| World Break | Judy Kaufmann | Here Kitty Kitty… |
| I’ll be the first to admit I’m not that crazy about cats… However, looking at Judy Kaufmann’s Cats I can see there is more to it. I find myself starring at their playful and curvy figures. Which is your favorite animal? I for once, would have to get back to you on that one. {This is a Spanish World Break} www.kaufmannillustration.com |
| World Break | La Princesita | Maria Carrasco | Oh So Dreamy |
| So, I’m sure you couldn’t miss Valentine’s Day, could you? While I’m not much of a Valentine gal, I love dreamy atmosphere, muted colors and basically la-la land vibes. They make me feel like a child all over again. I guess that’s what I have in common with the oh so talented chica, Maria Carrasco. It feels like we dream the same dreams. You have to visit her blog. It’s been one of my favorites for days now! The only thing is that you’ll have to work on your Spanish ;) {This is a Spanish World Break} www.princesitastyle.com |
| Gabby Nathan | Shiny Plastic and Illusions |
| There are are sleep walkers and then there are people like Gabby Nathan who seems like can draw in their sleep. I can vision her hands sketching in the background… “Gabby’s work is a kind of painted autobiography, a complicated relationship with the world of shiny plastic and illusions.” As Gabby surrounds herself with vinyl toys, I can only hope she’ll have her own dunny one day. www.postdesigner.com |
| Ron Nadel | Tel Aviv in Silkscreen Prints |
| It all began as a poster for Israel’s Independence Day capturing the essence of the country at its 61st birthday while the main theme was Tel Aviv’s 100th anniversary. Lately Ron made a special adaptation for silkscreen prints celebrating Tel Aviv’s special monuments and I have to admit he makes me want to explore silkscreen prints myself. There is nothing like a lovely two color combination to bright up my day! You can get your own Tel Aviv iPhone wallpaper here. {This is a DesignBreak by Oren Fait} www.ronadel.com |
| NY Break | Alessandra Olanow | New York life comes alive |
| Alessandra Olanow is all about capturing a glimpse of the hectic NY life. I find it exciting getting to know this city through local eyes. The daily newspaper, the local dogs or even the ordinary couples, they all have a place in Alessandra’s world of creation and I’m happy to join the ride. You can read a lot more about Alessandra right here. Don’t forget to visit her shop which is filled with tote bags that make it hard to choose which one to buy first ;) www.alessandraolanow.com |
| Liat Yaniv | Paper and glue |
| There is no word in the dictionary that can describe my reaction when I first read about Liat’s magic hands! I know, you all have seen illustrations before but if you’ll take a closer look you’ll find out that those illustrations are made out of the daily newspaper and a good old glue. I’m so impressed by the level of accuracy and persistence of this girl! The fact that we are both from Ramat-Gan makes me want to drop by for a visit at her papery kingdom. {DesignBreak found Liat at Bloesem} www.liatyaniv.com |
| Gal Shkedi | Character Design 101 |
| When you put together grays and yellows you get my ultimate color palette. The other day, at one of my regular visit to Gal’s flickr page I ran into Roomiez.com animation. It’s no secret that I’m a big fan of Gal Shkedi’s characters design and this time with the help of Idan Vardi they came up with this lovely creation. www.galshkedi.com |
| Avita Flit | The Dance Of Colors |
| When I look at Avita’s drawings I imagine her dancing with colors. She can surely work magic with her colored pencils. Avita’s Behance portfolio is a magical and emotional place that you have to visit. You can get in touch with Avita here: avita.f {at} gmail {dot} com |
| Tali Yalonetzki | Dog Face |
| I’m not much of a dog lover but when Naomi Shiek sent me the link to Tali’s Etsy shop I found my self staring at this Calvin dog for quit some time… I guess deep inside I can find some kind of love for this cute puppy. Tali has a remarkable ability to capture precious moments in life and make a timeless paining out of it. You can read an interview with the Tali right here. {This is a DesignBreak by Naomi Shiek} |
| Anat Steindler | Connect the dots |
| If you are not familiar with Gertrud’s fashion house most likely you won’t recognize Anat’s unique touch. It took me a while but finally I found the women behind the dots. Anat’s work is very distinct and once you’ve seen it you won’t forget it! Here is part of the “women” series she designs every year to celebrates woman’s day at Gertrud. You can get in touch with Anat here: anat.steindler {at} gmail {dot} com |
| One On One Break | Shankabanka | Shany Harary |
| When I see a design for the first time, especially if I don’t know the designer, I get butterflies and I must find everything I can about it. This is what happened to me when I saw Shany’s prints for the first time. My investigation started with her Sense Of Fashion page and the rest is history… Her color aesthetics and smart prints make me love her “Shankabanka” line even more. I like it when designers don’t treat children as children but as small adults. I’m so happy to share with you Shany’s behind the scenes ;) You can get in touch with Shany here: shanyharary2000 {at} yahoo {dot} com |
| I’d love to hear about you, your journey, how it all began. | |
