What'up in the ONE; 11-06-09

I was contemplating, quite painstakingly, about what to write for a new blog post. Toiling over the idea that I needed to write something… anything… was making it more difficult, to be honest. So as I sat back thinking about what all went down this week in the fantastically fractured time-lines in the life of RDQLUS, it hit me. My town is on the come-up. That's it. I'll just pen a brief "What's good in my little burgeoning, no-coast burg this weekend?" So…

It's been a crazy couple months here in the O.NE with an amazing amount of events and hob-nobbery going down on the streets. Meet-ups and culture clashes abound, with much to be seen and done, and hashed out and talked about.

Tuesday, there was another fantastic Omaha Tweet-Up, this go round being held at the Omaha staple, the Brazen Head Pub. It may seem a strange thing to meet with a bunch of folks you met or cavort with on Twitter, but it flies in that face of the skewed reasoning that some have of the web creating this culture of tech-pacified, anti-social zombies. Nay, this event proved that when used properly such technology can extend its reach beyond the circuits it was born and bred in. An good time was had and good info was passed. Oh, and I cop'ed my Omaha Bar Camp t-shirt that night. Jealous? You should be,.

Wednesday night/Thursday morn I had yet another installment of "What the hell are we doing?!" when I met up with my ever-present partners in crime, Megan H. (Princess Lasertron) & E-rock D. (Downs Design) for a late-night Perkins run. Strangely enough, we always seem to glean info from the excursions. you might want to get down with us the next time we re-up.

I hate that I missed the Matisyahu show last night at the Slowdown… if you were there chime in and let me know how it was. "Art & Copy" was last night too. So much goodness going 'round. It's tough to keep up.

Tonight, I'm heading over to 1020 Bistro in Dundeezle to have a libation or two and rub the stylishly clad, incredibly skilled elbows of Megan Hunt aka 'Princess Lasertron' who will be celebrating a release party of sorts for her inclusion in several wedding & event industry publications. On top of that she's kicking of the redesign of her website by personal friend and Friend of RDQLUS, Eric Downs of Downs Design.

After that I'll roll the chariot down to the Bemis Underground, in the Old Market, for the 18th Annual Nebraska AIGA Design Show to see some fine design works from the talented creatives here in the O.NE. Should be a good time, and with any luck perhaps RDQLUS Creative will have a reason to celebrate?

That's just a little chemical rinse of what this week was like in Omaha. There was much more going on and if anyone attended some of the events I missed, drop a comment and let everyone know what went down.

I'm RDQLUS… and I'm from the ONE!
Peaces.

How RDQLUS'ly Sketchy 10/22/09

"SIR… BACK AWAY FROM THE MOUSE!"


Rolling on some black-marker comps for a project with an amazing creative outfit out of LA, Cali.
No, don't ask, because I cant say who or what for… not yet at least! ;-)
Check back, I'll fill you all in later.







Think RDQLUS can help with making your project a little sketchy? Holler this way…
("HEEEEEEEYYYYYYYY RDQLUS!")
sorry, couldn't resist the cheeseball joke. ;-)

"iD-Rx" for NYC-based fashion designer Trudy Williams

It's always fun to get to be creative in ways that are often a bit outside of the stereotypical trappings of pixel-wrangling that we design heads normally find ourselves operating within. Thinking, writing, researching, and thinking (yes, some more!) is something I always look forward to, especially when it's in the process of using my process named "identity therapy" or "iD-Rx" for short.

I recently completed my "identity therapy" brand assessment process for New York City-based fashion designer, Trudy Williams and her upcoming line that will bear her moniker. Ms. Williams is an amazingly creative person with an very particular personal aesthetic that bleeds across into her work. She has a very cool revisionist view on creativity and construction that is not all about doing the next big thing but rather revisiting the refinement and details to give her line that intangible "something" that makes it special to her customer, who are a very particular lot. Let me tell you, her story goes deep and it was a pleasure to flesh out and help her establish some key points for the brand to move forward.


("iD-Rx" - 'Trudy Williams')



(foundation & pedigree)



(brand stance, voice & mood)



(color theory as tied directly to the mood & pedigree)



(birds eye view of visual mood, color palette & an example of possible combinations within the brand)

Peep The Fine Print

Meet my dude from the way back machine, Ryan O'Malley. He, along with his partner-in-crime Joseph Valasquez, are on a roll. Literally. They've set out to blow minds with the complexities of a simple thing; Put a mark to anything that holds a mark. Novel idea. From there it gets even simpler; An old craft made new by showing it to a new audience. A tried and true method of rejuvenating things. All pretty simple so far, right? Okay, so like any endeavor—from art to corporate—one of the first and main thoughts is "where's your location?", because you need a base of operations, a theater by which to put on your show, right? That's where we take a left turn… and a few right turns too.

Ryan and Joe are an artistic duo touring the country in an Honda Element van, staying with friends, sleeping on couches and floors (maybe the occasional hotel room), going to schools, universities, youth groups… all in the name of teaching the ages-old crafts of wood carving and wood-cut printing to anyone who cares to listen, learn or be inspired. But there are a few cool twists to the story. They are housed, clothed and fed by the patronage of the people, schools and organizations who sponsor them and the pedaling of their work. Their work? While some schools may have printing tools and facilities not all can possibly be set up as classroom environments. So how do they do teach or do this work by which they eat? I did mention the Honda Element van, right? Welcome to "Drive-By Press".



