Expand your personal library of references and get to know the work of creatives from various disciplines.
Learn about the influence of traditional Japanese prints on the painter's art The fascination of the western world for eastern tradition is not new. At the end of the XIX century, the western art community showed a growing interest in anything oriental. Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890) was a great lover of Japan's aesthetic and traditional art, which had a big influence on his work.
The NASA “Worm” logotype will not be forgotten, and neither will its creators If you’re a millennial, when you hear the word NASA, it’s likely that the first image to pop into your head is the logo known as the “Meatball” (you might even be wearing a sweatshirt with it on as you read this). It’s the logo that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration used during its greatest accomplishments, including the Apollo moon landings, and still uses today. Designed by James Modarelli in 1959, a year after NASA was established, it's made up of a blue circle filled with stars, a red swoosh that represents an airplane wing, a spacecraft orbiting the wing, and those four white capital letters.
Cherry Bomb Creative Co. share their favorite platforms for inspirational video content Nora Muñoz and Gabriel Tinoco are the co-founders of independent studio Cherry Bomb Creative Co. (@cherrybomb_creative), which specializes in branding, design, and illustration. They’ve worked with major brands such as Nestle, Cinépolis, Didi Food, Editorial Santillana, and Pearson, as well as NGOs including UNICEF, UNHCR, and the Red Cross.
Discover the work of these top needle felting artists using wool in inventive ways Needle felting, a technique that involves compacting a ball of wool to create different shapes using a spiky needle, is growing increasingly popular. This is largely thanks to social media, which provides artists with a platform to share and sell their adorable needle felted art toys and other creations. In this blog post, three Domestika teachers share a list of needle felting artists whose work will inspire you to pick up a needle. Artists selected by Caro Indy (@caroindy): Wes Anderson – The Making of Fantastic Mr. Fox Let’s start by talking about Wes Anderson’s Fantastic Mr. Fox, a stop-motion animation film starring some very charismatic needle-felted animals who stole the hearts of indie film lovers. This film made needle felting very popular, even though Wes didn’t actually make the animals with his own hands. Carolina Alles recommends the book, The Making of Fantastic Mr. Fox. The film is an adaptation of Roald Dahl's children's classic, a story that Anderson reimagined in 2009 for the enjoyment of a new generation of cinema-goers. The book offers a vast amount of material, such as storyboards and behind-the-scenes photos.
The Smithsonian National Museum collections offer public domain resources for you to use The National Museum of African American History and Culture is the most important museum dedicated to African American history, life, and culture. With over 36 thousand artifacts, it provides an exciting opportunity to explore through interactive exhibitions. As a public institution in the US, and part of the Smithsonian National Museum, it’s open to collaborations and participation from the public.
Can character designer Laura Ewing illustrate Keanu Reeves’ many emotions in 5 minutes? The face is one of the most expressive parts of the body, which is why understanding how to illustrate believable facial expressions is a key skill for any character designer. Laura Ewing (@le_lauraewing) is a storyboard artist and character designer whose job it is to capture the essence of a story quickly and convincingly for films, documentaries, and publishing houses. We challenged Laura to imagine and illustrate actor Keanu Reeves’ face expressing different emotions, using surprise prompts ranging from “just won an Oscar” to “just got fired” via “too much coffee”. See how she did below:
The founders of Clap Studio share a list of blogs and magazines that deliver a daily dose of inspiration What can I do to get my creative juices flowing? We ask ourselves this question several times a day, especially when there’s pressure to create. How to keep our creativity afloat can get philosophical, but, in reality, the solution is simple: find references! Sourcing references means connecting with new ideas, concepts, projects, professionals, techniques, and expressions. Mixing everything together is sure to result in something unique, vibrant, and creative. To help you get your creative juices flowing, Jordi and Ángela, the founders of Clap Studio (@clapstudio), have drawn up a list of go-to blogs and magazines that deliver a daily dose of inspiration. Enjoy! Dezeen Dezeen is one of the world's most popular architecture and design magazines and offers curated content for professionals and individuals interested in these creative fields. The magazine features projects from around the world and sets out to create a global design community.
