Vigoureux Artiste

Memorable Photography Quotes

2009-10-17T00:37:00.000-07:00

This inspired me to be better and to start bringing my camera everywhere I go.

10 Photography Quotes that You Should Know

View more presentations from Ryan Coleman Design & Consulting | Freelance Information Designer & Facilitator.]

Find me at Flickr

2009-09-27T06:23:00.000-07:00

I just created an account at flickr. This photo right here is a photo of my grandmother's orchids.I think I took this last Tuesday. What do you think?

Since last Friday, me and Lhynx, went for a drive around Cordova, we were able to take some photos good for B&W.

Please view the rest of my photos and your comments, whether good or ugly, are most welcome.

Meet my Girls [first post since I was MIA]

2009-09-12T11:21:00.000-07:00

When I was a child, creativity was synonymous to my name in Marie Earnestine School. Although I am not aptly endowed with artisan skills, I'd like to think that I am artistic. Although, today I would have to admit that I am slowly losing the child in me, I won't lose it without putting up a fight. After countless nights of working and just plainly getting stuck in the rat race, I have decided to take a stand and finally reward myself by buying my very own DSLR camera - impulsively.

Meet my Lily, an Olympus E-420. I would like to believe that Lily is meant for me since she was the last stock available before the unbelievable promo ended.

Olympus E420 with Pancake Lens Kit

Photo Credits: DCResource

For the price and it's capabilities - I would have to say that it was a steal, a definite must-have. Whilst this is an entry level camera, among its features that I love are: the anti-shock, live view, AF points of up to 11, good photo quality, it's currently the smallest DSLR camera, impressive continuous shooting mode, and it really does offer you value for your money.

Before I finally caved and decided to buy Lily, I first bought Holga, my lomo camera. I wanted to try film first to test my love for the craft. For my first film, only 6 were not ,and out from that only 4 looked okay. For the second roll of film, let's just say I forgot to take my lens cap off and have ultimately missed out on the potentially lomo masterpiece opportunity.

Holga 120N

Photo Credit: Graycard18

Anyway, its getting quite late. I will definitely post pictures soon.

Creative Make-Up

2009-03-11T20:18:00.000-07:00

These are some of the works of Wenwen Zaspa, make-up artists of the socialites.

Avant Garde

"Animalistic" Moments

4-Eyed Gorgeous

Victorian Nonetheless

You can check out his portfolio here >>

Another Burnout

2009-02-25T17:24:00.000-08:00

Other than my regular work, I am a freelancer. For the past few months, all I ever did was write for several websites and several blogs. Truth of the matter is I sometimes find my long nights of technical writing daunting. Today, I find myself writing through a method I would normally throw-up on - it is tasteless. The degree of creativity and hard work I put into it is trivial. Nonetheless, I find my creativity slowly shriveling up and if I don't do something about it today, it will soon be a distant memory tomorrow.

"I could just remember all of my interpretative dance presentation with Sining Dilaab."

"My poetry writing prowess."

"My love for painting?"

"My love for directing school plays and script writing"

Then I stumbled into renegade writer's blog and realized that I am not alone. She too shares my sentiments and experiences. I'm quite relieved that someone can relate to my current state of mind and more so - bears solutions. I have below some of Renegade Writer's tips that I'll be applying.

Jump outside the box and do the Twist.

I will buy new books and buy a set of new DVDs that can help tickle a muse currently in a coma. I will probably jog once in a week to go out of my way (I don't do exercises), in hopes to liven-up a faint-hearted spirit.

Be mindful at work.

Just like Renegade writer, I too find myself taking short-cuts in my writing work. I use the same phrases and I just harbor ideas for my next article topic which can be downright lazy.

Although I already have Renegade Writer's action plan at the back of my mind for quite some time, I don't have the commitment to follow it through. This time I will. "...to really pay attention when I write and try to come up with the best — not the easiest — way to get my ideas across. ...figure out how you can do it differently to force your mind to pay attention to the task."

Take a class.

I love to dance, especially interpretative. After my graduation, my once flexible body has now become more awkward and stiff. I find myself growing conscious whenever I dance. I need to let it loose somehow.

Do morning pages.

As soon as you wake up, write three pages, long-hand, about anything you want. It doesn’t matter if what you write is drivel or even the same word repeated twenty times. What matters is that you do it. I’m not quite sure how it works, but I suspect you’re spilling all the distracting chatter from your head onto the paper so you can redirect your mental powers to being creative. I also suspect that every once in a while, a creative gem will pop out of your head and onto the paper. I haven’t been doing it long enough to see results, but I’ll keep at it.

I have a notebook to spare at home and I need to work on my ability to wake up early. Instead of three, I'll have a minimum of one page per morning. No laptop, just the old-school pen and paper. Goodluck!

These are a few of Renegade Writer's advice, view the rest of her tips here. I find it true that I need to add creativity to all aspects of my life in order for my own artistic ingenuity to reflect in my work. On to the path of creative living, to pursue greatness in every way.

~ ~ Thank you Renegade Writer for lifting my spirits up! ~ ~

One Nostril at a Time

2009-02-17T18:04:00.000-08:00

I'm terribly sick. Well, that might be an overstatement but I am sick. I have the colds and whenever I have them, I end up with a fever or with an asthma. Today, I have the cough so I might end up with the latter. Anyway, as I was browsing through my Google Reader, I stumbled into Jessica Zafra's post on blowing your nose. Apparently, I'm not the only whose feeling sick. Anyway, she wrote a quick tip on how to properly blow your nose. To start with its ideal not to blow your nose when you have the colds, however it just feels so utterly good whenever you get all those slimy mucus out of your already clogged and swollen nose. So to alleviate the stuffy feeling, blow your nostril one at a time and take a decongestant that will actually work (I haven't taken any that has proved to really decongest my too congested nose).

Happy Sneezing everyone.

Web Design Newbie

2009-02-11T17:40:00.000-08:00

February started with changes and developments. There is nothing left to do but move on. After I heard that my Boss was ultimately planning to dissolve the SEO department and finally utilize our skills into something more demanding - my first initial reaction was, "Nooooooooo!". But then I mellowed down and accepted the challenge as something that I have to surmount by the end of the year. Since I only have a measly know-how on web design, I am currently cramming. Trying to learn HTML, CSS and soon a whole lot more programming langauge. I have up to June to learn the basics and then until December to really get my hands dirty. I am quite lucky though to be surrounded by people who are quite knowledgeable in this area.

So we have below my first attempt in ever designing a web template.

I'm really not into web design, this is my first. What do you think?

My colleague, Julie, made the lay-out. I only changed the color scheme.

What do you generally think about my web design and color preference? I need some moral support here (wink). Do you have any general advice (on web developing and probably programming) for a newbie such as myself? For all the other rookies out there, my friend referred to me this interactive HTML tutorial. Had lot's of fun with it and I hope you'll learn something too.

High Dynamic Range Photography

2009-02-01T18:41:00.000-08:00

High dynamic range (HDR) images enable photographers to record a greater range of tonal detail than a given camera could capture in a single photo. This opens up a whole new set of lighting possibilities which one might have previously avoided—for purely technical reasons.

When to use HDR images?

Use HDR images when the scene's brightness distribution can no longer be easily blended using a graduated neutral density (GND) filter. This is because GND filters extend dynamic range while still maintaining local contrast. Scenes which are ideally suited for GND filters are those with simple lighting geometries, such as the linear blend from dark to light encountered commonly in landscape photography (corresponding to the relatively dark land transitioning into bright sky).

HDR Photography Samples

I scoured the internet in search for some of the best HDR images indexed. Below are a few of my favorites.

Shiny red beetle.

Sound asleep

Breaking dawn

Sunrise at the beach

First Bloom

Which do you like best? My personal favorite is the cat, reminds me of my feline friend, sam-sam.

Google over the Years

2009-01-28T20:45:00.000-08:00

Around 1998, Larry Page and Sergey Brin co-founded the now ubiquitous web household name Google. The company name "Google" originated from the term "Googol" which means 1 with a hundred zeros. A decade has passed and in this post we will discuss how Google's logo evolved over the years.

Google No. 1 Typeface: Adobe Garamond

Ruth Kedar, the graphic designer who developed the now-famous logo, shows the iterations that led to the instantly recognizable primary colors and Catull typeface that define the Google brand.

Google No. 2 Typeface: Catull

This design ended up being part of the basis for the multiple Os at the bottom of Google's search results page.

Google No. 3 Typeface: ITC Leawood

The interlocking rings are a metaphor for far-reaching searches that involve different cultures and different countries.

Google No. 4 Typeface: Catull

All the letters in this design are uppercase, giving it a more corporate and solid feel, but by changing the letters' sizes and adding colors, Kedar keeps the logo playful.

Google No. 5 Typeface: Catull

This is a further iteration of the previous design, but Kedar gets rid of the cross hairs and the ability to see through the magnifying glass. She adds a smiling mouth, though, to represent "happy" results and a positive search experience.

Google No. 6 Typeface: ITC Leawood

This design was close to Brin's original concept, but by using the Leawood font, shadowing and shading, Kedar gets some dimensionality into the logo as the letters go through thick and thin stages. The logo floats on the search page, which they knew was going to be clean and mostly white. This iteration also started a discussion regarding how many colors Google wanted and what kind of color progression would work.

Google No. 7 Typeface: Catull

By taking out the magnifying glass, Kedar opens up the logo to signify that Google can become much more than just a search engine. By playing with the angles and colors of the letters, she tries to make clear that Google isn't a square corporation.

Final Design Typeface: Catull

Source: Wired

Crisis and Freelancing

2009-01-19T20:08:00.000-08:00

Economic recession is amidst us and you can certainly feel it as belts are slowly tightened. But is 2009 really a bust for freelancers because of the crisis? Apparently not.

Many companies are cutting costs at these crucial times however as the old saying goes, "when one door closes, a window will open". It is common during recession that companies will cut back on it's labor especially those under marketing, graphics and communication. But then work still needs to be done; companies will need to advertise. This time they will no longer keep it in-house, they will however outsource it to freelancers. So even at recession, freelancing still has its pizazz, especially for the savvy ones.

So how do you get freelance work at this time?

Market yourself. Use the internet to market yourself. There are a lot of online portals where you can join and then passive-aggressively market yourself as an expert. Linkedin is good way to host your online curriculum vitae. If you maintain a blog, good, if you don't please make one. A blog is a good way to show off your work and there are a lot of blogging platforms out there that's available for free such Wordpress and Blogspot. Make sure that you put a "Hire Me" section in your blog so that your readers can see that you're willing to offer your expertise for a fee. (Alliteration not intended)
Collaborate with other freelancers. Collaborating with other freelancers is also a form of networking. I basically do a lot of freelance writing work and I ask my friends to endorse my skills as their value-added service as I do the same with theirs. We either share an overflow of work or collaborate on one project wherein a writer, designer and programmer are needed.
Be Audacious. Get out of your comfort zone and dare yourself to move. Don't wait for projects to come to you, find yourself a project. Be proactive about your freelancing and don't be afraid to knock on doors.
Network and more network. You won't get any projects if you're just couped up in your flat, instead step out, socialize and get your name out there. Connect with other freelancers, potential clients and other individuals that can help you in your career.
Never undersell yourself. Know the value of your work. Don't overprice but then never undersell your work. Never go beyond what you deem is too low for you since this will ultimately eat away your motivation and self-esteem.
Invest in yourself. Don't stay stagnant, grow. Even when belts are already tightened, make room to invest in yourself. Study something new that promotes career advancement.

No matter what strategy you use, recession offers golden opportunities to freelancers who know how to take advantage of it. Good luck!

Pre-Nuptial Photos

2009-01-15T16:51:00.000-08:00

These photos were take by Rolando Pascua. You can visit his website and view the rest of his portfolio here.

Jacob Cass of Just Creative Design

2009-01-08T00:09:00.000-08:00

It has been a while since I featured an interview here. I have been quite busy while my interviewee has a lot on his hands as well. I'm quite happy that he took a small amount of his time to answer a few of my questions. The man of the hour is Jacob Cass. He is very young and at the age of 21, he is a known graphic designer and his blog is among the best blogs, there is, about graphic designs and more.

Can you give us a few details about yourself?

Hi, my name is Jacob Cass and I am the founder of ‘Just Creative Design’. On this website you will find my personal graphic design portfolio (My design services are currently available for hire), as well as a blog on the main subject of graphic design which provides free graphic design tips, articles & resources on all subjects of design, ranging from, but not limited to; print design, logo design, web design, branding, typography, advertising & more.

When did your interest in graphic design started?

Back in high school.

When and why did you start blogging?

To learn, teach others and to record my process as a designer. Also to earn an income doing what I love doing, designing!

Do you enjoy blogging as much as you enjoy designing?

They both come hand in hand.

How did you get your blog off the ground? A piece of advice?

A lot of hard work. It took about 4 months until it really kicked off.

When working on a new project, how do you start your creative process?

Always by a brief or questionnaire, sometimes a client consultation, then research, sketching, etc.

What are the biggest personal or professional challenges do you face regularly?

Personal is probably disipline. Professional, is probably trying to keep up with everything.

How do you handle an artist's block?

I have my inspiration sources I come back to. The internet is a huge help!

Who is your mentor?

I have no mentor, but I try to learn off as many people as I can.

What sites do you usually visit when you're in need to tickle your muse for fresh ideas?

I don't have any certain sites, but if need be I can just browse some galleries.

What is the most memorable work you've done so far?

I loved doing my own logo and the Fitucci logo :)

You're so young, yet you are very successful in what you do. What advice can you give to all those people who look up to you?

