blog it on the boogie » design

Wu-Tang x Chris Bachalo

matt — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 11:51:30 +0000

Totally sick brah..

I’m not really into comics, but I definitely appreciate the talent of some people who can draw the most amazing illustrations for them.. It’s a strange alien world to me though. I don’t get how people can keep up with the sheer number of issues of the various comics that get released and I really don’t understand the fandom around certain artists who may have done a particular cover or something; because they all look the same to me. I’m so ignorant. Well, I was. At least now, I have a name I can look out for next time I roll through Comic-Con or whatever it is. Chris Bachalo is apparently ‘internationally recognized as one of the most popular artists in the comic industry’ according to his website. I have no idea if that’s true but he’s at least recognised by me as the artist behind the Wu-Massacre cover art that I briefly posted about last month.

The album drops at the end of March and I’ll happily be making it my first ACTUAL CD purchase of the year. In fact, I’m vaguely tempted to buy 3 copies so I can get each of the cover variants. Thinking about it, surely they’ll be releasing it on vinyl(?) That cover art is crying out for some twelve inch action. (Pause). Soooo dope.

I suppose a slight nod to Alex Haldi is required but it’s the pretty pictures that kill it. Props to Mr Bachalo. I kinda get the feeling from his website that he’s not necessarily a Wu-Tang aficionado but he’s clearly not let that effect his work. Tis superb. And there’s a lot of it too. Peep the single cover for ‘Mef vs Chef 2′ below.

How much do you think he charges for portrait work?

No related posts.

Dondi’s Children of the Grave

matt — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 13:39:22 +0000

via 12ozprophet.com

Dondi. Legend. This book is one of my favourite graffiti books ever.

No related posts.

unleashing version 5 of this site!

matt — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 09:54:36 +0000

It’s been a long, rather stagnant summer in regards to this dear website of mine. Not a single post was made throughout May, June or July – and then there was a rather poor excuse for a post in August. Now it’s mid September and I intend to make amends. Whether that happens or not remains to be seen but in an effort to instigate some shit, I have gone ahead and launched a redesign of the site that I’ve been working on for a few months now (on and off).

It’s gone through several states in that time, and I’m still not convinced that it’s finished but that’s what happens when you design for yourself isn’t it(?) So, it is what it is. Another re-align rather than a whole redesign, but it’s definitely different. One of the main changes I made with this was starting everything from scratch – as in, the CSS / wordpress template / images were all blank canvasses. For previous incarnations, I’ve merely altered and added to older layouts which led to a massively bloated CSS file (amongst other messy unnecessary things). Not this time. I don’t think it makes any difference really, but it was nice to start working and not be faced with a thousand lines of code that I had to wade through to try to make simple changes.

What else(?) Oh yeah.. A new version of my portfolio – intended to coincide with the new version of this – is due shortly. I was going to wait until they were both ready, but if I’d waited any longer to start using this blog theme, I really would’ve gone through another redesign process and wasted even more time. But don’t worry, I’ll be vocal about it when it’s done.

Just to end this, I haven’t been completely silent during these summer months. My twitter-ness has been pretty much constant.. so if you want a more constant stream of my blabberings, it’d be good to start following me. I try to keep nonsense to a minimum, but it’s twitter, so you probably know what to expect.

lego hip-hop album covers

matt — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 11:53:03 +0000

Great post over at formatmag that shows 20 hip-hop album covers done in lego. Well, with lego characters anyway. It’s well fresh.

Granted a lot of the covers wont mean anything to a lot of people but there’s a lot there that everyone should own. Or at least hear at some point. Download some stuff. Expand your mind.

illustrated horror film posters

matt — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 09:35:41 +0000

I really wish I could draw. Like really. If I could, I’d spend all day everyday drawing things like this. Except it probably wouldn’t be my job, and no-one does illustrated posters anymore so I’d have to make up the films. Stuff like “Revenge Of The Badger Lord – He Came From The Undergrowth To Take You To HELL!!!” or “The Creature With Poor Eyesight But An Insatiable Hunger For Blood. And Death! Lots Of Death!!” and they’d be awesome. But as it is, drawing things by hand is not my strong point, so I’ll just admire these from afar.

