Jolby & Friends

Shapes & Smiles Available in our Shop!

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 11:38:08 -0800

After a very successful show opening at Subtext Gallery in December, the work from “Shapes & Smiles” is up in our Etsy shop. Many prints and other goods from this art show that we poured our souls into are available: Jolby.etsy.com

Announcing "The Legend of Zelda: A Triforce Tribute"

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 16:04:43 -0800

While we were busting our buns on “Shapes & Smiles” we began planning another art show as an excuse to collaborate with our awesome pals Tyler and Elsa aka Always With Honor. Being the avid gamers we are, we thought what a better subject matter than the Legend of Zelda. The show opens at Land Gallery in Portland on March 9th and features over 30 amazing artists. Check out the full line-up and some sneak peeks right here: Triforce Tribute Site.

11 Favorites From 2011

Fri, 30 Dec 2011 11:03:47 -0800

Along with having an amazing year in general, we’ve pinpointed 11 of our favorites from 2011. We’d both like to thank all of you for your support over the years. We can’t do this without you!

Colby’s Favorites:
Album: “Camp” by Childish Gambino
Book: “Game of Thrones” by George R.R. Martin
Person: Steve Jobs
Burger: Lucy’s Original
Place: In a cabin at Nisswa, MN
Moment: Speaking at Design Camp
Podcast: Doug Loves Movies
Project: “Shapes & Smiles” show
Beer: Hopwork’s Pig War
Show: The Walking Dead followed by The Talking Dead
Game: Skyrim

Josh’s Favorites:
Uni rice at Sushi Mazi
Lunch at Chez Sovan in San Jose, CA
Watching the Vancouver Canucks lose the Stanley Cup
Geoff Mcfetridge x Heath Ceramics show
Successful mushroom hunting
Speaking at AIGA Design Camp in Minnesota
Working on the Frogs Are Funny: Muppet book
El Bulli the movie
Thrice - Major Minor
Bon Iver -Bon Iver
Blind Pilot - We Are The Tide

Wishing you all an amaze-balls New Year. Love, Jolby.

View all of the work from "Shapes & Smiles" now!

Fri, 16 Dec 2011 12:04:15 -0800

It’s here! All of the work from this 3-month long art factory experience called “Shapes & Smiles” is online for your viewing pleasure right now! Visit our Shapes & Smiles mini site (designed and developed by our intern Frankenspace).

"The King's 6th Finger" Hardcover is Available! *Update

Fri, 09 Dec 2011 13:21:00 -0800

*Update! You can now purchase this from our Etsy shop.

It’s here! The King’s 6th Finger is now available in hardcover through Ginkgo Press. This new edition sports a hardcover, new art pages, and a slightly revised ending (the wording, but not what happens). We’ve been told they’ve been spotted in a lot of shops all over including the Museum of Contemporary Art in San Diego and the Walker Art Center in MPLS. Check your local book store to see if they carry it or watch our Etsy for a way to buy it straight from us!

Artists We Love: Sunny & Stumpy

Wed, 07 Dec 2011 20:13:08 -0800

We haven’t written about an artist we’re really digging in a while, but we wanna take a break from all of the show posts to bring you someone special. Our great friend and co-author of the King’s 6th Finger, Rachel Coddington makes all of those pretty products that you see above in her shop, Sunny & Stumpy.

She cuts and glues all of those pedals by hand and assembles them into these amazing pieces. Her products range from wedding bouquets and flower magnets to wedding invite templates and pins. Visit her Etsy shop and if you’re heading to Crafty Wonderland make sure to stop by her booth and say hi. She’s even giving you guys a 20% discount code: MERRYMERRYHOHO (enter on check out).

"Shapes & Smiles" Preview Video!

Fri, 02 Dec 2011 10:25:14 -0800

It’s here! The preview video for Shapes & Smiles which opens 2 weeks from today at Subtext Gallery in San Diego! In the video you’ll see lots of sneak peeks of some of the pieces from the show, us making some art, and a few cans of coconut water. The video was shot and edited by our super-buds Matteo Gamlen & Cohen with music by the great Lord Huron.

Help us spread the work and share the video! Let us know you’re coming to the show on Facebook. You can also help us spread the word on Twitter using #ShapesAndSmiles

"Positive Apocalypse" 2012 Studio on Fire Letterpress Calendar

Mon, 28 Nov 2011 09:46:40 -0800

Not only is Studio on Fire the most well-known letterpress shop in the design world, but they do an awesome calendar each year that has become a collector’s item. This year we were invited to be a part of their 2012 “Positive Apocalypse” calendar amongst other great artists. Our two pieces are in the middle: Sun Hug & Zombie Snack. SOF is so good at what they do! Look at those photos! Look at that letterpress! Go get you one by clicking here.