The biggest piece of advice that I would give comes in a ‘package’ based from the little things that I have learned over my short career as a designer. These would be perfect for someone just starting out… Don’t undervalue your work. Seek critcism, not praise. Always keep learning & don’t be a static learner… do this by reading books, magazines, blogs and by practicing. Collect & Share things. Never give up. Keep practicing. Again, keep practicing. Teach others.

2009 Goals

2009-01-07T19:02:00.000-08:00

While others are into the whole new year's resolution enchilada, I on the other hand is into Goal Setting. I've read from the book, that goal setting is very powerful and it is even more powerful when you have it in writing. So I 'll write my artistically inclined goals here and hope that by the end of this year I have accomplished all of them since you (my readers) have compelled me to.

My posts will be more informative (a lengthy post of at least 300 words, once a week)
Tell other bloggers that I'm here, "Hello to the entire blogoshpere" (alliteration unintended)
Change into a whole new look that will reflect the person that I am
Put up more images, took or made, by me
In relation to the previous goal above, finally buy my DSLR camera (I have been lusting over it, I think this year should be the time) so that I can finally take pictures and not just snapshots
Learn web development

For your next coffee

2009-01-04T05:02:00.000-08:00

This is certainly making a political statement out of the ordinary furniture.

Abu Ghraib table by Phillip Toledano

Single Ladies

2008-12-24T21:38:00.000-08:00

I know you might have seen Beyonce's new video, "Single Ladies". I am loving the tune and I love the video and apparently I'm not the only one. Beyonce's Single Ladies videos ignites a viral sensation and prompts hundreds of interpretations scattered online. This video below is my personal favorite.

UPDATE:

Darn youtube! The videos I like seems to be "un-embedable". Anyway, I have below the "PG version" of Shane Mercado's version of Beyonce's Single ladies. If you want to see how Shane perfected this new dance craze when compared to Beyonce - this video is highly recommended. Your jaws would drop from envy.

Online Avatar

2008-12-22T21:10:00.000-08:00

According to Wikipedia, an avatar is An avatar is a computer user’s representation of himself/herself or alter ego, whether in the form of a three-dimensional model used in computer games, a two-dimensional icon (picture) used on Internet forums and other communities.

There are several web based avatar creators that let's you conveniently make your avatar without the need for any photo editing knowledge. To mention a few is Yahoo Avatars, Dopple Me, and the South Park Studio that lets you create a south park version of you. I posted a south park version of me and my officemates a few months back here.

Anyway, the highlight of this post is the FaceYourManga avatar creator. FaceYourManga basically allows you to create a mangatar their argot for avatar. You are presented with a basic avatar which you can customize to your liking. You can choose different hairstyles, customize features, eyes, nose, garments and apply some makeup if you are inclined to do so. There are plenty of choices for each of them and if you spend some time on it, you will get pretty close to what you were looking for when you started.

Seductive Photo Manipulations

2008-12-21T18:09:00.000-08:00

Photo manipulation is one of the most creative art forms to come out of the digital age. Below are some awesome examples of image manipulation that I simply love.

Let it Snow, Let it Snow - Let Snow...

2008-12-10T02:14:00.000-08:00

"It doesn't show signs of stopping,
And I've bought some corn for popping,
The lights are turned way down low,
Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!"

I saw this snowfall effect at other Wordpress hosted blogs, seemed like Wordpress is in the Holiday mood since it has a snowfall widget that is only available unti Jan 4 of 2009. I was so jealous that I immediately installed it at my other blog, Quite Oxymoronic, very Christmas-sy right?

Anyway, since I'm all for the holiday spirit, I made sure that I have snowflakes trickling down this very blog as well. If you are wondering how I did it, I'll show you how.

Go to Layouts tab and in your page elements click "add a gadget".
Add the HTML/ Javascript gadget that lets you add a third-party functionality or other code to your blog.
Copy this code right here and viola your own snowfall

Unlike most snowfall scripts this uses plain white text (full stops and apostrophes) to act as snowflakes which trickle down the page. I hope you enjoy this festive blog decoration, please share your opinions if you experience any trouble installing this widget by leaving your comments below.

-- Update

For those who have read my post and didn't find any code, my apologies. Apparently the codes wouldn't show on page. But here it is now as you can see. Enjoy!

Sure its nice but its not my type

2008-12-08T21:37:00.000-08:00

The architect just sent me these architectural renderings of our office. This is his proposed design. After looking at it, sure it's nice but then it's not my type. Although he did well in making our office appear expensive, it's just way to cramped and stiff. I would like my team to be comfortable in while working and I like the office to be creatively stimulating both for our web developers and writers. He is half way there, he just needs to revise his design a bit. What do you think? Am I right with my comments or am I just bitching?

Manny Pacquaio & Oscar Delahoya - Dream Fight

2008-12-05T07:52:00.000-08:00

I'm so big in boxing but then this Dream Fight have caused so much attention online and my officemates are betting against each other so who could blame me if this caught my attention. This coming December 7, 2008. Who do you think will win? Manny or Oscar?

Manny Pacquiao's Fighting Strategy:

Some experts have argued that Manny's speed will be so blindingly fast that De La Hoya won't be able to hit the Philippine sensation. This is inconsistent with Manny's style of fighting, though because he has always been more seek-and-destroy than stick-and-move.

Despite the aforementioned, Manny Pacquiao's speed will still play a significant role in attaining victory. He will have to stay active on the outside to neutralize De La Hoya's jab and let his hands go once he is close up.

Due to the fact that Manny is used to scoring knockouts, he has to understand that De La Hoya is used to being hit by bigger guys. The key to victory for Manny is that he punches in combinations and tries to win by outscoring his opponent. That means the quantity, and not quality, of punches landed will likely punch Manny's winning ticket.

De La Hoya's Strategy:

In the last five years De La Hoya has not knocked out any significant fighter. An exception could be Ricardo Mayorga; however one can argue that he was overmatched and not in the same skill level as De La Hoya. However this argument does not apply against Pacquiao, as Oscar's relative weight advantage and power have to be take into consideration and thus respected.

Oscar De La Hoya might find that he might initially have to take a few punches, but it's what he does with that one that matters. De La Hoya will most likely look to jab while Pacquiao is coming in and use hooks to the head and body once he gets there.

The key point for Oscar De La Hoya to win is to be able to cut the ring off. This should not be a problem as he has been facing top-notch competition for more than a decade and knows more than a little bit about cutting off the ring.

Who do you think will win?

UPDATE: --------------

Manny Pacquaio won but Delahoya barely fought. He wasn't even trying and I think that fight really intended to let Manny win. The fight was not that exciting since Delahoya was more on the defense & he barely reciprocated the punches that Manny threw at him. Maybe it was the sudden drop of his weight or maybe it was a ploy nonetheless I expected more.

Photoshop Tutorials Friday

2008-12-04T23:13:00.001-08:00

Create A Vibrant Modern Blog Design in Photoshop

Taking a closer look into the world of web design this tutorial will cover the process of designing a vibrant and colourful modern blog layout in Adobe Photoshop. Beginning with a blank canvas we’ll go through the process of creating the entire structure and effects from scratch.

Read the rest of the tutorials here >>

Comic Book Photo Effect

In this Photoshop tutorial I’ll show you how to add a comic book effect to an ordinary photo using a few layers, the Cutout and Poster Edges filters and a few different layer blend modes.

This is a little technique I picked up at Photoshop World and have tweaked to my own preferences. Because each photo is different you’ll want to experiment a little with the settings to get your best result. I’ve found that although this technique can be used for most photos, there are certain ones that have a much more pleasing final result.

Read the rest of the tutorial here >>

Creating A Retro Grunge Poster

This tutorial is an add on from the Poster article the other day, we will create a Retro/Grunge style poster using the pen tool some textures and playing with text to make it look more retro.

Read the rest of the tutorial here >>

Decode

2008-12-03T18:48:00.000-08:00

I know it's a bit late to feature Paramore's hit single Decode. I have been constantly listening to it the past couple of weeks but I never really got around to tell the rest of the world how much I love it since my freelance work keeps me too busy.

I definitely love Hayley William's voice. I have definitely added her voice quality to my frustrations list together with Skunk Anansie and Bjork vocal prowess. Anyway, I hope you'll still enjoy watching their music video. You should also listen to the second video (no video to see only pics) since this is the acoustic version of Decode.

Decode: The Official Twilight SoundTrack

Acoustic Version of Decode

Paramore - Decode Acoustic Version !!! from Lost in the Darkness... on Vimeo.

Our New Office - Finally!

2008-11-26T17:20:00.000-08:00

We are finally moving to our new office. Well, not now but early next year. Right now Architect James Sun is still very busy with the designing phase and the construction might run one to two months starting from January. As of now I only have the design of the lobby. The Architect is aiming to make the office visually inspiring since majority of the employees are the creative types. Below are the 3d renderings of our soon to be office. What do you think?

8 Christmas Gifts for Creative Freelancers

2008-11-18T20:38:00.000-08:00

Christmas is fast approaching and by now I hope you already have your shopping list ready or else your going to be classified as a crappy gift giver, again. If you haven't prepared what gifts to give out yet, well this post might just get you out of your holiday quagmire. With the economy lagging down, I made sure that my gift ideas are not only creatively inspired but it's under the $ 50 bracket.

On and Off Mug - US $ 50

I know how a lot of graphic artists or writers rely on coffee to get through the day. Even before the brain starts its full function, a dapple of coffee is needed to get it started. Which is why this mug is so perfect for many of us. At plain sight it is a standard black mug with big white letters that says OFF. Nothing fancy, but once you add the hot beverage of your choice, the mug changes color and gradually turns to white with big black letters saying: ON. Although there are a lot of temperature sensitive mugs manufactured already, I like this specifically since it's witty and very simple. Place an order here.

The is how the mug slowly changes from black to white.

Mimoco 4 GB Flash Drive - $ 49.95

Who says that flash drives need to be plain and dull? Any freelancer would want to have these mimoco flash drives to transport their files from one computer to the other. Since the friend I have in mind is a girl, I'm sure she'll love Giggles Glory from happy tree friends. You can choose from other mimobots series as well.

Giggle Glory - actually for the month of November, Giggles Glory is on sale and is only $32.47. Better buy one now before the sale ends.

Logitech V470 Cordless Laser Mouse - $ 42.00

Most freelancers are on the go and spend most their time on laptops. Logitech V470 Cordless Laser Mouse allows people to connect directly to Bluetooth-enabled MacBook computers or Windows-based laptop PCs - without an external receiver. The V470 mouse features Bluetooth 1.2 wireless technology and laser tracking and Side-to-Side Scrolling Plus Zoom. People can instantly zoom in and out, or scroll horizontally or vertically with convenience.

This mouse also comes with a pouch.

Veer's SketchBook - $ 29

Creative individuals especially artists loves to doodle and sketch. Whenever an inspiration hits them, artists just have sketch it out before totally forgetting the bits of details the imagination has conjured up. Veer's sketchbook pretty much says it all for most artists.

I draw pictures all day.

Creatives Understand Mouse Pad - $ 20

Veer has a lot of really cool products that appeals to many graphic designers and writers. If inside you're a creative maelstrom yet very collected and cool on the outside, then this mouse pad expresses your creative voice.

These are the mouse pad designs you can choose from.

Small Typography Poster - $ 15.99

Type is the way we communicate the written word. This is a great gift for designers and even for writers. This is a perfect wall decor for their workspace. Need I say more?

You can check this out at cafepress.

Irregular IQ Cube - $ 9.99

This is your not so ordinary cube. This cube, found at thinkgeek, is not restricted to straight vertical and horizontal cuts, it has two new vertical slices, creating new planes for rotation, designed to have your spatial relations geared up. Now this will certainly have your creative juices flowing.

Does it look impossible to you?

Busted Tee - $ 18.99

The internet is a ubiquitous media. Most if not all freelancers transact business online. You can get more of these funny shirts at Busted Tees.

But it's safer than bringing my computer under water...

You're wearing what we're all thinking.

9th and final Idea - Cash. Give friends and family $ 50 and I'm sure they'll thank you for it.

Do you have any more gift ideas to add?

A Touch of Class

2008-11-16T18:32:00.000-08:00

This, I guess, is one of the boldest get-up I could ever wear. A dark violet dress matched with a striking gold sandals and bag. It has a nuance of Victorian fashion with a dose of enigma. What do you think of my latest set?

A Touch of Class by zeniamai

Architectural Designs

2008-11-12T18:49:00.000-08:00

I'm very busy for the past couple of days and this will go on for about a month. I have been ghost writing for another company at night time and it is certainly taking it's toll now (I'm so sleepy). I barely have time to blog here and in my other blog. Enough of the rants since this is a blog dedicated to arts, anyway I know it's been a while since I posted something about architecture. Architect James recently sent me his rough 3d architectural renderings for Barbie's soon to be "mansion" **smirk**.

He sent it yesterday late afternoon that's why I didn't get to post it here immediately. I only have one comment after I saw the images: Expensive. The structure of the house is already existing, James only needed to renovate the entire area and turn it from dump to luxurious living. I don't want to prolong the suspense any longer so.

This is the top view of the house.

I really love the idea of the pool and how it unifies with the house's entire design

Please don't mind the floating plants since this image was not perfectly rendered, yet.

It's a Dog's Day

2008-11-09T20:20:00.000-08:00

Dog Beds by zeniamai

I have three dogs and Coffee, my rusty-red Doberman, loves lying down on a soft and warm surface. We usually give her towels to sleep on however she later on tears it apart. I want me to get these beds. After the house renovation, we are actually building a place where she can lie down comfortably and these beds inside a dog house for coffee would be great!