They’re taken from a couple of posts simply entitled 100 Illustrated Horror Film Posters Part 1 and Part 2 (you might be able to see where I stole this post title from) and as a whole suite, they’re a fairly impressive collection. Some of the films are well known (Jaws, Dawn of the Dead), others sound mental and make me want to see them (The Giant Leeches, Fiend Without a Face) but all of them are worth a look.

atari modern classics

nxe welcome video

matt — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 16:01:38 +0000

NXE by the way, stands for ‘New Xbox Experience‘. It’s the.. err.. new xbox experience (strangely enough). Released midweek, I got to play with it a bit last night and so far I think it’s an improvement on the old navigation system. The coverflow style stuff is obviously heavily apple influenced but it’s slicker than the old blades so I’m all for it.

Not too sure about the avatar thing though. It’s so Wii. I struggled to get mine to look like me (click on the image on the left to see ~~Mii~~ me), but it’s quite good to see the groups of your friends who are playing the same games or whatever.

But anyway, the point for this is to say: the ‘welcome’ video that it plays just after you install the update is nice. That’s it. If you’re not xboxed up, you can still see it online. Good work from Exopolis. Check the HQ mov or the LQ youtubism.

No related posts.

futura in vapors magazine

matt — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 18:30:04 +0000

If you’re not sure who Futura is, you need to recognise. Go and look at his website. It’s a bit odd, and actually I think I prefer the older version of it which was really odd but it’s still worth a peep. Probably my all-time favourite artist/designer.. there’s just something about those shapes and colours that I always think is awesome. Not to mention his earlier graffiti work. The man is a legend. One of my top inspirational books is this which by the looks of it is rather hard to get hold of nowadays. Yay for being ahead of the game.

But anyway, there’s a small piece on him in issue 50 of vapors magazine. To be honest, it’s not the most in depth interview but it’s nice to see that he’s still doing stuff. I feel like I haven’t been aware of any new work for a long time, but maybe that’s just me being out of the loop. In fact, I did miss this Burton snowboard design which is supremely fresh. If I could snowboard, that’d be my shit.

So yeah, go and read the article.. and have a look at the other stuff in the magazine. It’s a good issue (some GZA, UNKLE, Jean Grae and other stuff inside).

No related posts.

the art of pixar

matt — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 11:20:01 +0000

So you already know what Pixar are about. They’re the animation studio with major skillage who used mess with Lucasfilms, Steve Jobs and Disney but now roll dolo. Their catalogue is pretty much the most solid collection of films from one studio ever. I still haven’t seen Wall-E yet but everything else gets a two thumbs up from me. Even Cars.

There’s tonnes of images and whatnot covering their work out there but I bumped into this site and particularly like the stuff they’ve collated. It’s not extensive by any means but there’s something to be said for being selective. Just a wee collection of artwork from the films, and links to other sources. It’s a nice selection, worth a look.

No related posts.

another day, another re-design..

matt — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 16:34:35 +0000

Yet again, I’ve decided to re-design this site (mattnortham.com in case you’re confused) because the old design was boring me a bit. It’s barely been a few months since that last design debuted and in fact, this design isn’t too far removed from the previous version. It’s more colourful at least. Most of the legwork can be seen on the homepage but there’s a few new things with links and stuff that you might notice by just clicking around.

I’m not normally one to go on too much about the design process or anything like that so I’ll end it here.. Just a note to say that it’s live. Oh, in case you’re using IE6 still, here’s a screenshot of what it’s supposed to look like. If it doesn’t look like that, feel free to comment and let me know.. I may decide to ‘fix’ it. My testing process has been admittedly a bit slack for this

atari modern classics

matt — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 09:28:52 +0000

A quicky here celebrating the wonder that is retro game covers. Sort of. They’re not strictly realistic (as pointed out by many geek commenters who really should lighten up) but it’s a fun reimagining of some current games and how they might look twere they downgraded to a pixel steeze.

via

I don’t see how anyone would fail to be a fan of old game covers/booklets. Much like illustrated movie posters, there’s this certain quality which can only really be achieved by many many hours of painstaking hand drawing. Proper works of art.

