The First World War was a war dominated by high explosives and heavy artillery. Battlefield casualties included an unprecedented number with horrific facial injuries – injuries so severe the men were commonly unrecognizable to loved ones and friends. Often unable to see, hear, speak eat or drink, they struggled to re-assimilate back into civilian life. This secondary tragedy – the living unable to “live” – catalyzed Surgeon Sir Harold Gillies to transform the fledgling discipline of plastic surgery based on his unrivalled observation of the profoundly wounded and his ability to push the parameters of the profession beyond all known techniques.

Since 2004, Artist and Project Façade Leader Paddy Hartley has researched, responded to and interpreted the personal and surgical stories of some of the servicemen who underwent this pioneering surgical reconstruction under Sir Harold Gillies.

Hartley works from original patient and surgical notes, sketches and photographs of the men that form part of The Gillies Archive, Queen Mary’s Hospital in Sidcup along with personal testimony from the families of some of the men. He produces digital and hand embroidered sculptures using uniforms similar to those worn by the injured men, to present fragmented personal histories of the men who endured long and painful reconstructive surgery developed by Sir Harold Gillies and his surgical team.

Hartley works in partnership with Gillies Archive Curator Dr Andrew Bamji at Queen Mary’s Hospital Sidcup and Biomaterial Scientist Dr Ian Thompson in the Oral Maxillofacial Dept, Guys Hospital London, This ground-breaking project provides a unique opportunity for Paddy Hartley to examine and respond artistically to the origins of surgical facial reconstruction with a view to tracing further Gillies Veterans families and seeking a greater acknowledgment of the experiences, sacrifices and of the patients and medical staff in the care of Sir Harold Gillies.

This is an incredibly beautiful and emotive project, something that captures its concept perfectly. It’s a shame more art isn’t like this. Find out more Here. Via

Yep, it’s my last day in the studio… at least for now (when I said I was sticking around I wonder if they knew I meant indefinitely?) What will I do without this as my view:

Or this:

or even this:

Oh well, I’ll be back for Christmas…

No comments

It May be my last day in the UGD studio tomorrow… But today the weather’s looking pretty chilly and I don’t have any folders to stick together so, we’re going to talk about scarves!

Or more precisely, we’re going to talk about awesome scarves!

Scarf No.1

We start this off with a beautiful microfiber suede scarf by designers Little Factory (Check out the other things in their shop, I need their Serif tote bag.)

No.2

You didn’t think the vintage girl was only going to give you type did you? This little lovely is from Modcloth, the home of amazing vintage clothing. Ah to be skinny and incredibly rich…

No.3

I love everything crafty, but this I love the most as even I could make it… And you know what I just might have a go. Found over on the Martha Stewart website.

No.4

This would go with everything that I own. Enough said. Annoyingly I can’t find the website selling this scarf, if anyone can help me out please let me know in the comments!

No.5

And we end with the scarf that makes me smile the most, who wouldn’t want a string of mario mushrooms around their neck? This and many others found Here!

See you for my last day tomorrow!

No comments

Now, I may not look like it, but at one point I was really into Daft Punk… Yeah I know,the vintage girl rocked out to Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger…

And so you can now understand why I made loud, happy noises when I found this:

Harrison Krix, a 28 year old designer Made this, and things like this, in his SPARE TIME.

If you’d like to know more about how exactly he made this piece of awesomeness look Here.

In celebration of UGD’s 5th birthday we’re going to be on Ustream live for your viewing pleasure all day! Watch us Here.

A month ago I had never worked with vectors, the idea of working with vectors scared the crap out of me…But I’m slowly gaining more confidence, and I am now able (to some extent) to use them.

And so I’ve been fiddling for the past few days with this:

What do you think?

Introducing Half Pants.

What. The. Hell? Bernhard Willhelm is Hawking these things for $170 (a bargain seeing as they where on sale for $340) Described as

“Half pants, half shorts in a combination of camouflage and blue & white pinstripe. front and back pockets. Zip fly.”

Even Lady GaGa wouldn’t wear these…

D&AD one of the most well known design websites/competitions/groups have discovered chat roulette. Now I understand what you’re thinking; I don’t want to see Saatchi’s genitalia either…

“Chat Roulette, (in case you have been living in a box) is new website that brings you face-to-face, via webcam, with an endless stream of random strangers all over the world. Sadly, it’s notoriety isn’t really due to it’s ability to make meaningful connections and bring people together: statistics show that the site is 89% male, and you have a good 1 in 8 chance of encountering a penis.

We promise this won’t happen in Creative Roulette.

In Creative Roulette (brought to you by those lovely folks at A + B), creative professionals and industry pros are locked together in the creative roulette room and given the opportunity to chat with chaps like you, the graduate.

Creative Roulette is all about networking- establishing relationships with people in the know. It’s an opportunity to find contacts (not a job) that can dole out some wisdom and potentially help send you and your work in the right direction.

You click the button and get the chance to have a five-minute chat at random with anyone else in the room. It could be your artistic hero, a reputable studio manager, a freelancing professional, a recent graduate… It could even be someone just like you.

As with regular Chat Roulette, you can ‘next’ someone at any time if they’re boring the pants off you. But equally, remember that they can do the same- not an ego boost when chatting to that superstar designer whose attention you’ve been trying to grab for months.

So, in the rather limited time and with rather limited resources, what can you do to get the most out of this amazing (and slightly bizarre) creative conversation game?”

Find this Awesome Idea Here

Beautiful

So, I’ve shown you Edward Cullens pants and RDJ as a pin up. “What can you do to top that Lauren?” I hear you cry, well, I’ll tell you: Now I hope to shed light on a question that has plagued mankind since the dawn of the internet:

What happens when you challenge a fantastic comic illustrator to draw 200 bad comics?

This Happens:

You’re Welcome. (Find the other 195 Here)