Shoot the Day: July 20th

Stock photography agency PhotoShelter, along with Apple, Nikon, and others are sponsoring the first ever "Shoot the Day" worldwide event and contest:

"Wherever you are on July 20th, PhotoShelter wants you to Shoot! The Day. The mission is to revitalize stock photography. Thousands of photographers worldwide will connect, take pictures, and learn. Together we'll make the stock photo supply fresh again... In doing so, we'll also create success for photographers who want to sell their work as stock."

Details and categories here.

Recycled Bags - Three Inspirational Brands

Looking for a bag that says “me be hip, urban, and environmentally responsible? Vy&Elle, Freitag, and Baumm are three inspirational companies that use recycled billboards, truck tarpaulins, and seat belts to compose sharp, one-of-a kind accessories.

Based in Tucson, Arizona, Vy&Elle was founded in 2002 by British designer Nicola Freeguard. As of 2007 the company has reused over 100 tons of PVC billboard vinyl to create colorful totes, messenger bags, and other accessories.

Read more:
www.handbagdesigner101.com
Vy&Elle Bags, Treehugger.

If you've never seen a Freitag bag or surfed their ultracool website, just stop and click: Freitag. Around since 1993, the popular European brand offers an extensive line of graphically bold bags, computer and iPod cases made from truck tarpaulins, seat belts, and bike tubes. One of their newest products, the F84 Mac Sleeve Air is constructed from rooftop tarps and looks like a manila envelope.

The company’s keen eye for design is evident not only in its products, but also by its website. Be sure to play with the F-cut tool, which allows you to move stencils over a selection of truck tarpaulins and "cut out" your own bag.







Last but not least, Baumm is based in Buenos Aires and, like Vy&Elle, uses old billboards as its material source. Interweaving the arts with environmentally conscious product design, Baumm collaborates with artists and has also has entered the realm of furniture design. Especially clever is their concept “B-own,” whereupon Baumm designs bags with a company’s billboard campaign and gives them back to the same company as a new marketable product.

Read More:
Baumm Recycled Advertisement Bags, Inhabitat.

Animated Mural

Italian artist Blu and his crew put together this excellent stop motion video called MUTO. Captured in a series of stills, the characters in the mural move across the walls and streets of Buenos Aires. Must see not-TV, for sure. I also enjoyed his sketchbook series entitled, Four Suicides. Paperwork. It's a killer. Found on Gizmodo.

Pro Photography use of iPhone

Like you're just starving for another excuse to get a new iPhone, right? So here's an article listing 10 Ways Professional Photographers Can Use the iPhone. Gotta say it would make a good pocket portfolio.

Turf Tube Protects Tushes

Live through an Arizona summer and you’ll quickly learn that the most innocuous objects – flip flops, cell phones, patio furniture – can transform into searing weapons. To protect our rears from burns, Michael Dollin and crew from Urban Earth Design have invented Turf Tube, an indoor/outdoor seat covered in artificial turf. In contrast to materials such as concrete, steel, wood, or plastic, which can heat from 10-45 degrees above ambient temperature, artificial turf increases a respectable six. The turf's rapid heat dissipation makes it ideal to withstand the Arizona desert heat, where summer ambient temperatures range from 100 to 120 degrees. In addition to their burn-free surface, the no-frill Turf Tubes are durable, customizable, and manufactured locally. The designers envision a host of turf-topped possibilities including coolers, grills, lounge chairs, trash cans, lights, bar stools, swings, and pillows.
See also: Phoenix Home & Garden - Turf Tube

100+ Cool Business Cards

I am just about out of business cards, and I found two great sites full of inspirational designs: 42 Awesome Business Card Designs, and 70 Amazing Business Cards.

Flip a Strip - Rethinking the Strip Mall

Challenging designers to "transcend the non-descript status quo" of the Strip Mall, the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art organized a part invite, part open competition requiring participants to "Flip a Strip." The competition received 95 entries from teams in 46 cities and 6 countries. SMOCA recently announced the top ten finalists, which included three Phoenix architecture firms: Architecture-Infrastructure-Research, Scottsdale AZ, Gould Evans, Phoenix AZ, and Marlene Imirzian & Associates, Phoenix AZ. Work by these and other finalists will be the focus of an exhibit at SMOCA running October 4 through January 18 2008.

The Dangers of Stock Photography

I'd be smiling too if I had that many laptops. Remember to scope out your competition before buying stock photography.

Business Software for Photographers

ASMP put together this handy list of pricing guides and back-office software for photographers.

