design:related studio

Dutch illustrator and designer, Fons Schiedon, creates his characters sometimes out of the simplest of shapes and colors, bringing them to life using humor, dancing (movement), and street motifs.

One of his more ambitious projects, Kika and Bob, Schieden’s animated series, was comprised of over 4,000 original character designs/backgrounds/props.

The first day (of two) started off with Pictoplasma’s Peter Thaler and Lars Denicke giving a warm introduction to the artists and the characters that drive them. 

After a screening of more than a dozen animations, Tokyoplastic took the stage.

Tokyoplastic’s Sam Lanyon Jones (Drew Cope couldn’t make it) went into a little of the background behind how their enormous web success led to their studio’s agency career. They currently have 4 short films in production (once again self-invested), one which will be on its way in a just a short while.

The Pictoplasma NYC weekend started off with blackboards and redbull as the artists chalked it up on a Thursday night. More photos after the break.

Update (12:35am):
Karen put up her photos from the party in Tribeca:

Design:related will be on the scene this weekend covering the pictoplasma conference in New York.

The term “recession” has been on everyone’s minds in the U.S. lately. HOW magazine picks up on this in their August issue, giving design:related and linked in a mention for their value in professional networking capabilities. Julie Sims (The Creative Group) goes into detail sharing some good tips on how to make the most out of your design skills during the recession.

We’ve seen a number of redesigned sites, new logos, redesigned covers, and clunky milk jugs in the last few months. Here’s just a handful of the many redesigns (and one joint brand) from around the web.

Vitra.com redesign

New identity for MillerCoors joint venture by Pentagram

Animal Farm by George Orwell (dust jacket was designed by Art Brenner.

To commemorate the opening of the new Fukutoshin subway line in Tokyo, volunteers from the Shinijuku Takashimaya Department Store collaborated to create a 10ft x 7ft mural of Astro Boy. The pixel art was created from 138,000 recycled train tickets. [via Pink Tentacle]