Unorthodox Issue 2

the online magazine for creative thinking

Jan 2012 Issue 2 \\\

January 2012 Issue 2 \\\

Hello to all the virtuoso, welcome to our second issue.

We are so pleased with the response to our pilot issue. It’s great to know people like to read about what makes a practitioner tick and where they get their stimulus from.

Like our previous issue we have five fresh creative’s to inspire you. This installment shows how vast the creative spectrum is with a filmmaker to watch out for, a car designer, a photographer, an illustrator, and puppet makers from New York.

We hope you enjoy their work as much as we have Dave & Lucy \\\

the online magazine for creative thinking

This issue \\ Kelly Dyson \\ Chris Cronin\\ Peter Clarke \\ Zach Buchman \\ Dave Reali \\

Kelly Dyson \\\

Who \\\ I grew up in a town called Chapel-en-le-Frith in the High Peak about three miles down the road from Whaley Bridge, where I have lived for the past year or so. Writing that just now made me feel claustrophobic. But actually, I do feel privileged to live here.

Background \\\ In school I was the kid in the class who could draw. When we went to see the careers advisor, I was advised against a career in art.

I tried A-levels in biology and English I think if I remember right. I dropped out and flailed around in menial jobs for a couple of years. I went back and did a foundation course in art & design. I liked the look of the photography department and a year later I signed-up for a degree in fine art photography at Stockport College. Stockport was a good experience, the tutors were inspiring, taught me to see in a whole different way.

But on completing my degree I put my camera down and realised I had no real intention of pursuing a career as a photographer. A few more years flailing around in menial jobs.

Then I had a sudden realisation that there are people out there who will pay me to draw things.

Interest Origin \\\ I don’t know... let me think. I went through the comics thing as a kid, but I grew out of it.

I feel guilty now for being an illustrator and not being interested in comics. I pick them up and try to force myself to be interested but it doesn’t work. Maybe my interests come from just being able to draw.

Life-drawing. The satisfaction of visualising something and the ability to achieve that visualisation with pencil or ink or print or whatever. I think maybe I would say my interest comes from the craft rather than from the culture of illustration.

Spare Time \\\ Illustration/ art blends into spare time seamlessly unless I have a real grind of a job on.

Printmaking at Hot Bed Press in Salford.

I’m in a band called Low Low Low La La La Love Love Love. My brother and I have been converting a room in my basement into a recording studio for the last few months.

Running. Fell-running mostly around the High Peak and Peak District. I ran my first ultramarathon a couple of weeks ago.

Reading. I just finished an Ansel Adams autobiography and Roberto Bolano’s Savage Detectives, moving on to Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath.

Inspiration \\\ Inspiration is like getting blood out of a stone.

It’s a constant struggle to find it.

But it’s everywhere at the same time. I don’t keep sketch books. I know I should do.

Inspiring people \\\ Influences come and go. Pavement. Neutral Milk Hotel. Lee Friedlander and Robert Frank. Jack Kerouac et al. Fernando Pessoa, particularly The Book of Disquiet. Lucien Freud. Naïve American folk portraits. But really there’s one over arching influence over everything I have ever done Neil Young. It stems from my brother and I setting up our first record player and raiding my Dad’s cupboard for old records and finding Harvest and After the Goldrush. No single artist has had a deeper impact on me – the grungy textures, the lo-fi quality, the don’t-give-a-damn recording attitude, the frailty in his voice, it’s as if everything that I ever loved in art or music afterwards was because of Neil Young. It’s all in my image making as much as it is in my own music. I have ‘Hey Hey, My My’ tattooed on my left arm.

Ways of working \\\ Maybe 50% of my illustration work is potboilers. I’m not a picky man, I’ll do anything and everything, and have done at one point or another. But I just don’t put it in my portfolio. I’ve done sex education books, cheesy greetings cards, cartoons in local magazines, cutesy children’s books, all sorts, all done digitally. But given the choice I would rather work analogue as much as I can. If I can turn off the computer, I will. It’s why I joined a printmakers studio and took up screen printing and relief printing. I don’t want an illustration to be complete until my jeans are covered in ink. The best part about being an illustrator is that you get to choose how to make being an illustrator fun.

