Daniel Hamilton: personal illustration blog and things

Studio Space in Cardiff Town Centre

2012-01-30T09:36:00.000-08:00

Well it's been a little while since I posted last. But I've been very busy with setting up some studio space in Morgan Arcade, Cardiff.

All is going well so far. We have fourteen members spaced over seven rooms. It's an excellent set up, though did require (still does) a lot of work to make habitable and presentable. I would encourage anyone who has similar ideas of setting up a studio to go for it. It's a lot of work but it's well worth it if you're in need of somewhere to base yourself.

Studio is on the 2nd Floor. Image taken from The Hayes by Nicole Miles.

As you can see we still have work to do, but it shouldn't be too long until we're finished!

The room pictured above will become our communal room, giving us a space to meet clients, talk through ideas and host events and workshops. I'll post an update of how it's going when we're more set up.

We will be hosting an open-day once we're up and running. More information on that will be coming soon. You can follow its progress on the studio blog at: http://morganarcadestudios.blogspot.com/

Morgan Arcade Studios - Floor Plan

2011-10-26T17:35:00.000-07:00

Were currently setting up Studio Space in Morgan Arcade and we have spaces open. I made this floor plan to help lost souls find their way around.

If you would like more information on acquiring studio space please contact me at: iamdanielhamilton@gmail.com or alternatively check Morgan Arcade Studios Blog at: http://morganarcadestudios.blogspot.com/

PechaKucha Night Cardiff Talk!

2011-10-05T13:21:00.000-07:00

I'll be doing a talk for PechaKucha Night on Tuesday the 11th at Chapter Arts centre, Cardiff. The event is part of the Cardiff Design Festival 2011, so lots of people will be there!

My talk is called 'We need not fear the robot uprising!'

Come along, you'll enjoy it! And you might learn something!

A Brief History of Flight

2011-08-23T17:34:00.000-07:00

An article looking at the Human Desire to fly!

Morphing Aircraft

2011-07-13T08:35:00.000-07:00

Another of my editorial series on technology, shown in the recent Cardiff Illustration Graduate show. If you would like to see more of them check out my portfolio below.

http://danielhamilton.carbonmade.com/

I'm currently making my own website, shouldn't be too long before it's up and running.

One day soon, planes may have feelings too...

2011-06-26T08:21:00.000-07:00

Part of a series raising awareness on current aviation technological developments.

2011-06-17T07:54:00.000-07:00

Come! Free entry, runs all week!

http://cardiffillustration2011.co.uk/

p.s. I did the poster.

Most stable bike in the world - New Scientist

2011-06-07T15:29:00.000-07:00

New Scientist say they've found the most stable bike in the world!

CSAD T-Shirt Design.

2011-04-14T12:10:00.000-07:00

Hi. I decided to enter a quick design into the CSAD (Cardiff School of Art and Design) Graduates T-shirt design entries. I'd been giving critique to other people's designs all week and probably annoying them, so I though'd I'd have a cheeky go.

It has a sense of charm to it. It's not to serious and not to over to top. Simples.

Theatr Iolo Poster Submission.

2011-03-15T11:30:00.000-07:00

This week I submitted a poster design for the play 'Visiting Katt and Fredda' for the Welsh theatre company 'Theatr Iolo'. For some reason they forgot the last 'e'. Oh those Welsh people.

Here's my design:

I wanted to keep the design quite simple and charming without showing the characters in too much detail. It's more of an implication of the characters than a 'here are the characters, go and see them'. I wanted to use a bit of colour too, because I've been using the black and white rather excessively.

New Scientist Editorial

2011-02-24T12:17:00.000-08:00

Hi there,

Recently I've been doing work aimed at getting into magazines that I think are particularly spiffing, like the New Scientist!

The following image was for an article about 'The Super Gun'. If you click the image below you can read the article. Basically, it's a gun that shoots you even more then regular guns.

Currently I've been particularly interested in imagery that leads your eye around, revealing short stories the more you discover. It's quite an interesting way of telling stories without telling stories.

In the image above you'll notice the pig says 'US Marines' on the side of it and in the New Scientist article it doesn't. Considering the nature of the article I decided to take the US Marines text off the pig because it has too many negative connotations towards the US Marines, and the article isn't about that. It's about being in awe over the 'mighty super gun'! I'm not so sure on the stance of the magazine, but regardless, it doesn't fit the article as well with US Marines on the side.

P.S. I have nothing against the US marines or the US armed forces. It was just added for comedic affect. But, living in our world of political correctness, I thought this was worth bringing to light.

Second P.S Im not dissing political correctness either, in fact, I quite like it. So there.

Øivind Hovland Talk

2011-02-14T11:49:00.000-08:00

Today I discovered Øivind Hovland, a Bristol based editorial illustrator that came in to do a talk on his work and influences. I liked is work so much that I decided to make a blog post to show you!

He also introduced an illustrator from the 1930's called Gerd Arntz. Look!

Year 3 Graduate Show Papercraft Promotions!

2011-01-27T10:41:00.000-08:00

Hi, I made some papercraft models for the year 3 graduate show. Have a spy through the images below. :)

The image below is the poster version of the mobile above. Hope you like it.

THE BIG DRAW - At Chapter Arts Centre, Cardiff.

