Recently the new X-Men Origins: Wolverine poster was announced and I'd have to say that it is merely eh... Don't get me wrong, it's pretty cool but it's been done before. It's the X-Men 3 poster with Wolverine in the background. There is potential for so many cool ideas. For instance, a top down view of Wolverine in the water tank is the most obvious idea. You can somehow incorporate liquid adamantium. A portrait shot of Wolverine with the surgery "tats" on his face. Hopefully they will come out with more posters especially with all the new characters in the film, most notably Gambit and Deadpool. I've read one person online refer to the poster as "iconic" and while I will give it that it is also typical and boring. Marvel's entire business is based on artwork and Wolverine is their baby. They should be all over this. Let's hope it's just a teaser poster with greatness on the way. Click on the pic for the hi res version.
Artwork Origins: ReallyBoreen
Happy Halloween
I'm a sucker for cool logos and pumpkins. It only makes sense that Obama is my guy this election with his awesomely designed website and kick ass logo. Oh yeah, and his policies. Remember to vote, regardless of who it's for!
Noir Stationary Set
Noir Business Cards
I just created new business cards for myself sporting the new name and logo for Noir and to advertise my new online portfolio. It's difficult to create a unique or memorable card without paying extravagant amounts of money for spot colors, UV coatings, die cutting and the like. Although I was fortunate enough to be turned on to a website called 4colorprint.com that produces a very unique silk business card. It's pretty much a matte, silk laminate over the card that has a very smooth feel to the touch. It's not a cheesy gloss laminate that you would see on cards thrown all over the floor outside some club advertising some horrible rock band or DJ playing some embarrassing college theme night. The card looks normal but when you hand it off to someone, the response you get is usually, "Oooh, that feels interesting." And for $49 for 500 2-sided cards, it's a steal. A subtle way to make an important impression.We Were A Bunch Of Saps Back Then
I was looking through some of my projects to decide which one I should post for today when I came across some photos and flyers from my old band days in high school. Above is a picture of us hooligans back in the day. That's me, Jess, Sean, Matthew and Brian. We went through 3 band names, a few lineup changes, put out 3 E.P.s, a live album, numerous demos, wrote dozens of songs, played probably 100 covers and was the best memory I had of high school. I think we could have gone somewhere with it. I moved to college, our drummer joined the Air Force, and we all pretty much got "real" jobs. We played punk rock and were heavily influenced by 70's and 80's bands such as Stiff Little Fingers, The Adolescents, The Ramones, The Clash, The Misfits and X. We didn't write aggressive punk rock, it was more musically inclined.
I love music and I love graphic design so as long as I'm doing one of those, I'm made in the shade. Once I figure a way to post some songs on the blog, I will. Below is a flyer I made back when I was 17 before I discovered Photoshop. We were going by The Saps back then.
Anywhere Ad
I figured that I would start posting random pieces of work that I have done personally and professionally. This ad is the first in a series (that have yet to be created) that showcases the new visual branding of LKQ. What was once very corporate and safe in regards to color and design has changed with a splash of green, a new tagline and a bit of an edgier look.
UPS Really Stands For Ultimate Photon System
Today's Photoshop fun. As you can see, my friend Chris and I get a lot done at work. He makes the corrugated robot suit and I make him all powerful in Photoshop. Slow day at work equals awesome picture. I decided to post the "before" (slightly grunged up in Lightroom) and the "after."
Noir Graphic Design Studios Site Launched
Noir Graphic Design Studios
A recent project of mine. Feel free to contact me for your graphic design needs. Thanks!
