Fun Friday Resources

We have some really neato visual resources, but first you will click on this link and go read all eight installments of Matthew Inman (aka The Oatmeal)’s beautifully insightful musings on creativity.

I’ll wait.

Wasn’t that perfection? I admit to being insanely jealous of his perspicacity. Also his talent.

First up, Pattern in Islamic Art. Because the depiction of the human form was forbidden in mosques (idolatry being the concern), and because humans, left to their own devices, will decorate any surface elaborately, Islamic decoration became exclusively and explosively geometric. Lots to look at here, lots to learn, lots to STEAL FROM.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the continent, the Japanese explored geometric patterns for samurai crests.

The Alexander Calder Foundation has put his entire archive of work online. Besides informing us about the growth of Calder’s style, his use of found materials should be very inspiring.

I was unfamiliar with George Barbier’s work during the Art Deco period. He’s reminiscent of Erté: très élégant, insouciant, and more than a little decadent.

And finally, when you need graph paper, you need graph paper, amirite?