Watchman's Note

This is a journey to the best designs in the world of Zazzle.com. Handpicked and presented (along with my own artwork) by yours truly, the driving force behind Surreality designs. We'll discover great artists and special products -mostly with a taste for the eccentric. But let us not confine ourselves in specific genres: the possibilities are endless and so is the great art one can find at Zazzle.

2/25/2010

Chaos revisited.

An an eight-pointed star with arrows at the ends has come to symbolize chaos, a state without order or predictability. This symbolization was conceived by the great British science fiction author Michael Moorcock, mostly known for his Elric of Melniboné works, a man of such diverse talent that cannot be confined by any genre.
Chaos Revisited print print
Chaos Revisited print by surrealitee
See the other art on zazzle.com
This was my inspiration for the creation of Chaos Revisited product line, a study on the artistic possibilities of this symbol and a reference to the unpredictable and ever changing aspects of Man (or Woman, if you will!), of the world and of reality itself.
I see in it a cousin to the Tao symbol, or even to the humorous Holy Chao of Discordianism. In my mind, it carries similar connotations, bringing forth a fluidity of thought, opening new creative ways and helping fight dogmas. A liberating sigil to enable paradigm-shifting, to create new paths and to demolish our certainties. In a way, a symbol of what life itself does!
I do hope you find it interesting and beautiful. It's been carefully applied to a variety of apparel, paper stuff and other goodies -most of them customizable.

2/22/2010

The Dada Bard

Here is a glorious Shakespeare portrait, indeed! It consists of a wild conglomeration of hidden images, remindful of Giuseppe Arcimboldo . The artist, Dax Norman of Daximonious,  does with sketches what the Renaissance master did with fruits, vegetables and books -and that's quite a surreal way to approach art! I love this design in the ruined shirt, just as it is.
Dax gets even weirder when he pays homage to the style of Hieronymus Bosch in his own psychedelic and dadaistic way. Great paintings to cover your upper body or give a trippy feeling to your wall!
Regardless of the things I have chosen to present here, his style is really vibrant and exploding with crazy colors -nicely balanced ones, mind you! Find more about this unique painter from Texas and his manifold talents in Dax Norman's great site.

2/21/2010

No sex please, we're squeamish!


The family-friendly profile of most print on demand businesses, means that extra caution is taken not to offend anyone. This could prove to be a very difficult thing to achieve, since some people may get offended by anything under the sun. To my surprise, it could also mean that designs such as the one above (which is an homage to Victor Vasarely, the famous Hungarian Op-Art artist) can be removed from Zazzle.

 The design was made by András Miko, whose Porn or Art shop deals with erotic art in the most curious way: strange, unrealistic designs that avoid porn, yet they deal with some of it's symbols while trying to find the difference between art and pornography. The very mention of the word makes people so uptight that they may forget to check what the fuss is all about. In this case it was only about art, love and our own misconceptions. Zazzle decided to be on the safe side (probably because their experience with customers and the law gave them enough reasons to do so) , and you can't buy this Op-Art couple anymore.

András Miko was left with designs that were deemed OK. Elliptical, obscure or just playful.

At least this attempt at referencing Piet Mondrian -the most well-known artist of the De Stijl movement- was let free to roam his store:
Geometric erotic art? Well, if you wished for something more explicit you may be reading the wrong blog! But if you, like me, are perplexed with the surreality of humankind that constantly commercializes love and sex and, at the same time, behaves like a prude, you are right at home here, in Surreality Watch.

2/19/2010

Sounding heavy

Have you ever been in a concert, feeling the bass thudding in your stomach? The character on this design knows exactly what I'm talking about. This corpulent monster seems to be made out of sound, and the cool b/w raglan shirt suits it just fine.
It's a bold design that successfully expresses heavy metal and it's a pleasure to look at, made by Jeff Stanislawski. Jeff's work is diverse but I do believe that his strong, music-inspired illustrations are top of the bill. Rockin' stuff!

