I spy with my little eye—a dapper gentleman suffering from writer’s block!

Created for Markkinointi & Mainointa (Marketing & Advertising) magazine by Finnish illustrator Lotta Nieminen, this illustration has varied textures and layers that work so well together. The color palette is cool and complementary, and I really dig the different shapes that she uses to accentuate the man’s face and clothing…symmetry at its finest!

Lotta has a lovely collection of work. To see more, check out her portfolio at Agent Pekka.

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Also worth checking: Sanna Paananen (now Sanna Mander).

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1. Come to Africa - Designed by Gerard van de Voort - c1975

How about virtual tour around the world to start off the week?  I dug up a handful of travel related posters from 1950s -1970s for all the desk jockeys that are itching to get out of town. Enjoy!

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2. Argentina c1950 -Poster artist - Cesareo  3. Beieren c1960- Designed by Herman Verbaere 4. Paris-Orly for Air France c1962- Design & Illustration by Jaques Nathan Garamond 5. Air Afrique c1965- Designed and illustrated by Jacques Auriac 6. Finland print for Finnair c1958  - Design by Erik Bruun   7. Rainbow poster for EL AL Israel Airlines - Design by Dan Reisinger 8. Switzerland c1967 - Design by Herbert Leupin  9. Turku Abo - Tourist poster for the Finnish town of Turku c1966?- Design by Marti Mykkanen 10. Hunting in Poland c1961 - Design by Wiktor Gorka 11. Switzerland poster for EL AL Israel Airlines - Design by Dan Reisinger  12. Poster for Belgian Railways c1966 - Design by Wictor Langer 13. Wengen Switzerland poster c1965 - Design by Martin Lauterburg + Fritz Lauener 14. Austria poster for Pan Am Airlines c1971 - Design by Chermayeff & Geismar 15/16. Israel: The land of the Bible produced for the State of Israel Tourist Centre - Design by Jean David 17. Travel Royal Blue c195? - Design & illustration by Daphne Padden 18. Great Canadian North -Pacific Western Airlines - Anonymous c1960

(images 1,2,3 via Van Sabben auctions) image #12 via grid studio , image #14 via the excellent Container List, image #17 via Larking About

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Also worth checking: David Klein TWA posters.

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I know nothing about this, other than having found it on my friend JvB’s Facebook page and being utterly smitten by its adorableness. The voice of the kid singing: priceless! And I can’t stand kids!

If you know any details about it, please add them to the comments below.

UPDATE: I just found this on Last.fm:

Ella ja Aleksi is a Finnish duo consisting of two children. The project was founded in 2004 by Markus Koskinen of the band Teleks and Sampo Haapaniemi of Egotrippi. It released an album named Lenni Lokinpoikanen (Lenni the Baby Seagull) which went platinum (30,000 sold copies) and stayed on the top four of the Finnish charts for four weeks. The latest album is Kolme muskettisopulia (The three musketeer lemmings) 2005.

The band’s lyrics are about human relations, family, and close surroundings. For example, the lyrics of the radio hit MC Koppakuoriainen (MC Beetle) are about the importance of parenting and not bullying others.

UPDATE #2: Well, five minutes of Googling, and I found the animation studio which produced this: Anima Boutique.

Posted by Luc Latulippe on Drawn! The Illustration and Cartooning Blog | Permalink | 2 comments
Tags: Animation, cute, Finland, kids, train

One of my closest friends, Taina Mustamaa lives in Kotka, Finland. That is east of Helsinki. She and her family own a quaint, rustic cottage (with no running water or electricity) in the rural southeastern part of Finland, close to the Russian border. This is known as the municipality of Virolahti. The population is extremely sparse, but nature abounds. Click here for Google Map.

Thanks for the photos Taina! I miss you!

What a scrumptious illustration by Finnish illustrator and designer, Maija Louekari! She has a sensational eye for bright punchy colors, geometric forms and patterns, as well as fine lines. Louekari won a design competition staged by the Univeristy of Art and Design Helsinki and the iconic textile and clothing designer Marimekko in 2003.

