5D Mark II

Posted on February 6, 2009 by Dan

Time for an upgrade! Since it’s announcement and initial glowing reviews we knew that the next piece of equipment for our business was going to be the new 5D Mark II.

We had been shooting with… let’s just say, older bodies for quite some time due to our firm belief that you should only upgrade when you need to upgrade, not every time a new gadget comes down the pike. So this is a big change for us, and the full-frame sensor means my 35mm lens will once again be a true 35mm.

Needless to say I’m really enjoying the camera, and I will have more to report soon on the low-light image quality and the highly controversial HD video recording mode.

Posted in Cameras, Gear, HD, Photography | Leave a comment

Hello Rabbit.

Posted on February 1, 2009 by Dan

Hey folks! I just wanted to share that we stepped into a 2008 Volkswagen Rabbit S this week!!!

We’re both besides ourselves with joy after driving our poor 1997 Toyota Camry til it hit the 197,000 mile mark. It was definitely a great car, and it served us well for many years. Farewell old friend.

I am going to do another post soon with lots more pictures and info about the Rabbit. Lots of time and research and soul searching were done to make the decision to purchase a new car, but moreso, this particular car. I just want to share some of details and highlights of what makes this car so special. Stay tuned…

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Andy Reale

Posted on January 22, 2009 by Dan

Andy Reale is an old friend of mine from high school. We used to goof around in computer class together and talk about music and such. I have to say that when I discovered what he was up to the past few years I was really impressed. He’s a full-fledged music video director, and he has a brand spankin’ new website that you should all check out!

Andy reminds me of my all-time favorite music video director, Mark Romanek in that he doesn’t always spend a lot of time operating the camera, but he is the person with the vision, and the ideas that make up the world inside the video. What I always like about Andy’s videos is that they fit the bands. None of the videos you’ll see take the band so completely out of context of themselves, and that’s really important. I also love the composition and color of each video.

If you’re in a band and need a video, get your people to get in touch with Andy. If you’re just a fan of music and videos, spend the time it takes to watch every single video on his site, they’re all really amazing.

Posted in Design, Music, Other Sites | Leave a comment

New Insight vs. New Prius

Posted on January 12, 2009 by Dan

I suppose that Honda thought neither Toyota, nor the rest of us would notice the striking similarity of their newly designed Insight hybrid to the Toyota Prius. Or perhaps, they intentionally styled their Prius-fighter on the highly successful competitor. In either case I’m really disappointed in Honda for not being more original in the design process with this car. I typically give Honda high marks for overall industrial design and aesthetics, but I just can’t respect such a blatant copy.

On the other hand, I feel like wagging my finger at Toyota for their Prius redesign. I mean, it’s the SAME car. There’s nothing revolutionary about the “next generation” Prius. They just gave it some new sheet metal, and spiffed up the interior and called it a day. I was really hoping that it would carry the hybrid torch even further by distinguishing itself in an increasingly competitive segment. I guess if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

What do you think?

Posted in Cars, Design | 2 Comments

The Standard Shooting

Posted on January 11, 2009 by Dan

Wednesday January 7th is a day that is going to live in infamy for many of the people in Atlanta. In the early morning hours as they were closing, employees of The Standard were robbed at gunpoint and a bartender, John Henderson was viciously murdered. This was precipitated by an increasing number of break-ins and an incident a few weeks prior where another employee was help up at gunpoint, but not harmed.

This neighborhood isn’t what you might call a “utopia” but it’s far from a cesspool. Like Anne and myself, many folks really love the city, therefore we’re willing to put up with some rough edges with the intent that we’re going to take pride in where we live and try to improve the situation. I really don’t know what I feel right now other than outright anger and confusion as to who could do such a terrible thing, or why. It’s especially difficult when something like this happens so close to home… literally right across the street. We spend a lot of time at The Standard, and though there have been a rash of break-ins we never expected anything like this.

This senseless act has sparked an awakening in myself and many of the residents in metro Atlanta. Some of them have gone as far as creating an organization called Atlantans Together Against Crime & Cutbacks (ATACC). The founders and members of this group all believe that violence and crime are things that can be addressed on a neighborhood level and they’re organizing meetings and rallies to help better inform folks of what they can do to better the situation.