2/16/2010

Destroy yourself

FULL CLIP sticker
FULL CLIP by wsafrit
View all other stickers at zazzle
This character won't appear in a television show franchise. He won't be the next Top Model, doesn't have the X Factor and can't be pictured as the next American Idol. I love him because he's one of us, the uncool, the not glossy -and that makes him more interesting and cool in my eyes. And because he's about to get out of this sticker and leave me talking all by myself about this great, simple design from Will Safrit.

2/14/2010

The real Error 403

Most web-surfers have seen the "Error 403, Forbidden" HTTP status code. Some may even remember experiencing a slight uneasiness the first time they saw it -the fear of actually doing something forbidden is deeply instilled on many people.
I came up with this design by posing these questions:
What about our everyday life?
Can we perceive reality outside the boundaries set by our subjective filters?
Could it be that we only see a small fraction of what Is, while we try desperately to translate our experience to others?
Is that experience really translatable or are we lonesome travelers in a world of illusion?

These questions may be too big to be properly expressed by a simple typography design, but, hey, at least it's stylish! You can find it in my new 403 Forbidden Reality product section and see for yourselves.

2/12/2010

Yesterday's snow

Was it the day the picture was taken? Is it something special on February 11th, something that changed the artist's life? We don't know and it doesn't matter. What matters is this strange design with the red and ochre hues and the grungy texture. The weird-looking sky and the wires that travel through it. It's a great mousepad from Krissy B.
I love the use of these vibrant colors over dirty backgrounds. Krissy's style is at it's best when it is unexpected and intense. Plus, dinosaurs never looked so playful before!

2/09/2010

Moody

This print is moody, personal, surreal and utterly beautiful. It gives a dreamlike, menacing feeling in such a richly textured and detailed way, that you just have to admire. The artist is Aleksandr Pasevin, whose Pasevin store is small but really interesting.. His work consists of mixed media and photomanipulations, although you can see a wider variety of styles (all well-executed and eye-catching) in his great portfolio site.

2/07/2010

Mug trees

2trees mug
2trees by durella
See other Tree Mugs
This surreal mug reminds me of Terry Gilliam's animations -and if this is not a great praise, I don't know what is! Smiling hills and two tiny trees make for a really unusual receptacle for your hot beverages.
I discovered this one in the Durella store, alongside more black and white designs.They are all intricate, interesting and crazy, coming from a very promising artist. If only there were more of them...

2/05/2010

Dreams on the loose

The world of Bill Elsworth is strange. Surreal forms gather and part in landscapes of fractals and acrylics, dreams lost and found and lost again. Bill captures them in beautiful -and, some times, unsettling- prints such as this one, my favorite. Then he lets them loose, I guess, to roam free in places unseen.
What happens there? Is there a witness to their wild interaction?

Bill Elsworth's blog, Collateral, is a unique mixture of art, music, workout and kettlebells. You can't beat that combination, you know!

2/02/2010

Rare breed

What a postcard! This design amazes me. It manages to be surreal, humorous, tender and gorgeous at the same time. Seems based in the finest tradition of graphic design (some '40s and '50s styles come to mind) and I do wish you have friends who will appreciate receiving such a work of art.
The artist is Belinha Fernandes from Portugal, her store is named Papelustro and everyone crazy enough to follow this blog will be more than happy to go there and take a look!
Here's another favorite:
She is great with collage but doesn't stop there: her overall designing abilities are diverse and always interesting -as I found by visiting Belinha's cool blog.

2/01/2010

Hairy slothy

This is the absolute king of taking it slow. Sloths, the slow-moving, low-metabolism mammals that live in rainforests, inspired Brett Manning to showcase her abilities (and her fine attention to detail) with pens in this great design. She's at her best depicting hairy, rootsy, entangled images, while keeping a sense of lightness and balance.
Take a look at this one:
A great shoe design and an inventive transformation of natural elements into a bizarre (and extremely appealing) fashion item. All this and more, from her store BrettIsAGirl.
Oh, and don't forget to visit Brett's website for more illustration magic (plus some great lettering!).
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