Design Your Mind

Wow! These past few days have been crazy paced. I haven’t stopped to smell the roses in a while, mainly because I have been busy “CraigsListing”, hanging with friends and taking pictures. When I say “CraigsListing” I am referring to the act of using Craig’s List (rather successfully for me actually). I have been posting my gear on there and getting almost an instant response to it all. Within 15 minutes of posting I will get a hit and have a meeting setup at a local coffee house. This is a good thing, very good in fact. I have been able to trade up both times. Traded my 16-35mm f/2.8L for a 24-105mm f/4 clean across and my speedlight for an 85mm f/1.8. I needed these lenses. NEEDED THEM! (Cookie Monster voice).

The past few days have comprised of me testing out my new gear. Hence why I have been so busy. Busy = fun and smelling the roses is for the birds.

Sidenote: Something interesting I’ve noticed about this blog; I seem to only post photo related content on it. I want to clarify that I am a graphic designer who takes photos and not photographer who is a part time graphic designer

I’m sure we’ll chat,
Aaron Trigg
www.doughboyconcepts.com

I can’t believe how much better my lighting class has made me understand light. There are a lot of principals and theories that I did not know about which I wouldn’t have been able to understand unless dealing with it on a personal level. Understanding the ‘family of angles’, how shadows cast and the inverse square law do not just absorb into your brain without hands on practice. All college text books are filled to the brim with knowledge that can teach you anything but you can’t demonstrate an understanding of something just be reading it and taking a test. That is why I enjoy my lighting class. We will read from the book a few fundamental lighting principals and then practice them all day in class. It can’t get any better then that.

My latest assignment I have been working on for class is glass. For some, this is the most difficult type of photography, which I totally agree with and can sympathize. My teacher keeps telling us, “If you understand how to light glass you can light anything.” It is so true! There is nothing that glass won’t throw at you; shadows, glare, reflection, the whole gamut and the kitchen sink.

These few pictures are my attempt at lighting glass and demonstrating the light techniques I have learned. Enjoy.

The water bottles are not glass but they use the same principals. Its fun to make things that are so boring into things that are extraordinary.

Cheers,
Aaron

I have been so swamped with school that I forgot that I even had a blog. Believe me, when you go to school for as long as I have you kind of forget about everything else. Everything seems to just get pushed back or swept under the rug to allow school to become priority. In this case, a little bit of both has occurred making blogging nearly impossible.

What have I been up to?
School, plain and simple is what I have been up to. I have been struggling in my classes this quarter because of how boring they are (Aaron struggling? No...). I am not use to being so bored in class to the point of falling asleep. It has never happened to me. This quarter though I cant seem to keep my eyes open in two of my classes; 20th Century Design Theory and Caves to Cathedrals. As for my other two classes, Intro to Sustainability and Photography Lighting 102, I could not ask for more. Intro to sustainability is a straight forward but interesting class. I could sit in that class all day and learn about biomimicry and ‘cradle to cradle’. All that stuff  is interesting to me. I like to know what impact I am having when I do the things I do. As for my photo class, of course I love that class. Its what I do. Here is some of my homework if you would like to see:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/doughboyconcepts
Look for the lighting assignments.

Anywho, I'm going to get some grub.
Aaron

I must say it has been a long time since I felt butterflies in my stomach. Playing in many bands and being on stage for a good portion of my life could not have prepared me for my first official photo shoot with a band that I truly admire and respect. This weekend I had the privilege of shooting my friends Alex and Tom from the band The Crash Engine, a local hard rock band.

The boys had a few ideas for the shoot but it was basically up to me to fill in the blanks and make their ideas come full circle. We headed out to North Portland (Mississippi District) in a hurry because we were running low on light. Alex and Tom wanted to use a tagged wall they found for their first location that read “Leaving hipster-ville. See you next time”. To be honest when I first saw the site I was puzzled as to how I was going to light Alex and Tom while still making the wall interesting. More importantly I wondered how I was going to power my lights. I ended up asking the Spanish speaking homeowner from the house behind the tagged wall if I could run extension cords from his front porch. He had no clue what I was talking about but agreed anyway.

