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WEDNESDAY 15 JUNE 2011 // MEGGS x ZERO COOL GALLERY x LONDON

Hosted by VNA Magazine and Zero Cool gallery comes our Melbourne mate MEGGS solo exhibition INNER DEMONS. If you're not familiar with Meggs work then puh-leease do yourself a HUGE favour and check out his work. He's one part of the infamous Melbourne crew EVERFRESH STUDIO and Backwoods Gallery and has worked on collaborative projects with brands such as Addict, red Bull and Stussy to name but a few. The show opens next week from 6:30pm - 9:30pm, Thursday 23 June at Red Bull Studios, 155-171 Tooley St, London Bridge. Be there or be square! More info at www.houseofmeggs.com and www.zerocoolgallery.com

TUESDAY 14 JUNE 2011 // OFFF FESTIVAL WRAP

OFFF Barcelona 2011 Main Titles from OFFF, let's feed the future on Vimeo.

Ok ladeez and gents, it's been rather quiet on the Wooden Toy front the past week as I've been in Barcelona speaking at this years amazing OFFF Creative Festival. Check out the mad intro titles above by festival speaker Mischa Rozema of Post Panic (NL). Totally dark! Totally amazing! After 5 days of creative genius I'm back feeling refreshed, inspired and slightly tanned. Well, as tanned as a 'sun paranoid' person can be. Meaning... i'm less transparent than i was before. haha! The festival was truly amazing with some of the worlds greatest artists speaking live in person across 3 stages throughout 3 days. I've put together some of my random thoughts on the festival and well... here it goes:

Thursday 9 (Day 1): The festival kicked off on day one with the likes of Alex Trochut (SPA) and Joshua Davis (USA) speaking who apparently were both inspiring and entertaining to the HUGE crowds of hungry designers that had flocked from all over Europe, some from even further away like our mates Mick and Steve from Perth, Australia. Sadly i missed day one (and most of day two in fact) as i was couped up in my apartmento (yep, i speak fluent spanish now) trying madly to finish some urgent client work. But i heard these guys were amaaaaazing! Amongst others of course.

Friday 10 (Day 2): Was D-Day for me with my talk at 3:30pm in the afternoon where i was bowled off stage because i ran out of time. Whoops! I seem to have too much to say! ha! Anyway, it was lots of fun and i feel like i connected well with the audience but unfortunately during my talk both Hort (GER) and Information Is Beautiful (UK) were speaking so i missed out on seeing them. However i caught up with Mr.Kone's (MEX) talk about his beautiful illustrative style and life as a designer/illustrator in Mexico City. It was a very entertaining talk with Mr.Kone needing a translator on stage to communicate to his audience. He sure put his translator to the test! His presentation was super slick showing a clear look into his work from first sketch to finished artwork - a truly amazing artist and well worth checking out if you have not seen his work before. Following on from Mr.Kone and probably the highlight for me on Day 2 was seeing Andy Cruz of HOUSE INDUSTRIES (USA). His talk about type and the importance of keeping the tradition of type alive hit home strong with a lot of people in the crowd. If you're familiar with House's retro inspired work then you will know why i loved Cruz's talk. Tasty!

Saturday 10 (Day 3): Was the last day and talk about saving the BEST until last. First offf i jumped between Keetra Dean Dixon (USA) and Studio Blup's (UK) talks as they were on at the same time. Do'h! A problem throughout the festival mind you. They were both completely different from one another but just as inspiring. Dixon started off by talking about her shift from Graphic design into more environmental/interior design and art-based projects. Her paper frame piece (feat below) inspired me the most in terms of it's accumulated time. WOW! And... she topped it off being by far the cutest, most sweetest speaker of the festival. Dines, from Studio Blup was a bit different... Loud, confident and playful was his style with lots of jokes on stage with his partner in crime for his talk Crayon Dreamer (UK) right by his side. These two South London lads engaged the audience with their work, fun and a showed good insight into their studio practice.

