Thursday, December 30, 2010

Paul Rogers illustrates USPS JAZZ stamp







Among the challenges of working on a top-secret assignment the most nail-biting one is awaiting the launch; you have to discover it on your own. In this case The United States Postal Service announced the launch of JAZZ in the USA Philatelic catalog and the online extension of the catalog called Beyond the Perf. What a thrill to have the word "FOREVER" associated with your work. Paul will walk us through the project:
"It's always an honor to design a postage stamp, and because I love jazz and have great respect for the history of the music, this one was very special to me. I started by thinking of all the artists I admire from the past who have created visual art with connections to jazz. I was going to have to rise to the occasion and deliver a design that would sit well in my mind with those images, or I knew I'd feel bad about it for a long time.

The only requirements Howard gave me was that the letters J-A-Z-Z appear in the design and that no recognizable performer be depicted. Beyond that, he left it in my hands as to how to communicate the feeling of jazz. I thought that the best way to proceed was to design three stamps and show them as completed designs. If I took three different approaches, I might improve my chances of getting the Stamp Advisory Committee to approve one, and by taking each design to a finished stage I could refine all the elements to a level that I'd be happy with and would eliminate any guesswork in the approval process.

The first sketch carries a lot of Stuart Davis' influence with a red, white and blue palette and abstracted instrument shapes mixed into the letter-forms. The second design takes a more geometric approach to the letters-and-instruments idea and includes some musician's hands.

The third design was the one that I felt best about, and it was the one I most wanted to be chosen. It shows a combo hard at work on the bandstand or recording studio. The big challenge was in the interplay between the letter-forms and the drawings of the musicians. A limited palette of orange, black, grey, tan and white carried the feeling of a late-night scene without getting into too much detail.

It turned out that design three was approved very quickly with only a couple of small fine-tuning suggestions and a request to add a female singer into the scene. The singer could have been a problem, it's not always easy to add another element to something that has been so worked out, but I was able to add her to the top left corner of the design. Also, 2011 is the first year that all stamps will be "Forever" stamps, so the word "Forever" replaces the 44-cent number. From a design standpoint, I'll miss the graphic element of a numeral in the designs, but it makes economic sense for the customer and the USPS.

I had the opportunity to show the design to the great Alex Steinweiss when I visited him last year in Florida. I laid a top-secret test-print on him while I was finishing up the project."

Blurb on Beyond the Perf about the Stamp:

With this stamp, the U.S. Postal Service is proud to pay tribute to jazz, America's musical gift to the world, and to the musicians who play it on festival stages as well as in studios, clubs, and concert halls. Art director Howard Paine designed the stamp to showcase the work of Paul Rogers, an artist living in Pasadena, California. In creating the art for the stamp, originally using ink on paper and then finishing his work digitally, Rogers explored the way images could become a visual equivalent of jazz music. He was inspired by the cover art from vintage jazz record albums, work that captured the music's improvisational quality while built on a clear understanding of its underlying structure.

http://beyondtheperf.com/stamp-releases/jazz

More detailed research for the design on Paul's blog:
http://paulrogersstudio.com/?section=news&article=11778&d=true

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Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Paul Rogers illustrates LEGO website campaign






Lego Systems has a new online campaign called Build Together Road Trip. If you are going on a trip, you’ll need a map to navigate five Destinations, ten Landmarks and onto the virtual activities. Click on any of the illustrated locations to play a game, watch movies, download postcards and collect travel stickers together with a friend or parent. I was quite captivated by the movie about how the Tower Bridge was designed and built, go to Drive in Theatre. This is a great example of an established product making headway into virtual reality. The site keeps kids online longer offering interesting bits of information making it educational and fun for all. One piece of advice, when Lego calls assume everything in the brief will need to look as if it were build of bricks with knobs on them. Doh!

Paul says this about the project: "This online game for Lego uses a Road Trip theme, so I dug into the rich look of American roadside architecture and mixed in some Lego motifs. It was a fun challenge to fit all the requested elements onto a map that would look good and function well for kids and their parents."

