Monday, August 31, 2009
Sunday September 6th
If anybody and everybody are in the Los Angeles area a week from yesterday, this should not be missed!
Friday, August 28, 2009
New Shoes!
In commemoration of Peanut Butter Wolf's 999 DJ events happening in the southland currently, Converse had me come up with a graphic for a pair of classic Chuck Hi-Tops!
Monday, August 24, 2009
ED RONDTHALER 1905-2009
“I’ve never worked a day in my life. I never made much money, but it’s been a lot of fun.”
— Ed Rondthaler
And here, Ed breaks it down!
Rondthaler’s Life with Letters. The book that lays it all down.
Thanks House Industries!
Friday, August 21, 2009
Xerox Spot Color
I'm not sure whatever happened to these machines, but you used to be able to find them at Kinkos and places like that. They had a 'blue' and 'red' setting, so you could put your copies through the machine twice and get a 'spot' color result. It was pretty primitive (you'd just do these on a color printer now), but, it wasnt that long ago when color prints were WAY more expensive then the are now.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
The Great Music Industry Debate
I was listening to a report on Marketplace regarding the music industry and it's absolute freefall in sales that it's experiencing right now. The segment was humoring the idea of bringing back the vinyl record in order to boost sales (kind of like blindly wishing for a time machine). The heart of this discussion is that vinyl records had one thing that MP3's can't seem to exploit. Packaging and artwork. The second part of that being more important being that LP's didnt just come in paper bags. The artwork was vital to the projection of the music, and in these days when visuals account for much more of our experience, all the more essential.
The artwork told the story. It was half if not more of what was being sold on the racks than the music itself. Most small record label owners I know understand this, but some just can't seem to get their head around it. Some see the CD/web page/LP artwork as being a nesseccary evil that should be expedited in order for the music to be released to the public. Although it's easy for me to note this issue being that I'm in the business of creating and preparing said artwork.
Put it this way. 500 years ago, most people (albeit the wealthy) would experience music in the form of an Opera house. The promoters of those operas understood that they couldn't just hire the best singers. They needed the BEST costumes and the BEST sets built. That's because music was only half of the experience. The visuals were just as important, and still are.
One suggestion I would have for the major record companies is to cut all salaries of remaining staff across the board. Take those savings and pump them into R & D for new platforms/formats/methods of selling music for dollars and cents. iTunes had a great model, but even they understood that it was temporary.
Some ideas that myself and some friends of mine who are involved in software development (and ex-record industry folks), would be to create a digital box set. Based on the AIR platform, these digital sets would be downloaded, and, not just include music, but also artwork, videos, live simulcast, ringtones and other items that wouldn't be as easy to copy. Sure, you might be able to email and self distribute the separate items, but, it would defeat the purpose. The point being, to harness the experience and ownership of the music, rather than just selling a folder of MP3 files.
Anyways, I think this is probably the direction the music and entertainment industries are likely to head in. Calling it 'added value' kind of oversimplifies it, but it'll be way in which music 'selling' can get back on it's feet again.
The artwork told the story. It was half if not more of what was being sold on the racks than the music itself. Most small record label owners I know understand this, but some just can't seem to get their head around it. Some see the CD/web page/LP artwork as being a nesseccary evil that should be expedited in order for the music to be released to the public. Although it's easy for me to note this issue being that I'm in the business of creating and preparing said artwork.
Put it this way. 500 years ago, most people (albeit the wealthy) would experience music in the form of an Opera house. The promoters of those operas understood that they couldn't just hire the best singers. They needed the BEST costumes and the BEST sets built. That's because music was only half of the experience. The visuals were just as important, and still are.
One suggestion I would have for the major record companies is to cut all salaries of remaining staff across the board. Take those savings and pump them into R & D for new platforms/formats/methods of selling music for dollars and cents. iTunes had a great model, but even they understood that it was temporary.
Some ideas that myself and some friends of mine who are involved in software development (and ex-record industry folks), would be to create a digital box set. Based on the AIR platform, these digital sets would be downloaded, and, not just include music, but also artwork, videos, live simulcast, ringtones and other items that wouldn't be as easy to copy. Sure, you might be able to email and self distribute the separate items, but, it would defeat the purpose. The point being, to harness the experience and ownership of the music, rather than just selling a folder of MP3 files.
