18 posts tagged “graphic design”
RealizDesigns.com is officially here.
After a period of what I call beta testing, the site is ready to launch.
You can find my recent work, along with some past favorites for clients. If you get a chance to have a look at the site, I would always appreciate critiques or comments, both good and bad.
Damn.
My internet suddenly stops working when I need to send a client an important email attachment! I call *hiddeninternetprovider* to ask them what's going on with my service, and they tell me it can take 24-36 hours to figure out, but mind you, this is on a Thursday. So by my estimation, because *hiddeninternetprovider* technicians do not work on the weekend, I'm looking at getting the internet back up and running by Tuesday or Wednesday at the earliest. And during a pressure-cooked week of email communication deadlines to boot!
So go to Future Shop to make sure this email gets to the client asap.
Yeah. Future Shop.
So I try to stealthily hide my USB memory stick into the back of one of the IMac's, and proceed to check my email there... while stealthily going back and forth from programs in case any of the commission-hungry sales reps tries to swoop in too close and find out what I'm doing.
Low and behold, they are sharing the internet connection... with all 50 demo model computers!
Can this day get any worse?
So while I wait for this slow-as-heck upload of my attachment, all the while seeming so genuinely interested in this IMac.... Then a sales person starts to observe me. (I almost hear the doot...doot...dootdoot...DOOTDOOT radar sound in his head going off, all pointed at ME.)
*cue moody faster paced music*
Right now the upload bar can't move fast enough. I feel like Sandra Bullock in "The Net" during the convention when she's on the computer and the bad guy is coming....Or any other tech-savvy movie where they always upload the file onto a disk just-in-the-nick of time.
UPLOAD COMPLETE.
SEND.
LOGOUT.
Close window.
Just in time!
ME, smoothly: "Wow, this Imac is pretty cool."
SALES: "Yeah, Let me show you some of the features like...."
Forget this, I'm ghost. I'm already starting the car by the time he turns around.
What I find out about all this?
I need the internet to run my business smoothly. There's just no way around it.
What else did I find out about all this?
I DON'T need the internet. Now before I get lambasted about the benefits of the internet. I need to stress the word "need". I really did okay the remaining 5 days without the internet. With the exception of being able to email any business-related things at my brother's house or a friend's place..... I was okay.
*gasp!*
Yeah it was a pretty peaceful week, sort of like the huge eastern-seaboard blackout, but smaller. And only focused on the internet. And I could still use elecricity and the computer. And I still could use the net if I had to at someone's house...
okay bad analogy, but you get it I hope.
My friends showed me this link recently.... and I loved it.
I've never seen it before, so if you have, don't mind my post....
I'm not a Flash designer (yet!), but any digital designer should be able to get this and appreciate it for it's creativity and FUN!
Check it out!
So one of my friends Jax is having a birthday week at Blue Mountain, Collingwood. She also happens to be the girlfriend of one of my creative colleagues, Lazi. It also happens to be the same weekend where the Telus Triple Challenge will be happening up at Blue Mountain. It's a sponsored (obviously!) Ski/Snowboard competition which also hosts a Multi-media competition (Graphic Design / Photography / Film).
My boy Lazi was the reigning champion from last Multimedia Show '07 (He took first & second last year! "Watchukno bout that?!") so I went up to celebrate the birthday and him entering. My bro suggests something that I should enter too, and I agreed it was perfect timing to do something like that, with the new RealizDesigns.com launching this year and whatnot. Kebron (our other boy, aka OLDe YORKe) also entered with 2 photos by us couriering it in an envelope for him to make the deadline. (He joined us oh the slopesThursday night anyways).
After seeing Lazi's pieces I told him I'm happy to take second in the Graphic Design Category. He put the time and effort into some new, some different-way-of-thinkin' type pieces. They were nuts. (Check the pics!) My pieces were my recent & past fav's from the recent Kahawa Coffeehouse Show "Introductions".
Why not?
I paid my $, entered, we were told that we could find out our placing by Friday morning, since the judging took place Thursday. But when Friday morning came (Lazi got there Tuesday, I came Wednesday) we were told we had to wait for the "Big Announcement" at the concert that night at 8pm. Volkswagon wanted to do it right with a presentation of the awards or something. Lazi and I knew we'd place in the competition, and Kebron aka OLDe YORKe had an innovative piece that could've got him top prize (depending on how the judges were judging). I ended up leaving because of other obligations and the BIG storm was coming soon. But understandably, Lazi had to stay. So 3 of them (Lazi, his girl Jax & K) toughed it out and stayed until about 9:40 for the announcement.
Sooo... While I'm chillin', winding down at home, I get the call from Lazi.....
I won.
