Photolog
|
|
My site especially, honey
2007 May 26
I know this is, like, so 2000, but I love that my site is a search result for “i say fuck it! but you'll get no pussy! fuck it!”. For real, y’all.
Derivado and don’t
2007 May 23
Never, ever
- create a composite design; or
- create a vector illustration
from
- images found on search engines; or
- comp images downloaded from stock image sites
What you may consider “custom” doesn’t make for original or derivative work. What you have is, in fact, a huge copyright violation.
What’s the harm? you ask. Simple.
Download any photo comp from a stock image site and create a vector illustration from the image. Or download a series of JPEGs from search engines and create a composite image. Sell either one to a client as royalty-free imagery. Then wait for your client to receive a cease-and-desist letter from a company’s attorney because the supposedly original image you created is recognized as a derivative work of an image that was not rightfully purchased. Next, expect a letter from your client’s lawyer(s) demanding the money you were originally paid, plus any additional amount the company may have suffered due to loss of brand value. If you are working through an agency, you may lose your job because you put them at risk for being sued.
If you are a freelance designer, purchase a quality digital camera and take your own custom stock images. Create your own library of vector images that you can mix and match depending on your clients’ needs. Purchase Adobe Creative Suite 3 and use Bridge to embed metadata such as creator and copyright information. Or simply talk with your client about creative solutions that are affordable (for them) and efficient (for you).
Know your copyright, and remember: Edie before Lindsay. Or Paris. Or that small, starving child, the one that looks like a chihuahua. Whatshername.
We’re all in this together
2007 May 20
Just so we’re all clear, any bitches out there that even think about taking my idea and running with it will hear from my lawyers. They are legion.
After watching this week with George Stephalupagus interview and discuss politics with Nancy Pelosi and that house minority guy, I realized that we, as Amercian voters, have elected a whole lot of lip service. And if you’re going to lay your lips on my ass for the length of your term, I expect a bit of mentholated action. Without further adieu:
These shirts will be printed on American Apparel fine jersey short sleeve t-shirts in lapis (color pictured). I will be making a limited edition of these shirts, possibly selling them for $25 a pop since the shirt itself costs $15 and I’m sure I’ll receive all sorts of bizarre size requests. (Petite? In America? What are you, an Olsen twin?)
Send in your size request and which shirt saying you prefer. Once I get the shirts made to order, I’ll send you an e-mail and you can pay me via PayPal. Shipping should be around, what, Priority Mail costs? and then you have your very own political garb. Nancy and whathisname would be proud.
Killing me softly
2007 May 17
Piano Magic released their EP Incurable, and I am (once again) hooked to their (yet again) new sound. And not that I need another band t-shirt, but be a dear and order me a large one since European sizes tend to run a bit small.
If fonts were art fags
2007 May 15
Back in the day (puff) when I was but a wee design student, my fellow classmates and I were in love with Emigre both for its fonts and magazines. Over time, however, the magazine grew into a conservative, full-color booklet devoid of its original large-format beauty. And as with time, many of the fonts lost their ability to retain contemporary or classic styles, but that’s why society fosters used CD stores. If not for the occasional font release, one could almost forget the company still exists.
Today Emigre sent an e-mail announcing the release of Malaga, a new font by Xavier Dupré. Lo:
Dupré is the new global designer who can take disparate influences and fluidly process the information into a coherent whole. Malaga is a case in point. It is inspired by ideas ranging from blackletter to Latin fonts, and from the Quattrocento’s first Venetian antiquas to brush stroke types. This makes Malaga a richly animated font saturated with unorthodox detail. Its black and bold weights are particularly suited for headlines and short texts, while the subtle modulation and moderate contrast in the regular and medium weights makes it perfectly readable in extended text settings.
The font itself is pretty to look at and seems extensive for a family, but where are the ligatures? Where are the finishing touches that make me want to slap this font on everything from storefront displays to advertisements in The New York Times? Where is the love? Maybe it’s just me and my ability to retain the theme of a movie I watched the night before, but if you aren’t willing to fly the flag at half-mast, don’t be surprised when people call for the absolution of the monarchy.
