ICM - Leeds Design Agency

Ben Heine is a painter, illustrator, portraitist, caricaturist and photographer. All of these skills are used in his range of work called Pencil vs Camera. The pencil drawings seem to blend seamlessly with the photography to create an almost dream like effect.

Here are a few of my favourite pieces:

Ben Heine has a degree in journalism but also studied graphic arts and sculpture, all disciplines seem to show in his work.

As many of you already know, I’m a fairly keen mountain-biker. So when Ian put a poster up in the office for the British Red Cross Mountain Bike Challenge (with a note pressuring the bikers of ICM to get involved) I jumped at the chance and signed up.

There’s no real motivation other than it’s a great opportunity to raise some money for a worthwhile charity. I’ve ridden around Dalby forest a few times before and it is a really enjoyable, not to mention world-class, piece of bike trail – so I’ve set my goal quite high…

Which is where you come in: any amount that you can donate will be gratefully received – and it only takes a few minutes by clicking here. Thank you.

If you’re a regular reader of our blog you will notice that I have a huge appreciation for the inspired designs of Penguin Books. My last post on the subject featured the new designs for Clothbound Classics and the The Great Food Series.

This time Penguin books have taken a look at their paperback classics in aid of the Global Fund to help eliminate AIDS in Africa. When you buy any of the new editions, 50% of the profits from the sales of each book go directly to the fund. The Stunning typographical designs uses a quote from each book and replaces the usual black band with red. Each cover design reflects the tone of the book and are also available as downloadable posters.