Sharing My Crayons

Cranking it up to 11

 

Does that mean it's louder?

Is it any louder?

Well, it's one louder,

Isn't it?

 

Nigel Tufnel
This is Spinal Tap

 

Call it upping the ante, raising the bar or just kicking it up a notch, but we've been busy little bees here at the Born to Design World Headquarters. The past couple months we've been quietly toiling away behind the scenes – all so that we can be ready and able to take our game to another level.

What exactly have we been up to? I'm excited to finally spill the beans . . .

Photography Capabilities Upgrade: Invested in a new Canon 7D and two high-end lenses (one especially well-suited for product photography). Likewise, we've upgraded our product photo boxes and lighting considerably.

Computer Equipment Upgrades: OK, I've read for years about RAID setups and how fast they are, but, until now, never dug deep to unpack what they are, how they work and whether or not they're worth the investment. Likewise, I researched the new Solid State Drives (SSD) that Apple is using in the new MacBook Air. They are ridiculously fast. No, really. Ridiculously. After an almost unhealthy amount of research, I took the plunge and not only upgraded the primary workstation to an SSD for system and applications, but added two more SSDs and created a 100 GB Striped RAID that is designated solely as a Photoshop Scratch Disk. Adding another 8 GB of RAM (for a new total of 21 GB) was the icing on the cake.

Now, I understand if that's too techno-speak to follow. Suffice it to say that we have created a Godzilla-esque beast of a workstation. I'm chomping at the bit for a big Photoshop project to really put it to the test.

Office Reorganization and Purge: Maybe not as immediately impressive as the other upgrades, but I can assure you that finally getting to some long overdue organizational issues in the office leaves me a happier lad – and frees me up to be creative with fewer distractions.

New Blog: In an ongoing effort to grow the fine art photography facet of the business, we launched Photoplay, our infrared and color photography blog. It's much less wordy than this one, and has "purtier pitchers" (a new one posted every week). A more robust store for purchasing prints is planned, but til then, we'd still love for you to stop over and check it out.

New Ways to Stay Connected: In addition to an updated LinkedIn profile, we've finally launched the Born to Design Facebook page. Check it out and give that little "Like" button a click – we welcome the opportunity to connect with clients and friends there as well as here.

The New Guy: OK, easily the most significant new change is the addition of Chris Settimi to the Born to Design team. We hired Chris a few months back and are extremely excited by what he brings to the table. Chris is an exceptionally talented designer with over 20 years experience. He has worked for clients in health care, financial, high-tech, packaged foods and manufacturing industries, creating and developing advertising campaigns, web and e-communications, presentations, annual reports and other creative products including branding and communications materials for Clarian Health, Cook Medical and Purdue University. He also provided creative direction for Eli Lilly and Company’s brand launch, development of RealMed corporate and product materials, as well as interactive media, 3D animation and collateral services for Hughes Aircraft (see why we're just a teeny bit excited to have him?).

Chris has received recognition from Wired and New Media magazines as an innovator in interactive media, and greatly expands our interactive capabilities. My man can whip up a PowerPoint that'll make you weep! OK, maybe that's a little oversell – but he is quite good! I'm sure you'll enjoy working with him as much as I do. Welcome Chris!

While there have been a few other little wrinkles, this comprises the bulk of what we've been up to. Not only do these changes get me excited, but they also bring a measure of quiet confidence that we are doing what's necessary to perform and deliver for our clients at an even higher level.

We want to continue to provide design solutions that "go to 11".

And that's one louder . . . isn't it?

 

What a Relief Indeed!

 

Down, down, down the stomach through

Round, round, round the system too

With Alka-Seltzer they always say:

Relief is just a swallow away!

 

Speedy

As someone who is a complete geek for retro advertising in general – and advertising characters in specific – let me officially give a big welcome-back hug to Speedy, the Alka-Seltzer mascot!

While watching my beloved Colts let one slip away again this year (oh, please don't get me started on that) my wounds were soothed during commercial time when our happy little friend started bouncing across the screen extolling the plop-plop-fizz-fizzy merits of the product that comprises the main part of his body.

Maybe it's just me getting older, but I love that innocent charm that is inherent with these kinds of characters.

Maybe I've just seen one too many commercials with the Colon Lady spouting off (maybe a pour choice of words) about all manner of unfortunate gastrointestinal manifestations in ways that would get my son in trouble if he were to use the same language around the table at Steak-n-Shake.

Either way, I welcome his return and can only hope that his reemergence heralds a return to a more innocent, and fun way of getting our message out; and that it opens the floodgates for the reappearance of more of his classic advertising character brotherhood.

Which classic character would you like to see get a new lease on life? Leave a reply in the comments below.

Meanwhile, enjoy some of Speedy's glory days . . .

 

 

 

 

 

And even though it's not Speedy, how could I not share Fred Flintstone selling out to the man!

 

 

 

A 500-year-old Punch in the Gut

 

And, of a truth, whoever has seen this work need not trouble to see any other work executed in sculpture, either in our own or in other times, by no matter what craftsman.

 

Giorgio Vasari
on David

I was unprepared. We often are when we encounter something that moves us in a profound way.

Traveling throughout Italy with my wife on what was both a photo safari for Born to Design Photography, and a celebration of 15 years of marriage, we had come to our day in Florence (yes, I know, "one day in Florence? Have you gone mad!?!?!"). With tickets for the Accademia (home of Michelangelo's David) in hand, we were anxious to get our jam-packed day underway.

Upon finally entering The Accademia (which, by the way, was built specifically to house "the David"), I was taken aback by how large the sculpture is. It is located at the end of a hallway that is designed to make clear (in case you'd forgotten) the real reason you're here. . .

As we walked toward it, it's impact became even weightier. It is a VERY large piece – 14.5 feet tall. It was originally intended to sit atop a cathedral and viewed from a great distance below (which would have been a crime).

We walked all the way around, marveling at the insane craftsmanship before us. Then it hit me. A wave of emotion that was powerful, and unexpected. I turned to Kelly and whispered "wow, I feel like I'm gonna cry". I didn't – but it was close. I can't explain it other to call it "impact".

Michelangelo carved David when he was just 29 years old. It was finished in 1504, and I wonder if the artist himself could have predicted the emotional impact it would still have over 500 years later. I imagine he had no clue.

That's the way this kind of impact often happens – unexpectedly. Which can be frustrating for an artist. As a designer, I strive to create work that delivers an emotional impact; a wow-factor; a visual punch. But, like with David, we cannot completely predict how anything we create will be perceived and what kind of impact it will have on our audience.

I have presented concepts that I thought were out of this world, only to get a lukewarm reception from the client. On the flipside, I have also created designs that surprised me by how incredibly they impacted either a client, or the target audience.

We can know the audience, practice our craft, and create with a vision and purpose – but in the end, we need to leave room for the unexpected, emotional impact that goes well beyond anything we could have planned for or predicted.