the new york times: magnetic poetry

T. S. Eliot had it wrong. April was not the cruelest month—at least not for me—unless you count the weather in NYC. In addition to getting into some illustration competitions and being selected “Pick of the Week” by Illustration Friday, April was National Poetry Month and brought with it a new collaboration with The Learning Network blog at The New York Times. For the second year running, editors Katherine Schulten and Holly Epstein Ojalvo held their Found Poem Challenge. And what you see above is my illustration for the announcement of the winners this week. A reinterpretation of the old novelty gift magnetic poetry, the hand-lettered words represent the wide range of subjects submitted by student poets. Many thanks to Katherine and Holly, and congratulations to the 10 poets whose work will be featured on the blog.

gallery nucleus - illustrated type

If you find yourself in the Los Angeles area between May 14th and June 6th, make your way over to Gallery Nucleus for their “Illustrated Type” exhibition. I was invited to contribute a letterform of my choice, and decided to make a new piece featuring my “M is for Monster” character—originally created for LetterPlayground—who at post time, was crawling his way across the continent. Among the other luminaries showing their wares will be John Hendricks, Jessica Hische, Josh Cochran, and my SVA buddy You Byun.

annaraff.com version 3.0 is live!

After a few fits and starts, I’ve finally completed the relaunch of my new html-based website. Earlier this year, I decided the time had come to let go of my old, animated flash site, to speed up the experience and make it readable for people with mobile devices.

The new site showcases my portfolio with cleaner navigation, and the help of thumbnails and slideshows.

Also featured, is a new books section (see below) which allows viewers to page through portions of my books and links to places where they can purchased.

If you miss the little animations, never fear. No doubt, I will be making more of those in the future. In case you’ve never seen one,  here’s a little something I made for National Pencil Day back in March.

MORE in the playground

As you can see, my obsession with letterplayground continues!