Philip Kennedy

Stories by Philip Kennedy

Philip Kennedy is a twenty-something designer and writer from Ireland. He enjoys living in new cities, watching old episodes of Seinfeld and working on fun projects with exciting people. His favorite film will always be Back to the Future.

The Illustrations of Rob Bailey

Manchester-based illustrator Rob Bailey has recently launched a new site and it’s filled with so many images of his beautifully crisp illustrations. His wonderfully clean and simple style is really refreshing to see, and I particularly like his series entitled Warriors, which is filled with Samurais, Vikings and Roman Legions.

Rob’s style is particularly great because of how he can create such powerful images with such a restricted use of shape and of color. His new portfolio has some really great pieces in it that I demand you head over there right now and go check it out!

Text by

Philip Kennedy

December 16, 2011 - See more posts by Philip

The Incredible Lego Houses of Mike Doyle

Mike Doyle Lego house

Last week I wrote about Lene Wille’s beautifully minimalist installation Metaphorical Horizons and since then I’ve had a number of Lego enthusiasts contacting me about work which they’ve made using the small plastic brick. One piece which really caught my attention was these incredibly detailed houses by Lego artist Mike Doyle. Mike’s sculptures are an incredible testament to both Lego, and his skill and patience. His largest and most recent construction Victorian on Mud Heap (above), uses nearly 130,000 pieces and took about 600 hours to complete.

With true dedication to the project Mike built these without using any foreign materials – there’s no wood, no glue, no paint in these – it’s just pure Lego. It’s a pretty amazing feat of design. Mike’s got a number of ‘making of’ shots on his blog which are worth checking out; I know my first reaction when seeing these were ‘no way, they can’t be real’ so it was wonderful to see some progress shots of them being made. Go check them out!

Text by

Philip Kennedy

December 13, 2011 - See more posts by Philip

‘Scale It Back’ by DJ Shadow feat. Little Dragon

DJ Shadow - Scale it Back feat. Little Dragon (Milo Firewater Remix)

I’ve heard really mixed reactions to DJ Shadow‘s latest album The Less You Know, The Better, and so I’ve been putting checking it out on the long-finger for a while now. That said, I was interested in hearing his collaboration with Yukimi Nagano of Little Dragon and so last night I watched the video for Scale It Back.

While the track itself is an enjoyable and infectious listen, it’s the music video by Ewan Jones Morris and Casey Raymond that really caught my attention. Inspired by a memory sequence created by Ben Pridmore, the video really does an excellent job of bringing such a wonderful concept to life. Both inventive and playful, it’s well worth checking out!

Philip

Text by

Philip Kennedy

December 12, 2011 - See more posts by Philip

‘Pin Ups’ by Julianna Brion

Pin-up by Julianna Brion

I love these drawings of pin-ups by the Baltimore-based illustrator Julianna Brion. The simple line and bright colors really work well together and they’re only a taste of some of the amazing things she has been creating over the last few years. Originally from Brooklyn, Julianna moved to Baltimore to study illustration and design at The Maryland Institute College of Art and she has lived there ever since.

I’ve been a fan of Julianna’s work for quite some time, and in a happy coincidence I noticed half-way through writing this that the guys over at the excellent Poolga have just released two of these excellent drawings as iPhone wallpapers. I like to think that it’s a case of good minds thinking alike! You should make sure to head over there and pick one up for your phone – I know I certainly will! Also make sure to check out the rest of Julianna’s work online here.

Philip

Text by

Philip Kennedy

December 9, 2011 - See more posts by Philip

Metaphorical Horizons by Lene Wille

I have a less then subtle love for LEGO and recently it has been manifesting into a number of blog posts here on the site. What impresses most about the little plastic brick is the level of innovation that seems to come from it. As a material one would imagine that it must be quite limiting to work with, and yet people all around the world seem to be able to turn these little bricks into all manner of weird and wonderful creations.

Take Lene Wille‘s beautifully minimalist installation Metaphorical Horizons for example. Built back in 2005 as a graduate project, the installation is stark and sculptural and yet its use of material makes for something which is both fun and playful. Her aim was to create an installation which could work as both an object and as a space, and through her use of LEGO I think she creates something which is beautiful and restrained while also being inviting and playful.

Metaphorical Horizons was built at the World Trade Center in Amsterdam over a period of 6 weeks, the finished piece being built from 270,000 white LEGO bricks. More details and images from the project can be found online here.

Philip

Text by

Philip Kennedy

December 7, 2011 - See more posts by Philip