Illustrator James Chapman on why he chose a career in art after completing a PhD in physics Over the last five years, illustrator designer James Chapman (@jameschapman) has written and illustrated his own books; worked on projects for Disney, Nickelodeon, and Universal as a 2D designer at the animation studio, Brown Bag Films; created viral content for Buzzfeed; and seen his POSCA pen sketchbook series evolve, attracting tens of thousands of followers to his Instagram account. James describes his specialty as “making art that’s cute and colorful and overall entertaining.” James grew up in an artistic household in the West Midlands in England. “My dad was an architect, and my brother was very good at drawing.” Inspired by the talents in the family, he set about practicing his drawing skills at a very young age, producing pictures of the things he liked most (namely Sonic the Hedgehog). Aged 16, he came to a crossroads when picking the subjects he would study at A-level–a decision that would determine what he could go on to study at university. Forced to decide between science and art, he eventually chose science and went on to study physics, right up to PhD level.
Discover some legendary international photographers that immortalized unique musical events Without television and other media platforms, pop, rock, and rap music would hardly have survived. Music created since the second half of the 20th century is essentially visual: it relies on the artist’s exploited image to reach the rest of the world. For this reason, it is easy to understand the importance of the work of concert photographers. These professionals help turn artists into legends through their incredible photos and consecrate them in popular culture history books. Aside from dealing with their musician subjects’ various personalities, concert photographers must also consider many other variables. “ The act of photographing a show requires mastering different equipment, knowledge of photometry, etc. Generally, you’ll have to deal with a great variety of lighting situations and a lot of movement on stage. What you need to ensure good and consistent results in this type of photography is practice: trial and error are what makes us. Trust me: if you can handle this part of the job, you’ll have a great time,” says Bruna Prado, one of the most renowned concert photographers in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. We’ve put together a list of eight fantastic concert photographers—current and historical—, and some of their incredible work, a visual record of some of the best music produced over the last few decades. Jim Marshall Starting our list is Woodstock's official photographer. Born in the US in 1936 (he died in 2010), Jim Marshall’s lens immortalized the muddy apotheosis of peace, love, and excesses that was the most legendary (if not the first) of all big music festivals. A feature published by Rolling Stone magazine claims that his portraits of musical legends Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Johnny Cash, The Beatles, and Bob Dylan, among many others, "helped define the protagonists of rock, and rock photography itself."
Visual artist and business mentor Clauda Sahuquillo shares the four steps We all have dreams we’re working towards, but without commitment and consistency it’s all too easy for our big ideas to simply fade away. Not for Claudia Sahuquillo, however. Claudia first caught public attention with her #SkinIsTheNewCanvas campaign where she painted patterns and shapes on naked women’s bodies. Now, an owner of three businesses, a mentor for young creatives, and a thriving full time artist herself, she is living her constantly evolving dream and is determined to show others how they can do the same.
Did you know she can write backwards? This Draw Yourself reviews some of the key moments of her creative career.
A retrospective on the prolific typographer and logo designer, featuring some of his most emblematic creations Ed Benguiat (1924-2020) was an American typographer, designer, and lettering artist whose influence on the creative world is difficult to overstate. In addition to having served as associate director of Esquire magazine—whose logo he designed, he was a prestigious jazz percussionist under the name Eddie Benart, a pilot, a teacher with more than 50 years of experience, and, every now and then, he found the time to retouch some "scandalous" images in magazines.
The Spanish painter explains his unique creative influences and invites us into his studio
A selection of authors recommended by writer and professor Shaun Levin South African professor Shaun Levin (@shaun_levin), the author of the short story collection A Year of Two Summers and the novel Seven Sweet Things, believes that inspiration is everywhere. With more than 20 years as a creative writing teacher, he is living proof: he has taught in schools, schools, art galleries, bookstores, cafes, parks, a cemetery, and even in a zoo. In addition to teaching and writing, Levin edits books and literary magazines and has created a series of writing maps to inspire other writers.
Discover the wonderful world of this multi-talented British artist as he tells us about his creative process, influences, and inspiration Owen Davey (@owendaveydraws) is passionate about illustration. His award-winning children’s books have been published in every continent except Antarctica. Working from the English coastal town of Worthing, Owen is known for his geometric vector illustrations, limited color palettes, and his love of drawing animals. Among his clients, he counts Google, Facebook, Sony, The New York Times, National Geographic, Microsoft, Lego, the Two Dot app, and many, many more.
