Pick a Favourite

School managed to keep me away from following through with this blog but I don't  believe it is a lost cause as of yet. This post is to pick a favourite designer and write a brief description why.

Starting this assignment was a challenge because I have yet to narrow my interests when it comes to the specific areas if design that I hope to work in. By no means do I think that this needs to be done now but I have the feeling that I will start to follow designers, marketers and organizations once I narrow my interests. I started locally and combined my previous experience in marketing resorts to try and identify some BC based organizations that peaked my interest. The one company I was very impressed with, and ended up having some previous experience with, was The Tartan Group.

The Tartan Group is a Marketing and PR firm based in Victoria that was started about 12 years ago by  a PR specialist that worked for Fairmont Hotels and Resorts. When I looked through their portfolio I noticed that many of their long term clients had been direct competitors to the hotels I had worked for in Tofino and Whistler. I was always impressed with their web development and their uncanny way of capturing the feeling of resort destinations with simple, clean designs. After looking through all of their clients I was extremely impressed with how many high end resorts they had worked with.

Researching the Tartan Group excited me and they will definitely be a target when I am looking for possible internships next summer. I appreciated how with a relatively small team they were able to establish such a high end international scope of business. By the end of my time on their website I got the feeling that this would be the kind of organization that could utilize all of my skills ranging from Hospitality to Design.

WEB: http://www.tartangroup.ca

HONORABLE MENTION:

A second studio that deserves mentioning is Studio 7 that is also based out of Victoria. This was mentioned on a top 25 list that also featured some international giants of the industry. I was impressed with how young and accomplished their team come across from their bios and the work in their galleries.

WEB: http://studio7designs.com/about/

Thats all for now and with School finishing next week I'm looking forward to more frequent posts over the holidays...cheers.

INSPIRATION - PACKAGING

I took some time on the internet to look at some interesting packaging designs. No need to talk this one out...here's what I found interesting:

ECOUPLED WIRELESS POWER

Here's a short video of how one company is changing the look of current packaging through an inexpensive print material that responds to controllable wireless signals.

INSPIRATION - VIDEO GRAPHICS

One post a week...

Moving forward with this blog I'm hoping to make a contribution at least once a week to try and keep things fresh. 

I was encouraged early on in the Pacific Design Academy (PDA) course when one of our profs focussed on the changing role of a Graphic Designer over the past 10 years. Now, more than ever, graphic designers are breaking ground in movie production, video game development and even music videos design. Technological advancements with Green Screens, Smart Phones and Design Software have allowed graphic designers to highlight their invaluable talents. This is extremely exciting for me because I have always enjoyed the entertainment aspects of graphic design and hope that my future in the industry will incorporate these elements.

Here are a couple examples over the past 10 years (maybe longer) where graphic designers have branched out:

** a quick warning to those with sensitive tastes, there is some suggestive content in some of these videos so please proceed at your own risk.

MUSIC VIDEOS

1. Queens of the Stone Age - Go With the Flow

* I love how the use of negative space brings out so much emphasis on the faces...especially when singing and opening their eyes.

2. Gorillaz - Dirty Harry

* Lots of humour from this band and their songs tend to take a back seat to the videos when the sound effects drown out the song in parts. This group is dedicated to these avatars and even performs behind a screen with these characters animated in front of them...dedication to the arts.

3. White Stripes - Seven Nation Army

* Love the song, love the video, love Jack White...Jack is quite the eccentric even outside his music. He did an album with Neil Young where the entire album was recorded in a "Voice-O-Graph" booth that is about the size of a phone booth and can record a single track straight to 6" vinyl. (They had to get a special guitar made to fit in the booth)

TRAILERS

1. Matchstick Productions - Days of My Youth (2014)

* The purpose of these movies is to get you pumped up. I love how they use lots of different camera filters and typography mixed with action and audio clips to bring it all together.

2. Richard Linklater - A Scanner Darkly (2006)

* This movie has amazing visuals...the first time I watched it I wouldn't have been able to tell you what it was about because I was so focussed on the style elements. I think I watched this movie three times over a two day period when it came out.

COOL COMPANY

Red Bull - Although the only time I drink their beverages is before a ski day, I think their videos are amazing...and to think that these videos came from the same company with those "Red Bull gives you wings" ads. (this is definitely a better selling point for my target market)

1. Danny MacAskill - Immaginate

* Every kid wanted to do this...Red Bull made it happen

2. The Athlete Machine - Red Bull Kluge

* As far as design inspiration goes...the typography in this one is great.

