Aimee Wilder was another favorite from ICFF – she has a gorgeous and playful line of wallpapers, prints, and pillows. I love the imagery she uses, and the colors. Now all I need is an apartment that is big enough to wallpaper!

Pulled is a new book put out by the PA Press, compiled and edited by artist Mike Perry. Through a broad range of work by a lot of young artists and designers, Perry explores the many styles of contemporary screen printing.

Sub-Studio got its start in screen printing, so it will always be something that we love, both as a product but also as a process. I did a lot of intaglio printing in college and we started screen printing because it was the only printing we could do out of our tiny apartment here in the city. The biggest adjustment for me was that in screen printing, the screen image is fixed and the final product is always a known outcome (except for monotypes). That distinction makes screen printing seem like more a form of production than an artistic process. But as you can see by the images, the variety of aesthetics – from the highly precise to the more sketchbook collage-y – screen printing can accommodate many styles of work.

The process, explained in only two pages!

Screen printing is one of the most pleasing low-fi printing methods – you can dry emulsion in a closet, burn screens in the bathroom, print on your regular desk, and lay prints out on the living room floor to dry (all of which we have done). Early on, we struggled greatly with our desire for high precision. But screen printing is printing by hand, not by computer, and the end product reflects this connection between the artist and the print. Perry speaks to this in his foreword and we echo his fondness for the DIY process – except for the highly-frustrating early days when we didn’t know what we were doing.

Josh Cochran

Cody Hudson

The work selected in Pulled by Perry crosses a broad range of styles – from Josh Cochran’s multi-sheet piece printed on found book pages to Cody Hudson’s gold and silver and Aesthetic Apparatus’ super-collage.

Aesthetic Apparatus

If you’re interested in screen printing, Pulled is worth a look to see what is possible. It’s not the best for learning the actual screen burning and printing process, but it is a great primer to see what’s possible and to view some great work. It’s got 43 different artists’ work totaling a hefty 256 pages of graphic goodness.

DISCLOSURE: We were given a copy of Mike Perry’s Pulled – A Catalog of Screen Printing for review purposes. We were not paid to review this product, and all thoughts and opinions are ours alone.

Graypants debuted the Slice Cafe + Dining Chairs at ICFF this year. Three chairs can be made from one sheet of plywood, and the only waste created is sawdust. The chair is finished with low-VOC coat that is a byproduct of cheese.

While I saw several products like this at ICFF, I appreciate that Graypants’ commitment to sustainable production extends to their whole collection. For their Scrap light fixtures, they apparently hire homeless folks in Seattle to collect cardboard, which they then laser cut to create the light fixture.

We went to ICFF and several of the surrounding design events over the weekend. I wasn’t blown away by ICFF this year – it felt like a lot of the same old same old. That’s not to say that there wasn’t a lot of great design to be found at ICFF, and over the week we will be featuring what we consider to be the standout pieces from the show. This year I enjoyed the surrounding shows the most, especially those that were part of the Noho Design District, but more on that later.

My favorite project from ICFF was a collaboration between Bernhardt Design, aruliden, and The School at Columbia University – Tools at Schools, “an initiative to teach eighth graders the value of design as a problem-solving tool”.

Forty-four eighth grade students were immersed in the entire design process, from research to ideation to 3D modeling and ultimately launch. What started as a simple effort to get involved in the community grew into a much larger realization that design has a role in the classroom. Their success was not only in their concepts, but in the awareness each student gained in the process. The result was a collaborative vision of today’s classroom – designed for kids by kids.

I realize that part of the appeal of this project is the fact that these kids were introduced to design and were made a part of the the design process, but I think that the end product is pretty great, too. The desks are beautiful and streamlined, with interchangeable components that allow the kids to transform their desks on an as-needed basis: white board, water colors, storage, science lab… Now that I’m looking through the pictures, I realize I didn’t check to see if the desktop includes storage (a la traditional desks), but hopefully it does. The chair includes a rack for books and trapper keepers, etc.

The lockers are visually stimulating, with lots of clever storage, and with another white board for kids to personalize (maybe that will keep kids from defacing their lockers!). I loved the locker handles – the lock was integrated into the door knob.

Most of all, I love that these kids were consulted and brought into the design process, from the design concept to the fabrication. How can an introduction like that not be influential and educational? I wish that more schools had programs like this. For some great videos on the collaboration, check out the Tools at Schools website.

These Sectional Globes by Geografia are pretty cool – there are three versions: 3-D, Night Glow and Blank (a globe you can leave alone or color in yourself!). I would like the Night Glow, please!

Via Design Crush.

Hard to believe that “The Pirate” for CN by Meindbender is CG and not some super high framerate claymation.

via Motionographer

This looks like a promising show: ‘To Become Myself’, by Nate Frizzell at LeBasse Projects.

‘To Become Myself’ will feature a series of beautifully drawn charcoals on paper – the first time the artist has shown work in this form. By moving away from the canvas and oil painting he has become known for, Frizzell reinvents himself to examine where his artistic and personal future will lead.

Check it out if you are in LA, and enjoy this teaser video of the show. The show runs from May 13th – June 4th, 2011, with an artist reception on Friday, May 13th 7-10pm.

Beautiful long perspectives with planes of color that are brought to life by the shadows of the overhangs at the Josephine Baker School Group by Domenique Coulon & Associates.

via Designboom

A light-hearted print by Laszlito Kovacs for your Tuesday afternoon, and good reminder in this fast-paced day and age: Vida Lenta, or “Slow Life”. According to Laszlito, “It is a set of words for a way of living: slow, without stress, in a contemplative way.” I need that reminder especially – with a three-month old baby, I’m trying to figure out how to balance work and life these days.

15% of each print sold will be donated to 826 National, a fantastic non-profit that encourages kids’ interest in reading and writing. They also have an awesome set of themed shops, including the Superhero Supply Company in Brooklyn, which sells capes, masks, and grappling hooks, muscles, antimatter, secret identity kits, and suction cups. The website appears to be under construction, but you can check out all of the other shops supporting 826 National here. Read our interview with Laszlito here, and buy the print here.

Make Your Franklin is an international open art project to re-imagine a $100 bill.

via ffffound