Blog

25 March 2013

Small is Beautiful

Giant Sparrows is proud to present…drum roll please… the launch of the iPad mini case! Personalise with your own photo or chose an image from our collections/artist page, and protect and beautify your accessories with a case from Giant Sparrows! Complementing the sleek design of this innovative product, a Giant Sparrows case attaches easily and securely to the mini, without compromising the light-weight and slim features of Apple’s latest product.

The mini and all of its 7.9-inch display (yep, teeny tiny!) is proving another hit for Apple, and if Giant Sparrow Mr Rob is anything to go by, it’s never far from your fingertips. Of course it’s all about size with the mini. Lightweight and easily accessible from the recess of your jacket pocket, the iPad mini seems to make for an even more convenient travel buddy than its predecessors.

The iPad mini is at the forefront of a tablet shaped future. No more clunky laptop to carry around between presentations and meetings when you’ve got all your work in your pocket. Perhaps it’s a reflection of city living that we want faster, smaller, hand held gadgets that can accommodate our need for information and stimuli on the go. But whatever the reason for its popularity, this tablet is here to stay, so have a browse and a wander around Giant Sparrows, or get rifling through your pics, and see what makes your mini stand out from the crowd.

 

25 March 2013

Big Apple Calling

MOMA, the Museum of Modern Art, one of the most exciting art spaces IN THE WORLD is selling our very own iPhone cases in its New York based design shop, and very chuffed we are indeed!  Printing one of the most iconic and enduring images of modern Western art to fit into the pockets of its admirers has kept us busy over the past few months, with iPhone 4 and 5 cases flying out of the office at a rate of knots …and the image in question?

 

 

Edvard Munch’s The Scream has probably graced many a wall up and down the land but if you want to see the real thing then MOMA’s pastel-on-board version, lent to the museum by a private collector*, can be seen until April. Or you can make your starting point in Norway, as did we, at Oslo’s dedicated Munch Museet.

 

Getting great artwork on our cases is one of the goals here at Giant Sparrows HQ, so when our Art Director Tine met with the team at Munch’s eponymous museum, it wasn’t long before The Scream was gracing every work surface in our South London office. From manufacture in London to the shop shelves in Oslo and subsequently New York, it’s been great to see quality artwork in demand and to learn a bit more about Edvard Munch.

And with the 150th anniversary of Munch’s birth being celebrated throughout his homeland of Norway during 2013, Much fever is unlikely to die down any time soon.

 

Munch Mania Eye Boggling Stat:
*According to auction house Sotheby’s, this version of The Scream was sold for a whopping £73, 921, 284 in May 2012.
 

See more here:  http://www.moma.org

06 March 2012

The cult of ME

This week, we have been mostly printing very cute baby pics...

 

Do you remember when you were a kid and seeing your name on a keyring brought a fizzle of excitement? Your name emblazoned in colourful print for everyone to see until you realised that actually, there were quite a few of those keyrings hanging from the humble stand and, come to think of it, there are loads of your namesakes around so maybe you're not that special after all cause, let's face it,  your name's a bit common.

 

But your memories aren't and neither is your own individual style, as we see in the hub of activity that is the Giant Sparrows office. Pics of your pets, kids, weddings, holidays, beloved football logos, company slogans and anything else you can think of to express a little bit of you, we've been printing it all these past few months.

 

So, what will it be?

 

Giant Sparrows personalises your iPhone (Blackberry and iPod touch too!) to bring a little bit of joy to your world as you wait for the night bus home in the rain with no shelter, just the memory of that sun drenched road trip you took last year, shining back at you from the canvass of  your phone and (OK, that's enough now-Mr Rob...)

17 February 2012

A salute to the forgotten artists

I sometimes tear out bits of newspaper for a future peruse, and inevitably bits of paper start yellowing both physically and in the back of my mind as I forget to return to a story. Transferred from shelf to folder to drawer until I get fed up and the black bin-liner comes along saying “FEED ME!!!”

But one story that has made it through the cracks in my mind concerns a certain Carleton Watkins, written about at length in the guardian. (You can read about it here).
Excuse me if am showing my ignorance here, and if you know all about this intrepid photographer and are wondering why I don’t, but let me give a synopsis…

Mr Watkins took amazing photos of Yosemite valley, showcasing the stunning natural beauty of the area back in the mid-19th century, way way way before it was open to tourists. No mini digital camera to fit conveniently in your pocket back then, nope, the man had to suffer no doubt a bit of back pain for the sake of his art, carrying a heavy arsenal of photographic equipment into a valley unknown to the masses. Fast-forward bad luck following good, and the man died without a penny and not much recognition for his efforts, an all to familiar story with artists. Watkins’ reputation was bolstered over a century later with exhibitions of his work, but if it wasn’t for a few advocators, his name would have been lost to the ether.

Now, with all the ways to get your own photography visible, maybe there’s less chance of your own art being lost to the world, it’s in the stratosphere somewhere-(or maybe on your phone?), but this is just a spared thought if you will, to all the forgotten masterpieces and creators, whose names will never be unearthed, but whose work lives on in the cracks.

Image from the J. Paul Getty Museum collection.

J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles holds many of Watkins’ original prints, and has published a collection of his photographs. 

13 February 2012

The Scourge of the Hearts

Yep, tis Valentines, yes, VALENTINES in case you hadn’t heard, or you missed all those big red hearts adorning shop windows, be it of the local pharmacy or that  little cute boutique on the high street selling heart shaped baubles to fill your nest of love…yep, we all have wares to sell come valentines, and everything becomes romance and glamour (or kitsch?), naturally, but you know and I know it’s not all about big red hearts and pink ribboned chocolate truffles and fluffy teddy bears with I ♥ U protruding from their furry paws…at least not for the other 364 days of the year where you wonder where the butterflies in you stomach have fluttered off too. So don’t let the love slip away by plugging the gaps with a chocolate toffee…it’s time to SPEAK UP, get on the phone/knock on the door/switch off the TV and start saying hello…or if you're more of an action girl or guy, do it with a kiss…

(Little sparrow has flown off to find her love nest after losing it on her way to the blogging stratosphere…she believes it is somewhere between Croydon and the sea)