Programming Blog » Joy

Power of Words!

Facebook-Web-Design — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 20:33:18 +0000

It is true, there is power in words. Words can bring joy, comfort and even pain. There is truly power in both the spoken and in written words. Came across a video entitled Power of Words and it’s a call to action for us to tell others of the plight of people who are suffering now because they fought for human rights. Its a very thought provoking and very worthy cause.

The video is very creative, they used animation to share the message, yet even if it was in animated form one can still feel the urgency of the message and the call to help is real. Check out the video below and see what you can do to help.

Video: Amnesty International supporters have used the power of words to demand freedom and justice for countless human rights defenders around the world. Our words are proof that you stand up for human rights, you never stand alone. Check out the site HERE.

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Frolick Pet

Facebook-Web-Design — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 21:12:21 +0000

New work from Hyperakt:

“Frolick is a small NYC based company with a big appreciation for the joy pets bring us. So much appreciation that they put the care and thought that is usually reserved for human products into the design of their pet products. This is a brand that’s slick enough to appeal to a tech and design savvy urban professional, but also friendly and accessible enough for a suburban family.

We were tasked with capturing the energy and joy of this young company through its identity and packaging. We began with the brand mark, which is inspired by those exuberant moments when a pet and their owner are zipping to and fro as they frolick around a park. We then moved into developing packaging that emphasizes the loving relationship between pets and their owners for the company’s core products: Snackers, Lasso, Lumina, Ergo, Playser, Catzip and Glowzip.”

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Yellow Website Showcase

Facebook-Web-Design — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 13:39:36 +0000

Colour Wheel Pro says: Yellow is the color of sunshine. It’s associated with joy, happiness, intellect, and energy.

Yellow produces a warming effect, arouses cheerfulness, stimulates mental activity, and generates muscle energy. Yellow is often associated with food. Bright, pure yellow is an attention getter, which is the reason taxicabs are painted this color. When overused, yellow may have a disturbing effect; it is known that babies cry more in yellow rooms. Yellow is seen before other colors when placed against black; this combination is often used to issue a warning. In heraldry, yellow indicates honor and loyalty. Later the meaning of yellow was connected with cowardice.

Use yellow to evoke pleasant, cheerful feelings. You can choose yellow to promote children’s products and items related to leisure. Yellow is very effective for attracting attention, so use it to highlight the most important elements of your design. Men usually perceive yellow as a very lighthearted, ‘childish’ color, so it is not recommended to use yellow when selling prestigious, expensive products to men – nobody will buy a yellow business suit or a yellow Mercedes. Yellow is an unstable and spontaneous color, so avoid using yellow if you want to suggest stability and safety. Light yellow tends to disappear into white, so it usually needs a dark color to highlight it. Shades of yellow are visually unappealing because they loose cheerfulness and become dingy.

Dull (dingy) yellow represents caution, decay, sickness, and jealousy.
Light yellow is associated with intellect, freshness, and joy.

Creative Spark

I Am Always Hungry

Espira

Chunk

Loaf Creative

Imaginary Design

Single Fire

Bard Hole Standal

Lemon Festival

EBSL

Joomla Mini

Mail Mops

Riot Industries

Typography Served

Puppet Brain

Ryan Keiser

If you like this post you may also want to look at:

Green Website Showcase

Red Website Showcase

Why not follow me on twitter: @atikusdesign
or to ensure you are updated with every D-Lists posts follow: @d_lists

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Ran Hwang

Facebook-Web-Design — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 16:06:15 +0000

Une magnifique installation “Dreaming of Joy” par cette artiste coréenne Ran Hwang utilisant des boutons et des épingles. Des oiseaux et des arbres en fleurs pour un rendu étonnant. Diplômé de la School of Visual Arts à New York, elle expose ses travaux à New York, Paris et Séoul.

