The Jay Leno Show – Out of The Box & Already Dated
Congratulations to Jay Leno for spending his retirement in primetime. We’ve been looking forward to his return for three months, and the commercials promoting it have been driving us crazy. So, how did the first show go?
The intro had an interesting concept behind it – showing images of Jay over the years – but I did not feel the execution was done well. It already seems dated, like a Saturday Night Live intro from the 90s, and the voice over was rather anticlimactic.
His new set is also designed with a flair of 1990 but materials from 2009. The design is too literal in regards to a living room design, and the chair set up reminds me of the Montel Williams Show, among others. The stage is huge! There are at least four zones – Primetime Band area, desk, interview area, and performing space. The set is so large that it seems disconnected during studio pans and jib shots. I do like the band shell area, it allows for a lot of flexibility by the performers in regards to space planning and décor.
The show itself will improve over time, this first episode seemed a little forced. The oddest thing happened during the interview with Seinfeld when a TV monitor dropped from the ceiling so Oprah could talk. Both Jay and Jerry looked in the direction of the screen as if it were there, but due to camera shake and other rendering glitches we find that the TV monitor is actually keyed in. That’s right, they spend a lot of money on Jay’s set, but someone thought that a digital representation of a TV monitor was a better decision than really putting out the money for it. Later in the show Kanye West made an appearance and apologized for his actions during the Video Music Awards when he grabbed the mic from Taylor Swift and announced that Beyonce should have won. While Jay was talking to him he looked like a little kid in a principal’s office, especially when Jay asked if his mother would be disappointed if she were still living.
Overall I enjoyed the show and know that they will continue to tweak it as the show progresses -the first show is always the roughest. I wish Jay and the cast and crew luck. A lot of shows were cancelled to make way for this one, so I hope the show develops into a really strong and entertaining piece of television history.
Design Star – Tony Pulls It Off
I HATE reality TV! With that said, I enjoy Design Star on HGTV …I know it seems a bit hypocritical, but it’s my blog. I like this show because the contestants are critiqued in a similar fashion to what we professional creatives sometimes hear from our supervisors and/or clients. Vern Yip is my favorite when it comes to comments. Season after season he comes up with some real gems like: “It looks like a rainbow threw up in there” and “I always think the goal of this exercise is to not make it look like you shopped at the 99¢ store.”
This season I was betting that Dan and Antonio would be the last two designers standing, but what happened next I was not expecting. Both designers have shown real strengths in design, and Antonio is the only designer in the season not to have ended up in the bottom two (Dan was there twice, if I remember right). I was betting on Dan. He is branded more for HGTV and has pushed the envelop with class. Antonio is cocky, but knows how to get the work done. He came up with some elements that the judges really liked – think pink geese on a white wall – he definitely pushes the envelope and a different, and sometimes unexpectedly, and exciting way. He enjoys what he does, and by working as a set designer knows what tight deadlines are really like.
I thought Dan had the upper hand in the final challenge. His design was mostly finished and polished; he presented a cohesive aesthetic experience that included flow and real world solutions. Antonio’s work I thought lacked overall composition and aesthetic aptitude. The use of green was too prevalent, the groupings of accessories and wall-mounted artwork were done poorly in respect to balance, and the space plan was confusing. His past work was much stronger than what he showed in the final challenge.
One really cool thing about this finally is that I was monitoring and contributing to the #designstar hashtag on twitter in real time. I could sum up what I thought of Antonio’s space with:
“Antonio’s house on design star looks like a college kid had a budget and some time …sorry Tony, Dan’s gonna win”
but to my dismay Antonio pulled it off, which warranted this tweet in regards to Dan not making the final cut:
“That’s like Kevin Dyson falling at the 1 yd line to lose Super Bowl XXXIV”
According to the poll on AOL, I’m not the only one who thinks that – at this time 52% of voters feel Dan should have one to 42% who voted for Antonio.
This season of Design Star was good; I think I’ll continue to watch next season. Antonio, you are a talented designer and have the cojones to stick to your guns. You may represent a new direction for the HGTV brand, and I wish you luck with the new show.
Inspired to Drink – Little Label, Big Ideas
Let’s face it; we all have the occasional project that we just can’t get started. No matter how hard we try to find the aesthetic metaphor that would encapsulate the hopes and dreams of our clients, we stumble out of the gate when we should be racing toward the finish. It’s a creative form of writer’s block (not to say writing isn’t creative, just a different form of creativity). So how do you overcome this wall of artistic destitute?
