Blog Update: HQ Pictures Added To All Sections
A blog reader of mine recently brought to my attention that the images I’ve uploaded have lost quality, most notably in my latest Tranfsormers: Revenge of the Fallen blog post, and my hard work was as a result somewhat lackluster. In response, I’ve created links to all of my current and previous works so now when you view any of my pages, you can simply click the image you want to view in HQ and it will instantly link you to the High-Res image.
As well, I’ve added categories to each of my posts for easier navigation and better organization.
If there are any other improvements or requests, I’m always open to suggestions so feel free to drop me a line in the “Leave a Comment” link located at the top right of this post.
Cheers!
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen – Movie Credits Re-Creation
I was recently asked by a friend to find a screen grab of the end credits of a movie where her significant other was listed in the set production assistants crew. However, this movie isn’t currently released on DVD so I had no way of accessing these end credits short of speaking with the production studio itself, thus my new task arose.
The Mission: recreate the Transformers 2 movie credits using the actual names that would be featured in the appropriate sections/order in a style that would look as if somebody literally took a picture as the credits rolled by. In addition, the featured name was to be highlighted in a subtle way that would pop out when printed and framed.
The Process: Initially I thought I would be able to find an appropriate font from my vast library that would pass for standard movie credits, but after popping in my Transformers 1 DVD to get a visual reference, I noticed that Michael Bay used a very unique font that would be easy to tell if a knock-off was used. This is when I hit my first wall.
Step 1 – Identify the font: I tried taking a screen grab of the DVD credits but apple won’t allow you to use this function while DVD Player is running, so I had to use Apple nifty Dos type application Terminal to work my way around this with a simple override script. From there, I submitted a sample to http://new.myfonts.com/WhatTheFont/ to have it instantly analyzed (very cool website for identifying fonts) however, they came short so I tried out http://www.identifont.com/ (another great font identifying resource) but sadly, they came up short as well. I drew the conclusion that this particular font isn’t commercially available so I had to re-create it myself.
Step 2 – Create a working custom font: After I did some research, I found that the “Bank Gothic” font was most closely related to the font used, and was actually cited by one user as what they liked to call the “Michael Bay” font. It didn’t quite match up, so I was able to underlay my screen grab of the Transformers 1 credit and type up the matching credits/ manipulate the font until I got something that overlaid perfectly. It’s a fairly simple process if the font is close enough and you know how to use the transform tool in Photoshop, and to type new sections all you have to do is duplicate the layer and the manipulated font properties will stay intact as you type.
Step 3 – Insert appropriate credit titles: From there, my next task was figuring out what sections/ names would be appropriate to insert into my new custom font typeface, which I thought would be a trivial matter using IMBD’s full cast and crew http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1055369/fullcredits#cast however, I noticed when comparing the Transformers 1 credits to it’s IMDB references, some of the names/ titles were missing or weren’t available. The task was to make it as accurate as possible, so I did a little more digging online and found the appropriate names to go in the sections I chose based off the original Transformers credits.
Step 4 – Subtle details: From there, I added a subtle black cutoff above and below the credits to give it that scrolling movie feel and I added a simple drop shadow with a “lighten” blend mode to the particular name that needed to stand out. It looks overemphasized in the digital version, but when printed in RGB the highlights are subtle yet clean.
*Side note, it goes unsaid, but it’s always best to print out samples of your digital files in the color mode your end destination printer will be set in. The reason being is sometimes the colors don’t come out the same or highlights/ shadows appear differently which can be a nightmare if you’re on a deadline or sent it to a remote location for printing and cant quickly make the change. My particular printer works in RGB and I was designing in CMYK, so I simply flattened the image and converted the color mode under the Image> Mode > RGB color setting.
Step 5 – Finishing touches: All that was left to be done was find the most current Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen logo using Google images with the “very large” image filter to get a high res logo that would look clean in my 300 dpi design space. I happen to find this particular one off of a movie poster that I cleaned up and edited out the background to isolate just the logo.
Some 8 hours later, I had the finished product below. The high-res can be seen in my “Professional Design” section by clicking the image below:
New Music Artist Pt. 4
To follow up on my recent posts about new music artists, I thought I’d share a few links with everyone in case they wanted to track and follow the progress of the new music artist I’ve been giving my input to. Her name is Stella and she’s stylish up and coming Pop/ R&B artist born in Zaire, Africa and raised in France. I can foresee good things to come of her if the proper marketing strategies are utilized with the aid of her representation Catch the Star, headed by a very passionate/motivated Chaz Bowers, and I highly advise you check her out and watch as she grows to be the next Pop/R&B sensation.
Music Industry Today Article: http://music.einnews.com/247pr/108302
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/catchstella
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/catchstella
Catch the Star: http://www.catch-the-star.com
Business Card Design
I recently was asked to design a friend of mine’s new personal business cards and after a consultation, we decided upon making an edgy, urban card to represent his style. The high-res image can be seen in my “Professional Design” section by clicking the image below:
Resource references: Elite Design, Collis, and Arsenal
New Music Artist Pt 3.
In addition to my recent post on the value of Youtube as a valuable viral marketing source, I wanted to touch on the benefits of Facebook as an equally powerful tool.