Creative Director Keith Malone first saw Paul's The Incredibles poster as inspiration. Keith says: "When The LEGO Company decided to market to Dads for the first time, we knew that we needed a different look and feel from our kid targeted advertising. The challenge was to find an expression that still reflected the core fun of our brand but would also draw upon a style that would resonate with this older consumer base, "new nostalgic". Enter Paul Rogers! His style was a perfect match for our concept. Having never worked with Paul before and dealing with a very tight deadline, the team worried that we would be able to have him "get" the brand and be able to execute on time. No worries there, Paul delivered on schedule and beyond our expectations creating art for a truly unique consumer experience. The team here at LEGO is looking forward to working with Paul again in the future."

Go to the Lego site here http://bit.ly/hbZcMX

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Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Joe Morse illustrates Play Ball, Jackie!








Mysterious boxes on my doorstep this time of year is a good thing and this week was no exception. Samples of Play Ball, Jackie! written by Stephen Krensky and illustrated by our Joe Morse made a powerful impression the minute I opened the box. Published by Millbrook Press, a division of Lerner publishing in Minneapolis, Play Ball, Jackie! is an explosion of history and emotion. The book came about with a call from Zach Marell, Lerner's creative director, who had seen Joe’s rendition of the poetic classic Casey at the Bat (Ernest L. Thayer/KCP Poetry). Zach had a vision for another great baseball legend, Jackie Robinson. The collaboration between Carol Hinz, the editorial director, Zach and Joe was one of mutual respect and creative flexibility.

Zach Marell says this about discovering Joe's work: His worked reminded of a Nike commercial I saw on TV that used similar art that was animated...it could have been his work, I'm not sure. Either way the emotional energy that the work evoked was strong. I soon came across Joe's work and it immediately brought me back to that strong energetic spirit...I then saw the Casey at The Bat ...I was hooked.

Joe says about the project: "I spent months researching Jackie, Ebbets Field, the Dodgers and the 1940's. It was an incredible time period of change that was mirrored in baseball. The challenge that the story presented was to tell the story of the game inside Ebbets Field and also the events outside the game that made each swing of the bat of the lone black man so important. I wanted to take the reader onto the field and into the stands, I read numerous accounts of the great atmosphere inside Ebbets and I created characters that I hoped conjured some of this passion and devotion.
I feel lucky and humbled that I was given the opportunity to make pictures about Jackie Robinson, on the day in April 1947 that changed everything. I'm so happy that my own children can revisit this time through the book and Jackie's story."

For more information on Lerner Book's website go here http://bit.ly/elTJgm

The following review will appear in the January 1 issue of Kirkus:

PLAY BALL, JACKIE!
Author: Krensky, Stephen
Illustrator: Morse, Joe

Review Date: January 1, 2011
Publisher: Millbrook
Pages: 32
Price ( Hardcover ): $16.95
Publication Date: March 1, 2011
ISBN ( Hardcover ): 978-0-8225-9030-9
Category: Picture Books
Classification: Baseball

Matty and his father, avid Dodgers fans, are in the stands for the first game of the 1947 baseball season. It is also the first time in the modern era that a black player is part of a major league team—Jackie Robinson's debut. There are many black fans there to support him, as well as many white fans who resent his presence. Matty and his dad are of the opinion that everyone deserves a chance and are optimistic that Jackie will be the one to get their team to the World Series. Krensky creates a multilayered recounting of a seminal moment in the history of baseball and America. He incorporates background information while carefully and accurately describing the play-by-play details of that first game, and he also manages to capture the mood of the crowd—and, by extension, the nation. Morse’s muscular, out-of-proportion illustrations focus readers' attention on facial and body language, emphasizing the strong emotions alluded to in the text. A worthy homage to a baseball legend. (author's note, photos, bibliography) (Picture book. 7-10)

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Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Paul Rogers pitch perfect for Harps and Angels poster




Center Theatre Group commissioned a poster by Paul Rogers for the new Randy Newman musical “Harps and Angels”, based on Newman’s recordings under the same name and a number of other songs. Its world premiere was at the Mark Taper Forum at the Music Center in Los Angeles on November 10. Paul says “The challenge was to make a poster for a show that was in the process of being written and cast. Charity Capili was the art director on this one and she managed to get this approved by everyone involved without any drama."

