OK, so you've got this great idea for a T-shirt, and it looks great in your mind - hell, it even looks great on your monitor, but will it look as great once you get it down on a tee? That's a crucial question, and the difference between a concept that looks great when you're designing it, or a design that falls flat when it gets screened onto a tee. There are a few important tips which can help you make your designs look amazing on a t-shirt, and here at The Leap we've rounded up some of the best tuts to help you take your tee from lowbrow to oh, wow!

OK, let's rack 'em and stack 'em - number 1: separation. In order for your design to look great, everything should be, just like a fantastic song by Radiohead, in its right place. That means colour separation - one of the most important areas that novice designers overlook in their pursuit of design excellence. Here's a great tut on spot colour separation by Jimmy Breen for you to chew on:

That right there is quite possible the best advice you'll get on this topic - and if you liked that, there's lots more where that came from: take yourself off to VectorTutsPlus for more. You're now good to go: may the god of design bless you and your separation!

Happy Monday to you, welcome back to your 9 - 5, grab a cuppa and settle in for your week's worth of work (made bearable by our world-classs posts here on The Leap!). Right - kicking off another new series here on Springleap, today we bring you the first of our Greatest Designs Of All Time series, which will feature something fresh every Monday to help you shake off the 'oh-lord -why-does-my-weekend-end-so-soon-after-it-began' blues.

OK, enough with the intro already, let's sink our teeth into something tasty: album covers. Sure, now that we're mp3 this and wav that and Ipod the other, the artwork on an album has grown to mean something less than what it once did. Sure, nowadays we can fit 18 million songs onto a terabyte drive, but in the process we've lost the beauty of a vinyl sleeve with beautifully-created artwork on it. Which is why these all-time classic album covers are mostly from back in the day. Mostly. OK, on with it!

Coming in at #1, the untouchable Sergeant Peppers' Lonely Hearts Club Band. Madly psychedelic and heavily detailed, this one always holds interest even for those who've seen it a million time.

Next - 'Never Mind The Bollocks, Here's The Sex Pistols' by the Sex Pistols. A howl of a cover, it's an unmistakable design which has gone on to spawn many imitations. Simple, bold, and ever so slightly angry.

We couldn't possibly have a greatest album covers selection without this one: swimming babies clutching at dollar bills? Never mind, it smells like teen spirit.

What's this? It's an absolute classic and arguably the most influential electronic album of all time, the one & only Leftfield 'Leftism'.

Leaving you with a bit more to chew on before your week truly kicks into overdrive, some covers which are compulsory viewing merely for the sake of providing a well-rounded selection:

Grace Jones's 'Island Life'

Roxy Music's 'Country Life'

and lastly Frank Zappa & The Mothers Of Invention's 'Weasels Ripped My Flesh!'.

Had your fill of great album cover design yet? No? Ah, well, step right this way...

Coming at you like a Dia de los Muertos-decorated Art Nouveau bordello that's heaving with lovely yet haunting women, Glenn Arthur’s art is nothing short of gorgeous! His acrylic on wood paintings feature seriously sexy fantasy girls who could easily be drawn from Alphonse Mucha’s imagination, and are always marked with his signature hummingbird. The sum of his pieces evokes a timeless Nouveau sensuality that’s an inspiration to a growing fanbase and collectors the world over. Springleap puts the spotlight on him and gets the lowdown on what makes this artist from Orange County, California, tick.

SL: Hi Glenn, and thanks for the opportunity to interview you for our community blog. First up – did you study to become an artist, and if not, how did you develop your talent?

GA: I did study, but not in a classroom environment. School was not really an option for me because of many factors however that did not stop me from studying any type of art that I could find on my own accord. Art books, comic books, online tutorials, museums; all of these things were, and still are, my constant teachers. 

SL: Your work largely seems to be rendered in acrylic – is there any particular reason you prefer this, and do you work in other mediums?

GA: When it comes to painting I really enjoy acrylic because of its immediacy. It dries quickly and allows me to layer and render without having to wait too long. I come from a drawing background so it works out great for me. However, I do work in other media such as ink, watercolor and colored pencil. I love to experiment and I think the next thing I try will be oils.

SL: There’s  a strong Nouveau flavour to your work, as well as Day of the Dead iconography – why do these appeal to you, and are there other sources of inspiration for you?

GA: I'm very much driven by aesthetic and my surrounding. I come from a Hispanic background which is where the Day of the Dead comes from and I've always been very into organic and fluid shapes mixed with symmetry, which is where the Art Nouveau comes in. I also love anything that is extremely ornate such as Victorian style patterns and architecture as well as anything with a macabre twist to it. 