Mediums \\\ Linocut, caustic lino, screen printing, pencils, brush and ink, big mixed box of old art materials, scanner, photoshop, graphics tablet.

Featured Work \\\ The pieces of work I have chosen to feature in order of appearance are; Adrift, Linocut print Progeria, Illustration for New Scientist magazine Smoking Astronaut, Promotional screen print Na誰ve Hearte, Linocut and letterpress print for exhibition in Warrington Contemporary Art Festival Travelling Band, Screen printed gig poster Warpaint, Screen printed gig poster.

Chris Cronin \\\ Who \\\ I am from the Leeds area, but the great thing about being a filmmaker is you get to travel everywhere despite where you’re from. I don’t go on holiday I just wait for my next job.

Background \\\ I picked up a camera at college and haven’t looked back since. I think you get bitten by the bug and if your work is praised then you’re in that profession for life, for richer or poorer. I was always a bit of a film nut and prided myself in knowing the year in which films were made and who starred in them. I started to lean more towards being a film critic as I had no knowledge of the actual filmmaking process. But as I got older I liked my anti heros and grand adventures too much and realised I’ve always wanted to be involved in those kind of projects.

Interest Origin \\\ I remember in 1999, I was heading to Canada for four weeks and I went to buy some film magazines for the long trip. I saw Wolverine on the cover of Total Film and went completely insane. Wolverine now in the flesh on the page. I was so jealous someone had created my childhood hero. That was the first time I wanted to make a film myself as a teenager, but it was when I saw Lost in Translation years later it sealed the deal entirely.

Strange mix I know, but wanting to make films is trying to feed two sides of my psyche. There’s the little kid in me who wants fantasy, explosions and adventure and then there is the grown up me fussing over composition and story. The Final Fantasy series with their grand stories and colourful characters were also a big part of my childhood.

Spare Time \\\ A lot of the time I create stuff I don’t need, like another trailer for my films.

I find trailers very rewarding and sometimes prefer them to the film itself! But if I really have spare time its cinema or xbox which I don’t do enough of to be honest. I’m crossing the sanity border as I don’t think I’ve allowed myself any spare time since University. I’m either developing an idea, searching out film festivals, working on someone else’s project or arguing with colleagues over film equipment we have to buy next.

Inspiration \\\ Genuine excitement and determination. When you see someone who has as much enthusiasm for a project as a five year old over ice cream, it makes it easier to get up for an early shoot. A lot of anime has a major influence on my work and sometimes even into my life. I like their way of looking at life sometimes. Cowboy Bebop is probably the single biggest inspiration. Park Chan Wooks over in South Korea blows my mind as do a few of the filmmakers over there. I’d love to work on a production in South Korea or Japan.

Inspiring people \\\ Park Chan Wook as I mentioned before, as he has amazing aesthetics and his concepts and characters are so on the edge and detailed, its unreal. The main director inspiration would be Ridley Scott. Just watch him behind the scenes and you will see he is an unstoppable force and to him there’s no such thing as an immovable object. What happened on set with Blade Runner is stuff of legend and I watch the documentary Dangerous Days to remind myself there can be a pay off for all that pain, risk vs reward!

Ways of working \\\ I used to like working alone but if you can be in a group who all aim towards the same goal its amazing to be apart of that comrade, especially if it pays off. I take the script and storyboard of the film as I see it in my minds eye and then I sit for weeks watching things that inspire me in that genre and take inspiration from that. Then I round up people who are crazy enough to help (or owe me) and we go on an adventure.

Other creative projects \\\ I don’t really stem off creatively, maybe when I can afford time to explore more I will find interest in photography or architecture.

I say those two as I just did photography for a wedding and I’m looking at destroyed ruins up and down the country for my next film. My mind is usually set to whatever I’m currently working on. A lot of it’s down to financial restrictions though because anytime I get ahead financially I put it into festivals, props or anything to get my next film made.

Style \\\ I’ve been told that I lean towards the old western genre in terms of stylistic choices, but if it’s in there it’s nothing more than an undertone. I just like to be as cinematic as possible despite what I have at my disposal, which isn’t much. That’s the true magic of cinema. I think I’d always make genre popcorn movies if I had my way but having a good writer helps you try different areas you’re not completely comfortable with. I have that with Paul Thomas thankfully who wrote Ante for me.

