Jolby
Frank Chimero
One of my earliest childhood memories is going to a birthday party of friend and playing Legend of Zelda, mystified by what the hell you were supposed to do. In my young brain it all looked the same, until suddenly a rock was moved and the main character was taken into a dungeon where danger lurked around every corner. I think it’s these same memories that spurred Portland designers Always With Honor (who designed my fantastic black fox logo) and Jolby to curate an art show called Triforce Tribute.
The show opens on Friday, March 9 and runs until April 21 at the Land Gallery, featuring over 30 artists, many of them my friends and favorites. I sent AWH and Jolby some questions about the show, here’s what they had to say.
1) What spurred you and Jolby to get together and organize the Triforce Tribute?
The Triforce Tribute came to be mostly as an excuse to make some Zelda-themed work. We had joked about curating a show for a while, but weren’t sure there would be much interest outside of ourselves.
2) You have over 30 artists in the show, all creating original art. Was it difficult to find so many people?
Initially we were a bit concerned that there wouldn’t be much interest since it’s such a specific subject matter, but the response has been nothing but positive, and we’re super happy that so many amazing people are involved.
3) Were you surprised by other people’s passion for the Legend of Zelda series?
We knew people were passionate, but have been more surprised by the amount of folks that have gotten excited about the show- it turns out there are a lot of Zelda fans out there!
4) I grew up playing the original Legend of Zelda, but what’s your personal favorite and why?
Jolby: Our favorite Zelda game is A Link to the Past for the SNES. The game (at the time) was everything you wanted in a video game; It was filled with puzzles, rich with detail and depth, it had another dimension to explore, secrets to find… it was so good. Even the songs have stuck with us over the years. Hands down our favorite title in the series.
AWH: We agree on ALTTP, it was the first game in the series we ever played so it has a special place in our hearts. It also holds up so well, it’s still just as fun to play today as it was back then.
5) Any future plans for more shows like this?
No plans at the moment, but we’ve had so much fun putting this one together it’s definitely a possibility!
They were also kind enough to send me some preview art of the show, which is both above and below. You can see the level of talent in the show is pretty huge.You can see more previews of the work from the show over on their blo by clicking here.
Also be sure to check in tomorrow, as we’ve got a special Triforce Tribute wallpaper.
Yehteh
Dan Cassaro / Young Jerks
Ping Zu
Trevor Bassett
Jez Burrows
I was browsing around over on James Jean’s blog and came across these images from something called SOMA, which certainly piqued my interest. There’s basically no info about it, just a line from James that reads “From my secret stash,” and a simple Google search reveals nothing either. But as I prepared the images for the site I noticed that the second one above was titled “Character Line-up” and the last titled “Mushroom Boss Detail.” Could he be working on some kind of amazing, epic video game? I honestly have no idea, but if he did I’d absolutely buy it. Anyone know what SOMA is?
You can see larger images over on James’ blog by clicking here.
I discovered the work of Timothy Farrell through his sharp editorial design for the Belfast-based AU magazine. I was intrigued to see more of what he does, so I checked out his portfolio and I’m happy to say that the rest of his work doesn’t disappoint. I could really share any number of his projects with you but it’s his music posters that really caught my eye.
Crisp, clean and beautiful imagery – Tim’s posters are the type of thing you’d love to buy at the merch-stand of your favorite band. I’m particularly fond of his poster for Laura Marling’s Summer tour, which you can see at top. Not only is it a beautiful image, but I think it translates the feeling of Marling’s music quite well. The image was also rolled out across t-shirts and tote bags, which I can imagine worked nicely as well.
You can check out more of what Tim does online here.
I’m a big Seinfeld fan so when I saw Nathan Manire’s excellent tribute to the iconic 90′s television series I couldn’t help but share it! It’s a great-looking print, and trying to spot all the references that it makes is a lot of fun.
Nathan is a graphic-designer and illustrator from Michigan who currently lives and works in New York. His portfolio has a number of interesting projects in it, including some really nice portraiture which is also well worth checking out.
The print above is currently for sale through his website and I think its title, ‘These pixels are making me thirsty’ really deserves some kudos! If ever the title of a print needed to be screamed out loud in your best George Costanza impersonation, it’s this one!
My buddy Micah Lidberg did an interview with his agency Hugo & Marie a couple weeks back that I thought would be nice to share. I got to hang out with Micah when I was in New York a couple years back and we chatted about some really deep stuff like aliens and the complexity of nature and all kinds of bizarre topics, and I think a lot of that stuff finds itself in his work. Whenever I see a new piece by him I’m always super impressed, so I’d definitely take the time to watch this video. Hugo & Marie also did an interview with another favorite of mine, Mike Perry, a couple months back which you can watch by clicking here.
These beautiful illustrations are taken from Canadian illustrator Jacqui Lee’s children’s book The Story of Joseph-Armand Bombardier. The book tells the story of the Canadian inventor Joseph-Armand Bombardier, a mostly self-taught inventor who is famous for pioneering the development of the snowmobile. Coming across Jacqui Lee’s book was the first time that I had heard of Bombardier and he sounds like a really fascinating character. For example, in 1922 – at the age of just fifteen – he built his first prototype snowmobile.
I also really love Jacqui Lee’s style of illustration and I particularly like the notion of a biographical book aimed at children. Her use of inks and watercolors are also really nice, which work really well with the feel of the book. Make sure to take a look at her online portfolio where you’ll find more work which is well worth checking out.
