If you want to keep up on my latest work and ramblings, the blog has moved to aubreyklein.com. All things new and exciting are up on the homepage, including my old posts and portfolio.
Thanks for stopping by!
Aubrey
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Memphis/Make/Think
I am home! I am inspired! I am really exhausted!
The view from our hotel
AIGA's Make/Think Conference was total pwnage. Since volunteering at Gain a year ago, I was pumped for this. Nothing is better than getting to schmooze with some of the legends, hang out backstage and help others, all while wearing a hydrant yellow vest.
Aesthetic Apparatus prints on display
Bullet points of this week of greatness:
Harsh words from the judges corner during the Command X competition
Conferenceness aside, I also loved Beale Street, enjoyable Memphis barbecue, a live band played that played all my favorite jams, a tour of the Gibson factory, the best hot wings of my life and the smoothest tequila sour I've ever tasted. We also witnessed a horse-drawn carriage slamming into a parked car, which was pretty unreal.
Matt also made a point to get me sleep talking on multiple occasions, ftw (and not "for the win" in this case).
This trip was one that drained my batteries physically and recharged them creatively. I am going to make sure I put energy into my own outside ideas, as well as give myself regular breaks to focus on myself and reigniting my passion. To see how time off can actually improve your game, here's a similar version of the Sagmeister lecture we saw. That man is truly inspiring.
"We named our inkjet printer Sagmeister. Coincidentally, it stops working periodically." -@andrewcmyk
The view from our hotel
Aesthetic Apparatus prints on displayBullet points of this week of greatness:
- I didn't like the conference branding at first. Then I saw the baller animated title slides. SO slick and Oscars-ish.
- Command X, the reality show for graphic designers, was beyond great. Michael Bierut and Sean Adams are the ultimate game show hosts (and Chip Kidd is the ultimate judge).
- Rain-free trips: Memphis Marriott had an indoor walkway to the convention center. I am officially spoiled for life.
- Hearing the inside scoop on the design of Google, Coca-Cola, Stefan Bucher, R/GA and so much more.
- Listening to Sagmeister sing karaoke-style over a Beethoven track.
- Catered boxed lunches on the reg.
- Purchasing a gorgeous 300+ page book of illustration hotness.
- Watching Matt as Elvis' bouncer on the main stage.
Harsh words from the judges corner during the Command X competitionConferenceness aside, I also loved Beale Street, enjoyable Memphis barbecue, a live band played that played all my favorite jams, a tour of the Gibson factory, the best hot wings of my life and the smoothest tequila sour I've ever tasted. We also witnessed a horse-drawn carriage slamming into a parked car, which was pretty unreal.
Matt also made a point to get me sleep talking on multiple occasions, ftw (and not "for the win" in this case).
This trip was one that drained my batteries physically and recharged them creatively. I am going to make sure I put energy into my own outside ideas, as well as give myself regular breaks to focus on myself and reigniting my passion. To see how time off can actually improve your game, here's a similar version of the Sagmeister lecture we saw. That man is truly inspiring.
"We named our inkjet printer Sagmeister. Coincidentally, it stops working periodically." -@andrewcmyk
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Skinny Jean/Neon Shirt Tween Convention '09
Warped Tour was wicked. Every year I go, I think, "I'm too old for this shit," but my Danny Glover mentality leaves me as soon as I get next to the stage. I mainly went for one band in particular (the others were an afterthought), and my dreams came true. Cue Alexisonfire pictures.
To summarize the Alexisonfire show, the first word that comes to mind is WIN. Chris the bassist appeared to be foaming at the mouth and generated so much power and hype that my mind was blown. Wade brought the heat, Jordan was on point, George was brilliant, and Dallas was beyond glorious (even better live than on record, if that's possible).
#2 Highlight: Less Than Jake. I wasn't a fan of their music until this show; they had moms crowd-surfing and an old couple making out on stage. They were hilarious, and they played well, too.
Lowlight: BrokeNCYDE was on the tour. End of story.