Friendster Themes

2008-11-05T01:55:00.000-08:00

If you are outside Asia, most probably you haven't heard of Friendster nor do you have friends lurking in its vast database. Just like Myspace, Friendster is a social network wherein you get to connect with, well, friends. However in Asia, more specifically in Indonesia and Philippines, Friendster is considered a big hit. Just like any social network, many of its members are tweaking and re-tweaking its themes to make their profiles stand out. We all know that when you have good graphics, you are most likely to receive those wanted attentions. Although you can find a lot of Friendster themes in the search engines, I took the liberty of picking out top 5 sites that has some of the best themes.

I would like to hand out some advice on how to pick a Friendster theme for your page.

When choosing a Friendster theme, I would advise not to pick themes that has an image of a celebrity unless of course you're making a fan page. But if your Friendster is all about you, you should get themes that reflects your personality or edit it and add your image in the background. Doing so will really make it more personal and more you.

I would also advise not to pick themes wherein the words are barely visible. I often see Friendster themes wherein the words are a shade lighter than the background. With this theme, you are giving your readers a helluva time reading what you have to say in your profile.

I don't enjoy seeing words that are strike out and what seems to be an identifier for words with a hyperlink. It's only making the words unreadable but it also makes entire design a bit of a mess.

I like Friendster themes that are clean and when the graphics are either simple or just outstanding. There is no hard and fast rule as to what is beautiful, remember, "beauty is in the eye of the beholder".

Top 5 Friendster Themes Sites

Friendster Hub - This is my first choice. I see a lot of themes that suites what I've mentioned above. They have a wide selection of fresh themes, the kinds wherein you have a header/ banner that you can conveniently edit if you just take time to play around with the CSS. I also like the layout of their site since its more organized and clean to look at.

Vixen Art - You can find a lot of cool layouts here that have a web 2.0 concept. You can find none traditional Friendster themes that has good-looking graphics. I also like their site navigation and how their site loads fast since many Friendster theme sites loads ever so slowly due to the large amount of images.

Layout Venue - For me, among all websites that offer Friendster layouts, Layout Venue has kept a more general theme and its clean and crisp designs (minimalist). Most of their graphics are not obstructing any text and are neatly placed at the side. The Friendster themes you can choose from are quotes layout, icon layout, glitter layout, photography layout, and among others.

Cool Friendster Layout - They have a wide selection of Friendster Themes. Their website loads easily which is a good thing since sites like these are usually heavy with graphics. The designs are pretty random however most of their themes are not cheesy.

Friendster Hive - In a way Friendster Hive is revolutionizing the Friendster theme industry. Unlike in Friendster Hub who house all sorts of themes, Friendster Hive's themes generally look like a blog since it has notable banners located on top of your profile. The appealing graphics are placed neatly on the side or even on the background but still it is no where messy. The place holder of the content either have graphical designs that are not obtrusive to the text or its plainly crisp and clean which is so fine by me.

If you want to customize your Friendster profile even more, I suggest you visit Kiwee. Although you can't find any themes or layouts, you can get a lot of really cool add-ons for your profile. I have below a text generator from Kiwee, lovely isn't it?

www.VigoureuxArtiste.Blogspot.com

www.kiwee.com

Something Casual

2008-11-03T01:18:00.000-08:00

Being a Girl by zeniamai

Weddings and Photography

2008-10-27T10:46:00.000-07:00

What I don't like in some wedding photographers is when they capture a synchronized and laid-out pseudo-moment instead of actually capturing the candid and real ones. I got those same pictures for my debut, my pictures were downright bland and you could tell that I was acting for the camera. When I saw Kimberly's works, her style is not the usual type you'd normally see in wedding photos. They are usually full of life and love. She doesn't seem to capture only the scene the couples are portraying but she captures a moment, the real deal. Her photos are among the few that shares to the rest of us the feelings her subjects share for each other. Looking at her works gives you a fresh perspective in this branch of photography. She is among the artists, I have been dying to know more about and now that she has sent me back her answers, I hope you'd enjoy this post.

Tell us a bit about yourself?

Well, I am Kimberly Hurst of Kimberly Hurst, Inc. I am a wedding photographer based out of Long Island, NY. I love shooting local weddings including Manhattan and Brooklyn, but enjoy shooting destination weddings around the country.

When did you start taking photos?

I started taking photos in high school. But photography has always been a part of my life. My father was my first mentor, and he worked in a small camera shop here on Long Island. I remember as a little kid wandering the aisles of the shop, seeing all the pretty shiny cameras and equipment. I think it’s why to this day, I love collecting vintage cameras.

What camera are you using?

Right now, I rock the Nikon D300. I love my camera so so much. But it’s not to say I don’t lust after the D700. I hope to upgrade some time next year.

Can you share to us what is a normal day for you?

A normal day is much like anyone else’s normal day. I wake up with the aide of coffee, and get to tackling the day at hand. I love making to-do lists!

What was your first photo that made you go WOW!?

That would be a photograph I took when I was still in high school. For me, the moment when everything clicked, was during a field trip my class took to Central Park. Our teacher let us walk around photographing the park, and I ended up wandering over to the Alice In Wonderland sculpture. If you know Central Park, you know this sculpture. There was this beautiful blond-haired girl playing and climbing on the sculpture. At one point she sat on Alice’s lap and looked at me. I put my camera to my face and snapped one photo. At that time there was no LCD display, but I KNEW. I KNEW I captured a moment, something special. I developed the film, ran a test print and was awed by what came out of my camera. It was Madonna and Child. It was ethereal. It was a true portrait. It told a story, it gave emotion. I was hooked from that moment on.

What is your favorite photo, either your own or someone else's or both? Describe its creation or meaning to you?

A recent favorite photo of mine was from an engagement shoot. I met up with the bride and groom and we wandered around a local park. At one point, I asked if they were willing to go stand in this fountain, and they were! I asked them to snuggle close, I asked the groom to lean in for a kiss and out of habit the bride lifted herself up on her tippy-toes to receive his kiss. It made me smile immediately. It’s photos like this where the light is beautiful and the couple allows the camera to capture them as themselves where a portrait is successful.

What are the biggest personal or professional challenges you face on a daily basis?

I wouldn’t say I have incredible challenges, but I always strive to learn and grow and perfect my craft. I love taking workshops and enjoy challenging myself to improve. I don’t think an artist should ever feel like they’ve achieved all that they can. There’s always room to grow!

Do you ever have photographer's block and if yes how do you deal with it?

I am always taking photos. One year ago, I completed a project where I took one photo, every single day, for one year. And I can say it truly helped me see beauty in the every day. If you are suffering some kind of block, giving yourself a project such as this can really help you hone your skills. I think as photographers we can never be shooting enough. If you shoot a lot, always have your camera on you, and push yourself to take a great picture, those moments of creative block are fewer and farther between.

How do you describe your photographic style?

I am a sensory person. I always like to say my photography is like fresh baked bread and cupcakes.

Who or what would you love to shoot that you haven't already?

My husband and I honeymooned in Greece. I would love to go back one day and photographer a wedding on Santorini.

How do you feel about digital manipulation and to what extent do you utilize it?

As someone who shot film before shooting digital, I can say that there was just as much manipulation available to a photographer back in the film days as there is now with Photoshop and Lightroom. I don’t mind when photographers use the tools available to them to create their imagery. It’s about having a vision, a style, and whatever you use to get there is fine.

On a photography career, what advice can you give to others especially to all those young and aspiring photographers?

Shoot! And shoot some more! You must know your camera inside and out. You have to be able to shoot manually and not rely on your camera to tell you how to expose your photo or how to balance your light. There is so much technology available today, that anyone with a Rebel thinks they can be a photographer. A true professional can assess a mixed light, backlit, tricky situation and know how to handle it. And that comes with practice. So, shoot all the time. Start to understand light and how to control it in your camera. And after you’ve mastered that, learn the business of photography. As a former art student, I can say this was the hardest part. But you must become aware of marketing, customer service, pricing, contracts, and so on. It’s a lot to learn, but if you are truly passionate about the job, it’s a joyful and exciting time.

Do you have any other thoughts to share?

Just to say thanks!

-------------------------------------

Please visit her site at www.kimberlyhurst.com and know more about her through her blog www.kimberlyhurst.com/blog

I want this for my Computer Nook

2008-10-26T18:54:00.000-07:00

Computer Nook by zeniamai

Image Manipulation

2008-10-22T19:58:00.000-07:00

With Photoshop and other Photo Editing programs, the possibilities are endless. Here at the office, my colleague is working on new samples for a new site. Anyway, below is an impressive photo manipulation work she has been dabbling on for a few hours.

She has used each on of these photos to make a new one. She took bits of elements per photo so that she can come up with the final photo we have below.

One stormy night for the Statue of Liberty. Amazing isn't it? If you want to learn about Image manipulation, you can read this article.

I'm such a Girl

2008-10-19T23:23:00.000-07:00

I was introduced to Polyvore by my sister only last weekend. Although I have seen this kind of layout in several girly blogs I regularly visit but then I was never really curious since I am swamped with work when I'm in the office. I enjoyed mixing and matching all sorts of images I found on their database. This post is the onset of my Polyvore craze. Together we will be exploring and mix matching stylish clothings to interior designs every Monday.

Shades of Yellow by zeniamai

Just to give you a head's up, I'm interviewing Kimberly Hurst for this month. Make sure to watch out for it. I'

H2O Based Seductive Ad

2008-10-16T20:06:00.000-07:00

Advertising Agency: W/Brasil, Brazil
Creative Director: Rui Branquinho
Writer: Rui Branquinho
Art director: Celso Alfieri
Account Department: Sheila Farah, Fernanda Knijnik
Planning Department: Newton Nagumo, Flávia Campos
Published: September 2007

"Coincidentally" there is a new ad spot with the same sexy concept only they are trying to market water. You can view the ad here for Velvet for Mattoni. You can view the more detailed post regarding Velvet for Mattoni here. I would have to say that the effects for the water is really great. There is a great sexy deal of rotoscoping and animation involved here.

Robot Dancers for Denmark

2008-10-14T23:53:00.000-07:00

I just saw this video just about now and I was at awe at how these guys can dance. Pretty amazing! What do you think?

Videos I want to share

2008-10-09T19:45:00.000-07:00

This morning I found two very interesting videos I want to share, no make that three since my colleague here found another one. Two of which is an ad spot for Aids while the last one is a classic music video from A-Ha.

Aids Ad Spot (Guy Version)

Aids Ad Spot 2 (Girl Version)

The A-Ha Video, Take on Me - Literally! ( Really, the lyrics are so literal)

Tutsearch

2008-09-28T21:02:00.000-07:00

I have a lot of things to learn before I could ever call myself a graphic designer. I am always fascinated by arts and my passion has served me well in my writings and even in my Photoshop endeavors. For me who wants to get better at using Photoshop, I rely most of the time at tutorials I find online.

There are gazillion tutorials sites and I find it great that Art Webb thought of a search engine dedicated for tutorials. If you want to learn about "clipping path", all you have to do is just type it at the search box and, viola, you get a long list of all tutorial sites that have a step-by-step instruction on how to make a simple clipping path.

If you want to start searching for a tutorial, visit www.tutsearch.net Adelle Charles also has an interview with Art Webb and in the interview they discussed tutsearch. If you want to know the story behind tutsearch you can read the full interview here.

Making Porn Child Friendly

2008-09-26T00:49:00.000-07:00

This ad is directed for the upcoming Diesel XXX party by Keith Schofield and animated by Big Animal. This spot is amazingly entertaining and is guaranteed to leave you either appalled or laughing your heads off . Watching this video left me teary-eyed from laughing and after I composed myself it took me about a minute to spread the good to link to my officemates . This video is great to watch several times together with friends.

http://view.break.com/577249 - Watch more free videos

3D your Home

2008-09-15T21:21:00.000-07:00

I know a lot of home owners who are highly creative in decorating their homes. Even when thinking of minor renovations, its always best to plan it ahead and what best way to plan your architectural endeavor is using an architectural rendering. 3D architectural rendering is a 3d representation of your home, even before you start constructing, you can already see how the post construction will look like.

However rendering is not as easy as it sounds. You need to have both the creativity and technical capability in order to create one. Most pro opt to have their plans modeled and rendered in architectural rendering firms. However for the simple homeowner who likes to DIY, you can opt to download a very light and free 3d software called "Sweet Home 3D". It's very easy to use. If you tried playing with SIMs, this program is more like it.

Ariana of becoming-hom e said, "I wish I knew where it’s been all my life. Or at least since we became homeowners. Its the perfect mix of free, easy to use and totally flexible."

Here is a screenshot of the program:

Download your own Sweet Home 3d here: http://sweethome3d.sourceforge.net/index.html

The Man Behind the Monsters

2008-09-09T21:00:00.000-07:00

I first heard about him at Doodlage and after that I knew I just had to get to know more about him. This month's artist has a slight fixation on monsters. I am talking about Stefan Bucher. His monsters are whimsical and are far from the frightening monsters that trick-or-treats during Halloween (**grin**). I find Stefan interesting and I wouldn't deny that I have become a fan. I like his style, his humor and his passion for the things he does. So below is the official e-mail interview I had with Stefan. Enjoy!

Tell us a bit about yourself?

My name is Stefan G. Bucher. It’s pronounced SHTE-fawn BOO-ker.
The G is silent. I’m an illustrator who also designs and writes.

In your blog, it mentioned you barely have a free time. What's a normal day for you?

