Like the Large Hadron Collider that smashes together particles that are invisible to the naked eye, creating new and different elements. Similar to the creative process. We all know ideas exist. We can talk about them but we can’t see them or touch them, until they gain momentum, collide with other ideas and we bring them to fruition. This creative process takes place in the head — thus headron instead of hadron.

Whoa. Okay, this dude is deep. And I dig it. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that he’s located in Alaska (Yes, you read that right. That Alaska). Or maybe it has something to do with all those months of cold, dark weather—but there is something definitely brewing in the water in the great white North. Jontue has an amazing eye for typography, which is what originally drew me to his Beauty Mark self-promotional posters (pictured above). But upon further inspection it became quite evident that it wasn’t just some fancy type work that really makes these posters great—it’s the mix of excellent vintage  photography, use of color, attention to detail (did you see the back of those suckers?!?) and most importantly—the creativity. Here’s what he says about the set on his site:

(It’s about)…the idea of brand identification and what we as humans determine as beautiful. A beauty mark sets you apart from the rest in an instant. It makes you more interesting, more attractive, more memorable. Using the logo as beauty mark, these posters subtly express that the work I do, carries the same attributes.

But the great thing about Jontue’s work is that it doesn’t just stop there—his whole site is littered with detail and creative goodness. From posters to illustrations to apparel to web design—this guy seems to do it all. Heck, he’s even got a whole page of freebies! Jontue’s work is pretty inspiring, and I just had to do a little shout-out and give him his due respect. Be sure to visit his site and drool along, or hit him up if you’re needing some serious talent for your next big project.

Ha! Well, I use a mouse, choose Mac over PC and think Spiderman is king. Here in Holland we also have Cowboy Henk though—who definitely rocks over both Spiderman or Batman.

It’s been such an ace feeling. I see it popping up everywhere. Just last week somebody ordered 10 all the way from Australia. You have to understand that Coverjunkie is not a marketing tool from a mag or publisher—it’s independent, ad free and made entirely out of love. The fact people pick it up makes all the long nights and crazy hours worthwhile.

Two months ago I would have said, “Oh no, it really messes up my social life big time. No thanks!” But then a week ago I’d probably say, “Well, maybe. But I need to see some beach first.” Today it’s more like, ”When I find a sponsor—hell yeah!”

I love print and wanted to show that. I was getting sick of the “print is dead” statement—that’s so 2009. I believe in print, in the iPad and in the web all together—there’s no “instead.” I understand that it’s hard out there, but when I hear that bullshit statement I get nasty.

I’m a designer of magazines myself and it gives me a good feeling to design covers each week. I was blogging in Dutch about it and received a really great response. So one day after a lecture (about covers of course), Robbert Zantinge came up to me and said, “You’re a real cover junkie.” The name was born and I ran with it from there.

It was a very happy accident. Designers from all around the world just started sending me their stuff. Of course, I did have to start selecting it a bit, but I love to show good work and I love to credit the guys designing it. There really is so much credit deserved! Coverjunkie is a perfect mix between high-end artsy mags, hotshot (big brand) titles and small independents. They come from everywhere—Peru, Italy, India, Australia, the US—and it makes it so much more interesting.

Well, it’s real easy to create one great cover a year. But you really need talent to create ten or twelve great ones a year! Not too many people can design ten or more fab ones. I know guys like Richard Turley and Arem Duplessis are killing it each week. I love the clear approach from Richard Turley in particular. And I love how Arem Duplessis asks big name artists to be part of his covers—epic stuff. It must be so much fun to work with that team.

More people that “wow” me consistently are Noma Bar, Daniel Bognar from Suddeutsche Zeitung, Rodrigo Sánchez from Metropoli, and Clara Montagut from Spanish Esquire. Other mags that are killing it are IL from Italy, Port from the UK, Zeit from Germany,  Collect from Australia and the always weird Humo from Belgium.

I’m really curious to see if New York Mag can bounce back after the departure of Chris Dixon. I check Wired each month—they always have a killer feature. The bitch of all this name dropping is that I am guaranteed to forget some good ones. Plus, you can’t forget the old days! I regularly buy old Interview mags on Ebay—you know the old Warhol ones out of the 70′s? They carry such a great vibe. I love to read the articles from those days, they’re so ace.

Haha… no, I just love the sound of the word. To be honest, I punch it way more often on my keyboard than I say it out loud. It’s too difficult to use in Dutch often.

The international flavor of Coverjunkie gives me a great feeling. But on your question I definitely would have to say the U.S. And honestly, I think that’s pretty remarkable. I did an internship in New York during my years at the Academy of Fine Arts and hated—absolutely hated—the U.S. magazine designs. They were so old fashioned. But that has really turned around completely. I do also have to emphasize the Italian mags like IL, Italian Wired and Italian Rolling Stone. They have so much detail, and I’ve really fell in love with those the last year or so. The worst design out there right now is the Netherlands. There’s too much copy-and-paste going on here. And there’s really no need for that because we have such a great tradition in magazine design.

No way! Did you follow that a bit? It was an amazing project—one of the largest and most fulfilling projects I’ve done in my life. It was a 10 day pop-up restaurant called “Radio Royaal” I helped with during the Dutch Design Week here in the Netherlands. We started it with four friends, (all heavy duty restaurant guys) in one of the most coolio locations imaginable—an old Philips factory in Eindhoven (photos here). We bought these ace Friso Kramer chairs and tables, hired a fab chef and created the whole vibe during the process. It ended up being a huge success and sold out the last eight of ten evenings. We even got a big ten-page feature in Elle Decor magazine with this project! It’s going to re-open this April and right now we’re working on developing the big space underneath the restaurant to be a cool exposition space. My role has been designing the identity—from the big neon signs, to the little stickers on the packages, to the lettering on the roof. Heck, during the Design Week I even played the barista! I rock a mean espresso.