Like many designers, I enjoy a good a drink. Beyond the exciting array of flavors, bouquet of scents, and the occasional inebriated search of self-wonder, remember to look at the outside of the bottle. I absolutely love the artwork bestowed upon the labels and bottles of alcohol containers. This market contains some of the best, and possibly worst, examples of illustration, packaging, and textures. When I get stuck on a project, nothing gets my creative juices flowing like a quick trip to liquor store. In fact, I don’t even have to buy, or drink, anything during my search. Wine bottles are my preferred source of inspiration. Depending on region, vintner, bottling method, vintage, etc there is a plethora of styles, materials, and designs available to motivate you.
In addition to perusing the halls of liquor stores, I have started collecting labels of my own. The Wine Enthusiast is one of a few companies who have a product called “Label Savers.” This product allows you to peel almost any label off almost any bottles. I collect the labels, and when I need quick inspiration for color, texture, or style the labels are at my disposal.
So next time you get stuck and just need some inspiration head out to your local liquor store (as if you need an excuse), and check out what’s on the shelves. Good luck and happy drinking searching.
Please comment: What do you use as a source of creative inspiration?
Miami Home Design & Remodeling Show
Once again Labor Day weekend welcomed the Home Design and Remodeling Show to the Miami Beach Convention Center. The show is mainly aimed at homeowners and shows a wide array of spas, pools, outdoor living, and wall and floor treatments. Along with these permanent additions, items for the kitchen, cleaning tools, furniture, and window treatments are shown as well. This season’s show seemed smaller than in years past in both attendance and exhibitors, but still created learning opportunities through a lecture series that took place on a feature stage. The show occurs once every season and bounces between the Broward County and Miami Beach Convention Centers. For more information on the next show you can check out their site.
The Great Grove Bed Race 2009
Coconut Grove was the location of this afternoon’s “Great Grove Bed Race.” This competition pits teams of 5 (one rider and four pushers) against each other to race down a 1/8th mile track; their vehicle is of course a twin-size bed.
Race events kicked off the evening before with a Pajama Pub Crawl through the Grove’s many watering holes with 100% of proceeds going to the Alonzo Mourning Charities. Race day began with the Ford Motor Company Family Pajama Party at The Bookstore and included the reading of “The Princess and the Pea” by the Alonzo Mourning Charities Honey Shine Girls, along with live music and book giveaways. At 1 PM the races began with the Pit Row Parade. At 2 PM time trials began down Grand Avenue, and by 4 PM the Sandbar Sports Grill team had clenched the win.
The event was fun. There were many creative ideas for beds – everything from a hospital gurney, to a cabana, and even a President Obama. I hope to be able to participate next year, nothing’s really filled the void left after Flugtag never returned to South Florida.
W Fort Lauderdale – Carpe Diem
The W Hotel Fort Lauderdale is as striking during the day as it is at night. The highly stylized interior combines clean lines and a neutral pallet with dimensional textures and splashes of blues and reds. Throughout the décor of the hotel a coral pattern is used in tasteful hints. The shape can be seen as a backlit abstract art feature, negative space in the coffee tables of the Living Room’s patio, and it is even severely abstracted, but still legible, along the walls and ceiling of the billiards area.
During the day the hotel has a quite calm about it. Light shines through skylights in the bottom of pool, which allows dancing light patterns to project along walls, floors, through staircases and into atriums. This adds a wonderful and soothing kinetic energy to the elegance of the Living Room and areas of the convention center. The ballrooms feature plush benches with bench-to-ceiling upholstered walls, the ceiling design looks like giant woven bands, and the chandeliers are reminiscent of floral flash used on Broadway.
Water features, fresh flowers and river-rock are used as accents throughout the common areas, and the whole hotel has an open and airy vibe during the day. The hotel was so calm – even mid-morning on the Friday of Labor Day Weekend – that I would love to have daytime client meetings there
The W Fort Lauderdale is truly a stunning hotel. It has the styling of South Beach with the more laid-back feel of Fort Lauderdale. Thanks again to my friends at O’Connell & Goldberg for recommending a visit to the hotel.
He Shoots. He Projects?! – Nikon CoolPix S1000pj
Do you like being able to show off your photos immediately to your friends? Are you a creative professional who needs to go from inspiration to presentation seamlessly? Nikon might be able to help.
The new Nikon Coolpix s1000pj is both a camera and a projector! That’s right you can show off your photos (and video) instantly with this new Compact Digital Camera – the projected image size ranges from 5” to 40”! Not only does it function as a camera and projector, but it also comes packed with the features you’ve come to expect from Nikon.