Photoshop World Conference & Expo
Coming up September 4-6 is Photoshop World Conference & Expo in Las Vegas and I will be there! Hotel is booked and registration is paid for. I just need to buy my plane ticket. 3 days of Photoshop and design classes taught by industry greats such as Scott Kelby, Dave Cross, and Matt Kloskowski. In between classes there will be a tech expo with exhibitors such as Canon, Nikon, and Adobe where I can see all the latest gadgets and software. (image above taken from the Photoshop World website. Check it out)
In preparation for my trip I recently purchased a new camera/laptop backpack- the Kata DR-467. A friend of mine has the model below this one, the only difference being that the one I bought holds up to a 17" laptop. It looks bad ass and is ergonomically comfortable. When not carrying your camera, the dividers can be taken out and the entire bag can be used as a simple backpack. It also has a built in rain cover in case the worst happens. I should be getting it this week. It will make things easier in the airport and trekking through the expo keeping my laptop, camera and other digital devices with me in one bag instead of bringing a separate bag for my laptop and camera. Most bags I was checking out were well over $100 to get the laptop option but I got this baby for an even $66 from Amazon. B&H and Adorama lists it $79.95 but if you buy it from Amazon who goes through Adorama (don't ask me why it's cheaper) it's only $66 bucks. No tax. Free shipping. Boom bam.
Why So Serious? Because That's What It Takes.
It's been awhile since my last post but I've been eerily occupied watching the highly addictive X-Files. See previous post. So I must apologize to myself and my fiance (the only people who read this blog) for not giving us gripping journalistic endeavors to embark on. So let's see if I can catch us up shall we? I've heard something about some movie called The Dark Knight that has been doing reasonably well at the box office. I guess I should check that one out sometime... Obviously I am being a douchebag because I have seen it twice already with a third time on my schedule of things to do. I was there for the midnight screening with 500 other people playing board games and ordering pizza in the lobby waiting to be let in. The movie was unbelievable. I'm hesitant to call it a movie- The film was unbelievable. I don't even want to call it a comic book movie. It's really just a film making masterpiece. The storyline moved along like a freight train fleshing out these characters that make you believe in a world where a man dressed as a bat and a psycho dressed as a clown really exist. Heath's performance was spectacular as everyone already knows. I can't wait to watch it again, but next time it will be in IMAX. I'm sure I will be scared shitless to see Harvey Dent's grotesque face revealed on a 6 story screen.
The joker poster above now graces the wall of my room framed behind glass. It's quite creepy because it looks as though he is writing on the frame. Below are some shots from that studio shoot. I love seeing how graphic artists turn raw studio/photography into awesome works of art. I hope to be doing projects like this someday.
I've Discovered The Light
Since I got my new camera I've been taking a crap load of pictures. At first I was using Adobe Bridge to organize and edit my RAW files but then remembered about Adobe Lightroom. I think I am in love. Lightroom is specifically made for the photographer, whether amateur or professional. The workflow is surprisingly simple from importing, tagging, organizing, and editing (or otherwise known in Lightroom terms as Developing). It treats files as InDesign does. All photos are linked to Lightroom and not actually moved or changed as you move and change them. All editing is non-destructible. Cropping, spot removal, straightening, color and exposure correction is not permanent even after you close the program. You can go back anytime and start from scratch or adjust your settings at a later time.
On top of this, Lightroom is capable of shooting tethered which means you can hook your camera up to you computer, take a picture, and it will automatically show up in Lightroom a few seconds later. As they import you can adjust settings to tag the photos and go into a certain folder. The photos are not stored on your camera but instead are stored directly to your hard drive. The software that comes with Canon cameras include software that makes this possible. Nikon owners like me need to buy a program called Camera Control Pro 2 ($160) or Bibble Pro ($130) which blows. I downloaded the trial version of Camera Control Pro 2 and it works like a charm. When the trial is up I am going to try this out which costs $0.
A Hell Of A Poster
I was at the movies last night and saw the new Hellboy II poster up in the lobby. It really caught my eye with its simplistic style. Most sci-fi hero type movies go for very exaggerated poses and wide angle perspective shots of the characters- which is fine. After all, comic art is precisely that but you gotta love the perspective of his profile at ground level. Hellboy is bullseye dead center, which is a amateur no no in photography and graphic design but when you know the rules, you know how and when to break them. The artist pulls it off nicely. The colors are bland and dark as it should be. This is Hellboy. A demon from hell here to save mankind. The contrast of Hellboy's red skin against the gray and golden sky really makes him pop. The title and text above and below him are centered and very old school in its layout. Again, to sum up it's very simple and I love it. It's definitely going up in my room when it goes on sale online. Hellboy II comes out July 11th.
