Leeds Street Style: 03/03/2011

Lina

Favorite Leeds Shop: Blue Rinse

Notes: Love the monochrome, boyish style created by the boyfriend shirt and jacket, big leather bag and boots. Also her hair is so shiny a little like Gwyneth Paltrow's.

Jess and Kate

Favorite Leeds Shop: Jess, Scope Charity Shop. Kate, Aqua Couture.

Notes: Jess and Kate are two little tourists from Manchester, they were looking for something different so they decided to pay Leeds a visit. Jess' purple shirt was very eye catching, it's from Scope charity shop on Headrow for only £4! I absoloutely love the detail of that amazing shirt. 
What Kate wore reminded me there's actually an end of this cold winter, her sheer dress, gray knee highs and apple green nail polish showed me the light at the end of the tunnel! 

Unknown Lady

Favorite Leeds Shop: Unknown

Notes: Missed the chance to talk to this lady. I think she looks efortless trendy. How can you not love her jacket, jeans and boots? Boyish + hair down = ... Acutally don't know what it equals just that it looks ace! Remember to roll the bottom of the jeans when you wear those short boots. ;)

Hyper Island Arrives In Manchester

We have been working with Hyper Island for more than a year now. One project we have had to keep under wraps is their launch of a new facility in the UK... in Manchester to be exact. We think the project is awesome (we would of course!) Here are some of the highlights of the press release issued today:

A golden ticket for young creative talent as Sweden’s “Digital Harvard” launches industry-led learning in UK 

Budding digital media students are today being offered the chance to take part in a cutting-edge new educational programme in the UK, backed by businesses such as Channel 4, Saatchi & Saatchi and Sony Games.

Applications open today for a British version of a tried and tested Swedish training model for people in the interactive media, communications and advertising industries. The ‘Interactive Media Design and Management’ programme, which will be run in Manchester’s Northern Quarter, is the first of its kind to be introduced by Hyper Island outside of Sweden and has already received the backing of leading brands such as MTV, McCann, Channel 4, Saatchi & Saatchi, Sony Games, Code Computerlove and Wieden + Kennedy. 

Hyper Island’s model offers a distinctive action-learning approach, with participants delivering solutions to real problems brought to them by businesses. This new programme has been designed in collaboration with leaders in the media and advertising industry from around the world, many of whom will help deliver it...

“It’s all about industry-ready people”, says Hyper Island’s David McCall, Director of the new programme, which opened for applications today. “Media and communication technologies have converged, and the industry needs talent that is unbound by disciplines, instinctively collaborative and able to thrive in a rapidly changing environment. Our first UK programme has been designed with industry, with exactly this kind of talent in mind.

Jon Kingsbury of NESTA says: “The digital media sector offers exciting growth potential for the UK if we can develop people with the right skills. NESTA is excited to be partnering with Hyper Island to understand how an industry-led approach to education might be a more effective way of giving talented young people a pathway into the digital media sector.”

There are 25 places available on the pilot for exceptionally talented young people, aged between 18 and 25 years old, who want an alternative start to their career in interactive media, communications and advertising.

Our View

We think the project has the potential to be a huge success. The students that leave Hyper Island are generally of a different mind-set and level when compared to their counter-parts from other backgrounds. Manchster and the UK in general will have some brilliant talent walking out of the northern quarter and into industry here which can only be a good thing.

There are some amazing brands involved including Amaze, BBC, Channel 4, Code Computerlove, Dare, Glue Isobar, Love, McCann Eriksson, MTV, Poke, Profero, Saatchi & Saatchi, Sony Games, Stardotstar, The Neighborhood, TBWA and Wieden + Kennedy. The project has all the right backing and input to do something special.

We will try to keep you up to date on the progress of the project in the coming months. If you want any more information about Hyper Island in Manchester click here or follow on Twitter here.

A step back into the 90's : The Spice Girls Exhibition @ Leeds Museum

Shang Ting and I decided to take a morning out to check out the very popular Spice Girls exhibition at Leeds Museum in all it’s glory. Although Hebe Media was at the press launch, the exhibition wasn’t fully set up so we decided to hit the Leeds Museum during the half term to see how much of a trip down memory lane it actually was.

Back in the 90’s, my friends and I would get up at the end of every English class and pump out the newest Spice Girls single instead of reciting a poem or reading a journal entry for example. I, due to a bad hair dye situation, always performed as Ginger Spice, while my other friends took the roles of Posh, Sporty, Baby and Scary. We loved the Spice Girls, especially with Mel B being from Leeds, they were such a unique idea (which doesn’t exist much in the pop music industry anymore) and they were all about GIRL POWER!

Yeah they weren’t the best singers, yeah they were a bit ‘too’ in your face at times but my friends and I bought every single, every poster and I ‘ehem’ loved Spice World: The Movie.

When we arrived at the exhibition, it was set up as if you were going on tour so there is a life size doorman(not real) and access passes waiting at the entrance then you chose to have an artist pass or a managers pass. Throughout the exhibition there are posters, costumes and an unbelievable amount of magazines including the actual 'Spice' magazine. You can also sit down and catch a bit of Oscar nominated, Spice World: The Movie, which we did... and got sucked in for about 15 minutes; you can't beat a bit of Richard E Grant and Hugh 'House' Laurie at their best! :S

Throughout the exhibition there were lots of things for the kids to do, such as dress up in outfits similar to those of the Spice Girls. There was a stage and a judging panel where kids (or big kids like us) could sing Spice Girls songs using the stage and the Singstar karaoke set up while their friends and family watched and rated the performance using numbered paddles. There were also opportunities to write notes for the Spice Girls and draw pictures of pop stars using templates

Some very good creative efforts on the picture wallLooking at the whole collection that Liz West has provided for the exhibition, I was thinking at one time or another I owned so much of the merchandise that was there: the magazines, the CD’s, the videos, the Easter eggs and yes, the chunky Buffalo trainers!