Previously on Fubiz

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45 Advertisements You Will Never Forget

Facebook-Web-Design — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 13:41:00 +0000

Advertisements are a necessary evil. Consumers have a need and advertisements direct the consumer to the company that has a solution for their need. For years, we have tried in vain to escape advertisements, but aggressive advertisement companies have stepped up their creativity. These days, instead of relying on the simple goodness of lemonade and children’s laughter, ads have taken a decidedly more provocative turn. Gone are the nostalgic days of skipping through wheat fields. These days, ads venture on the irreverent. They cater to your physical senses and bend your mind to what is possible. Here are some of the most insanely good advertisements of recent memory, broken down into ambient, billboards, commercials and print.

Ambient

1. Skin Cancer Towel

2. WINZIP Compressed House

3. WPPED Cream Elevator Award

4. Neglected/ Invisible Children

5. McDonald’s Pole

6. Piano Stairs

7. Human Meat

8. Life Is Too Short for the Wrong Job

9. Kleenex Soap Dispenser

10. Elm Grove Police Department: Slower is Better

11. Unicef Land Mine

12. 2012. We Were Warned

13. Nikon D700: Papparazzi

14. Pantene Anti-Breakage Shampoo: Rapunzel

15. Swiss Skydive Elevator

Billboards

1. Panasonic nose trimmer: Fatty

2. Nestle Billboard

3. Sign from God

4. Formula Toothcare Bite

5. Imodium AD Toliet Tissue

6. Allstate Auto Insurance

7. Zimbabwean Money Billboard

8. iPod and iTunes

9. Powerhouse Gym

10. Get Organized with Peter Walsh

Print

1. Findus FraichíFrites: Granny Fries without the Granny

2. International Vegetarian Union: Vegetables Are All Your Body Needs

3. Bose Noise Reduction Headphones

4. Clorets: Fishy Breath

5. Gun Central Alliance, South Africa

6. The Joy of Pepsi

7. Utopolis: Reality Sucks

8. Fortis Bank: Plastic Surgery Loans

9. Target Dri Bots Nappies: No One Likes a Bed Wetter

10. McDonald’s Baby Ronald

Commercials

1. Honda Cogs

2. Adidas/ FIFA Women’s World Cup 2003

3. Yellow Pages

4. Jack in the Box/ Meaty Cheesy Boys

5. BMW/ Theo Jensen

6. Apple Macintosh/ 1984

7. Dove/ Evolution

8. Heineken

9. Traveler’s Insurance/ Prized Posession

10. Vizzavi/ Pixar

About the Author

Jacqueline is an artist and a writer who spends an inordinate amount of time playing Super Nintendo and watching Star Trek. You can find out more about Jacqueline on her website, and follow her updates on Twitter.

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Ultimate Dark Package Design Inspiration

Web-Design — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 14:08:34 +0000

The first real customer experience we have when we get a new product is the package. Of course you might say that with the internet we can buy online and see the product before buying it, I know I get it, but the package design is a very inportant part of the customer experience. The unboxing process is exciting, Apple has shown us that it really matters, and whe have been seeing more and more companies following that wagon.

In this post I decided to look for really cool package designs, but not randomly or super famous pacakges such as the awesome Apple boxes. Therefore, I will list only dark package designs. Some could be described as product designs, such as the "Salt&Pepper Cell", but they are so cool that deserved a spot in the list.

Steve Jobs has always been fascinated by packaging, believing the unboxing routine to be a crucial part of the customer experience. All of Jobs’s products have been carefully packaged going back to the original Mac in 1984. Jobs believes unpacking a product is a great way to introduce unfamiliar technology to the consumer — they explore the components as they unbox them. – Cultofmac.com

Mehmet Gozetlik’s Portfolio

I’m not a battery!

Created by Antrepo Design Industry as “Salt&Pepper Cell” and it is like a D size battery also the dimensions too. Material used is stainless steel and glass, the power indicators on the sides correlate to the amount of spices left in the shakers, before refill time. The color options are Red&Turquoise or Black&white.