Discover the studios that put our planet first when it comes to developing a design project Spanish creative director and graphic designer Núria Vila Punzano (@nuriavilapunzano) fuses her passion for the visual arts with today’s most pressing issues: sustainability and protecting the environment. While at university, Núria was drawn to experimental books and learning about alternative production techniques. Worried that her work lacked purpose (after all, what was her objective, just to make money?), she decided to turn her attention to environmentally-conscious design. She was disappointed by the standard of what was being classed as "ecodesign" around the world and decided to become the Irma Boom of sustainable design. Her Domestika course, Introduction to Sustainable Graphic Design, seeks to train other designers and creatives to focus their work on these issues, encouraging people to develop an aesthetic that respects and defends the planet. Below, we present seven design studios that prioritize sustainability and which Núria considers important references: La page This Catalan design studio sets out to develop projects with a zero-carbon footprint and analyses how much damage each stage of the process causes to the environment, from production to distribution. La page has launched BlueTool, an eco graphic design tool for public use.
Learn about the origin of music videos where typography is the protagonist The lyric videos are the music videos in which instead of seeing stories or the musicians performing the song, the main element is the typography. Since the advent of music videos, they have been a creative resource used by bands of all genres. For about a decade now, bands have often released a song with a lyric video before releasing the official one. For independent musicians, this type of video is attractive as it can be made with fewer resources than traditional productions, while fans can learn the lyrics of the songs. They have become so popular that in 2014, MTV included a lyric video category in their annual Music Video Awards. Here are some exceptional examples that truly bring the use of typography to the spirit of each song.
If you work in social media, branding, and creativity, or are simply interested in learning more, check out this reading list compiled by experts No longer is social media simply a marketing tool: for most companies, it has become the most important vehicle of communication. This is why making the most of social networks is essential, as they become increasingly more valuable. To generate effective strategies and ideas for brands, you need to learn how to use your best thinking tool. Staying up to date and getting to know this specialty in depth are the keys to success. Therefore, we are sharing a list of books recommended by Domestika teachers who are also experts in digital marketing and social media. Recommended by Juanmi Díez, Dot Lung, Núria Mañé, and Hana Kloner, the following titles touch on everything from creativity and branding, as well as the origins of digital marketing. Recommendations from Juanmi Díez (@juanmidiez), who teaches the course, Introduction to Instagram Business:
It might surprise you to learn that New Jersey was the birthplace of America’s film industry Once upon a time, before Hollywood, a borough of northern New Jersey was the film capital of the world. Located across the Hudson River from New York City, Fort Lee was the birthplace of the American film industry, home to the first film studios, including Universal, Solax (the first studio founded and directed by a woman: French writer, director, and producer, Alice Guy Blaché), and Fox. What brought filmmakers to Fort Lee? In 1888, Thomas Edison, who had already invented the phonograph, commissioned William Dickson to create the first motion-picture camera: the Kinetograph. In 1893, the Edison Company built what is thought to be America’s first film studio in West Orange, New Jersey. This studio was a single-room building called the “Black Maria,” which rotated on tracks to follow the sun.
With different styles and techniques, these illustrators capture the essence of buildings and spaces
Discover the upcoming talents who are inspiring our top illustrators When 2020 came to an end, we wanted to evaluate this most atypical year and compile a list of its most salient moments. We asked some of Domestika’s illustrators if they‘d made some discoveries in 2020 and to tell us who, in their view, were the illustration talents who had made a significant mark and that we should not lose sight of in the new year. Germán González, Paula Bossio, Carlos Rodríguez Casado, Ana Santos, Diego Catalán, Emma Hanquist, Adolfo Serra, and Ana Victoria Calderón tell us about their illustration favorites. 1. Germán González recommends Florian Schommer Digital illustrator Germán González (@germangonzalez) teaches the Domestika course 'Digital Techniques for Illustrated Portraits’ and admits it was not easy to choose only one person, as he discovered many talented illustrators last year. However, he was particularly impressed by German illustrator Florian Schommer's work.
Two of the creative minds behind Ciszak Dalmas Ferrari Studio share the films and docs that have most influenced them Architect Matteo Ferrari and product designer Andrea Caruso are the creative minds behind Ciszak Dalmas Ferrari Studio, based in Madrid. Both Matteo and Andrea have drawn on a wide range of influences to expand their intellectual awareness and aesthetic understanding over the years, helping them to develop and evolve their practice. In this blog post, they share a selection of films and documentaries that have inspired them, and which can be seen reflected in their work.