Facebook:
Any new artist should build a Myspace Music page, but in addition, they should consider the effectiveness of Facebook and it’s simple yet effective tools. As a bare minimum, the artist should have their own Facebook profile as well as a fan page and Facebook Group. Once established, the next move to make would be to purchase a package of global banner ads. They are relatively inexpensive and easy to set-up, and I would recommend having them run for say a week and see how the group membership/ fan page is doing in terms of new followers.
If your pages aren’t getting hits, I’d first try and get some feedback to see what people like/dislike (surveymonkey.com is an excellent way to create a simple, effective online survey). If your page gets all positive feedback a) make sure that your feedback isn’t biased because there is always room for improvement and there should be things that stand out, or b) try upping the ad frequency to see if your page hits improv
There are groups that do the whole “if we get 10,000,000 people to join this group, Mikey will eat a bucket of worms, or Colbert will run for president” type stuff that more often than not hits their goal and then some. I would be wary of taking this approach and just sitting back, because adding a new group to a person’s profile takes extremely low involvement, and people usually never follow up with these kinds of groups after. However, there is a “message all group members” function that will allow you to send out updates, new releases, etc. to every member with one click which is 100% free and a great tool so long as you don’t overuse it (people will get annoyed with more than a couple messages each month and remove themselves from the group. The iTunes student group is an excellent model to look at, they send out monthly to quarterly messages with new music song samplers.) Using this method, you can reach out to the low involvement users with reminders and updates and referrals to the artist’s pag
For the page itself, you are going to want to make it very clean, simple, yet enticing. Think Apple home page meets Myspace Music with a little urban flair. Simplicity is bliss, and IMO, the best, most effective brands, logos, pages, etc are all very simple, well thought out, and say a lot using a very minimalist approach. Nike is another prime example of a brand that does this with the simple swoosh and the short yet powerful message “Just Do It!”
WordPress Header Design
A friend of mine recently started up his Levi Jeans enthusiast site and asked me to help him design his new header. Fortunately, he has some amazing photography skills, so the initial graphic was only a matter of cropping on my end. I added a few shadows and highlights to make the text pop with a subtle stitching effect. Overall I think we were both happy with the end result. If you’e interested in jeans, he really knows his stuff and might be worthwhile to give his blog a glance. http://levissnob.com/ He’s also a phenomenal creative writer with a unique sarcastic twist if you’re interested in checking out his regular blog http://iampetrie.com
Here’s the final product. The high-res image can be found in my “Professional Design” section by clicking the image below:
New Music Artist Pt. 2
I recently spoke with my NYC record label friend again today and noted that his new artist didn’t currently have a youtube presence, so in this post I wanted to touch on the value of this viral source.
Youtube:
Any new music artists needs to establish themselves in the youtube realm as most of their youthful target audience frequently listens to and views new music/ videos through this source. More notably, one of the unique features of youtube allows users to link from one video to the next related video, and more often than not, the average youtube user will watch at a bare minimum one video response or related video after their clip ends. This is an excellent opportunity to add similar tags/post a new video as a video response on similar videos to create a seamless channel from one popular video to your own. However, it’s KEY that that first video release catches the audience’s attention and gets them wanting more.
If the initial video release is mediocre or poorly done, users will build a negative association and any further releases will most likely be tuned out. Hence, the first major release needs to make a statement. This connects with my previous post about pairing with a major music artist initially.
New Music Artist Marketing Pt. 1
I’ve recently been corresponding with an up and coming record label in NYC/providing my insight into starting up one of their new female vocalists and thought I would partake my two cents to whomever else may be interested. I’ve generalized things to maintain confidentiality, but the general idea should still be there.
To give a very brief background on where I’m coming from, at the end of the day, I hop on iTunes and a few of my select music sites to track new artists, music trends, and up and coming albums, etc. so over the years I’ve watched new stars rise and some with incredible potential never make it past their first song. With that said, I’d like to open with a case study.
Case Study Keri Hilson:
Using this new artist as a model, I think that for any up and coming female vocalist in the r&b/ hip hop industry, the key is going to be partnering up with some existing famous artists and perform as a “featuring” in a number of tracks such as “Kaye ft. ______”. Keri was a non-factor until she jumped on Nas’ ’08 self-titled album, playing a very minimal part, but building her name recognition and credibility. Currently she’s advanced to produce her own album featuring some of the bigger names in the industry including Kanye West, Lil Wayne, Timbaland, Keyshia, Chris Brown, and Akon. She’s still not a household name so to speak, but she’s growing in name recognition significantly and will soon be able to produce her own independent album.
Another great example is Wale who’s an up and coming artist in NYC/ going to be HUGE IMO. He has self-promoted himself through extensive hard work and relentless efforts to get his music air-time, calling radio stations day and night, and he’s already making a big name for himself, most notably after the release of his hot new single “Chillin’ ft. Lady Gaga.” Hard work and strategic alignments in the industry are KEY.
I would say that 8-10 years ago a young female r&b vocalist could have made it on her own, Ciarra being a prime example, however, that very produced sound and look isn’t enough on it’s own anymore. Unless there is something highly unique such as Lady Gaga’s in your face style for example, it’s pivotal to jump on a new track with an established artist to build that initial name recognition. By working with familiar voices and sounds, it’s easier to tap into an established audience. From there, once searches and hits start rolling in, the new artist can begin to develop their own style and unique sound while continuing to develop their relationships in the industry and jumping on new hot releases until they are able to sustain an audience on their own.