Since then, she has continued to create playful designs for Marimekko, including this one entitled Karkutellä (Translation: At Large). At first glance, I just noticed the candy colored elephant and the long legged pelican. Then, I noticed the animals wearing two different types of boots. That’s when I realized there’s a zebra in front of the elephant! The layers are a true delight, as well as the varied forms.

Inspired by all the intricacies of life (daily observations, people, the city vs. the forest), Louekari creates her own colorfully complex worlds filled with beautiful details. To find out more, visit her website and read an interview with her on Marimekko.com.
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Also worth checking: Sanna Paananen - Illustration

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©2009 Grain Edit

Finnish designer and illustrator, Janine Rewell, has a wonderful way of fusing colorful detailed illustrations with clean, simple type. There are surprises in every corner of her work, this piece being no exception.

Created for the Helsinki in Berlin music festival in 2008, we see a lot of musical imagery, with guitars, flutes, and keyboards hiding throughout the illustration. I especially like that there are even tinier images playfully hiding within the text. It reminds me of playing “Hidden Picture” while reading old Highlights magazines at the Dentist’s office as a kid. I also enjoy Rewell’s use of wine bottle and martini glass buildings. Although densely clustered, her composition is right on, implying “”We’re gonna drink, listen to good tunes, and have fun!” Wahoo!

Here’s another fun project: sustainable, pocket sized bamboo SPORKS! Who knew the dull second-rate plastic spork could be transformed to be a first class hero of design? I really dig the shape of the package, as well as Rewell’s cheerfully ornate, but simple, designs on both the package and individual sporks.

Geometry plays a major role in Rewell’s work, and we see this in her experimental typeface.

All in all, Rewell’s work is utterly whimsical and absurdly entertaining. Check out more of her work on her website, janinerewell.com.

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Grand Prize goes to MidcenturyMaude 2nd Prize goes to Abby S

©2009 Grain Edit

Snopes is a great website for clearing up unanswered questions or finding the answer to a bet.

Was Donald Duck banned in Finland because the character doesn't wear pants? According to Snopes: False.

The origins of the legend begin in 1977.

...when the city of Helsinki found itself in a bit of a financial crunch. With monetary resources limited, Mr. Markku Holopainen, a local Liberal Party representative, proposed at a meeting of the board of youth affairs that the city economize by discontinuing its purchase of Donald Duck comics for youth centers in favor of hobby and sport publications. His suggestion was heartily approved.

A year later, while Holopainen was in the midst of an election campaign for a seat in the Finnish parliament, word was leaked to the press that he was "the man who banned Donald Duck from Helsinki." The chairman of the board of youth affairs failed to come to Holopainen's defense -- not surprisingly, since he himself was a candidate as well. Holopainen explained in vain that the decision to discontinue the purchase of Donald Duck comics with city funds had passed unanimously and was made solely for economic reasons. Holopainen lost his battle with the press -- and he lost the election to the now-silent board chairman.

When a similar incident had taken place in the Finnish town of Kemi a few years earlier, the international press had gleefully exaggerated the story with headlines such as "Finland Bans Donald" and "Donald Vanishes from Libraries," reporting that Donald's banishment was due to concerns over his lack of pants and questions about his marital status. As the foreign news reports about the alleged banning of Donald Duck filtered back to Finland (and neighboring Sweden), the local tabloids didn't attempt to verify the story -- they merely ran articles about the reaction it was receiving abroad. "Donald Not Married; Politicians Outraged!" and "Donald, Where Are Your Trousers?" were headlines in foreign papers, Finns were told.

The furor quickly blew over, and within several months Disney cartoons became more prevalent on Finnish TV, leading the more cynical to wonder if the whole thing hadn't been encouraged as a clever publicity stunt by Disney.

Although it is raining, I’d love to join this golden man for a relaxing tranquil time at the beach. Finnish illustrator, Sanna Paananen, has a real knack for using rich saturated complementary colors and thoughtful line work. In this pleasingly orchestrated composition, we see a nice contrast between the golden sands of the beach and the blue details of the rain, umbrellas, and man’s speedo. Paananen plays with the positive and negative space, concentration, and shape of the rain drops, creating a rhythmically soothing effect to the piece. I especially like the simplistic details in the shell’s line work.