* Red Bull is one of the most innovative companies out there and they're never afraid to try something new. This would be an exciting company to design for.

ACTS OF ART

I'll let these videos speak for themselves:

1. Ironlak Films - Sofles

2. Sweetgrass Productions - Afterglow

3. After Effects Animation - I'm Gonna Make It Better

If you made it to the end of this post then I'm impressed. The internet is full of these cool videos so please feel free to comment and leave a link to something that inspires you.

Cheers

FINDING INSPIRATION - 2

Now it's time to show some age...let me reframe (courtesy of Effective Communication)...Now it's time to show some wisdom...too much?

For the second post relating to finding sources of inspiration I'm going to dedicate an entire entry to my home town of Victoria. Somewhat in the shadow of the big smoke of Vancouver, Vic City takes pride in our individuality. The following influences were mainly from being in high school in the 90's. Largely influenced by music, I migrated from grunge, to punk, to hip hop and eventually back again. My inspirations followed suit and were highlighted by elements of rebellion, angst and competitiveness. Lets take a look some influences that were introduced to me growing up in Victoria BC:

VICTORIA - born and raised

6. SALVADOR DALI: Dali wasn't introduced to me as the a painter famous for breaking new ground as a surrealist painter. He was introduced to me through his influence on the work of a specific graffiti artist in Victoria. The artist chose Dali's elephant images as inspiration of his first mural and it still stands as my favourite street art to date. Graffiti was growing in the 90's and slowly finding legitimacy. It was moving away from writing your name with a sharpie on a fence to large murals that relied on a meticulous use of the space provided. Hip Hop music had a close connection to graffiti and, therefore, a close connection to me.

7. BANKSY: Banksy was another street artist from the UK who my friends and I admired for his combination of humor and activism. In the back of my mind I guess I appreciated that the artist did so much with so little. Stories always popped up on the internet as to where his next piece was displayed and throughout it all he has kept his true identity hidden. The greatest inspiration I gained from Banksy's work is that he was able to make people think with his art and wasn't afraid to embrace sarcasm as a tool.

8. JORDAN AND NIKE: Growing up as a huge basketball fan in the 90's meant it was impossible not to follow the best basketball player on the planet, and possibly of all time; Michael Jordan. There is no doubt he was an artist on the hardwood, and this inspired me to be a better basketball player, but this wasn't the source of inspiration I am referring to here. Anything with the Jordan or Nike brand was a must have for a basketball player and a new shoe release every year helped kill my bank account.  I would argue that no other shoe brand on the planet caries the same cultural impact as Air Jordans. The shoes would take design elements off everything from sports cars to african elephants and would never fail to bring something new to both sport and fashion. The branding of these products had me hooked and I can appreciate the inspiration he provide to basketball players everywhere and created a fashion niche that still thrives today.

9. DREW STRUZAN: I will have to admit that I didn't know this artist's name until a couple minutes before writing this post. Google helped me when I searched: "who designed the movie poster for Indiana Jones?". It turns out that Drew not only was responsible for the posters for the Indiana Jones movies but was also responsible for posters for films such as Back to the Future, Star Wars, The Goonies and Blade Runner. Along with a long list of other classics from the 80's and the 90's I realized that he had designed probably 90% of the posters I had on my wall as a kid. I found that his portrayal of action and adventure from a still image was remarkable.

10. TODD McFARLANE: Todd is one of the most decorated comic book artists of all time...and it helped that he is Canadian too. Growing ups as a comic book kid it was Todd's work that seemed to have the most grit and edge. It felt like my parents probably wouldn't have let me read the material if they knew what was past the cover. Plenty of blood and brutality made for some pretty amazing art pieces and always inspired me to try and duplicate his work.

Thats all for now...I will continue to update this blog with new inspiration as I come across them and try to separate each into its own post....thanks for reading.

FINDING INSPIRATION - 1

As a kickoff to PDA (Pacific Design Academy) GD1 (Graphic Design Year 1) I have been asked to find 10 sources of inspiration and explain what they mean to me. This wasn't as easy as I thought. I couldn't name you 10 famous artists off the top of my head let alone 10 that i felt inspired by. Then it hit me, when I was happiest in my past it was largely dependant on the people, places and lifestyle that surrounded me. These sources of inspiration were a direct result of my surroundings. I have chosen to break these inspirations down according to the places I have lived in order to help me realize what exactly I connected with. Here are my first 5 sources of inspiration, along with some examples:

TOFINO - signed up for 6 months and stayed for 2 years.

