SuperModified Debuts: Coffee Table Book Takes Pulse of Creativity Around the World

Today, I’m thrilled to announce the launch of the first-ever art & design coffee table book from Behance & Adobe, Super-Modified: The Behance Book of Creative Work. This gorgeous, 288-page book — curated by our Behance team and published by the renowned Gestalten imprint — surveys the landscape of global creativity and offers keen insight into what’s coming next — and how this vibrant community is pushing us not only to re-imagine classical approaches to design but to broaden the creative canvas into new digital mediums.

Since the early days of Behance, the team has been on a mission to empower creatives to make their ideas happen, and to help their work get noticed by providing them a platform for showcase it. Today, as part of the Adobe family (since 2012), millions of creative professionals use Behance to showcase and discover each other’s work, and, thousands of companies and individuals use the platform to find and hire creative talent.

This activity generates a constant stream of cutting-edge creative work that feeds into Behance as members all over the world upload new projects daily. Together, we believe that if we bring artists and designers from all over the world together to share their portfolios, we can increase the chances of getting great work noticed and connect creatives with opportunity at every level.

For this brand-new book, we asked the curatorial team at Behance to share their take on new directions in art and design work, based on years of reviewing those incoming projects from creatives worldwide. As our curators survey this incredible influx daily, they’re sifting through real-time data about new developments in creativity across fields ranging from fine art and illustration to fashion, photography, Web design and digital art. They are, quite literally, taking the pulse of the creative world every day.

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To create a comprehensive narrative for such a broad range of work, we’ve organized their findings into 18 themed chapters that riff on the idea of “super-modified” creative work. Super-Modified looks at how a humble material, like felt, is being remixed in office spaces, character designs and furniture; how recycled design is making everything from discarded aluminum cans to shipping containers fair game for reinvention; and how the grand, cinematic visions of traditional architecture are finding their way into interior spaces.

With the lightning-fast evolution of the creative tools we use to manipulate photos, videos and more, while “reality” was once what you see right in front of you, it’s becoming just one ingredient among many in the end product of innovative creators. There used to be a line where reality ended and the great unknown began — now that line is beyond blurred and new frontiers in what looks and feels “real” are opening up.

From innovative approaches to traditional crafts to unexpected uses of new technology, it’s clear that classical approaches to art and design are being subverted and reinvented by today’s creatives. Their ingenuity and imaginativeness — and their willingness to share it has inspired us, and we hope it does the same for you.

Learn more about the book > book.behance.net

 

Signups are open! Portfolio Review Week #7, May 11-18, 2015

We’re so excited to announce that host signups for Portfolio Review Week #7, May 11-18, 2015, are officially open! Last November, we had nearly 300 reviews across the globe and the events blew us away! (check them out on our Flickr page)

Interested in hosting? Create an event page for RSVP’s on the platform of your choice, then add the event to our brand new Portfolio Reviews Event Page on Behance

Read through the entire hosting process at behance.net/reviews/info.

Just want to attend? Find an event near you!

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Behind the Project: Silverblack WOOL Campaign AW15

Starting off as a retoucher, Henrik Adamsen eventually quit his day job to become a professional fashion photographer.  We were lucky enough to get to know Henrik, the incredible artist behind the project, Silverblack WOOL Campaign AW15.  Find out why it wouldn’t be a bad idea to follow in Henrik’s footsteps, if you’re an aspiring artist.

Could you talk a little bit about how you started off as a photo retoucher and your development into a photographer?  What was that progression like?
It was actually a very long transition from being a retoucher in the mid 90s… Then moving to London and working there for a while as a retoucher, then AD-assistant / artworker, moving on into graphics design/ArtDirection, and somewhere in there I started shooting just for fun.  That then turned into something serious - so I kinda had to give up my day job. I just started getting too many jobs, that I either had to take days off to do, or to take care of them in the evening. In then end, it was the best decision I ever made - I highly recommend it!

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“File Not Found” solo exhibition by Chad Wys

From March 12th to March 28th, long time Behance member and superb visual artist, Chad Wys, will be exhibiting his show “File Not Found” at the Joseph Gross Gallery in New York City. Chad’s work combines various forms of classic art forms like painting and sculpture but with a digital era twist.  Chad writes:

“I often think about how we receive the visual information around us, how casually data is exchanged, and how little we tend to pay attention to what we see. The notion of a ‘file’ not being found, or not being accessible, stops us in our tracks and suddenly we desire to see what we’re not able to see. In other words, we’d probably ignore the information if it was presented to us normally, but since it’s not being presented to us, or since it’s not deliverable, our curiosity is stimulated and we suddenly wish to see it, if only to ignore it once again thereafter. I think this applies to the world at large, and certainly to my work, where I often remove data from the audience’s view. We desire and want data until we receive it. We only consider more deeply data that we don’t understand, and we take for granted the data we think we already know,”

 

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Introducing Vortice and the Adobe Type Concepts program

Have you ever found the perfect typeface… but wished you could ask for a slight tweak  or expansion?

