The AUSTRALIAN OPEN was one of the most exciting gigs I got to work on last year, providing graphics and illustrations for the sunniest part of the AO village, TOPCOURT. Working alongside Bon from @on.form_ , we put together branded hoarding, furniture, water stations, stickers, stage graphics and a gigantic C-shaped multiplay table tennis court in the middle of the square. Knowing how sunny it would be on site, I tried to make everything as bright as possible: sort of a Saved By The Bell meets Hot Tuna Velcro Wallet kind of vibe. This is by far the biggest project I've worked on that retains my very obvious aesthetic fingerprints, and I'm thrilled they got me on board. Dream big baby Marty Supreme!!
START SLOW is a new T-shirt design I put together for Weekend Cartel, available now at @gluestore online and in stores nationwide. We all gotta start somewhere, and not everyone has a watering can. Or a flower pot. Or any furniture. This is the first of a new wave of Cartel tees I designed a little while ago that will hopefully be all dropping soon :)
SKILLS FOR WORK is a brand new online service providing practical skills and industry-recognised qualifications across business, care, construction and hospo and they got me to draw all their little pictures on their website. Working together with product designers Team DC and motion designer @dsmackenzie , I put together two central characters reimagined along different career paths in various locations. This is one of the most complicated illustration gigs I've been a part of, and I'm so excited to finally share it. A lot of late nights getting the eyebrows right, making sure the hospital bed looked legit. Swipe to get a proper look, and jump on the website to get your cert 3 in disability support!
In an unprecedented turn of events, the boys are back and they're ready to dive into summer at @dullboyssocialco . Drop in next month for a free outdoor screening of Shrek 2 and you can grab this design as a big print for free, and have the soda pop jacuzzi on your wall! Let's dive in!!
FREAK by Silverchair has become a duet staple for me and my girlfriend Olivia at @jamskaraoke when they do Live Band Fridays, and last year's New Year's Eve was when we were at our peak. For her birthday this year I sourced a copy of the Freak vinyl single from @bondirecords and made a special back cover of us singing it together at NYE with @jaysmithmasterclass and friends. She opened it up and was like "HOW?!". Really excited to not keep this a secret anymore. SWIPE for archival footage, I had to do NYE from memory ;)
I've been doing my best not to doomscroll lately. IT'S ACTUALLY SO FINE, a design I did for @articleonelabel a little while ago, is now available at @gluestore online and in stores nationwide :)
AFTERBURNER. Last month I produced a huge amount of graphics and illustrations for @afterpayau 's cyberpunk-themed PAX Afterparty at @fortressmelb , and built a whole brand identity for a fictional cybernetics company that was live-graffitied on site and turned into an underground rave. I made uniforms, signage, merchandise, gigantic neon signs for a noodle bar called CD-RAMEN, and worked my branding across the bar fitout, a vending machine that gave away light up sunglasses, animated stage graphics and an interactive access portal that popped up upon entry. I was trying to avoid the obvious contemporary cyberpunk references and mainly pulled inspiration from Strange Days, Nier, Snatcher and the indie horror movie Come True. In the future, all rectangles have an extra corner.
CARTEL SPORTS HIGH is currently available nationwide via @gluestore in-store and online. The brief called for some funny animals playing sports, but you know I had to include something for the indoor kids. The fish man channeling the Daria opening credits + the fluffy dog on the throwing wheel are my favourites. Let's go sports high!
150 ICONS OF NEWCASTLE is a project I launched with @bakerlovelawyers and @ootsmedia this Friday to celebrate 150 years of Baker Love's firm, and may be my favourite piece of art I've ever done. With the help of suggestions from the general public, I put together a collection of 150 images capturing what makes this our favourite city, including a bunch of my own favourites. On Friday night, a massive printed edition was auctioned off by a real life auctioneer and raised over nine thousand dollars for @thebutterflyfoundation and I got up and did a speech (in a suit, pictured bottom left) where I accidentally called the Christchurch Cathedral "the Auckland Cathedral" and did not one but TWO Paul Harrigan impersonations. Putting this together was a labour of love and I am thrilled I got to include such hits as the Hot Dog Daiquiri, the Boot Men, the Castanet Club, William Dobell, Miss Kim's magic mirror, the Civic Playhouse and the big mural that peeks into Nuspace's windows. The highlight of this project for me has been watching my friends get lost in the final artwork, picking up on little references they thought they'd forgotten. Hopefully when Baker Love turns 200 they'll hit me up again for 50 more :)
Over the past couple weeks I have been working with @bakerlovelawyers and @ootsmedia to put together a collection of 150 images of Newcastle, my favourite city. I'll be sharing some more in the future, but here's a couple selections from early on in the mix. It's been a real journey, and I feel like I know this city better than ever before. The full, finished piece will be revealed at their big charity gala next week, and auctioned off to benefit @thebutterflyfoundation - hell yeah!!
BITE ME! Merch/on-screen uniform for everyone's favourite handsome food critic @bitemenewy ! Angus was very receptive to my signature conceptual process of asking the question "what if you were a little guy?" and we really made something special together. By a stroke of serendipity, he and I were at the same restaurant last night, and he was wearing the shirt! The pre-order drops tonight (I also designed a hat!) and you can find everything you need to know on his profile. Let's go!