Studio43′s Portfolio

Aaron Willard

Kon•verse: Logo and packaging design for a California wine company. The packaging uses a minimalist design approach to capture the essence of the brand.

j Kaczmarek’s Portfolio

Smay Design

ACDC Backtracks Box Set

Packlab

Pop-Up Popcorn

“In 2008 Anni Nykänen [of Packlab] won four awards for her Popcorn concept. Three of them European student design awards at the IOP: Student Starpack Awards. The Gold, Best in Show Award, Marks & Spencers / Korsnas Frovi Sponsored Award as she helped PACKLAB. Lahti Institute of Design to win the Eric Dickens Award for the second time in 2008. Months later her packaging picked up a 2008 Honorable Mention at the Worldstar Student / Packaging Design Competition (International) Award.”

Studio Kluif

A humourous take on copy paper sold by international European retailer, HEMA.

DHNN (design has no name)’s Portfolio

Undoboy’s Portfolio

Furry Utopia – create a new brand called furry utopia selling conceptual design merchandise

Greig Anderson’s Portfolio

Cassette Badge Sets

Being a child of the eighties I have fond memories of cassettes and I have created these limited edition badge sets as a reminder of this past format. There is currently 12 different cassette types by some of the mainstream tape manufacturers that I remember having in my childhood. Each set consists of 6, 25mm button badges which are created as circular crops of the actual cassette artwork. These are attached to a printed cassette back board and sealed in a classic cassette box with a custom inlay card giving a brief history of the cassette format…

Good Creative’s Portfolio

Didac Catalán’s Portfolio

Branden Tintiangco

“Introducing 12 new bottles designed by up-and-coming artists from New York to Hawaii, the 1800 Tequila Essential Artists series celebrates a dynamic range of original artwork on a unique and unexpected medium – bottles of 100% Agave Silver Tequila! Showcasing eleven designs gathered from over 15,000 online submissions, selected by 1800 Tequila, and one special edition “celebrity artist” bottle, this new line is a vibrant example of the undiscovered, yet soon-to-be-recognized talent residing across the country.”

jkr

kr were challenged to produce an eye-catching can which evokes positive associations to the iconic brand – simply, to make a good pack great.The team elected to do this via a full-blooded use of the traditional harp emblem. This approach has resulted in a single-minded design which better acts as a “badge in the hand”

Nuria Herrero’s Portfolio

Isabela Serta

The idea of this project is to promote a more healthy food consumption and, concurrently, to also promote sustainable local agriculture, which involves methods that do not harm the environment, respect workers and animals, provide fair wages to farmers and support farming communities…”

Nanospore’s Portfolio

HOMOGENY is collaboration between Nanospore and Royal Elastics – set for a Fall ’08 release. it features our little nameless friend, which serves as a symbol of the similarity in structure between organs or parts, possibly of dissimilar function, that are related by common descent. Light and dark. Color and monochrome. Land and sea. Love and hatred. Joy and pain.

FIRMA’s Portfolio

We are involved in all stages of a brand development and there is one that we call PACKMAN. PACKMAN means packaging that connects our clients with their customers and sets them apart from their competitors.

Amelia Roberts’s Portfolio

Michael McDevitt’s Portfolio

Client: Mission Product Holding, Inc.

Background: To create a range of packaging that demonstrates a high level of performance and social responsibility while remaining linked to the skin care category.

Kristeen Wegner’s Portfolio

Thorbjorn Ankerstjerne’s Portfolio

A selection of designs for carrier bags for the danish pharmacy chain Apotek. I worked on this project during my placement at Kontrapunkt, Copenhagen.

Miguel Ramirez’s Portfolio

Markus Schaefer’s Portfolio

Transformer Studio’s Portfolio

Isse is a luxury mobile phone brand, producing exclusive jewell phones. Precious metals and gems are used in phone decoration as well as more than sixty techonological processes are applied.

Jeremy Mlodik’s Portfolio

Nuria Herrero’s Portfolio

Michael Freimuth

Michael Freimuth continues his amazing work for Azita’s, this time for their limited edition dry rubs…

David Garcia’s Portfolio

Evan Geltosky’s Portfolio

Sources

About the author

My name is Fabio Sasso, I’m a graphic/web designer from Porto Alegre, Brazil and I’m the founder of Abduzeedo. I hope we can share lots of information, tips, and ideas through Abduzeedo. Also you can follow me on Twitter or my personal site at http://fabiosasso.com.