Mediums \\\ I’m half an half. I have some equipment in the thousands and the other in the cheap and easy section. Whatever is possible to get the job done. I still work with my 7D that I bought for my film Ante.

Featured work \\\ Ante is a short film I made to get rid of the itch after University. You need to take the leap and make a truly independent film quickly. It was strange when I started casting and realised people are going to show up from around the country in the middle of the night just because I asked them to be in my film.

The story is about two ultracompetitive salesmen, the young, fast-talking Tom (Greg Kelly) and the older, by-the-books Raymond (Steve Mctigue) are up for the same promotion. When ruthless contract killer Pierson (David EdwardRobertson) comes on the scene it looks like Tom and Raymond have unwittingly hired the same hitman to take each other out. What is Pierson’s solution? He makes them ‘sales pitch’ against each other for their lives.

We shot it at the Durker Roods hotel outside of Huddersfield and it was such a lucky find and they let us shoot their for free. I remember doing a recce with Kyle Brearey (my A.D) and I compiled a list of hotels. We went to the last one on the list and I was disappointed and wanted to go home but he dragged me miles out to it and it ended up being perfect. Typical.

I took a page from Tony Scott on this piece and kept the camera moving and used undercranking visuals to enhance the emotions going on with Greg and Steves characters. I forwarded Harry Gregson Williams music (who Tony uses) to my Composer Joel Catchatoor and

watched Man on Fire religiously. The little lamp idea is a combination of the writer Paul Thomas wanting low light and a Korean film I saw called Bittersweet Life. £3 lamp from Ikea was what made my film!

I was very fortunate to have found the actors I did. They are three different shades of awesome and had their own way of working which sometimes was exciting to watch on set. I love them all for what they did in the film, we didn’t make it easy for them but they showed up regardless.

Imagine their position. Showing up late to a hotel for a overnight shoot in the middle of nowhere where instead of filmmakers you see a couple of recently graduated students holding instead of a video camera but a photography camera. Of course everyone knows the capabilities of a DLSR now, but at the time they was relatively unknown and I had to convince them that the Canon 7D shot film and showed them the rushes to convince them. I’ve pinched David and Steve for my next film, Sophie’s Fortune and hope to use Greg in the near future.

Ante was finished in March 2011 and is starting to slowly build momentum which is always rewarding to see. It just got picked up for Hells Kitchen New York Film Festival and is going to be distributed through Indieflix, Filmdemic and Amazon.

Festivals cost more than the films! I’m always ready to make a new film until I get the bill from the film festivals.\\\ To see Chris’s trailer for Ante click here

Peter Clarke \\\ Who \\\ I’m originally from Nottingham, although my education in Car Design took me south to Coventry, which is also where I now work.

Within the UK, the West Midlands and Coventry in particular is seen as the heart of the country automotive industry.

Background \\\ Having graduated from Coventry University in 2007, my career started as a Designer for Marcos, a UK based sports car manufacturer, then onto a similar role with Modec Electric Vehicles. After these full-time roles, my career has diversified slightly as I now work as a freelance designer, allowing me the flexibility to split my work between two Concept Development companies. This change has really been a positive step as it has allowed me to occasionally take a step away from automotive design and explore other projects within product and graphic design.

Working in these other areas gives you a broader view of design, and keeps you from becoming locked within the ‘automotive bubble’.

Interest Origin \\\ It’s something I’ve been fascinated in from an early age, and is all I’ve ever wanted to do. I used to spend hours in my school days doodling old Formula one cars and Ferraris from the 50s and 60s, a hobby that has taken me down a path and lead me to doing it as a profession.

Spare Time \\\ Although it is easy for the profession to spill over into your free time, (which it does) I do feel it’s healthy to spend as much time as I can spending time with my family, friends, and (long-suffering) girlfriend, Holly.

I love to follow my football team, Nottingham Forest, despite the heartache they continually cause me, along with following Formula 1, MotoGP, watching films, eating good food, and spending a decent amount of time in the pub.