I didn’t know John personally. I had seen him a few times at the Standard and also he waited on us over at Six Feet Under (another neighborhood bar at which he worked). He was always very friendly. It makes absolutely no sense why after giving the criminals what they came for, they would shoot and kill him, he did nothing wrong.

These are the kinds of incidents that ATACC want to help prevent, and I for one am on board with what they’re doing. If you live in Atlanta and want to show your support, please visit their website and Facebook page:

http://www.atlantanstogether.org

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=42994467899

Also, wether you are in Atlanta, or elsewhere, please be sure to visit the National Crime Prevention Council.

For more information on The Standard shooting visit the AJC article HERE.

If you would like to make a donation to John’s family, please visit Grant Park Neighborhood Association – Online Dontations.

Lastly, I thought this video was a pertinent way to leave off this post. Thanks to Grayson Daughters for putting it together.

Posted in Atlanta, Politics | Leave a comment

Command

Posted on December 17, 2008 by Dan

A new poster entitled “Command”. Available in the Store very soon.

Posted in Design | 1 Comment

The Boat That Rocked

Posted on December 4, 2008 by Dan

While finding some content for my last post about movies I came across this KILLER series of posters for an upcoming film, The Boat That Rocked.

Excellent use of color with a really strong composition and plenty of negative space for text. The font choice isn’t bad either. The whole package chalks one up for modern poster design that doesn’t suck. I’m sure by the time the movie is closer to release they’ll find a way to put out a crappy edited version.

Posted in Design, Inspiration, Movies | Leave a comment

End of 2008 – Movie Picks

Posted on December 4, 2008 by Dan

We don’t always get the chance to make it out to the theater, but when there’s something extra-special we really try to see it opening day. I wanted to share a few movies we’ll definitely see at the theater before the year is over:

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

I think this movie is going to be really amazing. Brad Pitt isn’t always my favorite, but I can think of more movies that I’ve liked him than ones that sucked. The story is probably one of the most original, and definitely makes you say “why didn’t I think of that?”. The thing is with a movie like this, it can go either way but I’m betting it’ll be great.

The Day The Earth Stood Still

A lot of people are already of the opinion that this is going to suck purely on the casting of Keanu Reeves as “Klaatu”. I personally have only seen snippets of the original film, so I can’t really make a judgement about the character. From the previews it looks to be a serious and dark movie, and I think we need more of that in science-fiction right now. This very well could be on par with Cloverfield, or The Day After Tomorrow, but I have pretty high hopes that this will be the aliens-kill-the-planet movie that will set the precedent for many years.

I wanted to mention a few other movies that I know I probably won’t get to see in the theater this year, but I’m still pretty excited about them, and if you have the opportunity you should go check them out:

JCVD

If you’re in my age-bracket, then you definitely remember the reign of cheesy action films of the 1980s. The plots and production for all of these white-guys-who-knew-martial-arts movies were pretty typical and lame; Tough-guy (usually a cop or ex-cop) is framed or setup in some way, family leaves, and he goes out for revenge. We got to see this same movie with different guys, Dolph Lundgren, Steven Seagal, and of course, my favorite, Jon Claude Van Damme. In this movie, Jon Claude plays himself inside of an entirely fictional plot. He’s an out of work actor, who’s down on his luck and oddly gets entangled in a hostage situation. This would be cool even if some other guy was the star. Can’t wait to see it.

Special

This is a pretty straightforward and VERY indie flick, and was first shown at a film fest 2 years ago! The film stars Michael Rappaport as a guy who volunteers to undergo some clinical trials for a new drug, and after taking it starts to have delusions that he’s a superhero. If that wasn’t rad enough, the movie is chock full of some low-budget special effects (think Be Kind Rewind). This seems like it’ll be really funny and it’s definitely another original concept.

