It’s really cool to be part of Intake Music, a non profit organization in Stamford founded by Angelica Durrell, which is dedicated to the promotion of classical music and native instrumentation. I designed these flyers to promote their concert celebrating International Women’s Day using a painting by Elmyr de Hory in the syle of Amadeo Modigliani.
Es todo un gusto formar parte de Intake Music, una organización sin animo de lucro fundada por Angelica Durrel, que desde la ciudad de Stamford, CT, busca promover la música clásica en conjunto con la instrumentación étnica. Estos panfletos los diseñe en base de una de las pinturas realizadas por Elmyr de Hory en el estilo de Amadeo Modigliani.
Music has always been an essential part of my daily life, I depend on it in order to stay focused. My music taste has varied depending on whatever stage I happen to be in; for sometime now, I’ve felt the incredible need to try new music, and along the way, new ways to find it. Continue reading →
To continue with the Beatles, I realize most major news agencies are reporting on the 40th anniversary of their Abbey Road photo shoot. Here’s a direct quote from The Seoul Times describing the creative process. I have also included additional links referring to the magnitude of this event and even an interesting myth surrounding this legendary album cover.
“Paul McCartney has given a sketch to the photographer Iain Macmillan. It shows what appears to be an aerial view of the road and the crossing – a suggestion, using dots, that the four Beatles can be photographed walking symmetrically across the crossing.
As the morning progresses the four Beatles make their way to the recording studios. Recording usually starts at about two in the afternoon- often going into the early morning. The photo shoot will happen earlier. There will be less people on the street, less likelihood of fans disturbing events.
The Beatles have been holed up in the recording studio for weeks . It has been a busy week. They have been working diligently. A quick photo shoot will solve the problem of the album cover, allowing them to enjoy some free time before returning to the studios.
Iain Macmillan is a friend of John Lennon’s and Yoko Ono’s and is a professional photographer who has been pulled quickly into the photo session. He has been responsible for photographing the catalogue to a recent Yoko Ono exhibition.
He arrives with a step ladder, late in the morning, and with some assistance from police, begins to direct the Beatles in a series of six photographs, one that will become the famous album cover.
In a couple of photographs the Beatles walk from both directions and are out of step. Cars turn into frame and there is one photograph of a London bus moving towards the crossing. Paul McCartney removes his shoes for four photographs. The day is getting warmer. In the fifth photograph there is nice symmetry. This will be the photo chosen for the front cover”.
I’m very excited about The Beatles’ Remastered Catalogue due next month,
check out this cool infomercial to see what I’m talking about! Being a huge Beatles fan I can’t help drawing a smile on my face as I keep watching. Sure, many of you may say ”What’s the big deal about it anyway?” well, I can only speak for myself when I say that the big deal is that finally their albums are presented in a tasteful manner! Holding an unprecedented place in music history, shouldn’t their body of work be presented as it deserves? I remember when I first started to build my Beatles collection the only thing I disliked was their generic packaging. Besides later releases such as Live at the BBC, and The Anthology, I always thought their albums packaging were a bit lame, and it would be cool to give it a face lift; so thank God those in charge finally decided to do it. What follows is a direct quote from The Beatles Official Site atthebeatles.com
The collection comprises all 12 Beatles albums in stereo, with track listings and artwork as originally released in the UK, and ‘Magical Mystery Tour,’ which became part of The Beatles’ core catalogue when the CDs were first released in 1987. In addition, the collections ‘Past Masters Vol. I and II’ are now combined as one title, for a total of 14 titles over 16 discs. This will mark the first time that the first four Beatles albums will be available in stereo in their entirety on compact disc. These 14 albums, along with a DVD collection of the documentaries, will also be available for purchase together in a stereo boxed set. Within each CD’s new packaging, booklets include detailed historical notes along with informative recording notes. With the exception of the ‘Past Masters’ set, newly produced mini-documentaries on the making of each album, directed by Bob Smeaton, are included as QuickTime files on each album. The documentaries contain archival footage, rare photographs and never-before-heard studio chat from The Beatles, offering a unique and very personal insight into the studio atmosphere.
