Image Metrics: Emily

Ok, I just had to post this one. Yes another one you've seen on Giz, just thought I'd also share with the rest of you. This is an example of some CGI that interprets video into animation using a proprietary software that I'm sure is way less complex than, hmm, let's say Microsoft Word? Ha, I'm sorry I just love bashing Word whenever I have a chance.

Anyway, it's a look into the future of animated films and of course the gaming world. And then you can see how maybe the two could somehow integrate into an interactive movie experience. Watch the movie and play it too!

The Archive

The Archive from Sean Dunne on Vimeo.

This was an interesting post I saw on giz about this guy, Paul Mawhinney, and his massive collection of over 3 million vinyl records which he is trying to sell due to his age and failing health. 

Paul's collection estimated worth is around $50 mil and he's asking 3 because as he puts it, "No one gives a damn". It's a heartbreaking short film about a man who's realizing his life's work may be worth nothing. I hope for his sake, this recent exposure will spawn a few serious offers. Good luck to you Paul.

3rd Place in Gizmodo Photoshop Contest

This month's photoshop contest on Gizmodo is to take your favorite gadget and put it in a video game. Here is the link to the post:

Gizmodo

So here is my submission. It's Woz (Steve Wozniak) on his segway when he had his infamous segway polo match that got so much coverage on Giz because it's just ridiculously hilarious. And so I placed him in one of my favorite video games, Mike Tyson's Punchout, and in one of my favorite scenes where Mac is training after his minor circuit title bout win against Piston Honda and before his first major circuit fight, running behind his trainer who is on a bike, and in this case, Woz on a segway.

I've also posted here the original shot of Woz that I based my artwork on and the original Punchout screenshot. Hahaha, too much fun, I hope I get top 10.

UPDATE: I received third place in the contest and a lot of the bloggers thought I should have gotten first, oh well, I was happy with taking home the bronze.

Arnold Schwartzenegger in Coolidge Corner

Here's a banksy-esque graffiti stencil my brother Patrick pointed out to me by the corner of Harvard and Stearns near Coolidge Corner, just a block away from me. I loved it, not only because I'm a huge Arnold fan, but also because it's been there for a while and it hasn't been painted over or sandblasted yet. 

And it questions whether the authorities haven't noticed it and so it hasn't been removed or if people notice it, but don't mention to have it removed because they don't mind it or even like it as an unexpected little nugget of street art. 

It's nice to know Arny (it's what Maria and I call him sometimes) is watching over us way over here on the east coast as well.

Smart People and Dumb People

Here is a great quote from George Lois about collaboration that Paula Scher had featured in her book, Make It Bigger. It's funny how you end up running into situations either at work or some wine tasting party or something where people start falling into these categories.

"There are smart people and dumb people. There are people who have energy and people who are lazy. They exist in combinations. If you work with a smart person with energy, that's your best collaborator. If you work with a smart person that's lazy, well, that's a bit of a waste, but it does no harm. If you work with a dumb person who's lazy, that's sad but not problematic, because they will simply be ineffectual. But if you work with a dumb person with energy, therein lies the seed of disaster."

Clever Oreo Ad

I love creative outdoor advertising that takes advantage of the existing environment, here is one of many from www.ibelieveinadv.com - great site. I love how one of the guys actually rubs his belly. Somebody wants a cookie! Now there's effective advertising.

Exoskeleton Walker

Here is a clip from our friends at Gizmodo c/o Medgadget of a man who has been confined to a wheelchair for the past 20 years now using this exoskeleton to walk around, sit, go up and down stairs, pretty amazing. And Giz points out that this will be going into trials here in the US soon and if this is available now, could you imagine how it'll be in 10 years?

Black Sabbath Typeface

I thought this was a cool, funky typeface to use in an ad or an invite to party or something. I'm thinking about buying it from You Work For Them for $40, not bad.

Here is the link: Black Sabbath

Saco River Birthday Trip

So Erica and my two brothers Lawrence and Patrick took me up to the Saco River in North Conway, NH for a lazy river tube ride thing and then camping. It was awesome - plus our campsite was double booked so we ended up getting a private beach site where, as you can see, Lawrence and Patrick took full advantage of the cool river and the hot rays.

"Daddy, why are those boys sitting in the water like that?"

Thanks again guys, it was great. (Wish you were there Chew, again)

10 Color Heidelberg Press

Here is a shot of the massive 10 color Heidelberg press brand new at DS Graphics in Lowell. We are some of the first ones to use it - and for my latest job, an internal communications magazine, News & Views (see next post for cover).

The cool thing about it, is that for a normal 4 color or 5 color job, you don't have to do a work-and-turn. You can print a 5 color sheet and then it can flip it "in-press", midway through, and then print the other 5 color side! The guy standing in blue in the middle of it, is where that happens. It's got glass you stand on right there so you can see it happen, pretty cool. And all the other technology and installation and perfection that goes into it, is just mind boggling, not to mention the multi-million dollar price tag.

You could also do some ridiculous 8 color job with 2 varnishes or something if you wanted to. Or maybe a hexichrome, plus PMS's, plus varnishes, ah, the possibilities. Anyway, my job came out great, a few changes by my boss, Paul and I (he's on the left there), and it should be bound and done by Thursday, just in time to put on the fridge for July 4th weekend. And for my brother Patrick's 24th birthday. Happy Birthday big guy!