2011-01-20T17:51:00.000-08:00

Photos from the Big Draw Cardiff - Late 2010.

'The Big Draw' is a campaign which raises the profile of drawing as a tool for thought, creativity, social and cultural engagement. It was a very fun day!

(Above) Me and Illustrator Nicole Miles. You Can see her work here: http://pyropanda.blogspot.com/

For more information on 'The Big Draw' campaign can be found here: http://www.campaignfordrawing.org/about/index.aspx

And Information on Chapter (the venue for this event) can be found here: http://www.chapter.org/

Cardiff Illustration Graduate Show Poster Design.

2010-12-28T16:03:00.000-08:00

I designed a poster for the Illustration Graduate Show. It's an interactive poster. You'll have to keep scrolling down to see why it's interactive :)

The text inside his jacket will change as more information is available on the event. Also, I don't wear nail polish. Those are my mum's hands. If there were movie style credits for this then you would see, 'The Hands: Dan's Mum' in there.

I've included the image below (and the 1st image at the top) so you can see it in it's true black and white form, I didn't have a better camera at the time I took it. The image below wasn't intended to be an alternate design, but if we don't have time to hand make 100 flaps it could be the answer for a 2D version of the poster.

Click the image for a larger better quality version.

Credit to illustrator Chris Bianchi for his influences on this.

Peculiarbliss, Issue 4.

2010-12-20T14:13:00.000-08:00

A short project I submitted to the online magazine Peculiarbliss based on the theme of 'Travel' for issue 4. I made some screen prints of this image too. I'll get some pictures of them on here as soon as I get back in the print studio after Christmas. Article by Matt Houghton courtesy of Madatoms.com.

Check out Peculiarbliss Magazine: http://peculiarbliss.com/

Design Wars!

2010-10-15T07:25:00.000-07:00

Howdy, on wednesday I took part in the 'DESIGN WARS!' at Milgi's. There were four teams of artists and designers and we had 45 min each to come up with an album cover based on random words we pulled out of a hat. Our team's given band albums were "Striped Pest" (album) by "Silky Flavour" (hip-hop) and for the final round "Silent Cat" (album) by "Angry Attack" (punk).

Our Team Won!

Our team on the left and opposing team on the right. Someone decided we should be called 'Falcon Force 4'. Yeah...

(Me sitting on the left at the com. Each team had 5 min rotation slots between the four member of the team, which means there is more time spent trying to figure out the fancy graphic tablet than there was actually drawing. If only the computer just knew what I wanted in the first place...)

For more information on the event click here: http://www.burningredstudio.co.uk/2010/10/design-wars/

Screen Printing!

2010-10-13T18:37:00.000-07:00

Hi people. Today I got back into the screen printing studio at Howard Gardens (UWIC). I've been itching to get in allllll summer. I had a play around with an illustration I had in my sketchbook....

That monster of a screen printing bed costs £4000! Or so I hear.

The first Layer - Reminded me of L plates (it isn't though, just so you know), and further reminds me I still need to pass a driving test :(

The Second Layer - It's difficult to see the white of this in comparison to the white of the paper. It's a lot more prominent in the physical print. Once I get past the experimentation stage I'll make some 'slicker' versions on some different paper. Possibly paper of the more brown kind.

The first outcome (Layer 3) - The text on this image is a bit small to read but it says 'im alive too'. The image is part of a possible a series (still rough idea). Each one shows a different object (in this case a building) and a variety of emotions that you would usually associate with people rather than inanimate objects. The aim is to highlight the idea that there is no such thing as life; it's all just stuff. And by giving inanimate objects feelings, those issues and questions about what it means to be alive are brought to light.

I'll post my developed outcomes of this design shortly :)

3D Characters for Sale on the 3rd of Oct.

2010-09-18T09:56:00.000-07:00

Hi people, on the 3rd of October I’m going to be selling two of my 3D characters (the ones seen in my blog title) in the Cardiff monthly boutique market day.

Models are priced at £6.99 each. If you want to buy one online you can, just send me an email to iamdanielhamilton@gmail.com and I can post you the model construction net. It comes on A4 card. Payments can be made through paypal, and I'll post them as soon as I can.

Robot 05 - Designed for a live brief for Egmont to go into a children's crafts book.

Pit-crew Bot RCOM21 - an alternate design spinoff from 'Robot 05'.

Illustrator Nicole Miles will also sharing a table with me in the Cardiff monthly boutique market day. She will be selling various 'stuffs' she's made. Check out her blog at http://pyropanda.blogspot.com/.

Thanks. :)

Lyotard and the Inhuman.

2010-08-09T09:18:00.000-07:00

Well, to start off my bran spanking new blog I'm going to show you something 'narly'. For anyone who ever wondered what this 'being human thing' is all about I recommend reading this book > Lyotard and the Inhuman. (see right) The book is a summarization of Lyotard's works compiled by Stewart Sim.

Lyotard's works talk of the process by which we are dehumanised by the forces of development, and how the boundary between technology and humanity is becoming progressively blurred, and yes that's a cyborg Arnold Schwarzenegger Mr. Freeze on the cover (lol).

For those of us who don't read much (like me). Its short and has big special text to make you fell like your reading 'really really good'ly'.

Also, this Video for 'Björk - Declare Independence' is pretty nifty.

Be fed.