RDQLUS Interview with The Bauhub

A few months back I did an interview with Scott Morrison of The Bauhub, a professional creative collective (of which I am now actually a member). Scott—whom I had met a couple years back at the Creative Freelancer Conference—had recently come across the book '100 Habits of Successful Freelance Designers' and had only recently realized that to his surprise he knew the author (hint: for those not good with riddles, that would be me). I was all too excited to fire up Skype and have a chat with him about some of the ins and outs of being a freelance creative, trying to do things I love… like turning on the heat and putting food on the table.

(click the pick or link below to peep the interview)

When Being Social in the AM for the Lincoln AMA Equals Brunch!

Thursday morning started with a jolt and a bolt! RDQLUS was graciously invited by the Lincoln chapter of the American Marketing Association (Lincoln AMA), to sit on a panel centered around best practices when using the still burgeoning realm of social media for marketing and communication. The "jolt-n-bolt" came in when I remembered that I was needed on point as the get-away driver for my good friend and social media maven herself—Megan Hunt, of Princess Lasertron fame, who was also invited to share her knowledge of blogging and being social in the name of business.





The event itself was surprisingly good as there were many questions—and hopefully some good answers and information given back—as the early AM did little to dull the excitement over the topic. Other fine media-savvy heads in the place were Danny Schreiber of siliconprairienews.com, Deb Averett of freshnestdesign.com and toolulu.com, Christy Nelson of christynelson.net and toolulu.com, Khara Plicanic – kabloomstudios.com/blog, Lori Havens - Social Media Guru at Ervin & Smith Advertising and Public Relations.

So here's the rub, if indeed there is one… with the drive from the "ONE" to the Star City being well under an hour and the event lasting just a little over an hour, Megan & I were left with a bit of time and a need to make the trip to another Nebraska city just that tad bit more worth it. With a look at the time on the wrist-clock… Brunch for munch!


Ahhh… 'Bread and Cup', Lincoln, NE

With co-pilot Megz on the Map app for the exact address, we quickly found ourselves face-to-face at a nice table, discussing the good events of the morning while gnawing a couple of homemade peanut butter sammies—hers the famed apple butter variety, while mine was my signature PB & honey steez—at 'Bread and Cup'(440 N 8th St Suite 150, Lincoln, NE).


Megan w/Kevin, proprietor of 'Bread and Cup'




In all a fine AM, in the name of the AMA. Thanks to all of the fine people of the Lincoln AMA for a warm welcome. RDQLUS will indeed return when the need arises. Just flash the crown signal!

--
Steve G

Man Up!

Old Spice is at it again! Over the last couple years, Old Spice has had their tongues firmly planted in their cheeks with their cheeky brand of humor directed at lampooning stereotypes. Well they are back at it with the new "Manmercials".



Featuring a buff gent with a rapid fire delivery and an ultimately hyper-typical, manly persona. The result: belly laughter and a a strange urge to get my Old Spice product usage on, for sure!


--
Steve G.

Get Torqued Off.

After being in the creative field long enough you meet a lot of people and even become very good friends with a few very talented individuals. There even comes a time when it ticks you off a bit how damn good they are. Not fair. Get up off my cloud! Well my boy Eric Hines is just such an individual. His Honest Bros. Concept Mechanics creative imprint has done it again with 'Torque'—a premium distilled, small batch vodka with specialty packaging and Honest Bros. branding all design by the HB camp.



I cold tell you more, but I want his Google Analytics hits to go up, so bop on over to the Concept Mechanics blog and read more about the work and the process. It's truly an amazing work and a good story. Seriously, how does he come up with this stuff?! My friends are upsetting sometimes, but I roll with the best.

--
SG. the RDQLUS One

COMPLEX.COM Respects the RDQLUS Passion!

It's no mystery, to any who truly know me, that I have an affinity for fine footwear. Translation: I'm a sneakerhead. I've had good friends find, put on hold, alert me to, and even send me the choicest sneakers because I have stay consistent, authentic and true to my passion for wrangling of rare soles.

Well, a little validation can invigorate and reaffirm a passion.