Which has everything to do with my point: not a goddamn thing. For real, y’all.
Furthermore, and forsooth, what does the font have to do with the real Málaga? And did you even know that Mobile, Alabama is twinned with this Spanish city? Do they even know?
Some of the best font designs can come from the very people who use them. Case in point: Critique | Typophile. All the design, none of the pretense or legacy of used CDs.
Learn from my mistakes™: part 1 in a series
2007 May 09
Via text, no less:
If there is one thing you have been dead right about. It would be that being a professional drinker in this business does not fly. It was beer bust Sunday. I barely feel at eighty percent now. Your next news article should be an advice column to designers.
Um, kids? Don’t ever go to work drunk.
Age of Aquarius
2007 May 04
I like incorporating stock illustration in my designs for clients whenever possible: the images can oftentimes tell a better story than photography because the traditional American propaganda model method is replaced with modern, more progressive reflections of society.
I like to use Veer because the company speaks to a design community that is aware of the ever-changing societal structure, which is omnipresent in its collection of illustration, as well as photography and type.
I ran a search this morning to select illustrations of water for a client project, and I was presented this image: “Young Musculat (sic) Man Holding Another Man's Head in the Water”.
Holy Mother Mary Magdalene of God, the guy’s package is still bigger than the illustration’s largest resolution.
Now I know what I just said about illustration’s modern reflections and a more progressive society, but there is no way in hell that illustration is meant for public consumption beyond Abercrombie & Fitch or Manhunt.
FYI, btw, iStockphoto is also a great place for modern stock images – that do not involve musculat anything – at a fraction of the cost on other sites.
And Patsy Cline for good measure
2007 May 02
Whenever I get a hankerin’ for new music, I like to check out The Hype Machine and see what other music lovers recommend. When I’m not reading stereoscope with aplomb, of course. Impunity. Natch, even. But I digress. The Hype Machine lets me search for a specific artist via blogs tracked and listed on the site, and I can also listen to full-length tracks using the site’s Flash player. Currently the people behind the curtain at The Hype Machine are seeking all hackers to help construct what I can only guess to be a better music experience without the use of Flash.
If you’re like me, you have an appreciation for music that others declare “elitist”, possibly “hipster”. These labels, are, in fact, factual. If anyone were to take a spin on my iPod, one would find, to name but a few:
!!!, Ryan Adams, AIR, Air Miami, Air Supply, The Amps, Keren Ann, Fiona Apple, Arling & Cameron, Arrested Development, Joseph Arthur, Ash, Astaire, Atari Teenage Riot, Autechre, Aztec Camera, The B-52’s, Erykah Badu, Basehead, Basement Jaxx, Bauhaus, Baxter, The Beastie Boys, The Beat Farmers, Beck, Bee Gees, Beirut, Bel Canto, Bell Orchestre, Belle and Sebastian, Belly, Berlin, Heidi Berry, The Beta Band, Bettie Serveet, Bikini Kill, The Birthday Party, Björk, Frank Black, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, The Black Heart Procession, Blur, Boss Hog, Bowery Electric, The Breeders, Bright Eyes, Broken Social Scene, Michael Brook, Kate Bush, Meryn Cadell, CAN, The Carpenters, Johnny Cash, Celebration, The Chameleons U.K., Chemical Brothers, Meg Lee Chin, Chocolate Genius, Christian Death, Cibo Matto, Clan of Xymox, Clinic, CocoRosie, Cocteau Twins, COIL, Coldplay, Colourbox, Common, Concrete