True Blood Ad - T.B.A.

Wanted to share this new ad for TrueBlood cuz I felt it really relates to what I do in my Advertising Concepts class. See I looked at this ad and right away I got the concept, and that's how most ads should be. Even if I had no idea what this show was about, I could get a general feel at least which is enough to keep me interested. Does anyone else feels differently about this?

John Coy at CSULA!

So last Thursday we had a guest speaker here as part of GAUGE guest speaker series. He was the legendary John Coy (as in Washington Mutual logo John Coy!) What he had to say really resonated with me especially during this point in my life. He made a great deal of enthuses on finding yourself as an artist, finding what you are good at and then really exploring it and developing it. He also talked about his creative process, how he tries to never overthink things and have it be more of an organic process. He says as long as you are thinking about it in the back of your head, things will happen and appear that will give you ideas on your project. I have always struggled with over analyzing things, which can be a bit destructive especially if I can't seem to come up with any good ideas. I really need to learn to take things easy, if things don't come to me right away, let it go, do something else and then come back to it at a later time when you might be more in-tuned with things. Hearing John speak I think really helped me, in terms of my pre-graduation anxiety. As I am getting ready to graduate a lot is going through my mind, like will I find work, will it be at a crappy place or a place where I can grow and learn in. All these things interfere with my self confidence, which I hate! I've decided to make a conscious effort to just relax, take it easy, and let things take it's course!

Making Dollar Bills More Interesting? At What Price? HA! (get it?! dollar bills, price?) lol hmph : \

Hi Kids!! Wanted to share something that was on my mind. :)

Having just seen a graffi exhibit at the Geffen, called Art In the Streets (which was actually pretty interesting, you can find out more here), I've been sensitive to the idea of public art and specifically that fine line between art and crime. Then I came across this. What might that be? Yes the dollar bill of course, oh the fun in defacing presidents! LOL Actually this is quite neat. Check out the rest of the bills here:

Click Me!

Do you guys think this is art or a crime? As visual artists, most of us will regard this as art, just like most of us regard graffiti as art, however....... according to US law, and I quote: "Whoever mutilates, cuts, defaces, disfigures, or perforates, or unites or cements together, or does any other thing to any bank bill, draft, note, or other evidence of debt issued by any national banking association, or Federal Reserve bank, or the Federal Reserve System, with intent to render such bank bill, draft, note, or other evidence of debt unfit to be reissued, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than six months, or both."

So now we come to the age old question of artistic freedom and doing things in the name of art. With graffiti, I can understand the argument of defacing someone elses property, however, money, it is something we earn, and I want do whatever the hell I want to do with them (and I usually do anyway), so why not make art with them? What are your thoughts?

When Headlines Make No Sense :)

Just had to share this!

LOL

AIGA Student Portfolio Day!!!!

All the sweat and blood of getting my portfolio ready in time for the AIGA Student Portfolio Day has paid off! I had the most amazing time today! I met some of LA most leading designers and got to meet with a bunch of them one-on-one. Below is a list of designers I got to speak with:

10am - Dominic Parero
10:30am - Ishmael Obrigon
11am - Vesna Petrovic
11:20am - Linda Weinman (THE creator of LYNDA.COM!)
(yummy lunch)
(Got to see Rebecca Mendez speak and talk about her amazing work)
2:20pm - Dave Stolte
3:00pm - Milka Broukhim
3:20pm - John Coy

After already speaking with 7 amazing designers, I decided just for the hell of it to walk by the room Rebecca Mendez was in, knowing full well she was completely booked up. As if by chance, the person she was suppose to see, hasn't showed up quite yet, and there was some confusion as to who should go next, so I ceased the opportunity and quickly snuck in and sat down with her!!!!! What she had to say was very enlightening. She praised most of my work, and gave me very good constructive criticism as well. She loved the directions that I was exploring both personally and technically and told me to push for more extremes and exploration. She has mentioned an upcoming show at the Pasadena Museum of Californian Art called "Getting Upper: Graphic Designers and Artists Reconsider the Alphabet". She recommended I go see it since I am so passionate about typography. I looked it up and found the info, the opening reception is on May 14th from 7-10pm, you can find the rest here:

Click Me

Overall it was a very positive day. I left with a sense of accomplishment. Everyone I spoke with praised my work, though they all mentioned things that I could improve on and I definitely feel that I still have TONS of learning to do to hopefully one day find my true voice.

Conversation Provoking Tag Lines

Came across this article in the Advocate talking about a billboard which has people talking. You can take a look at it here:

Click Me!


Having just completed a project consisting of pro and con arguments in regards to Gay Marriage, this stood out to me. The people behind the ad, Central United Methodist Church, said that this ad is intended to be a conversation piece between people of differing perspectives and I honestly think it is a very interesting approach. The tag line "Being Gay is a Gift from God" displayed in Toledo, Ohio is sure as hell going to raise some religious peoples eyebrows. Considering how this is a billboard that people drive by, many probably will just see that line rather than anything else on this ad, unless they actually stop. The idea is simple.... if God created this universe, then he must have created everything with a purpose and a reason, because God... being God... doesn't make mistakes, right? I think this is an interesting approach to pro-gay issues from an angle that religious people could understand. What do you guys think?

What did you do this weekend?

Mine was a "Lost Weekend" lol. I tried catching up on TV as part of mine "Back to Civilization" campaign, especially since I am now taking this Advertising Art Direction class where we have to be familiar with whats happening in the TV Land. However I mostly felt like I wasted a bunch of time, so I am hopeful that this has helped me on some sort of a subconscious level, and will allow me to write better headlines that make references to popular media.