Marc Ecko's COMPLEX Magazine is a staple with urban aesthetic, streetwear & fashion set. The magazine's website and blog recently began a twice-weekly feature highlighting the best in reader/tweeter footwear. This week RDQLUS was 2-for-2, getting props on both weekly installments for my daily sneaker choices out of supposed thousands that submit photos thru the COMPLEX Twitter feed. Now this might be because my feets is so fly, or it could b simply because I have monkey arms and can take shots of my own person, giving the illusion of fine photography… who's to say? But I do know that it's nice to get love for my commitment to my "thing" and shine a little love on my city, the ONE aka Omaha, NE, not really known as a bastion of style—high, street or otherwise. That's not true and it is changing.





;-)

Thanks to COMPLEX Magazine (Twitter: @ComplexMag) and love to all those sneakerheads out there. Walk lightly… all others can kick rocks!


---
Stevie G

Read One Way, Kern the Other!

This isn't an elaborate tip, but I wanted to highlight a technique that I've used to help me kern type more effectively. I tend to kern type backward from the reading direction. But this seems counter-intuitive, doesn't it? Exactly.

In most of the Germanic and Romance languages we learn to read left-to-right. As this is the ages old standard, we never question this as a part of our learning and it becomes natural to take in information this way. As this is the direction we read, as we kern and shape the type-spacing of our information design, we are still taking in the information and our brains are analyzing the words we see—even if we are not reading them, per se.

So how do you stop yourself from reading words when it is in our intuitive nature to take in that information? Change the direction of which you are working as to not trigger the brain to read. This almost objectifies your kerning so that you are not "reading" the same direction you are working. I stumbled upon this by accident one day in a rush like the way it felt in my head, so have stuck to doing it whenever possible. By kerning type backward you tend to focus more on good visual spacing rather than understandability of the actual wording. A small detail, but it's helped me a lot.

Try it out and let me know what you think.

--
Steve G.

"SPN Doctors" Throw a Party!

Silicon Prairie News is a power-blog hailing on world-wide frequencies from right here in the ONE (Omaha, NE). Run by Friend's of RDQLUS, Dusty Davidson and Jeff Slobotski, they are hosting the "SPN Launch Party" this eve to celebrate and kick off a new level of offerings and a clean new look to match.

Join RDQLUS and many other SPN supporters this evening @ LIV Lounge (2285 So. 67th St), in the Aksarben Village, or follow the party on Twitter with #SPNLaunch or @Siliconprairie

New Year Communictation Friday brings much RDQLUS'ness

What's good my babies!? Welcome to the first official Communication Friday of 20-10 and did it ever land with a very hopeful thud of a gift with much goodness inside.

First up, is a good conversation I had with my good pal Mig Reyes for the amazingly useful, fun, informative site Humble Pied. Mig uses chat communication in an innovative yet simple way to gather tips, words of wisdom and fun convo from the many people he's had the chance to connect with. He's a link, a connector and fine communicator… and a trait we share—a true hustler in that hard-working sense of staying on the move.



Next, I braved the icy conditions to reach the bunker of my cohorts over at 36point to record a "Review of the Aughts" for the Reflex Blue Show where we discuss the seemingly short 10 years that have transpired since the real crash of the dot.coms and the faux-Armageddon of the Y2K.



A RDQLUS start to the year, and I'm hopeful that this kindo f kick-off is a good omen of things to come.


--
Stevie G

Manifesto of a RDQLUS CREATIVE

Hey world… I require that you have your own opinion. The strong often do and I welcome that, more so… respect that. But I give you this nugget of truth; My reality does not exist to serve your opinion. I can BE whatever I need to, but I AM what I am. I am not your "suit". I am not your executive. I am not a mazed rat in cubical chasing cheese. I am not your drone clone. I AM RDQLUS… far closer to a BMX'ing style-hound in custom sneakers that cost more than your Italian wingtips, carving my longboard to a meeting about your million-dollar initiative. Aw, sorry… you were expecting something different? Your mistake. Not mine. I'm focused. I'm pointed. I'm deliberate. Genuine, to a fault. Candid, but calculated. Yeah, you should indeed keep reading.

I am an unapologetic self-promoter. Self-assured and well versed in self-worth. But you should want this. Crave this. Desire this. I don't wait for your definition because you might not tell me, and if/when you do I might not like it. Not being harsh, that's just truth. So I don't look like the pack. I do not wear suits. I have tattoos and earrings. I boast a sneaker collection that would surely shame your best pair of executive loafers. But you know what—none of this matters because I have what you really want; My brain. My thoughts turned into gold, spun from the straws of our initial meetings. My choices are measured, tested and found true, and all yours for a proper fee. My experience is more vast than you could ever truly fathom because I exist on a time line and its tangents, not one simple plane.