1. CHILI THOM: I was introduced to Chili's work in Tofino and ended up seeing more of his work in Whistler. Ironically enough I went to see a DJ realizing at the time that it was the artist that I had followed over the past couple years.  His use of west coast landscapes and imagery jumped out to me right away largely due to the fact that he largely used Tofino and Whistler for his inispiration. He tends to use vibrant colors in all his work and, to me, he comes across as a modern day Ted Harrison.

WEB - http://chilithom.com/

WHISTLER - on and off for 3 years.

2. POWDER MAGAZINE: The magazine of choice for most skiers is Powder Magazine. The 2 issues I would never miss were the Buyer's Guide at the start of the season and the Photo Annual at the end. It wasn't just the content of the articles that inspired, it was the way the design elements of the magazine summed up the culture perfectly. Even back then I could tell that a lot of typical design rules were broken and this meshed well with a community that looked for separation from the behemoth that is the snowboarding industry.

WEB - http://www.powder.com/

3. BLAKE JORGENSON: Blake is an action sports photographer who calls Whistler home...even though he tends to spend most of his time everywhere else according to his work. I was first introduced to his work when reading Powder Magazine's photo annual and now he seems to occupy most pages with his work. Some people argue that there are no ugly pictures in a place like Whistler. If this is the case then why do all of Blake's pictures stand out above the rest. I believe that he has one of the best eye's for showcasing the athletes of Whistler and capturing the ridiculousness of their talent.

WEB - http://www.blakejorgenson.com/

4. VANCOUVER 2012: Working for the Olympics was the most difficult and rewarding job I have had to date. I find it hard to imagine that any experience could match it. Working behind the scenes allowed me to be up close and personal with many of the branding decisions made regarding the Olympic Villages. This was my first exposure to the business end of design and it definitely sparked an interest to learn more about what went into the "look and feel" of the games.

5. SKI COMPANIES: Just before the start of every season skiers wait for their fix of new ski gear. The buyers guides showcase new designs with an artist's work showcased on the top of skis. It was always interesting to see what the smaller companies would come up with in order to stand out among the rest and often times give a new artist a chance to show his or her work. Line and Armada were always companies that came up with something new on a yearly basis.

WEB - ARMADA - http://armadaskis.com/

WEB - LINE - http://lineskis.com/

These were some of the greatest inspirations of my adult life. Stay tuned for my next post where I will dig a little deeper into my childhood to find sources of inspiration that stood the test of time and still make the present list.

A quote as a send off:

"Your experience in nature depends on how you choose to position yourself within it"

 - Chili Thom -

A QUICK INTRODUCTION

Lets start with a quick intro and a personal point of view. Here are 5 things about the author that I feel you should know:

1. In September of 2014 I started a 2 year program at the Pacific Design Academy in Victoria BC for Media Graphic Design. In my mind I have never produced a true work of art and do not consider myself an artist. The closest I have come is probably a crossover on the basketball court or a ski line down Whistler. Here's to PDA finding the artist.
2. Over the past ten years I have been using my business degree to be a "career per year" kind of person. Nothing really stuck and that resulted in a loss of love for the work I had been doing. I've taken a chance with something new in order to break away from monotony.
3. I am an eternal optimist...I may dress a bit like a hipster at times but I still love life too much to pretend not to care. The best proof is in my love for shitty movies. I feel blessed to be so easily entertained because it is people like me that get to live their lives perpetually in a state of happiness thanks to the simple things. This may not carry over when critiquing my own work but I'm sure the optimism will come through eventually.
4. Even though art has traditionally scared the crap out of me I have found that if I force myself to try new things then the experiences lend extremely well to the building of my skills. A rather simple concept when broken down but I'll use this blog to remind myself of this when doubting my potential.
5. Lastly. Three weeks have gone by at PDA and I am elated with the support that the professors and peers have shown. I feel extremely lucky that this unique bunch of randoms (meant with the utmost respect and admiration) will be helping all of us reach our potential. Martin Luther King Jr. said that "intelligence plus character - that is the goal of true education". I can tell we're going to get plenty of both from this group.

I'll try and sign off every week with a small piece of something I have worked on to get in the habit of showing my work...something I have still to get used to.

This was part of a Photoshop assignment for a class I was taking last year at UVic. I took some shots of buildings in Fernwood and messed around with them a bit.