HALF FRAME

I fell in love with another camera. After my first camera (ever!) the Yashica microtec zoom 70 crapped out on me at the Boxer Rebellion gig, I knew I needed a replacement. I consulted my camera expert, Jorge and he showed me a variety of 35 mm compact options. A steel gray Olympus Pen circa 1962 just happened to be sitting gorgeously on this used camera shop website, begging to be taken home. It was a little unconventional (being half frame and all), and that's a quality I am always on the hunt for. The shop was closed when I went to have a look. However, a few days later, I had scanned my first roll of film.

Some highlights + experimentations with a flash

MORE 'RESEARCH'

Thanks to Emilia's boyfriend Mikee, we were able to attend the sold out James Blake show at St Pancreas Old Church last week. Although we weren't able to interview him (we certainly have enough content anyway) we were able to do some more photographing of the venue/bands. We managed to take some pictures of Catherine Okada who opened for James Blake. We interviewed her before but didn't have any photographs to use in our publication. I also was able to test out my new compact digital, which allegedly is good in low light scenarios. It held up pretty well, but still pales in comparison to my Olympus E620.

St. Pancreas Old Church

Catherine Okada during soundcheck

The eve began with Cloudboat

and ended with James Blake.

LAYOUTS MORE LAYOUTS

I know my previous layouts just weren't cutting it. I think they embodied the feeling of a gig more than these, however we are trying to keep the text to one side of the poster and the images on the other. I'm trying to break the habit of clean and organized design. It's difficult. Here are some attempts. Not exactly there yet, but hopefully leading to something fruitful. It seems I continue to consider the personality/character of the venue as a whole rather than it's musical facet while I'm working.

BROADCASTING TO YOU FROM OUR CYCLOPS STUDIO

Hi friends!

So for this blog post I'm going to do something different. Emilia and I never really appear together to speak about our work, so we decided to make a video to demonstrate what we've been up to as well as give you an idea how we work together. It's a two parter, make sure you watch both + enjoy!

Please see below the videos for the website layouts we spoke about. Merci beaucoup!

PART 1



PART 2




These are the website designs we experimented with. While creating them we had in mind the fleeting experience of a gig. We tried to impart that in the design by testing out having the content disappear (or being blocked out/changing in scale as it passes) and also not being able to navigate backwards. In the last image below, we tried using the sound waves from one of the gigs as a background. Even though we spoke about the feedback Paulus gave us on the site design, we thought it should be included in the process. Have a look!

RANT!

Alright, I'm going to rant a little. But let me preface this by saying, I love my tutor group! They are such a supportive bunch who really nothing more than to help. They're all such interesting people!

We presented our work to our tutor group yesterday. Which, for the first time, I was excited to do. As you can probably tell, I am ridiculously into the music publication Emilia and I are working on. It has been a pretty tough term for me, I haven't made the best choices in projects and been unhappy with every outcome. I have to agree with what Will has been feeling, this year has been absolutely deflating. Most people I've spoken to are feeling the same and wishing we received some slices of positive reinforcement every once in awhile.

I really feel like I've been busting my balls the last couple weeks, to generate content and produce things for the music publication. I've felt supremely good about what I've accomplished. However, after the presentation I kind of felt like it wasn't adequate enough and I just can't win. I know Rathna has the best intentions and is pushing us because she wants us to rock this year. You really need tough skin to be in this design business. I'm getting there, but still quite easy disheartened.

Emile sent me the most encouraging message yesterday. He, along with Emilia, and others I spoke to, reminded me that I need to ignore the negative and keep pressing on because I am loving what I'm doing, and it's obvious. I am confident about the outcome. It's hard not to be concerned with marks, but my priority is having something in my portfolio that I am proud of.

The way I deal with stress is baking. So today I went on a baking spree. The mango ones with mango coconut cream cheese icing are pretty stellar. The cherry in the chocolate ones is a bit weak.




















----Rant over ----



I've got some old negatives I just had a spare moment to scan
(coachella scene/1 DAY BRIEF with our tutor group/music publication adventures)




















A photo of Emilia, pre-interview.
























One day brief photos turned out a bit pants. : ( Not sure what's up with the strange wavy green light. The first one is horizontally backwards also. Oops. It was a great day though. We all worked HARD. It was great that a few of us went out for drinks afterwards to wind down from the manic day.

TIMELINE LAYOUT

Indeed, there is more to add. The grid in this design is based on the timeline of a gig (15 hours) and the three components of people involved - the venue, the artist/band and the fans. The process of preparation starts in the morning and goes until clean up after the gig as explained to us by the venues we interviewed.
























I'm still finding ways to sneak the cross into the layout, as evidenced by the inside spreads.

REFINERY/PROGRESSION

A few more bits to add to the layouts we've been working on. I kept tossing last night while I was reassessing the layouts in my head and felt this one needed colour. The green and pink look really nice together, probably because it reminds me of the London Calling, album by The Clash.

















So I tried adding some colour to the text to help subdue the London Calling association.

















I also played around with one of the many covers from this format. I keep thinking about the religion connotations attached to this project, so I decided to make it really obvious. The typeface Trajan seemed to be beckoning me to use it, since esthetically it seemed suitable.


























I'm working on another format, which is our giant 'ticket' shape. I really dig this as a cover. I keep using the colour opaque boxes because they embody the hazy glow of stage lights that is a key element of the whole gig experience.


















I thought it might be really nice to have an embossed cover with a little cut out in the shape of a cross. I did a wonderfully crappy mock up.

LAYOUT WITH LOVE

So what we have here is the experiment stage of the music publication project.
We have done A LOT of research and are now working to compile what we have.

Emilia and I are working from grids we have discussed. So far I have gotten carried away with a 4 x 6 grid. For this particular grid we are using sheet music as a base. I realize I use sheet music in most of my projects... but this was Emilia's suggestion!

We did a quick design/layout brainstorming session after the We Are Augustines/The Boxer Rebellion interviews/gig to aid us in our approach.



















We are both working on possible layout ideas separately and will come together to have a look at the outcomes and discuss on Sunday.

This is what I have come up with thus far.

























Spreads with (mostly) filler text



























































Not too much into these covers... but I kept pushing til it went somewhere in the right direction..



























































this is closer to what I was after.

























I am feeling much happier since working on this project. It has been an absolute pleasure. I have been working with someone who I greatly admire and on a subject that never ceases to rocket my mood to the moon. Each day has been an adventure and my level of inspiration has been at an all time high. I am extremely positive about the outcome of this publication!

The recording of this video is atrocious (Em has MUCH MUCH better quality ones) but it's a teeny slice of our experience during the phenomenal The Boxer Rebellion show.