Nicework Ramble

June 7, 2013

Potwash Josh

An awesome corporate identity system by Sam Sharples from the UK. I want colourful rubber gloves too.

“Brand Identity for a Pot Washer. The aim of this task was to make a seemingly un-brandable field of work appear extremely professional. Using the power of design this boring pot washers entire identity had been transformed in order to make his miniscule job title appear far greater than what it actually is. Contrasting coloured rubber gloves and playful hand gestures were used as the key stylistic devices, giving class and charm to a job that is usually considered the most boring of jobs.”

June 7, 2013

Stephen King Illustrated

Posted by Nadia

Jacques Du Toit depict characters and scenes from short stories by master of science fiction and horror, Stephen King for his final year illustration project as a student. The first leg of the project consists of three portraits, while the second is a short graphic novel adaptation of I am The Doorway.

June 4, 2013

Game of thrones 90s style

Posted by Nadia

French graphic designer Mike Wrobel did in this latest project of restyling the characters from Game of Thrones set in the 90s. Wondering what Game of Thrones would have looked like had it been set in the ’80s and ’90s, here he shows some of the most popular characters without their bows, arrows, armour and dragons. Instead they sport more contemporary weapons, ferrets and ’90s-style attire. Jon Snow looking badass wielding a Stark emblazed baseball bat, Daenerys Targaryen becomes Queen of the ferrets and, if this is possible, King Joffrey looking even more sinister than usual with a large handgun tucked into his waistbelt.

June 3, 2013

In or Out?

Posted by Candice

If you’re worried about whether or not you’re keeping up with the fast moving trends, this cute little animation by french motion design agency, 2 Factory, will keep you updated…for now at least.

ARE YOU IN // OR // OUT ? from 2 FACTORY on Vimeo.

Via: From Up North

May 30, 2013

Todd McLellan

Posted by Candice

I have become a BIG fan of Canadian Photographer, Todd McLellan, since I discovered him, particularly his deconstruction pieces such as the rocking horse shown below.

He has recently brought out a new book, “Things Come Apart”, that is focussed on his latest series, “Disassembly” in which he gets as close as he can to the inner working of various objects such as phones, alarm clocks and chainsaws. Once he deconstructs these objects, he then beautifully lays out each little piece that he has meticulously removed. Some, including myself, might even say that it appears more interesting and unique in its deconstructed form as opposed to the object as a whole.

If you are as blown away as I am, and would like to have your very own copy…you can purchase his book here.

Disassembly behind the scenes from Todd McLellan Motion/Stills Inc. on Vimeo.

Via: The Fox is Black

May 29, 2013

Nice Totes

Posted by Jess

Hello, everyone! Welcome to the tote vote.

We at Nicework sometimes like to do things just because they are fun and we like them. The last exciting internal project we worked on was our Nice Notebooks, which we gave to our clients because we love them and they smell nice. You may remember them from our Christmas issue last year.

This time around, we’ve all designed exciting survival tote bags for some fairly standard emergency situations. Trapped in zero gravity? Need to eat your own leg? Now you can carry around a bag of survival must-haves designed especially for your unique problem.

We love each of these so much that we can’t decide which ones to send to production. Which is your favourite? Vote at the bottom of this post. Leave us a comment and you could win your very own Nice Tote!

The Nice Totes are featured in the Go Outside issue of NICE Magazine. Want it? Click here for 100+ pages of awesome outdoor inspiration.

Surviving Zero Gravity

Surviving Self Cannibalism (a.k.a. A Gourmet’s Guide to Eatin’ Yer Own Leg)

Surviving Tea with the Queen of Hearts

Surviving Information Overload

Surviving the Candy House

Surviving Africa with Doctor Jubu

Loading ...

May 29, 2013

Upping Your Type Game by Jessica Hische

Posted by Ross

We have always been type nerds, but Jessica Hische is clearly passionate about fonts. She believes that designers should not have a favourite font, but a favourite type designer. In her article about upping your type game she covers:

Does it come in a variety of weights?
Does it have a nice x-height?
Does it have a true italic?
Is it a typeface I’d want to hang out with?
Is it spaced well?
Does it have even color?
What width or widths do I need?
If it’s a sans, is there enough letter variety?

You can read the whole article where she covers each of these points in depth. There is info on where to buy and host web fonts. I especially like that she is not one of the zombie Helvetica fans out there. So, if you want some info on pairing type and improving your game a bit, check her out.

I care, the nerds care, and that’s enough for me.

Here area small list of her favourite font houses, if you’d like to go shopping:

H&FJ Jonathan Hoefler & Tobias Frere-Jones
Okay Type Jackson Cavanaugh
Underware Akiem Helmling, Bas Jacobs & Sami Kortemäki
Darden Studio Joshua Darden
Mark Simonson
HVD Fonts
Type Together Veronika Burian & José Scaglione
Klim Type Foundry Kris Sowersby
Just Another Foundry Tim Ahrens & Shoko Mugikura
House Industries Rich Roat, Andy Cruz, Ken Barber, & Others
Commercial Type Christian Schwartz & Paul Barnes
Sudtipos Alejandro Paul
MVB Fonts Mark van Bronkhorst

The full article is online here.

May 29, 2013

NICE Magazine 11: Go Outside

Posted by Jess

We feel like it’s been far too long since we put out an issue of NICE Magazine, so to make it up to you, here’s a big fat one. It’s the Go Outside issue! You can look forward to exciting features on photographers, festivals, illustrators and objects, as well as a fun little present from us. There’s still time before winter closes in down here in Jo’burg – so read the issue, get inspired and go outside. Northern Hemisphere friends: it’s summer for you. No excuses.

This issue also features the first in a series of exciting artist video features that we’ll be doing periodically from now on! For its debut, please enjoy an introduction to Joe Paine and his incredible Mechanical Bureau.

Follow these instructions to get hold of your copy, it’s awesome and free!

Download the PDF. It’s as easy as pie.
If you if you don’t need/want a download, read the magazine online here.

May 28, 2013

Lacoste turns 80

Posted by Ross

I stumbled across this amazing stop motion animation Co-Designed & directed by Axel Courtiere & FX Pourre at UFO. It is a celebration of 80 years of the polo Lacoste. Apparently they used 250 shirts to shoot it.

Check out more of their work here.

May 28, 2013

NICE Magazine visits Joe Paine

Posted by Ross

NICE Magazine visited the studio of Johannesburg-based industrial designer Joe Paine to delve into the creative mind behind The Mechanical Bureau, which was shortlisted for this year’s Most Beautiful Object in South Africa Award at Design Indaba. We couldn’t have chosen a better candidate than Joe Paine for the debut of NICE Magazine’s video artist profiles. Take a look at his creative process and keep on checking back for more interviews!