My son loves monsters and balloons! Made this Tee for him! Would love to see him wearing it!

Hi there one and all .

Some of you may remember the awesome competition that we held during the World Cup when we had people hunt across various blogger websites looking for the correct winning cup.
In the end it was a very lucky Bruce Wade who predicted the Spanish win!

Bruce won a groovy prize of 1 free Springleap t-shirt , every month for an entire year . WHOA!

We were super stoked to hear that he had put together a fun little video where he shows us all the cool t-shirts that he has received thus far.
I’m sure he will add the rest to the video as he gets them.

For those of you who don’t know about Bruce Wade , he is an entrepreneur coach of note.
Check out his website here to find out more about this interesting fellow.

Thank you Mr. Wade for taking the time to do something really lekker with your prize!

Watch the video below…and prepare yourselves for a little surprise as well.
NO , I’m not telling, you have to watch for yourself ;)

D.

I’m currently in Shanghai, China, and I just felt like putting together a fun design from various styles I’ve been exposed to and inspired by from my stay for the last 6 months!

It often happens that designs come through that look very similar….I suppose it’s the nature of design these days.

We have popular elements, themes, thought and opinions and it is not uncommon for design to resemble not 1 but MANY other designs.

Just before we start I’m not accusing Unknown’s Parked Bench design of ripping Suburbanhijinx’s Apocalyptic sunset ….I just thought it was funny :P

Obviously some of the more similar designs that appear are those with are lifted from stock images (free or otherwise) and the many vector image packs….there are thousands out there.
Perhaps one of the most popular elements we see, are for example, skulls…hehe :D
Now don’t get me wrong, skulls are cool , I love em (especially my own)….but it takes some serious ingenuity and creative mastery to take such a common element and take it to a whole new level. Many of our designers have proved that this issue is a walk in the park for them. Go for it guys!!

However when do we draw the line? Take for instance this little article I found on Between 10 and 5 .

A very well known local photographer, Inge Prins, did a photoshoot with some hottie, posing in a certain way, on a particular chair, against a certain backdrop.

Flash forward to the future and now there is suddenly a huge billboard for Green Cross that has an image that is not only a similar design, but downright spookingly EXACT.

The question you have to ask yourself is whether or not photography works the same way as duplicated vector packs hehehe. Is this just a strange coincidence or did the Green Cross brand steal a fantastic photo idea and just make it their own?
Plagiarism and all that stuffies!

Who is to blame Green Cross, or the photographer that took the image? After all the company is probably bloody clueless about the latest photography, such as Inge Prins’ killer cool snaps.
I think that similar design and how it can be exploited is a phenomenon that permeates all sectors of art!

Do you guys have any good examples of designs that you feel are a rip-off of other artwork?
I’m not talking images of people’s faces superimposed on the freaking Mona Lisa ….I’m talking about sneaky examples of people nicking designs and passing them off as their own ;)

Jump across to Between 10 and 5 for the full discussion!
Kapow ;)

D.

All our designers ever do is make t-shirt designs…… FALSE!

It’s funny how we are so used to seeing our designers purely as artists that produce designs solely for short sleeve garments , that we forget that they are HUGELY talented in so many diverse areas.
This fact is no better illustrated by Mike Scott AKA: Mikdog

This amazing South African designer’s has been blowing us away with his unique quirky cartoon style since Springleap first said hello to the world.
Last year Amy did a very informative blog about Mike and gave a link to one or two of his videos that he has done for super popular South African music group Goldfish …yep those guys, wow!

Let’s list his talents:

1. He is a top notch illustrator.
2. Animator guru.
4. Comic creator.
3. Drummer in a band.

That makes him a Comrumimstrator :P

Mike uses an amazing animation tool called Anime studio 7 , which allows him to take his design and turn it into mind blowing music videos . Check out his latest music video for Goldfish Get Busy Living , below. It’s fantastic how he has taken the song and generated a world around it that captures the essence of the theme.
Stop subjecting yourself to things you don’t want to do, get out there… GET BUSY LIVING!
I am seriously considering pouring my spare time into learning Anime Studio…it’s too hot .

If you like his style, why not check out his funny as heck comic , “Bru and Boegie:“http://bruandboegie.co.za/ ….I be loving it! :)
It has a retro charm that is appealing to all us kids of the 80’s , but no matter who you are or where you are from you will find it entertaining and slightly twisted (in a good way)

What’s even cooler is that this designer extraordinaire is also a muso . The Kiffness is UBER!!!!
Yep, combing rock and old school retro video game vibes he and his band have created a truly unique style of music that appeals to the new school indie rock scene.

If you would like to check out more about this crazy-weird-amazing band , jump across to their FB page and scope out their music videos .
I believe that they will be playing a New Years gig up at Midmar Dam in KZN ….if you are in the area (or even if you are not), def go and support these dudes!

Oh and at the moment Mike is also developing graphics for an iPhone/iPad game . Yup, he is already working for international companies…..nicely done sir, we are so happy for you .

We will let you know more about this talented guy as it happens…which will probably be soon-soon!