Put It In Context

Our friend Racheal from Underground Art School recently released issue 4: The Simplicity Issue, which includes a resource zine called 'Context.' We are both very honoured to have our artwork (a collaborative piece we called 'Learning Your ABCs') shown in Context Zine. Check out our promotional video to find out more:

Click the TV Screen to Play/ Pause

Context: A Resource 'Zine


Underground Art School Magazine Issue 4: Simplicity

Both Underground Art School's Issue 4: Simplicity and Context Zine are available to buy now! So go on! Do it! BUY IT NOW!!

The Pikaland Community

As a follow-up to our last post, we're really pleased to hear that our friend Amy from Pikaland (a blog about living the illustrated life) has just launched The Pikaland Community! It's a really cool place to make new friends, chat about all things creative and collaborate. The PikaPackage Project is organised there too :D

Go check it out, get signed up and get stuck in!

Stop Thief!

A little while ago I spotted this post about plagiarism on a really cool illustration site called Pikaland. As any creative knows plagiarism and copyright theft of any kind is really serious and something we all think about and often take great steps to prevent. The blog post really got us thinking and so we ended up writing a very long (eek!) reply about a horrible case of plagiarism we came up against last year. After posting our reply I re-read the post and realised it was going to be published in a really cool zine called the 'Good to Know Project.' What's that I hear our readers cry!? Well, "The Good to Know Project is full of advice + inspiration from artists/illustrators/designers on creativity, business and life."

It's great that something so positive came from something so negative, not only did we get our post published in the zine along with a couple of doodles, we got chatting with the creator of Pikaland, Amy Ng, and were so inspired by her work and creativity that we added her as one of our Kooji buddies in the collective.


'Stop Thief!' © Katherine Moss
'A Precious Burden' © Johnathan Gallagher

It's hard to believe that there are people actually out there willing to steal other's people's hard work and worse yet when you discover it's someone you know. Fortunately one of the great things about the internet and social networking in particular is that the culprit can quickly be spotted and have their shame publicly blasted about on the net.


Good to Know #7: Plagiarism

The full copy of the Good to Know Zine issue #7: Plagiarism is available to read online on Issuu here. Better yet, go grab yourselves a paper copy of of the issue here and read it in it's full physicality!

Check out past issues of the zine here.

Bounty Huntress

Today sees the release of collective member, Ste O'Brien's online comic, Bounty Huntress! We've been looking forward to seeing it hit the shelves (web) and now the wait is over. Check it out yourself here.

Bounty Huntress follows the exploits of Seisha Djynn, a deadly bounty hunter with her own ideas of justice (as long as there's a fat pay check at the end). Make sure you click on the TWC link to help support what's sure to be an epic series!

You can keep up to date with Bounty Huntress news on the BulletDollar blog here.

An audience with Sir John Hegarty

Creative Networks had a fantastic talk last month by Sir John Hegarty, advertising legend and guru extraordinaire, so I thought I'd share a few snippets from the evening. According to our host, Steve Smith, Yorkshire is expanding faster than any other creative region in the UK. The future really is creative!

Here are some fantastic advertising campaigns Sir John's been involved in over the years. These videos were posted on YouTube as a test-bed for market research - they got millions of hits!

Smirnoff Raw Tea Party Commercial (I really fancy a cuppa now;))

Life is Short - Xbox Commercial

Part-way through his talk Sir John made this statement:

"Technology has always been a spur to Creativity. Now more than ever."

Mixing Traditional Arts with Digital Technologies has been one of my obsessions for a long time now and I was so pleased when he said this. I wrote my last dissertation on this subject: 'The Fine Art of Multimedia Technology' and so I'm always fascinated to hear anything that uses the words 'Technology' and 'Creativity' in the same sentence. Creative peeps are so lucky to be living in a time when when we have these tools at our finger-tips. The computer has really transformed the way I work. All hail Creative Technology! :D

...and just to finish this post off with a few giggles here's a link to a cool flash website that Sir John's company worked on and was also featured on FWA.

MySpace Fan Video

Happy Easter and Flowery Fun from Kooji!

Spring is definitely upon us once more and with the new season comes lots of pretty flowers and hope for a nice warm, sunny Summer. Happy Easter everyone :)

Check out previous Kooji Cards from Katherine & Johnny here

Emerging Artists Awards 2010

What better way to celebrate the completion of 'Le Theatre de quantempus' by heading off to this year's Emerging Artists Awards at artsmix in the Loft, Leeds!

Amongst the creative talent that had been nominated we were really pleased to see our friends, Amy and Rebecca from Lord Whitney.

In another of their fantastic side-show attractions, the 'Cabinet of Curiosities' allowed passers-by to become part of the display. Each visitor had a huge choice of masks and outfits to wear with a customisable plaque. We were the 'Fireys' from the film Labyrinth :D

Emerging Artists Awards 2009 - Blog Post

Le Theatre de quantempus

That's right! My portfolio site has finally gone live! Hip Hip Hurrar!! It's been a long time coming and all the blood, sweat and tears have finally paid off. It includes artwork from both my Art & Design and Multimedia Technology degrees and I've also added a section that showcases my favourite sketchbooks.


The design and interface was largely inspired by fairytales and old victorian toy theatres. My Mum bought me one when I was little and I loved putting on shows and playing with all the set pieces and characters. I thought it'd be fun recreating that in flash, with all the child-like wonder I had as a kid I might add :))

So..what're you waiting for!!? Grab yourself a ticket, take your seat and enjoy the show :D

www.quantempus.co.uk

Coins & Nooses goes live!

March 2010 sees the launch of the 'Last Coiner' movie website and game in the run up to production starting on this feature film project from Duchy Parade Films. The film will follow the lives and fortunes of the Yorkshire Coiners in a 'Western' style story based on real events. Unlike most period dramas, this tale follows the poorer members of society as they struggle in a bleak North Yorkshire setting.


The Coins & Nooses game can be accessed through the movie website and will give you snippets of historical information, interviews and production notes as you navigate the Snakes & Ladders style board. See how many counterfeit coins you can collect before reaching square 100 but don't get caught red-handed by the excise man or you'll surely hang by the neck!


Be sure to enter your name and email address to enter the high score table, updated regularly on the Last Coiner Movie blog here.

Oh and check out more of my creative work at www.trumpetcleaner.co.uk!

Animalation

We went for a trip to Manchester Art Gallery today and came across a beautiful exhibition called 'Animalation' by artist Andrew Bracey. The animation below was playing on a projector and really caught our eye.



There were several flip-book inspired animations like this including a slippery snake scuttling around on the floor and penguins swimming around in water.

Check out Andrew Bracey's website here.
Read Andrew's recipe for making your own animation here. Scrummy!