DEBUT! DEBUT!

So remember how I've been promising you my band's first music video? Well, the day has come my children. Gather round. Warm yourselves at the hearth that is our radness. Suckle at the teet of our rock.

New Work (Sort of)

I've completely neglected to mention that my branding and web work for Great City Productions (an audio production facility here in New York) was finished as of a few weeks ago. The owner also happens to have mixed my band's album. He also does a lot of post production work for MTV and Comedy Central. Anyway, check out the link below:

Great City Productions

Time Out!

Greetings, blog browsers. Well, lots has been going down. Let's see...I've recently finished shooting my first music video with my band The XYZ Affair. It was one of the most incredible--and nerve racking--experiences of my life. We're releasing it in July along at a big spooty release show/party with around 300 of our closest friends. It'll be great.

The video includes some Nickelodeon stars from years past, including Marc Summers, Michael Marona (Pete & Pete), Jason Zimbler (Clarissa Explains it All), and Danny Cooksey (Salute Your Shorts, Terminator 2). We were surprised that any of them agreed to do it, especially since we shot it in our dirt-hole of an apartment in Bushwick, Brooklyn. Not that I'm knocking Bushwick, I'm just surprised that Marc Summers voluntarily delivered himself to our desolate building--which sits across from a sizable meat distribution plant, mind you--at 8 in the morning. Truly astounding.

So It's been quiet around here, and will most likely continue to be. In case you haven't been following, I'm currently on hiatus from starting/running The Visual Field, and getting some agency experience at RDA International. You know how it is, the whole responsible, health-insuranced, full-time thing. I'll be doing the occasional Visual Field project where the interest and inspiration strikes me, but mostly I'll be working with some great clients at RDA, even spearheading some of my own brand campaigns, and having fun with my band.

Sounds like a great way to spend to the summer.

Honey, I'm Home!

Well hello there. Maybe you remember me. I'm the guy who started this blog. Perhaps you've noticed that I haven't posted in a while. You're perceptive. Let me tell you why:

I recently stepped out of freelancing and into health insurance. It fits nice, though the inseam is a little tight. Exciting. Second, I went on tour with my band for a week. We hit New York, Ohio, Michigan, Chicago, Minnesota, Georgia, North Carolina, and D.C.. We drank beer. We played songs. We drove for hours. It was vacation. Then this weekend we shot our first music video. Please don't faint when I tell you this, but it included Marc Summers (of Double Dare fame) and a few other actors from Nickelodeon back in the day. You can bet your bippy it'll be up on this website when it's done.

All that to say...I've been busy. SO BACK OFF!

I'll have some posts for you soon

Perfect Website

Here's a link to a website for the new book of short stories No One Belongs Here More Than You.

I honestly think this is a perfect website. Perfect. Dissenting opinions welcome.

LINK

Pooped

It's such a cute term, but I finally understand what that term really means. I feel as though I've been squeezed out of someone's rectum. I've been "out of the office" for the past couple weeks, but with reason. Let's see...My band made a 4 day tear across the mid-Atlantic region of the US, I started an on-site freelance job at RDA International (More on that later), and I've been trying desperately to get two jobs under the masthead of The Visual Field done ASAP.

Needless to say, the projects aren't finished. But they've both come a long way in a very short time (compared of course to the long stretch of time in which they were moving very slowly). This next week I've got to close out a site for Penguin publishers as well as get as close as possible to finishing a site for Great City Productions.

I've been at RDA now for 2.5 weeks and apart from their fancy office with walls made of copper, I've come to find that they're very nice people too. I started on a rather conservative banner ad set for Eucerin skin products, moved on to a mini-site and online positioning project for Nivea Visage, and Monday I'm talking to some higher-ups about working on the online branding for a new hotel chain by W Hotels.

Forgoing all amusement this weekend, I attempted to finish the Great City Productions site to no avail. It is much closer though.

I'm also learning PHP and MySQL to finish the Penguin site. That's a ball, let me tell you. If you ever hear anyone say that learning two coding languages at once and trouble shooting a complex application which involves user and server-side communication isn't fun, you tell them you heard otherwise.

Off to Work...

Yesterday I got a call from one of the headhunting...er...placement firms that I'm working with. Short notice assignment at an advertising firm named RDA inc.. I'll be doing Flash ads, which are a little less than interesting, but you should take a look at this office...

This is going to really put a wrench in getting a couple other projects done, but I turned down a previous job because I thought it was a little short notice for a next day kind of assignment, but I guess it turns out that a lot of these assignments (especially freelance) are exactly that, last minute. I figured it wasn't good to keep turning them down. The headhunters might decide to turn me down. That would be bad.

