Elena Odriozola

Elena Odriozola is a published illustrator of children's books. Some of the published credits of Elena Odriozola include The Story Blanket, Vegetable Glue (Books for Life), Cuando sale la luna.

Below are a selection of her work:



I like the way she's been using collage-like pattern to make the woman's clothes, the braches on her head shows a feeling of fantasy.





Though the character is almost emotionless, the picture is still communicating a sensation of coldness and loneliness, I like this sort of simple but impactful style of drawing.






I really do admire her style of illustrations, the tone of voice is quite peaceful, silent, but meaningful at the same time,I like this kind of beauty.And it's a sort of style that I can develop myself into.

Meng-chia,Lai

Student prize-winner

Meng-Chia Lai is interested in pursuing a diverse illustrating career, including adult and children’s illustration, editorial and character design. During her studies, Meng-Chia made four children’s books, of which OH! is the third. She is currently in discussion with French publisher, Edition Lirabelle, over its publication and that of another book Peebi Lost . For inspiration, she draws with children at her parents’ kindergarten in Taiwan. Artists who have influenced her include Picasso, Matisse and the ancient Chinese calligrapher and painter Wang Hsi-chih.

Winning Illustration: OH!

Dummy book, laser printed from original artwork in Chinese ink on Chinese paper

Meng-Chia came up with the story for OH! after swallowing an orange pip while chatting to her mother. ‘She said to me that I don’t need to buy oranges in the future! I chose ink with a touch of orange to make the book with a simple but practical message for children, "Don’t talk with your mouth full".’ - Meng-Chia Lai

"Oh!" Published by Édition Lirabelle, France 2006

Ling likes oranges. She shares it with her classmate Mei. Ling swallowed an orange pip by accident..... This is a picture book with a message- "Don't talk with your mouth full".

This book was chosen one of the five V&A Illustration Awards Student Illustrator 2005, the original paintings exhibited at the V&A Museum London.

Web:Meng-chia Lai

Meng-chia Lai loves being inspired by everyday life. Especially people, music, nature, and food. Expressing from her mind on to her art works give her the opportunities to communicate with others. It is one of the best ability to have.

The core ingredients of her work are the warmth of humanity, and imagination and inspiration from everyday life. As she works, she enjoys being the casting director, set designer and director, creating a world from her observation and imagination to communicate to people.

Image-making is a language that is understood internationally and is a unique ability given to human beings. Her strength is her ability to use images to communicate to people all over the world, bringing an emotional atmosphere to people in order to move them.

Neargo

This is a picture book about the country of cats, the writer has visited a city named Neargo, which situated to the south of Milan, Italy. The city abuts Genoa, has a population of around 200 thousand, with rich surroundings and was encycled by the beautiful ocean. There are innumerrable tourists coming to visit neargo each year, besides for the beautiful scenery, they are visiting for the lovely cats living here.

All the cats living in Neargo have to register their ID.

The cat currency: euros are normally interchangable, but the main currency in Neargo is N, N=22.2 yen. There are cats patterns on the bills, they arefollowed by the tourists because of rare and lovely.

Brian Biggs

He has written and drawn comics and graphic novels, designed magazines, and illustrated for many many magazines and newspapers. In 2003 he began illustrating children's books with Shredderman. Since then he has illustrated several more books and he's currently working on even more. He continue working on editorial projects, as well as a lot of advertising, posters, and on a lot of toys and puzzles. He also work with animation, music, and various other media.

Web: Brian Biggs

Marc Boutavant

Marc Boutavant is a French graphic designer, illustrator, and author. His illustrations have been widely published in magazines, books, and album covers globally including the New York Times, Martha Stewart Kids, and the New Yorker. He was recently featured as one of world’s leading children’s illustrators in the book Play Pen: New Children’s Book Illustration.

Web: Marc Boutavant

Memoirs of a Geisha

Memoirs of a Geisha is a 2005 film adaptation of the novel of the same name, produced by Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment and Spyglass Entertainment and by Douglas Wick's Red Wagon Productions. It was directed by Rob Marshall. It was released in the United States on December 9, 2005 by Columbia Pictures and DreamWorks. It stars Zhang Ziyi, Ken Watanabe, Gong Li, Michelle Yeoh, Youki Kudoh, and Suzuka Ohgo. Ohgo plays the younger Sayuri in the movie, which was filmed in southern and northern California and in several locations in Kyoto, including the Kiyomizu temple and the Fushimi Inari shrine.

The film was nominated and won numerous awards, including nominations for six Academy Awards, and eventually won three: Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction and Best Costume Design.

Memoirs of a Geisha revolves around a young girl, named Chiyo, who is sold into the life of a geisha and her struggle as a geisha to find love.

The Japanese release of the film was titled "Sayuri", based on the main character who was renamed as Sayuri in the movie.

Telling Tales

This exhibition explores the recent trend among European designers for unique or limited edition pieces that push the boundaries between art and design. It showcases furniture, lighting and ceramics, designed by a new generation of international designers, including Tord Boontje, Maarten Baas, Jurgen Bey and Studio Job, who are all inspired by the spirit of story-telling. Each tells a tale through their use of decorative devices, historical allusions or choice of materials, sharing common themes such as fantasy, parody and a concern with mortality.

