Our original creative has been through many hands, so I thought it’d be interesting
to show the original screens, and follow our build process and then compare and critique that with the final corporate approved product for launch.

I’m glad to say the process has been very positive with a lot of great participation in the development and direction directly from the CEO Roy Dunbar himself.

At the very least it’s been an absolute honor to be chosen to take a company from a stark non-personal look into a total 180 of just showing that they are normal people, that use wordpress, and love mahjong, and are led by true innovative executive members.

Network solutions invented the Domain Name Registration System. So basically if you have a domain name. It’s because of them. Strangely, they traditionally weren’t the most visually provocative and most open communicators, until recently. It’s exciting to be involved with a company with such a rich history and such a huge contribution to the creation of the modern internet and browsing functionality.

I’m headed into a meeting, on yet another NEW forward thinking product…
And will post screens after 1pm!!

We actually are already recieving increased online donation activity already!

Which I couldn’t be happier about.

TNF Alpha is really taking off, and is also a big reason why May could KILL me. We have something like 12 events in one month… So I’m glad we are using THIS!

In other unrelated news, April was the month of FLAKERS. From people who can’t seem to return calls, to those that can’t even make them in the first place. Nothing like working hard just to find out other people are HARDLY working at all.

I think it’s amazing these people have time to bomb twitter with their nonsense about their “tech cocktails”, or how happy they are to be eating some overpriced organic sandwich they don’t really seem to deserve…

Anyway look for my RANT on the perfect mobile phone. My Treo 650 got it’s ass kicked and I felt so uncool, cus I’m not one of those assholes with the iPhone. Suddenly I remembered why I hate the iPhone, iPod owners, mac “fanboys”, and the companies that make an iThis or an iThat.

Get to work slackers.

Level up is a new event concept for DC’s iconic Cigar Bar, OZIO. Level Up is focused on promoting exclusive access to the private 3rd and 4th floor at Ozio.

We worked around the clock to find the right Text treatment and implement it quickly for DJ Portarock AKA Josh Reyes

You can view the LEVEL UP Brand and Email marketing work here.

For those who need a quick catchup on shit, X works like so:
1. you show up with your gear (macbook, whatever….)
2. get your space ready next to the 2 other designers competing against/with/near you
3. you get 3 words to influence your design piece, on which YOU SHALL BE JUDGED!

snap snap!

The media that you are designing for, is essentially an invite to the the X event.

Ok, we just got our words…

Empathy
Creatives
Commitment

I have no clue what to do… should be fun!

David Fogle and I

Me Screwing around… people were forced to watch my screen on a projector… hahaha.

The judge!

SO…. now the competition is over, everything wrapped up and was announced at 10pm.
And here is what I turned in:

So I used a few images that I felt were powerful enough to fulfill the vocabulary requirements of the Curator/Judge.
Technically my comps are based around using some pleasant vector shapes as masks, and trying to achieve a design that could span across, Projected Media, Poster Media, and smaller Invitation sized Media.
I noticed that X does not have any sort of guideline for media size, which it could really use.

After a brief chat with the other designers, I recommended a size of 4″ x 6″ @ 300dpi, a standard postcard size at most presses.

I started out working in illustrator, with a completely different composition. I abandoned this, and began to dig a little deeper into what I was asked to visually produce. One of the words, “commitment”, was really eluding me. I think for Westerners’ we gravitate towards the image of marriage… Which I’m not interested in illustrating in my piece.
It was only after I used a human brain for “creatives”, and after I rifled through images of abused animals for “empathy”, that it struck me on what needed to be done.

The images needed to transcend smaller personal relationships and go outside of the self.
I immediately searched for the “Burning Monk” image. A very famous picture of a Buddhist Monk Burning themselves alive to protest the Chinese Militarization of Tibet.
I remember finding this and feeling very satisfied, and leaving the raw, very large image on screen for everyone to look at for about 10 minutes.
I also left the abused Dog, with a arrow from a crossbow lodged in it’s scalp on the screen for about 10 minutes as well. The dog was conscious, and looked healthy, other than it’s obvious suffering at the hands of some very cruel humans.

I made a pile of vectors over the weeks before the show, and wanted to use some shapes that looked like bacteria or pollen. And used some Spirals I had made.

My end piece can be summarized as such: My pieces are about life. Much like the composition, pleasing in color and presentation, but upon closer inspection very grotesque and graphic images lie within these very pleasant shapes. Life may seem pretty on the surface or in passing, but upon using observation and attention, it can be cruel, in desperate need of repair, and rather unimpressive.

It was my sincere hope that as people watched my process that I gave them something to think about. That maybe I inspired one person to look over their backyard fence at a starving dog, to think twice about buying a product from china and to realize that creativity lies in every living things brain.

NOW, while all of that sounds good… I certainly did not win the competition.
My designs masking was complex, and the visual images are subdued and require a certain level of inspection to harness their power.
The curator really liked my process and work, but noted the masking made the images hard to grasp.
Oh the irony. I want to spread a message… but I designed my piece to gently whisper vs. screaming out.
Oh well… I can live with that.