Anyways, I think this is probably the direction the music and entertainment industries are likely to head in. Calling it 'added value' kind of oversimplifies it, but it'll be way in which music 'selling' can get back on it's feet again.
Monday, August 17, 2009
In The Works...
About 20 pages of pencils are completed for Nineteen Eighty Five Vol. 2. Looking at having inks completed by late September, and published soon after.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Gossip- Love Long Distance
A great video directed by Joel Trussell, and animated by that dynamic duo known as Mike Hollingsworth and Anna Galaspy . Simply (or not so simply) composited onto the balloons the actors were wearing. A rather unique effect and asthetic is created here. I'll shut up now, so, check it out:
Monday, August 10, 2009
My Algea Home
In past posts, I've featured excerpts from the numerous zines I've compiled and contributed too. One of my faves was Boots N Booze. A pretty run-in-the-mill teenage rant tome which a dozen or so of us published. Complete with record reviews, comics, booze critique and the like, a dear friend of mine named Roi Sykes contributed a column called 'My Algea Home'. From time to time, I'll be posting his writings including the following which was his first entry:
In catching the bus to class, who should I encounter but our dear friend Gardner (as of yet his secret identity as Silver Feather The Wind God is still unknown to the general public). This was great because now I didn't have to keep my nose buried in some boring textbook. Gardner and I could carry on a conversation in hushed tones, occasionally shoot a pensive glance out the window, and generally behave in a superior manner to those around us. We could talk about all of our duties and the ways to avoid them., we could mock the way someone was dressed. The bus and the world that rushed past it's windows became mine and Garndners private little situation comedy.
Aside from this, Gardeners presence diverted my attention from a deep psychological craving for Cream of Wheat that I had been nurturing all morning. We can all agree that regular oatmeal does get boring after a while, despite it's high nutritional value. However, Cream Of Wheat, compared to oatmeal, just seems more glamorous. It's sexier, especially with raisins.
Finally, we arrived at Cabrillo College. Gardner and I bid one another a fond 'adieu' and went our ways. With about a half hour to kill before class, I went to the library. On the desk I chose to study at, was an ongoing dialogue between two students at odds with each other. It went something like this:
"Fuck you, asshole."
"Fuck you."
"Yeah? Why don't you ever show your face, you fucker?"
"Maybe you want to star some shit?"
"Maybe"
"Call 423-4522. Ask for Yvonne"
Yikes! Could these be two girls? So much for equality of the sexes. Girls can be so much more viscious than their male counterparts. Anyways, the desk was very distracting so I went to the cafeteria. Bewildered, but also a little bit happy, because, in the cafeteria they had Cream Of Wheat. So, propping my boots up on the table, enjoying my Cream Of wheat, I dreamed of My Algea Home.
In catching the bus to class, who should I encounter but our dear friend Gardner (as of yet his secret identity as Silver Feather The Wind God is still unknown to the general public). This was great because now I didn't have to keep my nose buried in some boring textbook. Gardner and I could carry on a conversation in hushed tones, occasionally shoot a pensive glance out the window, and generally behave in a superior manner to those around us. We could talk about all of our duties and the ways to avoid them., we could mock the way someone was dressed. The bus and the world that rushed past it's windows became mine and Garndners private little situation comedy.
Aside from this, Gardeners presence diverted my attention from a deep psychological craving for Cream of Wheat that I had been nurturing all morning. We can all agree that regular oatmeal does get boring after a while, despite it's high nutritional value. However, Cream Of Wheat, compared to oatmeal, just seems more glamorous. It's sexier, especially with raisins.
Finally, we arrived at Cabrillo College. Gardner and I bid one another a fond 'adieu' and went our ways. With about a half hour to kill before class, I went to the library. On the desk I chose to study at, was an ongoing dialogue between two students at odds with each other. It went something like this:
"Fuck you, asshole."
"Fuck you."
"Yeah? Why don't you ever show your face, you fucker?"
"Maybe you want to star some shit?"
"Maybe"
"Call 423-4522. Ask for Yvonne"
Yikes! Could these be two girls? So much for equality of the sexes. Girls can be so much more viscious than their male counterparts. Anyways, the desk was very distracting so I went to the cafeteria. Bewildered, but also a little bit happy, because, in the cafeteria they had Cream Of Wheat. So, propping my boots up on the table, enjoying my Cream Of wheat, I dreamed of My Algea Home.
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