12 Months Of Illustrated Aliens And Their Animated Planets - A Project by Andy Martin

Begun in January of 2013, illustrator, animator and music maker Andy Martin (Handymartian) has just completed his wonderful year long project - "The Illustrated Aliens."

Each day for a month Martin created an alien and, at the end of each month, he revealed the planet upon which they live via an animated short. He did this for an entire year, culminating in 12 different alien species, 12 animated videos and 4 posters.



Having revealed the final Planet Twelve animation on the 15th of January 2014, the galactic adventure has concluded and I want to share all twelve months of his wonderful work with you.

The Aliens

Planet One Aliens:



Planet Two Aliens:



Planet Three Aliens:



Planet Four Aliens:



Planet Five Aliens:



Planet Six Aliens:



Planet Seven Aliens:



Planet Eight Aliens:



Planet Nine Aliens:



Planet Ten Aliens:



Planet Eleven Aliens:



Planet Twelve Aliens:




The 12 Planet Animated Videos


I had intended to embed all 12 animated videos here but it was taking too long to load and crashing. Instead, please view his planet videos here in Vimeo.

The Posters:
The first of his four posters features all the Illustrated Aliens from the year long project starting with Planet One's characters at the bottom and moving up to Planet Twelve's characters at the top:


The second of four posters has all the planets from this year long project in a 3x4 grid:


The third of four posters has all the characters from this year long project mixed together:


The fourth of the four posters shows the universe created by the planets in this year long project:


You can purchase prints of these posters here at Society 6

Andy will be updating his Tumblr with any further news about the Illustrated Aliens and The Planets as he hopes to send them to animation festivals this year. Best of luck to you, Andy!

All illustrations by Andy Martin.
Follow him on Tumblr.
Follow him on Twitter.
See the sketches on Instagram.
Buy prints on Society6.

Little Flags Of Awesome - Designers Go Retro for The People's Pennant.

Elevating the classic pennant from sports memorabilia to a celebration of the everyday - that's the concept behind The People's Pennant.



Launched in March of 2012, the Pennant People (Jessica, Tim and Eric of Greenpoint, Brookyln) enlist various graphic designers, typographers and illustrators to create a different wool felt blend pennant that is then sewn and printed by hand. Made in a limited quantity of 250 each, the pennants measure 12" x 30".  And at only $25 a piece, they are fun decor for everything from dorm rooms to offices.






As of now, they have 8 beautiful pennants available for purchase, all shown below.

Coffee Break! by Ken Barber, type director at House Industries.:


Happy Hour by Nathan Strandberg and Katie Kirk of Eight Hour Day:


Blast Off! by Invisible Creature:


Look Closer by Tyler and Elsa Lang of Always With Honor:


Read Much by Heads of State:


Rise & Shine by Richard Perez:


Pizza Time by Mikey Burton:


and their newest, Ride by Brent Couchman:






Here's a video that gives you a short tour of how the pennants are made:


Sewn and printed by hand, the 70/30 wool felt blend pennants cost $25 each
Shop for them here

Introducing The Ponysaurus Brewing Co. And Their Beautifully Branded Beers.

Launched just 2 months ago by David Baldwin, Keil Jansen and Nick Johnson, the Ponysaurus Brewing Co. in Durham, North Carolina touts itself as a 'forward-thinking, backward-tasting brewery based in Durham, NC, creating beers that are meant to be savored, appreciated, contemplated, philosophized, studied, nuzzled, and mindfully guzzled.'



above: David Baldwin, Keil Jansen and Nick Johnson of the Ponysaurus Brewing Co.

With seven craft brews thus far under their label, the beautifully branded beer just released photos of their bottle, label, packaging and collateral design by Baldwin& (who is part owner of the brewery), designer Kellyn McGarity, writer Chad Temples and illustrator Steven Nobel who helped out on the Ponysaurus icon.














The Beers:

Degarde:
An homage to higher-gravity French farmhouse ales, Biere de Garde roughly translates to “beer for keeping.” Our version reflects the historical realities of this style of farming, when brewers made do with what was on hand. With three types of barley, wheat, rye, and oats, its aroma smacks of apple, pear,almond, and vanilla, with just a hint of lemon rind.


IPA:
For our IPA, we used the traditional West Coast India Pale Ale as our template, then forgot where we put the template, then created something completely different. It’s a simple, easily enjoyable IPA with a crisp bouquet of lemon citrus, grapefruit rind, and melon. Tangerine and passion fruit dominate the hop flavor, but without the usual overwhelming bitterness.


Fig:
Our take on the crisp, flavorful ales brewed by farmers specifically for summer refreshment, the Fig Saison starts with several varieties of wheat, barely, rye, and, of course, figs. With a complex mix of yeast and fruit aromas that perfectly match its higher level of carbonation, the Fig Saison pours a rich red color and finishes dry with a mix of fruit, floral, spice, and subtle fig-ish notes.


Imperial:
Created in the 18th Century by British brewers for the kinda scary Czars of Russia, the Imperial Stout was designed to be dark, strong, and hardy enough to handle the long and perilous voyage across the Baltic Sea. And you do not want to disappoint the Czars of Russia. Our version is made to stand the test of time, too, featuring rich flavors of chocolate, toffee, coffee, currant, and vanilla. Budem zdorovy!


Reserve:
The result of our finest brewing efforts, the Ponysaurus Réserve is a Belgian Dark Strong Ale featuring rich brown malts and Belgian candy syrup made in-house. Flavorful Belgian yeast yields a complex yet elegant set of fruit and floral notes, while the candy syrup ferments almost completely, resulting in a scarily drinkable beer clocking in at just under 10% ABV.


Weissbier:
A celebration of traditional German wheat beers, our Weissbier features the classic banana and clove flavors, with the refreshing tartness and citrus notes that can only be found when the beer is at its freshest. We serve the beer cloudy on purpose, as the suspended yeast is crucial to its overall impression.


Vidieri:
A collaboration between Ponysaurus and local chocolatier Videri, our Chocolate Stout is designed to mimic the pure simplicity of a bar of dark chocolate. With a simple grain bill and fresh cocoa nibs added directly to the beer for ultimate flavor commingling, the result is a dark, clean beer that tastes more like artisan chocolate than chocolate cake.

Not available in liquor stores, you have to be a locoal to get a taste of their brews. The beer can be found at Geer Street Garden, Poole's Diner, Watts Grocery, and/or Mateo



Ponysaurus Brewing Co.