Point guard: Arem Duplessis

Shooting guard: Francesco Franchi

Small forward: Daniel Bognar

Power forward: Richard Turley

Center: George Lois (Man, I would love to see him designing covers these days)

But here’s an another idea… what about this team: Chuck Kerr, Matt Willey, Chris Dixon, Mike Koedinger… there’s just too many good ones out there! Or what about creating an all-Dutch team? We should make our own “magazine world championships.” I know I’d take Sabine Verschueren, Luis Mendo, Hans Wolf and the guys from O.K. Periodicals. Oh boy, are there some great ones…

Hahaha… that’s funny. No, there’s no need for weed. Marijuana really isn’t an issue for people over here because it’s legal and easy to buy. I think many people don’t smoke weed when there’s no thrill about getting it (doing something illegal). Inspiration is all about a clear head if you ask me.   …and some good, strong espresso.

While all of his work inspires, what I’d like to focus on with this post is his documentary projects Gangland, USA and Generation Homeless (samples pictured above). Both of these projects (as well as several others on his site) really blew me away. It’s great to see a photo essay of this sort where the photographer gets so close to his subjects and conveys such raw emotion in a reality setting. When I asked him how he gets himself so immersed into their world he replied:

“I guess I’ve always been drawn to social documentary stuff. For me pictures need to express something real, something true. If there’s no significance to that truth then the pictures matter less. That’s where the power lies. And I bet that perspective came from my first serious foray into photography—I was 19, teaching English in a really remote part of Nicaragua. Taking pictures was how I made sense of all the cultural craziness I was experiencing. I could behold it, and think about it, and then ultimately share it and talk about it. I would go from a place of feeling awkward and foreign and find my way through that by taking pictures and thinking about those pictures. So doing gangs, and homeless kids, or whatever, it’s the same thing. It’s recognizing some complicated, unfamiliar situation and wanting to jump in, wanting to work through that confusion and come out with some sort of tangible representation. I think there are definitely some altruistic motivations there—I fully believe in the social benefits from understanding marginalized, disenfranchised groups, for example. But I also think a lot of what drives me is just my own personal curiosity and sense of adventure.”

That sense of adventure must work. The photos are thoughtful, emotional, intriguing and powerful. Its a perfect example to young and aspiring photographers on how you don’t necessarily need a gigantic budget, studio space, complex lighting or hired models to take an award-winning and inspiring work of art.

I highly recommend a flip-through of Mike’s current projects. It’ll probably be the best 10 minutes you spend all day.

Being an Art Director (and designer in general), I’m constantly prowling the internet for cool and inspirational work. Recently, I came across a group of pieces called Fear.Less put on by the talented Daniel Ting Chong and Jordan Metcalf. The objects depicted are weapons/items used in acts of crime in South Africa, both by criminal and the law. The objects are made of wood, and created larger than life.

I look at these and am immediately rushed over with a feeling of jealousy. “Why didn’t I think of that!?!” I love the details and beauty in each of these items. The simplicity of line and shape—reminds me of some of the better modern icon illustrator work you see in editorial and web design all across the globe. But what Daniel and Jordan have done here is taken something that we normally see tiny on a piece of paper or computer screen (or phone!), and enlarged it into a tangible object that really resinates. If you have a few minutes definitely check out each of their individual websites—you’ll be happy you did. Both of these guys are absolutely killing it—so keep your eyes on them folks.

Now I just need to start scheming a way to get some of these pieces on my wall…

Early last year I was invited by a lovely little site called Designers.mx to create a 10-song mix that inspires me and keeps me motivated while I design. Designers.mx is a site for designers from all over the world to create a music mix (and design cover art!) that inspires their creativity, and hosts it for free for all to enjoy.

I was closing in on my second straight year of working some pretty crazy hours in a very deadline-driven and never-ending alt weekly atmosphere. Granted, I was in Maui and worked with some really kick-ass people so I really can’t complain. But my musical tastes had definitely morphed from chilled out psychedelic indie rock to bass-thumping, head-bumping, curse-filled hip hop jams. Not that I don’t still love indie rock (or rock in general for that matter), but upbeat music was the name of the game. I’m happy to see that my mix is not only still on the site (8,600 listens, ya’ll!), but has 124 “favorites” and is still in the “most favorited” list.

If you haven’t checked out Designers.mx, you definitely should. It’s a great way to find out about good new music—and the website is one of the best-looking and most user-friendly sites out there. Added bonus: you can spend hours diving down the rabbit hole of awesome work from awesome designers (mixers) from all walks of life. So pull out your headphones and thank me later.

Lucky 11 Studios is the work of award-winning Art Director, graphic designer and illustrator Chris Skiles. Currently residing in Seattle, Chris is the Associate Art Director at Seattle Met magazine where he works as one of only two designers for the highly-respected regional city publication.

Before making the move to Seattle, Chris was the Art Director of  MauiTime Weekly in Hawaii, Art Director at Marion Montgomery, Inc. in Texas, Advertising Art Director and Associate Designer for ENVY Houston & Dallas magazines (no longer in publication) and Graphic Designer for Regency Publishing where he worked on titles such as Farm & Ranch, Pinnacle and Residence magazines—both also in Houston, Texas.

Chris recently partnered with his wife Sabrina to bring her extensive Public Relations and Events Coordination background to Lucky 11, further providing new opportunities and benefits for their clients.

Contact Chris at chris@lucky11studios.com for a quote, questions or just to say hi.

In the meantime, feel free to browse some work on our flickr site here.