My business cards now match my brand identity for Power Source Studios.

Things are coming along. Hopefully by this time next year I’ll have 20 some odd clients and I won’t be transferring money from my savings into my checking at the end of the month.

See the larger versions of the designs for my business cards below:

 

My contract templates now match my brand identity for Power Source Studios.

The only template not listed on here are the pages where I outline the scope and summary of the project since there’s nothing to those particular templates.

See the larger versions of the designs for my contract templates for when I do freelance work below:

 

Proposal cover

Customer non-interactive questionnaire

Logo INTERACTIVE questionnaire

Website INTERACTIVE questionnaire

Price list

SEO submission form

Terms and conditions

Invoice

Approval sheet

What more is there to say? I redesigned my resume. I’m not looking to leave BC or anything, but, it’s smarter to always be prepared, because you never know what life might throw at you.

(I didn’t redesign to be prepared, I redesigned it to make it match the Power Source Studios brand identity)

I chose beauty over practicality.

Story of my life.

This is a concept me and some friends at work joke around about semi-regularly. I can’t remember the last time I used a floppy drive. Which is funny because the guy who builds my PC computer’s still puts in floppy drives in my computer…every…time…

I can honestly say, the last time I used one was in 1998, maybe 2000. At some point, younger people will not be able to associate ’saving’ with a floppy disc.

Or will they?

Off the top of your head, what does a red octagon with a white outline represent? What about a red circle with a red line across it from the lower left to the upper right? A button on the corner of a screen window that has an ‘X’ in the middle? Do any of these things actually look like the object or process that they represent? Does it matter?

The simple fact is a good icon is simple, visually distinctive, easy to recognize instantly, and consistent across many interfaces. The floppy disk icon for ’saving’ is all of these things, and it’s also familiar to almost every experienced computer user. Even if children didn’t grow up using floppy discs, they know through iconic representation that this image signifies ’saving’ something.

However, having said that, even though I can justify it’s existence and use, at some point, I think it should change. To what I don’t know. Because it seems as though everyone’s got their own opinion what it should be. Including me. I vote for the life raft icon…

Recently a start-up company called “Modern Things,” inspired by the Björk song, hired me to create a logo design that would primarily be used for their website.

Which was interesting, because, in my experience you’re supposed to create a logo that can be used across mediums, at different sizes, and in various colors.

Strongly feeling as though they do not want designs for those mediums I went forward with what they asked and paid for. In the end, I really like the way it came out.

This logo was created using some tutorials I found online, Flash and Actionscript 3.

Please click on the above image to see the animation and turn up your volume, I added a low neon hum for additional effect.

(RSS Readers, go to actual post)

I hate this image and when people say things like this, because I don’t know what this means. I know I ‘love myself.’ But this makes me question if I do. BUT I KNOW I DO!

Art by: creyooo (I think)

In France, public health officials and psychiatrists are trying to pass laws that would make it illegal to promote false body image and eating disorders. They want to ban websites, censor media, and force media to disclose the extent in which their photos have been retouched.

This rubs me the wrong way. If you’ve been a long time reader of Now is not the Rhyme you will know I struggle with being open minded about censorship. But I will try my best to stay neutral as I often try to do.

With so much falsehood in advertising, how much are we affecting the minds of the younger generation? Social media seems to be pushing an unattainable fantasy world upon us. So hearing that laws are being considered to have publications clearly label ‘Photoshopped,’ both relieves and angers me.

I looked into some statistics and I see that nearly 24 million people in the US have some form of eating disorder. Almost 50% of Americans know someone with an eating disorder. And 15% of younger women in the United States show disordered eating attitudes.

With numbers and statistics like that I am very quick to judge photo retouchers and their industry. Especially since, I know people with eating disorders or rather have known people. I mean, in a way, I am also affected by retouched media and unattainable beauty. But, if I’m going to judge them I also have to judge myself. Professionally and personally. I also retouch photos as part of my job(s) and am susceptible to photos I know are retouched.

The main consensus is that the fashion industry and the media are the biggest causes of this. I agree with this. And maybe it’s a good example maybe it’s not…but, one of my favorite blogs is Photoshop Disasters; where the majority of the submissions on that site are of fashion models where you can see people trying to “fix” something on these models to look better but fail miserably. Which in retrospect, this site might be the best example, because you can actually see what they’re trying to do as opposed to professional retouchers where it’s harder to see what they’re doing.

A question is posed: if the models themselves can’t measure up to their images what does this mean?

