Meet Mikey & Nata: Illustrators & my bad ass friends.

I’ve always considered my self incredibly lucky.
When I moved to Toronto a few years ago I would have never pictured my life the way it is now, surrounded by the love of so many incredibly talented friends. At times I marvel at their creativity, light, hard work and the joy they take in creating beautiful things. Be it music, moving pictures, photography, wicked words, illustration or even economic advice. It is because of these very people, known simply as The Family, that I have picked away at my insecurity and I am writing more and more with much happiness and less fear. And for this, I would like to thank them!

First up on the docket, are power illustrators and super besties, Michael De Pippo and Natalia Grosner. Known mostly for their divine design skills, impromptu facebook profile photoshoot parties (am not kidding) and straight-up bitch attitudes.

Michael De Pippo, but you can call him Mikey

This art director, illustrator and designer has been collecting and obsessing over cartoons for as long as he can remember. One only needs to peek about his super swank apartment to spot the unique amassment of toys jammed neatly in to tucked away corners and in to a super cool vintage apothecary cabinet. While I’ve always been a fan of his work (THERE IS A CARTOON ME), his latest is a true testament of love combining his adoration for both vintage cereal box art and the legendary Michael Jackson. The Result? A fun and playful series of pop-art pieces that I’m set to throw up on my wall the second I get my hands on the set!



Images courtesy of Michael DePippo, and if you like what you see (and I know that you do) contact Mikey directly at mdepippo@gmail.com

Natalia Grosner, but you can call her  Nata G.

I’m pretty sure I’ve written about my badass bud, Nata, before. I’ve been hankering over her hip-hop watercolours for ages now, and it’s safe to say that the majority of The Family have a pretty piece hanging somewhere about their abodes. My girl is currently a freelance illustrator with an eye for the perfect pair of shoes, a lust for vitamin D, a deep loathing for Lady Gaga, a love for back-pack hippity hop and has no problem calling you out on your bullshit. She’s got this massive knack at creating cool typography (check out the super model series) and her latest work is so fashtastic I can’t stop talking about it. Taking her cue from Berlin’s Nancy Zhang, Natalia has created these cute and cool  illustrations to celebrate her second love, fashion.



You can check out the rest of the Fall 2011 series over at behance and maybe if you ask ever so nicely she’ll create a custom special something just for you. For inquiries and general fanmail contact Nata G directly at grosner@gmail.com

Next time on ‘What About Your Friends?’ we talk Music with my Funk soul sistas. xo

pleasure pods

In the early days the Fathership would travel to Japan for work and come back with photos and stories of communal living no different than those of our African ancestors before us. Delicacies, delights and a well defined culture in synch with the steel and glass towers that kiss the sky and leaving the people below in their shadows. He also spoke of pod hotels, or businessmen half way houses – far more affordable than the mega hotel chain counterpart. Why money was an issue, I have no idea. You’d think working for an international oil company would come with some perks. But my Father, like I, had always been incredibly intrigued in compact metropolitan living. So with much zeal he’d crawl in to his “room” and hit the lights. “Beauty sleep.” He said. “I had Kabuki in the morning.”

Unfortunately the recent history of the capsule hotel is rife with negativity. Due to the recession and the global economic down turn these hotels now houses the Sarai. Japan’s “salaried businessmen” floating between jobs and with no home to call their own.  So these buildings sit empty and dark.  Once a symbol of prosperity, now like blemishes scattered across the city surface., where the weary and lonely try to rest their heads.

Hotelier Keisuke Yui is hoping to change all that.  Opening 9h- Nine hours ,a luxury capsule hotel in Kyoto meant to lure the luxe loving foreign traveler and locals alike. Yui promises excellent service, but what I can’t seem to get my head around is the hotel’s monochrome, minimalist and super slick design. Teaming up with designer Fumie Shibata, the duo have created a blissful retreat for the simplistic set.



 

and yes like you, I find Japan’s current situation incredibly disconcerting, but I think they need a little +ve vibes.

Live the Language: A lesson in Typography

Most of my beloved friends are associated with the world of advertising in some shape or form. A number are design creatives and then there are those who are gifted with words. It is because of their leanings and my own sense of curiosity that I’ve developed a fascination with fonts. Much like a model centered in an editorial, I truly believe that a serif can make or break an image or the thought one is trying to present. The following videos below prove just that!
I stumbled upon these  EF International Language Center adverts by pure chance, and what beautiful and simplistic gems they happen to be! While I do admire Gustav Johansson‘s direction, the real champion here is Albin Holqvist and his genius use of typography. What a great example of taking a simple brief and truly creating something memorable.