I am not so many years into my profession, and decades into my life, without knowing a thing or two. If there is one thing I have learned all these years, it is knowing your audience and marketing consistently, organically, honestly and relentlessly is the proverbial "stuff". I most certainly know my audience and it has nothing to do with me sporting an executive look, or begging for particular approval. I never have, and I NEVER will. I know my audience and you may not be included, and that's okay. I know what you might be looking for, but did you ever care to think that the real balance may lie in what I might be looking for? This interview goes both ways. If my nameplate necklace is not high-end enough for you, then trust me, my occasional mohawk is an immediate no go, too.

Listen, I am NOT a mold-fitting cog. I don't have meetings about meetings regarding when we should meet. I am a "creative". I live where you imagine. Not one of my clients has ever come to me for looking "executive". Not one of my clients has ever left me for a supposed lack of high-end aesthetic. All have been serviced at the table of my need to bring all that I am to bear for them. If this poses a problem for you, the "chicken exit" is right here, right now. I will hustle hard and rock higher until the day my mind fails me. And at that point, I'll just settle for rocking higher, because even on half a brain, I do work! And I will not let you down if you're on board with me.

But hey, as I said… all opinions are welcome. But you have to clean up after 'it' and take it with you when you leave. I can't let you keep it here.

This is who I am.
This is what I do.
I… AM… RDQLUS.

RDQLUS Pic of the Day

I'm really not sure what happened, but that shocked look is real… nevermind the crown! That's just how I get down.

(Where: HOW Conf. - Austin, TX, June '09)

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.

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

"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)

Style is not WHAT you do… It's HOW you do it!

Being a creative bloke–doing design and loving fashion, like I do–I run into conversations on "style" almost daily. As is my usual, that got me to thinking on "style" and what it actually means in practice. (I say in practice because dictionary definitions are often too clinical to make any practical sense given the situation, place or time you're in)

It's my opinion that most view style as an absolute–a hard-lined definitive that allows for no flexibility or movement. We define our clothing as a style. We define our artwork as a style. We even define the foods we eat in terms of a favorite "kind". But I have a thought; Perhaps style is not the end result of what we do but how we go about the act of "doing".

For instance, in my oft talked about and cherished sneaker collection there are many "styles" of shoes so to look at them as a collection it would prove difficult to say that I have a style. However, my collection methods do give rise to the idea that I have a process to the actual collecting of said sneakers. I base my acquisitions on factors such as availability to mass audiences, the method and wardrobe with which I will wear them, the venues that I foresee myself rocking them in, and even the seasonal weather in my area. My collection is diverse, but my collection criteria is most certainly my style. For those who have seen me in my various pairs of customs, most have agreed, "Steve, that's totally your style", even given the completely different physical shapes and designs of the shoes. Why? Because it's not what I am rocking, but rather the way I consistently rock it.

Another example is my supposed design "style". In crafting my artworks for clients, I used to be quite reluctant to admit to having a style because I wanted to avoid the pigeon hole that comes from such definition. But recently (during this particular round of silly brain-bending) I've come to realize that I do tend toward a certain stylistic outcome. But the work I do varies nicely, so how is it that I have developed a style? I believe it's in the method and approach. I have a scholastic history in architectural design. My favorite genre of art and architecture bear the same names, in as much that they are a time period of particular display and structure more so than a style; Art Deco. Concentric shapes, balance, strong lines, implied visual kinetic movement from static elements, shading, color and lofty drama… all of these could describe the art or the structures of the day. The very architectural method of rendering structures, products and art produced a result that is timelessly unmistakable. In my affinity for the entire genre of Art Deco, I could never copy it if I tried. Well… I could but it would be far too evident that it was an attempt to copy. However, in personally digging Art Deco, I have a more "industrial" artistic slant to my work that is a heavy dose of "form v. function". This often leaves my design looking very minimal at times and at others somewhat opulent when the function calls for an embellishment of form, yet all with strong lines, a play on balance and a very strong lean toward shape. All very calculated in conveying message and emotion. When I stepped back for a blurry-eyed view of my work, I said "wow, I have a style", and it has little to do with the final look as many pieces look different. It was in the method.