The winner, had a very clear bold image and title. Bam!
Any of us could have won really, and the competition certainly isn’t about the winning of prizes, but the sharing of process.

X gives designers a chance to make people see their process and appreciate the time and effort and thought that goes into the often disposable works created on a daily basis, like the invitations to events we designed.

Technically X was a little lacking in the presentation department.
They were running the RCA cable out of a mini DVI adapter.
So no high resolution digital support!
So all 3 of us, the participants, had the joy of working on cropped screens and semi blurry monitor projections.
fun times.

I also noted earlier, that X has no guidelines for media size. This really should be strictly enforced. As far as real life work goes, design work must be produce-able… And therefore output at the correct size, resolution and contain all of the required information.

I think it’d be very easy to create a better rating system which helps examine a piece from a technical standpoint in addition to the curators personal selections.

I think if X taps into the sponsor market, it’d easily resolve the technical issues, and garner much more serious prizes for ALL of the entrants.
Currently the winner walks with all spoils, and everyone else… you pack up your shit.
BAM! for REAL!
Which is cool and fine, and that’s how it is… but I think it’d be a good attraction to sponsors to create consolation prizes for all participants.

God knows Apple, and Adobe should be there in person listening to me bitch about the shit their stuff does to make my day LESS productive. Apple should be down there giving out iPhones, macbooks, and replacement hard drives and keyboard bezels to those of us dumb enough to buy their first round releases!

Ok, ok.
So X is awesome, don’t miss out on the next one! They are only getting better!
Thanks so much Graham and David!!! It was a BLAST!

While it is very early on, It is with great excitement that we have such an oppourtunity to even be considered in such a collaborative effort.

Thank you Alex, for finding the time to help us bring more of a spotlight to Leukemia and Lymphoma Awareness and fundraising!

You can see more of our very own TNF Alpha’s Stephanie, interviewing Alex at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evQgFkV2E9s

Don’t forget to DONATE to TNF ALpha Group’s Leukemia and Lymphoma Society fund HERE!

Check it : “it’s gold!” - raves iheartcomix, as they should and as you will!  Nickhook.1, a dance mix exclusive for Taste has me shaking my butt all over my office!
Hit more for the story and the full tracklisting…
DOWNLOAD HERE

hercules and love affair- blind (frankie knuckles remix)
claude von stroke- beware of the bird (dirtybird) original mix
ace of the clubs- fruit acid
eli escobar- one evening
model 500- starlight
metro area- erodyne
the tuss= alspacka
dj spen- alt mix(tedd’s beat goes on)
modeselector- white flash
rekid- next stop chicago ( jesse rose mix)
frankie bones- break goes on & on
green velvet- explorer
egg foo young- up it
nine inch nails- ghosts 1
men women and children- dance in my blood(justin v/tyler pope remix)
kid cudi- day and night]

FROM NICK HOOK:

“I start everyday with a coffee from 9th street espresso in the east village. Then I go out on the bench, smoke some cigarettes and collect my thoughts to make the day go by exactly how I want it. I realized that it was time for me to go home and blast out a mix.

It had been a while since I made one and I was feeling really inspired by quite a bit of music lately. Sometimes you realize that often when you’re djing you have to completely take whats important to you out of the equation and satisfy the crowd.

SO, I had the idea to make a mix that i would want to hear in 2 situations.

THE FIRST: being on my skateboard rolling thru new york right when the sun starts to go down
THE SECOND: being 3:30a.m. to 4:15 when the club knows something great is going on and lets you stay open for another few minutes.

I finished this up and rolled by 647 Broadway which was the original loft and kind of hoped that maybe in 2008 I can help carry some of that spirit on.

To bring things full circle, my long time 9th street confidant Joey Rubin heard the mix and was interested in making it a TASTE exclusive. Obviously, I happily obliged since its a company I support and believe in strongly.

Now you have the music and we plan to do this monthly. Please support the artists on this mix and in my eyes they are all doing things that people should be hearing whether the music is old or new.”

enjoy,
nick hook & taste

The event concept is truly unique, as TOYS and DIM SUM both are brought around on dim sum carts.
Servers issue you your food and items, and complete your checkout card.
Payment is tendered in the traditional Chinese Food Service style… bring your bill to the front.

Beda, Joey from Taste Crew and I all had a awesome time, and mad props to Singha Beer, Alec from Mimobot, Bill McMullen, and The Sucklord.

Video wrap is here : http://suckadelic.com/Realms2.html

Photo Gallery of Toy Sum is here : http://bedaandseanmakemesick.com/gallery

Updated the TNf Alpha Group landing page with live feeds from the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, and links to our NEW Active Collab donation page.
I styled the fundraising page, to be inline with our groups brand

While this all sounds interesting, the point is to get YOU to go donate to the LLS.

Help us Raise some money for a good cause!!

http://www.photobytone.com/ AND http://thetastecrew.com/ don’t sleep DC.