I'm not sure if I'll go to Warped next year (and I know I've said that before), but if I never go again, this was a way to end the streak. The sunburn, ringing ears and exhaustion was more than worth it.
To summarize the Alexisonfire show, the first word that comes to mind is WIN. Chris the bassist appeared to be foaming at the mouth and generated so much power and hype that my mind was blown. Wade brought the heat, Jordan was on point, George was brilliant, and Dallas was beyond glorious (even better live than on record, if that's possible).#2 Highlight: Less Than Jake. I wasn't a fan of their music until this show; they had moms crowd-surfing and an old couple making out on stage. They were hilarious, and they played well, too.
Lowlight: BrokeNCYDE was on the tour. End of story.
I'm not sure if I'll go to Warped next year (and I know I've said that before), but if I never go again, this was a way to end the streak. The sunburn, ringing ears and exhaustion was more than worth it.
Monday, July 27, 2009
Effective Taglines. Bleeding Cowboys.
To all those looking to be successful in owning, operating, inventing, designing, producing or selling anything, ever. These trends are unavoidable right now.
Trend #1: Two Sentences. Ultimate Tagline.
If your product/service/brand/business is not currently being represented by two generic sentences, perhaps your product/service/brand/business just sucks. All the other guys are doing it! Since I've been spending more and more time in front of the TV lately (thanks to the Food Network and So You Think You Can Dance), I've been noticing a ton of these: The two-sentence slogan. I know a tagline is meant to be short and to-the-point, but they're starting to sound exactly the same. Let's take a peek.
Target: "Expect More. Pay Less." (Expect more what? Magic? Dog shit? I'm confused.)
Wal-Mart: "Save Money. Live Better." (Better......kind of. But upon review, a LOT like the first one. Smooth.)
Nutrisystem: "Lose Weight. Live Better." (lol. see above.)
Home Depot: "You Can Do It. We Can Help."
Papa Johns: "Better Ingredients. Better Pizza."
The last two aren't completely awful, but you get the idea. Wherever this two-sentence phenomenon came from, it's like the plague. And speaking of the plague:
Trend #2: Bleeding "not your momma's typeface" Cowboys.
If your product/service/brand/business cannot incorporate the glory of dafont.com's Bleeding Cowboys, again...you're going to fail (if you haven't failed already). MTV's doing it! So are music acts. In all seriousness, though, my belief is that this font is on the fast track to becoming the new Papyrus. I will shun it forever. It's become far too overused, instantly recognizable, and regardless of its potential "kind of okay" uses (rodeo posters, your kid brother's garage band promo stickers, printed on poop-scoop bags), I still think there is a multitude of alternatives that will do the job...and do the job more effectively. Despite my thoughts, it's spread like wildfire. See the following.
Chris Daughtry's new album cover.
God. It's just so rugged and irresistible!
The new MTV show, "Is She Really Going Out with Him?"
I think this usage could be warranted, due to the fact that this show is not to be taken seriously. It still gets me fired up at the fact that a popular network is spreading this sickness to the masses. However, this one really upsets me:
A design blog, guys? You couldn't hand-generate something that effectively communicates your message? The message I hear is, "I don't know what I'm doing...I just know that this will be a big hit with the kiddos. They dig that new 'grunge' thing, I hear."
Okay, so the two-sentence taglines I can kind of wrap my head around. But do some damn research, man. Target and Wal-Mart are similar, yes, but their pitches shouldn't sound the same. As for shitty fonts like the B.C., whatever happened to making your own designs instead of downloading them?
Creativity shouldn't be dead, people. And if you've got a powerhouse name behind you (like, oh, I don't know, a RECORD LABEL), why not step outside the box a little, for all our sakes. We designers want to think there's still some innovation left in the world, and we don't like being left with the sour "I've seen that before/could have done it better/wish I got paid what he did/have no faith in humanity" taste in our mouths.
Trend #1: Two Sentences. Ultimate Tagline.