15 Elegant Cartoon Wallpapers You Can Not Miss

BlogPoster — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 06:22:44 +0000

With the daily work in front o PC and the struggle to finish a project or do a rapid task. There must be a time for some fun and joy. It is the time to add some joy and happiness to your PC or laptop with these amazing cartoon wallpapers.

I would like to share with you some free wall papers and cartoon wallpapers that will help remove some of the stress you have and turn your PC into a real fun and joy. These cartoon wallpapers vary from different styles and colors. Lets share the fun

And for more free high resolution desktop wallpapers, you can check the following posts:

22 Gorgeous Cartoon Wallpapers

15 Cute Cartoon Wallpapers

Cartoon Wallpapers and Backgrounds Collection

10 Cool Cartoon Wallpapers

15 Cute Free 3D Wallpaper Collection

Father and Son

Horse Rider

Teddy Bear and MacBook

Matryoshka

Kiwi Kiwi

Christmas Ice Skating

Christmas Train

Whale

Friends

Xerox

Letter Eater

Photoshopping

Alien Housewife

Square Elephant

Self Portrait 2009

I hope you enjoyed these cartoon wallpapers collection and share it with your friends in social networks. Also, you can receive much more resources through joining our RSS feed.

Inspiration in Yellow: The FYC Edition

BlogPoster — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 10:46:44 +0000

It is that time of the week once again for another installment in our series of inspirational experiments here on FYC where we try to determine if the source we are inspired by, if it is made up of a predominant color, can tend to aim our creative output in the same direction as elements associated with that color. Last week we rolled out Inspiration in Orange: FYC Edition, and we are not showing any signs of slowing down yet.

So welcome back to the FYC edition of the popular Inspiration in Color series. Once again this series of posts focuses on images that are made up of a primarily, or at least a predominantly, singular selected color. As we move down inspirational spectrum, this week lands us on the color yellow. Inspiration in Yellow: The FYC Edition, features another awesome collection of imaginative and emotive works from all around the design world with two distinct purposes. The first, of course, is to inspire you, but also to see whether or not that inspiration tends to manifest elements that are associated with the color of choice. Joy, optimism, intelligence, idealism, hope, air, cowardice, hazards, dishonesty, femininity, friendship are generally associated with the color orange. Who knows where this inspiration will take you, but you will be the only one that can tell…

Graphic Design

Branding and Print Design

Photography

Interior and Industrial Design

Wallpapers

Product and Packaging Design

Website Design

That’s a Wrap!

So now the ball is in your court. If you have found yourself inspired by this series then by all means, please submit the end results of those inspirations to the FYC Flickr Group, and simply tag them ‘fycincolor’. Regardless of if you want to show us the work you created, we would love to hear your thoughts on this experimental inspirational process, so let your thoughts flow in the comment section below.

Sponsored by

Advertise on Fuel Your Creativity.
Fuel Your Creativity 2009 cc (creative commons license)

Inspiration in Yellow: The FYC Edition

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How To: Get Into The Flow of Your Life

BlogPoster — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 02:12:37 +0000

Several weeks ago I wrote an article entitled, “10 Signs: Change Is Happening in Your Life” http://retwt.me/i9M7

Since then, I’ve received several messages asking me to elaborate. Because of that, I’ve decided to write this article which will focus on how to get “into the flow” of your life.

This concept is different than “going with the flow” which, to me, means you follow the crowd. Being “in the flow” is that euphoric state when you are completely absorbed in what you’re doing.

We all know how uncomfortable it is to struggle and fight to move forward in life. It is so much easier to get in the flow and have things happen easily, without the struggle.

But when you are all stressed out, running crazy, tired and worn out, how do you get into the flow of your life?

Here are three tips I learned from Ellie Drake to help us do just that:

Acceptance – have you accepted that you are supposed to be wherever you are? Or, do you keep looking back at the door you left half open? You cannot get into the flow if you are consumed with resistance caused by looking back. Look forward, move forward.

