Packing Foam Fashions Emulate 16th and 17th Dutch and Flemish Masters' Paintings.

In this ongoing series of quietly elegant photographs by Suzanne Jongmans, she explores textures of both the past and present. Using the foam materials from packaging and insulation, she has fashioned them into the collars, shawls and clothes commonly seen in the 16th and 17th century Dutch, Flemish and French portraits by the likes of Golden Age and Dutch Renaissance painters Vermeer, Franz Hals, and Francois Clouet.

Below are the photographs and foam sculptures by Suzanne Jongmans interspersed with paintings from The Golden Age so you can see the inspiration for her work.

Suzanne Jongmans:

Franz Hals, Portrait of a Woman, 1635:

Suzanne Jongmans:

Johannes Vermeer, Woman Holding a balance, 1664:

Suzanne Jongmans:

Franz Hals, Portrait of a woman, 1630-1635:

Suzanne Jongmans:


Although Suzanne does not reference Spanish painter Diego Velazsquez in her explanation of the series, she clearly was inspired by his famous 1656 painting, Las Meninas, for this one:

detail from Velazquez' Las Meninas:


Some of these photographic prints are available for purchase through Saatchi Online here

Inspired by this post on Beautiful Decay

See more of Suzanne Jongmans work here.

Mass Marketed Items Reduced To Their Purest Form in Brand Spirit.

Brand Spirit is a Tumblr project by Andrew Miller of New York's Carbone Smolan Agency. Every day for 100 days, he is painting one object entirely in white, removing all evidence of visual branding and reducing the object to its purest form. He then adds a photograph of the object to his Tumblr site.


above: Victorinox

The consumables, toys, desk accessories, household staples and other objects (all priced at or under $10) are surprisingly recognizable without signage and labels. The exercise/ project proves how many mass produced and marketed items become icons in their own right, based soley on their shape or packaging.

As of May 11, 2012, Andrew had posted 61 of his intended 100 items. Below are 30 examples. Could you tell whose brand all the following objects are? My guess is 'yes.'

Tabasco:

Pez:

Maxell:

Bic (Wite-out):

Sharpie:

Rubik's Cube:

Chiquita:

Swingline:

Twizzler:

Pantone (color chip):

Corona:

Band-Aid:

Hasbro (Monopoly):

Slinky:

Nabisco (Animal Crackers):

Kodak:

Method:

Lego (Minifig):

Nintendo:

Bic:

Coca-Cola:

Elmer's:

McDonalds;

Crayola:

Kong (dog toy):

Trojan:

Master Lock:

Wonder:

At the very top of the post: Charm's blow pop and Gillette disposable razor

Stay up with this fabulous project by visiting Brand Spirit

More Goodies For Instagram Lovers - Check Out StickyGrams and Printstagrams.

A few weeks ago I introduced you to Stitchtagram, a way to have your Instagram photos turned into handmade throw pillows. Now, more companies are capitalizing on the popularity of the free app.


above: Instagram is a free app that adds preset filters to your mobile phone photos

Stickygram turns your images into magnets while Printstagram turns them into little stickers (I know, the names are confusing and would make more sense if inverted).

What is Prinstagram?
Mini Stickers made from your Instagram photos. You get 252 stickers per order. Two sticker books per order with a total of 252 stickers. Each sticker is 20mm square (0.8 inches)



Get Your Printstagram stickers here


What is StickyGram?
StickyGram turns your Instagram images into little magnets. You create your pack online and they deliver them to your door.



Each StickyGram is 50mm x 50mm (that’s approximately the same size as they appear on your iPhone) and they come in packs of 9.
Get your StickyGrams here

Another Instagram Goodie:
Don't forget you can turn your Instagram photos into beautiful books as well at Blurb.

Dollar Store Animals. A Series by Artist and Art Director Doug Pederson.

Minneapolis based artist and art director Doug Pederson, whose futureglyphs recently graced the cover of this year’s Communication Arts Typography Annual, dabbles in other mediums as well. One of his projects, Dollar Store Animals, combines miniature plastic animals with melted crayons for a surprisingly beautiful result.









Signed and numbered prints of these Dollar Store Animals are available for purchase. Just contact Doug here.

Be sure to see all of Doug Pederson's work at his website