Thursday, December 18, 2008

Ballsy move, Pepsi




I can't avoid Pepsi, I mean, I work at a drugstore that makes me constantly lug cases of the stuff around.  Sometimes I drink it, even.  But anyways, the new Pepsi cans and bottles have been out for a few weeks now, just a playful little tug on the vector strings that are the former Pepsi logo, but this new Mountain Dew bottle looks like a text message inspired futuristic soft drink.  The background is slightly not good, but the logo is an improvement over Mtn. Dew's past attempts at looking "extreme," which appears to have subsided since crappy energy drinks like Monster have hit the market and taken over the extreme demographic of teenage boys and corn-holing college kids.  These might look like they were designed by students, but these are the real deal.







The Sierra Mist is probably the most literal piece of type I have ever seen in my life, I don't know how that got approved, but Pepsi's clean and simple design without resorting to annoying highlights and obnoxious drop shadows is an improvement for me.  I doubt these will last, since it appears people have embraced the hideous packaging that masks those cheesy corn chips we call Doritos.  



Anyways, this site has a discussion about Pepsi's new branding, which, like it or hate it, I think is a step in the right direction. 

http://www.underconsideration.com/brandnew/archives/pepsi_new_bottles.php

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

An early Christmas gift for myself

Just ordered this book about sketchbooks!  Most of my "non-art school" friends always seem to wonder why I bring a sketchbook to parties and social gatherings, well, this video has an interesting narration over pages from the book.  Can't wait for it to get here.

 

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Friday, August 22, 2008

Shading in Animation

John K. of 'Ren & Stimpy' fame has a blog which I read occasionally to hear his takes on the current world of animation versus the golden age, when Hanna Barbara and Walt Disney were at the helm. In his recent blog, he brings up something that has bothered me for so long...

2D shading versus 3D shading in cartoons.

Check it out...

http://johnkstuff.blogspot.com/

Meanwhile, the idea of character shading frequently troubles me as I'm stocking cereal at Walgreens. When did it suddenly become a attractive to start shading Tony the Tiger as if he was made of plastic? As if he was 3D? The same goes for Toucan Sam, Snap Crackle & Pop, and shockingly...Fred Flintstone. The Flintstones "look" is based on simplification of color and abstractions in cartooning, yet Post likes to Photoshop little cute airbrush touches to modernize the characters.

Seriously, what is this?




I'm not really a fan of modern animation or design trends, at least the most common, manufactured ones. Luckily, I stumbled across something that gave me a hope...


Notice how the character actually looks 2-Dimensional. They've incorporated a 2D shadow, which doesn't have a feathered edge. I was shocked, and happy to see it.

Look at how amazing cereal boxes looked before the advent of airbrush of Photoshop...





Anyways, check out John K's blog if you get a chance. It's nice to see that someone else, especially his readers, have a passion for the world of art, especially cartoons, which are on a downward slope. Unless something is done, the 'Family Guy' and 'Shrek's' of the world will dominate, and God knows we don't want that to happen.

School starts Monday!

It's almost saddening that this summer is finally coming to a close.  It feels like almost yesterday that I was incoherently waving a beer in the air and spraying a pressure washer at everyone on Nick's upstairs balcony.  
As many of you know, last year I started my first year at the Cleveland Institute of Art.  Previously, I attended Tri-C, which was only a mile from my home, and allowed me to gather credit after precious credit towards my transfer to Kent State University.  3 years later I completely changed my mind, convincing myself that a Graphic Design major was obviously 'bullshit' and decided to branch out, since Tri-C was offering me the complete opposite of a challenge.  Anyways, I'm one of the oldest "sophomores" at the CIA, since I transferred so late, but I'm so glad I did.  So glad.
I'm finally in my second year, and after throwing darts at my would be major, I decided that Illustration seemed like the major for me.  I've had teachers tell me specifically that I should be a painter, or a "drawing major," or a "TIME major," or an "Industrial Designer"  but my problem lies in the fact that I want to do everything, but likely can't.  I love drawing, I've even gotten to the point where I can start to see that I have a style all my own, which I'd like to develop.  Same goes for Design.  Same for film and video.  I know what I'm doing in so many ways, but I'm willing to do whatever it takes to learn to be the best.  And for as much as much talent as I hoard by locking myself away for hours at a time, restarting projects numerous times before satisfying myself, I'm looking to step it up and incorporate my, well, brain, into my artwork finally.  I mean, I have been all this time, but I feel that I can really create a hybrid of the nonsense that goes on in my head with what I lay down in ink, or whatever.  I'm not even sure if that makes sense. 
 Essentially, I'm just trying to one up myself and stand out from the pack.  It's unbelievable how different I am, in thought and process from the students in my "grade" (second year).  It's honestly like I'm from a different planet.  They like like to draw with Wacom tablets!  Draw with them.  I'm really nervous about the future, seriously, but I think that with the right determination and the motivation I already possess, I'll do something about it.  Maybe, maybe not.  But most likely, yea.

And so it begins, this Monday.  "Drawing from Imagination" from 9:30 - 4 :30 and "Advanced Video" from 5:30 - 10.  This will obviously be a long day.  What blows is that I practice with my band Sunday nights, usually until 2 am.  This'll change, we'll practice earlier, no thanks to the Browns, who are playing some primetime games this year.

The first blog!

So I've always had a tendency to rant and rave about this and that, most notably all things art, design, film, politics and pop culture.  I'm pretty opinionated, which, by the way, has a mass differentiation from "asshole," believe it or not.  Anyways, I've been wanting to make a new blog for awhile, a way to show off my work, my opinions, some links, and so on.  So, ummm, here it is.