OK, this is it. This is the best thing I've made in a while ... that wasn't rejected, anyway. When the good folks at Lynda.com asked to do a documentary on me, that was fun enough, but when they asked for me to do an animation for the end credits, I was super happy, because not only did I get to do something I'd never done before, but I also got to honour the great people who worked on the video. (Original music by Reg Powell, as noted.)

I made it by creating all the frames in illustrator, and then handing those files over to Lynda.com to compile into a moving image. Magic! People often ask me about doing animation but usually they're thinking of something that grows organically ... you know, that growing swirling thing. I couldn't be less interested. 

However, what I did want to do was show how I work with systems and parts. So the animations on these evolve into and devolve out of letterforms that are created from a pattern system.

The lettering is pretty much illegible until the last frame, when it comes clear, pauses, and then starts to disintegrate again.

There's alos a pattern transition between each credit.

Piles of fun, with thanks, as always to the folks at Lynda.com.

Under Nike's NikeID project, they sometimes partner with Maharam for the fabric. This year, for the NikeID in the Japanese market, they used my Maharam "Centric" fabric (in all colours) for the NikeID Airforce One. Maharam, those sweethearts, had a pair made for me!

I worked with Carolina Soderholm at Bruce Mau Design to develop this patterny thing for the Dorado Beach resort in Puerto Rico. Meant to somehow evoke a luxurious, elegant, lush jungle, it works with their logo both as single, free-form embellishment, and as a full-on tiling pattern.

I believe that they covered a wall in it somewhere, but I don't have any pictures. 

And here is the project on Bruce Mau's site.

Michael Salu, the Art Director for Granta Publications in the UK hired me to do this cover for Chris Adrian's The Great Night. (Showing front cover and spine.) It's a companion piece for Adrian's A Better Angel.

Maharam has released another of my designs as digital wall coverings, to join the first three.

This one is made from an old scratchboard pattern drawing I did, of ...

Spacemen! I've always loved this pattern of spacemen getting into some serious trouble as they struggle with some weird and devious space monster thing.

The original drawing was quite small, so the enlargement shows all the scratchy detail, which I hope isn't a problem.

To see this on the Maharam website, or to order it, go to the Maharam Virtual Library and click on the binder (currently on far left) called Maharam Digital Projects, and then click on the index at top right, and scroll though to find mine. As always you'll be distracted by the many other truly brilliant designs there are.

 This cover for Creative Review has my name on it because they wanted it, even over my slight objection. Well, there is a profile of me in the mag, so ...

The theme of the issue is "Dream Studios" so I imagined my dream studio, which is similar in location to what I have, but in a sleek modernist building with lots of windows. 

It's printed on an uncoated textured paper with silver foil, so it's pretty bitchin'.

(btw, on the CR site you can also see a page spread which shows a photo of me by my friend Mark Mushet.)

 It was a tragedy when this cover for a Canadian magazine (name changed to protect the innocent) was rejected.

Given carte blanche to design a special edition cover in red, black and silver, this was my intended design. The job was killed part way through, but I liked it so much I decided to finish it.

Maharam is a very high end fabric company, mostly for the trade (architects, interior designers) with “a strong focus on new technologies and cultural markers, often finding inspiration beyond the textile industry, including collaborations with avant-garde industry outsiders.” That would be me.

After wanting to work with them for several years, I have now been working with them on some things for about a year, some of which are not ready to be revealed. But these are: from Maharam Digital Projects, their new collection of wall coverings.

So far there are 3 designs of mine to choose from.

1) Feathers.

This is an old pattern of mine, which I revived and perfected for this project. I confess I was doubtful about the application, but clearly they know more about these things than I do because it looks terrific!

2) Pattern Plaid

This is a plaid in which not only do the colours cross at the intersections but little pattern units do as well. It’s bright and cheery.

3) Birds

This bird is one I drew years ago which has also been resurrected and patternized for the wallpaper. Giant, scrolly birds.

To see these on the Maharam website, or to order them, go to the Maharam Virtual Library and click on the binder (currently on far left) called Maharam Digital Projects, and then click on the index at top right, and scroll though to find mine. But be forewarned, you’ll probably get to the ones by Karel Martens and forget all about me and order his for your entire house. Not to mention all those other fabulous designs that I wish I had a palace for.

Photos courtesy of Maharam.

This time, I was invited, along with 10 other designers (including Milton Glaser, Louise Fili, Neville Brody, Chip Kidd, among others) to design one of 10 special covers for GQ Italia’s 10th anniversary issue.

Of all the things I’ve done recently, this is my favourite. It’s structured, manly yet pretty, n’est-ce pas?

(printed in CMYK + silver)

Emilie Lamy of the design magazine étapes in France, asked me to contribute a piece for their upcoming book celebrating 15 years of the magazine.

She asked me to create something for the 15 years, but also to reflect my process in the piece.

The tiling unit for this piece is a “15”, and the piece then shows how it goes from one little sketch, to a repeated pattern which evolves and changes from left to right. Plus of course, there is a “15” in the larger, resulting image.

It doesn’t look like much but this is actually a rather clever little pattern/design I made for the cover of The Women of Design by my pals Bryony Gomez-Palacio and Armin Vit.

The design was made to fit in the negative space of the letterforms. The idea being that the women are there in design, we just often don’t see them. Because the letters force the faces into some pretty strange shapes, I relied a lot on hair to make it work. Note: I don’t think i could have done this with men’s faces! It’s all about the hair.

Am I in the book? Well, yes! As a matter of fact, I am.

Um. I was asked by Shigeo Fukuda, President of the Japan Graphic Designers Association, to submit a poster for display in conjunction with the Summit of G8 Nations in Toyako, Hokkaido, with the themes of “the Toyako Summit” and “the environment”.

Actually, my good friend, retired designer, and Canadian design legend Theo Dimson was asked, and he sent them to me.

Normally I am wary of the value of designers creating posters for things such as this, but on the other hand, I was pleased to be asked and I thought it couldn’t hurt.

The whole thing being international and all, and taking place in Japan, I decided to have no words on the poster at all, except for the required logo, at the bottom.

It’s … is it obvious? It seems obvious to me, in an interpretive kind of way. So I’m not going to explain it.

There were also fans involved, for fanning yourself during global warming (which seems like rather a good idea), and if I ever get mine, I will post pics.

Anni Kuan commissioned me to do these fabric designs for her Spring 2008 collection. The first is a custom design for a silk knit of octopus and squid.

The other one is made from my existing pattern of Alien Plants.

A pattern of alien plants: this was eventually re-used for a few things ... the inside cover of something, and for some fabric for Anni Kuan.