Steven Harrington, truly one of the best designers working today, just keeps killing it with art prints. He lives and works in Los Angeles. Influenced by Time Life encyclopedias from 1965 to 1972, thrift stores and the ’60s psych sounds of The Moody Blues, his art might be termed “contextual objectivity”, with every piece created as a tangible object symbiotically defined by a larger context.
Harrington, along with fellow artist Justin Krietemeyer, is the co-founder of National Forest Design whose projects include the Urban Outfitters Catalogs, Burton Snowboards and the Nike Ole Mural. Drawing influence from images, fashion and graphics discovered in Time Life Encyclopedias from 1965-1972. Even though he is very busy, he still finds time to work on both commissioned and self-inspired art projects of his own.
He has exhibited work in Los Angeles, New York, Dallas, San Francisco, Chicago, Philadelphia, Montreal, Tokyo, Melbourne, Barcelona, Paris, Milan, and Berlin.
I love his use of color and strong subjects. Here are some pieces from Steven’s graphic artwork :
Although he does often do work on his computer, especially when drafting for his design agency, National Forest, Harrington prefers to keep pen and notebook within arm’s reach. “I feel it’s very important to always let my viewer know that there is a human being behind the work.”
Viewing his work you can definitely see the human element. Whimsical, winky faces, bright colors, and hand-crafted figures all nod back to a man who is passionate about connecting people through his work.
The great artist is involved in lots of projects. One of them is “Curated by Arkitip” and designed for Incase, aimed at delivering artistically embellished Apple© products to users who have an appreciation for the creative arts as well as technology. Both designs are not only super hip but they offer up a psychedelic look as well.
“I constantly find myself wondering what ‘the land of art’ is. Since I can remember I’ve always drawn or painted. I have always had ‘side projects,’ it’s just my personality to keep busy. I kept on living and constantly making things, this is of great significance to me. Finding that personal time to reflect and question things is really important and keeps me grounded as a human being. The result of that personal time in my life turned into making images. In my younger days, I dreamed of everything but art.”(Steven Harrington)
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