There’s plenty of examples to be seen at car boot sales up and down the country if you don’t mind getting up at 7 on a cold wet Sunday morning.. Or you could just check out this flickr set that I’ve been looking for an excuse to link to for years or this post full of atari game covers which has should help you to put those ‘modern’ ones at the top into context.

freshening up for summer

matt — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 12:40:44 +0000

After a prolonged absence, I thought it was about time that I pulled up my sleeves and actually updated this site. So here it is. A new post and more pertinently, a new site design. Well, actually, it’s another realign because if you have any memory of what the previous design was like, then you’ll realise that this one isn’t actually straying too far at all.

I started working on this way back in April, intending to have it ready for the May 1st Reboot but as that deadline loomed, it was quickly obvious that it was never going to happen. That said, I did think it’d happen sooner than mid-June but there you go.

The most significant change can be seen on the overall site home page (http://www.mattnortham.com) where I’ve ditched the old basic static look and tried to incorporate more of the blog content (as well as content from external places like youtube and last.fm). It’s an approach I used to roll with when I first set up this blog on my scpgt domain but for whatever reason I didn’t maintain it over here. So now it’s back; complete with fancy sliding jquery goodness. It took a bit of tweaking and some wordpress custom fields to get it sorted but I like it now.

The design isn’t actually what I consider completely done so bear with me if there appear to be any issues in the next week or so – but I didn’t want to leave it any longer than I already have. This was supposed to a ’summer’ design and seeing as our summers are notoriously short, I thought it best to just unleash it as is.

But anyway, on with the content.. I promise to pull my thumb out and put more effort into this. Got a few bits of work to add to the portfolio too shortly so stay tuned….

desktop wallpaper: ángeles perdidos

matt — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 17:16:45 +0000

Over at my portfolio site, I’ve unleashed a new piece of work called ‘ángeles perdidos‘ (use Babelfish if that doesn’t make sense.. it’s deep). Go and look.

It’s based on some photos I took in L.A. last summer.. specifically, from the ‘Bona Vista’ cocktail bar in the Bonaventure Hotel.. The views aren’t bad at all. I actually started doing stuff to these photos shortly after coming back from California last July but then promptly forgot about them amidst doing other bits of work; but then this weekend I found my scribblings nested in several old folders and decided it was worth finishing off. There were several other versions but the final one I went with is definitely the most easy on the eye.

You can grab it to use as a desktop wallpaper background thing from my aptly named ‘goodies section‘ too if you like. I have. It’s nice.

meet the world

matt — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 12:07:45 +0000

Meet The World is a really nicely done (and rather clever) series of flags with new legends attached to them. If that doesn’t make sense, just look at the picture and that’s what I mean.

Some of them are pretty harsh (ie. Somalia) but the facts speak for themselves. Although, to be honest, I haven’t checked the percentages of these facts myself.. but that’s neither here nor there. It’s the message that matters. Nice design-age.

via cpluv.

No related posts.

hyper island – interactive art director

matt — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 13:18:48 +0000

If you’ve never heard of Hyper Island, then I question your commitment toward being the source of all knowledge regarding Swedish design schools. However, if that’s not a aim of yours, then fair enough.