Let me tell you my normal day in reverse order:

I design and draw from about 3 or 4 to 5 or 6AM.
From 2AM to 3AM I have dinner and watch the Daily Show & Colbert.
At 1:30AM I walk to the market to get food for dinner.
From around 2PM until 1:30AM I write, design, and draw.
Sometimes I sneak out to meet friends within that time.
From 6AM to 1PM I sleep.

When and how did you start making your monsters?

I made my first Monster drawing in April of 2006. It appeared on my arm while I was drawing and I decided to draw it. Then I drew 50 more. Those became the book “Upstairs Neighbors.” While I was trying to find a publisher for that book I started filming myself drawing monsters. That’s how http://www.dailymonster.com got started in November of 2006.

What was your first monster?

Stefan's first Monster

What materials do you usually work with when creating your monsters?

I use Faber-Castell PITT artist pens, Staedtler pigment liners, Tombo ABT pens, Sharpies (fine point and wedge tip), and Yasutomo Sumi ink on regular old uncoated bond paper.

How do you go about creating your monsters?

I put a few drops of ink on a piece of paper, blow it into a shape using air through a straw, and then turn the sheet until I see the Monster hiding within that shape. Then I film myself (in time-lapse) making the Monster visible.

Among all the monsters you've created, which one is your favorite?

Oh, that’s like picking your favorite kid. It can’t be done.

I saw the work you did for STEP Inside Design, I really loved it. Can you please share some of your most memorable graphic design work experiences with us? (Can you attach an image of your favorite work, as well?)

Thank you. I’m glad you like the STEP work. It’s some of my favorite stuff, too. But, boy, my most memorable graphic design work experiences? That’s a question for a campfire evening, and not all of them I’d want to commit to writing. The short answer is, I got to design a catalog for David Hockney, and had the honor of presenting the designs to him at his studio. He’s a big artistic hero of mine, and he was just as brilliant in person as you’d think he’d be. That was pretty amazing. Of course, my favorite work is the Monster Book “100 Days of Monsters.” http://tinyurl.com/36q772

David Hockney Catalog Designs

100 Days of Monsters

You are among those people, most young graphic artists look up to. I would just like to know who is your design mentor and why?

Well, people look up to me because I’m 6’4”, but I’m not sure anybody looks up to me beyond that. If indeed they do, I hope I’m worthy of it. Do I have a design mentor? Not any one person I could name. As an illustrator my early mentor was a German cartoonist named Uli Stein. He’s huge back in Germany, and he took me under his wing when I was a teen illustrator back in the Old Country. In terms of design, I tend to look more to illustrators, comedians, writers and musicians for inspiration. I read a lot of biographies. When I first got into design I really admired the Designers Republic. They took the whole Swiss International aesthetic and made it hyper-futuristic and fun. They also introduced me to the idea of funny legal copy when I was about 16. They were just about the first design firm I was really consciously aware of outside of Hipgnosis. But Hipgnosis were from another time and already had a lot of patina when I was a kid.

In art school I fell in love with Tomato, and with Mark Farrow shortly thereafter... These days I’m crazy for Non-Format and Big Active. There are a lot of other designers whose work I absolutely love, too, but those are the people where I think “Dammit, I wish I’d done that!”

What advice can you give to all the young and aspiring artists who aims to make it big in the design industry?

Here are the two things to succeed in graphic design (and in life):

Be useful!
Don’t be boring!

That’s all you need. Work as hard as you possibly can
to achieve both and you’ll be all set.

A profound graphic design and advice

Visit Stefan's blog at 344design. And to Stefan, thank you so much for the time you spared for me and for my blog.

Scrapblog

2008-09-06T00:22:00.000-07:00

I find scrapbooking the latest craze, at least for my officemates. I guess, I just solved their incurable hunger for more digital scrapbooking. I stumbled into this site, www.scrapblog.com.

Interior Design Inspiration

2008-09-02T18:46:00.000-07:00

I think I have mentioned that I have been secretly hankering my future dream house. Although the image is not completely vivid, I have never been this excited into owning a home in the near future (my savings now has a direction). I have been regularly visiting some blogs on interior design and for sure my muse is teasing me.

I will be sharing some links and some really good pictures in this post to get your creative juices brewing.

Let's begin, shall we?

Making it Lovely - This is Nicole Balch's blog, owner of pinklovesbrown. Most of the contents of her blog are about her journey as she transform her bland bungalow into a really cozy and dainty home. (I hope to interview her soon)

Her blog is full of pretty things and, being the frustrated interior designer that I am, I really like the design she has adpted for her home. (you can check the pretty pictures, if you want).

Decor8blog - Holy Backer is a writer and an interior designer. She started this blog around January 2008 that aims to share decorating ideas, interiors, independent art and design, products and services, and to inspire readers to live a more fulfilling, creative life. (I hope to interview her soon, too)

Decor8blog is more or less like making it lovely. Holly features a collection of really pretty finds that felt like candy in my eyes.

Apartment Therapy - This is a blog maintained by a group of people that aims to help their readers make beautiful homes through some tips and by featuring beautifully decorated houses hoping to strike up our muse.

This is such a good site for interior design. They feature a wide array of sightly designed rooms that accomodates our very vast taste and preference.

2modern - 2Modern features the most talented and innovative designers of modern furniture, contemporary lighting, personal accessories, art, & eco-friendly products for the home and office.

There are a lot of nice furnitures. I constantly imagine the furnitures they feature arranged and settled in my "dream house".

DecorPad - is a design community that was created as a source for all things related to decorating, renovating and home building. Interior and exterior design at its best.

I already signed up and just like apartment therapy you can see varied designs both exterior and interior.

Simply Stated - Clutter-free conversations: Experts and editors blog about their insider tips, news, links and solutions, every day.

Although not entirely for interior design, you can find a lot of useful tips in making life more organized and beautiful. You have tips for food, home and organizing, beauty and style, life and soul, celebrations, and so much more.

Twilight

2008-08-31T23:44:00.000-07:00

I don't think I have ever posted anything about books in this blog. Well, this post will be my first then, since I will be talking about an obsession that has recently taken shape. Although this book has been around since 2005, I have been recently introduced to it by my cousin. When I started working for MK and my cousin left for Manila, I haven't been reading that much which basically took me out of the bookworm loop.

Anyway, I just finished reading "Twilight" however I only got my hands on the e-book and not really the paperback copy. I highly recommend that you read this book and the rest of the Twilight series (New Moon, Eclipse, Breaking Dawn). Once you start reading, you literally can't stop. Stephanie Meyer, the author, has really made a very human storyline that is stunningly believable.

The story starts when Bella, our heroine, moves to Forks to be with her dad. She fell in love with Edward, a young, utterly gorgeous vampire, who loves her in the same capacity. Since Edward is a vampire, he struggles to control his blood lust for her and agonizes over the looming danger for Bella. But, Bella would rather be dead than be parted from Edward, so she risks her life to stay near him, and the novel will consume readers with the erotic tension of their dangerous and necessarily vestal relationship.

There is an upcoming movie of this. You can see the trailer here: http://www.twilightthemovie.com/

For me, the Edward you can find in the movie trailer is an understatement of how Edward was aptly describe in the book. However I still am excited to see the movie, very much excited to be exact. I am off to buy the Twilight series and I only hope that the bookstores have an available stock of this book since it has been sold out for some time now.

A Blind Graphic Artist

2008-08-27T19:51:00.000-07:00

A disability is never an impediment. We saw it in the last Beijing Olympics as Natalie du Toit competitively swam several laps with her one leg. What about Helen Keller, the first deaf-mute to have graduated from college and has been inspiring others, who have her condition, through her writings.

Stories such as these makes me ponder and makes me smile across the irony presented at the most of us, us who are physically complete. Once again, physical disability is never an impediment.

Ken Saunders has proved across the online graphic industry that blindness is not a big hindrance in producing lovely graphic designs; in his case icons. Yep, Ken is responsible for those lovely icons right at the first part of this post. He was interviewed by Max Power. You can view the full interview here and be inspired yourself.

So to those aspiring graphic artists who think they can't seem to produce a decent work of art, begin now! Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.

Web Designing according to Erickson

2008-08-18T23:45:00.000-07:00

So far since the onset of the "Vigoureux Artiste of the Month", I have featured two artists namely Toon and Johannna. I know several local artists and it's high time that I feature some of them here.

For this month, I had the chance of interviewing a considerably known web designer in Cebu to wit Erickson, infamously nicknamed "Intsik" by friends and family. He, together with his wife, initiated Juricks2Web as their means of freelance work and ultimately a source of meal ticket.

Below is the e-mail interview I had with Erickson.

Tell us a bit of yourself

I’m Erickson Emapasis, project manager at the same time senior web designer of juricks2web.com. I’m just a simple guy, like any other guy, who have his own daily routine. But what makes me different from them probably is my attention to details and my adherence to plans. I religiously plan my activities for tomorrow so that I could reduce my stress level. I have a heavy workload and it is important that I understand what activities need to be prioritized.

When did your interest for graphic design, more specifically web design, begin?

I started working with website design since I was a college student. I’ve been joining web design and development contests. The first contest I joined, I lost. However that only motivated me to be better. The next contest I joined, I already won. *grin*

I always thought I was a born web programmer. However when I began programming, I can't help getting bored. Since most of my friends are into programming it took me a while to realize that programming is not just for me. I did some soul searching and explored other fields of the web; then I stumbled into web design. I experimented, played with the color palettes, clipped paths, and added layer after each layer. I then realized that I have a big passion for colors and arts; and that was the onset of my career as a web designer.

How long have you been doing web designing as a profession?

I’ve been a web designer for almost 4 years and still counting.

Where do you usually go for design inspirations?

I usually visit bestwebgallery.com since most of the sites listed there are really awe inspiring. There are a lot of very nice sites across the net wherein you can get your muse working.

What software do you use?

I usually use dreamweaver CS3 or Microsoft web expression for XHTML/CSS implementation. Adobe Photoshop CS3 for my graphics work and Adobe Illustrator for vector graphics stuff.

Who is your favorite designer and why?

My favorite designer is Shane Seminole Mielke, he’s the creative director of 2advanced.com website at the same time a Graphic designer and photographer. He’s my idol because of his art work that really seems to pop and inevitably catches my undivided attention. He’s really a great designer, for me, he’s one of a kind. You can visit his site and see his beautiful works at http://www.shanemielke.com/.

For Juricks2Web, you said web 2.0 is your specialty. Can you expound more about this?

Yeah, we usually work more on web 2.0 technologies. It’s not just the term “web 2.0” but it’s the way how a site is being presented. And to explain more about this, it would be best if I will just define web 2.0 for the readers to understand this jargon. Basically, web 2.0 is just a term that triggers these follow site concepts:

Simplicity

Central layout

Fewer columns

Separate top section

Solid areas of screen real-estate

Simple nav

Bold logos

Bigger text

Bold text introductions

And to give you more ideas on web 2.0 you can go to this site: http://www.webdesignfromscratch.com/web-2.0-design-style-guide.cfm

What is the usual process you go through when you're working with a web design project?

Before anything else I always conduct some sort of an interview or I will let our clients answer our website planner. The website planner helps me understand the client more, so after reviewing the filled out planner I can start determining the color scheme fitting for the client and the components needed on the home page. Once I have that rough concept, I start sketching the website interface on my sketch pad. Once I have my sketch, I then open my adobe CS3 and do the rest of the work there. As I go through with my design I usually do trial and error concepts until I am fully contented with the output.

When creating graphics, when is 'eye catching' "too much"?

Actually even myself I can’t say that I’m really good in graphics design but I do really have an eye to determine when the design is enough. For me, graphic design can be too much when:

1. I find something on the design that is not relevant to the entire creative concept or not necessary to be there.

2. The graphics are too crowded.

3. It doesn’t satisfy general opinions.

4. The graphics no longer convey a meaningful message.

5. Irritating to look at.

What is, so far, the most memorable project you've done?

One of my most memorable website projects is the “Creative Dealers” since that project was crucial for me and for Juricks2Web. The workload was quite heavy so my body couldn't quite keep up (I was hospitalized for tonsillitis ). My mock-up design was rendered late and I apologize profusely to my client. I was quite bless since the client really liked the output and was so understanding; up to now he remains to be one of my best clients.You can view the design here. You can also view the rest of our portfolio here.

Do you have any advice for aspiring graphic and web designers?

Keep on learning new things and be open to criticism. But always remember, being a good designer is not just a matter of practice but it’s a gift as well. I believe that the software is only second, it is important that you hone your creative eye so that you can produce stellar graphic and web design output.

Fun Photos

2008-08-11T22:50:00.000-07:00

Would you believe that I did all of these?

A very own Tarpulin

Die-Hard Fan

Aristocats watching their favorite love team

Maurisyo's Fan Club

Swimsuit Art gallery

Early in the morning my colleague prompted me, via skype, with a new online fun. "You'll certainly enjoy this", she said. True to her word, I did, I mean we all did (all of us were very busy making our own artworks). If you want to create your version of artworks, visit www.photofunia.com. (There are many more photo effects to choose from)

The Polish Pavilion

2008-07-31T23:10:00.000-07:00

I have always been so overly critical with architectural structures. Since I work for an architectural rendering firm and hubby is an architect, my taste for architectural designs have grown to be a bit sharper than it used to. I stumbled upon this rather unique architectural design (at least to me).

For a pavilion, I find the design is utterly elegant. The intricate details of the facade are simply attractive.

Paper or not?

The Polish Pavilion

Notice how the lights play around here.

Office Collar

2008-07-27T22:02:00.000-07:00

No walls and no cubicles however your office is quite conducive for all work and possibly no play. Think of no distractions and extra concentration for all your employees.

