Tag: illustration

Designer Desire: Michael Meister

Montage of Michael Meister illustrations

Michael Meister is a Swiss illustrator. In the early 1980s, he studied graphic design in Bern, initially working freelance for museums, advertising agencies, newspapers and magazines.

He has lived and worked throughout Europe being employed by companies such as Daimler-Chrysler, then over to New York where he remained for a few years. Currently, he lives with his family near Basel in Switzerland.

Michael has created illustrations for clients internationally; these include the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Nestlé and Deutsche Bahn.

A selection of his work is available on his website.

Portrait of Michael Meister

All images: © Michael Meister

Designer Desire: Sarah Westwood

Montage of Sara Westwood Sprocket illustrations

A couple of weeks ago, I was searching Etsy for a birthday bandana for Barley; he turned one-year-old on the 12th of August. I didn’t actually come across a bandana that I wanted – I eventually got one from Pets at Home. What I did do, though, was find the work of Sarah Westwood.

Sarah is a graphic designer who makes fantastic prints, notebooks, greeting cards, coasters & place mats, tea towels, badges and more. Most of her illustrations features her Weimaraner, Sprocket. Sprocket is often accompanied by a few of his mates;  Scoot the little bird, Sid the squirrel and Parsnip the hedgehog.

We’ll let Sarah herself tell you a little bit about herself:

My business as artist and illustrator started way back in 2005 and my work was completely different… My digital art didn’t start until I decided to do the Instagram hashtag theme #onehundreddays and I decided to do #onehundreddaysofsprocket and this changed the whole course of my work, a long with my inspiration. Sprocket was my dog and he is my muse. I love drawing his adventures. Sadly he’s no longer with us but we had him for 12 amazing years. My studio is based in Great Fryup Dale on the North York Moors. I use an iPad Pro to hand draw all of his adventures, if you love dogs then you should hopefully like my work. Sarah Westwood

I think I’m going to go and stock up on some of her Christmas and birthday cards. I know it’s Sprocket on the front, but I can pretend that it’s Barley!

Self portrait of Sara Westwood and Sprocket the Weimaraner

All illustrations: © Sarah Westwood

Designer Desire: Gilbert Rumbold

Montage of Gilbert Rumbold illustrations

A few weeks ago, we featured an auction lot that was a vintage book of cocktails illustrated by Gilbert Rumbold (a few images of it are included in the montage above). It was a 1st edition and examples have, in the past, sold for a whopping £600.00.

I was so taken by the very Art Deco book cover and illustrations that I delved into the internet to find more of his works. I haven’t found a lot, but what I happened across is smashing. He created beautiful fashion illustrations, decorative maps and – those 1930s obsessions – motor cars, ships and aeroplanes.

It is, however, the Savoy Cocktail book for which he is most well known. In fact, there’s still a cocktail named after him, served at the London Hotel’s American bar; consisting of Grey Goose vodka and champagne flavoured with cucumber, lime and peppermint.

Apparently, Gilbert Rumbold – who was from Broadstairs in Kent, tragically lost an arm in a train accident. He was fond of a tipple and often sketched the interiors of pubs such as the Captain Digby in Broadstairs.

Image credits:
Prints Online

Designer Desire: Bruno Munari

Montage of Bruno Munari designs

Bruno Munari (1907-1998) is probably as close as you’d get to an all-encompassing creative. Born in Milan, he was a graphic designer, industrial & product designer, children’s toy designer, painter, sculptor, film-maker, book illustrator & author and educator.

In the 30s & 40s, he worked as art director on Tempo Magazine, Grazia and for a short while, Domus. He also later became a consultant on the fledgling Epoca Magazine. In 1948, he was one of the founder members of Movimento Arte Concreta (MAC), the Italian concrete art movement.

He designed for many of the top Italian design houses including Danese Milano, Olivetti, Pirelli, Robots and Zanotta. For Danese, he created the iconic Falkland suspension lamp and Cubo ashtray (both shown in the montage above). For Zanotta, he created the whimsical Singer chair – described by the company as a, “Chair for very brief visits”.

There are many books by and about Munari available on Abe Books and Amazon.

Art shall not be separated from life: things that are good to look at, and bad to be used, should not exist. Bruno Munari, 1966

Portrait of Bruno Munaricredit

Additional image credits:
1stDibs | Pamono