Enjoyment – Understand that joy comes from within, not from external forces. You can tap into it at any time. Get in joy as you go about your day. Being in joy releases resistance. Learn to enjoy the music of your own voice.

Enthusiasm – Be enthusiastic about your purpose and calling. Be connected to your purpose. Enthusiasm carries a very high vibration and energy which will take you far.

Feel the difference between these two sentences. One is in the flow, one is not.
“I want to get where I want to go.” Stress = Resistance
“I am connected to a purpose.” Intensity = Enthusiasm

Pay attention to your body to tell if you may be in a state of resistance (not in the flow) and not realize it. Resistance has physical signs, like you may have an unusual headache or feel tired even after you’ve slept.

The down times prepare us for the ups. Think about what an EKG looks like:

It goes up and down, up and down, that is life, that is how it is supposed to be. What does it mean when the EKG goes flat? Don’t resist the downs or it will take longer to experience the ups. Just ride it.

Be on a journey towards excellence, not perfection.

This is one of my favorite quotes: “When the voice and the vision on the inside become more profound and more clear and loud than the opinions on the outside, you’ve mastered your life.” – Dr. John Demartini

The painting featured above is entitled, “Happy-Happiness” by freelance artist Kathrin Chintamani Witte

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What Would You Do for a Klondike Bar?

BlogPoster — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 16:00:08 +0000

Klondike Bar

It’s a joy for me to see the return of ‘What would you do for a Klondike Bar’ ad campaigns. I always thought they were funny and now they’ve returned with a refreshed sort of funny and with great execution. So what would YOU do for a Klondike bar?

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Best of the Week #86

BlogPoster — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 15:32:24 +0000

It’s time for our best news of this week. We have a lot of graphic and web design, a bit of architecture, ads, tech news, awesome reads and other crazy stuff! So take a look at the links we’ve selected for your inspiration and to keep you updated about what’s going on out there!

We want to give a big thanks to our sponsors:
Wix, DreamTemplate, ShutterStock, W3-Markup, P2H.COM, Harvest, VectorStock™, FreshBooks, Reflex Stock and SiteGrinder. A special mention to Media Temple for the excellent service and support with Abduzeedo!

You can send me your suggestions via Twitter twitter.com/FabianoMe or twitter.com/abduzeedo, and include #abdz_best in the message.

About the author

I’m from Brazil, co-founder of Zee with Fabio. Nowadays I like to play with Fireworks, Photoshop and improve my skills in CSS. If you wanna request some posts, please feel free to contact me or follow on Twitter.

Designing for the Film Industry: A Chat With Go Media’s Jeff Finley

BlogPoster — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 13:03:21 +0000

This week I had the opportunity to chat a bit more with Go Media’s Jeff Finley (@jeff_finley). You may remember back in May when Jeff and I spoke a little about his company and his experience as a graphic artist. This time Jeff updated me on what he’s been up to since then as well as his experience designing graphics for the film industry. This interview is great if you’re looking for information on how to diversify your portfolio and market your company. Check it out!

Q: In our last interview we spoke a lot about how your company Go Media grew and how your blog contributed to its success. Can you start off by telling us a little about what you and Go Media have been up to over the last several months?

A: A lot has been going on the last several months. Go Media is going through a bit of a transition period right now.