Office Collar - Designed by Simone Brewster

This is an innovative architectural structure in response to an open plan working environment. This will enable the wearer to give his focus on his task rather than mind other things in the office that doesn't concern him.

This is really a clever modern horse blinder to me. What do you think?

Designer's Block

2008-07-24T00:57:00.001-07:00

Eyes involuntarily wandering over the wall clock with your forehead frowned with despair. Just a few more hours to go. Another sip of that glorious black coffee. Then Skype suddenly pops up saying, what seems to be a potential debacle of your career, "CEO Boss says: I expect a sharp mock-up design from you". You go back to open your Photoshop and stare at the blank canvas you have been desperately trying to fill. Nothing. Nada. Ziltch. Zero.

Every now and then, we come face to face with this huge white wall that blocks out all of our creative ideas. When a near deadline is looming over our heads, we start to panic and fate starts to toy with us. Testing our patience and sanity. It’s in these situations when we have to reevaluate our perception of what works and what doesn’t.

Below, I have 8 tips on how to counter attack your designer's block and, well, save our asses from our Boss.

Take a breath of fresh air / step outside. Just go outside and take a break. It is a change of environment and a change of pace. Good air in, bad air out. However don't expect that once you're outside, ideas will start flowing in. You are not taking a break if you are still squeezing your brain to spit all those wanted ideas. Just relax and enjoy the scenery and bask under the Sun's glory.
Drink coffee or go to the nearest coffee shop. Caffeine is known to be mentally stimulating. For many writers and designers, coffee is a dependable friend. If you have time to visit a coffee shop, go there with a pen and paper. Use the sights and sounds to help sketch out ideas for your design and you will find that you can think better if you are not really trying to think at all. I don't know why but there is something utterly mentally rousing when you're in a coffee shop drinking your favorite brew.

Listen to music. Just put on those headset and drown yourself with your favorite tunes. Music , as they said, is food for the soul and for the creative mind. You might have noticed that listening to a certain genre of music might cause you to design a certain way. Use the mental “flow” you get from music to your advantage and it will set up your entire session. I would like to share that when I need to get into my "zone", I listen to Hooverphonic, Damien Rice, Skunk Anansie, Tori Amos, Dishwalla and to many more artists who are more less akin to the ones I've mentioned.

Flip through design books or surf the web for some design sites. Doing this can help cure almost any creative dry spell. There's a chockablock of designs found in books or websites that can aid in cudgeling one's brains and finally emancipating your imprisoned ideas.
Talk with Colleagues. If you're in one room with your colleagues. Talk to them when time permits it and if you're not busy. If you are a freelancer who is mostly doing solo flights, talk to your fellow designers via skype, YM, AIM or any online chat medium. Often when you can have quick brainstorming sessions these little chitchats can open your mind to new options. Remember, two heads are better than one.
Straighten up your desk. When arranging, you momentarily keep your mind off the deadline and the pressure. After the clean-up, your mind is more relaxed and refreshed because of two things: Your mind got that needed break from work and a organized environment is conducive for creative thinking. Organizing your desk and your mind will ultimately help you unleash those locked thoughts.
When all else fails, just do something. Doodle, scribble, sketch and just get on with your work. It's better than your brain spinning in frenzy from desperation. It may be hard at the first but sooner or later ideas will start flowing in. Don't wait for the next creative wave to hit you, rack your brain and just do continue adding layers of images and colors to that blank canvas of yours.

Paint Shop Pro

2008-07-21T01:09:00.000-07:00

Photoshop has become the de facto standard for photo editing. Almost, if not all, turn to Photoshop whenever in need of photo editing or graphic design work. For my graphic, especially photo editing, needs, I honestly use Photoshop since I couldn't find a fair substitute for it that will not only challenge my artistic "prowess" but would also provide me a fairly convenient and friendly interface.

It was only with my interview with Johanna that I got to know Paint Shop Pro. I googled it and found that not only is it far cheaper compared to Adobe but it has a lot to offer as well.

Paint shop pro is a photo editing software that is made for aspiring photographers and for those involved in hard core photography as well. Paint Shop Pro lets users edit, enhance and create professional-quality photos. Instantly fix common flaws with just one-click. Get creative with artistic effects and filters. Plus, explore a full range of advanced editing tools to get the exact look you want.

The interface is quite friendly even if your not that graphically inclined yet. There are a lot of automatic fixes wherein you don't need to stress your brains just to understand the how-to procedures in order to execute a certain effect. Paint shop pro boasts its ability to automatically add a watermark. Simply click the “add watermark button” and viola you have already labeled your photo. They also have a very handy express color changer option that is undoubtedly a good feature.

Clicking the button “color changer” and adjusting some of the presets will automatically allow you to change the colors of the matte elements in your photos. If you want to make your subjects look perfect, you can instantly clear them of their blemishes, whiten bloodshot eyes, smoothen out wrinkles, give them a tan or make them look thinner in a matter of clicks and seconds. Paint shop pro already has a set of ready buttons for any retouching and restoring tasks. This significantly saves you time in any photo editing endeavor.

Paint Shop Pro is a tool that is not complicated to learn. Aside that its highly affordable when you compare it to Photoshop, doing photo editing using Corel's platform is easy and highly convenient for any person who takes interest in photography. I would recommend this tool both to newbies and advanced users as well. Although this tool has a lot of ready photo effects selections, users are still given a certain amount of room to leverage and put their creativity into good use.

Knowing MK's SEO Park

2008-07-16T22:23:00.000-07:00

Bar was very busy with our bulletin, my curiosity grew as all heads, other then mine, were tuned into his computer topped with a few snickers here and there. Something is definitely up. Two mugs of coffee, a splitting headache and then the bursting laughter of Michelle and Jonathan. Then, I saw it - the South Parkish images of us. I have here below our version of the infamous cartoon South Park, meet the characters of the "infamous", in our own way, SEO Park.

Michelle - our darling blogger and graphic artist (in her own right)

Michael - Our Danish football player and "player" in real life

Sir Bar - Our Linux guy, Math Master and Senior Guru

Julievive - Our web developer and Lunch alarm clock

RJ - Web developer and latest member of our team

Jonathan - Our PT and in-house sex guru turned father (no surprise there)

(Drum Roll please)

Me - the leader of this ragtag team and certified coffee addict.

Little Me Whatever

2008-07-07T19:51:00.001-07:00

DeviantART is a good place to enliven one's sleeping muse. As I scour the countless deviations, I stumbled upon Johanna's works. Yes, for this month of July, Johanna is the ravishing artist under our humble limelight.

She is living in Sweden, 25 years of age and has so much love for photography. Although she is not yet making a serious career out of this, she is a notable deviant face. I was first drawn by the dramatic and engaging photos. When I found out that her model is herself, I was instantly bent to know more about her quasi-enigmatic self-disposition and art.

Can you please share a bit about yourself?

My Name is Johanna, I'm 25 years old and I come from and live Sweden.

You have a lot of lovely photos, is photography your profession or the one hobby you love the most?

Its just something I love doing, like a hobby.

You have a lot of photos of yourself and you like to play around with the theme. I am quite interested as to how you go about with all these. I reckon you carry your camera everywhere you go. Can you please share the usual process you go through when preparing such a beautiful work?

Usually I don't plan anything, unless i know i'm going near a place I'd like to take photos of/at. I do always have a camera when traveling though.

What camera are you using?

A Nikon D50

Do you use Photoshop for editing your photos?

I use Paint Shop Pro

I've noticed that most of your photos have an "emotional" touch to it. (sorry for the lack of words). Are your photo's a visual representation of who Johanna is as a person? Enigmatic, mysterious with a good sense of drama.

Thats a hard question, of course I've felt some of those feelings before, i think most people have, but I wouldn't say it represent who I am, no.

Most of the subject in your photos is you, right? How do you go about it? The make up and such, as well as the actual photo shoot.

Yes, usually, I just do photo shoots when I can, I don't really plan them unless I have to go somewhere or have other people with me. Most of the photo shoots happen where i live. And I do my own makeup.

Who are your mentors?

I would have to say my father cause he is who got me into photography. He used to be a professional photographer when I was younger.

Out of all your photos which one is your favorite?

My favorite of my photos change so often but right now it's "Road to nowhere"

See more of Johanna's works at http://littlemewhatever.deviantart.com/

PS. To Johanna, thank you for your time and for being such a sport.

Photo Realistic Renderings at a Discounted Price!

2008-06-16T00:30:00.000-07:00

A Scandinavian full service architectural rendering firm, LazyAnimation, is offering discounts to clients. LazyAnimation is a recognized rendering firm across Scandinavia that boasts its photo realistic architectural renderings at a very affordable rate.

“The greatest competitive advantage of LazyAnimation compared to other rendering firms is that we offer quality rendering services at a very affordable cost. Yes there is India and China but with us, when we say quality, it is a package deal. You won't have to problem communication gaps since our Filipino employees are very professional and they speak incredibly good English. We also have a couple of Danish employees deployed in the Philippines to secure the quality and minimize any cultural and linguistic barriers.”, CEO of Kirk Outsourcing said.

LazyAnimation is tapping neighboring countries and has been very generous with discounting an already affordable rate. LazyAnimation has started calling out to several prospects across Scandinavia and the rest of Europe. “The people we have called out are the people whom we will be giving a lifetime discounts once they avail of our services”, said Michael Bernhard, the Danish marketing manager.

“We like to think of ourselves as your partners and not a competition. We offer partnership opportunities to those people who is continuously in need of the services we offer. We reward our partners with volume discounts once they send in their monthly orders”, Kirk says.

Cost-efficient, quick turn around time, photo realistic quality and personalized services are the assets LazyAnimation clients have been banking on. With a turn around time of two to three days and a 24/7 customer service, LazyAnimation likes to make a lasting impression on all their clients and aims to maintain long lasting relationships with them.

Know more about LazyAnimation by viewing their site, www.lazyanimation.com

The video is yet final. The pacing of the animation is a bit fast.
Finishing touches are still added.

Life is Cool

2008-06-10T22:26:00.000-07:00

Ever watched the film, "A Waking Life" or "A Scanner Darkly"? I guess in this blog you can find numerous "rotoscoping" words. Aside from the fact that I do work for a rotoscoping company and am surrounded by friendly, sometime crazy and yet undoubtedly talented roto artists, rotoscoping is one fun techniques that has been used in several movies to achieve that cartoon like effect.

In the past to name a few, we have Cinderella, Snow white, Betty Boop and among others. Despite that this process has been decried by many animation purists, now a days more and more filmmakers are embracing rotoscoping to give their movies a more modern flair.

Just recently, Korean director Choe Ik-hwan (“Whispering Corridors 4: Voice”) brings “Life Is Cool,” South Korea’s first rotoscoped film. This is a romantic comedy about three friends falling in love for the same girl. The film took about only one month to shoot however the post production process took two whole years with 140 roto artists painstakingly employing the rotoscoping process.

Below is the trailer for Life is Cool. I can only hope that I find a copy of this film with English subtitles. Enjoy the video.

Life.is.Cool.2008.Korean.Movie
Uploaded by sarangni

When A Man Loves a Woman

2008-06-09T05:33:00.000-07:00

To all the men out there: What do you do to express your affection for a certain woman through the use of arts?

Below are some of James' work. This is his affectionate way of saying he is thinking of me.

His Gift for my Birthday. Below are the two versions he created. He printed the picture with black background only since this is the most attractive one. Do you agree?

This picture perfectly epitomizes the phrase, "If a picture paints a thousand words". The words he used for this image are from my personal blog zeniamai.

This is the first artwork he gave me. He made this using the software phototile. If you look at image closely, my picture is made up of thousand flower pictures. He said he used flowers for this image since he wants to give me a thousand flowers... Wonder how my house would look if he actually sent me a thousand flowers...

What did you do to show your love for your special person?

An Email Interview with Andi Toon Creffield – Logo Designer

2008-06-01T18:40:00.000-07:00

Our very first VA person of the month is Andi Toon Creffield, popularly known as Toon. He is a young graphic designer for Centrereed Colour Printi ng. He is the man behind the Estectica Des ign Forum, formerly known as graphic-design-forum.com. Aside from his work in Centrereed, he also does freelance work for Tylor's print as a graphic and logo designer. He has worked in the web and print industries since 1999 and has an extensive logo design experience. His beautiful logo works will speak for themselves. With his wit, charm and passion, he is making his mark in the interesting world of logo designing.

Below is the official email interview I had with Toon.

What is a normal day for Toon?

My normal day usually consists of getting up at 6am and heading to the studio, as we are large print firm most of the morning can be taken up by getting all the files ready for the presses and alot of the afternoon will be alot of designing. It can be stationery and brochure designs, logo design, web design or lots of other work, the fun of working in a busy studio for a large firm is that there’s always something to do and such a variety of work also.

I don't think I'd enjoy it as much if I were tied to doing the same tasks everyday, it's good for creativity to be able to change the type of work you're doing and your approach to the tasks at hand.

Why logo designing?

I’ve always been a fan of logo design as I like working with new companies that have fresh ideas and thoughts about where they’d like their brand to take them, it all seems very new and exciting as this will be the basis of most of the other work and the real ‘face’ of the company.

Often you can end up doing a web design or stationery design for a company and you have to base the design around somebody else’s logo design, if that is of a poor quality it can often leave you feeling a little less creative and thinking if the brand designer had been a bit more creative it would have allowed you to be also.

What is the usual process you go through when designing a logo?

It really depends on the scope of the project and has alot to do with timescale and budget also, some projects I can spend longer sketching with a pencil and paper than I do actually drawing and polishing the idea, some work which is set to a strict timescale I can often do my doodling straight in Illustrator and every once in a while you can come up with the final idea straight away, but this is rare.