Shapes & Smiles Preview #03: Shapesters!

Mon, 21 Nov 2011 10:46:50 -0800

With each show we typically do a recurring character that embodies a story or a message throughout the show. With Shapes & Smiles we wanted to take a different route and created a large cast of characters that we call the “Shapesters”. To us, they embody all of the positive emotions and good times that we’ve had in our lives which is perfect since each piece is a memory from our past. These little dudes run around inside of each piece and are hidden everywhere. Above are some close-ups of them as well as a few of the pieces from the show. More to come!

Shapes & Smiles Preview #02: Screen Prints

Fri, 11 Nov 2011 16:58:16 -0800

For Shapes & Smiles, we are doing a lot of prints both giclée (like in show’s past) and screen prints. We spent the last two days with Nick and Fran (aka Seizure Palace) cranking out 3 different screen-printed designs. We’ll have a few color variations on each design that’ll be rare, too. Above are a few sneak peeks for you to gaze at while we continue to piece together the show. We are really proud of what’s coming out of our brains for this new body of work and we’ll have much and more to share with you in the coming weeks before the opening.

There are 3 Shapes & Smiles art piece previews in this pic....

Wed, 09 Nov 2011 12:03:00 -0800

There are 3 Shapes & Smiles art piece previews in this pic. @subtextgallery #Shapes&Smiles (Taken with instagram)

Introducing our Hello!Lucky Holiday Cards & A Chance to Win a $100 Gift Certificate! *Updated

Tue, 01 Nov 2011 08:08:00 -0700

*UPDATE: This drawing is over! Thanks to everyone who participated. Your support has been awesome. The winner will be contacted by Hello!Lucky directly.

Hello!Lucky are a specialty letterpress printer and design studio and have been creating wedding invitations, greeting cards and personalized stationery since 2003. Each year they do a holiday card collection and we were invited to be a part of it this year. A really cool thing about these cards is that you can personalize them by adding a photo or a special message. The super nice folks at Hello!Lucky want to give one of our lucky supporters $100 to spend online on their cards (that’s 50 customized flat holiday cards)! You can use the gift certificate to grab up some of ours (above) or any of the other cards in their collection.

Here’s how you can be entered to win:
1. Spread the word about Hello!Lucky’s new Holiday Card collection by:
• Liking this post on Tumblr
• OR by liking this post on Facebook here
• OR by retweeting this post on Twitter here
2. Then you’re entered in a drawing to win $100 to spend at HelloLucky.com
3. The final step is to be rad because you’ve finished steps 1 and 2.

We’ll give everyone until Friday to enter and we’ll then choose a winner at random to receive the prize (WINNER HAS ALREADY BEEN CHOSEN).

You can also view more detail of our designs in our portfolio.

Shapes & Smiles Previews #01: Sketches

Fri, 28 Oct 2011 12:10:38 -0700

It’s time to start showering you with previews from Shapes & Smiles opening at Subtext Gallery on December 16! Here you can see us sketching away at two different pieces. The work is largely about what makes us happy and we’re pulling from many different places for inspiration. Enjoy.

Announcing "Shapes & Smiles" Our New Art Show

Fri, 07 Oct 2011 09:48:03 -0700

We’re really excited to announce our next art show, “Shapes & Smiles” opening at Subtext Gallery in San Diego, CA on December 16, 2011. Here’s a description of the show:

Somewhere between the shared brains of collaborators Josh Kenyon and Colby Nichols is a land occupied by their beliefs, passions, thoughts, and memories. Returning for their second solo show at Subtext, these seasoned creators will guide us on a voyage through their past, present, and everything inbetween to find out what makes them happy. For “Shapes & Smiles”, Jolby has been exploring new ways of storytelling through drawings, paintings, wood-cut shapes, screen prints, plush, home goods, and more. Follow the artists on their blog for sneak peeks and previews: blog.jolbyandfriends.com

More updates to come so keep your eyes peeled right here! We’ll be in San Diego for the opening, too. Can’t wait to show you guys what we’ve been making.

Re: Design Camp

Tue, 04 Oct 2011 21:14:00 -0700

AIGA Minnesota invited us out to speak at Design Camp which is one of the largest regional design conferences and we’ve just returned from the long trip. All-in-all our time at the conference and in Minneapolis was incredible, but here’s a smattering of the bits that we really loved about our trip.