We’re excited to share the launch of “Adobe Type Concepts” with you – a new program that’s all about honoring the input of the people who use the font designs most – you, the creative community!

How will it work? The Adobe Type team will release a new font (initially in a scaled-down version), and ask for feedback from the community as a guide for its future development and expansion.

The very first font in the program is now released – meet Vortice Concept, a bold display typeface by Miguel Sousa. Now’s your chance to take it for a spin and give your feedback on it so that Miguel can start working on the next iteration of Vortice this summer -> VISIT AND USE VORTICE! 

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Most Appreciated Projects: Monthly Roundup

Appreciations are a way to send genuine kudos to another creative professional on Behance. This is our community’s way of curating the network, so that the best projects gain the most exposure. Here’s a look at two of the most appreciated projects on Behance this month:

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It’s not hard to find currency more beautiful than what I’ve got in my wallet (US Dollars), but these fictional Hungarian bills take things to a new level. For her MA project, Barbara Bernat imagined the “Hungarian Euro” banknote, featuring european animals and plants. See the full set and an interesting look into the design process in the full project.

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As if we needed something to make chocolate truffles even more appetizing, amirite? This branding project, done by Robot Food of the UK, showcases a beautiful marble pattern contrasted with a clean, condiment wordmark. Check it out, along with some great process shots of how the marble pattern was created.

⌘ Sass for Big Sites, Part 2

Our very own Jackie Balzer (head of front-end development at Behance) has written Part 2 in her series, Sass for Big Sites. It is published in Web Standards Sherpa, is featured in CSS Weekly, and is being shared widely around the web. It is highly recommended if you are interested in CSS, Sass (or other CSS preprocessors) or simply managing a large scale codebase. Great work, Jackie!

Sass for Big Sites, Part 2

Photoshop’s 25th Anniversary on Behance

This week, Photoshop celebrated a huge milestone with it’s 25th Anniversary.  We’re super proud to be part of the Adobe family and play a part in the incredible legacy Photoshop has already created.  Below are some of our favorite Behance Projects, videos, and articles about the big day.

First, a great video with tons of work created with Photoshop:

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Behind the Project: Stolen Childhood | drawing series

Visual artist, Henrique de França, uses pencil and charcoal in Stolen Childhood | drawing series to reveal elements of his own childhood, as well as themes of Catholicism in Latin America.  Henrique was kind enough to share with us his process and inspiration for the drawings.  There were many drawings that he chose to not include in this project, and it’s safe to say that all of us here on Behance can’t wait to see them!

What was your inspiration for this project?  Is any of the subject matter in the illustrations autobiographical or inspired by personal observations?
This project is a collection of drawings I made throughout the last five years within the theme of memory. The subject, for me, automatically brings childhood to the center of the series, and although not biographical, I like creating images that resemble my own childhood and things I experienced when younger. The series also discusses themes such as catholic upbringing in Latin America, which I like to portray as a contemporary artist.

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When you set out to make these drawings, did you know how many you wanted in the series, and what they would each ultimately look like, or did it develop as you went along?
No, I cannot be sure of how many drawings I will have at the end of the series when I start it. I go with the flow and the need to explore the theme.

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Navid Baraty’s work featured in dedicated exhibition in NYC Subways

Navid Baraty’s work – stunning, sometimes dizzying aerial photography shot from incredible vantage points – may look familiar to you, and for good reason. In the past few years, his work has been featured in National Geographic, Apple, CCN, The Huffington Post, and much more. We asked him about some of his biggest moments this year and how Behance played a role:

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The past year has definitely been really great. Perhaps the biggest thing that’s happened in the past year was when the MTA approached me to have seven of my Intersection photos on display in a Lightbox installation in Bowling Green station for 2014, which was up for a good portion of the year.

NBC New York had me on the air to talk about the exhibition.

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The Apple store on Fifth Avenue invited me to come talk about my photography one evening. I also gave a talk about my photography at the NYPL back in July.

I’ve licensed an image to Nike and one of my photos and an interview appears in this just released book by Popular Photography.

You know, I always ask how people come across my photos when they contact me. A lot of the time, they can’t remember where they saw my work, just that they saw it somewhere online. So, I’m positive Behance has definitely played a role in it since a lot of my work is posted there. :)