amongst the many trends this year, one of the best (for me, at least) was the amount of self-illustrated pieces. how refreshing! as a designer, i appreciate the need for stock art and have used it often. but as an illustrator, my heart sings when i see original artwork on paper products, the art that was made by the designer.
next up is the new collection by izak zenou for byrd and bleecker. izak's illustrations are famous in the fashion world, and are synonymous with henri bendel and laura mercier, to name a few. now his fabulous fashion illustrations are on letterpress cards from byrd and bleecker!
dandy lion press was part of the ladies of letterpress booth. maia surprised me by telling me that none of the very intricate illustrations used on her paper products were stock. all were hand drawn by maia herself! i loved it. i for one draw a lot, but nothing that i do is that detailed. i leave that up to botanical artists. apparently though, maia tackles that all on her own. even the back of her cards has a little emblem that means "no clip art here". awesome.
a favorite of mine since their debut 3 years ago, old school stationers goes about things the old school way. they use pencil and paper to come up with their lovely imagery. i also love the idea of a print to go with a card -- something i have also done. it adds something personal to your purchase.
finally, i had to visit the booth of our friends sara and rob of paper loop cards. sara told me on monday that while so many stationers start out from illustration and move to graphic design, she went in the opposite direction -- design to illustration! clearly this art was existing in her the whole time. paper loop cards were so much fun to see in person. they have a great energy to them, and so much color.
more stationery show posts to come! this was just the first. stay tuned!