Dig that sweat drop! In contrast to goldie at the beach, this album cover for Finnish jazz band, The Five Corners Quintet, has a more energetic vibe about it. I really get a kick from the dynamic lines and highlights accompanying those banging hands and stomping feet! This album cover has a nice textures, and I adore its simplicity,  especially with the drum.

Pretty and perfectly composed, Paananen’s work is a true delight. To find out more, visit www.pekkafinland.fi.

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©2008 Grain Edit

Tonight I am planning on attending the New York Philharmonic’s performance in Central Park, presented by Didi and Oscar Schafer. I’m not a classical music buff but I have clearly heard of Tchaikovsky and Beethoven the first two composer’s on the bill. The third though, Sibelius gave me pause. So I turned to the new Oxford Music Online gateway which led me to The Oxford Companion to Music’s biography of Jean Sibelius, which I have excerpted below. Enjoy- and if you are in New York come listen tonight!

Sibelius, Jean (Julius Christian) [Johan Julius Christian Sibelius] (b Hämeenlinna, 8 Dec. 1865; d Järvenpää, 20 Sept. 1957).

Finnish composer. He was unquestionably the greatest composer Finland has ever produced and the most powerful symphonist to have emerged in Scandinavia. His father was a doctor in Hämeenlinna, a provincial garrison town in south-central Finland. Until he was about eight years old Sibelius spoke no Finnish. However, when he was 11 his mother enrolled him in the first grammar school in the country to use Finnish as the teaching language instead of Swedish and Latin. Contact with Finnish opened up to him the whole repertory of national mythology embodied in the Kalevala. His imagination was fired by this, as it was by the great Swedish lyric poets J. L. Runeberg and Viktor Rydberg and, above all, by the Finnish landscape with its forests and lakes.

In his youth Sibelius showed considerable aptitude on the violin and composed chamber music for his family and friends to play. There were few opportunities to hear orchestral music: even Helsinki did not have a permanent symphony orchestra until Robert Kajanus, later one of his staunchest champions, founded the City Orchestra in 1882. At first Sibelius studied law, but he soon abandoned it for music, becoming a pupil of Martin Wegelius. At about that time he decided to ‘internationalize’ his name (following the example of an uncle who had Gallicized his name, Johan, to Jean during his travels). It was not until he left Finland to study in Berlin and Vienna that he measured himself for the first time against an orchestral canvas.

It was in Vienna that the first ideas of the Kullervo symphony came to him, and it was this work, first performed in 1892, that put Sibelius on the musical map in his own country. The music that followed in its immediate wake is strongly national in feeling: the Karelia Suite, written for a pageant in Viipuri in 1893, has obvious patriotic overtones. So too has the music he wrote six years later for another pageant portraying the history of Finland which became a rallying-point for national sentiment at a time when Russia was tightening its grip on the country. One of its numbers, Finlandia, was to make him a household name; its importance for Finnish national self-awareness was immeasurable. From the time of Finlandia onwards, Sibelius was undoubtedly the best-known representative of his country, and many who would never otherwise have become aware of Finland’s national aspirations did so because of his music. (His birthday was a national event each year, and in 1935 his 70th culminated in a banquet at which were present not only all the past presidents of Finland but the prime ministers of Norway, Denmark, and Sweden.)

If the 1890s had seen the consolidation of Sibelius’s position as Finland’s leading composer, the next decade was to witness the growth of his international reputation. In 1898 he acquired a German publisher, Breitkopf & Härtel. (He later sold Valse triste to the firm on derisory terms, a decision he regretted to his dying day.) But his fame was not confined to Germany: Henry Wood included the King Christian II Suite at a Promenade Concert as early as 1901, and during the first years of the century his works were conducted by Hans Richter, Weingartner, Toscanini, and—in the case of the Violin Concerto—by no less a figure than his contemporary Richard Strauss. The Violin Concerto was very much a labour of love, as one would expect from a violinist manqué who had nursed youthful ambitions as a soloist.

