View from the Zoo

Gotcha! April’s Fool’s! I coudn’t wait to show off this fishy card from Eggpress, who are celebrating their 10th anniversary this year. I can feel the summer heat coming around the corner.

Ice fishing season is slowing down and I’m dreaming of summer already. To tide me over, I found this ad (which doubles as a poster) in the latest Communication Arts magazine by Colle+McVoy in Minneapolis. Created for Takemefishing.org to encourage kids to check out the site, they hooked this illlustrator, too. Just to show you that you never know what you can reel in.
Derek Till, art director; Tim Blevins, writer; Mike Caguin, creative director; Aesthetic Apparatus, illustrator; Chris Peters, art producer. Via Communication Arts.

Velvet Moustache, I love your sense of humour! The big Boyfriend, pictured above, is climbing into the hearts of many plush enthusiasts. Is it a bear or, what? Many of their inventions are inspired by animals and nature. Among others, there is Panda Mourant (right, center – save the panda!), Arctic Warrior (top right, kind of an owl), Esturgee (bottom right, a huge sturgeon), all made by hand with organic cottons and recycled materials in their studio in Montreal.

Velvet Moustache, I love the name! «Velvet, for the softness of the material and Moustache, because it’s cute and has personality.» says Majorie Labrecque-Lepage, who hails from a fashion background.  With her partner Benoit Massé, a graphic designer, they founded Velvet Moustache two years ago based on their common interests in ecology, ethics and crafts.

Velvet Moustache – where can I buy your creations?  Directly from their studio online, or if you are in Old Montreal you can stop by Galerie Zone Orange, a cafe-art gallery which offers a variety of handmade items by local artisans. Do you have a creature that you would like to see in 3D? Majorie does special orders.

Velvet Moustache – what is your most popular toy? «Popeye (below)  – people are really surprised when they realise they can take the eye out and play with it like a ball!»

You can see Velvet Moustache in person this weekend where they will be participating at Couture X-Press in Montreal, creating fashion, live, in front of an audience, starting at 21h.

Photos by Velvet Moustache, 2009

My «Lovebutton» cards and stickers that I ordered from moo.com are here and ready for distribution. The minicards are very versatile – I use them as business cards, as gift tags, as bookmarks or simply as portfolio samples. The jellybeans were delicious too. White ones were coconut  flavored, the red ones, sour apples and the pink ones tasted, well, pink (bubblegum or rootbeer or…).

And here you can see how the stickers turned out.