Sharing My Crayons

Time for Some Quick Ketchup . . .

Gone, gone, gone she been gone so long

she been gone, gone, gone so long

Gone, gone, gone she been gone so long

Wonder if I'm ever gonna see my girl

Chilliwack

Hard to believe I haven't posted anything since before Christmas – Yikes! That is some serious blog-neglect. And no, I haven't abandoned ship – I've just been sequestered below deck working the oars like a madman. I thought it high time for some quick ketchup . . . I mean catch-up.

Work flowing into Born to Design World Headquarters has increased exponentially (which is a very good thing) since the beginning of the year. A bit of what we've worked on: packaging redesigns, logo creation, collateral packages, retail floor displays, websites, product sell sheets, graphics for email marketing, brand development, as well as creating a complex website design and architecture with an intense level of client and end-user customizability.

We have done this work for a great influx of new clients (including two new clients that have kept things hopping quite a bit), as well as existing clients, new contacts within larger organizations where we have great existing client relationships, and with treasured longtime strategic partners.

On top of all that I have some great news to share – but it merits it's own post so it'll have to keep for another day or two.

With the workload looking pretty robust as I gaze out over the immediate horizon, I'm excited to see where God may lead in the coming months. Feels like some exciting things are bubbling just under the surface.

Stay tuned – we love having you along for the ride!

Behold the Power of Color

Of all the forms of non-verbal communication, color is the most instantaneous method of conveying messages and meanings.

Leatrice Eiseman

Pantone Guide to Communicating with Color

It's impossible to boil down color theory into a blog post. You could devote a career (as Leatrice Eiseman has done) to studying it, forecasting trends and teaching it to others. 

The point of today's post is two-fold: 1) wrap-up my Photoshop for the Soul posts, and 2) do so in a way that reinforces the purpose of this little corner of the blogosphere: i.e. reveal a little about how design choices communicate. 

I am big on the story-telling aspect of design, and color speaks to us in much broader ways than you might expect. For example, in creating the header graphic above, specific choices were made that strengthen the overall message I wanted to communicate. The first being to replace the natural eye color with the full color spectrum. Is that natural? No. Is that how an eye really looks? No. But it tells a story, right? The next decision was to eliminate all other color except what's in the iris. This minimizes distractions to the message and creates an even stronger visual impact. 

Sometimes you want to represent things as they actually appear. Other times you want to exaggerate, or even deemphasize, things because of the story you want to tell. 

At Photoshop for the Soul we spent most of the week in a program called Adobe Camera Raw (ACR) learning how to process images there instead of in Photoshop. I mentioned in my last non-shameless-plug post that I would explain why "doing it on a slider" was a powerful way to work with images (and that's how you work in ACR). It's because you have an enormous number of ways to experiment with images in a procedural, completely non-destructive way. What do I mean by that? I mean, you can push your images to fantastic extremes all the while maintaining the unaltered state of your original file. No pixels are actually moved in the program, and you can do with a series of sliders what would take many, many layers to accomplish within Photoshop. 

There are limitations to be sure. You cannot create multi-layered files with different images, and the painting functionality lacks support for pressure-sensitive drawing tablets (that would top my wish-list). It's not Photoshop – and is not intended to be – but it is very powerful. 

Without further ado, I'll post some of my photographic experiments from my week on Molokai where I have used color in specific ways to tell the story I was after. What was that story, exactly? Primarily it is a story of seeing the beauty of God's creation in fresh, new, unexpected ways. Sadly, I think we become so accustomed to how the natural world around us looks, that we can take for granted just how amazing it really is. 

I'll give a few insights behind some of the choices made as we go along. . . 

 

What I love with this image is that I merely increased that vibrance and saturation of what the camera actually recorded. I did not add color to this, I merely enhanced what was already there. Did it look like this to the naked eye? No, it was much more flat in tone. But this better represents the beauty I saw and sensed in my heart as I was there.

This image reminded me of a vintage postcard, so I made color choices to try to create that feeling.

I thought the clouds were a big part of the story of this shot, so I chose to desaturate the entire image so there were no bright colors (in the sky or the foliage) competing with the clouds. The beauty of the inlet is not lost, but the clouds that it frames here have become a focal point.

 

Had so much fun experimenting with motion blurs and drive-by shootings (with cameras, not guns). Pumping up the colors here accentuated the feeling of swaying movement I captured in the shot.

 

Here's an example where I loved the shot – but the background (even though out of focus) distracted from the story of how beautifully the sunlight was illuminating the flower. Used a technique where I painted some extra saturation and brightness into the lit areas and painted darkness and shadow to obscure the background and direct the viewer's eye.

 

I rarely go for the painterly look with such all-out vigor, but the image of this beautifully adorned gravesite demanded a technique that accentuated the edges and highlighted the robust color palette. Love how this experiment turned out! 


Next are some experiments with faux high dynamic range (HDR – a trendy, high contrast technique), channel inversions and solarizations (sounds all high-falutin' doesn't it?), split-toning and other likewise boundary-pushing experiments. Here's the challenge: ask yourself how the color choices contribute to the story the image is telling you.

 


Some of the color work I'm happiest with arose from with my playing around with infrared photography. In a medium where the world is already presented in a radically new, visually compelling way, I found some images really came vibrantly to life when colors already present were pushed, pulled and otherwise intimidated into bowing to my will (insert sinister laugh here). 

As mentioned at the onset, the aim with these shots in particular is to challenge us to see beauty in the world around us. To see a tree, the sky, a small plant – and even a chicken as the works of art that they really are. We have built-in expectations regarding color, and when things aren't the color we expect them to be it forces us to take a closer look.

Color can draw us in, grab our attention, and sometimes, the color itself is the story.

Hopefully this has served the second of my two purposes – to be a reminder that color is a very powerful communications tool. And as we learned in our Spider-Man comics: "With great power comes great responsibility." Color communicates on an emotional level, conveying ideas, feelings and moods – all without saying a word. 

And that is powerful stuff indeed.

Freaky Photoshop Science

My experiments did not turn out quite like yours Henry.

But science, like love, has her little surprises – as you shall see.

Dr. Pretorious in
Bride of Frankenstein

I've worked with Photoshop for many years and know my way around the program pretty darn well. One of the cool things about Photoshop is that every new version usually comes with one or two new features that are just freaky-cool. The kind of stuff you can't begin to get your head around in terms of how it does what it does as fast as it does it.

Well, in the pervious version of Photoshop a feature called Photomerge evolved into the freaky-good category. It can be used for several different applications, but it's freakish characteristics bleed through when it comes to creating panoramas.

To execute a photographic panorama you take multiple shots as you rotate your shooting angle as if on an axis (shots can be vertically-oriented, though most are horizontal – depends on the subject being shot). Then you slip on the blood-stained white lab coat and play Dr. Frankenstein, stitching the various shots together using Photomerge. What's surprising is how "off" you can be in your shooting and still get amazing creations.

This was another little sandbox for my creative play-time from Photoshop for the Soul. I had not worked with panoramic imagery before – but I was encouraged to do so and am thrilled with how cool the results can be. I'll start with the one we ended with last time (mainly because I'd love to show it one mo' time).

Be sure to click each image to open a new window and see the big dog-chokin' version – a must for these proportionally-challenged images.

And just so you know I was telling the truth about the option to think of them vertically . . .


 

Fun stuff, huh? Being able to experiment with things like panos reminds me that I need to push myself to see design – and it's possibilities – in fresh ways. It also reminds me just how fun it can be to slip into my lab coat and monkey around with some of the freaky-cool science that's already under the hood of my favorite design app.

Next time I'll share some cool & creative image processing that I learned, and some insights into why "doing it on a slider" is a powerful way to work on images.

Aloha!

I am Infra-Man!

 

There are other weapons I haven't given you as yet.

For success it's essential you have thunderball fists.

Professor from the cinematic classic
Infra-Man

OK, let's get this out of the way. If you have no idea who Infra-Man is – and especially if you are the parent of a young boy – you owe it to the both of you to pick up a copy of this masterpiece of cinema. That quote above should tell you all you need to know. But if you need more proof, see the trailer HERE and read Roger Ebert's original review HERE.

Now that that's out of the way . . . I may not have Thunderball Fists (and it's not because I don't want them), but I have discovered a new weapon in my creative arsenal that I didn't have before. It's a weapon that my Photoshop for the Soul "professor" Jack Davis outfitted me with during my week on Molokai. That week a whole new way of seeing the world was opened up to me when I borrowed Jack's extra infrared camera (my apologies to other attendees if I was bogarting it a bit much).

If you're unfamiliar with infrared photography let me tell you that the images below have been tweaked, but the colors are essentially what comes right of a camera that's been converted to shoot infrared. For your camera to be able to produce shots like this, you must send it in to a company (LifePixel is one) for conversion. This involves removal of the sensor in your camera that blocks the infrared spectrum. It's pricey and permanent, so we're talking about a commitment here – but it's a plunge that I plan on eventually taking myself. The images below will tell you why.

I told you in the last post that I'd be sharing the results of my creative play-time from Photoshop for the Soul. This was the perfect place to start! Be sure to click each image to open a new window and see the big honkin' version. Hope you enjoy . . .

The last shot is a 6 or 7-shot panorama stitched together in Photoshop – another new  technique I found quite fun. Will share some of those multi-shot panos next time. Aloha my friends!

Permission Granted

Play is the beginning of knowledge

George Dorsey

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy

Proverb

A funny thing happened on the way to Hawaii. Well, to be more precise, it happened during the course of the week and was revealed on the way back home, but that's not as compelling a way to begin, now is it?

It's the first day of Photoshop for the Soul. Instructors, staff, volunteers and attendees have gathered on the lawn in front of the Hui (lodge). Our workshop instructor for the week, Jack Davis, welcomes everyone and, after introductions of staff and volunteers, begins letting us in on what to expect. A major theme for the week (one which would be revisited in a number of different ways) is the idea of "permission". "This week," Jack said, "is about giving yourself permission to be an artist."

It's important at this point to remind you that most of the attendees are photographers. Jack's statement seemed to resonate with them. Me – not so much. The reason I wasn't juiced at that idea is that I already see myself in that way. However, being a designer for a living and being an artist can certainly be two entirely different things.

Jack went on to say that everyone was "there for a reason" and no one was there by accident. The staff and volunteers then broke out a box a fresh leis and, with a hug and a kiss on the cheek, draped one over everyone's head. The fragrance of the flowers filled my lungs and the warmth and hospitality of our welcome filled my heart. It felt, to me at least, like something of a sacred moment. Then, as if on cue . . .

Seriously. No kidding. A big, honkin' rainbow right behind where we were standing. It was as if God was confirming my thoughts (and Jack's words) that His divine hand was already on the festivities.

As the week progressed I had the most fun, creatively speaking, that I've had in I-don't-know-how-long. I would marvel at the natural beauty that surrounded us at the Hui – then we would pack up equipment and head off on a photographic road trip to be immersed even further into some of the most beautiful of God's creation that I've ever experienced.

However, something strange was unfolding. Something was curiously missing from Photoshop for the Soul – Photoshop! We spent most of our instructional lab time in Adobe Bridge learning to maximize that program's organizational potential, and in Adobe Camera Raw (ACR) learning our way around that program's powerful, non-destructive, image editing and enhancing features.

We finally cracked Photoshop open on our second-to-last day there.

On the drive to the airport at week's end I was asked about what I thought of the week. I replied that my time there had been phenomenal, but I wished I would have had more challenging, hardcore Photoshop instruction and some takeaways that would immediately – and in obvious ways – impact my work back home.

I had this same thought a short time later on the half hour flight from Molokai to Honolulu. While wishing the instruction had been a bit more more Photoshop-focused and that I was coming home with obvious tactics to put to work, the most amazing thing happened:

I heard the still small voice of God in my heart whisper: "But Todd, that's not why you were there."

Whoa! I was blown away. I did not see that coming.

The purpose of my trip had not been to learn how to effectively work – it had been to re-learn how to creatively play.

Just a few hours earlier, at our morning "check-in" time with everyone (held after breakfast on the Hui porch), the usual inspirational thoughts to set the course of the day were put aside and the attendees were invited to share personal insights about the week. I jumped right in with my thoughts about Jack's words on the first day, and how the challenge to give myself permission to be an artist had left me a bit flat at first. But that as the week had went on, I began to understand that the week for me was about giving myself permission to play again creatively – something I had not done in a very long time, and something I had missed more than I realized.

Now, on a teeny little puddle-jumping plane, over the crystal waters of an astonishingly blue ocean, all the pieces fell into place – from Jack's insistence that everyone there was there for a reason, all the way back to what now sound like prophetic words from my wife Kelly when first discussing the opportunity to attend. As the rainbow on that first day had confirmed, God's hand was certainly in the proceedings. But He had worked, as He so often does, in a way – and with a purpose – that I was completely not expecting.

Permission granted.

Over the next few posts I'll be sharing some of the specific photographic results from my play time. Below is a little taste of what's to come (click all images for a bigger view). For today, I'm pau!

Aloha & Happy Thanksgiving!