Inspiration \\\ Clichéd as it may sound, it’s only natural to try and take inspiration from things that are happening around you. Current events, advances in technology, films you might watch, outstanding pieces of design and individuals who excel at what they do – all things that can spark your imagination.

Inspiring people \\\ Sergio Pinin-Farina and his 60+ years of work with Ferrari is responsible for me choosing the career I have, as it was his works of art that fascinated me as a child. Today however, it is Daniel Simon who I would say is my design hero. His incredibly vivid imagination, put onto paper within his Future Elements book, is a constant source of inspiration for me, and his achievements within his career are something that anyone would aspire to.

Ways of working \\\ I do enjoy both working within a team, and also at my desk at home. The two most important things for me is having a clean, open work space, and also having people around you to share in the work you are doing.

When working in solitude, it is easy to get tunnelvision regarding the design route you’re taking, so it is important to have people around to discuss ideas with.

Other creative projects \\\ Outside of the work environment, it is great having a house and a garden in which you’re free to be as imaginative as you like with. In particular, Holly and I have a habit of creating own artwork for the house, whether it be a painting, drawing or digital piece of art. It’s usually much more interesting than buying something off the shelf, and actually means something to us.

Style \\\ This was something that really did concern me when I first started out. I saw that all the established professionals out there seemed to have a style of their own, and felt anxious that at that time I didn’t yet have one of my own. However, now with the benefit of hindsight I believe that rather than try to force, or emulate an existing one you admire, it’s something that generates itself over the progression of your working career.

Over time, the methods and media you feel suit you best, help generate your style without you consciously having to create it from scratch.

Mediums \\\ When it comes to sketching, some good thick paper, a Lamy Scribble (brilliant pen) and, on occasion, a set of Ellipse guides are the only things required – apart from a big open space to spread your elbows. I used to then go onto LetraSet markers after completing a sketch, but nowadays take the sketch straight to digital as it saves time and I can often create markerlike qualities digitally, rather than manually.

Photoshop and Alias are then the two most common digital pieces of software I use from then on in, Photoshop for 2D, and Alias for 3D. Both are outstanding tools for a designer, and I would recommend to anyone, even if you’re not a designer, that they’re worth giving a try.

Work Featured \\\ The work illustrated is a 2020 all-electric concept produced as part of a current joint venture with several automotive manufacturers. The goal of the project is to produce a showcase working concept that demonstrates the most advanced aspects of vehicle design and production. The concept is not intended for mass production, only to show what could be possible. This piece of work is typical of the earliest part of an automotive project, where loose sketches and renderings are created over a short amount of time, in this case 2-3 weeks. The sketch proposal will then be reviewed alongside proposals of other designers within the same team, from which point successful proposals will then be chosen to be taken forward and refined into a single design proposal. One particularly interesting aspect of this project is the involvement of several large, normally competing auto manufacturers, now working together. With the end of fossil fuel looming, the necessity of moving sustainable vehicle design forward to the next level means the way we work needs to change, which could lead to quite an exciting future. \\\

Zack Buchman \\\

founder of Furry Puppet Studio

who \\\ I started the company five years ago in New York. Over the years, many talented artists joined us: puppet builders, engineers, extraordinary animators and character designers.

Origins \\\ I was in traditional animation for many years and got tired of it. I found puppetry much more rewarding - you can interact and touch the character you bring to life. You also don’t have to spend months animating it frame by frame. After you design the essence of the character, the puppeteer just brings the character to life for you!

Inspiration\\\ You cannot talk about puppetry without mentioning Jim Henson’s Muppets. As a child I was actually scared of them; I found some of the more bizarre characters extremely frightening. I actually believe that this is what started my fascination with puppets.

More artists that inspire me: Gerald Scarfe who created the art for Pink Floyd/The Wall, and Pierre Gilhodes who created the art for some of my favorite 90’s computer games.

Ways of working\\\ I always like to start with simple, rough sketches. It forces me to come up with a strong expression and composition for the character. You cannot rely on small, secondary details. After the client and I choose a sketch we like, we extract the essence of the character from it and create the final drafted design. I also like to use maquettes and other mock-ups before proceeding to the creation of the final puppet. While we do constantly evolve and explore using new materials, generally, the base of the puppet is carved or patterned out of polyfoam. Then, different kind of articulations are created, and occasionally we add mechanical elements. The finish can be made with different types of processed fleece, custom made synthetic furs, acrylic plastic or silicone. Recently we have even started to embed computer generated elements into our puppets.