Work for Hire Contracts

I was asked recently to assemble a post about Work for Hire contracts to give artists and students the opportunity to read about this process and educate themselves before entering into one with a client. Generally it's considered a bad idea for an artist to sign a Work for Hire contract because it strips the artist of all rights and claim of ownership. There are exceptions of course, and ultimately it's up to you whether you sign it or decline it, but you should know what you're getting into. Let's start with a good 'ol Wikipedia definition of a Work for Hire Contract. Now let's take a look at an essay by Attorney Lloyd J. Jassin titled, Working with Freelancers: The Work for Hire Doctrine. In it, he represents the client hiring the freelance artist. Now for the artists point of view: Photographers should check out this primer on Work for Hire contacts by ASMP (The American Society of Media Photographers), while Illustrators and Designers can review this article, What does "Work for Hire" mean for designers? by AIGA, the professional association for design.

Photoshop Express

After a few months of teasing, Adobe has released Photoshop Express to the masses. Gadget blog Gizmodo has a write up, alongside Adobe's press release. This new online version of photoshop will sync with myspace, facebook, and eventually - flickr. The idea of free Photoshop for every myspace user is a little scary, but I guess when it's estimated that 60% of your product is being pirated, you have to make some changes to the business model.

Jumping From Space

A friend recently shared this video with me. Although the event itself occurred almost 50 years ago, making it older than the internet, it's still pretty incredible. I guess they had video cameras attached to him, and the balloon. The result is magical. I think the song is by Unkle, but I'll leave it to the music snobs to correct me.

Branding Obama: A Designer's Breakdown

Newsweek has an interesting interview with designer Michael Bierut in which he breaks down the elements of the current presidential campaigns, paying particular attention to Senator Barack Obama's cohesive branding across print, event, and the web. Judge for yourself with these links to the current candidate's websites: Clinton, Huckabee, McCain, Obama, and Paul.

Getty Images Bought by Private Equity

If you were ever wondering how many stock images you could buy with 2 Billion Dollars, then private equity firm Hellman & Friedman has your answer: All of Getty Images. I have nothing else to add, except to brag that I guessed "private equity firm" when I was talking about the pending sale of Getty with food photographer and former Swanstock exec Jackie Alpers.

101 Ways Designers Can Change the Earth

Here's a great list, courtesy of The School of Visual Concepts, Seattle, in cooperation with AIGA Seattle and Aquent, entitled, 101 Things Designers Can Do to Save the Earth. The list includes some sites to visit, books to read, and things to ask your printer.

Are You Being Greenwashed?

Interesting article about companies trying to appear green, and what designers can do ensure they really are making socially responsible decisions, and not just "greenwashing". From businessweek.com via Phoenix Ad Club

A Photo History Find

The New York Times Art and Design section writes of a recent photo find, featuring the 100 year old work of Edward Steichen, famous for his early color photographs, winning an Academy Award for best documentary, and serving as Director of Photography at New York's Museum of Modern Art. More recently, he made news when one of his early 1900's platinum prints, "The Pond - Moonlight" broke the record for photography auction at Sotheby's with a price of $US 2.9 Million.

Record Setting Nude Photo

Artist Spencer Tunick staged a record setting group nude photo in Mexico City's Zocalo Square. 18,000 people posed for the photograph, as police and no-fly zones kept the onlookers at bay. Tunick is famous for similar shoots in Germany and Spain.

And while we're delving into NSFW territory with a little nudity, here's an interesting blog submitted to me by an artist simply titled, "Sex in Art". 18 and over only, please! The site does contain some graphic imagery, and as a precaution, I'm linking to their disclaimer page.

Copyright Tools

Copyright Navigator: A Digital Annotated Concept Map of the Fundamentals of U.S. Copyright Law by Professor Lionel S. Sobel is a pretty awesome interactive flowchart that lays out the fundamentals of copyright law, and how it pertains to things like enforcement and fair use.

Ready to register those works of art? The United States Copyright Office has the step by step instructions and required forms for copyright registration of various flavors, including visual arts, literary works, performance art etc..

Creative Commons has a new "Termination of Transfer" tool based on the US Copyright Act that assists artists in reclaiming copyrights given away long ago. 35 years, to be exact. via boingboing.

Here's an interesting article in The Wall Street Journal about some new tools that can scan the web for violation of copyright. Attributor and Copyscape are the key players right now.

UPDATES 5/2/08

Attributor just raised 12 million and has the support of Condé Nast.

Photographic Forgeries

Awesome article in Science News about detecting photographic forgeries with software and math. You may recall this past year a Reuters Photographer was given the boot for cloning some smoke in an image of the war in Lebanon.

