Part 1: It's Nice That
It's Nice That posts art from all different spectrum's: Graphic Design, Illustration, Photography etc. but you can easily find your way into the specialised areas if you just want to browse Illustration. By including lots of different artforms it allows you to pull inspiration from different sources and be aware of all contemporary specialisms - not just your own.
I find It's Nice That fun to browse because it's so varied, since lots of people collectively post to the site. The variety even just within illustration shows how vast the practice included are examples of editorial illustration, book covers, narrative driven work and just art made for fun! I find myself drawn in to several images, wanting to find out more about what they're about.
Personally I enjoy the fact that the articles are not oversaturated with text, I find it allowed me to focus more on the art without having to scroll through reams of writing to get from picture to picture. Although it may not give much information about the artist or works sometimes this site is great for finding initial interesting things and prompt you to research further into what you've found there or finding images that inspire you to draw something yourself! Not everything has to be about concepts and artists backgrounds.
Part 2: Where is Illustration?
product; clothing, toy packaging, food packaging, wrapping paper, lunchboxes, cards, CD's, Stationary, mugs/crockery, bags, jewellery
publication; book covers, childrens books, comic books, zines, instruction leaflets, newspapers, magazines, flyers, school text books, informational books, artist books
place; galleries, exhibitions, shops, in the home, college studio, artists studio, in the heart and soul, bus shelters, cinemas, conventions, bars/eatery's
online; artists websites, artists blogs, fan-blogs, online articles/magazines/newspapers, pop up/side bar adverts, instagram, pinterest, online portfolios, artists collective website, informative websites
Part 3;
Product:
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| CD: The Used Lies for the Liars CD, Cover & lyric book by Alex Pardee |
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| Clothing/Jewellery/Misc: Kristyna Baczynski - Pocket Mirrors |
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| Stationary: Jack Teagle - Heroes and Villains notebooks |
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| Bags: Katy Webster |
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| Bags: Minifanfan |
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| Packaging: Ridleys Toys packaging - Joe Snow |
Publication:
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| Zine: Aizzah Hanis - Angry Grrrls Club |
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| Zine: Aizzah Hanis - Angry Grrrls Club |
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| Comic/Graphic Novels: Sandman |
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| Book Cover: Through The Woods - Emily Carroll |
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| Informational Books: Farm Anatomy - Julia Rothman |
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| Informational Books: Farm Anatomy - Julia Rothman |
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| Magazine cover (Editorial): Kali Ciesemier for Boston Globe Magazine |
Place:
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| Shop: Travelling Man Leeds |
Cinemas:
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| Exhibition / Bars & Eatery's - Common Bar - Manchester |
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Bars & Eatery's - The Belgrave
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| College Studio: LCA Foundation - Illustration corner in its prime |
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| Exhibition: Mark Heald Childrens Illustration at Foyles book shop |
Online:
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| Informative Website: Oh Joy Sex Toy - Erika Moen & Mathew Nolan |
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| Online News/Articles: The New Yorker Website |
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| Online Articles: The New Yorker - Climate Change Christmas Carols. Illustration by Nishant Choksi |
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| Art Collective Website: It's Nice That |
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| Artists Website: Maya Kern |
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| Fan Blog: Vampire Puppy Club on Tumblr - Art inspiration blog |
Part 4;
Online: Maya's website is visually pleasing to look at and well organised. All her social media sites are displayed so you have the option to follow her wherever you like.
I personally like the way her work is organised on the site so you can find what you're looking for. The fact that she has 'fan art' and 'sketchbook' included on her site shows you some more of her personality and interests that may not be displayed through finished work. I find this relevant because it enforces this notion of putting all your work out there, you can grow personally from this or maybe others will see something they like in a stupid sketch rather than a polished piece.
Place: Bars/Eateries
I'm generalising a bit here but places like the Common in Manchester and the Belgrave, Leeds seem like interesting places to exhibit work, because bars and food establishments are not a conventional setting for pieces of illustration to be found. It makes the work more accessable to different communities of people who may not be the type to frequent art galleries. (Another way of getting your art out there, EVERYWHERE)
Publication: Comics - (Emily Caroll - Through The Woods)
Comics are a pretty fun thing, I enjoy reading comics. Emily Caroll's 'Through the Woods' is interesting because the stories are unconventional and the crafting of the images is beautiful. The book reads like a comic but there's such an essence of the artist in it. I would love to make comics and learn to work with narrative - I am not much of a story teller. I feel like this is the kind of thing I'd like to do if I were to pursue comics; working with some weird and unconventional things (rather than something with pre-existing superhero type characters, although I do enjoy reading those too).
Product: Bags
Merch! What a great way of getting your work out there and make some money! People who don't want a print BAM tote bag! functional and decorative I personally cannot stop buying tote bags. I think it'd be really cool to make some bags sometime especially via screenprint because I'd be able to practice the process on different material and learn lessons for life.
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| Ana Albero |