Do you have a logo design mentor of some sort who inspires you?

Many people have inspired me over the years not only logo designers but typographers and leaders in the world of advertising. Saul Bass is one of my favourite mainly because his use of shapes more hinted at an idea rather than coming right out and saying it, I like logos that make you work a little for meaning.

Here is a list of logo designers whose work is well worth looking out for, I'm a big fan of alot of these designers, some are very well known and others will be getting some more exposure in the near future I'm sure.....

http://dache.ch
http://jefffisherlogomotives.blogspot.com
http://www.rajasandhu.com
http://www.onesummer.net
http://www.mukustudios.com
http://www.davidairey.com/portfolio
http://www.alanoronoz.com
http://www.logosauce.com/profiles/618
http://www.logosauce.com/profiles/571
http://www.sarahpatience.co.uk/logo_design.html
http://www.alekseymaslov.ru
http://www.logosauce.com/profiles/1520
http://logopond.com/members/profile/showcase/4270
http://www.subcircle.co.uk/identity/brands.html

What would be the most memorable logo you've done for a client?

I think I would have to say a logo for a short lived web startup called ‘online secret’ it was an online diary site aimed at females aged 16-40. I spent so long staring at a blank sheet of paper having no idea how to draw a ‘secret’ there were strict guidelines as to what I couldn’t use, ie. no books (diaries), no locks, no actual people or body parts.

Often when a client gives you details of what they don’t want it can make the design process much easier as you’re not wasting your time coming up with concepts that won’t be used. But in this instance it left me with no idea which direction to take, I remember working with butterflies, doves, speech bubbles and nothing really worked. It was only when I start trying to work with just the letters the idea started to come together.

What do you think is the most important element a logo should have?

I’m not quite sure there is one as a great logo has to be complete in every sense, from the mark, to the typeface, to the colour. Every element has to make up the complete logo. I’m a firm believer that good typography can make a great logo, sometimes too much work is put into an icon and colour scheme that designers often overlook the type options available.

Do you have any advice for all young aspiring graphic designers out there?

Work hard basically, people don't go into the industry because it's easy work or because it's paid well, they go into it because they have a passion for all things creative, many very talented designers worked long hours for very low pay before they made it big and there's nothing wrong with that, we all have to start somewhere.
It’s important to listen to others and follow the industry very closely, be sure you don't think you know it all as we work in an industry that is changing all the time and it's important to keep on top of changes and new technologies.

Also be willing to put the hours in, they may be long but the satisfaction of a well completed job is priceless, coffee will become your best friend!

Toon also created a social network for all graphic design enthusiasts at graphic design network. He is also the man behind graphic-design-links.com, a social bookmarking community for graphic designers. You can also read his blog here,

http://www.graphic-design-blog.com/.

Ladies of the World

2008-05-28T23:37:00.000-07:00

This is the behind scenes from the Flight of the Conchord's latest music video, Ladies of the World.

Below is the after shot.

You could probably tell from the two videos that the work involved a great deal of rotoscoping, motion tracking and keying work. The work flow is fairly interesting and you'd understand why as we move along. Michele Yamakazi of toolfarm had an interivew with the guys behind this great piece of work. Below is an excerpt

The job involved tracking the stunt double's heads with the singer's heads. I noticed tracking dots on the stunt double's cheeks, nose and chin in your photos. Jemaine and Bret were shot against a greenscreen and with a green cape. How did you get it to match? Can you talk a bit about the process of tracking and rotoscoping and matching angles?

The first obstacle was how do make a video using similar techniques of a movie like 'Little Man' but with something comparable to one week of their catering budget. We had to be really crafty and come up with some good solutions, plus figuring out what to do when our compromises didn't fly. We walked into this planning for 5 shots, by the time we were given the edit we were looking at 25 shots, not including some of the other VFX scenes that sprang up. It's just kind of the nature of the beast, but still it was definitely a very sticky situation initially. There were lots of little headaches like keeping the guy's lip-sync throughout the videos and fighting mother-nature. For the RV scene we wound up with 4 different plates to put together, but because it was shot at dusk we had 4 totally different lighting and backdrop looks.

You can read the full interview here. They really did an impressive job, the body and head mesh perfectly. What do you think?

An Issue on Copyright

2008-05-22T02:21:00.000-07:00

The internet is a liberal place. You can look or add any content even without regards to accountability. Accountability is difficult to assert over the internet since you are mostly faced with millions of faceless users.

For many e-businesses, despite the vast virtual space the internet provides, the competitions is getting stiffer by the minute. As more and more people get hooked with internet, many people stumble on new online opportunities that one can potentially turn to an income generating channel.

Generally there is no issue on competition. Healthy competition makes the market a healthy market as well. However when you are trying to compete amongst others using underhanded techniques that could leave some competitors tilting then that is unfair.

I guess, it is apparent that I am one of those brilliant people behind the website LazyMask. If this is your first time to encounter LazyMask, well, this is one outsourcing company that primarily does clipping path and image masking. Although LazyMask has some other services to offer such as photo restoration, image manipulation, and image enhancing, still this outsourcing firm is famous for its fast and reliable clipping path and image masking services.

Anyway, clipping path and image masking is a booming outsourcing niche in the graphic industry. I bet once or twice many graphic artist might have used these services or might have stumbled upon websites such as these.

Anyway, earlier this year, around March, my colleague Mich found a competitor site who blatantly copied everything on our site. This is a major ripped off. When copywriting, yes you find contents that you need to fill in a new topic and try to make it catchy. However you don't copy everything. You find ideas, get inspirations and write a new content that is yours. Synthesize the idea and not lazily copy everything.

When we first saw their site, we saw all our content and images plastered there. The only changes were the countries since they are based in China. We patiently wrote them a letter and gave them a one month grace period however up to now our text content is still on their sites. Some of our pictures they took out but the others are still there only hid it under subpages.*Sneaky* To add more injury to already swollen wound they placed a statement at lower portion of their site: "Designed by XXXXXX based entirely on XXXXXX".

When you encounter the same problem. I suggest that you find the details of person infringing your copyrights, hosting company, payment processors and such. You can do this via whois.domaintools.com. This site can give you a comprehensive data about the domain.

This link is really a good guide on how to deal online copyright infringement. You can also refer to Google's Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

Hand painted Keyboard Art

2008-05-20T00:17:00.000-07:00

There are only few words to describe my keyboard. "Uhhh, it's black, some of the letters are faded due to my constant hard typing and uhhhh..." Well, that's basically it. While some keyboards glow in the dark, other feel that they need to be more creative. If you are the kind of person that wants to standout always and if style trumps over function these keyboards might just be for you. I am not saying that these hand painted keyboards are not all functional. As matter of fact they do what normal keyboards do.

Now, ain't it pretty? Notice the intricate details place into every key. This typing machine will make your fingers float ontop of a floral garden however they have one design that can really make the eyes dizzy (at least for my eyes, if you like this particular design for your keyboard, good for you).

Which among the three do you like best? Just a quick info, These keyboards cost roughly about $156. I can only imagine the extra amount you need to add for the full size keyboard.

Amazing Murals

2008-05-19T22:34:00.000-07:00

These mural paintings are definitely amazing. Jaw dropping. These won't need any form of introduction from me, so I'll just shut up and yeah, we have the pictures below.

You can more of these at this site.This site, Web Urbanist, talks of anything that's urban. They have a lot of interesting articles and pictures there.

VA Person of the Month

2008-05-19T02:00:00.000-07:00

Starting this month, here at vigoureux artiste we are going to feature one person who is worth recognizing in any field of vast world of arts. Be it in graphic design, motion graphics, 3d, literature or even music, make sure to watch out for this post worthy person monthly.

As an active person in the online scene, I see a lot of people that I admire. It's either they have an exceptional talent in the area of graphics or they can move just about anyone with their words. It's the wit, the humor, or the seriousness that they gain a lot of attention and wanted recognition.

Keep posted...

Motion Tracking

2008-05-14T18:41:00.000-07:00

ORBA SQUARA "GRAVEL" MUSIC VIDEO from LORCANFINNEGAN on Vimeo.

This is a director's cut music video of the band Obra Squara. This video was shot with a steady cam with animated / illustrated elements added through the use of motion tracking. This very nice composition of cute graphics with simple movements proves the point that you don’t always need extreme explosions of 3D strokes or massive camera movements to get the message across.

Update: May 19

Since the vimeo link is not working, I have below the youtube version. To those who haven't seen this music video, enjoy.

Dream House in the Making

2008-05-14T02:13:00.000-07:00

I always have this vision of what my dream house is going to look like. More like a vague image of it however the prominent feature that I want my house to have is the interior zen garden. I would want my walls to be painted only with white paint and I want one wall filled with hanged frames of photos and other memorabilia of my meandering life. Basically I want my house to reflect my personality, practical and simple yet eye catching. A fusion of modern design and mother nature's very own fine art.

James, a new architect, just sent me his interpretation of my dream house. I like the design honestly. It is simple yet it stands out. The zen garden is there and he added a pool too..

Below are the images:

These architectural renderings are not yet final. James is still in the process of producing a much finer rendering. Once he has the final rendering finished, we are going to include it in LazyAnimation's collection of architectural rendering works.

Volume Savings For Volume Masking Needs

2008-05-12T21:28:00.000-07:00

LazyMask, an image masking company recently announced that they would now offer volume discount for volume image masking and clipping path work order.

LazyMask, a leading clipping path and image masking company, is opening bigger doors to people who have big needs for clipping path and image masking. LazyMask's CEO would like to call this as an early Christmas since big and loyal LazyMask clients are rewarded with huge savings. “After some thought, we now offer big discounts for our big clients. Our discounts can go up to 70%, it is that huge”, Kirk said.

To all graphic companies, grab this opportunity while you can. It is not everyday that you end up saving more than what you need. LazyMask still offers a free trial of their clipping path services. Upload at most 3 images to test our quality of work.

Alpha Channeling

2008-05-11T18:46:00.000-07:00

Do you ever wonder how to mask out those frizzy hairs in Photoshop? Making a clipping path for all those strands is more than an arm numbing job but a dull punishment of some sort for many creative graphic artists. So we will explore how to ease that chore out.

For this post, we will be discussing the basics of Alpha Channeling. Alpha channels as we all know is another type of image masking. Alpha Channel is a specialize selection process that's use to edit and store selections you made using the pen tool, lasso and magic wand.

With that being said, alpha channel is a masking technique which defines a selection in black, white, and varying shades of Gray pixels. White acts as the selected pixels; black acts as the unselected area and the levels of Gray define what is partially unselected or selected depending on your view point.

1. Open the image of your choice, select the pen tool and make a clipping path on the part of the image you want to edit. If you've noticed, I have two images with the labels “1” and “2”. This represents the two clipping paths I’ve made for this image. For the image with the label “1”, I did a clipping path on the inner part of the hood. (Notice the faint clipping path line). For the image with the label “2”, I made a clipping path on the outer part of the hood. (The clipping path is more obvious in this image)

Continue learning with this tutorial by clicking this alpha channels link

Lightsaber Rotoscoping

2008-05-08T21:20:00.000-07:00

When you mention rotoscoping, there is almost one thing that always comes to our minds. Lightsabers. You got that right, lightsabers. These popular star wars weapon are among our favorite rotoscoping sample effect. I have here below one of the coolest lightsaber video. This video below is called, "Ryan vs. Dorkman". I find this video quite amusing and very professionally done, if I might add. The effects are really good. The caliber of this amateur video is above par. What do you think?

RYAN WIEBER VS. MICHAEL "DORKMAN" SCOTTWhat began as a friendly rivalry between two effects artists explodes off TheForce.Net's FanFilms Forum and into the real world in a lightsaber battle royale.Originally created for the forum's lightsaber choreography competition, this fight to the death will decide once and for all who is truly most skilled with a saber.There can be only one.Visit their website at http://www.ryanvsdorkman.com for any and all info concerning how to make this video, how long it took, or to meet the real creators of the fanfilm.

Ryan vs Dorkman

Sketchcasting

2008-04-24T01:45:00.000-07:00

Blogging is one way to express oneself. You write you thoughts down for the rest of the internet community to see. I found this nifty site that offers a new way to express yourself creatively. Forget podcasting, videocasting and screencasting alike and pave way for Skecthcast.

What is Sketchcasting?

Sketchcasting is a new way to communicate something online by recording a sketch, optionally with your voice speaking. Any sketch can then be embedded on your blog/ homepage for people to play-back, and you can also point people to your sketchcast channel here (or let them subscribe to your sketchcast RSS feed).

Sketchcasting is new but it's based on an old principle: the whiteboard (or the napkin in a bar) on which you sketch something to get a concept across... or to just have some fun. Sketchasting was invented by Richard Ziade on July 23rd, 2007

What can I use sketchcasting for?

You can just let your ideas flow. Here are some examples, but don't let them restrict your creativity!

Create a tutorial explaining how boomerangs work (and why they don't always return)
Draw a doodle of your ex
Explain a math formula
Create a cartoon (you can use the eraser tool to make place for several panels of the cartoon)
Get a partner and explain a concept together... voice recording doesn't have to be used by only one person!
Write a love letter with lots of sketching inbetween
Create an online Chinese course and explain Pinyin writing
Create a masterpiece and show others how to draw
Explain baseball to Europeans... or explain soccer to Americans!
Create a riddle for kids: draw something and the kid has to guess while you're drawing
Draw a manga action scene
and much more...

So enough already, here's the link and start sketchcasting now!