I'm done!

I finally finished my latest project, News & Views, an internal magazine for TAC. It took me a couple of months to design it, and now that it's done I feel kinda empty inside, like what the hell do I do now?!  Where's the proof damnit?! When do I go on press?

Here is a shot of the cover which took a good 8 hours for the illustration with the custom street lined typography (there's a lot more detail than you can see on screen btw). I'll put the rest of it up on my website when I get it back from press (DS) on Thursday. I want people to see it first in their hands than in a PDF or on the web – it just doesn't do it justice, ya know?

Polaroid Dimensions

I was putting together a page in a magazine I'm designing that had a number of polaroid images 'thrown' about the page and I needed to know the dimensions because I wanted to create the art for it in InDesign. 

I googled it first and was looking and looking for the exact dimensions and then looked on my groovicle wall and saw a polaroid of my brother Patrick from '06. Duh, look right next to you dummy! 

Anyway, I figured somebody else could use this info if they didn't have a ruler and a polaroid staring them in the face everyday. 

Beached Whale at Nauset Beach

On Saturday at Nauset public we noticed something floating in the water about 100 yards off shore. At first I looked like a capsized boat, but when the lifeguards paddled out to it, avoided it, and told the surfer to get away, we figured it must be a whale. 

It eventually beached and I got a some shots of it. It definitely had a few good bites taken out of it - which always helps the surfer's psyche the next time he gets in the water (won't tell mom about this one). From the looks of it, it was a humpback calf about 12 feet long. We didn't stick around for the removal. Sad, but it was the first time we all saw a whale up close like that, it was pretty interesting to say the least.

HOW Conference 2008 Michael Beirut Interview

The Michael Beirut lecture was a little different than all the other presentations in the fact that it was in an interview format, which in someways was much more educating and entertaining than the typical speech, here is my work, this is my script, here is my keynote (powerpoint for you windows users).

He touched on topics than ranged from the boring minutia of what he eats for breakfast and his daily 3 mile run, to the obsure and offensive topics of hitler and an unfortunate email mishap of referring to a client as a skank. And in an early question on whether he would accept the Cooper-Hewitt Design Mind Award at the White House, Beirut answered that for personal reasons he will NOT because of the decisions and actions of the Bush administration, which evoked nearly 30 people to stand up and leave the lecture only 10 minutes in, publicly expressing their own support for our current President and in protest of Beirut's appearance.

As side from that, the rest went rather smoothly, answering questions from selected bloggers handpicked from the interviewer, Debbie Millman. Beirut spoke about his start at Mossimo Vignelli and his success at London based agency, Pentagram, noting that Mossimo limited himself and others to just five typefaces including Bauer Bodoni, Garamond, Century, and of course Helvetica.

Beirut then offered up a few tips on dealing with clients and having a better understanding of the designer/client relationship. 

1 - They're scared. The client has admitted just in seeking out design, that they have a problem that they can't solve, they're defensive and concerned that they won't be listened to, and they're concerned the creative agency will force their own views and ideas that may or may not mesh well with theirs. They may physically looked frightened, but in most cases be over confident and dominant. Beirut's advice - listen, listen, listen. Listen so much that they come out of the meeting thinking, 'Hey this guy really gets me.' The client will feel better they got their message across and will have lowered their defenses. 

2 - Wear them down. Keep a particular concept going for a while with revisions, meetings, calls, etc., get them almost sick of all of it, and then just close to the end, present the real design that was in the back pocket the entire time. At that point, the client has been drained and will enthusiastically accept this new and incredible solution. (Beirut referred to the great Foreman - Ali fight, when George Foreman allowed Muhammad Ali to pummel him against the ropes for 10 rounds to drain his energy, only to come back with one devastating blow to knock him out cold, in what Foreman called, 'Rope and Dope'.

3 - It's all political. Beirut mentioned the political mantra of his co-worker, Paula Scher, who sees the political dynamic of clients, committees, and meetings. That everyone at that desk has a role whether that be the aggressor, the kiss-up, or the silent powerplayer. And it's up to the designer to recognize that larger list of characters, how they play off each other, and how to manipulate the situation to their advantage.

Beirut offered one more tip to designers looking to create more business for their own agencies. He suggested sending out 15 copies of the latest piece produced (an impressive one). Five to the press, five to existing clients (past or present), and five to new prospective clients. Beirut also touched on when a mid-project termination of the client relationship is absolutely necessary, add up the internal costs incurred thus far, communicate that, and then ask what THEY think is fair for payment. Banking on the natural tendency of the client (and people in general) to give more or at least be fair when having the power to determine compensation or debt.

Finally he gave opinions of a few recent corporate rebrandings - AT&T, UPS, Kodak, mentioning his blog post on AT&T as simply being - 'I wish I were dead', which got a few laughs from the audience. All in all, a very informative and humorous look inside the mind of one of the most prominent and successful graphic designers today, and a definite highlight of this year's HOW Design Conference.

HOW Design Conference 2008

Second day here at the 08 HOW. Its been great so far. I've seen a few
great lectures and some not so great ones. Michael Beirut and Stefan
Bucher both had informative and inspirational presentations. I'll go
more in depth on the Beirut interview in my next post with some shots
of Michael.

Stay tuned.