Lampstand Creative

I would like to start this week by plugging the wonderfull people who provide cost effective webhosting.

Utopian.net

They are great for the person who is creatively exploding but technically challenged even if you are not challenged then they are still great to use.

Brianna and Josh are the co-founders of utopian and really good people to know so check them out.

Also I started a face book group called Lampstand Creatives. so go and join up.

Sorry fir the shorty today

Aaron - Creative

So I have sat down to write about viral marketing not more than 5 times only to realize that I have budgeted way to little time to cover the subject. So here we go about a project that I added kind of under the radar.

This is Sheila’s Soul Sisters T-shirts. It is a group of women who have gathered around a cancer victim named you guessed it Sheila. Sheila is a fine women that has fought cancer for some time, I am told that she is always in high spirits and helps coordinate the group. They go to several cancer walks here in my corner of east Texas. The women are by majority school teachers. I deeply respect these women as they walk to support there friend and show there support financially for a cure. I hope that your life has not been touched by cancer but if it has then I pray that instead of becoming bitter and week of spirit you would become a strong voice for prevention, cure & comfort.

Aaron - Creative

P.S. I am sorry about the lack of posts I have been starting a new schedule in my life and have been hacking up time for this look forward the frequency that you have come to enjoy.

Breaking News 

Check out this and do what it says

Back to your regularly scheduled post

I would like to take this Friday to mention a fantastic website. Illustration Friday is a forum with a weekly challenge that I am going to start trying to be involved in. They give you a single word and then you illustrate it and upload it to there site.

Browse the site and read the articles and interviews it is a wonderful place with an excellent community of artists. You also might see some failure faces there.
Aaron Blakeley - Creative

I hold mine high and say RIGHT HERE! I think that keeping your thoughts together is a great way to garner not only creativity but ideas worth a darn. I was fortunate to have had a teacher that forced us to use a sketch book what I did not realize is that he was creating not only a life long habit but a addiction. I love the fact that just about any client I have can look through my sketch books and see the humble beginnings of the project I worked on for them (though I do not let them do this.)

Also it is kind of a legacy I am leaving to my children if they want to know dad or grandpaw or at least something about him just read his sketch books. I am even fortunate enough to have sketch books I filled when I was 10-11 with comics about Germs and Noses.

This is the Ever Silly My current sketch book and very special to me because it is hand made by me. I have been working in it for about 6 months now and have neglected it 2 of those months but it is up and being filled now. Here is a Peek

You might be wondering why I am even posting about this. The reason is because you can not create to your fullest potential in front of a computer. I just don’t think it is possible. So open up your sketch book and start sketching it doesn’t have to be good it just has to be. Also I would love to see pictures out of your sketch book so in your comments post a link to some pics for others and me to see.

Aaron Blakeley - Creative

Here are a couple of pictures from my personal work that I am satisfied with they are also available in prints.

Hurray for extra posts

What does the Girl Scouts of America, Japan Energy Corporation, Minolta, United Way, Alfred Hitchcock, Warner Bros, United airlines, At&t, South Western Bell, & Motion Graphics have in common… One man Saul Bass.

Saul Bass was a graphic designer and academy award winning film maker who lived from 1920-1996. His work is still used today from the Girl Scouts of America (their logo is still the original he designed ) to The At&t globe which has recently been updated because of there merger with Cingular. His At&t logo reached 93% recognition in the united states.

I don’t know about you but if any work you do ever reaches that kind of recognition then you have done more than what you were hired for although this is the goal with every project. I think Saul Bass fascinates us because what he started out in as just a profession became a medium for him to present ideas and concepts also a creative outlet that allowed him the unadulterated freedom to create work that enhanced everything from the movie experience to his own work in film and animation.

I love his work because of its simple and straight forward graphics that some how truly speak a thousand+ words. Take his title sequence for the man with the golden arm. The rectangles always appearing oblique almost imposing on the actual titles. It seamed to me that the shapes were always trying to line up with horizontal and vertical lines of type yet always choosing instead to be slightly off the mark. It also reminds me of Jazz’s perfect imperfection where every one will be on beat then one or 2 instruments might sock the beat in the face a few times only to stand it back up and keep on moving thought the beat. Then as if he had not eluded enough to the struggle that would be portrayed in this 1950’s film the center image is an abstraction of a heroin addicts arm. WONDERFUL WORK.

See the title sequence here.

So I will end this post with a picture of Saul Bass and a note to please check out the rest of his work and have a great day

I added some images to the gallery.  These are from a race I shot I was invited to shoot the entire race with the goal of getting images of every racer.  Lots of fun!

I hope you enjoy then

If you could visit the website of a designer that was mentioned among such greats as Saul Bass and William Caslon then you should visit Milton Glaser’s website. He has made design his medium for life. This is the man behind such images as The I Heart NY logo and the DC comic’s bullet logo used from 1977-2005. Though I have not heard the recognition of the I Heart N Y Logo but I am sure that any one in America can tell you what that logo means. I would assume that it has reached a higher recognition rate than the south western bell logo which in its day was at a 90% recognition. that means out of 100 people only 10 did not know what that logo meant. So here is to you Milton Glaser I can only hope to reach in my carrier the level you have reached in yours and truly we do Heart NY.

I have a hummingbird painting ready for purchase. It is a painterly piece made to bring a traditional and modern touch to a room. With the flat green canvas and the old style humming bird this can be a center piece for any modern room. The piece is 24×30 and is $350 plus $15 shipping. Contact me at aaron@lampstandcreative.com

Also I have come across a wonderful collection of Photoshop tutorials so happy graphicking

Tutorials

In my quest to utilize this fantastic blog I have on my home page, I will now be posting as often as I can. The topics will be related to the services I provide namely graphic design, photography, illustration, fine art, web design and advertising. Whew. So here is the first of what I hope to be many.

This came up sense I have been down with the traveling bug since I reached the 24th year of living in the same place for well 24 years. “Creative hotel rooms” this place is pretty inspiring and I would love to get my wife to go for some decorations in our house like this but alas we have children and I want then to not think that Dad and Mom are on acid although I think that he already thinks Dad is (what an 8 month old). This room in particular made me laugh

I wish i had some shadowy figure that would come and threaten me when it is bead time. I am sitting at the computer typing or working on the projects I have when he/she emerges from the shadows and in a monotone deep voice simply says SLEEP.

Any way here is the link to the full article and what not

Inspiring hotel rooms

If you go here you must come and comment on this post so I can know how cool it is.

Does anyone else have trouble decorating there house the way they really want to me and my wife have conflicting ideas of how to decorate but I think that if we could find a happy medium for our styles it would be great. Tell me your stories about decorating and cool or disastrous stuff you have done .