Saturday, January 27th, 2024
This is the beginning of a series in which I retire elements from my graphic design portfolio. I’m doing this for a few reasons including outdated roles, techniques, and outputs that no longer reflect my focus.
First up, these print ads produced during my time as a production artist at Hayes Martin Associates in Newport Beach. They’re full page color ads that appeared in newspapers promoting luxury homes in Orange County and the San Gabriel Valley. I still remember the pride I felt seeing my type set in newsprint!
These were actually designed by Art Director Lori Fenstermaker. Then I, as a production-artist, was tasked with updating pricing, availability, and sales copy–occasionally replacing photos with newer versions and a splash of color correction. I had become a proficient desktop publisher using Adobe Indesign After completing the Lynda.com course, “Indesign CS4 Beyond the Basics” produced by David Blatner. That had been a good investment that led to further employment, income, and many good things for which I am grateful.
I was never totally comfortable presenting these as MY work though, because I hadn’t really “designed” anything about them. I was an efficient type editor. I was later encouraged to include them in my presentation by a recruiter who found it easier to sell my services based on past work that an apparently reputable third party had approved—over my original work that might not have captured the same confidence. She was correct in regard to our immediate purpose and her understanding of the minds of those who might hire us. But its time I moved on after all these years and remove these from ‘the grid’.
There are more ‘ruthless edits‘ to follow and I’ll include some background in a similar manner.
Thursday, January 25th, 2024
Some ironies uncovered by the enthusiasm for AI from the perspective of an organically intelligent artist.
Throughout my career peddling art services as a “graphic designer” I noticed a pattern. In the process of seeking and fulfilling employment as an artist, I was repeatedly discouraged from submitting work that was the product of free association. It was sternly recommended that I worked with PURPOSE, in response to a specific brief borne of a business PROBLEM. And those problems were the parameters within which I was expected to produce SOLUTIONS.
Beauty was of little concern. Exploration of the psyche did not drive sales. Self-expression was an unmentionable taboo. And so I and many others like me did that kind of work in secret, after hours, in our FREE time. We did it for free because it was ESSENTIAL, but had no market value. We uploaded the work because the appreciation from our friends and families was spiritually and psychologically enriching, but for most, it didn’t pay. And we were adamantly reminded that our CRIME of self expression would not pay.
Now comes MACHINE LEARNING. The SOLUTION to the PROBLEM. Revealing exactly what the problem was all along – by way of the unbridled enthusiasm for expressive work, that is nigh close to the real thing, but exponentially DISCOUNTED and FAST. And the machines did learn–to copy, and to paste, and to collage the expressive work of free minds now harvested and harnessed by unskilled opportunists. REVEALING that they did want that expressive work all along, but they wanted it CHEAP. And they will get it.
The TRUTH – that stock photos stamped with White Helvetica was never GOOD. It was always CHEAP, EASY, and SAFE. How often did I try to tell them? And now that bland style will disappear as the ABSTRACT, the COLORFUL, and CURVACEOUS is equally cheap; now they can afford to admit it. Oh yeah, we’ll see how they really wanted it all along.
I resignedly laugh in the knowing. The ALWAYS KNOWING.
Thursday, January 18th, 2024
Announcing the creation of Pegasus Brand Coffee. The great Pegasus aloft a pair of scales is a fitting symbol for the power, focus, and energy accessible through the rich and balanced flavor of premium Robusta coffee beans grown and harvested in Greece–the scales themselves symbolizing fair trade and a commitment to unwavering quality.
Tuesday, December 12th, 2023
There are some great metronome apps, and some very good calendar apps. “Bowtie” combines these concepts into one as a versatile tool for musicians. Schedule practices and performances, with alarms, timers, and a tuner. Here is my humble wire-frame design created in Figma.
I used Figma for this, but I’m software agnostic and could have done the same thing with Adobe, Omnigraffle, or a pencil with a ruler and ellipse template. The rudimentary drawing functions are available everywhere and a good designer can adapt.
Thursday, June 15th, 2023
Here is my process demo for the creation of the Nucleus Studio bumper.
Phase 1: Ideation Sketch on Paper
Computers make us more efficient, but not as a first step. At the earliest stage I sketch ideas in analog. I don’t go computing the first idea without a vetting process. With waste basket near, ruthlessly cutting obvious solutions, I seek the best idea with mind, pen, and paper.
In this case, I know I’m going to use the company ‘n’ logo, and somehow resolve it to the logotype. So the sketch reflects that, with a transition to a pictorial representation of a ‘nucleus’ or ‘center.’ Synonyms are rich ground for visual metaphor and implicit imagery.
Now a rough concept exists as a starting point for creating digital assets that will supply the video.
Phase 2: Storyboard
The storyboard is a tool for collaboration. It gives every stakeholder a chance to comment on the tangible and visible assets before energy is applied to animation. We re-create the concept in vector while refining style elements, approaching the final design.
The initial sketch suggests letters sliding out from behind the ‘n’ to reveal the entire word. This was ultimately rejected because it was too easy and predictable. A choice was made to incorporate more organic forms to create a natural feel. A step above simply moving shapes and letters around. Therefore we added the black ooze that melts away, revealing the logotype.
These choices led to the use of frame animation in addition to keyframe based motion graphic techniques.
Phase 3: Animatic
The animatic represents the beginning of production after the design has been finalized. Key frames are identified and realized in sequence. There is no concern given to effects or color, just the action that provides foundation and substance.
Phase 4: In-Between Animation
Probably the most time-consuming phase, but with focus and patience, frames are drawn in vector in a frame animation app and exported as a video asset. Skipping the image here because I would be cutting frames for the gif, defeating the point.
Phase 5: Color, Lighting, and Motion Effects
To finalize this work I establish the color, lighting, and timing that gives a soft, intimate, projection theater vibe.
Et voilà.