Okay, so in all of this rambling… what am I getting at? From a both a creative and life standpoint, in our attempts to shake definition and be free of labels that hold us to any one thing, we tend to give ourselves definition and attach labels holding us to something else. We escape boxes by jumping into other boxes. If we must apply definition, pay particular attention to how we move more so than the direction we are pointing. How you move may offer flexibility in both journey and destination that a straight, aimed, defined, blocked path may not.

--
Steve G the RDQLUS One, out!

RDQLUS is Going Mobile… T-Mobile that is.

How do I get myself into these situations?! What a RDQLUS life I live.

I've had the chance in the past to work with national telecomm company T-Mobile as an independent creative consultant doing some early idea shaping and writing for some of their marketing efforts. Over the past few months I was very fortunate to have the opportunity to flex the creative muscles behind the scenes with my good friends at T-Mobile on a particularly fun project, the rollout of their new 'myTouch' mobile device. Talk about fun?! My good friend, Jen Whelan, is one hell of a creative force and project management specialist and I was honored to be a part of her very capable creative team and add anything that I could.

Little did I know…



I got a call one day that found Jen asking me if I wanted to give something new a shot. Those who know me know that the answer was first, "Hells YEAH!" and a secondly, "uh, now what is it I have to do?" One thing lead to another and I find myself at T-Mobile's Bellevue, WA headquarters filming a spot for the 'myTouch' microsite and testing my acting chops!



When we've wrapped and it's time for me to go, I get an amazing added bonus: I'm given a 'myTouch' mobile device of my very own to test out! WHAAAAAAT?! Now everyone knows I have a full-on "love thang" going on with my iPhone, but who turns down tech-swag? I mean really! And I'll tell you, it's an amazing device that I carry everywhere right alongside my iPhone at all times.

If you're not a member of the "cult", then you should indeed check out this little gem manufactured by HTC & offered exclusively thru T-Mobile. View the myTouch "micro-site".

Solutions in our Subcultures

I was having a discussion yesterday with Donovan Beery and Nate Voss of 36point and the subject of discussion got me to thinking about something I've given a lot of thought over the past few years.

The way I figure it, your subculture is the key. The tint that colors your take on the world at large. Because at the core, it's 'subculture' that moves us, shapes us, teaches us the skillset that we operate with and in the end gives us our set of beliefs and our personal standard download of "right & wrong" answers.

There are very simple examples (among many others) of how our cultures filter down to us personally. For instance:

[global > regional > national > regional > state > local > neighborhood > household] or [economic > social > neighborhood > familial > personal]

It's a big world but it's made of millions of small ones. We are all a part of highly functional subcultures operating within the boundaries of that big picture. Our subcultures define choices, actions, personalities, styles and more. In each level there are things learned, habits created, walls built, and opinions formed. It begs the questions; What are your subcultures? How have they influenced the way you make choices? And have you even stopped to glance back at what subcultures you may have come from or are currently a part of? From the clothes you wear, to the groceries you buy, to the jokes you tell and laugh at, to the channels you watch on TV and the media you consume… subculture has done this to you.

In a creative sense, this is the conversation I would much rather have. Keep your creative brief. Well, I'll still need that, but it's are merely a list of simple questions to which a client will give conditioned responses. I'd rather know the conditions that shaped the responses in many cases, over the responses themselves. If I know where a client is coming from and what makes them tick just a bit, I can anticipate how to better serve the functional needs of that client.

As I dig for the subculture links that I need, the creative briefing process it does kind of turn into a mini therapy session… have I told you about that yet?

;-)

Like Free Fonts? Go Nuts!

While cruising the webs and nets this morning, I came across a nice little nugget from my friends at HOW magazine. We all like the occasional freebie typeface but if you're like me, you're a little more than leery about the junkyard that is free fonts due to the incomplete, unusable, trash that is mostly for titles and then even barely that!

Well, check out this little gem of a furry-tailed, twitchy, font-finding friend: Font Squirrel.




HOW Magazine (blog): "Silly Name, Nice Fonts"

Thanks to Megan at HOW Mag for the post.
Original link via 'How About Orange'