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Posts Tagged ‘moving pictures’
Title Type for Keen Shorts
Here are a few more pieces I helped North with for Keen’s RECESS IS BACK site. I created the hand drawn typography for these two spots, “Fresh Air” and “Grab a Paddle”, which are part of a video series about outdoor activities. I love the outdoors and this summer went both camping and paddling, the spirit of which I think are captured nicely in these little snippets. Although not quite as risqué as the biking-troll-powering-a-hot-spring “Get Naked” illustration.
The Domestic Transformer
This is a video about Gary Chang, a Hong Kong architect who transformed his 330-square foot apartment into a super-efficient “24-room” domicile. What an incredible use of space that shows the versatility of what a home can be, and what can be achieved even with such strict parameters. Design solved this nicely.
Things Are Afoot, Wieners Too
I don’t often blog about things before they happen. I prefer to let things run their course, gather my thoughts, and then let it all out. But recently I made an agreement with one Jelly Helm to work together for a bit and see how it goes. Kind of like a reallly long date; one with a full 3-course meal and several desserts. I hope one of them is strawberry shortcake.
I am writing about it now because it is exciting! Also, this is a longer engagement than usual for me, and I will probably be blogging the intermittent results along the way. I’ve been freelancing for year and a half now, and for the most part it agrees with me. But part of what I miss is the collaboration you get from being part of a group. While I am happy drawing pioneer rabbit adventures, I also like to have my brain poked from the outside.
As for the Bureau of Betterment, I will still be accepting other projects, but for a while I will have to be a bit choosier because of my time commitment to this new endeavor. Does that super cool gig come with a YEAR’S SUPPLY OF PICKLED HERRING? Let’s talk.
Interview with a Professional Face Stuffer
Jen Stevenson is the most food-obsessed person I know, and also the author of the guidebook I’ve been working on called Portland’s 100 Best Places to Stuff Your Faces. Like a true food celebrity, she recently did an on-air interview with Koin’s Studio 6. Check it out below, or visit www.bestplacestostuffyourfaces.com for the full scoop.
Ralph Dances
As a child I desperately wanted a pet horse. If not a horse, a dog. If not a dog, a goat. All of my spare time not spent reading Walter Farley books was spent plotting on how I could turn my backyard into a pasture. My birthday wish lists consisted of listing every animal I could think of and rating them with stars and check marks depending on how much I desired them. I think a horse was worth 17 stars and a rabbit garnered 2 stars. How times have changed.
Instead of equines or canines, my parents decided that pet rats were the ticket for their 8-year-old daughter. Small, easily caged, and with lifespans lasting about 2 years, they were low commitment pets. So ensued my doting upon Ratty, Rocky, Rufus, Rex, Ralph, Rascal & Peaches. Later I did own a horse and several dogs, but the rats will always hold a special place in my heart.
So, I drew a little rat and who likes to sing and dance.
Conan O’ Brien As Seen By John Kascht
Two of my favorite things to watch on the television, together at last! Caricature artist John Kascht gives an insightful and in-depth glimpse into his process, both in understanding his subject and drawing it, while working on portraits of one of my favorite TV funny men: Conan O’Brien. JUST WATCH IT!!!
The Fun Theory
When I was younger, my dad used to cut out newspaper articles and highlight the important parts for me or his students to read. Now that he’s fully emerged in the digital world, I get short, unpunctuated, uncapitalized emails telling me what to read.
His most recent recommendation was this video from The Fun Theory, a “site that is dedicated to the thought that something as simple as fun is the easiest way to change people’s behaviour for the better”. I’m all for that!
The Fun Theory is an initiative of Volkswagon. Normally I would be the first paranoid Gen-X denouncer of a big company trying to convince me to “like” something on Facebook, but for some reason this just makes me like Volkswagon more. Good job marketing team!
Watching the Fun Theory videos solidified some thoughts I had been having about my blog and its purpose. My blog is a way for me to 1) explore ideas, 2) get better at making things, and 3) bring people enjoyment or encourage thinking about things a bit differently.
Number 3 is the important one, because I believe that people are at their best when they are happy or inspired. Whatever we can do to poke at each others brains to spur positive action, the better. And if it turns out that my blog is “just fun”, well that’s not so bad either.
SXSW Steer for IFC via Feel Good Anyway
You never know what job will come your way next as a free-agent designer. Case in point: drawing a cow (I really mean steer) diagram for Feel Good Anyway’s IFC promo for SXSW (appears at the 30 second mark).
This short stint of steer-drawing took me back to my childhood because I grew up in Steer Country. Every summer we would spend endless days near Grass Valley, Oregon on our friend’s farm for the annual castration/innoculation/slaughter. We played in the hay barn, took Bubba the lab with us into the hills to sic rattlers, counted how many young calves got their nuts cut off, and hand-ground pounds and pounds of beef for the year ahead.
Enough reminiscing; check out more of Feel Good Anyway’s work for the Independent Film Channel – it’s good entertainment from some very talented dudes.
Year of the Rabbit Video
I think my pioneer rabbit would be proud of his brethren. This cute short animation was created by Benji Davies & Jim Field of Frater Films with sound design by Zhe Wu and music by Stefan Panczak.
Man About Town
This is a great video to start a Saturday morning with. Thanks to Ada Mayer and Tom O’Toole for pointing out this video on their blog Leisure Package.
The Soda Pop Man
Some people’s joy is effervescent, and John Nese is one of those people. He owns a soda shop that carries over 500 varieties, including cucumber. Boy would I like to try that. This man is soda incarnate, spreading the gospel of REAL soda (not Pepsi or Coke and the like)! Amen.
Up and Over It Hand Dancing
This just makes me smile. Check out more of their stuff at www.upandoverit.com.
Performed and choreographed by Suzanne Cleary & Peter Harding / Film by Jonny Reed / Music: Yolanda Be Cool & D Cup ft. Cleary & HardinHow Globes Are Made
My Dad was a geography, history and politics teacher, so I’ve always been surrounded by maps, atlases, and globes. My sister and I would rise early on school mornings to compete on the local radio quiz show, the Geo Bee. There were only two other families in our small town that also competed regularly in the Geo Bee, so we quickly amassed a stockpile of geography related items: map placemaps, globe-topped pencils, keychains, you name it.
When I started my studio and moved into the Povey Perch, one of the first decorations I bought was a vintage globe on a stand, featuring Czech and Slovakia united as one. So when I saw this video on how globes are made, I had to share it…
Oui, Oui: Halloween 2010
This year for Halloween I dressed up as Avant Garde French Toast. It was a subtle costume, and not exactly a crowd pleaser. There were a few French Toast embracers, but for the most part it was a flop. It wasn’t a pop culture reference, gory or scary, a knight or a princess. It wasn’t an outfit that had been “sexified” with skimpy college-era duds (although one person told me that “Sexy French Toast” would have been a better outfit). It didn’t fit into a category, and that doomed my Toastness to strange stares and obligatory “ah, haaaa, hmm, yeah OK, I get it”. I guess my outfit was more avant garde than I expected.
So, I figured I would make my first foray into creating moving pictures and shoot a short short about it. I even wrote a part for my dog Lucy, who turned out to be the consummate professional on set.
Western Spaghetti by PES
Check out more of their work at www.eatpes.com.
Saturday Morning Cartoons for Designers
Check out this amazing animated short, Logorama, directed by the French animation collective H5 with sound by Human Music and Sound Design. I especially enjoyed the bit players, the animals in the zoo, when the waitress spills her coffee, all of the background scenery and of course the social commentary. For adults, designers, and consumers alike…