We also held a staff meeting regarding Go Media’s current branding and how it’s affected by the popularity of the Arsenal and GoMediaZine. The past 2 years we saw the Arsenal and Zine reach a very large audience, yet despite growing from 6-14 staff members, Go Media has not seen a noticeable increase in design service revenue. Design services and consulting with brands has been Go Media’s driving force since day one. However, with so much focus and attention pointed at the Arsenal and Zine, the services side of our business has been overshadowed. We’re refocusing on working with brands to establish their identity in their marketplace and give them forward-thinking solutions for print and web. We’re also trying to build a solid portfolio for film industry work. We’re well-known for the work we’ve done for bands and fashion brands, but the film industry is harder to break into. But we’ve made a few cracks so to speak by working with Cleveland Cinemas – the umbrella brand that covers the best and most well known indie movie theaters in Northeast Ohio. I’ve personally worked with some independent filmmakers on some poster and packaging designs and we’re also establishing a relationship with a well known poster company in the UK that could yield some future work.
One of those steps is to rebrand the Arsenal and strengthen its position in the design community. We want to change the way people view stock art and redesign it to help reflect our current beliefs and values. The Arsenal is not about us anymore. It’s not the clichéd “kick ass” art that Go Media designers create to let other people use. It’s more about all design resources and helping out your fellow designer. We’re just about ready to dive into programming the new Arsenal 3.0, which my colleague Adam Wagner has been working almost exclusively on for the past 3 months. We’re excited to see it come to life.
And lastly, we hired George Coghill as editor of the GoMediaZine. The quality and quantity of the zine wasn’t keeping up with the demand. As Go Media’s internal priorities shifted back to working with brands, our time to write articles declined. As anyone knows, you can’t do everything all the time. George was a stand-up guy who impressed me with his thoughtful comments on our site and his desire to help the community. He understood what it takes to manage a blog the size of the zine and he fit right in. He’s actually been assigning Go Media staff to write quick tips and tutorials. As well as scouting for talented freelance writers. So far so good!

Q: Whoa! You guys have been busy! It seems like you guys have some exciting things planned for the future. You mentioned that you felt that the Arsenal and Zine were beginning to overshadow the design services side of the company. How has hiring a full-time editor of the Zine helped you to improve the design-side of the business? Do you find that you now have more time to work with clients and pursue new leads?

A: It has helped because Adam and I no longer have to worry about what content will be posted on the zine. We no longer have to spend time editing other people’s posts or having that sinking feeling when we get busy and let the zine fall behind.

It’s only been about two months, but we’ve already seen the difference. Our design sales are up for sure. There are other factors of course, but hiring an editor has certainly given us more time.

Q: Earlier you mentioned that you were attempting to build a solid portfolio for the film industry. Can you tell us a little about your experience working with the film industry? Who have you worked with so far? Why did you decide that this was the type of work that you wanted to do?

A: I’ve been trying to work for films because I’m actually super passionate about movies. I follow directors just like I do bands. I could go on and on about why I love film and who my favorite directors are. If you wanna chat directors, get at me on twitter . There’s no reason I shouldn’t be designing for film. It’s just a matter of getting the clients.

How to break into the film industry? It’s definitely not as easy as the music industry. The music industry is readily hiring freelancers and it’s easy to find bands to work with. From my experience, there are dozens of companies in Hollywood that do most of the posters, key art, and packaging for mainstream feature films. I freelanced for Cimarron Group back in 2006 before I started at Go Media, but it was my first year freelancing and my web skills were not up to par. I eventually did a very small static web site for a local filmmaker for a site that’s no longer online. That was actually the last film job I had for a long time.

A few years go by and I see my portfolio of apparel designs, band work, and fashion brand work grow and grow. Ironically, the jobs keep coming in. My best work has been for apparel and bands, so it’s no wonder I keep getting the work. But I’m bound and determined to get loads of film design work in 2010.

How to land a design job in the film industry? It’s not possible to quit Go Media and get a day job in Hollywood. The goal is to bring film jobs into Go Media. Here are some things that I’m doing – and you should too, if you want to get film poster design work.