Imagineer Launches Mogul

2008-04-16T02:22:00.000-07:00

LAS VEGAS, NV — 04/14/08 — Imagineer Systems (www.imagineersystems.com), creators of next-generation VFX tools, today announced the arrival of mogul. Conceived through customer dialogue and designed and developed by Imagineer Systems, mogul is an entirely new open, collaborative VFX architecture supporting a suite of tightly integrated, modular VFX systems and applications. mogul is the industry’s first collaborative VFX architecture to provide an open platform that unites common design facility talents, such as editing, compositing, 3D design and modelling, and empowers designers in a new VFX workflow that more closely fits the way artists work. Additionally, mogul enables powerful new collaboration capabilities critical in today’s deadline-intensive, and fiscally demanding business climate and offers an innovative new subscription-based pricing model, ensuring mogul is accessible, viable and affordable for facilities of any size or budget.

mogul is comprised of a powerful combination of system-level and desktop application-level components, tightly integrated to optimize the creative collaborative workflow experience. Key systems components will include: a collaborative shared storage management system; a powerful file browser application designed for working with media and metadata; a disk-based playback and review system that includes tools for quality control and annotation; a highly interactive finishing system with I/O, 3D compositing, editing, and grading tools; and a dedicated I/O system, with capture, layback, encoding and job duplication, all on a dedicated workstation. (Read More…)

Top 5 Software for Rotoscoping

2008-04-04T02:13:00.000-07:00

There are only two things that can make any motion graphic artist flinch and that's rotoscoping and chroma keying. Why? Mainly because both processes are time consuming and arm numbing. However despite all these, rotoscoping and chroma keying still remains to be very important in the industry we move in. Which is why, lately, software companies are launching new products that aim to lesses the pain in rotoscoping.

Here we will talk about the Top 5 best rotoscoping softwares currently available that deliver accurate and fast mattes.

1. Silhouette FX
2. Mocha
3. Adobe After Effects
4. Combustion
5. Digital Fusion

Read more by clicking this link: Rotoscoping Software

Wanderlust

2008-04-02T00:49:00.000-07:00

"Bjork’s highly anticipated “Wanderlust” music video hit the web recently with great fanfare. Over a year in the making, the video was a huge undertaking that involved the carefully orchestrated efforts of a massive crew." - Motionographer

The making-of video below is definitely worth checking out:

No wonder it took almost a year to finish this video. it studded with a lot of visual effects. A lot of 3d modeling, compositing and chroma keying going on. This is Bjork's official Wanderlust Music video.

Another Rotoscoping Video

2008-03-30T18:49:00.000-07:00

I got this from Superhumanoids Blog. This is one of Tom Waits notable songs, "The one that got away". Below is the rotoscoped version of the Tom Waits and Donna Gordon, the stripper. The original live action was shot with 5 cameras - 2 high, 2 low and one hand held. The music from "The One That Got Away" blared in the background as Tom sang karaoke style different lyrics on each take.

Update:

Below is the live version.

Another Rotoscoping Post

2008-03-27T19:56:00.000-07:00

Found this nifty post at Neville Longbottom blog

Elfman’s character as Satan, from Forbidden Zone, is based off a cross of “Cab Calloway in a Max Fleischer cartoon,” (Film in Review, 1990) , so is Berny Wolf’s famous Betty Boop cartoon “Minnie the Moocher,” inspiration, obviously, to Danny’s song in the film, “Sqeezit the Moocher.”

Animation Nation writes,
“Perhaps Berny’s most famous scene is one he animated when he was just 21 years old… the ghostly walrus from the Fleischer Betty Boop cartoon, “Minnie the Moocher”. Dave Fleischer assigned Berny to rotoscope footage of Cab Calloway. He told me that he did the work at Max Fleischer’s original rotoscope rig- the one on which they had rotoscoped Ko-Ko the Clown many years earlier. The rotoscope machine was made from an old camera stand, and it stood in a dark, dusty corner of the camera room. For a week, Berny sat alone in the corner, perched on a high stool rotoscoping Cab Calloway.”

As you see, both Calloway and Fleischer are mentioned here because they are refering to the same topic in the 1990 review of ‘Forbidden Zone.” Below I’ve posted the link for the ‘Minnie the Moocher’ soide, and it is rearry good so hopefully the link works for you all.

MINNE THE MOOCHER, BY BERNY WOLF

Adobe's Photoshop Express

2008-03-26T23:44:00.000-07:00

Adobe has launched Photoshop Express beta. Photoshop Express is an online community wherein you can upload your photos and edit it according to your whims and fancy. Crop, rotate, tweak, twirl, and smudge photos to your heart's content.

Snap a picture of yourself and make them really snazzy. Once you have uploaded your photos, you also have the option to organize them under one album and publish it for the rest of the community to see. You also house your photos under photoshop's 2 GB rent free home.

You can take a test drive of Adobe's Photoshop Express. Also marvel at their very cool and interactive homepage.

Better Youtube Experience

2008-03-16T19:24:00.000-07:00

There is a secret circulating accross the web that won’t be considered a “secret” for long. In preparation for a global upgrade of all their content, YouTube has already converted many of their videos to a higher-quality 480×360 version. Actually selected videos are already in that format, although not in HD but youtube is getting there. Some the videos are identified on the site with a little link offering to take you to a higher res version, but if you want to see the high quality version by default here are a few ways to pull that off.

However you can also spice up youtube's video quality right now with just a few adjustments. Here are some few tips on how to watch youtube video with higher quality.

Tip 1: URL

When viewing a movie on YouTube, add &fmt=18 to the end of the URL. In addition to slight video improvement, you should also notice increased audio quality. Notice the word “slight.” I hope
YouTube goes further than this humble baby step towards something more like Vimeo’s level of quality.

Tip 2: Firefox Extension

There’s also a Firefox extension that supports higher-quality YouTube playback. "Enhances YouTube with Greasemonkey user scripts, that offer options like the FlowPlayer "doesn't start till you hit play" viewer, clean "theater" view, higher res videos, and links to download the video automatically." Download this youtube firefox add-on.

Tip 3: The overlooked method

If you're logged in to YouTube anyway, just head over to your account settings page. Near the bottom you'll find a "Video Quality" option. Click that link and you'll land on a page where you can choose to always see the higher quality videos.

By simply adding the fmt=18 bit to the URLs in a video's regular embed code won't work. You have to add a couple of small chnages, too. Here are the changes to make:

[object width="480" height="397"][param name="movie" value="(VIDEO EMBED URL)&ap=%2526fmt%3D18"][/param][param name="wmode" value="window"][/param][embed src="(VIDEO EMBED URL)&ap=%2526fmt%3D18" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="window" width="480" height="397"][/embed][/object] ** FYI for presentation purposes, I have changed all symbols "< >" to "[ ]" so that blospot wont chop off rest of the code. Example: Normal Youtube video - Mika Love Today Better Quality: Mika - Love Today (embed code - tweaked) 355" width="480"> Source: wired.com

BitStrips

2008-03-09T22:38:00.000-07:00

I found another link that's worth sharing. I stumbled upon Bitstrips.com wherein you can create your very own account and start creating your very own comic strips. Cool ei...

This is the one I made. Although, this crazy antic can only be understood by both Andrew and Xeny nonetheless, the main reason why I'm showcasing this piece of work is because I made it. *LOL*

Below is another Bitstrip comic which is very funny. One person I know can fondly relate to this. *LOL*

Online Photo Editor - FotoFlexer

2008-03-06T00:33:00.000-08:00

If you have numeruos photos waiting to be edited but just couldn't since you don't have the required skills for it. Foto Flexer is here for you. *grin*

My friend, sent me this link, since I have trying really hard to create a pop art version of my photo. My vector endeavor ended after we shifted to Linux. Although we have GIMP, I don't have the time to familiarize it for now. Well, this incredible online doodad let's you enhance and add sterling effects to your photos in a matter of minutes.

Here is a sample.

Before:

After a few minutes of conveniently clicking buttons. Here is the after look.

I opted for the pop art effect. Cool ei? Why don't you try it for yourself? FotoFlexer.com

Simpsonize Me

2008-02-27T20:18:00.000-08:00

My boyfriend was playing around with the online photo editor called simpsonize me. Here are the Simpsons version of me and my boyfriend.

This is a version of me... Hmmmm.. Below is the Simpson version of my boyfriend.

The scar is spot on. Although, the stitches is kindda an overstatement nonetheless this is him.

Go ahead get your Simpson evil twin... However, if you'd like to make a vector copy of your photo, you can simply follow these vector how-to.

Enjoy simpsonizing and vectoring yourself!

Roto [presenting Inchworm] for Joystiq

2008-02-25T19:18:00.000-08:00

Many of us are familiar with rotoscoping. If you happen to see "A Scanner Darkly" or "A Waking Life", both movies are prime examples of this technique. Anyway, the man behind this movie magic decided to create a a software similar to this on his DS. So Bob Sabiston, made inchworm. Inchworm is a passion project that Bob really wanted to see on his DS.

Joystiq got their hands on the application, running it through its paces . "And, after reading their hands-on impressions, we're excited about this avenue for creativity on the DS. We just love stuff like this, to tell the truth, so suffice to say we're incredibly angry we didn't get to try it.

Oh well .." - from Joystiq

Image Manipulation Gone Wrong

2008-02-19T18:45:00.000-08:00

Can we still believe everything we see in photos? With today's state of the art technology, we can absolutely do anything we want with photographs. From trimming down love handles to making your grandma look 20 years younger, the possibilities are endless.

Many people believe that the manipulation of images started during the invention of the very popular Photoshop, but the truth is, there have been fake photographs even before it was mass produced. Though it was not that popular, mainly because purchasing such software, before, can hurt one's bank account, the knowledge on the how-to-do image manipulation is also not that widespread. In as early as 1860's, photographs already lost its innocence and were being manipulated only a few decades after the first photograph was created by Niépce in 1914. Its uses, the cultural impact, and the ethical concerns have made it a very interesting subject beyond the skills and technical process involved.

Read more at LazyMask.com service provider for clipping path, photo restoration, and, image manipulation.

Juricks2web.com

2008-02-17T18:08:00.000-08:00

Juricks2web.com, a web design and development company, has uploaded it's sample website as a part of it's soft launching promotion. Jurick2web.com is owned and operated by real-life sweethearts Julievive and Erickson which by the way is currently expecting their very first baby.

After 3 years of working as a web developer, Erickson decided to start his own business in collaboration with friends whose specialties lie in SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and web hosting.

Erickson says, “I want to own my hours that's why I decided to establish this collaborative effort.” Jurick2web has considered themselves expert in the areas of website design (web 2.0 concepts), web programming (web 2.0 programming style), site template, PSD slicing to XHTML/CSS coding, corporate identity, logos, advertise banners, design advise and consultation, search engine optimization and web hosting. .

“In terms of web development, our specialty lies in the hottest trend that has hit the industry, web 2.0. Expect glassy buttons and stylish SEO friendly designs from us”, Julievive said.

Stylish, cost-efficient and SEO friendly are the assests their clients have been banking on. Although, their website may have been uploaded only recently, Juricks2Web has already been working with clients from the US, Canada, Denmark, Nevada and Switzerland.

Visit www.juricks2web.com for more information.

Bloody Valentines

2008-02-14T01:10:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentines to all. Here is a demented treat from Psyop to all lovers madly inlove, the love forlorn and, yes, this if for "you" too. (The you here is referring to all those people singing "All by myself" this valentine season)

Enjoy this utterly twisted animation. Nothing beats putting a satirical grin on St. Valentine's face and Cupid's as well.

"Hahahahaha… This is insanely cute and bloody all at once.. I love it.. Its all carnage and gore yet Psyop managed to retain the sweetness of it. Kudos to Psyop once again…"

You can check it out on Psyop's web site.

ScanR

2008-02-11T00:31:00.000-08:00

Take this situation, for example: You're on a trip and entertaining a client. You pay the bill and you know that by the time you get back home you'll have lost the receipt, or forgotten to claim the expense, or both. A classic analog/digital gap. But if you were prepared, you could flatten the receipt on the table, snap it from above with your camera phone, then upload it to the Internet. A few moments later it would arrive in your email Inbox as both an Adobe Acrobat PDF file you could print out and a text version you could paste into your expenses spreadsheet.

This would be done courtesy of a free service called scanR (scanr.com) that scans and converts an image into something you can use: a business card, say, into a format you can drop into Microsoft Outlook; a whiteboard presentation into an image you can save and print out later; or a page from a magazine you found in a doctor's waiting room into text you can email to a friend. As well as English, the software is also available in Chinese and Japanese. As California-based scanR chief executive Rudy Ruano puts it, it's simply about "moving the physical form from one place to another." - from Loose Wire

For those on the go, scanning is now fairly portable. Use your cellphones or PDA's as scanners and this even includes clipping path - the object against a white background effect. ScanR lets you fax, copy and scan by just using your cellphone or digital camera. ScanR is a simple and practical tool that solves real problems.

Here's a step on how to use ScanR. -- courtesy from courant.com

1. Go to scanr.com and click on "Sign Up." Fill out the blank fields, check the box to agree to the terms of service and click "Sign up."

2. Take a picture with your camera phone and send it to the appropriate e-mail address: bcscanr.com for business cards, wbscanr.com for whiteboards and docscanr.com for documents.

You can also take a picture with your digital camera, upload it to your computer and e-mail it to the appropriate scanR e-mail address. If you need help, read the tips for taking pictures on the scanR website.

3. Wait for the automated message from scanR to arrive on your cellphone, go back to your computer and enter the activation code from the message into the blank field and click "Activate." You are now able to scan and upload pictures from your cellphone to the scanR website.

