Minimega ♥ Graphic Art Studio

Sara Andersen is an illustrator and owner of the amazingly cute graphic art studio Minimega. She designs websites, logos and has a webshop where you can buy posters, postcards and other paper goodies designed by Minimega.

This image is from her blog. Sara´s style is colorful and playful, these paperbags she designed remind me so much of the candy wrappings from my childhood.

On Minimega´s blog you can also download these cute muffin wrappers, gift cards and other DIY give-aways for free.

Treat bag designed by Minimega download PDF file for free on MinimegaBlog.

This business card is designed by Minimega for a famous Danish blogger Julia Lahme. All minimega´s printed products are printed on 100% recycled paper with vegetable-based inks.

Visit Minimega´s webshop here ♥

Quick hi from me

My new kawaii-bear logo

Fun with Polaroid app for iPhone

Sometimes my son does the funniest things like this: he places his stuffed animals in corners, behind doors and like here in our closet, and then he goes hunting with his toy gun…

New Logo

Now with logo! My husband made this logo for me (thank you) -I love it. I gave him the challenge to design something inspired by the 20s and 30s Bauhaus style graphic but more feminine, cute and comtemporary. Hope you like it too.

Create your own cute Mood Board using Olioboard

My Olioboard called Cute Retro

I just discovered this site where you easily can create your own dream living space using Olioboard, it is free and fun to use. It works like a very simple version of Adobe Photoshop and you can use the items on the site (which you can buy of course). -Clever advertising but it is possible to add your own images as well.

Some of the cute retro furniture are from Vintage Looks.

Happy Easter!

Old Childrens´ book from Disney

Happy Easter! I will be back next week with many -hopefully- sunny pictures from a tiny Danish island called Samsø..

Enchanted at The Royal Cafe in Copenhagen

The Royal Cafe in the heart of Copenhagen is an enchanting place filled with fairytale atmosphere. When you meet this woodcutted sign you already feel that this is a cafe that allows experimental design that mixes old and new.

The interior is very detailed and feels very free and not clean cut and minimalistic like many other cafes you can find i Copenhagen. The cafe describes its style as “Funky Baroque – design confusion and humourous and chic”, wich pretty much sums it up. Arne Jacobsen´s Ant chair produced by Fritz Hansen has been resized for the cafe in a higher cafe-version. Holmegaard Glass have created the chandeliers for the cafe. The ceiling has shiny silver wallpaper with leaves.

You enter the cafe from a typical Danish city-courtyard.

Cut roses in still water outside.

Carefully arranged flowers at the counter top.

The cake is as good as it looks. My son had warm chocolate which of course  actually was heated chocolate the food is delicious and made with the same care and attention to details as the interior. The porcelain is, of course, from Royal Copenhagen.

A love seat by the window sill. Many designers have their art on display or for sale in the cafe such as Swedish Kosta Boda.

A miniature kitchen made from recycled material.

Very inspiring mobile decoration with silk ribbons hanging from the ceiling.

The murals show different Danish features like the wooden monkey made in 1951  by Kay Bojesen and floral decorations from Royal Copenhagen porcelain.

This Tripp Trapp childrens chair you find in almost every Danish home, and in the cafe they have one in gold.

More flower murals

I will definitely be back ♥

GIVEAWAY HERE

Collages and drawings

When I was young  (must be more than 10 years ago..) I drew, painted and made collages all the time. For some reason I stopped but now I miss it, and when I was trying to organize my storage boxes I came across these many many drawings and collages. This is a trip down memory lane when grunge was peaking and I, like many other teenagers, was trying to figure out who I was in this world…

Japanese paper and my print

Little book with poems, drawings and collages

Portraits

I cut images out of magazines and my drawings and pasted them into books.

Anatomic studies

My fathers hand, very similar to mine

Still my favourite colours

“Ants on the carpet”

Watercolours and cut out images

This is a small selection of my stuff from the 90´s but I like that they are left unfinished and open. I was trying things out without knowing what it would turn out to be and with no purpose other than the process itself.