It was a nostalgic trip down memory lane. I found myself behaving like a child when I saw anything that made me feel 12 again. Gasping at the exact edition of TV Hits I remember having or spotting the 2 Become 1 special edition CD with poster which I still have somewhere at home now.

Liz West introducing the exhibition at the press launchI do think I will visit the exhibition again when the kids are back at school because I didn’t get a chance to sing on the Singstar machine!!! The kids hogged it the whole time. And yes I am an adult but c’mon, they are too young to even know who the Spice Girls are ;-) The exhibition was made for my generation!

Overall: Anything that makes me feel like a kid again is fine by me, so if you loved the Spice Girls at one time or another, go check it out. It was fun and the collection is great. I do think Mel B should have got herself over to open the exhibition though! Actually I would have much rather had Leigh Francis as Mel B! Crab Paste!

Favourite part: Although the draw-a-popstar part was nice, as I love seeing children being creative, I would have to say the Post-It note message wall was my favourite part. Here at the Hebe Office we are big fans of post-Its and we understand the power they hold.

The Hebe Week In Pics

Marcus and STP find something very funny online @ the Hebe officeLee catches us working hard :-)Shang Ting's office style!The Hebe Team goes to Headingley for some 'team building'And some more team building!Erol Alkan at Mint ClubSimon, Marcus and STP. STP smiles despite paying over 5 pound for a Becks when Carlsberg was 1.50STP and I check out old skool Ledes @ Leeds MuseumThe Millenium Square ice rink is packed over Half TermThe Trinity site is beginning to take shapeInside the beautiful LGI buildingThe LGI badgeThe LGI old building in the Leeds sunshine yesterdayFriday treat day at the Hebe office

INTRODUCING: Shahin Haghjou

THIS WEEK IN OUR “INTRODUCING” SERIES, WE AGAIN LOOK ABROAD AND CHECK OUT ANOTHER CREATIVE TALENT AND MEMBER OF THE   THE PALACE ‘ALUMNI’. SHAHIN HAGHJOU IS A SWEDE, BORN IN IRAN, AND CURRENTLY BASED IN BARCELONA WHERE IS LESS THAN A SEMESTER SHORT OF A DEGREE IN GRAPHIC DESIGN AT THE EUROPEAN DESIGN INSTITUE, IED. 

To say that he’s a “natural” might seem like a cheesy way of describing a person’s talent, but for someone that is yet to complete his degree Shahin has a lot to be proud of. The first time I met him a couple of years ago, he already had several stunning freelance projects as a designer under his belt. He was also commissioned by IED to do some of their ad and print campaigns, already during his 3rd semester. Shahin has also worked with us on a couple of impressive projects, most recently the Hebe Media branding, including the logo and graphics for the website and prints!

Since then he’s developed his skills towards motion design and print, with some of the most notable freelance projects being; Jamon Barcelona for the legendary San Francisco skateboard label For The City, FTC, and more recently; video and motion project Vamos a la Playa together with the Catalan videographer and photographer Hector Ferreño. (They are also rumored to be launching their own studio soon, but don’t tell anyone!) 

At the moment he’s at the Barcelonian super star studio Vasava, following the foot steps of last weeks “Introducing” Albin Holmqvist. 

I had the pleasure to catch up with Shahin, so I asked him about a couple of questions on creativity and the future of graphic design and art direction. Here’s what he had to say. 

What is your ideal environment to be creative?

My ideal environment would be my balcony, normally when I'm stuck with something or if I have run out of ideas I'll go sit there for 15 min or so, and nine out of ten times the ideas come. The good thing about my balcony is that it's facing a wall, so there's no distractions. I'm very easily distracted, so it might as well work with a pair of those sleeping glasses you get on the airplane, haven't tried it yet but might just work!  

The second best would be anywhere where there's likeminded people that you can share your ideas with, the space itself doesn't really matter, it could be at the local bar or in the park, as long as you're with the right people the creativity will flow. 

What is important for an aspiring art director/graphic designer today? 

I think it's really important to try to get work constantly and not to be picky. Yes, some jobs might be boring as hell, but you'll always learn new things. Try to work for or with people that have experience and do not expect to learn everything just by signing up for an expensive design school. You might learn a lot from going to school, but you'll always learn more from real life situations. Keep your steam up and work hard, cause as we all know by now, if you snooze you lose! And finally, never think you already know everything, not even if you have been working all your life. 

 Why is the future in motion graphics? 

I honestly don't know how to answer this question, I love motion graphics and think there's many opportunities within it, but I don't think you should limit yourself to just one specific thing. Cudos too those who can earn a living from drawing the same thing over and over again. Either you have the skills to do that, or you try to broaden yourself which in the long run I think is more satisfactory. 

Check out some of Shahin’s recent work here: www.shahinhaghjou.com, some of his little less current here: The Boo Hoo Boy, and even older, but still cool, here: The Equally Foolish. 

We wish Shahin all the best, and we strongly recommend keeping an eye out for whatever he’s up to next!