a busy month for Pocko Parisian trio Lesjeanclode - they've sent us loads of fabulous new work!  Some of this can now be viewed online here.  The new images include one for Corbieres wine - a very special wine in France.  This illustration is to promote events in prestigious Parisian bars to promote their wine.  They were also commissioned to produce three illustrations ('Vegetable Mutants', 'Badmax' and 'Vanuatou') for Coq en Pâte, a French brand specialising in childrenswear.  Their illustration 'Les Russes' is a personal project.  We'll be uploading the rest very soon, so watch this space!  For more information on Lesjeanclode, please call us at Pocko Towers or click here. 

Featured illustration: Vegetable Mutants

Olaf Hajek - new work

Olaf Hajek, known for his elegant, colourful and figurative work has been very busy of late, and we our proud to say some of his new work is available to view online here!  The work includes commissions for a book cover for the Autorenbuchhandlung Berlin and catalogue pages for luxury bathroom retailer Burgbad

Olaf lives in Berlin and has exhibits in galleries globally, as well as an impressive international list of clients who commission him; not to mention a string of awards, including D&AD and Communication Arts.  To view more of his work please click here:

Featured picture:  Burgbad page

Le Creative Sweatshop

We would like to introduce you all to Le Creative Sweatshop - Le Creative Sweatshop is a creative studio based in Paris at the crossroads of fashion, design, contemporary art and architecture.  Most pieces are handmade which gives them a humble, precious and fragile stature. Dynamic, supple and reactive agency, Le Creative Sweatshop enjoys interacting with its network of partners. Through its collaborations and professional meetings, Le Creative Sweatshop expands its creative circle so that various influences and knowledge become a real strength.  To see their online portfolio at Pocko, click here.

IC4Design Comissioned for Hiroshima Airport

IC4Design were recently commissioned to decorate the international arrivals gate at Hiroshima airport.  They produced some fantastically lively illustrations, and we think it is a great improvement!

IC4Design are a collective group of illustrators based in Hiroshima, Japan.  Voted amongst the best 200 illustrators worldwide in 2009 and 2010, they are renowned for producing very colourful, fun and highly detailed illustrations and have an impressive client list that includes Toyota, New York Times Magazine, Ogilvy and Adobe.  To see more of their brilliant work, click here.

Eduardo Recife wins a Gold Design Lion at Cannes

Eduardo Recife's work with JWT Sao Paulo for Hotel Emiliano, Brazil, has won a Gold Design Lion at Cannes 2011!  This is fantastic news, and you can view more on the project here.

Totem Tape Now Available!

Ben Newman's playful Totem Pole Tape is now available to purchase from Betty & Dupree.  This makes for beautiful gift wrapping (especially those of us who resort to using brown parcel paper at the last minute, every time...), as well as excellent decoration for anywhere you see fit!  Ben takes his inspiration for this from American folk art, vintage comic books and the Bauhaus style. 

To see more of Ben's work or to commission Ben, please click here.

Where's summer gone?

Well, here at Pocko Towers in London we were overjoyed to have a beautifully warm April and May. But now June has come along in typically British fashion we are faced with rain, wind and even hailstorms almost daily!  Weather not looking so good where you are either?  Remind yourself what summer can look like by having a look at Italian photography master Massimo Vitali's portfolio by clicking here.  Massimo is renowned for his exceptional beach photography, which captures broad, beautiful scenes in high-resolution detail - we guarantee in no time you will be able to feel the sunshine!

Montblanc Cultural Foundation

Olaf Hajek has recently finished a commission for the book of the 20th anniversary of the Montblanc de la Culture Arts Patronage Project.. 

In 1992, Montblanc established the Montblanc Cultural Foundation with the aim of identifying worthy art patronage projects all over the world.  In these 20 years, the “Montblanc de la Culture Art Patronage Award” has recognized and celebrated the work of outstanding private patrons of the arts throughout the world - patrons who have dedicated time, energy, experience and financial resources to the furtherance of arts and culture.  All the names of the jury and the winners should have been documented in this anniversary book.  Olaf's work showed the idea of "family trees".  Olaf didn't want to make 20 trees, so he came up with the idea to show trees and lanes, to bring diversity into these paintings.  You can click here to see Olaf's online portfolio. 

Ghost of Gone Birds

This is Ben Newman's beautiful new illustration of the now extinct Bishop's O' O' bird for the Ghost of Gone Birds exhibition in Liverpool.  The aim of the exhibition is to help raise awareness and money for bird preservation societies so that hopefully we can prevent more species of birds from becoming extinct.  Over 80 artists and designers have been taking part in the project, including Jamie Hewlett, Ralph Steadman and many more. 

You can see more of Ben's gorgeous illustrations here. 

The Stickerbomb is back!

The SRK are at it again - the fabulous 'stickers only' book is back!  Since its initial release in 2008 the Stickerbomb has gone on to showcase a range of artists from all over the globe.  Stickers from the Stickerbomb have decorated everything from TV sets in the UK to crazy custom cars, to ice cream vans and just about everywhere else in between.

The theme of the new Stickerbomb is 'Letters (as in alphabet) and Monsters'. For more details on how to submit illustrations, and of course for more info on Stickerbomb and The SRK, click here.

Grainedit

Ben Newman's recent 'Masks' project has received some incredible feedback and great critical acclaim so far, with yet more to come we are sure.  One of his beautiful masks features on the front page of the grainedit blog, where his style was described as 'fresh and unique with its fun characters, bright colours, fuzzy textures, and complex layering of shape, and this piece from the developing 'masks' series is no exception'.  Keep up the good work Ben!  We hope you love it as much as we do.  