4. You'll get another message on your phone letting you know that the image you scanned and sent to scanR has been saved in your scanR account. You can view every image you send to scanR by clicking on "My Scans." You can also have scanR fax your image scans by sending images to docsscanr.com and putting the fax number in the subject line of the message.

5. Once your scans are uploaded you can download the images in several formats, including as PDFs, text files, or even as a vCard so you can import a contact into your address book.

New Look for LazyMask

2008-02-05T22:48:00.000-08:00

LazyMask, one of the pioneering clipping path company in the industry, officially released its new website this week. They have kept the changes very minimal with the tutorials page being the highlight difference.

“I don't think there is a need to surprise our clients with an over-all change in the design. LazyMask is a brand and the website is a part of it,” Jane Kirk said in the interview.

LazyMask started with one tutorial on clipping path and now there will be new tutorials on photo editing each month that both beginners and advance users of photoshop will definitely relish at.

LazyMask has a reputable name for itself among its clients in Europe and the United States, having been providing volume image masking, photo restoration and image enhancing services since 2004.

LazyMask has its main office in Copenhagen Denmark with its production in Cebu, Philippines. Their customers stand to benefit from the innate artistic abilities of Filipino graphic artists as well as their English speaking skills.

“Now, LazyMask not only aims to offer quality graphic outsourcing services but we also aim to impart our knowledge and skills for those people who would want to learn photo editing” Kirk says.

For more information, please visit www.lazymask.com

LazyAnimation Gets Revamped

2008-02-01T00:44:00.000-08:00

LazyAnimation, a Scandinavian 3d company recently revamped its site's lay-out to a much lighter shade of gray. Officially released this week, the new and improved LazyAnimation displays a slide-show presentation of what they can do and showcasing it's, now, strongest suite which is 3d architectural rendering.

Primarily known for it's character animation services, LazyAnimation repositioned itself, now offering 3d architectural rendering and modeling services mostly to the Scandinavian Market. “If an architect in Denmark wants to have his design modeled and rendered, it would cost him roughly about 5.000 DKK", the CEO of LazyAnimation explained.

LazyAnimation has it's main office in Copenhagen Denmark while the production is in the Philippines. “The Philippines has always been my number one choice for graphics and now for my architectural renderings”, Jane said. She also added that not only can LazyAnimation provide photo realistic architectural renderings but they can also do it in “a much, much, much” lower cost.

The studio is powered by high-end graphic cards from NVIDIA GeForce 7900 GTX, with an Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 (2.46 hz/ 4m6L2) processor, a 4GB Memory for multi-tasking, an Asus LG775 Chipset and a 640 GB Hard drive in RAID 0 for a fast file transfer and data capacity.

Although LazyAnimation is directing most of its marketing to its architectural rendering service, LazyAnimation still has several 3d magic up it's sleeve such as character animation; product modeling and animation; and logo animation.

LazyAnimation is a sister company of LazyMask, a clipping path service provider, and LazyMovie, a rotoscoping and chroma keying VFX facility.

For more information, visit www.lazyanimation.com .

Pit Senyor

2008-01-22T20:18:00.000-08:00

The largest festivity in Cebu has just happened, Sinulog. MK Andersen employees strike again! Another image is being circulated around the production office wherein the artists feast on the many possibilities image manipulation can take them. They have been taking these poor images to great heights as some of us laugh are heads off once a new batch of manipulated images reach our desktops... Clipping path and a dose of fun was all it took to create this farce...

Before

After

This might not be the best manipulation you've seen... But this centertainly is crude entertainment...

PS. This guy here, rode the IPI float. He's supposed to be the Persian King, the one from 300.

My Business Card Attempts

2008-01-09T18:09:00.000-08:00

I have been meaning to surprise my boyfriend. I have been hankering a design for his very own business card. He is an architect and he recently passed the board examinations. These are the designs I have been working on. I plan on designing a new one, in case after another thoughtful self assessment none of these designs would pass my unwavering standards.

This is the latest design I made. My design has transitioned from the what seems to be typical traditional design of business cards. This design may still be traditional in some ways - but I love the modern feel of it.

Second to the latest design I made. I only had a limited amount of architectural designs from his portfolio at this point in time.

My very very first attempt.

Which design do you prefer? The latest, the second one or the very very first attempt?

"Why Man Creates" - by Saul Bass

2008-01-07T17:36:00.000-08:00

You might have seen Saul Bass' "Why Man Creates".. But according to Justin, and I quote, that " its one of those precious gems that deserves an annual viewing." "Why Man Creates" won the Oscar's 1968 Best Animated Short Film. It's purely a classic cartoon with a lot of philosophical wisdom to share. Contrary to most animations we have now, this is simple and timeless. It's not strikingly an awe inspiring mograph artwork but it hits you directly in the subconscious. This clip below is just a 5-minute excerpt and you'd have to shell out a painful 125 $ for the entire dvd series.

Anyway, lets just relish the cost-free 5 minute excerpt of Saul Bass' " Why Man Creates"

Incredibly Cool Business Cards

2008-01-03T23:31:00.000-08:00

After two attempts of designing a business card fro my boyfriend, I luckily stumbled upon another blog post that showcased a list of creative and innovative business cards. Breaking away from the quick stereotype of business cards, some of these business cards even have plants growing within the card itself.

To see more these rather very cool and out of the ordinary business cards just click these links.

Coolest Business Cards part I | Coolest Business Cards part II

Post Xmas party workload

2007-12-20T21:44:00.000-08:00

Our Christmas party has left a rather bulky workload for all of our graphic artists. They don't only have to mask images but they would have to manipulate it too.. The demented and rather hilarious boredom buster of Kirk Outsourcing showcases the strong talent of the people working here. Here is a sample of an image manipulation by the LazyMask team.

Before

Manipulated

Which is better? The original photo or the manipulated one? I personally like the manipulated one. *LOL*

Featured artwork

2007-12-20T01:16:00.000-08:00

A rather very sensual graphic work by nosurprises.

Car Crash

2007-12-16T19:35:00.000-08:00

LazyAnimation is undergoing some serious revamping this holiday season... After some studies, LazyAnimation felt the need to revamp their site, making sure its simple, sleek and SEO friendly all together... Although the new website is still under progress, LazyAnimation's new and proud animator Rico has currently made a 3d animation of a Car crash which by the way is the subject matter of this post... Below is the youtube video of the car crash animation. This video took 3 weeks to render...

I like how the car has this photo realistic effect, especially the exterior of the car. I like the angels of the crash personally, very dramatic...

"This is Me"

2007-12-12T23:21:00.000-08:00

"This is Me" is a 3-minute short that uses motion graphics to tell a rather harsh but amusing story. This short won the Audience Award of the "Eurostar Coming Short Film Festival" and it is quite obvious why.

Its has presented the protagonist's dead-end world in a very witty way. You'd also have to love the Irish accent of the voice over; it definitely completed the entire short.

Layer Tennis Tournament

2007-12-11T20:58:00.000-08:00

The layer tennis I guess, is one form of tournament that sprung from boredom and the need for something new and exciting. In this game, the contestant can any applications from Adobe, be it Photoshop, AE, or Flash, you name it.

The main idea is that no matter what tool is used 2 artists, or 2 small groups of artists will swap a file back and forth in real-time, adding to and embellishing the work. What makes the game more interesting is the time limit of 15 minutes given to each artist in order to complete a "volley" and then post it to the site. A third participant, a writer, provides play-by-play commentary on the action, as it happens. The matches last for ten volleys and when it's complete, everyone with an opinion sounds off in the Forums and then a winner is declared.

Know more about the Layer Tennis Tournament here.

View the December 7 Layer Tennis match of Jason Koxvold and Bran Doughtery-Johnson. This was done in After Effects.

The layer tennis, I guess squeezes everything a motion designer have for that span of 15 minutes; include their skills, creativity and a crazy 100 megabit connection.

When your drawing comes after you?

2007-11-28T18:28:00.000-08:00

For all hardcore artists out there, did you ever fear that your own artistic creation may come after you? Don't know what I am talking about? Below is a more visual representation of what I meant.

Very witty ei? You can see more of these at this link.

Oringina's "Naturally Juicy" commercial

2007-11-14T21:02:00.000-08:00

The very people who brought us Coke's "Happiness Factory" has yet again directed a rather steamy commercial on the odd side of the animal kingdom. This spot is full of narrative details and well thought-of characters that will give you a one engaging experience. I salute FFL Paris for being so brave to sell this idea.

This is a definite a must watch: Naturally Juicy.

PSST! Things First

2007-11-11T19:00:00.000-08:00

This is what I have to say;

"Thank you for sharing the manifesto Bran.. One way or another, I am deeply enlightened… The words preached here has reopened ideals that I once locked behind me due to the demands of the corporate world… Although artists (artists in general) now a days are more recognized compared to the olden times wherein most are suffering and hungry, I guess the sole difference before was that artists then pour their very soul into their works and did not let society dictate what they do… Yes, we need the money in order to feed ourselves but then we should also reconsider the message we are giving out.. Art is after all a form of communication… Most art now a days lack originality and is a sell out.. The barometer on how wonderfully crafted an art is, is when a good sum of profit is earned… I am behind this 101%… Art for that matter shouldn’t be done for money or because the corporate world dictates that we should do it in a way that conforms to their needs.. But rather when we design something or create somethings, it is because we want to and it is within our principles and ideals and that we have a deeper meaning to convey."

Please take a minute on what Bran has to say, a call to apply the ideals of First things First in the art of motion graphics...

Motion graphics is the new Koine of our century and as curators and possessors of this power should we allow ourselves to be minions of ad agencies, answering and conforming to the demands and needs of the corporate world? Are we going to forsake our art, our own set of creative ideals in order to sell? A rather very rampant practice, now predominant in this day and age...

Please take time to think about this...

Beowulf the movie

2007-11-05T21:26:00.000-08:00

I thought, Beowulf was just another CG movie but then the news featured in yahoo caught my attention, when Angelina spoke out that she felt shy when she saw her self naked in the movie Beowulf.

The technique is similar to Richard Lanklater's "A Scanner Darkly" and "Waking Life", rotoscoping although not entirely the same. Robert Zemeckis said in an interview that the technique used is performance capture or motion capture. The actors were film and their movements and expressions are digitally captured and is then used on the CG characters. The estimated project cost of the movie is USD 150 Million. Actress Alison Lohman, casted as Ursula, shared her experience during the production, "I enjoyed that more, to be honest, because you have to really use your imagination, You don’t have the props. You have nodes like all over your body and a wet suit, and it’s very weird. It’s like raw, right there acting - nothing hiding. You can’t hide from anything" (from about.com)

ToonIt! update

2007-10-25T20:14:00.000-07:00

If you've read my last post on Digital Anarchy's ToonIt, here is an update.

The recent feedbacks about on how slow ToonIt can be has been given a solution. Since Toonit is a collaboration between Digital Anarchy and Toonamation, the workload in developing this has been divided into two. Digital Anarchy is supplying the front end and training materials and performing the marketing while Toonamation developed the backend code and effects. After the release of the ToonIt, feedbacks were usually "its really a good product but it's so damn slow" and these type of feedbacks has lead Digital Anarchy and Toonamation to produce a 2X Toonit speedup. The latest software is already available for download. Be sure to download it if you are into this cartoon-effect thing.

Toonit is known for its incredible four filters.

Roto Toon (the much love A Scanner Darkly effect, done through rotoscoping)
Outlines only
Goth Toon
Backlight Edges

Melbourne Tourism

2007-10-21T22:22:00.000-07:00

One of the greatest luxury in life is traveling. There are so many beautiful places to see, people to meet and cultures to sink in to.

I happened to stumble upon this great ad spot for Melbourne , Victoria, Australia. This spot was directed by Glendyn Ivin, one of the most talented directors from the little town of Melbourne. The spot perfectly showcased the classic charm the town has.

I love the concept of the ball of yarn. Its certainly one way of marking the places of you've been to and the destiny that awaits. If you happen to adore the song, the song is from Joanna Newsom - "Sprout and the Bean".

LazyMovie: Takes the Luckluster Off VFX

2007-10-17T22:40:00.000-07:00

Now, here’s a bit of good news.

A Scandinavian outsourcing company based in Cebu, Philippines is willing to take over where most graphic VFX (visual effects) designers would rather leave off, but can’t.

LazyMovie does frame by frame rotoscoping and chroma keying jobs. The company delivers first-rate 2D digital post production work, like cleaning up dirt and wires in high-kick and high -flying martial arts films, using the rotoscoping and chroma keying techniques.

Rotoscoping and Chroma Keying are necessary in video editing, which is often thought of as the lackluster aspect of an otherwise glamorous and celebrity-studded industry.

LazyMovie took off as a rotoscoping and chroma keying service provider after LazyMask, a sister company, established a niche for itself across several image-related industries in the United States and Europe. LazyMask provides clipping path and image masking services to its clients. Like LazyMovie, LazyMask also has its production offices in Cebu, Philippines.

Beyond rotoscoping and chroma keying, LazyMovie offers certain valuable intangibles that are typically associated with outsourcing. Clients can actually bank on (a) reduced post production costs, (b) improved process procedures, (c) and more time to focus on core competencies when they outsource their rotoscoping and chroma keying needs to LazyMovie.

LazyMovie’s production team is composed of highly skilled Filipino visual effects designers with professional experience. The company is run by a Scandinavian management team, thus minimizing cultural and linguistic misunderstandings - an otherwise possible downside to outsourcing.

Interested clients can have their one sec. video clip rotoscoped and chroma keyed for free so they can asses the quality of the work delivered by LazyMovie. (PR)