More on the forthcoming suite of photo authentication tools from Adobe via Wired Magazine.

UPDATE: CBS News looks at The Art Of Image Altering.

Kodak Rolling out New Products

Kodak's been busy with a few new product rollouts. Shown above, is the 100 Year ink cartridge for their new line of printers.

And check out this new mini printer with a built in camera - The Zink. Is this the return of the instant Polaroid?

Review of Super Bowl Commercials

Bob Garfield of AdAge reviews this year's Super Bowl commercials; Worst, consumer generated, best, and the biggest blunders. His take? Lots of slapstick violence with a dash of sexual insecurity. You can watch all the commercials at AdCritic.

Geotagging Images

AKA Geocoding, AKA GPS Photo Tagging, AKA I'm not sure what we're officially calling this yet, is the method of using GPS (global positioning) to Tag images with location specific meta-information. Software for iPhoto and linking to Google Earth here, and more options including Flickr and Aperture here. via TUAW.

UPDATE: Review of GiSTEQ, a device that syncs to your camera's clock and records you location for three weeks. via engadget.

Jail Time for Guerrilla Ad Campaign?

The city of Boston suffered a terrorist scare, as the guerrilla marketing campaign for the Aqua Teen Hunger Force cartoon on Adult Swim resulted in calls reporting "suspicious devices" - possibly Improvised Explosive Devices. Boing Boing is covering the story in detail. Fark has a funny thread going on the CNN story, Flickr has photos of the devices, and Gizmodo is reporting the devices are selling on eBay for 5 Grand. It's a crazy world!

UPDATE: Oh my god. The guys responsible for the stunt held a press conference outside the court where they refused to answer any questions that did not relate to 1970's haircuts. This can only get funnier. CBS4 Boston has the video.

UPDATE 2: So how much did this little fiasco cost? Turner Broadcasting has agreed to pay one million dollars.

UPDATE 3: City of Boston drops the charges. via boingboing.

CGI and the Undead

I was watching TV the other night, and I was a little surprised to see Orville Redenbacher back as a pitchman for his brand of popcorn. Surprised of course, because Redenbacher died in 1995. But through the magic of CGI, and stand-in actors, Mr. Redenbacher is making a comeback, and rockin' a new MP3 Player. Watch the commercial here.

Update: USA Today article. CP+B is the Agency.

Insight Argentina and ph15 Documentary

Recently, my friend's volunteer placement organization, Insight Argentina, was the subject of a documentary:

Insight Argentina: Volunteering in Argentina's Social Sector
Directed by Mimi Butler and funded by Jennifer Webster

The second half of the film focuses on ph15, a photography workshop founded by Martin Rosenthal for the children of the "Hidden City" - a slum on the outskirts of Buenos Aires. You can learn more here and here. The ph15 portion of the documentary begins at the 15:30 mark. You can watch the documentary full-size and choose scenes at Google Video. Visit Insight Argentina if you are looking for a South American adventure in social volunteerism.

New Artist: Irene Peña

Store 44 Reps welcomes photographer Irene Peña! Hailing from Costa Rica and schooled in Los Angeles, Irene is a fashion photographer with an eye for motion. Her work was recently featured in a group show at San Francisco's Geras Tousignant Gallery.

The Gift of a Water Buffalo

Happy Holidays! I wanted to share with you one of the more memorable gifts I've received in a long time - a real live water buffalo from Heifer International! That's her in the picture with her adoptive mom - a subsistence farmer in Asia. The buffalo will provide support to the family farm with milk and hard work, and when she has calves, they will be passed on to others in community, helping a new family move towards self-reliance. Can't beat that for a gift that keeps on giving!
If you're looking for a unique present, dispense with the usual gift baskets and grab someone a Llama or a Pig!
You can learn more about Heifer International and their "Passing on the Gift" program in this video.

Finding and Working with a Rep

I'm often asked by artists and students about how to find and work with an Artist Representative. I have assembled this post in an attempt to link to some relevant articles on the subject, and I will update it as I find new info on the web.

UPDATE 6/10/08:

I found this list of Visual Artist Representatives in our website referral list. It has a number of agencies geared towards the professional commercial artist.

Industry sites like AltPick, WorkBook, and Directory of Illustration have listings of artist reps available. The Alternative Pick has great interviews with Reps from around the world that shed some light onto how they think. Store 44 Reps was interviewed in 2005. Do you research, and see what is a good fit for you.