For starters, get your work seen by film people. Right now, it’s mostly other designers checking my portfolio. Network and be friendly on the net with people who are already doing this kind of work. Show anyone and everyone your portfolio.
Do fake movie posters for your portfolio. Clients want to see that you understand their business. Even if you do, it should be apparent on your site. Also, I put a call to action button requesting film poster design work specifically. That will help even more if I can get traffic from film people.
I am establishing solid relationships with indie filmmakers that I know like Jason LaRay Keener from Alabama who makes hauntingly beautiful films. You can see an influence from Harmony Korine or Werner Herzog in those experimental shorts. I did the illustration and package design for their debut “film EP” that you can buy on their site Reining Nails. Also, I’m working on key art for a new documentary called Pinned about high school wrestling by director Pat Norman. Think “Spellbound” but with wrestling. The movie will be submitted to all the major festivals in the US including Sundance. That could be great exposure if it makes it that far. Besides, I really, really love working individually with the directors to get their vision onto a poster. It’s also fun to meet them personally and chat about what inspires them.
I’ve found that the more noise I make about doing film design work, the more attention it brings. People need to know you’re out there! This past year I’ve done work for Fright Rags – a horror themed clothing brand that gets inspiration from cult films. I designed t-shirts for Eraserhead and Phenomena, two of my favorites.
Work with an established poster design outfit. If you have a style that is new or different, you’ll likely get some overflow work. We have been building a solid relationship with the poster design studio All City Media in the UK. We did some pitches for the film Amores Perros last year and we’re participating in their gallery opening in the fall. I’ll be doing a poster for Old Joy and a few other designers are going to do posters for Funny Games and American Splendor. There is no brief or pay involved, but it’s a chance to express our ideas about a film and have them be printed and shown in a gallery. Perfect opportunity here.
Work with local theaters! We’ve done a couple pro bono film projects and worked out trades with Cleveland’s premiere indie movie theater company Cleveland Cinemas. We worked on an Alfred Hitchcock directors series and did a few posters for their summertime Cult Film Series. Our relationship has been evolving and we’re now doing the grand opening poster for the new Capitol Theatre opening on Cleveland’s west side. You never know what could happen!

Those are ways to get more film jobs. I still have a long way to go, but it’s a start!

Q: When most people think of working in the film industry the first thing that comes to mind are the movies. The film industry is more than just movies and independent films. You can also find work in the television industry as well. Would you guys be interested in working with the television industry as well?

A: You’re right, the TV industry is closely related. There is certainly an interest in doing this kind of work, as we’ve actually already been involved to some extent. We developed the logo and various motion pieces the A&E reality show Tattoo Highway (video) and we’re starting to get involved with the Cleveland Cavaliers and Lake Erie Monsters for some animation work. We’re stoked on that!

I think it’d be stellar to do work for HBO, MTV, etc. In fact, a lot of those networks including Comedy Central, FOX, and A&E have purchased Arsenal stock resources in the past, so we’re heading in that direction.

TV is also hard to break into. I can’t really explain an easy way to tell people how to get involved. The Tattoo Highway show resulted from an inquiry from their production company Juma Entertainment about some of the motion packs we created. In the end, they wanted a custom title sequence. We worked back and forth on ideas for the opener and spent a lot of time in After Effects. In the end, the approved opener that aired was more of the traditional “cold open” that you see on the show now.

I don’t know of any independent TV producers. In fact, I’m not even aware of an underground TV industry – partly because I never looked for it, but I’m sure it’s there. A lot of this content from DIY producers is ending up on the web as it’s not easy to get your show aired on actual television. There is probably plenty of art and design work that can be done for indie TV producers. You just have to find them!

Q: One thing that I think a lot of people forget about it is just how big the film industry is and how much work typically goes into producing a film. While movie posters and on-screen graphics are probably the most visible and well-known aspects of graphic design for the film industry there is also a lot of design that goes into creating the props for a show. For instance, if a movie depicts a fake corporation; some one has to do the branding or make a sign for it. Have you ever thought of doing this sort of work for the film industry or are you mainly interested in designing posters and motion graphics?

A: That’s very true. I’ve really focused on doing the key art for films, but set related graphic design work would still be a welcome project. That’s something that would likely result after getting more exposure and experience with the directors and production studios, not so much the marketing agencies. We could model ourselves after a company like Art Machine who does an amazing job at providing a full gamut of design and interactive media to the film industry. We’re not there yet, but it’s something to look forward to.

Q: Art Machine’s client list is quite impressive! Do you think it’s possible for a small or mid-sized studio to compete on that level? What steps is Go Media taking to get there?

