I don’t update very often. Looks like it is time for a site redesign.

Yeah! That’s the ticket … that will solve the problem. Do you need to lose 50 lbs? Get a makeover! It feels good, and it’s infinitely easier. Oh, and be sure to grab a hamburger on your way home.

“Video games can never be art”

This is an interesting read. I don’t agree with it, but it says a lot about the state of video gaming in general. Instead of stating that video games can never be art, I think it should rather ask, Where is the art? Have the formulaic publishers of game titles subjugated the expression of artistic resonance in favor of the sequel driven rush to create a golden cash cow?

Anyway, here is my response. (just in case you did not want to read through the odd 4,000 comments to get to the bottom of Mr Ebert’s article)

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The artist is not art
The painting (expression) itself is not art.
The audience it is not art

Art is created the instant that the bridge between artist and audience is crossed. From this divide the artist returns having (hopefully) touched the Audience. The Audience continues on their journey (hopefully) taking with them a piece of that experience.

Some experiences are worth taking and savoring.
Some experiences are disturbing and best forgotten.
Some experiences are disturbing and best contemplated.
Some experiences speak to a point.
Some experiences are pointless beyond the moment itself.

When it happens spontaneously we call it life.
When we orchestrate it It is sometime called soulless, mechanical, bereft of life. (A critique much like Georges-Pierre Seurat’s “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte.”)

I have often experienced a connection to the artist (or group of artists) in the language of plays, movies, literary endeavors, paintings, dance, sculpture, and yes, video games.

Although I have to admit that the latter is a rare occurrence, I am never the less effected by the harmonic chorus that a game such as the original MYST offers. The game had a point, but the point was not always about the end as it was about the journey. Point in fact; I will sometimes go back to the game, not to replay it, but to sit and experience the wonder of being transported by the artistic motivation of the storytellers. (Much like a good book.) There is a resonance to it that goes beyond the limited technologies of the time, and touches me. There is an appreciation of the “simplicity of line” drawn in the dim shadows of 8 bit architecture, that is still striking in an age of duo-core processing power.

While I agree, that not all ham-fisted choreographers of content create credible artistic statements that express a maturity beyond your average 12 year old; A trolling statement like “video games can never be art” not only limits the expression of the artists who pioneer the form, it insults the audience that walks away from the experience enriched by the voice of the creator(s).

This is a mock up of a branded car wash franchise I created from (literally) a napkin sketch. I actually did the rendering last November, but becasue of NDA’s etc, I was not able to talk about it. (But now I am!) The rendering was created using Google Sketch-up. This gave me a completely fictitious 3D building from which I could rotate, and send different views, from different angles, to my client from which he could pick and choose. For the final rendering, I jumped into Photoshop and created custom surface textures. I am not really into 3D modeling, but Google Sketch-up makes it really easy to create quick three dimensional doodles. It helped that I had some experience in creating gaming textures. The client saved thousands of dollars by NOT having an architectural, structured rendering done from engineered plans. It was created expressly for a pitch in Tennessee; A speculative proposal backed by some very well-heeled VC partners. The franchise company loved it (Making my client VERY happy).

The project is a go. I am now bidding on creating the branded logo and collateral for the Car Wash. (The one on the flags was for the presentation only). Getting that gig would be cool beans!

Dentists? Hmmmm … let’s see. Pain, time holes, insurance worries, guilt? Dentists get a bad rap when all they are trying to do is help us avoid the car crash that is bound to happen when we don’t see them on a regular basis. It is a monument to the limitations of preventative medicine. Most dental ads try to dodge this bullet but showing happy, beautiful, pain-free people with nothing on their minds but happy thoughts. I decided to do a test in the local newspaper with a series of ads that don’t sugar coat (HA!) the issue. They ran in rotation for about two months and performed remarkably well. Simple direct graphics with a bit of edginess that don’t insult the reader. What’s even better is that they stand out from the rest of the Zoloft inspired dental ads running in the same paper. Gary is a good friend of mine (and my dentist). It is nice to have somebody who trusts my ideas and is not afraid to test outside of the box.

Just in case you were wondering. The best performing ad? The toothache guy. The least performing ad? The pretty girl with perfect teeth. Of course it could be the offer. I have never been excited by teeth whitening. It could be because it is an inexpensive loss leader. But since every dentist does it, it reads like white noise to me.

This is a model sheet for a new character I am working on. The Character is the mother of the protagonist; a little boy named Joshua. Whenever Joshua is faced with a problem, he goes to his mother who helps him “think it out” to find a solution. Joshua’s mom is a superhero of sorts (as all mothers are). She carries a purse which has EVERYTHING in it, and a utility belt that would make batman jealous. She always carries a Leatherman-type pocket tool and can usually be found in the Kitchen or Garage building or baking something wonderful.