Paul was kind enough to share the sketches presented before arriving at the silhouette concept and then a few of the color options, emphasis on “few of”. Let’s hope it makes it to NYC!

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Thursday, December 9, 2010

Heflinreps e-promos, last 6 months







Since January of this year, we have been sending out email promos based on the current month. Artists create the illustrations specifically for this purpose, and we have finally completed a full calendar year. It's been a great way to connect our potential customers with our artists' portfolios and individual websites. Each one also listed current events and special projects for the month and in some cases giveaways (we used to call them promos).

Kicking off the summer was Penny Dann's Knee High by the 4th of July, then the inimitable Rutu Modan's Dog Days of August, then reluctantly gliding into September's Harvest captured touchingly by Netalie Ron-Raz, followed by the late nights and bright lights of the World's Series in October by Dennis Balogh's portrait of the no-hitter phenom Roy "Doc" Halladay, then onto a more somber yet fascinating celebration Day of the Dead by Sonia Pulido and finally Roy Fox's Merry - the only way to summarize December!

Next year we are going to change it up a bit, so stay tuned and please subscribe by sending Sally a message at sally@heflinreps.com.

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Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Eraser Fun by Jared Andrew Schorr


As a lark, and who knows it might become a habit, I’m posting an illustration that speaks to me louder than others. In this case Yipee is an example of Jared Andrew Schorr’s unconventional sense of humor combined with his distinctive technique and typography. Who knew erasers had so much fun!

http://www.jaredandrewschorr.com/

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Wednesday, November 24, 2010

AOL Includes Hanoch Piven in its new AOL Canvas Project


AOL Artists has launched a new project that allows you to choose your AOL.com background from a number of different artists' canvases. Hanoch Piven's "Gloveman" is one of the pieces of original artwork created for this project. Hanoch decided to create his work using the "Faces iMake" iPhone app he helped create with iMagine machine. Hanoch is happy to be selected as one of the AOL Artists.

http://www.aolartists.com/profiles/hanoch-piven

http://www.aolartists.com/canvases

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Friday, November 12, 2010

Heflinreps welcomes Oscar T. Perez to our agency







We’re happy to welcome artist Oscar Perez to our group. Oscar has illustrated several books and done regular editorial work in Spain. We're excited to work with such a talented illustrator and animator. Please visit the websites below to see more of his work.

Oscar's portfolio: http://bit.ly/HeflinrepsPerez

Oscar's blog: http://oscartperezilustracion.blogspot.com/

Oscar's animation channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/Elcanibalibro

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Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Tatsuro Kiuchi has a new edition for sale by 20x200



Online retailer 20x200 has recently released new prints of "Car Free" by Tatsuro Kiuchi. It is the third edition of Tatsuro's artwork to be sold by them, along with "In the Ballpark" and "Photographer's Dilemma." Watch for another edition from Tatsuro on the way soon. Tatsuro originally created "Car Free" for the now-defunct Vox Hamptons magazine in 2008.

http://www.20x200.com/art/2010/11/car-free.html

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Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Paul Rogers is included in Graphic book of designers




UK's Thames & Hudson has just published Graphic. Inside the Sketchbooks of the World's Great Graphic Designers by Steven Heller and Lita Talarico. The book features 100 of the world's leading graphic designers, including our artist Paul Rogers. The book is also available from Monacelli Press in the United States.

Paul says, "Last year, Steven Heller asked for some scans from my sketchbooks for a book he was putting together. I'm delighted to be included in this new book with so many artists I admire."

Monacelli Press: http://bit.ly/MonacelliPress
Thames & Hudson: http://www.thamesandhudson.com/9780500288849.html
Review: http://designnotes.info/?p=3199

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