Saturday, March 31, 2012

New York Graphic Design firm | Alfalfa Studio » No Days Off ...

Collage illustration, personal project

In the winter of 2007 I received an email from an Australian designer visiting New York City. He was interested in an interview. Few days later we were sitting in a Japanese restaurant in Soho, couple of blocks away from my studio ready to conduct the interview. I’m more used to interviews via email of phone, and to more typical ‘design’ questions such as “what inspires you?,” etc. This one was different; to begin with, the interviewer brought a tape recorder and asked if he could record it. Even though I agreed, I must confess it was a bit intimidating. The other surprise is that I could tell right away the Aussie was fully prepared by doing his homework. That was the beginning of a, now, 5-year friendship and counting.

Today I’d like to introduce Chris Bowden, the brave and talented designer who every year crosses the continent seeking inspiration in New York.

Chris is a great designer and thinker in his own right. Throughout the years I’ve been lucky to receive his humble yet memorable “No Days Off” newsletters. The work included is carefully curated.

Through Chris Bowden (and his lovely wife, Caroline), I’ve gotten to know more about the far away Australian continent. In every trip they arrived armed with a nice present: a book on Australian Graphic Design, an art glass piece made by Adelaide artist Christine Cholewa, exotic Australian candy, The Texettes CDs and this year they brought Ken the Koala, a charming handmade doll by an artist which is now Alfalfa Studio’s newest pet (yes, move over “Freaky Baby”).

Besides being a generous friend, a smart writer and a design junky, Chris is also a fantastic graphic designer. His work for The Texettes —a duet whose award winning songs can be best described as authentic, roots music, with intelligent lyrics, loping rhythms and strong melodies— is becoming iconic in the Australian music and design scene.

Chris’ work covers everything, from music packaging to branding, from editorial design to illustration. I really enjoyed the straightforwardness and cleverness of his newspaper illustrations (below). When asked about his approach Chris says: “I’ve been inspired by the work of graphic artist Shigeo Fukuda and been particularly influenced by the simplicity and directness of his style. I really like the idea of getting an idea down quickly and simply, when working in the demanding environment of a daily newspaper, given time and reproduction limitations, this is often imperative, especially on what is usually a page packed to the gills with stories, headlines, and advertisements vying for your attention…”

The headline for this piece was “Are Hopes for Peace Sinking in the Gulf?”

Illustration for a story on "whether the bear market is actually beginning to emerge from its hole”

Newspaper illustration for an article titled “Can China Save Us?”

Couple of projects whose design solution is worth mentioning: (1) The smart rebranding for Round Records, an independent record label. The new brand is simple and adaptable (and very easy and economical to reproduce) to the eclectic line up of the company. Round Records is known for releasing great music that may have no other means or outlet to be heard and (2), the Business card for Adelaide musician and composer Stuart Day. Each card can be personalized with its own customize tune written directly on the card.

Round Records Identity

Stuart Day Business Card

Independent himself, Chris supports indie projects and is a big promoter of Australian graphic design. In fact, he has signed up to be a collaborator to Alfalfa Studio Blog where he will bring the most notable design from Down Under including Re:Collection. Australian Graphic Design from 1960-1980, his first post. Be on the lookout for more to come!

In the meantime, enjoy the work of a designer that is able to balance both, his intellect and his heart, into his own work. Cheers!

Work for The Texettes

The Texettes, The Lady and the Tramp album cover

The Texettes, The Lady and the Tramp, inside pages

The Texettes “It’s all about the heartbreak” poster

The Texettes giveaway CD given as an introduction to their music

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