This office is sparkly.

New Photography

It's been a while since I've posted. I spent last week scrambling to get a print project done for the fellas at Intellitoys who are trying to make it big this year at toy fair. Their product is sort of an update on the Teddy Ruxpin talking bear. Imagine an iPod embedded in a plush toy that can be updated via USB with children's songs, stories, games, language lessons, etc. that children can interact with by squeezing paws or pushing on noses. Quite a brilliant idea if you ask me.

Also did my first photo shoot in a good long while with one of my friends, Liam. I've forgotten how much I really enjoy doing photo shoots. I don't think I ever enjoyed printing very much, but I loved doing the shoots. Anyway, product is below:

Oh Discoveries

The Little Friends of Printmaking are great illustrators and have a great site to boot.

www.thelittlefriendsofprintmaking.com

Shifting Position

I've been thinking in the past few weeks how to position myself and The Visual Field. To be honest, I have no expertise in positioning, but I imagine it's really nothing more than putting your particular approach to design into a succinct, clear message. A little like finding the spoke around which to spin your work.

So after giving it a lot of thought I came to this conclusion:

Our approach to design lies in interaction: the line which turns a passive consumer into an active explorer. Direct interaction is the point at which (the way I see it) a consumer invests him/herself in an experience. And personal investment is invaluable to creating a bond between a brand and a consumer. But wait...I'm a designer...why am I talking about brand experience and consumers? Shouldn't I just be talking about using the right mix of form and material?

Well, I am. Experience is a form and interaction is a material. Take a look at the evolution of art during the 50s and 60s. Increasingly you see a strong movement from paintings, sculpture, drawings, etc. to performance, to experience, to an involvement of the viewer. Interaction is as vivid (if intangible) a design element as color, space or material. Performance art has been deemed as valid a form as oil painting.

So we, as The Visual Field, are viewing our work through interaction. We are "Active Designers" creating "Active Design." The elements of our work are called "Active Ingredients."

"Active Design" can apply to all forms, not just the most obvious. Of course it includes online interactive experiences (websites), but also forms which are usually passive experiences (street posters, commercials, stationary). From here on out, we approach everything from solving the problem of how to bring a consumer to interact physically, emotionally, and mentally.

details developing...

The Tenuous Relationship

We designers love our work. A lot. We're like mama bears cuddling our precious cubs. Cute right? But, alas, there are other creatures in the forest. Take for example, the wayward hiker (our client). Sometimes a hiker (client) will inadvertently wander into the mama bear's (designer's) territory and separate them from their beloved cubs (work) by suggesting changes or offering disapproval. This is when the urge to kill (to kill) rises in the mama bear (designer). But if the mama bear attacks the hiker--who happens to be armed to the teeth--the mama bear will be sadly offed (fired) and the cubs (work) will starve and die (become a waste of time).

So how can the mama bears (us, you, me) keep their heads about them? Well, here's how I think you do it:

A client (hiker) is never wrong. If there is a weak link in your presentation, the clients are usually spot on in detecting the errant piece. but they may not have the vocabulary to truly express what's wrong with it. They may just say "I don't like this so and so, try something else altogether," or maybe they'll give you a specific direction: "We don't think this element should have this so and so, do this instead."

That kind of relationship is like a hiker poking an already angry bear with a stick. Speaking for all the legless wonders out there (they're the lucky ones) this is not something you want to do.

As a designer it's our job, surprisingly, to ask for something more from our clients. Yes, they're paying for our services and if they want something they should get it, but they're also paying for our expertise, for our eyes, for our vision. It's our job to listen, to help them explore a vocabulary for their concerns, to help them feel around the problem until both we and they have a true sense for what's ailing the work, at which point--if we've done our jobs--the solution should be clear to both parties.

By keeping an open dialog you disarm your client. Demanding legitimate communication keeps your client from treating you a bit like a trained monkey and allows you to create real solutions for your client, instead of just taking orders.

Why do I preach so much?

Feeling Fresh?

Lord knows we are. Today, Sunday, January 14th, we have launched the new Visual Field website. We'll be tweaking over the coming weeks; adding, subtracting, salting to taste. We just thought you should know. Whoever you are.

Today

My breakfast tasted better than any breakfast I had ever eaten.

The End Is The Beginning Is The End

Today, my friends, is Independence Day.

It is my last day at my day job: Neighborhoodies. Tomorrow I jump headlong into the world of self-employment.

I am so stoked that I'm having trouble breathing. Well, it's either that or I'm developing late onset asthma. Either way, I need health insurance.

Before I Forget

I just wanted to remind myself that staying loose (psychologically that is) is so important to turning on my imagination (which is really the best little designer inside us all).