I took 1st in the Graphic Design category. You have to understand that it was a crazy win, cause it was my first competition but also entered with one of my friends whose dedication to creative art is sick. But I know my pieces are great in its own right, it's possible that Lazi's pieces were imaginatively just outside of the rules and stipulations of the criteria, which may have been a good and bad thing for his entries.But to have entered a competition and come out standing toe-to-toe with a respected colleague in art? It makes the win worth more and (at least in my own mind) elevate my own progress as an artist. I am officially the Award-Winning Graphic Design Telus Triple Challenge Multi-Media Show Champion! (How's that gonna look on the resume? hahaha)
Most importantly, we all won ourselves passes to go boarding free next year and some cash to boot! It's a win-win-win situation regardless! There were a few good pieces entered in the competition, but we definitely represented. In the Graphic Design category I took first, Lazi second, and Kebron aka OLDe YORKe took 2nd in the photography category. Great weekend, great times, what more can you ask for?
Maybe one of those FATBOY pillows! Oh man, I fell in love with those big comfy pillows!
Nice.
2008. Elevate.
It's a little late now, but I just wanted to post up some of the pics from our Introductions... creative show. It was amazing, and even more people than we had anticipated attended! Truth be told, we would've been happy if 10 people showed up, but it was more like 3x that amount!
I left some critique cards for people to fill out, as we want to know what everyone thinks! Hearing good stuff is all fine and dandy, but it's the criticism and what people didn't like that makes you grow and evolve as an artist.
The buzz was amazing, and we went well past our 9:30 end time. It definitely was a night of coffee, graphic design, mixed media & photography.
What's up everybody,
Just wanted to give a shout to anyone who'd like to come out tomorrow, Thursday Feb. 21 @ 7pm-9pm to a new Coffee House on 388 College St. called Kahawa Coffee House. It's a great little Coffee mecca hidden in downtown Toronto.
It's owned by one of my friends and she has graciously offered it to me and 2 of my creative friends to have a night of Coffee, Mixed Media, Photography and Graphic Design. It'll be a really casual evening with some of our pieces up and around the place and of course, some great coffee.
I've recently started full swing on my Design Studio, Realiz Designs, and will be showing some of the work that I've done over the years. There will also be a mixed Media Artist, Lazi (aka Justin) and a Photographer Kevin.
You can see some of our work online:
Kevin (Photography) - www.oldeyorke.ca/kevin.html
Justin (Mixed Media) - www.lazi.oldeyorke.ca
Shaun (Graphic Design) - www.realizdesigns.com
So if you're into Coffee, Mixed Media, Photography or Design, we'd love for you to come out. But the Coffee Shop is a very cozy place, so try to let me know if you can make it, message me back at at VOX if you'd like to come.
If not, we will try to make this a bi-monthly creative night for other people as well, let me know if you're interested! We'd love to show your work in there the next time!
Thanks, I hope to see you all there!
Realiz.
2008... Elevate.
I had 4 meetings today. All business related.
I feel like a businessman.
But deep down I'm really not a businessman.
Am I?
I guess this is what metamorphoses feels like.
I better savor this feeling....
But it doesn't feel a whole lot different than yesterday, except I have stuff to do that I get money in return for.
And I get to fill out more forms tax-time.
I guess I'm a businessman.
I came up with the layout, style, and energy-bar stats theme. I also did the art for the energy ball, the streaky energy lines, background grid and color scheme. I did not draw the art unfortunately, we had some amazing artists who did that.
Those were some great times with great creative people. I learned a helluva lot from them and some some amazing things. San Diego Comicon was probably one of the best highlights being with Dreamwave. Those were the days.
Enjoy!
There was some great pieces done on these decks, and I had the arduous task of selecting and showcasing these amazing pieces of artwork within the confines of 2 pages in a magazine. It would never do it justice. I tried to silhouette a drawing of a city skate park at the bottom of the first (top) version, while dissecting the boards into squares, but I felt it took over and lessened the impact of the artwork on the boards. Nice attempt, but I have to keep pushing past....
Until I realized that these boards were showcased in the gallery like artwork. Hung in a gallery space for you to see, and peruse through... I wanted to convey that although these boards were, uh.... skateboards, they were far more than that. They were art.
I wanted something that came out at the viewer. And at the bottom (final) version I succeeded in doing so. The art although from at least 15 different photos, melded into in uniform piece, while existing independently from each other. Some came out at the viewer, some hung facing straight at you. Although the sizing varies, the impact is not lost. I showcased some of the best artwork in the gallery, and unfortunately there was so many more that I wanted to put in. Hopefully they do another show like this in the future!
In an effort to showcase more personal graphic design work in this blog, I am going to post a series of layouts and ads that I designed in the last couple of years for the development of a local hip-hop magazine. I'll post them over the next little while...
This 2 pg. spread was for a Hip Hop artist show in Toronto back in 2004: the 416 Graf Expo. I was responsible for selecting the photos, conceptualizing and designing the collage for the spread. From top to bottom I was in charge of the design, color choices and type. Man if I only had the guts to show you where this started.... and how far it went from there. Thank god I kept pushing past that initial concept!
The brief said I had to showcase the graffiti (a HUGE part of the 416 Graf Expo, where artists get to legally put their graf art on the walls around downtown Toronto) the people, and some b-boys in action. Very loose brief, a lot of creative freedom. nice. (Remember this is a 2 page spread, so the fold is down the middle)
Here's what I ended up with:
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