Steamed sculptures and four other finds

Five Finds
Written By Lark Design Studio

Five Finds is a monthly collection of five inspiring things we deemed worthy of sharing. If you’d like inspiration in your inbox each month sign up here.

Podcasts, pop-ups and paper cuts

This month’s collection of finds cover the spectrum of music, art, politics and product design so there should be a little something for everyone.

In the studio we’re still working through some larger projects so can’t share many updates from those yet but I thought I’d share some work we recently completed for our long-time client Dragonfly Tea.

As always, if you like what you read please share the newsletter and help grow the subscribers. I’d really appreciate it!

Keith / Founder

 
The podcast cover art for "Search Engine" features stylized orange and dark teal geometric shapes with a small figure standing on a ledge. The words "search engine" are centrally located in white text, with "Jigsaw" and the Audacy logo below.

Image: Search Engine cover

Techno technicalities

The Search Engine podcast fronted by PJ Vogt (previously from Reply All) was voted a best podcast of 2023 by Vulture, Time, The Economist, & Vogue. It’s excellent and this two part series follows the plight of two Americans who try to get into the most exclusive nightclub in the world – Berghain.

 

On a Wim

Named after his father, the Wim – designed by Robert Bronwasser – is an occasional table that uses a distinctive ‘W’ shape to store magazines and books with a place to set down a drink.

 
Several hands, rendered in grayscale collage style, manipulate wooden pencils over papers with grid lines and checkboxes, one of which has a black "X" marked.

Image: The Guardian election coverage 2024 artworks (Copyright © The Guardian, 2024)

Hands-on illustrations

For their election coverage this year, The Guardian’s art department decided to respond to the rise of AI generative imagery and make their illustrations using purposely imperfect paper cuts.

 
A face is subtly depicted in shades of blue using a textured, mesh-like material against a light background. The features are softly defined by the layering and density of the blue medium.

Image: © Benjamin Shine

Steamed sculptures

Artist Benjamin Shine folds, sews and irons tulle netting to build stunningly detailed 3D portraits. Go watch his Instagram feed for some behind-the-scenes footage.

 
An open pop-up book displays a three-dimensional yellow hand with black outlines and abstract figures, rising from a page covered in red, graffiti-style drawings.

Image: © Counter-Print

Pop-up pop art

I fell in love with Keith Harring’s work when I was studying GCSE art. Not just for his namesake but because his graphic art spoke to my teenage self. I even covered my mum’s Lada in doodles for my exam piece as an ode to the artist. This new pop-up book spanning his short career is available to pre-order.

 

Studio news
Dragonfly adverts

Family values

We’ve recently completed a range of print ads for Dragonfly Tea to highlight  the fact that they’re still an independent, family-run company. We used their existing brand assets (illustrations, icons, fonts and colours) to build adverts that feel fresh but remain on-brand. See more of our work for them below.

 
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Lark Design Studio https://www.larkdesign.co.uk/
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