I get a message from Ryan, who's an old college friend, that he's going to be coming thru town and giving a teaching demonstration at the University of Nebraska-Omaha. I'm for sure going to stop by, by but I was in no way prepared for what I saw…



Mounted in the belly of the van is an old school printing press. You know, the kind where "press" actually got it's name from? Yes, mounted on a track system to allow it to extend from the van into open working space, hangs a block printing press. Whoa. Consider my mind blown, but it gets better. On the side of the van, the inking station is set up to apply ink to the blocks that will be used for printing on materials. Blocks? Oh yeah, further to the side are a growing range of 25+ wood-cut blocks that these fine artists have cut and carved by hand! Boom! (that was my head… again)

But then comes my very own personal demo of how this all works. In a matter of mere minutes Ryan instructs me to pick a block or two and a t-shirt color that I like and a most delightful symphony of gritty, dirty, artistic movement is set in motion. about 7 total minutes later I have an exclusive, one-of-a-kind, hand-made work of art. I don't dare call it a "t-shirt". Remember, this all happened in 7 min. in the back of a van! There are a lot of things I could do in 7 min. in the back of a van, all of which I doubt would produce art or have a lasting positive effect such as this. Peep the process:
















There's so much more to the story that I could tell, but that's actually part of their gig so I'll let them tell you all about it. The next stop for them was Chicago and then points unknown. If you want to know more, the guys would be glad to hear from you. Drop then a line or an email and prepare for the Drive By!

Joseph Velasquez | 254.228.6016
drivebypress@yahoo.com

A RDQLUS Chat with Jeni Herberger

'Friend of RDQLUS', my best friend and all around creative & biz badass, Jeni Herberger, decided to kick off her new radio show on the Blogtalk Radio network by having a chat with her buddy. I was more than happy to oblige. Have a listen, and stay tuned as she's going to have a lot of good things to ramble on about.



Jeni Herberger Chats w/Stevie G


Jeni Herberger on the Blogtalk Radio Network

The Life & Times of RDQLUS 090918

RDQLUS' 'COLDFOOLISH' CARE PKG 090918

"If Travel is Searching and Home What's Been Found…"

Welcome to RDQLUS' "COLDFOOLISH"–the new weekly drop-shop of just a handful of fly goodnesses that I've come across this week. There's no rhyme, reason, slant or even purpose, except to lace you with a sip of tasty deelish while you zone on a Friday, faking like you're working. Get your [cmnd+tab/ctrl+tab] actions ready for when your boss comes lurking.


Click pics to get up… get out… and get som'thin!

Pullin' Jack(et) Moves… Garbstore @ hypebeast.com


Fix the Rip… PK Ripper "Fixie" @ highsnobiety.com


To tha' Moon Alice… Kid Cudi - Man On the Moon @ iTMS


Shadow Boxin'… food & style @ LuxiRare.com



Site Hump of the Week:
highsnobiety

"Take Me Out to the…" NOPE!

Honestly MLB?! Have you not heard nor seen the benefits of viral mktg. Embrace the medium. Embrace the times. It's football seasons and you're losing viewers in droves. You claim the title of "America's Pastime" but we all know that has belonged to football for decades. Along comes a moment—a genuine, improbable, unplanned moment—where once again you were the darling pastime of America… and you block it. You quell the word-of-mouth buzz for reasons of profit protection?

Look, I get it. I'm a designer. Intellectual property is golden in my world. But every now and again, if someone wants to spread a little good word about me and my work and the goodness that is me… I may actually help rather than hinder. It's just a thought. I'm not even a fan, but I was right then. I wanted tickets to the next game, having forgotten what it was like to chill at the park and take it all in. But hey… way to pass on a goodwill moment, that in these times would have gone for a lot! Yes, even on your fiscal bottom line. Give a little… get more than you could even plan for.

What a cutie! What a dad! What a moment! You could have left a new fan saying "What a game!" Instead, the copyrights are all yours. You win. Or do you. That's just my humble take.

Steve G.

Read the original post by Jennifer Van Grove, that got me to thinking about this.

Thanks to Brian Mays (@brianmays on Twitter) for passing along the original link

You Wanna Talk about 'Interactive' Design?!

It's often said — in our ever-growing technical and web-driven times — that "print" is dead. Well I rail against that because it's my view that paper is not the only medium that we "print" on. My opinion aside, paper continues to last and gain an almost cult status the way that vinyl, CDs, and soon your precious DVDs will enjoy. Ha. There continues to be a definite amount of skill and thought that goes into the tiered process of concept, design, printed output and the lack of instant gratitude or easy fixes. You had better think that design thru to the end result, because there's no CTRL+Z on a Heidelberg!

That all brings me to an idea that had the utmost of thought and planning given to the process of a printed piece. Designed by artist/poster designer Roland Tiangco, the simplicity of the concept and design are amazing. I'll spoil it for you by showing you the end result… but the real treat is the process. Peep the goodness after the link/click/jump!


Caught… black handed?!


Roland Tiangco's Dirt Po(or)ster


(Thanks to my good friend and "RDQLite" Brenda Lyman for the link via Twitter)