Watch illustrators create live different art pieces while you learn from their processes The Domestika Live Art series emerged as part of Domestika Live’s live stream series, where illustrators, designers and artists from different disciplines share with you their secrets and tips to create unique projects, and answer questions from the audience while creating a piece live. Here are 7 of the best broadcasts from this series. To watch each video, just click on its red title. Enjoy!
Prompts that will inspire you to transform people, places, objects, and memories into stories Shaun Levin (@shaun_levin) is a writer, artist, editor, bookbinder, and creative writing teacher. He is also the creator of Writing Maps: a platform sharing illustrated maps filled with creative writing prompts to inspire writers to transform people, places, objects, and memories into stories. Since the release of his first novel, Seven Sweet Things, in 2003, Shaun has published a number of books and creative writing resources including A Year of Two Summers, Isaac Rosenberg's Journey to Arras: A Meditation, and Snapshots of The Boy. He has taught creative writing for over twenty years in colleges, schools, and adult education centers, and run workshops in public spaces. He also founded and edits The A3 Review.
Photographer Nicanor García shares some fundamental editing settings to apply to all your photographs Adobe Photoshop was one of the first programs created for editing digital images; it became popular because it enabled the user to change and manipulate images for creative purposes and to fix mistakes. Editing, or post-production, allows photographers to go a little further than merely taking a photo. Besides lighting and framing, you can take advantage of other basic editing settings to achieve optimal results. You can refine a picture by correcting the perspective, geometry, exposure, contrast, or highlights. Expert photographer Nicanor García runs us through the basic editing settings that can help us achieve amazing photographs.
Discover the materials you need to create a wide range of flowers and incredible botanical art with artist and maker Eileen Ng
The Boston Public Library has digitized several dozens of Escher prints Enigmatic and brilliant, the work of M. C. Escher is worthy of admiration. That's why institutions that keep some of his engravings safe often exhibit them publicly so that we all can enjoy them. One of these institutions is the Boston Public Library — the largest municipal library in the United States — who has digitized almost a hundred of his engravings. Anyone who accesses its archives can explore them in great detail and get to know all the nooks and crannies of the impossible constructions that Escher devised and drew throughout his career.
Get inspired by the most successful craft artists of the Domestika community in 2025 Craft has acquired many followers, but the image it evokes can be old-fashioned and doesn’t reflect the many possibilities it offers. For this reason, crafts are often considered an unsung category of the creative world. The best way to learn about this art form is by exploring what contemporary craft artists are doing to innovate and rejuvenate old techniques like embroidery, ceramics, collage, and crocheting. The possibilities are endless, and we are here to prove it. Reset and change your Instagram feed, with images from creatives from around the world that will surprise and inspire you to take on a craft. Kathrin Marchenko (@kathrin_marchenko) Inspired by fashion and haute couture, Moscow textile artist, Kathrin Marchenko, uses tulle and colorful threads as a canvas and creates art pieces with 3D effects.
Whether done by hand, using software, in 2D or 3D, these rules apply to all types of animation There are several ways to bring a drawing to life, but one in particular has become a reference over the years. In 1981, Disney animators Ollie Johnston and Frank Thomas published a book compiling 12 basic principles of animation for making characters seem more realistic, with a focus on physics and emotions. Although these rules were applied to classic animations such as Snow White (1937), Pinocchio (1940), Fantasy (1940), Dumbo (1941), and Bambi (1942), they are still relevant today, despite technological advances and the advent of 3D. They are constantly being expanded and updated to include new styles and techniques.
We ask three illustrators why they use a sketchbook and why you should too Sergio Bleda (@sergibleda) is a professional cartoonist and illustrator from Valencia (Spain). In his Domestika course Inking Techniques for Comics and Illustration, he explores the technical and creative possibilities of inking. He is also passionate about sketchbooks and always carries one around. He sees his job as quickly translating ideas into images so that they go from being an abstract concept to something readable. Sketchbooks, therefore, are handy tools. Here are his five reasons why you should use one as well: #1 Every drawing that starts in a sketchbook can be defined as a clumsy "graphic babbling": a small step that makes you lose your fear of the unknown. The first word of a new language. #2 It allows you to work without pressure. Sometimes you draw without knowing precisely what you are looking for, and a sketchbook is perfect for that.
