High Point Market day two was extremely productive, we hung a lot, leveled a lot, and hung some more.
High Point Day One
We have arrived here at High Point Market in beautiful North Carolina, and we couldn’t be happier. Yeah, that lasted about a minute. Now it’s work, work, work, hang, pull, sort. Just to give you an idea we took a video for you. Enjoy everyone.
Tech University Vol.2
So here we are again, back in school and it’s time for lesson number 1. Probably one of the most overlooked details of any beginning designer, person outside of the design world or otherwise is color mode. If you’ve ever heard someone mention files being in either RGB or CMYK, you my little padawan, are about to find out what they were talking about.
First off, let’s get a little techie with the descriptions, so now would be the time to get out your magic cards, light sabers, Spock ears or anything else that screams nerd alert.
RGB (red, green, blue) is an additive color mode. It is called additive because the background of screen is black. If we combine red, green and blue you will get white light. The individual LEDs then light up in varying intensity adding light to black. The variations in intensity of each color determine what color you see.
CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow, black) is subtractive because the paper where it is printed on is white and the ink subtracts from the brightness of the white paper. If we print cyan, magenta and yellow inks on white paper, they absorb the light shining on the page. Since our eyes receive no reflected light from the paper, we perceive black. CMYK also uses secondary colors that are much lighter than those used in RGB because to reproduce the darker colors, you would only need to add more ink.
Ok, you got all that?? Pretty cool huh…well it is to me…hang on a minute, my pocket protector is messed up.
In short, RGB is the color mode you use for monitors and phones where as CMYK is the color mode you use for anything involving ink printing. Generally anything built in Adobe Photoshop is going to be produced in RGB, but if you plan on printing it, be sure to convert it to CMYK before doing so. Anything produced in Adobe Illustrator and Indesign will be in CMYK.
Quick tip:
- If you want something to be an exact color match, the only way to accomplish this is by using PMS spot colors found in a Pantone Color Guide. Any corporate logo or color scheme generally is created this way to insure it comes out the same no matter on screen or printed.
Well folks, that about covers it really. I could get out the light graphs and such, but I don’t want to bore you with my geekiness. I hope you enjoyed this lesson and just remember, when delivering a digital file to be printed, make sure it is in CMYK because if not, the printed result is FAR less likely to match what you saw on your screen.
Enough play time for me, back to work….
-B
Thom Filicia Art “Moving Through Life Collection”
The essence of Thom’s philosophy about his work and creations is that it be accessible, authentically American in nature and affordable. Inspired by his Upstate New York roots, the collection entitled “Moving Through Life” is a peek into Tom’s world, design aesthetic and easily accessible taste. Within the collection are scenes of “Earth and Sky” that reflect the bucolic life of his home town, to “Motion and Bootstraps” that speaks to the American ingenuity that built this great country. “A Moment in Time” are images shot from Thom’s own iPhone where he finds art in the most simple of objects. Thom’s vision is uniquely American and we’re fortunate to be able to share it with you.
Here is a special preview of just a few images that are part of a collection of over 60 unique images on paper, canvas and metal.
New York Map TF-0143A
People From Above III TF-0141
Grass Shoots TF-0138B
DC3 TF-0134
Flower Fields TF-0133A
New York From Above TF-0132
Outrigger TF-0124
Coupling TF-0121A
Raise your Glass, Lower your Standards TF-0113
Warm memories I TF-0111
Profile of White Horse TF-0102
Pop Icons TF-0101A
Nothing like a little Shag….
One of my most favorite artists is Shag.
When you look at his art he just eases cool right off of the canvas into your living room. Shag, also known as Josh Agle, has been designing, illustrating, and painting in Southern California since 1997. Initially he wanted to be an illustrator for hire, but his original artworks garnered so much attention that he decided to have a budding art career instead.
As his website states ‘The paintings themselves are of consumption and consumerism on vividly colored, sharply rendered panels; the characters drink, smoke and eat in lavish stylish surroundings. But Agle sees the visuals of his work as window-dressing or stage scenery. He’s more concerned with the narrative of the art. “Most of my paintings are set in the middle of a story or situation–characters are interacting or reacting to each other and to outside events.”‘
His first solo show was in 90′s and since then he has been all over the US, Japan, Australia, and Europe. He has his own stationary, a showroom in Vegas dedicated to him, a mural in the Georgia aquarium, a murder mystery play dedicated to him, and he even redesigned the Pink Panther for Disney.
Most recently Shag returned to the Georgia Aquarium for the Dragon*Con event that was held from September 3-5th in Atlanta. Dragon*Con is the largest multi-media, popular culture convention focusing on science fiction and fantasy, gaming, comics, literature, art, music, and film. He had a late night party, which of course is true to the Shag theme, where he debuted his new giclee prints “A Guide to Crypto-Hominids of the World.”
If ever given a chance do check out his work it is Shag-a-licious.