Some early doodles…where did they go?  You draw one line then it creates the next and so forth, that is what I miss, so below I have cut out images to try to recreate that moment when you start creating without thinking too much. Would love to draw doodles with no purpose again ღ

My favourites ♥

Here are some of my favourites

My perfume from Paul Smith

A dangerously addictive spicy tea I ♥ ♥ Yogi teas

Fresh herbs in the window sill in the winter and from the garden in the summer

I collect these Moomin cups from Arabia in many colours but of course my favourites are pink…

My Blythe doll from Japan

This is a gift I got, it is so cute from Danish Liebe

My best jewellery: the glittery stars and the butterfly earrings are made by me from recycled paper

This bag I have had for many years it is from HM actually

Shoes from Paris

Candy Apple Mint nailpolish from Essie

I love my blue scarf from Petit Bateau and I collect vintage children´s books

Bathtubs are highly underrated this is the ultimate luxury, children´s bubblebath from Hollys

Vintage pin-up magazines

Vintage magazine Frou Frou

I have read this book many times, definitely my favourite, written in 1975, fantasy novel by Salman Rushdie “Grimus”

I love this cd with Agnes Obel

♥ My stuffed bird

Without a doubt my alltime favourite: my son Silas

Interview with kawaii artist Charuca Vargas; the queen of cute!

© Charuca  Kokeshi & Little Bird, 2008

I am a little starstruck by this opportunity to ask Charuca Vargas, my favourite Kawaii artist, questions about cute. She was my first introduction to my fascination with Kawaii and of course I have so much to ask her about. To those who have never heard of this great kawaii artist and illustrator, here is a short introduction:

© Charuca  Legion: We are your Friends

Spanish illustrator Charcuca Vargas is the mother of these cute characters and this amazing vector universe. She has created characters such as “Kawaii” and “Gothic” and later “Baby” and “Toxic”. Her impressive portfolio includes collaborations with Sanrio and graphic artist Catalina Etsrada and a book publication about famous Kawaii artists.

© Charuca  I Love Kawaii 2008

Here is my interview with Charuca:

First I would like to ask you about the facts such as formal education, current project / exhibition?

My education in the world of graphic and character design has been largely self-taught. Most of my learning has been experienced in the world of design and illustration until I found my own language. At the moment I dedicate 100% of my time developing the Charuca Universe. I have a studio/lab in Barcelona, where we shape the Charuquil Universe. We do character design and product application. Recently we are also shaping the Charuca’s magazine No. 1… with comics and lots of surprises!!!

Foto of my book “I love Kawaii” by Charuca from 2010

© Charuca 2007-2008

I would like to know if you can remember when and how you were introduced to Kawaii and what it ment to you at the time?

I have always felt the Kawaii inside me. I grew up in a small town where there is not much influence of the Japanese culture. The only references were some cartoons like “Little Memole” and some merchandising from Sanrio…Furthermore, I enjoyed drawing big-headed characters, my big love were dolls and stationery. I was constantly drawing characters. Thanks to the Internet, I could peek into a world where I felt very identified, but the seed was already there.

© Charuca Love Kawaii

Do you think of the Kawaii movement as a new artform which in the future will have its own place in art history?

Yes I think there is a Kawaii movement, it is already here, which includes major artists from many countries. I think that leaving an imprint on art history will be a function of artists like Takashi Murakami, who are taking the Kawaii to another level, bringing their work to MOMA and Louvre museums.

© Charuca Sugar Avenue

© Charuca  Mini Toys 2010

© Charuca  Paper Toy 2010

I have met people who think of kawaii art as a kind of superficial way of viewing the world. Personally I think everyone needs something to smile about, but can you understand the scepticism of these art critics?

I can understand that not all people get to feel what the Kawaii can awaken in some persons. I do not think Kawaii is a more superficial art form than others. Art is art from the time that it touches your sensitivity, and Kawaii awakes internal feelings. I do not think that positive images are more frivolous and superficial than negative ones. Joy and sadness came from the same depth of the soul.

© Charuca  Kawaii Porn 2008

If you could design anything and budget wasn´t an issue what would you like to create?

I would work in Charuca products and designs without worry for a moment of cost. I would use all qualities I wanted, I would create wonderful accessories and would open Charuca shops, online and physical stores as well. I would do the same as now but as big as possible.

© Charuca

I would like to know how you work (do you have to have coffee, music on, or do you have a ritual you have to do in order to be able to create)?