If your product/service/brand/business is not currently being represented by two generic sentences, perhaps your product/service/brand/business just sucks. All the other guys are doing it! Since I've been spending more and more time in front of the TV lately (thanks to the Food Network and So You Think You Can Dance), I've been noticing a ton of these: The two-sentence slogan. I know a tagline is meant to be short and to-the-point, but they're starting to sound exactly the same. Let's take a peek.
Target: "Expect More. Pay Less." (Expect more what? Magic? Dog shit? I'm confused.)
Wal-Mart: "Save Money. Live Better." (Better......kind of. But upon review, a LOT like the first one. Smooth.)
Nutrisystem: "Lose Weight. Live Better." (lol. see above.)
Home Depot: "You Can Do It. We Can Help."
Papa Johns: "Better Ingredients. Better Pizza."
The last two aren't completely awful, but you get the idea. Wherever this two-sentence phenomenon came from, it's like the plague. And speaking of the plague:
Trend #2: Bleeding "not your momma's typeface" Cowboys.
If your product/service/brand/business cannot incorporate the glory of dafont.com's Bleeding Cowboys, again...you're going to fail (if you haven't failed already). MTV's doing it! So are music acts. In all seriousness, though, my belief is that this font is on the fast track to becoming the new Papyrus. I will shun it forever. It's become far too overused, instantly recognizable, and regardless of its potential "kind of okay" uses (rodeo posters, your kid brother's garage band promo stickers, printed on poop-scoop bags), I still think there is a multitude of alternatives that will do the job...and do the job more effectively. Despite my thoughts, it's spread like wildfire. See the following.
Chris Daughtry's new album cover.
God. It's just so rugged and irresistible!The new MTV show, "Is She Really Going Out with Him?"
I think this usage could be warranted, due to the fact that this show is not to be taken seriously. It still gets me fired up at the fact that a popular network is spreading this sickness to the masses. However, this one really upsets me:
A design blog, guys? You couldn't hand-generate something that effectively communicates your message? The message I hear is, "I don't know what I'm doing...I just know that this will be a big hit with the kiddos. They dig that new 'grunge' thing, I hear."
Okay, so the two-sentence taglines I can kind of wrap my head around. But do some damn research, man. Target and Wal-Mart are similar, yes, but their pitches shouldn't sound the same. As for shitty fonts like the B.C., whatever happened to making your own designs instead of downloading them?
Creativity shouldn't be dead, people. And if you've got a powerhouse name behind you (like, oh, I don't know, a RECORD LABEL), why not step outside the box a little, for all our sakes. We designers want to think there's still some innovation left in the world, and we don't like being left with the sour "I've seen that before/could have done it better/wish I got paid what he did/have no faith in humanity" taste in our mouths.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
The screen print experiment
My print project at work today was dynamite. Check it.
(the pics might be a bit fugly, thanks to the incapable PC I'm working on)
It was somewhat of an experiment, because there isn't much overprinting done with soft tint inks (the gold and blue you see here). I was encouraged to push this one to the limit, so there's a metallic silver for the first layer, and the colored inks were printed on top of it. It turned out surprisingly well. There's a really slick green color when the gold/blue mixed, and I ended up with a six-color piece from three inks. Pretty badass.
My regret is that I only printed on one dark garment; it's amazing how different the results were. Everywhere the color overlaps the metallic? Hotness.
So, yeah! Overall success. If you want a women's tee (size small or medium), I have a few extras to get off my hands. Or perhaps I'll just keep them all...
(the pics might be a bit fugly, thanks to the incapable PC I'm working on)
It was somewhat of an experiment, because there isn't much overprinting done with soft tint inks (the gold and blue you see here). I was encouraged to push this one to the limit, so there's a metallic silver for the first layer, and the colored inks were printed on top of it. It turned out surprisingly well. There's a really slick green color when the gold/blue mixed, and I ended up with a six-color piece from three inks. Pretty badass.
My regret is that I only printed on one dark garment; it's amazing how different the results were. Everywhere the color overlaps the metallic? Hotness.
So, yeah! Overall success. If you want a women's tee (size small or medium), I have a few extras to get off my hands. Or perhaps I'll just keep them all...
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