The Bitterness of Poor Quality…
The whole quote attributed to Ben Franklin is “The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of the low price is forgotten“. And it is tempting today to go down the road of compromise because business is so challenging. In the final analysis, when is it okay to cut a corner or bring in substandard products into your world? I don’t know the answer to that but I can tell you that cheap, as far as the world that our customer occupies is never the answer. Sure, it may be a temptation but at what cost?
Lately I’ve been thinking about my father who passed away almost four years ago. If he were here, he’d ask me “Ed, if you were a suit, what brand would you be?” a good question. Notice, he would not ask what brand “am I”, but “would be”. That’s the engine that drives my thinking in my work and at home. Quality is nearly impossible to define so we create a narrative. My dad’s narrative was a suit, yours may be a fine time piece or a car, others may think of fine crystal or even wine. So if in doubt about what to do today or where to go tomorrow, we need to know who we want to be, because if we do not know where we are going, any road will take us there.
So, what suit would I be (and why)? I would be a Brioni. A Brioni suit is impossible to compromise. The name itself is a call to action if you are a tailor. The processes that created this brand are passed from generations through meticulous adherence to quality standards, materials and craftsmanship. Yet, the responsibility that comes with maintaining a legendary brand is daunting. Temptations to cut corners and work with inferior materials to appease threats of low cost options is always there. The opportunists that appear year after year ready and happy to knock you off your mount are many. Those that claim to have the Brioni quality with more a “modern” style and of course, lower prices sing persuasive until you drape the garment on your shoulders. I can’t afford Brioni suits but I know what they look and feel like. I’ve even had a sport coat on at the store, fantasized about meeting mysterious people on the streets of Rome and looking impossibly dashing sipping my Negroni at Harry’s Bar. That is the standard by which I measure the suits I can afford and more than that, it’s the standard by which the uncompromising nature of our products are based. Like me, my company can’t afford Brioni, but it can sure aspire to the ideal of what makes it a legendary brand. We would be the company with integrity, quality and more than anything have our customers in mind when creating our world. The byproduct is what we sell: pictures. And in those pictures you would find 50 years of like-minded individuals all striving and working under the onus of a legendary brand with the responsibilities that comes with it. To trip-up or cheat or cut corners would be unthinkable. If you were a suit, or car or a watch or…what would you be? –EM
Quality At The Source…How We Do It
Throughout the manufacturing chain at Soicher Marin, our materials, products, and processes are continually inspected for quality and thoroughness. We believe Quality at the Source is fundamental to our role as product leaders, and the foundation of our Quality Assurance Program.
Quality at the Source is critical to the hand crafted product we create. The craftsmen in our shop deal with numerous variables that require immediate and sound decision in quality. Through proper skills training and standardized processes, we give each employee the skill and knowledge to identify potential defects in materials and workmanship, and prevent them from ever leaving our doors.
At each workstation, every unit we produce is inspected for size, quality and construction. Defective items are pulled and recorded for review by our Quality Teams. Standardized processes provide assurance that the craftsmanship behind each fine work of art will bear the same time tested methods. From one workstation to the next, nothing moves down the line until it meets our agreed standards.
Every product Soicher Marin ships receives Final Inspection just prior to packaging. Here our quality control inspector gives a final review of the four major product points; Art, Materials, Craftsmanship, and Labeling. Only after meeting all our strict requirements do we proudly ship your art.
-AG
Tech University Vol.1
Ok everyone put your backpacks away, take a seat, oh and feel free to leave an apple on my desk, but it better be the kind made in Cupertino, California! What I am going to be doing over the next few months is be your tech teacher. One of the biggest problems I run into as a graphic designer is trying to either explain something computer related to someone that has no clue what I am saying, or trying to understand what a client is asking for because they are using incorrect terms. So, as an attempt to help this, I will explain computer and design related things to everyone on a very simple level and by the end of the course, possibly have the reader doing something on their own!
Since this is the first class, normally I would introduce myself as the teacher, but my last blog somewhat already did this. Feel free to go back and read a little about me if you haven’t. Trust me, I’m worth it. So instead of introductions of ourselves, let’s do a quick course overview.
By the end of this blog series you should know the follow:
-The different file types and what they are used for
-Image resolution and how to use it
-The difference between RGB and CMYK
-Basic color correction of images in Photoshop
-Resizing an image correctly in Photoshop
-How to use layers in Photoshop
-How to take parts of the image out or add more of something in
-Create a basic brochure or bi-fold
-Hand code back-end developer applications and hack into the Pentagon
So there we have it. Everything on this list is fairly simple to learn and should be known by anyone that deals with a designer on a regular basis or just likes to learn new things. If at any time along the way, there is something I haven’t covered that you want to know, feel free to comment, I love feedback.
Well that’s it! Welcome to class, I hope you enjoy this series and if you don’t, I will not hesitate to expel you. Yeah, that’s right, I’m that teacher!
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