Blonde, Julian Cope, Cornelius, Elvis Costello, The Cramps, The Creatures, Cuba, The Cult, The Cure, Curve, Cycle Sluts From Hell, The Dandy Warhols, De La Soul, Dead Can Dance, Destroyer, Dieselboy, Dif Juz, Digable Planets, Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy, DJ Dara, DJ Rap, DJ Shadow, Destroyer, Snoop Dogg, The Donnas, Donovan, Anneli Drecker, Minnie Driver, Dum Dum Project, Edward Ka-Spel, 808 State, Einstürzende Neubauten, Ekova, Elastica, Missy Elliott, Eluvium, Enya, Maggie Estep, Eurythmics, Ex-Boyfriends, Experimental Audio Research, Explosions In The Sky, Marianne Faithfull, Fatboy Slim, Feist, 50 Foot Wave, Roberta Flack, Four Tet, French Kicks, Front Line Assembly, Future Sound of London, Diamanda Galás, Lisa Germano, The Germs, Lisa Gerrard, Beth Gibbons, Gilbert and Lewis, João Gilberto, Philip Glass, Goldfrapp, Holly Golightly, Gorillaz, The Gossip, Rachel Goswell, Grandmaster Flash, Green Day, Grinderman, Gusgus, Handsome Boy Modeling School, Elizabeth Harper, PJ Harvey, Heart, The Heart Throbs, Kristin Hersh, Lauryn Hill, His Name Is Alive, The Hissyfits, The Hives, Billie Holiday, Hole, The Hope Blister, Haromi Hosono, The House of Love, The Incredible Moses Leroy, The (International) Noise Conspiracy, Interpol, Ivy, Jefferson Airplane, JJ72, Jóhann Jóhannsson, Seu Jorge, Juliet, Jurassic 5, Zoë Keating, Kitchens of Distinction, Lakuna, lamb, Amel Larrieux, The Late Cord, Le Tigre, Lead Into Gold, Led Zeppelin, Leslie & The LY’s, Gordon Lightfoot, Love And Rockets, Love Spit Love, Lush, Magnétophone, Aimee Mann, Massive Attack, Mazzy Star, Cass McCombs, Natalie Merchant, M.I.A., Ministry, Minotaur Shock, Vinny Miller, Kylie Minogue, Mojave 3, Mono, Morcheeba, Morningwood, Mos Def, Bob Mould, The Mountain Goats, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Muslimgauze, My Bloody Valentine, Me’shell N’degéocello, Neutral Milk Hotel, Nirvana, The Notorious B.I.G., The Notwist, Nouvelle Vague, Laura Nyro, Oasis, Sinéad O’Connor, Beth Orton, Oslo, Outkast, Pale Saints, Dolly Parton, Linda Perhacs, Piano Magic, Pink Martini, Pixies, Placebo, Iggy Pop, Portishead, A Positive Life, Prince, Prince Paul, Princess Superstar, Prototypes, Providence, The Psychedelic Furs, Public Enemy, Rasputina, The Raveonettes, RJD2, The Roots, Röyksopp, Ruby, Scenic, Scheer, Semiautomatic, Shakespeare’s Sister, Kevin Shields, Sigur Rós, Silverbeam, Paul Simon, Nina Simone, Single Gun Theory, Siouxsie & The Banshees, Sisters of Mercy, Skinny Puppy, Sleater-Kinney, Slowdive, Smile When You Dial, Elliott Smith, Kendra Smith, Patti Smith, The Smiths, Sonic Youth, Sorten Muld, Soul II Soul, Spiritualized, Dusty Springfield, Squarepusher, Statistics, Stereolab, Angie Stone, The Stone Roses, The Stooges, The Stratford 4, The Strokes, Suba, Sugarcubes, Swallow, Sybarite, David Sylvian, 10,000 Maniacs, That Dog, The The, They Might Be Giants, Thievery Corporation, This Mortal Coil, Throwing Muses, A Tribe Called Quest, Tricky, TV On The Radio, The Twilight Sad, U2, Ultra Vivid Scene, Unrest, The Vaselines, Velvet Underground, Violent Femmes, Voyager One, Martha Wainwright, Scott Walker, Warlock Pinchers, Westside Chemical, Barry White, The White Stripes, Wolf & Cub, The Wolfgang Press, The Wonder Stuff, X, Xiu Xiu, XTC, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Jay Z, Tom Zé, and Zero 7.
Yes, Air Supply. I make no apologies for this. None. So don’t even.
Who Yr Baby Daddy?
2007 May 01
- Grab your camera.
- Make with the signage—creativity is encouraged! I leave capitalization and grammar up to you.
- Focus. FOCUS!
- Click.
- Send.
I’ll post whatever images I receive, and I will gladly credit you (the photographer) and link to your site/blog.