Glamorous mermaid

 

Source: Harper’s Bazaar Spain 2010

Don’t forget to enter my giveaway.

Introducing Plasterdoll and a fabulous GIVEAWAY

There are many reasons to fall in love with Plasterdoll. Perhaps, you like dolls, or, maybe, beautiful illustrations. For all the fashionistas out there Plasterdoll would be yet another way to see some gorgeous designer looks, from a very special, different and oh-so-adorable perspective.

Plasterdoll was my newly discovered treasure. I really wanted to share it with you and was thrilled when Jessica, the girl who created Plasterdoll, agreed to have an interview with newfashiontodayblog. Even better, she offered two of her illustrations as a giveaway - thank you, darling!

Could you tell us a little bit about yourself? When did you first realise that drawing is something you are passionate about? Why fashion?
I’m a self-taught illustrator with no formal education in art or design, but drawing has always been a great part of my life. I think I’ve been drawing since I learnt to hold pencils! I’ve also always loved fashion and am a devoted shopaholic. So when I learnt about fashion illustration, it’s hard not to realise that this is ‘the one’.

All your characters have a plaster on their forehead. Why did you decide to call yourself “Plasterdoll” and add this cute signature style to your illustrations?
I’ve always loved dolls, love their big eyes and their disproportionate body. I was searching for a character that is unique and that I can never get bored of, so I can continuously ‘dress her up’. When I came out with my character, I thought I wanted them to look unique and to stand out from the crowd of dolls. I then thought, since my doll has a huge head, I was sure she kept bumping her head on things, so I thought a Plaster on her huge forehead would be cute, and that’s when I named her “Plasterdoll”.

What is it that inspires you to choose particular looks for your works?
I love seeing how fashion pieces are put together to create amazing styles, and intricate details of a fashion piece often catch my eyes.

I usually get inspirations from fashion sites, magazines, and blogs. Most of my works are inspired by fashion from the runway, and in terms of a particular look that I eventually pick, it pretty much depends on what style attracts me at that point of time.

Which present or past artists do you admire?
I’ve always loved Mark Ryden’s work, his art work is legendary. For fashion illustrations, I’ve always been inspired by Ruben Toledo’s work.

What was the most exciting moment of your life as an artist so far?
Plasterdoll being featured in several magazines and sites, and has a fan page with more than 500 fans around the world now. These definitely mean a lot to me!

Where do you see Plasterdoll in 10 years?
I don’t know if this is too ambitious, but I hope in 10 years’ time, Plasterdoll will be known internationally as a fashion icon (like Audrey Hepburn, Marilyn Monroe), a trend-setter, not just another Barbie or Blythe.

***

I am absolutely certain we will hear and see more of Plasterdoll in the future and would like to wish Jessica and her gorgeous little characters all the very best!

If you would like to see more, please click here and here. You can also become Jessica's fan on Facebook - click here to join.

And now it is the time to announce the giveaway. You can win one of these Plasterdoll illustrations (the first winner will receive Marc by Marc Jacobs spring 2009 and the second winner will receive Charles Anastase spring 2009) by leaving your comment here. You need to be a follower and can enter twice. If you would like to enter three times to increase your chances to winning, please join Plasterdoll on Facebook and leave a comment here to let me know. The competition ends on 24th November 2009 and two winners will be announced on 25th November 2009. Good luck!

Images via Plasterdoll

Modern minimalism: i-toc watch and GIVEAWAY

"Design must always remember function otherwise it becomes art or sculpture. It may become beautiful art or sculpture but if the function is lost, forgotten or neglected the design has failed."

- Sean Zoega

I am feeling really happy today. Not only because the sun is shining, the sky is blue and I had my delicious cup of coffee in the morning, but also because I love receiving presents and surprises and today was one of those days. I opened the door and there was a postman holding a small box. It was my new watch sent to me by Sean Zoega, the designer of these beautiful unique creations.

Sean Zoega is an unorthodox designer who has managed to synthesise the supposedly opposing disciplines of engineering and design. Originally graduating as an electronics engineer, Sean quickly employed his skills in the areas of meta art providing music synthesizers to major artists of the time (Jean Michel Jarre, Hawkwind, Brian Eno etc.)

“The interplay of science and art has always for me been the critical stimulation of human creativity, be it the invention of colour pigments or dyes that change art and fashion forever or the synthesizer that has made possible new music with sounds that have never before existed in human experience."

Before the i-toc was born, Sean has been busy creating recording environments for international festivals such as Holders Season in Barbados to more orthodox recording studios for K-Klass and Ian Brown. He has also created audio/visual installations all over the world for large corporates such as Disney, Cable & Wireless, Wellcome Trust… even the NHS. His work on psychoacoustics also led to his developments in artificial intelligence which culminated in the HyperTeach AI learning engine.

“Through all my work with music, sound and visuals I came to realize I was always slicing time, applying textures (aural and visual) and then rebuilding the parts to create a coherent whole…art and design are all about time. This was what sparked my interest in redesigning the watch. This has taken over ten years of my life to develop and has culminated in the i-toc. The i-toc is simple, but it wasn’t easy."

I adore my new watch. Personally, I think this is one of those time pieces that won't go unnoticed. This gorgeous sample of minimalistic design has already been compared to EleeNo and Issey Miyake watches, but unlike its designery siblings does not cost a fortune.

It's unique, it makes you smile, it's unisex'y, it comes in 6 colours from classic black and grey to vibrant orange (that was my choice), red, blue and purple. The i-toc’s graduated circles present a more intuitive and beautiful way to view time, and the distinctive visual pattern is constantly changing and is super easy to read. Each colour is limited to 200 to 500 pieces, which makes the watch even more special and desirable.

If you are tempted and would like to see and read more, please visit the i-toc website.

So are you tempted yet? Then the best news are still to come because now one of my wonderful followers can actually receive an i-toc watch as a present from Sean Zoega himself! All you need to do is to visit his website to choose the colour and leave a comment here (don't forget to mention what colour you'd prefer). You have a week to enter. The competition closes on 30 September 2009 and the lucky winner will be announced on 2 October 2009.

If you don't win or prefer not to follow newfashiontodayblog ;) you can still buy your little treasure here and receive a 10% discount. The discount code will be sent to you via e-mail, so I'd appreciate it if you could take a couple of minutes to send me your e-mail address.

Good luck!

Images via www.i-toc.com