When we’re looking at a painting it’s easier to think of it as a work of art, something abstract, something constructive; with a picture it’s harder to tell what’s been done to it. However, with all the work that’s gone into retouching these photos they’re also works of art. The product the model is being used to advertise for will never make someone look like the model themselves.
That kind of look is achieved with Photoshop.

I find it hard to agree with those who blame the media for people who have eating disorders, but I do think that we should put a disclaimer near the photo saying “This photo has been retouched.” Some people are saying they want publishers to show the extent in which a photo has been retouched, much like a before and after picture. But, we don’t do that for any other piece of artwork. If we’re going to do that, the law should remain consistent with every piece of artwork created henceforth.

Some people want to ban retouching entirely, but that can’t be the answer, can it?

This post and mostly everything that was written here came from this video.

Having time to think about this, I think what I was more concerned about after I watched this video was that the woman narrator in the video as well as others I have come across lean more sympathetic to supposed “victims” than the “victor.” I find this to be more a problem than the subject “issue” itself. Because here is someone who has an outlet to be heard by thousands of people; the outlet being The New York Times. Thousands of people are going to see this video and will form an opinion about it in their own head. And I have to wonder whose side will they take as a result of the way she is broadcasting this piece? I personally feel that they might be more sympathetic to the victims because of her inflection and question asking tones. To her credit as well the others I mentioned, they do a good job of taking an open minded stance by saying they don’t want to censor, they just want to educate. But you can tell in their voice and inflection that it’s almost as if for the sake of romance and to not offend they lean their stance to side with the “victim.”

Now, understandably there’s a GREAT chance I am wrong about hers and theirs stance on this, and probably am. However, isn’t what they’re doing “photoshopping” of words? Now, maybe it’s not her that was told to make the piece more sympathetic towards “victims” maybe it was an editor. But, that brings up a whole new topic of editing. Isn’t editing someone’s words for the sake of whatever reason the same thing? If so, how come we don’t offer the full transcript of what was originally said? In addition to all the revision the copy went through? Why is there a double standard?

I am concerned not about the program Photoshop, or the retouchers who do what they are asked, or the people who strive for the unattainable beauty that is portrayed; but more concerned about the means we take to get people to think the same way we do. When we get into a discussion where opinions are tossed around what are we ultimately hoping for?

People are going to disagree with each other and think their opinions are the correct one’s, and there is no way to solve the argument. Nor convince someone you are actually right. Because there is only personal evaluation. There is nothing in this world to which they can refer to see which is correct. So the only important question is where do your values come from?

Discussion: How does retouched media affect you? Should magazines disclose to what extent their images have been retouched, or should we carry on as we are? (Please leave your comments below, do not message or IM me with your answers)

“It’s art if it can’t be explained. It’s fashion if no one asks for an explanation. It’s design if it doesn’t need explanation.” – Wouter Stokkel

It may not look like much, but, the fifth version of Power Source Studios is up and available for you peruse.

Allow me to explain: Power Source Studios is a constant work in progress. I have realized I don’t have a lot of time to dedicate to rolling out an this entire site while still making it look the way I want it to, because I’m busy dedicating my time to client, portfolio, and salary work; Power Source Studios will become a concept piece.

The idea is, this site will emulate the unveiling of an art gallery. Where every week or so you will see new editions to the site little by little so you can see how the progress of the site is going until the entire site is done! But then again, who is to say the site will truly be finished then? Is MOMA, ever truly complete? Is the MFA?

One of the first things I was ever told in college, was to never make a site live that was “under construction.” Although, I agree…I ask, where would we be if people never questioned what they were taught and defied common convention?

Also if you haven’t noticed by now, Now is the Rhyme is also a work in progress. Little by little I will be making additions and changes to these sites, so that they truly exemplify my current knowledge of design in all it’s forms.

And for shits and giggles here are links to the OLD versions of Power Source Studios. You can find these links at: The Way back machine. The Way back machine, is a bunch of people recognizing the importance of archiving and preserving the often transitory digital culture that is distributed over the Web, so that’s what they have done here. If the below sites are taking a long time to load or aren’t loading things at all, it’s The way back machine’s servers, not mine. If you’d like to do a search for Power Source related sites yourself, you might have to try using: www.pwrsource.net or www.powersourcestudios.net (I used both URL’s for a while).

Version 1: 2001-2002

Version 2: 2002-2004

Version 3: 2004-2005

Version 4: 2005-2008