At the beginning, I worked alone in a room of my apartment that I enabled as an studio. A year ago I moved to a studio in the center of Barcelona. It’s really spacious and luminous where creativity flows easily. In addition, also a year ago I stopped working alone, I have an assistant, Miriam Alvarez, who understands me perfectly and who had helped me to bring beyond Charuca World. Every day we come to the studio, I play music (always music, I can not work in silence) and we spent the day playing with the characters. All I need to work is to feel happy and relaxed. I take good care of the working environment in the study…

© Charuca I Love Gothic 2010

Is there someone or something you think the world should know about (an artist, musik, designer, book, food, a favourite place; anything, )

I think it is important to travel, experience other cultures, other countries. Walk out to the world and do things, each one what stimulates oneself. All Kawaii lovers should visit Japan, which is the cradle of this aesthetic trend.

© Catalina Estrada & Charuca – Forever Love 2010

You show a great sense of humour in your figures, for instance the “sugar kills” figure. What do you wish to communicate with this type of message?

My main message is “Do not take life too seriously”. We live immersed in a stressful culture that can make us worried or sad. Some people work in places they hate to earn money to buy things they do not need … My work wants to help people to stop worrying and start enjoying the beautiful things of life . Time passes, laugh, have fun, do what you like to do and do not take anything too seriously. It’s not worth it!

© Charuca – Toxic Fruits

Do you do scetches by hand or mainly on the computer? (I would love to show some scetches of your work)

Yes… we never draw directly on the screen. Pencil and paper allow a fluency and a connection to the subconscious that it is hard to get drawing directly on the screen. Our process always begins with paper and pencil.

© Charuca Baby

© Charuca Baby

© Charuca  BBZ Baby Zigoto 2008

Is there a project or a designer you dream of working with?

There are many dreamt projects, but I would rather not talk about them because I am bit superstitious and I think it is better not telling dreams…if you do, they will not become true 😉

Charuca

www.charuca.net

www.charuca.eu

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Charuca/44476864516

Thank you Charuca for letting me use your beautiful inspiring illustrations and for the interview  😀

Kristine Mandsberg´s graphic fables

Owl Poster by Krisitne Mandsberg

I have fallen completely in love with Kristine Mandsberg´s graphic universe, I hope you find it as inspiring as I do:D

Kristine Mandsberg is a Danish designer, based in Copenhagen. She graduated from the Royal College of Art in London, 2008, specialising in printed textile. Kristine is working in the crossover between art and design, 2D and 3D, exploring how materials, textiles and illustration combined can produce interesting visual outcomes, displayed through several different medias. Most of her work is linked to a narrative, and is often a startingpoint, when new work is taking its’ form. She has since her graduation, received grants from The Danish Arts Foundation, and exhibited her work in both solo and group exhibitions.

 

 

Croco Illustration by Kristine Mandsberg

Kristine is also freelancing for several companies, and has among other things developed a textile collection for IKEA, and is designing artworks for fashion (ao Soft Gallery). Other areas, she has explored, is as set-designer for the opera “The First Commandment”, and working with costumes and other project based set-design projects, which is an area that interests her a lot.

Drops Collage by Kristine Mandsberg

Krstine about her inspirations: “I can get inspired by pretty much everything which surrounds me. However my inspiration depends very much on the project that I do. For my own work the idea often comes from some sort of narrative, which I want to visualize through a certain media. The project is therefore linked to words or a headline, which describes an idea or a thought. Where as the stuff that I do for clients often has its’ starting point in a visual idea, which is then developed into something unique.”

Still from video animation “Structure” by Kristine Mandsberg

Kristines dream project: “There are lots and lots of project that I want to do, and people that I would like to work with. If I should define my dream project it would be to do some kind of huge scale installation or theatre project. It should be a project where I could work with all the different things that I like to combine, such as animation, video, illustration, textile, materials, costumes, props, space and body, linked to a narrative that would give the viewers some kind of experience visually and emotionally.”

The Freaky King and Queen by Kristine Mandsberg

People who inspire Kristine:

Filmmaker: Tim Burton (I love his visual style, a mix between reality and fiction)

Photographer: Tim Walker (and the set designer Shona Heath, which he often works with)

Japanese Fashion designer: Tsumori Chisato (her prints is amazing, colourfull and humoristic) Note: Kawaiicph will blog about her on Thursday!

Danish artist: Cathrine Raben Davidsen

You should all know: A collaborative animation by Blu and David Ellis

Birds and Feathers textile print by Kristine Mandsberg

Printed textile by Kristine Mandsberg

Thank you Kristine for letting med use your lovely pictures. If you want to buy posters and graphics by the artist they can be purchased at Butikcmyk in Copenhagen.