Selina Oppenheim Maitreya wrote a great piece, titled How to Find and Work with a Rep. I couldn't find the original article on her site, so link goes to cached version at Internet Archive. This article was last updated in 2000, so keep that in mind where prices are quoted. Selina is a portfolio consultant, and her book How to Succeed in Commercial Photography: Insights from a Leading Consultant is available on Amazon.

Joshua Kaufman, Lawyer and member of the Art Copyright Coalition, wrote an article that dismisses the analogy of an artist-rep relationship being like a marriage, and raises another point that can never be said enough: "Any artist who does not look after their careers in a business like manner, will eventually run into a great deal of difficulty and more often than not, fail as a professional artist."

For photographers, look to your local APA or ASMP Chapter. Required reading for photographers is the ASMP Professional Business Practices in Photography, which contains a sample Artist-Agent contract and additional information on working with a Rep.

For illustrators, Art Talk over at the iSpot has a couple of good threads on finding and working with a Rep. For further reading, pick up a copy of the Graphic Artist's Guild Pricing and Ethical Guidelines, which has a sample Rep contract, as well as more info on the subject.

Serious artists should also look to Tad Crawford, who has a cornucopia of books on legal forms for commercial and fine artists.

There is another facet to finding and working with a rep that I should mention, which is Portfolio Consultation. You can expect to pay a rep or portfolio consultant anywhere from 200 to 5,000+ dollars for this service, with varying degrees of intensity. Not every artist needs a full-service rep, sometimes a portfolio and/or marketing plan tweak can make all the difference. In this relationship, the rep/consultant is hired by the artist for a brief time to review the portfolio, recommend changes, new strategies, discuss market opportunities, etc. etc. 1 Port Authority, Shannon Associates, Chatterbox, and Bobbie Wendt come to mind. There are many other similar services, so do your research and make sure you're getting what you want. Store 44 Reps offers this service with an emphasis on portfolio creation and revision.

Photoshop CS3 Beta Available

The Unofficial Apple Weblog is reporting on the availability of Photoshop CS3 Beta. Think Secret says that it could be available as early as this week. via TUAW:

UPDATE: It's here! Download Photoshop CS3 Beta

Aperture vs Lightroom

Article comparing Lightroom and Aperture. Pros, cons, and current feature set. Via TUAW:

UPDATE: A 30 Day Test Trial of Aperture is now available from Apple.

New Website for AIGA

UPDATED 6/07

AIGA National updated the Design and Business Ethics Manual. This is a great resource for walking clients through the various avenues of the creative process. The manual is separated into 8 PDFs covering photography, copyright, print design and environmental responsibility, and other topics.

The Arizona chapter of AIGA, the professional association for design, just went live with a re-vamped website. New features include a calendar with local and national events, news, discussion boards, and a job bank.

AIGA, the professional association for design, is committed to furthering excellence in design as a broadly-defined discipline, strategic tool for business and cultural force. AIGA is the place design professionals turn to first to exchange ideas and information, participate in critical analysis and research and advance education and ethical practice.

Making Daguerreotypes

Here's an article about making Daguerreotype photographs, the first patented photographic process, using iodine and silver. Article includes links to samples and Daguerreotype archives. Article and photo found via Make:

Review of Quark vs. In Design

Interesting article on ars technica entitled, An InDesign user's review of QuarkXpress 7 which puts the two packages to the test, and reviews the pros and cons of each application.

UPDATE: There's an article on PowerPage about Quark's new Interactive Designer.

New Beta of Adobe Lightroom Available

There is a new beta available of Adobe Lightroom. It looks like the Mac version is available for download now, and there's a sign-up page for a Win version.

Interactive Billboards

Found on Engadget: You can now plug your headphones into an interactive transit ad if you are bored with the contents of your iPod. BBDO designed the ad. More info on this, and some other great links at Advertising Design Goodness.

iTunes Offering Print Magazines

As reported on TUAW, iTunes is now offering downloadable PDFs of magazines. First up is The Fader. It's good to see traditional print media find a new outlet. Links and discussion at TUAW.

CoinStar-Style Kodak Scanning Machines

Coming soon to a grocery store near you: Batch scanning machines a la CoinStar. Kodak recently unveiled a kiosk that batch scans your old print photos. Read the article at Wired. Found via Engadget.

Mac Mini Media Center Project

Want to replace all your traditional home entertainment gear with a Mac Mini? Check out the Mac Mini Media Center Project which combines software and hardware to create a pretty slick TV experience. Having a big plasma TV helps.

Update: And now the battle brews between AppleTV and the Mini. via digg.

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