CIA Blog

CIA at the V&A

Memory Palace

18 June – 20 October

This Summer CIA’s collective Le Gun and illustrator Mario Wagner are joining forces with 18 international artists to create a 'walk through story' for the V&A's Memory Palace exhibition, jointly commissioned by the V&A and Sky Arts.

Collectively their interpretation of Hari Kunzru’s short story will immerse visitors in a dystopian vision of London hundreds of years from now.

They'll discover a city struggling in the aftermath of a huge electrical storm; a world in which digital technology has collapsed entirely and with it all knowledge of the past has been lost. With climate change widespread nature is slowly reclaiming a city ruled by a totalitarian regime; all mark making is banned and only a small renegade group of ‘memoralists’ is fighting to keep history alive.

Each contributing artist has been given an extract from the interrogation between a rebel memoralist and the City guard; as the prisoner lies captive in his cell he warns that without memory all civilisation is doomed and it is his words of warning the artists examine through infographics, typography and installation, including Le Gun’s stunning three-dimensional drawn environment and Mario's mixed media collage.

Go experience this unique show from Monday!, 

Ahh..Brogues - in touch with their feminine side. Just lovely.

Who's got new shoes? We've got new shoes! Nice flowery ones, designed by Ian Bilbey for Paul Smith and just the ticket for Friday's disco. Print this out, plaster the picture onto your tiny toes and pirouette into the weekend, go!

Telegramme's Primavera Pop Up

We're recovering from a flying visit from Telegramme today, our resident gigster puts us to shame with his o-so-cool jet set lifestyle. Last seen manning his screen print stand at Primavera Sound, Barcelona's biggest live music event where you can eat, drink, dance and buy lovely posters! Just like this one below! Jealous of his yooful talent grandad? We are….

Ulla Puggard talks Black and White with CIA!

When it comes to black and white illustration look no further than CIA's Ulla Puggard! Classically trained in typography as well as pen & ink illustration means that Ulla is one of the most sought after graphic artists in commercial illustration today. Being nosey parkers we couldn't resist firing a few questions about how she manages her monotone palette:

What originally drew you into working in B&W?
It seemed a natural move from graphic design- black and white leaves nothing to hide, its a great challenge!

Who would you say your influences are?
Well I always look to the wonderful late Louise Bourgeois, her work is so strong and powerful! But in general you need just show me images with strong tonal contrast, those that are striking in form..they lead to ideas every time!!!

You're originally from Denmark has that had impact in your approach?
Yes definitely. I grew up next to a big forest, the atmosphere changes dramatically during the summer when daylight hours stretch out and the winter when there is hardly any sun at all, I still like go there for inspiration. Mind you, now I am based in East London and it's urban landscape hits me with so much info , I find I am always collecting bits to add to my design pot, it's never-ending!
Thanking You Ulla!

Play it again Sam...

Time to tickle those ivories with Good Wives & Warriors, they've been hired by Shoredtich art consultancy Acrylize to produce a graphic grand piano for a top secret client!
Look, here it is… now where is Sir Elton of John when you need him eh?

Capturing Colour with Sony

Click here and discover how our brilliant Alberto Seveso was invited by Sony to celebrate the launch of their revolutionary 'Xperia Z phone'. 
Sony's latest gizmo proved to be the perfect tool for creating Alberto's trade mark colour bomb prints, here he decribes them in detail:

"The process: starts with the colour, the paint has to have a certain kind of consistency: not to liquid or too solid, You have to find the right balance between water and colour -there is a lot of experimentation in my work, often something new and beautiful can be made out of a mistake.

To create some of these images you need a lot of patience, a client might ask for specific colours, a specific form, consistency and tone: it can get really complicated so you need lot of time! At first it might seem almost trivial, pouring paint into a tank of water - but the result is really beautiful and special- they're intense, charged with emotion, full of passion.'. Alberto

One Boy and his Dog

Does anyone remember Belle & Sebastian? Not the band,- the other one: this one! Child of the eighties Matt Taylor was inspired to produce this limited edition print by the golden age of European/Japanese animation that included Dogtanian, The Mysterious Cities of Gold, Around the World with Willy Fog and….Belle & Sebastian!

After being contacted by iam8bit and asked to contribute to the Nickelodeon tribute show Shiznick at their LA gallery Matt got to work and designed this gorgeous little number. Buy now before it's too late!

Poetry Please!

Award winning lino-cut artist Clare Melinksy was commissioned by Pan Macmillan to illustrate a new collection of  poetry selected by children's laureate Julia Donaldson. 

Julia’s passionate belief that  performance can help children enjoy reading and grow in confidence inspired her to publish this anthology which includes classics by Edward Lear, W H Auden and Eleanor Farjeon as well as  contemporary work by Michael Rosen, John Agard and Clare Bevan. The perfect gift for teachers, parents, children - anyone who loves great poetry!

www.panmacmillan.com

The crazy colourful world of Calder

No one  gets excited about reading an annual report, not even if it's about kittens or fairies- .so thank goodness we have brave ladies like Jill Calder out there.

Yes, armed with just a pencil case and a mug of hot Ribena our Calder attacked the HFA's 2012 facts and figures with gusto, producing one glorious colourful masterpiece (that also said clever things about Housing and Finance).

Look, here is the front cover- nice 'innit?