But really though, you should know about Hyper Island (and their illustrious graduates). As a incredibly small example of how cool it would be to attend there – their building is an old prison. I find that cool

They’ve recently unveiled a new course packed to the brim with things that are undoubtedly going to produce another wave of stupidly talented interactive media professionals. Following a cursory glance of their website, it sounds like the course that I’d jump at if I had the chance and someone else would fund my mortgage for the duration. It’s crazy stupid dope (that’s good). The website has been done by some current students. It says it all. Oh to be young again

Have a look: IAD:08

find 815

new bbc three idents

matt — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 18:12:57 +0000

The ‘blob’ idents on BBC Three have always been a redeeming feature amongst a lot of the tripe that passes for ‘entertainment’ (see ‘Two Pints Of Lager…’ for reference). Their ‘short yet funny in a slightly odd but quite ‘cute’-ish way‘ – ness has been a staple of the channel for as long as I’ve had it on freeview.. and possibly since the start of the channel(?), so it’ll be a shame to see them go. But go they must, to make way for the new BBC Three branding which I actually quite like. It’s pink. I like that. It’s accompanied by a series of new idents which have yet to air but will hopefully be colourful and joyous! Like the sneak preview below..

If you’re unaccustomed to the ‘blobs’, or simply want a refresher – YouTube saves the day again.

thanks to the following..

matt — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 19:52:38 +0000

Super quick-like, kudos to the four sites that were kind enough to send some linkage my way last week.. May there be many more to come

Daily Slurp, Loop Press, Link Creme and CSS Artillery.

Also, I forgot to mention a couple of weeks ago that almost an hour after launching the new design of ‘scpgt‘, it was featured on a German blog – Farbwolke. Happy times! In case you can’t read German, Google comes to the rescue..

Description: Matt Northam surprised with explosive graphics. As for the viewing of his works out stings are the perfect color harmonies, it seems to generate. He is confined to his site not only to a pure portfolio, he also writes a blog. There, he also tells a lot about his taste in music and other private things. This page is from A to Z durchgestylt. Seeing value.

Brilliant

nineteeneightyfouria

matt — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 08:37:41 +0000

Briefly, I went up to that there London this weekend to see ‘nineteeneightyfouria’, Shepard Fairey’s wee show at Stolenspace. Twas good. And well worth the 3 hour diverted train journey and trogging around in the cold and wet to go see. Been an admirer for ages now and while I saw a couple of pieces of his in L.A. over summer, it was cool to see the work up close..

The website says:

The exhibition entitled ‘Nineteeneightyfouria’, a reference to the surveillance culture of Orwell’s 1984. (Shepard believes London’s CCTV coverage to be ‘Insane’) is comprised of a range of artworks, from large scale multi media installations to smaller album screen prints Shepard’s artwork both scrutinises and distorts the narrative of the modern American Dream. Commenting on underpinnings of what Shepard terms the ‘capitalist machine’, it aims to critique those who support blind nationalism and war. Fairey addresses monolithic institutional authority, the role of counter culture, and independent individuals who question the cultural paradigm.

I says:

Good stuff.

More ‘nineteeneightyfouria’ pictures at flickr.

No related posts.

scpgt v6 is go!

matt — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 16:16:08 +0000

New version of my portfolio site, with a few new pieces of work to boot

It’s much simpler than the last version, mainly because this wonderful blog is now hosted here and not there, but I like it. 6th redesign in little over 2 years.. That’s not a bad ratio is it(?)

Looksee: http://www.scpgt.co.uk

opening credits from ‘the kingdom’

matt — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 09:59:29 +0000

To be honest, I wasn’t particularly interested in seeing the film, but these credits are very nicely done and have slightly changed my mind. I have no idea how historically accurate the ‘facts’ are and I’m not really fussed.. They’re put together superbly. Good work.

Go and watch the massive HD version here: http://movies.yahoo.com/feature/thekingdom.html?showVideo=1

No related posts.

what digital camera magazine

matt — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 07:40:34 +0000

Woo! I’m in a magazine!

A month or so ago I was a tad bored so I entered a photoshop competition on flickr and came up with this.. To be honest, I thought it was just a flickr-based thing so I didn’t really expect too much. But then I was selected second and got a note saying it’d be in a magazine.. and now it is! Good stuff.

You can get the magazine at all good newsagents now, so if you’re into digital cameras, you might as well. And then turn to page 96 for the hotness. (Or just see the photo I took of the page).

The only downside is that they printed that I’m from Norfolk. Which I’m not. It’s odd, but it’s like they completely plucked that out of nowhere.. very strange. Never believe the media!