This is Sportscenter

One company that I feel has always the best commercials consistently, without fail or mediocre, is ESPN. The tag line This is Sportscenter is always used when Sportscenter comes on, and it's a clear reminder of what Sportscenter is: Fun, entertaining, exciting, engaging, and wonderful personality. Their commercials really remind us of that with the different athletes, subjects, and witty dialogue they display. Check 'em out!

Enjoy! :)

To My Friend Charles

I Have PSD from Hyperakt on Vimeo.

To my friend Charles, who cannot go a day without using Photoshop in his projects and in life. :) Keep on using your mad skills to inspire us bro! :)

Sketchin' at Starbucks

Did some sketching at Starbucks after I got off of work this morning. Feels so great to get back into drawing and sketching on paper. :)

Gabe from Penny Arcade

Something I started, just messin' with colors. I'll push this for sure, add some type or something, just to push it along. :) Any suggestions is most helpful.

Gabe (c) 2010 Penny Arcade

A Little Exercise for the Morning

I decided to do an exercise this morning, looking at something and seeing what I could do a little different. The panel on the left is a panel from Jeph Jacques' webcomic Questionable Content. It's a favorite of mine, his characters are wonderful together, and the dialogue is unique. I am always amazed how he constructs the dialogue from the beginning to the end of each page, like a conductor for a symphony (except the orchestra is assembled in Photoshop). :)

What have noticed from his style though is whenever he has the character in a side view, you don't really see the neck form the back of the character's skull (head). The neck just goes straight into the jawbone area. It makes the back of the head feel squished, at least to me. He did do draw the back of the head for Marten's girlfriend Dora, but for Marten it is not visible at all. Jeph has been doing this for a good while, and I thought it would be interesting to see what it's like with the neck line forming the back of the skull.

While attempting this exercise, I wanted to draw in Jeph's style, to hopefully make my observation more solid. For me it feels more fleshed out and full.

Now, I am not trying to bash Jeph's work, he does great stuff with Photoshop and his craftsmanship of characters. I felt that there could be something more added to his structure. It's a try for sure.

Hope you enjoy this exercise I did. :)

Gotta Do What I Can...

...to stay afloat in my creativity, my passion, my desire, and most importantly, my drive. Drew this while I was half awake at work this morning.

Go get em Pikachu!

For Sock's Sake

An animation student from Cal Arts, Carlo Vogele, created this beautiful story about a sock captured. The stop motion was wonderful done, very fluid and smooth.

And the best part? He shares behind the scene photos of this amazing composition. Green screen, camera, and After Effects. :) So awesome. Hope this inspires you to go outside of your comfort zone for your passion and craft.

It's Getting Boring By the Sea

I first heard the song from Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. I had no idea how interesting the entire song would be. Really enjoy the drum playing and vocals for this song.

As I researched more about this song, I learned of the band (Blood Red Shoes), and stumbled upon the music video. I tried finding a high quality version, but YouTube doesn't seem to have it. However, the direction of this music video is intense! I love the simplicity of the equipment (background, items in the video), while making the editing complex and fun.

Found out the band is from the UK too, also another bonus. LOL :) I need to go back to England someday and visit...or be employed there.

MODA

So What If (as Stan Would Say)

This typography animation was first shown to me during my introductory year for graphic design (givin' a shoutout to Paige for the hookup!), and it was always fascinating to me how wonderful this story was through typography. Not kinetic type, but using the characters of a typeface to construct a story along with the music, and having a well conceptual direction for what the story detailed. After having experience with After Effects, I start to see how it was constructed, and grabbing an idea how it conveyed the message through editing and camera use.

So what if there was a story told through type with no dialogue, but just made up of characters of that typeface? Where would the story go? How would you keep people interested? Is there a message to the story? I see a lot of kinetic typography pieces, but barely any projects that showcase a typeface as the main star of its' own production. Something to think about, not just for myself, but for others who are interested. :)

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World on DVD!!!

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is out on DVD! Today! :D So happy, I'm gettin' my copy for sure!

Also, if you weren't able to see it on Facebook, there will be a showing of Scott Pilgrim at Cinefest this Thursday at 7PM. Some of the juniors are planning on going, so it would be awesome to go as a group and hang out. Hope to see you there this Thursday! :D

Truly Amazed on the Consistency

(during the 90's and before the recent one)

(recent version)

I'm truly amazed how Disney was able to keep the theme of dreams, hope, and life into their movie intro when they upgraded it. Not only did they keep the theme consistent, but they also pushed emotion element even more, and allowing us to remember back when we first watched a Disney film.

I know that they didn't do this recently per se, but for some dumb reason this morning I had it stuck in my head. It's a magical sense of wonder, that's for sure. :)

5000 - Mission Accomplished

Today, marks my 5,000th view on YouTube. It was a goal of mine to reach 5,000 views within a year for this video, and I'm pleased to see that the goal was met. :)

Thanks to everyone who viewed the video and let others know about it, I appreciate the support!

SXSW Title Design Competition

I'm very interested in participating with this competition. Though I would like to create another title sequence compared to my first one.

If anyone else is interested, you can go to here. It's only $10 and the deadline is December 9. Plenty of time, affordable, and tons of fun! :)