SL: Are there other contemporary artists whose work you admire?

GA: Absolutely! My all time favorite artists are Alphonse Mucha and J.C. Leyendecker. Living artists that I am inspired by are Audrey Kawasaki, Charmaine Olivia, Jason Levesque, Jessica Joslin, N.C. Winters and Adam Hughes just to name a few.

SL: Lastly, could you let us know the story of the hummingbirds that feature in your work?

GA: I've been fascinated by hummingbirds for as long as I can remember. They are so unique with such an ethereal and magical quality about them but they are always gone from sight in the blink of an eye. I started drawing and painting them because I adored them so much, but they quickly became a signature in my work and now I can't imagine creating anything without them in it.

Ladies and gents, put your hands together for Glenn Arthur, a true fine artist and a gentleman to boot. Too see more of his work, take a click over to his website and read his blog for updates on latest work.

Enjoy the interview? Check out Springleap's other interviews in the Spotlight On series here.

Shazam! Kapow! Like a superhero pitching up at your local bar, here we are out of the blue, with another in our Spotlight On series, where we focus on great illustrators and shine the light on them and their work. 

This time round, we have the one and the only Robson Borges. His work has graced many a contest here on The Leap, and his 'Song of Mermaid' has been a winner here on The Leap and won oohs and ahhs from many an admiring member of our community. And it's no surprise - his unique style of blending light and dark to create striking silhouette designs which have great depth and emotion are truly in a class of their own.  Without any further toomfoolery, poppycock or indeed delay, ladies and gentlemen, put your hands together for Robson Borges! 

SL: Your illustrations have great composition and use of colour - did you study art? 

RB: I never did art courses. The use of colour in my work has always been very important to value the concepts that are usually very simple. I need a taste of colour to feel accomplished and always hope that people feel the same as me.

SL: Your designs use few colours, but communicate great emotion. What reaction do you hope to create in the person seeing your illustrations?

RB: I prefer to use a small amount of colors to facilitate the reading of the art and production. I adopted it as part of my working style, perhaps as a personal brand.

SL: Many of your designs feature great use of vertical lines and natural scenes. What are you influenced by, when creating your illustrations?

RB: The inspiration comes from within and I am not influenced by other artists, because I always seek for originality. I love using natural elements, shapes and colors that make me feel good. Sometimes I seek inspiration in photographs.

SL: You have your particular own style, but are there any artists that have influenced your direction in life? If so, who are they?

RB: I love the work of several artists around the world, but I'm not influenced. It is extremely complicated to seek inspiration in the work of others. I hate it when someone copies my style or use elements of my art. I study every day to improve my style and originality. Sorry for my bad English and thanks a lot :)

Well there you have it, folks - gifted and humble, that's Mr Borges. Keep your eyes peeled for more in this series, where we'll be featuring interviews with great illustrators and designers both from here on Springleap and elsewhere. Inspiration? We've got it, in spadefulls! 

Like to see more of Robson's work? Go here. 

Enjoy the interview? Check out Springleap's other interviews in the Spotlight On series here.

With a whiz and bang, suddenly it's almost September, and for us down here in the Southern Hemisphere that means there's the unmistakable prospect that very soon Spring will come bouncing round the corner! In Cape Town, that means the nip of winter has lifted and with it, hemlines and jackets. All the more reason to get out and see and do more, right? Right! One of those things to see and do round our neck of the woods is to investigate the growing number of galleries and exhibitions.

Last week some of the team from The Leap hopped across the road to check out the 'Emulate' exhibition at 34FineArt which featured works by Banksy, Shepard Fairey, Damien Hirst, Mr Brainwash and others (more on that here). Carrying on in that manner, today's post is about the fine people over at /A Word Of Art, who we've touched on briefly in a previous post about the wild and wonderful street art that their Artist In Residence program has brought to our part of the world.

Coming up soon at the /AWOA space are two exhibitions which open simultaneously - /A SPACE IN BETWEEN, and UNION. / A SPACE IN BETWEEN brings together an international and local mix of artists who each, in their own way, push the boundaries of their medium - among those featured are Christiaan Conradie, Dathini Mzayiya, Ever and Franco 'Jaz' Fasoli from Argentina, Gaia from the USA and Troy Lovegates (aka 'Other') and Elicser Elliot from Canada. UNION, on the other hand, is a one-man show, the man in question being another of /AWOA's echange artists, this time French artist LX.ONE, whose take on set theory has influenced his 'interpretation of the people, architecture, natural environment and visual stimulation he experienced during his stay'.