July 20th, 2011 | Life
I found out late last night that I’ve lost my grandfather.
This blog section was never put up with the intention of archiving any deeply personal events in my life because, well, they’re deeply personal. I also don’t think I’m cut from that particular cloth of narcissism, nor do I think anyone particularly cares enough to read my dirty laundry in luminous 10pt Verdana. I’m making an exception here though after spending the past 24+ hours rolling through 24 years worth of memories because I feel he deserves a credit in this space – a special thanks, a dedication – for I would be nothing of an artist without this man.
If there is in fact a genetic component to what we refer to as “talent” (is that up for debate?), then the foundation on which all of my visual art-related skills are built was undoubtedly inherited from him. He was an incredibly skilled technical artist who, in many ways, never got his due. On top of drawing, painting, calligraphy & graphic design (which in his heyday lacked the luxury of vectors), he could sing, play a litany of musical instruments and was one hell of a carpenter. And from the moment I first took to paper with a Crayola-brand tool, he made it his duty to teach and encourage me to hone my “talent” to the point that he had & beyond.
I’ll never again draw a line or mix a colour or kern type without thinking of him and the torch he so eagerly passed down to me. And though I may create things in the name of others and send out further dedications in my lifetime, any piece of art that comes from that place will forever be for him, and because of him.
Thanks for everything Pete. A Rum & Coke for one will never be the same.
June 4th, 2010 | Design
Last night marked the 4th annual Student Animation Festival at Cawthra Park SS, my old alma mater. Being that I only spent two short years there as a student, and have not returned once since, just walking up the front steps to the main entrance shot me back in time and opened the floodgates for a tsunamis worth of memories, both good and bad.
It'd be nice if I could find an image of the school sized for viewing on anything other than a five year old cell phone
It was an odd feeling walking through those halls some 7 years into my own future – past my old locker, past my old classrooms…past the offices of the yearbook team, who were arbitrarily hazed on a daily basis as per a running joke within my clique of hilarious degenerates, and the vice principal, with whom I became far too familiar near the end of my tenure there. I suppose this is how John Cusack’s character felt in Grosse Pointe Blank? Minus the contract killing of course…and unfortunately, the reconnecting with an old flame. Just a brief hit of those same sights and smells definitely sparked a reflection on how different my life is today, and at the same time, how many things have not changed one bit.
I can’t wait for the 10-year reunion.
Anyway, enough of my inner monologue and on to the goods: this was my first stint as art director for the Animation Fest, a position I was proud to be placed in and one I hope to hold for years to come. John Bissylas, the festival’s director (as well as one of the few members of Cawthra’s staff my timetable was somehow never blessed with back in the day), brought me on in January to do a complete design overhaul – new logo, new aesthetic, new direction. The festival’s existing identity was solid – much of the work being put together, for the web at least, by John himself, making full use of his existing knowledge in Flash with a motif and concept revolving around a Cycladic head…which was flown all the way back from Greece only to spend what surely felt like an eternity collecting dust on the desk of a math teacher, staring at a classroom full of the insolent men and women of tomorrow.
A previous year's programme cover
An update was definitely in order though. Upon my initial viewing, much of the previous work screamed “MUSEUM!” to me, and that just wasn’t right. I knew immediately that I wanted to go for colour in a bold way – my predisposition for big, hot hues aside, this event is a celebration of art and animation, and as such, I felt it deserved to benefit from the full spectrum.
Thinking on paper
At the top of the agenda was the logo. While the festival had consistently stuck with the imagery of the head in years prior, they never touted any sort of official logo (or even an official typography for that matter), and that needed to change. The idea behind this design was to combine professionalism with a loose, creative, “cartoon” vibe, all while evoking their pre-established imagery.
(Click to enlarge)
The concept for the 2010 poster art grew from a proof of the logo shortly thereafter. While looking over a contact sheet of three different colourways for the logo design, it was suggested that repetition of the new logo could possibly serve as a design in and of itself, striking a Warhol-inspired chord. Rather than merely repeat the logo itself in a pattern however, I decided to run with the Warhol idea and went for a full-on pop art print look.
Further print materials followed – the show programme, certificate of achievement, lobby cards, tickets and whatever else was absolutely necessary to enhance this year’s event, which ended up going off without a hitch. It’s been an absolute pleasure to contribute to SAF 2010, and the fun isn’t over yet. Now that their shiny new identity is in place, it’s time for an online makeover – which should be live just in time for the announcement and rollout of next year’s festival. Stay tuned!
January 18th, 2010 | Film
Early last week I found myself deep within the throes of a conversation about Spider-Man on film…a dialogue which, ever since May of 07, has been routinely fated to steer in no direction other than further lamenting over the third installment’s metric assload of missteps, as well as my regardless excitement over the prospect that everyone involved would be able to get it together in the wake of another sequel. Now this was of course severely out of character for someone of my baditude – I’m usually much too busy loitering, drag racing my hot rod or betting on a cock fight to fumfer about and talk comic book movies, but it was a slow start to a slow week, so I went with it. It was later on that same evening, coincidentally enough, that I came across the freshly-reported news of Sam Raimi’s departure along with the rest of his well-established crew from the forthcoming Spider-Man 4, and Sony’s intent to reboot the franchise completely rather than continuing the saga they’ve spent the past decade constructing.
This was all somehow more unnerving to me than the majority of terrible entertainment news I’m battered with on a daily basis.
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