| I initially planned an academic career in literature. After the army I went to Rome to study English literature at la Sapienza University of Rome. Why Rome? Because that’s what I felt like doing at the time, and when you’re 20 you do what you feel like doing. Life as a poor student forces me (and in hindsight I am thankful for this) to ‘make do’ with second-hand items. Rummaging through markets and stores selling second-hand clothes, of which Rome is plentiful, quickly became an inseparable part of my life and with time I started altering clothes, joining parts of clothes and doing stuff, which I did not know at the time, was in fact customizing. When I received a sewing machine as a gift I started making clothes and bags from anything sewable, for myself and for friends. I started studying fashion and costume at accademia di costume e moda and at the same time my daughter was born. After two years at the academy I returned to Israel, and continued my studies at Shenkar’s Textile Design Department, where I specialized in printing and weaving. During one of the first semester breaks I participated in the T-Market and sold singlets for children and women, some of which I sewed myself and the others I bought and dyed, and added embroidery and buttons. I branded them “Shankabanka”, a name my husband came up with spontaneously when he installed Photoshop on my computer years ago. The demanding studies at Shenkar left me little spare time to develop the brand but from time to time I made a small amount of items and sold them or gave them away, mostly to friends and acquaintances. Until about six months ago I worked as a textile designer for the Carousella design house in Tel Aviv. Working there taught me a lot about quality work, smart management in the industry and guts. Since leaving Carousella, I have been dedicating myself to “Shankabanka”. | Shany |
| Can you describe your work process for me? | |
| Since all my work is hand-made and each item receives “personal treatment”, I create small series of singlets, shirts, bags and accessories by topic, for example, “animals”, “space”, “circles”, “field”. For each topic I select images and print or sew them. Choosing the topics is pretty intuitive and hard to reconstruct, but I will try: It can be a photo I saw in a newspaper, a book I’m reading, a child I saw on the street, a combination of colors I noticed. The ideas mix in my head and somehow, in a way that still seems to me as wondrous, they are eventually translated to a shape and image. One of the most exciting moments at work is searching for the composition. I have been working lately a lot on pair compositions. I make sure that I enjoy working and I do not get bored, because it is clear to me that whatever bores me will also bore the client. If I notice any boredom, I stop and do something else. I dye my products myself and print them using stamps or stencils that I cut myself or have cut by laser according to my own design, using nets (silk screen printing) or objects such as sponges that can be used for printing. Sometimes, instead of printing I sew onto the products, or use a textile marker or embroidery. Sometimes the basic dye is interesting and I don’t feel like hiding it, so I don’t add anything. I try to work with materials that are “friendly” to the customer and the environment, that are not toxic (very important in baby clothes). I want the product to be pleasant and cozy for the customer. “Shankabanka” is primarily for children, but due to demand, I design small quantities for women. I think choosing to focus on children’s products comes from the biological characteristic of “cuteness”, typical of small things: they are attractive, charming and seductive (my daughter is very pleased with this!) However, it is important for me to maintain a high level of sophistication, and use designs that are not too childish or ingratiating, but rather exciting and intelligent. | Shany |
| Who is your ideal costumer? | |
| My designs are intended for customers looking for quality and uniqueness, who are excited about small details and who are willing to dress their child, for example, in a gray singlet with black spots, or a baby girl with a leotard that has fighter planes printed on it. I find that my clients have a sense of humor and very inquisitive and open attitude to fashion and design. | Shany |
| What’s next? What is your dream? | |
| Regarding my future plans, over the past few months I have developed work and friendship relations with several Tel Aviv boutiques that sell Shankabanka items. I plan to open a studio-store in the city where I can work on new products and meet clients. I have no interest in being present in all the possible children’s stores, but to remain exclusive and maintain a context that goes with my designs, regarding style and prices. With regards to dreams: they are many, they are vague, secret and grandiose. At this stage I prefer to keep them to myself. | Shany |
| I’m curious to know where does your inspiration come from? | |
| I have many cultural sources of inspiration, not all of them are necessarily from the world of design or fashion. I think that the combination of all of them together creates my personal style: messy, refined, wild and intimate. | Shany |
| I’d love to hear which web sites and blogs do you visit regularly? | |
| Milk Magazine, Oh Joy, and La Garconne. | Shany |
| Tal Drori | Touchy Feeling |
| For some reason Tal’s illustrations get to me… I’m loving the way she looks and portrays her world. You can read a Hebrew friendly interview with Tal here. www.miss-tal.com |
| 4Make | Wally |
| You should know by now that I’m a big fan of the guys at the 4make studio. For their summer collection they added the cutest creature ever, Wally. Wally is the creation of the talented Oleg Milstein of the Tea Party Studio. www.4make.com |
| Ayanaki | Ayana Nissan | Colorful Touch |
| Last week I ran into Ayanaki’s printed dolls. I have to admit that those dolls melted my heart! Ayana says that by making those dolls she is mixing two of her favorite love, illustration and sewing. You should take a closer look at those lined dolls… I love the way Ayana uses those lines! Her Flickr page can be your color fix of the day. BTW, one of Ayana’s favorite illustrators is the talented Yoko Furusho. Ayana, Thank you for this one! As you can see I love finding out about designer’s inspiration. I’d love to hear about yours as well. You can get in touch with Ayana here: ayanaki {at} gmail {dot} com |
| BananaMoon | Merav Shacham | Spring In Your Heart |
| By now you know that I have an artistic crash on Merav Shacham and as I promised, here is her latest creation, a music video for Panic Ensemble, Spring In Your Heart. I love those little creatures! Merav told me that her main goal was to always find new ways to make the obvious look different even if in the smallest details. Merav spent sleepless nights drawing each and every frame and with the help of Ariel Levental you can all enjoy this fantasy world yourself. From August 2008 till March 2010… It was worth every minute… enjoy the ride! bananamoon.co.il |