Other creative projects \\\ In the past we used to mainly work in the advertisement industry, but recently we’ve been more and more involved in the development of TV concepts.

One of the most interesting projects, (which, unfortunately I can’t talk about at the moment), is a unique concept we’re actually developing by ourselves. It will feature some really innovative characters and hopefully I can share it with the world pretty soon.

Featured Work \\\ This first project includes a puppet duo we developed for a GoDaddy.com alternative campaign. As it usually is in this industry, the deadline was pretty tight, but I think we created two strong characters, and we even developed a brand new mechanism.

The second project includes life-sized, monstrous appliances that we designed for PECO, an energy company from Philadelphia, PA. Some of the designs are completely out of the box.

Also, a puppet we just created for a music video for Herman Dune’s “Tell Me Something I Don’t Know” with Jon Hamm. Enjoy! \\\ Click here to watch.

David Reali \\\

Who \\\ I was born in Switzerland to a Swiss mother and an Italian father. I spent my upbringing between New York, New Jersey, Italy, Switzerland and Preston, England. I am currently living in Vienna, Austria.

Background \\\ I’m mostly a self-taught photographer with some formal training in evidence and crime-scene photography, which I acquired at the University of Central Lancashire. I’ve always loved art. As a kid, I loved to paint and draw. However, my modest talent in both of these allowed me to see my camera as a viable alternative.

Inspiration \\\ The usual, I guess… music, literature, other peoples’ artwork, insobriety, love, and dissatisfaction… The last one is probably my largest. The outdoors, nature, and humanity – people (family, friends) inspire me. Usually, when someone lists their inspirations they generally list people they aspire to be or somehow want to emulate. I have had the fortune of meeting several people (friends and educators mostly) who have been able to open my eyes to previously unknown realities.

I am also an avid reader of authors such as Douglas Adams and Carl Sagan – they both had a talent that allowed them to explain to the most uneducated the infinite wonders of the universe and how relatively insignificant all of human existence truly is. Other people, on the other hand, inspire me not to behave, think, or be like them – there are many inspirations for the ways that I choose not to be.

Interest Origin \\\ I just enjoy it. Looking for interesting faces in a crowded place can be compared to hunting – being aware of your surroundings, as well as light, and picking out characters, tracking and predicting their movement, and catching them. The pleasure of knowing I’ve captured a nice image the moment I hear the shutter is unique.

Inspiring people \\\ I love photojournalism and have always loved war photography, though I don’t plan on pursuing such a career myself. That said, I would say Bruce Gilden is my biggest inspiration. His collection of Gangsters and Tough Guys is astounding.

Ways of working \\\ When the impulse is self-generated and spontaneous. I carry my camera with me almost at all times, and wait to cross paths with something or someone interesting. When I don’t have my camera and see an opportunity I feel like robbing the nearest tourist… I don’t, I just agonize about why I chose not to bring my camera with me. I never ask people if I can take their photo – it yields smiles, awkward gestures, poses, and it allows people to think they have the right to say “no”. If they’re inquisitive or have a problem I stop, introduce myself and tell them what it is I’m doing. I have seldom run into trouble and when I did, it wasn’t significant. I’ve been called a “photo-terrorist,” which I found kind of amusing.

Other creative projects \\\ I also enjoy writing, creatively and journalistically, and have recently dabbled in collage work. I would also like to get into street art.

Work Featured \\\ All of the people in these photos are strangers I’ve run across in Vienna, Lausanne, Florence and Zurich. Some of them I’ve seen over and over again. I find it kind of scary to know somebody’s face so well, and somewhat intimately without them knowing anything about me.\\\

Get Involved

If you’ve been inspired and would like to showcase some of your own work just let us know. We like anything done with passion and just for the love of it.

Works we will feature can range from moving image, design, print, fine art, textiles, creative writing, photography, illustration and anything else you may feel is creative.

Fill in the contact form on the website or send us an email info@unorthodox.co.uk

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