Inspiration: Art Attack x Shark Attack

@sarah_meier

Posted on August 23, 2013

I took a Publishing course at Columbia University last year, and for part of the program, found myself under the tutelage of some of New York City’s most experienced book and magazine art directors. One of the bits of advice I continue to draw from the most is when one of my lecturers told me to be extremely mindful of what I absorbed; that in the same way one was “what they ate”, the quality of my visual output was directly affected and shaped by things I looked at – whether or not it was well made.

“Know how to use Google Images.”, he said. If you are vague, if you do not properly cordon off or put parameters to your search, “You will get crap. You will get things that have nothing to do with what you are looking for, and some of it may be horrible art, of poor poor standard. If you look at poor art, you will likely create poor art.”

So I now apply this to just about everything – what I allow myself to zone out to when I watch TV, what magazines I pick up, what websites I browse. Instagram, quite particularly, has become a place where I have been extremely particular about “curating” who I follow, and what I see.

I believe it has paid off. Not only have I become exposed to some extremely high caliber independent artists, photographers, designers, and hobbyists, but I’ve been able to get a sense of who inspires who, and what came from where. It’s like playing inspiration etymologist.

One artist who I stumbled upon recently, @naturel, caught my eye with his layered and angled vector work of popular culture imagery – from Kanye and Diddy, to iconic fashion house logos, and the instantly recognizable Jordan shoes.

All images from http://www.instagram.com/naturel

But what made me smile a little light-bulb-y smile, were the two little Pormada related street wear references I caught in his work. Did you see them? 🙂

First:

That’s none other than Lanie Alabanza, creator and chick in charge of both Hellz Bellz and BOTB, along with Mr. Bam Barcena, head honcho at GPPR. That’s three of our Pormada family brands right there!

Shop Hellz Bellz
Shop BOTB
Shop GPPR

Second: