Design Firm Friday - 1 - B:løk

B:løk
The first firm I want to highlight, Blok, hails from Mexico and was founded in 1998 by Vanessa Eckstein. I am absolutely blown away every time I look at their portfolio and I felt like I should share. Some of my favorite work of their's is the identity systems, the use of colors, patterns and typography is stunning. With over 180 awards from such respected companies as Communication Arts, Applied Arts Magazine, ID Magazine, Graphis, Type Directors Club of New York, Print Magazine and many more, it's hard to not to jock. This firm is definitely bookmark worthy and good for continuous design inspiration. Enjoy...


































Communication Arts has an excelant article on Blok that is viable online at http://malaletra.com/blokarticle/u01t01.html
HOW Design has a short interview with Vanessa here.

Cut & Paste Competition

Ready for another competition? Think you are the quickest to think outside the box? Well then you should enter. This is a design competition that challenges the contestants to design a piece under time constraints in front of a live audience. This year is has expanded to include a 2d, 3d and a motion design segment.
They will be in San Francisco at Fort Mason on February 28, 2009 to conduct the city wide competition. The 3 winners will go to New York to compete against the other 48 winners from 16 cities around the world. To learn more about the event go to http://www.cutandpaste.com/
here is a video from 2007.

America's Top Graphic Designer

Wow, that name doesn't roll off your tongue like America's Next Top Model but it does sound a lot more interesting. I have often thought about our profession as a reality show but always discredited for one reason or another. Well all my questions have been answered! Soon 7 designers will compete for $50,000 of cash and prizes as well as the title of America's Top Graphic Designer. Sound fun? Do you think you have what it takes? If you live outside the box and work quicker than superman with his underwear on fire, then you should apply. Who-knows, maybe we will be watching you from our couches next year. CMYK will be conducting interviews in 6 major cities across the US, January 17th they are in Hollywood California.

To read more about the competition go check out their website http://www.cmykamerica.com/. Good luck

Crazy Time Lapse Video

This is nutty. I have to get into motion, this stuff's crazy. I believe it is an ad for Toshiba. You can read more here at http://www.larissameek.com/ where I found the video. Enjoy!

Live TL Webcam

Wow, if you live in San Francisco, then you know of the delightful little neighborhood known as the Tenderloin. And you also know that a lot of interesting shit goes down out there, well someone (apparently a guy named Adam) had the genius to put a couple 24 hour webcams up, live on the internet. It is set up with a view out of an apartment on Taylor Street and even has decent audio and live chat. Fun for hours, although I would definitely recommend the 7pm-3am showing, the freaks come out at night.


Check it out, here's the link

Let's be Friends

NETWORKING AND ONLINE PORTFOLIOS
Networking is one the most important parts to any job. This is especially true in field of art and design. I have heard professionals say that you should spend almost 50% of your time creating contacts and finding new leads. One great way to increase your professional network is to get a main online portfolio, and then set up links that re-direct back to your site. This will increase traffic and exposure, as well as give you a high ranking on Google and the other major search engines.

If you don't have a domain or you would like to increase traffic to your current site then set up accounts at the following online communities. All of these services are free and just take a little time to set up. Remember, it's okay to be a whore, especially when trying to increase your presence on the internet. Although face to face contacts and personal referrals is the best it's always good to retain internet real estate.
Join these sites then find me and add me as a friend.

coroflot
coroflot is the biggest creative network with over 100,000 portfolios. coroflot also has a huge job board that covers the whole creative spectrum.

TheCooler on coroflot

DeviantArt
DeviantArt is the largest art community in the world, where you can sell and share your artwork as well as find other artists.

JaimeGuadagni on DeviantArt

LinkedIn
With over 25 million members registered, LinkedIn is probably the largest professional networking site on the internet.

Jaime Guadagni on LinkedIn

Behance Network
Behance Network is a networking site for creative professionals that allows you to upload images of your work into a dynamic portfolio.

TheCooler on the Behance Network

VIRB
VIRB is a social community where you upload anything you make; photos, blogs, music, art, fashion, film, etc. into a customizable web platform.

The Cooler on VIRB

Graphic Design Community
A Graphic Design Community is a social networking community for professional graphic designers, web designers, and students.

The_Cooler on the Graphic Design Community

Computerlove™
Computerlove™ is a social platform for creative talents across the globe allowing you to create a portolio and browse others.

TheCooler on cplu

design:related
design:related is a community site and inspiration tool that brings together people from different disciplines of the design world. design:related as has an international job board.

TheCooler on design:related

Uber
Uber is a creative community that allows you to set up galleries, blogs, full websites, and contacts with a simple and clean interface.

TheCooler on Uber

facebook
facebook and MySpace are not the best for creative networking but you might as well join them since it won't hurt.

Jaime Guadagni on facebook

Once you have set up your online portfolio, submit your links to these sites in order to receive even more web traffic.

aiga.org (powered by coroflot)
dexigner.com
portfoliosfriend.com

New short term gig

I recently got a short gig working at the internationally recognized and award design firm, Chen Design Associates. They do great work, for companies such as The North Face®, Stanford, the AIGA, Yoshi's Restaurant and Jazz lounge and a bunch of others, definitely check out their site. Anyways, before I got the job I made a piece that I felt had a little of their style.

A subliminal message is hidden, can you find it?