I then left their talk early to jump over to catch half of EBOY's (GER) presentation on the main stage. Being a trio of German illustrators you could imagine their presentation was very well put together/constructed. I'm very familiar with their work but it was great to finally hear them talk in person and they did not dissapoint the crowd by giving great insight into how they work and showing the clever processes behind their amazing illustrations. Again, i had to jump ship halfway through to catch what was possibly the greatest talk i have ever seen "EVER" by local Barcelona brothers BROSMIND (SPA). What can i say? You had to be there! These guys had us laughing our asses off from the second they walked in until the cheer erupted at the end. But... they backed this up with their incredible commercial illustrations and project-based artworks. They wore costumes, they built their own lecture APP, showed us funny home movies and shared hilarious experiences with their clients. They showed us exactly how we should treat our work as designers... FUN and exciting! A terribly hard thing to do but i think they outweighed (in my mind) the closing presentations by Geoff McFetridge, Erik Spiekerman and Stefan Sagmeister who are all amazing artists in their own right but lacked the originality that the spanish brothers showed in their inventive talk. Go Brosmind!! Another great speaker was Mischa Rozema of Post Panic (NL) who, at the very end of the festival showed us the OFFF festival title movie for the first time and the audience erupted across all 3 stages where it was being streamed live.

So there you have it. A little OFFF wrap for 2011. I'm looking forward to next years event and if you're interested in finiding out more on OFFF visit their website here

MONDAY 06 JUNE 2011 // BEN CAPPS FRIENDS ARE PRETTY

Melbourne photographer Ben Capp is a good friend of mine. We went to high school together. We've lived together in many houses. We've gotten really drunk together. We've cried over shit together. Heck... he even broke my collarbone and we're still friends... so you could understand my pain when it comes to the truth that i will not be able to make it to his very first exhibition opening this week in hometown Melbourne (insert unhappy face here). His debut exhibition, titled "My friends are pretty" opens this Friday 10th June from 6pm-9pm No Vacancy Project Space, Federation Square. (exhibition runs June 7th - June 19th) and i suggest you all head down to say hello. Now you don't have to look at too many of Ben's photos to realise this lads got some bloody amazing talent, especially when it comes to standing behind a lens. But this exhibition is more than just a series of amazing photos from a talented fella. It's a chance for everyone to see what a dead-set fucking legend Ben Capp really is. He's poured his heart, personality and everything into this show and it shows. "My Friends Are Pretty is a reminder that we are all pretty in one way or another and we should all be a bit silly from time to time so we don't go nuts.” Check out more here www.myfriendsarepretty.com

FRIDAY 03 JUNE 2011 // CURT MERLO ILLUSTRATION

It hurts how much i'm in love with the illustrations of Californian artist Curt Merlo. His work is rich in texture and lovely colour combinations that just appeal to me. I'm sure ya'll will like his work just as much. But the thing i like the most about Merlos work is his playfullness. Each piece has a quirk in it somehow that just makes you smile. Even his copywriting has the same sort of cheek. Check out his 'about' section on his website for a good idea of what i'm talking about. Can tuck in shirt if needed... classic! More to see over here folks >> www.curtmerlo.com

FRIDAY 03 JUNE 2011 // PHANTOM CITY CREATIVE

You've got to love the movie styled posters of Toronto based independent studio Phantom City Creative. Founded on a stormy Friday the 13th by JUSTIN ERICKSON and PAIGE REYNOLDS, this creative powerhouse of awesome specialises on entertainment design for film, television and music. PCC's goal is to create imaginative and stimulating advertising and packaging materials using slick graphic design, beautifully rendered illustration, photography, 3d and most importantly great ideas. These ideas shine through in their work which are so stylised it breaks your eyes! I wish all movie posters looked as good as this. Hollywood, if you're reading this, i've found your team! Look no further... www.phantomcitycreative.com

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