Sam Flores

Sam Flores   

 I have always loved winter sports and getting out on mountains.  A couple years ago my dad bought a pair of skis by Icelantic.  They are a company based out of Colorado that pair awesome quality skis with awesome graphics.  Recently they partnered with Sam Flores to create a limited addition style of skis.
    Sam Flores is an American visual artist, illustrator, and muralist who's genre is mostly urban and graffiti-inspired modern art.  His mediums are mostly acrylics, pen and ink, and sculpture.  He focuses his talents on created designs for skateboarding and clothing companies.  He has shown work in the United States, Canada, Singapore, Japan and throughout Europe.
    The reason why I chose him is because 1) He is working with Icelantic, a company that I would love to have a chance to work for  2) Because he is a designer who has persevered by being true to his style while also making his mark in businesses such as Icelantic.
    I especially like his realism mixed with abstraction that is all tied together with his vivid uses of colors.  His art and successes are a great inspiration to aspiring designers.

Check out Icentic's website to see his work as well as the awesome graphics used on Icelantic's other merchandise.

Street Art Influence on Graphic Design 5644

 Since I was 16, I've had a huge draw towards street art and graffiti. The medium has grown immensely in the past decade incorporating several real life issues into street art to educate the public in a more "hands-on" way with politic and coroporate issues that may otherwise go unseen. I often feel cliche mentioning that my favorite street artist is Banksy, but his work is so original and fascinating and conveys some of the deepest meanings that street art has ever seen.
Now that I am working in the graphic design field, I find myself pulling inspiration and stylistic elements from street art into my projects. I enjoy the simplicity and bluntness that street artists use to get their point across and i often try to incorporate the straightforward attitude into my design pieces. I recently read this article which interviews Australian street artist/ graphic designer, Water, and I found a lot of connections in the way he describes the relation between his two passions. I hope you guys find a little inspiration in not only the article, but Banksy and the street art style as a whole. (If you find this interesting, I HIGHLY recommend the documentary "Exit Through The Gift Shop")

Mr. Wany

Mr. Wany
France 2012

Mr. Wany is one of many graffiti artists and designers that I admire a lot. His clean style using spray paint is very disciplined into making sharp lines and producing very clean work. Spray paint can control takes years and years to master. Using spray paint this particular piece uses several techniques to get different affects. Mr. Wany's work can be found in his blog and other blogs that I follow for inspiration with street styles, for example Ironlak is a big blog that I follow almost daily. I appreciate the art of graffiti very much as well as other forms of art that have enough pop and detail that can easily catch my attention.

Hip Hop culture brought to us talented artists that go against there city, there families, and authority to make us look at public expression. Painting in the darkest of nights and still being able to understand their colors is incredible. If graffiti hadn't happened we wouldn't be able to see work like this or influential work from varying artists and designers. Thank you.