Here’s a breakdown of some key features within the camera:
- 12.1 Megapixels
- 5x Wide-angle Zoom-Nikkor Glass Lens
- World’s first camera with an ultra-small, built-in projector
- 5-way VR Image Stabilization System
- Incredible, Bright 2.7-inch High Resolution LCD
- Scene Auto Selector
- Nikon’s Smart Portrait System
- Quick Retouch
- 16 Scene Modes
- Record movies
- Macro shooting
You can even purchase a projector stand and remote control for easy viewing.
I won’t be abandoning my D90 for this little ditty anytime soon, but this is yet another example of Nikon’s forward thinking in design and innovation. A special thanks to @Tracydesigns for tweeting about it!
The DISINTEGRATOR – When Office Supplies Turn Deadly!
Sorry kids, work is calling around the clock this week – you know, the paying kind – so I leave you with this video:
And now you know that rubber bands are for more than just keeping your blueprints rolled; office supplies never looked so intimidating – or cool! If you’re interested in how the gun was built, it’s specifications, or anything else you can check it out here.
5 Ways to Stay Current as a Creative
You’ve been downsized, laid-off, or decided it was time to strike out on your own and try the world of full-time freelancing and consulting…Now what? In school we’re taught that “no one designs in a vacuum”, but lets face it, when your whole company consists of you, your computer, and maybe a pet, you are not constantly surrounding by other creatives that provide inspiring stimuli. Have no fear, here are five ways I’ve found to keep myself out of the vacuum and up to date while working as a design consultant:
1. Stay in the loop through social media
Social media can mean different things to different people, but what it comes down to is forging relationships with people online who you may not have otherwise met or stayed in contact with. Though reluctant to it at first, I have found Twitter to be one of the most informational and beneficial social media hubs. The reason for this is because I follow other professionals, media outlets, and design related companies and websites through Twitter. Here’s an example of a tweet from Smashing Magazine:
“@SmashingMag: 30 Amazing Retro Posters and Flyers – http://bit.ly/nG9i4 – #retro #inspiration”
If I’m interested in the topic I don’t have to search through the website, because the link is right there. Other good online networking and portfolio sites are: Facebook, LinkedIn, Behance, and Coroflot.
2. Socialize and network in real face-to-face situations.
If you are on Twitter or Tumblr you might want to attend a local tweetup, where twitter members gather to have real conversations. Refresh and barcamp activities are usually free and informative. The open platform allows for a wide variety of topics to be covered by several presenters. Meetup.com is another great resource. You can find social groups for just about anything. I’ve written several posts about the Shoot Miami photography group that I belong to, but there are groups for WordPress, photoshop, young professionals, etc.
You can also go to art galleries, design events, museum openings, and other social events. Mix with a new demographic, tell them what you do, and maybe you’ll generate some new business contacts.
3. Read industry (and non-industry) related publications:
You don’t have to subscribe to the publications because most of them are online. Some of my favorites for inspiration are: Smashing Magazine, Inspired Magazine, Freelance Switch, Web Designer Depot, and Wired Magazine, and I still receive printed versions of Event Design Magazine. Computer Arts Magazine is a great resource that I check out when I go to book stores, and Smithsonian Magazine and Reader’s Digest are a great resources for escaping from all the creative stimulus when you want a well written and engaging story.
4. Start a blog:
Having a blog and actually trying to write interesting, topical, and engaging information everyday really helps to change your thinking. You start looking for new technologies, techniques, events, and anything else worthy of note to add to your blog. Pick a general topic you are interested in and write about it. As our good friend Benjamin Franklin said: “Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing.”
5. Expand your creative horizons:
While working full-time you probably hit a comfortable stride. You knew what your boss wanted to see, how things should be done, and what type of clientele you were dealing with, so shake it up a little bit! Do projects outside of your comfort zone; this helps you expand your design reach. Be careful not to over extend yourself, but look for a project that is in a different style than what you are used to, or a new industry that you haven’t explored. E.g. I recently created a logo for a cake decorator. Most of the concepts I did were feminine with script fonts. This is not my usual style at all, but it expanded my design style a little further.
Another great thing you can do is volunteer. Find a museum or charitable organization within your field to help support with your time. You’ll feel better about yourself, have access to industry developments, and make valuable contacts all while doing some good in your community.
Hopefully these 5 little tips will help to keep you out of that design vacuum. Good luck in this new phase of your life, and remember to enjoy the journey.
Where Is Bartleby? 