The exhibition is in three sections:

The Forest Glade is inspired by fantasy and nature evoking the spirit of fairytales.

'Princess' chair
Tord Boontje

Antique chair, silk, embroidery

The morality of fairy tales relies on oppositions of good and evil, often taking a visual form. This chair and the 'Witch' chair, also by Tord Boontje, show both traits. The 'Witch' chair is scaly, dark and sinister, while this chair is like a child's fantasy of Cinderella at the ball: effervescent, elegant, light and fanciful.

'Fig Leaf' wardrobe
Tord Boontje

Hand-painted enamelled copper leaves, lost-wax-cast patinated bronze tree, iron tracery support structure, hand-dyed and woven silk base and back

Tord Boontje regards the fig as a symbol of fertility, associating it with oases and the biblical notion of Paradise. The snake persuaded Adam and Eve to eat an apple from the tree of knowledge. They then fell from grace and were expelled from Paradise, wearing only fig leaves to hide their newfound shame. Ironically, the wardrobe only becomes 'dressed' when its user is not.

The Enchanted Castle exaggerates and parodies historical design styles often associated with displays of status.

Heaven and Hell is concerned with themes of mortality and the afterlife.

Faber and Faber: Eighty Years of Book Cover Design, 1929–2009

This display celebrates the 80th anniversary of Faber and Faber, one of the great remaining independent publishing houses in London. It was born in 1929 out of Faber & Gwyer, which had been founded in 1925 by Geoffrey Faber, T.S. Eliot and Richard de la Mare.

Responsibility for book production and design fell to de la Mare. His taste and originality established an unmistakable style at a time when only a few London publishers were conscious of book design.

This commitment to design continued under the direction of David Bland and Berthold Wolpe, whose lettered and typographic jackets became identified with the Faber imprint. On Wolpe's retirement in 1975, design continued under the direction of Shirley Tucker until 1980, when the design partnership Pentagram took on responsibility for jackets, covers and publicity material.

Mr Men Series

Webs:
Mr Men and Little Miss:The official site for the originals
The Mr Men Show: The official site for the new series
Toonhound

Roger Hargreaves' Mister Men characters have been with us for more than 30 years. Their design is elegantly simple; bright geometric shapes with little hands and feet. Sometimes there are boots and maybe a simple hat as well.But most importantly, there is a quirk, an oddity or speciality about each individual that gives rise to their name. And it's not just limited to the men.In 1981, the Little Misses were born to accompany them, and there is now a Mister Man or Little Miss for every facet of human nature. Everyone has their own particular favourite - be it Mr Bounce, Mr Messy, Mr Noisy, little Miss Trouble or Scattterbrain, Mr Lazy, Mr Greedy, Mr Silly or any other members of the 80+ gang of characters.

In the beginning, however, there were just 7 Mr Men. They were "born" in 1971 when Roger's young son Adam asked him what a Tickle looked like. Joining Mr Tickle in the original line-up were Mr Bump, Mr Sneeze, Mr Happy, Mr Nosey, Mr Greedy and Mr Snow. The small 14x12.5cm books were an
instant collectible hit and the format has remained the same ever since. Sadly, Roger Hargreaves passed away in 1988, but the characters remain in the hands of the Hargreaves estate with Adam himself now holding the pen.

Over the years we've a lot more introductions, further books based on the existing Mr Men and Little Misses, regular annuals and large format editions and even special new arrivals and stories, like the seasonal Mr Christmas, a Little Miss Sunshine hair care promotion book and Mr Cheeky, who wasinspired by a Mr Men 30th anniversary competition winner. Over 100m Mister Men books have been sold to date, making the late Roger Hargreaves the second most successful author in the UK, after J K Rowling.

As for the tv Mister Men, well, they first appeared on UK screens four years after their initial publication, in 1975. The animated series was produced by Terry Ward's Flicks Films and it stuck faithfully to the original format, both in look and story. The films were narrated by Dad's Army star, Mr Uppity himself Arthur Lowe, and his unique indignant jollity suited the tone of the series perfectly. So perfectly, in fact, that many folks still consider this to be the definitive adaptation...

Geffrye Museum

The Geffrye Museum depicts the quintessential style of English middle-class living rooms. Its collections of furniture, textiles, paintings and decorative arts are displayed in a series of period rooms from 1600 to the present day.

The displays lead the visitor on a walk through time, from the 17th century with oak furniture and panelling, past the refined splendour of the Georgian period and the high style of the Victorians, to 20th century modernity as seen in a 1930s flat, a mid-century room in 'contemporary style' and a late-20th century living space in a converted warehouse.

The museum is set in elegant 18^th century almshouses with a contemporary wing surrounded by attractive gardens, which include an award-winning walled herb garden and a series of period gardens.

During my walk through this museum, I felt like walking through time, experiencing the transitions of British history. I like the timeline in each room, which tells us the important events of British history, the wars, the breakdowns and setting up, the great inventions, the achivements in the humanity arts etc. I understand more about how london gradually become one of the top cities in the world, and love this city more and more.