Check out Ben's portfolio here

IC4 Design and the Communication Arts Illustration Annual

We love good news and great illustration at Pocko, so we were delighted when we found out IC4Design feature in the Communication Arts Illustration Annual 2011!  This is yet another award for these hard-working guys and we hope there are many more to come...

IC4 Design are an illustration collective based in Hiroshima, Japan.  Have a look at their amazing portfolio here!

News from Mexico...

Our very own Jorge Alderete has been busy recently:

Gallo Negro at Museum of Modern Art, Mexico City

May 19 th / 20:00 hs.

Admission free

Adrress: Paseo de la Reforma y Gandhi s/n,

Bosque de Chapultepec, México City.

 

Gallo Negro is a project that incorporates the psychedelic sound of 70's Peruvian cumbia, mixing it with garage attitude. Farfisa Organ, Fuzz guitars, and the unforgettable guiro are the main ingredients of the lysergic cumbia of this band. Genres such as Chicha, Amazon Cumbia and Boogaloo are present when the band formed by members of the Twin Tones, Telekrimen and designer Dr. Alderete (Jorge Alderete), takes  the stage ... Hypnotic drawings are developed by Dr. Alderete with his selfmade Tagtool.

 

The Tagtool is a tool for real-time visual performance in both indoor and outdoor spaces. Generally the system is operated in collaboration between an artist who draws pictures and an animator adding movement to them using a Jostick. The Tagtool offers unlimited artistic complexity with a simple set of controls.

Like a musical instrument, works intuitively making tight integration between image and music.

 

www.jorgealderete.com/online/gallonegro

Kinpro and the Frozen Yogurt Shop...

We're very excited about this one, particularly with summer approaching!  Two of our favourite things, Kinpro and delicious frozen yogurt join forces to form this dream of a project.  Kinpro has been busy desiging some beautiful illustrations for the interior of Titto, a newly-opened frozen yogurt boutique in Bologna, Italy.  Kinpro works in Saoppro, Japan.  She creates forms derived from nature and her beautifully unique style translates across interiors, publications and fashions. You can see more of the project here.  

Ben Newman for Schuh 30th Birthday

Ben Newman was recently commissioned by Schuh to create a mural for their Bristol store to mark their 30th Birthday; the theme being '30 years of self expression'.  The brief was to celebrate 'everything from the shoes, the looks, the haircuts, the characters and all of the sub cultures over the past three decades and to create a campaign which portrays Schuh's personality by the way it presents and modernises archive imagery to appeal to the young of both now and then'.  Ben took on the task with great enthusiasm; creating a menagerie of weird and wonderful characters (something he does exceptionally well) wearing shoes and styles covering the past 30 years on the window of Schuh using red Posterman pens.  It took Ben a little under a day to complete the live drawing, after sketching out  a few ideas and characters initially.  The results were a huge success and Schuh absolutely loved the window art.  We think they're pretty neat too!   You can see more images like the one below on Ben's Blog  

Hennie Housewares in Stockholm!

Hennie Haworth is participating in a fair in Stockholm called c/o Illustration, here are some images from her lovely houseware collection!

New James Dawe image for April 2011 GQ supplement!

POCKO IS HIRING!

If you are interested in joining the London team please contact us!

Adam Hayes and Ciara Phelan

Our very own Adam Hayes and Ciara Phelan gave a talk at an event called 'Massive Favour' as part of Cardiff School of Art and Design's illustration day. Nice work guys! 

Favourite website of the week!

Beautiful images on a beautiful website-  enjoy some new work by Massimo Vitali - Simply Stunning! 

Jeff Mermelstein- 'Right Here, Right Now'

Jeff Mermelstein is a photographer’s photographer. Schooled on the streets of New York in the instant reflex art of Cartier-Bresson, Robert Frank and Garry Winogrand, Mermelstein expands upon that iconographic idiom by shooting exclusively in color.

4th March – 3rd April 2011

Derby, UK

Lejeanclode

LESJEANCLODE is a french collective of three illustrators (Nicolas, Mathieu et Sebastien), six hands which work together on the same pictures...Find out more...

Lactofree milk

Owen Gildersleeve's new Lactofree milk  campaign!

Owen is a designer and illustrator currently based in London. He graduated from The University of Brighton in 2008, and has since worked for a range of international clients including The TATE, Cadbury, The Guardian, Wired and Scientific American. His work explores a range of hand-crafted methods, and he finds great enjoyment in experimenting with new materials and techniques.

A Shore thing

Stephen Shore: "A Shore Thing." British Journal of Photography
A lovely article about one of the most influential photographs of the 20th century - have a read and enjoy! 

Ben Newman - The Bento Bestiary

In the 18th Century, Japanese artist Toriyama Sekien attempted to depict each spirit of the ‘yokai’ tradition; an ancient race of demons whose descendents would later terrorise the earth under the guises of Godzilla, Mothra and Rodan. Now, two Bristolian men aim to rediscover the near-forgotten Yokai, and return these ancient beasts to their former glory, in the form of the Bento Bestiary.

Fourteen spirits and demons are lovingly rendered by Ben Newman in the bold and colourful illustration style we have come to expect from him. Newman draws heavily on early and mid-20th century design in his work, incorporating worldwide themes from European deco to Japanese film posters and 50’s American cartoons, never losing his strong sense of a most English deadpan humour. Bento Bestiary is available from Nobrow Press.