The Wrestler

I have to say that I really love Darren Aronovsky as a director. He’s made some of my favorite (although very strange and dark) movies, and I heard recently that he’s doing a remake of Robocop – could be EPIC! In any case, The Wrestler stars Mickey Rourke as a has-been wrestling star from the 80s who’s trying to hold onto his glory days in the spotlight while trying to reconnect with his estranged daughter. The performances all look really powerful. Yet another throwback to my childhood days… watching WWF Wrestling!

Any movies you’re looking forward to? Post em in the comments!


Posted in Movies | Tagged | 2 Comments

The Decline of American Logos: Part 1

Posted on November 29, 2008 by Dan

I have been a fan of logos since I was kid. I remember being strangely drawn to the red, circular MATTEL badge logo and the swooping letters and pale blue color of the Hasbro brand. I don’t know what it is, but this stuff has always connected with some part of me on a conscious level, so it brings me great frustration to see that slowly, one-by-one, America’s greatest logos are being destroyed. Let’s start with very recent example – Best Buy.

The old Best Buy logo is quite fitting of the store and it’s overall representation – Big Corporate America. Everything that we understand about our capitalist society and consumerism can be recognized in the large bold uppercase text, outlined buy the attention grabbing yellow tag. We like to shop, we like price tags, we like our electronic stuff.

The new logo font is a modified version of Klavica. It appears they trying to visually represent where the consciousness of America is heading. We’re trying to be more efficient, healthier, cleaner and we’re tired of BIG. We’re ditching SUVs for hybrids, and we no longer want to super-size that meal. So, out with the big boxy bold letters and in with modern sans-serif fonts. When big companies change there logos, they’re trying to indicate a paradigm shift… or at least that’s what they want us to think.

My issue with the new logo is that Best Buy is and will always be a “big box” retailer. They are currently the only one who isn’t headed for bankruptcy, successfully unseating Circuit City and HH Gregg. Best Buy would have us believe that they’re working to be more friendly, smaller and efficient. No more excess folks, we’re gonna be your friendly neighborhood chain electronics store. Doesn’t quite make sense does it?

I say that the best logos are the most honest logos, and this is a great example of a logo that’s lying to your face. I don’t feel anything when I see this logo, and that’s a bad sign too. You want people to have a certain aesthetic in their minds when you’re creating a brand. You want them to “feel” something. This is one of the most generic looking logos to come out since…

Yes, Walmart. Another example of glorious American consumerism complimented by a giant text treatment of Helvetica Black in uppercase. When you walk into a Walmart you used to be literally in awe of the size of the logo and the store matched that feeling inside. You didn’t wonder if they’d have what you wanted, you knew they had it due to the sheer size of the place.

Now Walmart wants to you believe that they’re the friendly, caring store that just wants to save you a few bucks. Doesn’t that make you all warm and fuzzy inside? The fact is that over 80% of Walmart inventory is shipped from China and is created in factories operating under inhumane conditions. Walmart as a company treats their employees pretty poorly too, robbing them of benefits that are clearly earned, and at best, they have some “questionable” environmental policies. Keep looking at that happy sunshine thing, it’ll make you feel better.

Maybe if Best Buy and Walmart were fresh Web 2.0 start ups I would be more willing to accept these logos as genuine, but that’s clearly not the case. These are 2 big companies who don’t care about you, trying to make an attempt to convince you that they care about you.

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Obama Poster: History

Posted on November 19, 2008 by Dan

During the campaign and primaries we were all bombarded by Obama posters. The insanely-famous Shepard Fairey poster (found here) essentially sparked the entire graphic design community to all create their own Obama-related posters and designs, and I was amongst those who did.

I started first with a photo of Barack. I just wanted the highlights of his face and I cut out the rest. The rest of the poster is a series of textures and shape layers that each have their own blending modes and effects applied to them, which when combined make the poster itself look very worn. Further texturing was then done to Obama’s face, the header text and the stars “O” layers to give them some authenticity. I did some gradients and half-toning in the corners to draw the eye more towards the center image. A final texture layer was applied upon flattening the poster to just finish it off.

The result is a very simple, yet powerful image and I’m really happy with how it turned out. Regardless of your political affiliation I hope you can appreciate it from an artistic standpoint.

Posted in Design, Photoshop, Politics | 1 Comment