If I've got some preconceived notion of how something should look before I actually get into it, I've lost the battle already.

I'd prefer to squoosh a bad design whose details I've been fiddling with for four weeks (and send out a better design idea that I spent 5 minutes on) than put something immaculately ugly out there with my name on it.

In summary: Don't be afraid of the "delete" key. Use it freely. If you use it too freely...there always "Apple+Z."

Poster-Eyes

Here's a fun poster I've just finished for The XYZ Affair's 4 day tour with Pela, The Teeth, and The High Strung. Should be a good time. It's pretty self-explanatory. It made me chuckle. Hopefully it does the same for you.

Apple Inc. post #308,129,999

If you belong to the cult of MAC, today is was a big day. Today was the day we all drank the punch and waiting for our intergalactic flight. Well, we got it. The unveiling of the iPhone put the end point on the life line of many industries. Apart from combining the ever-dominant iPod with both a full-functional wifi web browser, 2.0 megapixel camera, and phone, Apple also managed to reinvent the basic operation of a cellular phone.

As a designer I can't help but be impressed, but I'm also a little jealous that I couldn't get in on the brainstorming process. Wouldn't you have liked to have been in the room when they came up with multi-touch touchscreen idea. What's that? You want to zoom in on that photo? Hmmm...well why don't you pinch your fingers, touch the screen, and expand them.

Not to be just another voice of praise, but that's stupidly brilliant.

Why am I talking about this? Well, you can't be a graphic designer and not appreciate Mac. Not only because their identity, packaging graphics, & product design are beautiful, but because their products (mostly computers) make your work and life better, or at least more stylish--which, when you're a designer, means better.

Okay...Here's Something

So, right now, I'm sooooo predictable. My work is about as corporate and bland as it can be. I think I've come to the point where I need a major shake down.

You know what did it? It was a really simple thing. It was the Lifelong Friendship Society's webpage. the background image takes FOREVER to load. You know why I don't care? Because It's awesome. That background image is worth every second. They ignored a major caveat of web design: Don't keep your public waiting. But, like I said, who gives a shit how long I waited? That background image leaves that rule in the dust and pisses on its mother's grave.

How can I implement that kind of rule breaking into my current work? I don't know yet. But I feel a post on how to break rules coming on.

Article 1 in my manifesto states:

Design should be surprising; sucker punch, hand-buzzer, frogs from the sky, finger-in-the-gun-barrel surprising.

I think more rule breaking might be a key element in creating surprising design. It seems so obvious now that I said it out loud.

Thank You, Jessica Pearson

I officially love the Lifelong Friendship Society. Please, God, allow me to make things half as cool as this. Preferably as.

Wow.

Click here

It's So Now

You may have thought that because of the holiday season I'd be taking it real easy. You'd be wrong, El Capitan. With days off from my day job (only one more week to go) I'm working harder than ever. Here's a few things I'm working on right now.

Below are some business cards my brother and I collaborated on for our father. He was fussy as they get. Enjoy:



The general branding was done by my bro, I was more the layout artist here. I think they came out rather nicely. The way the words and logo on the front form a kind of building-scape is nice.

Next, I'm working on a logo for toy manufacturing startup. These are some of the first attempts. I'm having a trouble striking a balance between the two halves of their name. They are, as you can see, Intellitoys. They are a technological toy company. Cool right? Well, yes and no. As a designer, my task is to marry the cold ones and zeros of modern computer-chip technology with the cuddly-wuddly feel of a much-loved teddy bear, all the while remembering that their target market is the new "Apple" generation of iPoders, iTuners, and PodCasters with babies. Whew. I've got one word for you. Sisyphus.





I am open to ANY AND ALL suggestions/insights.

I got so POSTED on New Year's Eve

Today I dipped my toes in the sweet, sweet waters of freedom. I took today off from my day job so that I could stay home and catch up on some freelance work and make a few calls and arrangements.

Surprisingly, I found myself not sure really what to do with my time. I'm an extremely fast and hard worker when I know what to do, but I realized...I didn't know what to do. I made a to do list, but found myself still floundering about for a bit. Truth is, I couldn't really figure out my priorities. I did a bunch of miscellaneous quick tasks--emails, etc.--but by one o'clock I realized that I hadn't gotten anything substantial done.

I decided that I'm going to need to really concentrate on prioritizing my time. I came up with some loose rules:

1) half of my hours will be devoted to billable clients, the other half to the studio itself (i.e. blog posts, making calls, working on the soon to launch website, etc.)

2) I will not prioritize tasks by what I WANT to do most, but by what NEEDS DOING most. That's tough.

3) I will not touch my guitar until after 6:00. Ever.