Recuerdo que durante mi adolescencia solía pasar largos momentos pegado frente al TV mirando videos musicales; para mí, esa era una fuente increíble de inspiración. Solía reinterpretar muchas de esas imágenes en algún cuadro, o algún dibujo… Ahora, hoy por hoy, encontrarse con uno que tenga esas capacidades es cada vez más complicado, La mayoría de videos musicales parecen cada vez mas ser cortados con la misma tijera, y más de una vez lo único que logran es saturarnos con imágenes escasas en contenido y creatividad. En fin, Nunca deja de ser agradable ver un video musical que contenga un buen equilibrio visual como este que he incluido en el día de hoy.
A pesar de que este video proyecta una gama de colores vibrantes en contraste con la predominancia del negro, es satisfactorio ver que no existe una saturación visual. Así como también es agradable la idea de enfocarse solamente en los músicos, pues ayuda para reforzar el interés en la canción sin mayores distracciones. Los efectos visuales en la tipografía son mi parte favorita, invitan a la participación del espectador y permite una vez más darle enfoque al contenido de la letra. Este video, es una rara muestra de que lo que importa es la canción y no tanto promover una imagen, o asociarse con una moda, un estilo, etc.
En este nuevo video musical de Andrés Cepeda, cantautor Colombiano, podemos ver que la regla del menos es mas no deja de ser efectiva en cualquier expresión comunicativa.
I’ve always wanted to watch this film since the first moment I learned about it a couple of years ago. Ironically, just as I was looking for something else I finally had the opportunity to get my hands on it. In the same fashion of other great films like Lust for Life , The Agony and the Ecstasy, Artemisa, Frida and Goya’s Ghost; Modigliani is a movie depicting the life of a great artist, Amadeo Modigliani, one of my all time favorites. Though the script is widely fictitious, nonetheless it doesn’t fail to inspire anyone who cherishes art. Here, in this scene, we see Modigliani along with Picasso, Rivera and others, working on their submissions to the Annual Art Competition in Paris. This film projects how Modigliani and his friend and rival Pablo Picasso believed that competitions lowered the standards of true artists like themselves, however, being seriously ill and penniless, with a pregnant wife and new born baby, Modigliani signs up for the contest and is by followed Picasso, which results in the outburst of excitement in the Paris art world. This scene is very touching, as it’s an analogy to what’s involved in the creative process.
Many times I find very interesting and inspiring ways to play with type. These two examples show how some designers aren’t afraid to justify their text, either by making text look extremely tight or by leaving out empty gaps between each word. In my opinion, this kind of treatment makes an interesting visual texture, and gives content a more intriguing appeal.
I got really excited when I first watched this animated introduction to Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.
I like the very limited use of color, and the segment where the text blocks move is really cool as it creates an interesting point of tension in conjunction with the change of melody. Overall, this is a really cool animation, it shows that when it comes to applying motion to 2d design, having strong, flat color contrast along with iconic illustration can be just as engaging!
Personally, I think it would have been more effective if the creative team behind this movie’s identity would have taken some more inspiration from this great animated intro. Though the use of imagery and typography in the movie’s identity is indeed very dynamic, notice that it seems too common, whether as the animation on its part, seems more solid, mysterious and yet fun and dangerous at the same time; which ultimately is what best describes the movie’s plot.
Anyone who knows me knows I’m a huge fan of the Beatles, my favorite being John Lennon. However, every time I get a hold on a new Paul McCartney album I don’t hesitate to give it a try, because I’m quite confident behind that album there’s someone who is driven by perfection, and does music for its own sake. My first McCartney album ever purchased was “Flaming Pie”, though my connection to graphic design was nowhere near on sight at that time, I remember my reaction to its packaging, which displayed hand drawn illustration (by McCartney himself) and his late wife’s photography. Overall, I remember liking its handmade quality, reminiscent of scrap booking techniques.
Most recently I obtained his newest “The Fireman, Electric Arguments” and similarly to other albums of his, I have found myself enjoying its presentation just as much as I enjoy the content. His later release shows very engaging stenciled typography on the inside booklet, which resonates on his interest for modern art and evokes a flair to the Beatles psychedelic period.
The other day, just as I was searching for something new that would catch my eye, I again came across with yet another of his latest releases, this time a collector’s album recorded live that only includes a handful of tracks. “Amoeba’s Secret.” Such album impressed me a great deal with the way it shows its track listing on the back cover, designed as if it was a word scramble. Though I admit it was a bit of a hassle to figure out what songs were there, I knew it was recorded live because it was hinted by the photograph posted on the cover, a purposely pixilated image of him holding his legendary Hofner violin-bass guitar; a very creative approach indeed.
