I’ve mentioned a few times that there is nothing better then working with clients who are excited about what they do, because in turn they make me excited about what I’m doing for them. Reckless Love is a prime example of this.

Reckless Love is a 4-piece hard rock/metal band from Finland inspired by the likes of Mötley Crüe, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Halen . . . everything fun about metal in the 1980s. They just recently released their second single called Beautiful Bomb to follow-up their first, One More Time. Their agent attached this promo shot with the email when he initially contacted me, to which I blurted out “These guys look awesome! I’ll definitely work with them!”

Olli (the lead singer) and I started hammering through the logo style, which went through a few different versions before we settled on the final design. We both wanted something big, like Metallica or Judas Priest, but still captured the fun of the group’s sound. I posted a few of the different iterations above to show how the process went, from the stripped down vectors to the final renders. As for the cover of the single they wanted something bright and colorful, which I was happy to hear :) ’80s metal goodness.

These are the kind of clients you want to work with, man. They are as excited about the music and design as I am, and we’re all coming from the same sources for inspiration in our different fields. Great bunch of guys, and more to come from Reckless Love, for sure. But in the meantime you can catch up with the guys on their Myspace.

There’s no better way to start off the week then checking out some smooth illustrated typography. Here are a few examples from UK-based artist Anthony Forster, who is now in his 60s and a painter specializing in dogs, horses, etc.

I had come across these images before, but thanks to So Much Pileup for posting about the man behind the work. And by the way, So Much Pileup is one of the best inspiration blogs I’ve found in a while. Be sure to swing by.

For those who were unable to tune in live, here is the recorded version of the Signalnoise Broadcast no. 2. This time around I had a better microphone (thanks to Rock Band), and my good pal Chris Toms did the job of vetting questions so I didn’t miss any of the chat box action. Thanks Chris!

Once again, the session was lots of fun and we covered topics such as inspirations, exposure, advice, specific client works and lots of other things. Chris tells me I had a posse of about 80 people at any one time and a total of 400 people who tuned in. Big thanks to everyone who dropped by and made with the questions, you’re all awesome.

Simply blown away by the stellar illustration skills of Sam Green. Speechless.

The first Signalnoise Broadcast was lots of fun, giving me the opportunity to chat with about 150 viewers at once via video chat. We talked about industry stuff, design advice, process oriented topics, all of the things I enjoy chatting about. The questions and topics presented by you guys were great and it was lots of fun, just look at the family in the above graphic :)

So, lets do it again. I will be holding Signalnoise Broadcast 2 tomorrow evening, October 15th at 8pm EST. You can tune in via the broadcast link when the broadcast goes live, so prepare any questions or topics you might have in mind. You can also leave some questions commented on this post if you are unable to tune in as I will be posting the recorded version Friday morning.

Thanks everyone, see you all then!

Halloween draws closer and here is the second installment of the Dark Inspiration series, this time coming from Belgian artist Kris Verwimp. Back in the 1990s, Kris cut his teeth painting powerful covers for the black metal scene in Europe, developing heavy atmospheric scenes which perfectly captured the essence of the genre. I had seen Kris’ work before as I explored black metal, but it wasn’t until the most recent issue of Juxtapoz (issue 105) that he was brought to my full attention. Here is the very suitable introduction to the interview:

“What is this work? The cover in its tight, crude brilliance envelopes me in a horrific cloak, that sort of dark landscape that provokes the heart to pump faster. Damn, it’s another masterpiece by Belgian artist Kris Verwimp, who seems to continually compose the ideal scenarios for this genre of powerful music.”

You can see more of Kris’ amazing work on his Myspace.

Here are a few of the colorful artworks of Joe Van Wetering, a Chicago-based artist currently working for the mighty Threadless. I had noticed Joe’s work sporadically online for the past while, and finally came across him on Flickr last week. I really enjoy Joe’s use of concentric vector shapes and wild palettes, quite suited for the shirt style he produces.

Check out Joe’s Flickr stream as well as his personal website for more.

Pleasantly surprised to come across these new Iron Man trade covers for the Stark Disassembled story arc (via Ffffound). Here are 2 of the 5, very much looking forward to seeing the remaining three. They resemble old Pelican book covers, something I’m not accustomed to seeing come out of the comic industry.

According to Matt Fraction’s website, the covers are by Salvador Larroca and Frank D’Armata, and design by Rian Hughes. Beautiful work.