The Speakers: We were introduced to the amazing folks that we’d be speaking with once we landed. The first of them was Jamie Koval of VSA Partners. He’s such a great guy and was very humble and helpful. His presentation was great and gave us a better understanding of the inner workings of his awesome agency. Next was Peter Buchanan-Smith of Best Made fame. Another amazing dude; So nice and humble. Peter presented his story of Best Made along with a few promo videos that captured his products really well. Then there was Michael Osborne. Smart, funny, brash, and honest. His presentation gave everyone a very close look at the inside of a designer’s heart. Lastly, we met and listened to Jan Wilker of KarlssonWilker in NY who was a fascinating character. Hanging out with and speaking alongside all of that immense talent was so humbling and we couldn’t thank them enough for the opportunity.

The Woods: We stayed in a cabin by Gull Lake right next to the Grand View Lodge with over 300 attendees and many more who were volunteering. People were swarming everywhere and we got to meet a lot of really nice folks who made us feel all warm and fuzzy inside. There were workshops to attend, meals that everyone ate together, bon fires (both on the lake and secret ones), drinks, activities, and little-sleep.

The City: We enjoyed some great coffee and stopped by our new friends at Target inHouse (who did all of the amazing branding for this years Design Camp) and got to tour their offices. We had lunch with a few designers there and they were so damned nice. Then it was onto the Studio on Fire Wonderland of Printing™. They showered us with letterpress samples and showed us their many presses turning and churning out great work. They took really great care of us and we can’t thank them enough.

The People: Big thanks to Michael Osbourne for his heart, Jamie Koval for his wisdom, Peter Buchanan-Smith for his lessons on getting back to working with your hands, and Jan Wilker for his originality. Phil, Amanda, Sara, Kristen, and Ted from Target inHouse for their hospitality and tales. Dianne, Heidi, Seth, Brent and everyone at AIGA Minneapolis for being with us through the weekend. Finally to Studio on Fire: Selina, Ben, David, and Sam for showing us a great time and inspiring us to want to letterpress everything we design from now on.

Until next time, Minneapolis.

New Work: The Arbor Lodge

Tue, 20 Sep 2011 13:33:28 -0700

When you live in Portland, chances are your neighbors could be doing something incredible and you’d be none-the-wiser. Enter Josh’s neighbors who opened a brand new coffee and community space called The Arbor Lodge. They approached us to create the identity system for the shop which is made up of the main type (top) and the stamp that’s on their cups (bottom) with the logo mark.

The shop itself is beautiful and the barristas are great. They serve our favorite Portland coffee, Coava, and have delicious pastries, too. If you’re in North Portland make sure you drop by check them out. We’ll post pics of the project soon.

We're Speaking at DesignCamp in MLPS

Fri, 26 Aug 2011 10:59:03 -0700

This October we will be speaking to attendees at AIGA Minnesota’s Design Camp 2011 which “is their premiere event and the largest regional conference in the country.” Other speakers include the very talented Peter Buchanan-Smith, Jamie Koval, Michael Osborne, and Jan Wilker. We are honored to be listed amongst such great people.

The Design Camp will focus on “Character” - the very essence of who we are as individuals and designers. The conference will run from Septemer 30th until October 2nd and will take place at the Grand View Lodge in Nisswa, MN. Get your butts over to their site and register! Hope to see you there.

Are you in Minneapolis? Got any tips for us on our visit? Let us know.

HOW Promotional Design Awards!

Mon, 22 Aug 2011 17:51:47 -0700

We are so honored to be included in HOW’s 2011 Self-Promotion Design Annual! The piece that got in was a screen print (printed by Seizure Palace) we sent out at the start of the year to introduce ourselves to a selection of great people that we wanted to work with. The results were great and we couldn’t be happier to have been included in this annual amongst such great talent! We are also going to be included in 3x3’s Children’s Illustration annual for The King’s 6th Finger. Bonkers! So humbled.

New Project: Muppets Joke Book!

Wed, 10 Aug 2011 15:38:32 -0700

We are thrilled to announce a project of ours that will be coming out very soon: A Muppets Joke Book! Yea, as in THE Muppets. We got a call from Little Brown & Company and they wanted us to work on this top secret project. So, over the past few months we have been working with the beloved Muppets franchise drawing, designing, and assembling this 206 page joke book. We’re excited to start showing it off finally! It’s to be released this Fall along with the movie. I want to end this post with a classic Fozzie joke, but my fingers won’t let me (we’ve had our fill of Fozzie jokes after making the book). Keep your eyes peeled for it!

Update City, USA

Fri, 29 Jul 2011 15:57:05 -0700

Hey everyone! It’s been a while, we know. We promise we’re still here and working hard on new stuff. Here’s what’s going on in Jolby-land: 1. We’re moving to a new studio space with our friends Scribbletone & Chris Forrette. 2. Poketo turned our wallet into a mousepad (above). 3. We’re working on lots of stuff that we’ll be posting soon, so stay tuned!