Assorted works by Designunit. One of my teachers at school likes to use the expression “swipeable” when describing cool/inspiring work. Our goal in class is to create something badass enough for people to want to “swipe” and use for inspiration. The above work by Designunit meets that criteria for me (and for people on Dropular just about every other day…). It’s been a mainstay in my inspiration folder for some time now.
My favorite medium of design is the magazine and I consistently look to them for inspiration when starting a new editorial project. They have a interesting approach to layout—grid based but still somewhat loose—and I find it to be very polished and refined. It manages to maintain a classic quality while still seeming hip and progressive. Designunit is based in Copenhagen and you can see the rest of their work on their site.
Andrew Holder
Takashi Kuwahara
Raymond Biesinger
Satoshi Hashimoto
Satoshi Hashimoto
Adrian Johnson
Monocle Magazine has an impressive roster of illustrators. Featured above is work by: Andrew Holder, Takashi Kuwahara, Raymond Biesinger, Satoshi Hashimoto, and Adrian Johnson. Each of them contributes to the magazine periodically.
Outside of the Monocle world, I am most familiar with Adrian Johnson. (Check out the Grain Edit interview). For whatever reason I come across his illustrations all the time. However, of the four listed above, Biesinger’s work resonates the most with me. I love his simple graphic approach and limited color palette. You can browse his work, Monocle and otherwise, on his website.
I had a chance to travel to Japan last June and I came back with many new sources of inspiration. I spent a lot of time digging through little design shops and actually had to leave some clothes behind to fit all of the great books I found. One of my favorite finds was +81, an interview driven magazine about graphic design, fashion, photography, cities, etc. They present a ton of work in each issue and it can be a great source of visual inspiration when you are looking for something stylistically very different than what you see in most American design publications. With articles presented in both Japanese and English, you see a lot of very creative layouts and unique type treatments. They experiment quite a bit, and with each issue focusing on a different theme, you never really know what to expect. Definitely worth checking out if you’re looking for a change.
You can usually find it at Japanese language bookshops here in the States (I know Kinokuniya carries it in SF), or you can check out their website for subscription information. (Currently about 40% of their readership is outside of Japan)