Sibelius’s early compositions show the influence of the Viennese Classics, Grieg, and Tchaikovsky, and by the middle of the first decade of the 20th century, when Sibelius entered his 40s, his star had steadily risen. The Third Symphony (1907), however, brought a change in direction and showed Sibelius as out of step with the times. While others pursued more lavish orchestral means and more vivid colourings, his palette became more classical, more disciplined and economical. It was while he was in London working on his only mature string quartet, Voces intimae, that Sibelius first felt pains in his throat, and in 1909 he underwent specialist treatment in Helsinki and Berlin for suspected cancer. For a number of years he was forced to give up the wine and cigars he so enjoyed, and the bleak possibilities opened up by the illness served to contribute to the austerity, depth, and focus of such works as the Fourth Symphony (1911) and The Bard (1913). For tautness and concentration the Fourth Symphony surpasses all that had gone before. It baffled its first audiences and was declared ultra-modern; in Sweden it was actually hissed.

Although each of the symphonies shows a continuing search for new formal means, in none is that search more thorough or prolonged than in the Fifth (1915). Sibelius was a highly self-critical composer who subjected his music to the keenest scrutiny. In the early years of the 20th century En saga and the Violin Concerto were completely overhauled, and the Lemminkäinen Suite (1895) was revised twice, in 1897 and 1939. The Fifth Symphony gave him the most trouble of all: in its original form it was in four movements, and was first performed on his 50th birthday. It was turned into a three-movement work in the following year and entirely rewritten in 1919.

After World War I Sibelius’s music struck ever stronger resonances in England and the USA, and (perhaps because of that) fewer in Germany and the Latin countries. None of the symphonies is more radically different from the music of its time than the Sixth (1923), especially when compared with the music composed in the same year by Bartók, Stravinsky, Schoenberg, Hindemith, and the members of Les Six. The one-movement Seventh Symphony (1924), which can be seen as the culmination of a search for organic unity, demonstrates the truth of the assertion that Sibelius never approached the symphonic problem in the same way. Tapiola (1926) crowns his creative achievement, evoking the awesome power of nature with terrifying grandeur. Of all his works this is the one that makes the most astonishingly original use of the orchestra.

Sibelius’s inner world was dominated by his love of the northern landscape, and of the rich repertory of myth embodied in the Kalevala. The classical severity and concentration of his later works was not in keeping with the spirit of the times, and after World War I he felt an increasing isolation. As he himself put it, ‘while others mix cocktails of various hues, I offer pure spring water’. For more than 30 years after the completion of his four last great works—the Sixth and Seventh Symphonies, the music for The Tempest, and Tapiola—Sibelius lived in retirement at Järvenpää, maintaining a virtually unbroken silence until his death in 1957. Although rumours of an Eighth Symphony persisted for many years, and its publication was promised after his death, nothing survives apart from the sketch of the first three bars. Near completion in 1933, it fell victim to his increasingly destructive self-criticism during World War II, probably in 1943.

Sibelius’s achievement in Finland is all the more remarkable in the absence of any vital indigenous musical tradition. Each of his symphonies is entirely fresh in its approach to structure, and it is impossible to foresee from the vantage point of any one the character of the next. His musical personality is the most powerful to have emerged in any of the Scandinavian countries: he is able to establish within a few seconds a sound world that is entirely his own. As in the music of Berlioz, his thematic inspiration and its harmonic clothing were conceived directly in terms of orchestral sound, the substance and the sonority being indivisible one from the other. Above all he possessed a flair for form rare in the 20th century; in him the capacity to allow his material to evolve organically (what one might call ‘continuous creation’, to adapt an image from astronomy) is so highly developed that it has few parallels. His mature symphonies show a continuing refinement of formal resource that (to quote the French critic Marc Vignal) makes him ‘the aristocrat of symphonists’. Vignal was referring to the sophistication of his symphonic means, but late Sibelius is also aristocratic in his unconcern with playing to the gallery and in his concentration on the musical and spiritual vision.

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