A: To be perfectly honest, I don’t think it’s possible for a small to mid-sized studio to compete on that level. Not yet. If you want to do a marketing campaign for a major Hollywood release, you’ve got a snowballs chance in hell of landing the project over a company like Art Machine. However, certain studios will look for “boutique” firms like us for work on more independent projects. In my limited experience, big blockbusters are like big corporate brands. They do not trust their millions of dollars in the hands of a smaller studio. It’s too much of a risk. Companies like Art Machine have been around for decades and are equipped to handle the large scale of such projects. Companies like Go Media are better suited to handle indie projects with smaller budgets on a much smaller scale. Our best chance to work on Hollywood films is to become a freelance partner with a big agency like Art Machine. We’d be hired because of our different approach, skill set, and our knowledge of the counter cultural underground. We’d be responsible for some of the creative and technical decisions, but Art Machine would be responsible for carrying out the campaign. Right now, Hollywood is a little out of reach for the small to mid-sized studio. I believe that will change in the next 10-20 years as independent film becomes more profitable and studios are willing to take more risks.

Q: I think you just dashed the hopes of thousands of my readers who would some day love to work on a campaign for a blockbuster film. So if it’s not possible for a small to medium-sized firm to head up a marketing campaign for a big Hollywood release, then can you recommend any steps that a small firm could take to land a freelance partnership deal with a larger, more established company?

A: Haha, my apologies for dashing your readers’ hopes! Let my skepticism be your motivation! I’m willing to be proven wrong in this case, as I’d love for us small to mid-sized firms to have more of a role in the marketing for feature films. Like you said, if you DO want to work on a blockbuster film campaign, you’re best chance is to get a job with a company like Art Machine, Cimarron Group, BLT, or any of those. They mostly do work in-house, but I know they hire freelancers from time to time. Here are steps you can take to increase your chances of getting a job or freelance project from those studios.

Load up your portfolio site with posters and film related art. This quote from onesheetdesign.com says “Create poster concepts on your own, using whatever source materials you can find. Showing film posters in your portfolio, whether you’ve done work in the industry or not, will make a good impression. A rule about portfolios: Show what you WANT to be doing, not necessarily what you have been doing.” I couldn’t have said it any better myself.
On a related note, you need to write about what you want to be doing. On my site, am pretty explicit that I want to do film posters. I will be writing on my site a lot more about the films I see and what moves me in that regard.
Email, cold-call, and mail in your portfolio to all the studios.
Communicate and network with people who work at those companies on Facebook, Twitter, Linked in. Some of them have blogs – subscribe, follow them, comment and participate. But don’t be creepy or a leech. Don’t be desperate, but be proactive and involved and offer sound advice. Remember, they might not be looking to hire and those companies are not charities. They aren’t just giving jobs away. But it helps to stay in their line of sight.
Sometimes you might be “lucky” and get asked to do some free work. From my experience, these companies like to “test the waters” by throwing you a pro bono job on a pitch or unimportant side project they have going. They just want to see how you work. Half the battle is being reliable. Don’t be a flakey artist and flake out. You need to stand out and be professional. Obviously, you need to have the skills – but these studios also want to see that you are smart and serious.

If none of that works, make your own films! Seriously. Make your own films and design the marketing materials for them. Find friends who dabble in filmmaking and get them to make movies too. Then do the posters for their films. Start a DIY film collective! One great example is Red Bucket Films. A group of post-college kids making movies outside the mainstream. Yet they’re doing the festival thing and getting noticed. Josh Safdie’s film The Pleasure of Being Robbed premiered at SXSW and then later went on to the Director’s Fortnight at Cannes. Their branding for their film collective is outstanding. It’s my guess they have complete control over it and do it their way. That could be you and your friends!

Q: You’ve certainly provided us with a ton of information regarding graphic design for the film industry. I only have 1 more question for you. Can you recommend any websites where my readers can go to find inspiration for their next movie or film poster so that they can start adding items to their portfolio?

A: To find inspiration for your next movie poster, definitely check out the IMP Awards. Other sites worth looking are Wrong Side of the Art, PosterWire, and of course FFFFound. Thanks Grant, I appreciate your inquisitiveness!!

To learn more about Jeff Finley you can visit his personal website, follow him on Twitter, or visit his company’s website.

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