Common Folk Collective » illustration

Sonic Poems

Knile — Sat, 22 Mar 2014 10:00:24 +0000

I sometimes worry.

Sonic the Hedgehog poetry
Together at last: Thomas The Tank Engine’s theme and DMX’s “Where My Dogs At?”
Tibetan mastiff puppy ‘sold for $2 million’ to property developer in China
The Ancient, Peaceful Art of Self-Generated Hallucination
Stupid Twitter Tricks
The Art of Maple Syrup
Discover: Awesome Tapes From Africa (previously on CFC)

Behind the Music (Logos): An Ill Breakdown of Illustrious Logo Design

thos — Thu, 13 Feb 2014 14:11:58 +0000

Sue Apfelbaum and Laura Forde drop an extra dope bit of anecdotal graphic history in a post for RedBullMusicAcademy. They dig up some fantastic tales behind some of the most epic logos in Nyc music history, the kind of logos that just have that instantaneous recognition and hit you in the chest like “pow!”

Who is that in the P.E. crosshairs? What logo was supposed to look like a guy getting his head punched in from behind? Which testosterone driven Hip Hop group’s logo was actually designed by an English woman?

Just from the mash up above, you know you need to check this out, HERE.

Geneseo’s “Automatic Music Can Be Fun”

Knile — Thu, 30 Jan 2014 22:50:08 +0000

Photo by Sharon Cantillon / Buffalo News

Preparing myself for the whatever-whatever that is the annual Grammy Awards, I came across a nice little story. A coupla guys who call their band Geneseo, after the upstate New York town they hail from (not far from a couple places I call “home”), were up for a Grammy for album art, against David Bowie, Jay Z, Metallica. They’re not a household name yet, but they partnered with a couple of local visual artists, Annie Stoll and Brian Gunert of White Bicycle to create a unique-sounding package with scratch-off surfaces. Looks like Geneseo got together an Indiegogo campaign to travel to the awards ceremony.

The article that I learned a lot of this from was from The Daily News, a local-to-Geneseo newspaper.

Excellent work, all.

Langston Hughes – Annotated Map of the US

DCDan — Tue, 14 Jan 2014 15:56:18 +0000

Back in the 40s Langston Hughes annotated a melting pot map created by Emma Bourne for The Council Against Intolerance in America.

Hump Day Helper

DCDan — Wed, 04 Dec 2013 15:23:47 +0000

The Blank on Blank series has animations synced with interviews and is pretty informative and entertaining.
Check out this interview with 2-Pac

Artists We Dig: GoddoG

thos — Tue, 12 Nov 2013 19:14:34 +0000

Hailing out of France comes a young artist (Flickr profile reads: “Young artist // no kids, no dog but a pretty woman, and a beautiful home”) armed with a fierce arsenal of geometric shapes and color. While most of his creations are living large, literally, on walls of buildings he also has the uncanny ability to transform them into prints that look dope framed on the wall of a living room. As many of us know, this transition doesn’t always translate very well with a lot of graffiti/muralist artists whose work only feels really right when it’s in a very specific urban environment. He’s got a little Doze Green, a little Kid Acne, a little Roa, and a whole bunch of his own style. If you’re digging any of these by any means you need to check out his Flickr (where all these photos are from) for a lot more, here.

(All photos from GoddoG’s Flickr)

Artists We Dig: Tyler Spangler

thos — Mon, 19 Aug 2013 18:18:28 +0000

Photo still from reblogs of Tyler Spangler on commonfolkcollective.tumblr.com

Usually when an artist uses digital or collage to describe their art they’re already at a disadvantage in gaining access to my hallowed “I like your art! club.” One way to overcome this is with whimsy and simultaneous boldness and subtlety. Look for a deeper message. Or not.

Check out lots more of Tyler Spangler at TylerSpangler.com.

The Future Is Now

thos — Sat, 03 Aug 2013 19:22:28 +0000

If you’re in Nyc this weekend you should definitely check out what promises to be a dope ass art/music pop-up show curated by No Agenda, Ad Hoc Art, and McCaig-Welles at The Highline Loft, 508 W. 26th Street. Some of my favs will be showing such as Dalek, Maya Hayuk, Cycle, John Breiner, Cern, Mike Giant, Indie 184, Dave Kinsey, Greg Lamarche (aka Sp One), Swoon, Thundercut, Morning Breath, and a grip more of talented mofo’s. There’ll also be a performance by “revolutionary sound/music/noise group,” Gray.

You can check out some more of the artwork at McCaig-Welles tumblr.

1xRun Limited Edition Print Runs

thos — Wed, 24 Jul 2013 16:51:32 +0000

(Two recent prints Greg Mike- Identity Crisis & Roger Gastman- Spray Cans)

If you’re ever looking for limited edition prints of low brow, no brow, street, graffiti, progressive, juxtapoz-ish art from up and coming and established artists, 1xRun is a pretty good spot to keep an eye on. They’re based out of Detroit (Inner State Gallery [formally 323East]) and got their head firmly in the game.

An Epic Illustrated Homage To All 99 Of Jay-Z’s Problems

thos — Tue, 23 Jul 2013 13:11:07 +0000

We all know that a “bitch” isn’t one of Jay-Z’s problems but what exactly are the other 99? Well, cultural anthropologist (a.k.a. artist) Ali Graham has tackled this mammoth curiosity and enlightens us through his illustrated journey.

Do make sure to peep the rest which are being put up on Ali Graham‘s special 99 Problems tumblr. And send him encouragement to fuel his future historic endeavors.

(Also make sure to check out Ice-T’s original, less ubiquitous version of 99 Problems.)

Originally found on LaughingSquid.com