I am unsure about the anime hair. It sort of works but it also feels too “trendy.”

It’s funny. Every once in a while, while I am rummaging through Amazon, I will run across a book cover that I have designed. I have done lots of these covers for a variety of clients. I have worked with big publishers and small independents. I have held the hands of self publishers, and have dealt with large bureaucracies of editors, project managers, art directors, and authors. I have worked in trade paperbacks and educational textbooks. I don’t do as many of these that I used to, (book covers I mean) but each time I run across something like this it makes me long to get back into it. This particular sample is not one of my best, but still, it was fun and a wonderful example of why I liked doing them. It has a feeling of a logo, but with a more intimate directed focus. The ultimate expression of integrated typographic design and illustrative visual.

This is the final for the Motivity logo. I ended up modifying the logotype by hand. That is always fun. A unique letterform for a unique client. So much to do, so little time. Yep. You guessed it. The end of the semester.

Change. People are resistant to change. But change can be so beneficial if you are open-minded enough to embrace what is good, while providing solutions to what is not. (Notice the lack of whining option?)

Take the stylus for example. Please … take it! I don’t need it for my iPhone or iPad. I just happen to have ten, eco-friendly, organic styli conveniently placed at my fingertips. Yes, it requires a conceptual jump. Just like the jump from analog to digital, only this time I am jumping to my fingers. Oddly enough I have been using my fingers for years for all sorts of stylus-type jobs. They are willing soldiers just waiting to do whatever job I point them at. They are sensitive, flexible, and exhibit almost no fear in the face of the unknown. The real demon here is not the lack of styli, it is the software. Software is UI driven. In a world of 27-inch computer monitors, or multiple monitors, software engineers have become lazy, or in some cases downright belligerent, in filling our screen real estate with endless panels and docks. When this problem is forced into a small space such as the iPhone, the UI becomes paramount.

If anything, Sketchbook Pro is a pioneer at clearing away the UI so that an illustrator can concentrate on creative expression. Their gesture-based lagoon on desktop machines does a reasonably good job at subjugating the UI to the priority of the work at hand.

It is not surprising then that they where able to successfully tackle the limited confines of the iPhone. It comes at a price, however; You have to change your way of thinking.

The jump is not hard. You just need to drop the idea of a single stylus point and start thinking in terms of gestures.

After a few tentative strokes your mind begins to make the connections. Soon your other fingers jump into the fray and you realize that pinching, pulling, moving, and gesturing through a drawing is pretty intuitive.

The iPhone and iPad and related software have not taken away our stylus, they have given us nine more. I suspect that improvements will be made in both hardware and software as time moves forward. But in a gesture driven device, the last thing I want is a single stylus holding me back. As a matter of fact, When I go back to the tablet on my desktop I start to crave the simplicity that iPhone gestures have provided. The tablet begins to feel much like the pencil did not so long ago; like a tool of a bygone era.

My rant of the day that appeared on Gizmodo speaking to idiots who are so locked into the what the iPad is “not” that they forget to see the tool that it “is.”

RANT:
I am a professional illustrator and designer. About 5 years ago my publishers required me to move 100% digital. I was hesitant, but saw the writing on the wall. I used (and still use) Sketchbook Pro, Photoshop and Painter to accomplish this task. I rarely touch paper /pencils / pens / or paint anymore. All of my thumbnails are done digital. All of my concepts are rendered digital. And my drawing and paintings are completely digital.

Sketchbook Pro has a built-in email feature that allows me to sketch hi-rez and and email low-rez concepts on the fly with one button. This past year I bought SBP for my iPhone. It works the same way. I use it a lot for “napkin doodles” as I sit in lunch meetings with clients, or sit in my car (parked!) sending off creative ideas in one direction as I travel in another.

As a long time Wacom user, it took a conceptual jump to produce anything of value on the device using my finger. But like making the jump from pen to stylus; jumping from stylus to finger is worth the small investment of time.

I can’t wait for this app and my iPad.I am not obtuse enough in my thinking to assume that it is meant to replace the tablet or even my desktop. It is a tool. I turn it on, the software and hardware disappear, and I work productively and transparently — just like Apple devices are meant to do.

If you are waiting for Microsoft to engineer something innovative that reflects the cultural meme of creative gestalt; You have other serious issues than not being able to draw with your finger.

Sometimes, logos come easy for me. I see them clearly in my mind’s eye and trace them from this vision I have inside my head. Sometimes I struggle. This generally comes from me trying to push a square solution into a round hole. Regardless, it is a frustrating exercise to almost be there, to be so close, and see that I am close, but recognize that something is missing. It is a loop that I visit again and again. The loop will spawn new ideas, and I will start tangent paths, that end up in the same place. Close, but no cigar.

This grouping of logos fall onto this tortured creative ground. I have been working them on-and-off for two weeks. They are making progress, but the final solution eludes me.