Fumbling over my lights and camera from my nerves, I managed to come up with a solution that complimented both the guys and the tagged wall. I set an AB800 with a shoot through umbrella to the right of the camera and another AB800 directly to the left to add a sort of rim. With the lights at 1/1 ratio I set my camera to ISO100 f/10 at 1/125, and the shooting began. I was surprised at the results of this lighting configuration which gave me a confidence booster (Hey, maybe I can do this).

By the time our first location was spent of photos we had completely ran out of sun light. It was officially night time and there was no point in shooting the other location. I suggested that we head over to my school’s studio for the remainder of the shoot to salvage the time we had left. This turned out to be smart choice for me because I can better control the light in my school’s studio and still give Alex and Tom some great looking photos.

The lighting configuration I used in the studio was text book. I had an AB800 suspended above the guys with a beauty dish center of the camera. Then an AB800 left and behind with a green gel along with my EX580II pointed towards the backdrop. Pretty standard but effective. This setup lent its self to be very versatile and gave me plenty of great shots of Alex and Tom to choose from.

After the last shot was taken we headed out to McMenamins for a burger and a few brews and that was the end of my first official photo shoot. Please, if you have any questions/comments let me know.

See you around,
Aaron Trigg

Feel free to click on any of the pictures to get a better look

Recently for class I had been asked to take a local business and create a completely different identity. Because I am new to the Portland area I don’t really have any connection that would allow me to do such a project but conveniently my sister has a small jewelry line that she runs out of her house. She was a perfect candidate for this project. For the project I must create a series of postcards, a brochure, a two color newsletter and a catalogue. Everlasting, my sisters jewelry line, couldn’t have been a better choice for this collection of collateral.

One major obstacle for this project is getting some convincing photos of my sisters jewelry. I knew I had to take the matter into my own hands and learn the proper way to photograph small objects. So I took to the Internet and found some great tutorials on YouTube.com. There I found a series of videos that guided my shoot. I feel that the solution that arouse was a perfect fit and complimented the jewelry line.

Below is the lighting configuration I decided to use. There are two AB800s shooting 1/2. One above the light table and the other below the light table. I would have rather used a soft box instead of my umbrella but I did not have that luxury at this shoot. On the light tables top I have two reflectors folded in such a way that it bounces the light directly back at the jewelry. Then I cut a hole in a piece of Bristol and shot the photographs through that hole. That shoot through piece of Bristol added a very nice highlight to the front of the jewelry pieces.

In the examples notice all the beautiful highlights that are created with this configuration. I was ecstatic when I saw the results on my tiny camera screen. I found myself bracketing a stop down and a stop up for good measure.

I hope my sister likes the pictures along with the final output of the project. This should hopefully get her little business off the ground and running. Feel free to check out her site Everlasting if you like what you see.

I’ll see you around,
Aaron James Trigg

I just want to say this before you read further: I love Radiohead. In no way is this a smash session on the In Rainbows package design. This is only my interpretation of what I feel could have made the design stronger.  

Cheers,
Aaron James Trigg

Color Theory Defense

Old Design

As a whole the Radiohead CD package is a very well put together design. The front of the case can jump out at someone at any record store. The current theme is very warm with its brightly colored paint splatters and rainbow color scheme. The CD Sleeve however, breaks the color scheme with its white and light blue graphics. Kind of a shock to have this sleeve fall out of the package and seemly have no connection with the design what-so-ever. Upon listening to the CD its seems that the rainbow scheme doesn't fit the listening style of the CD either. While one listens to the CD one will notice significantly more cooler undertones flowing rhythmically throughout the music then warm. Using the CD title may have not been the wisest choice for the direction of the CD package. Yes, it does pop off the shelf at stores but does it represent the content properly? For me, no. I have listened to the CD through and through studying and interpreting the music. I will like to take a more genuine less literal approach to the CD package scheme.

New design

Keeping with blue analogues background images would suit the “In Rainbows” album best. It will help better describe the overall musical subtleties of the album as they are more predominately cooler than warm. The outer image is an earth perspective of the moon beginning to erupt. There is derby raining down on earth as it destructs. A more abstract view on "In Rainbows". If the moon ceased to exist so would we. But we were told that the world would never be destroyed again. A promised sealed with a rainbow. There is one ray of light signifying one hope. The CD sleeve itself is a space perspective of the moon before complete destruction. The analogues blue conveys the feeling of cold nothingness. When the sleeve is folded it will make for an interesting double sided composition. The rainbow text style will be salvaged to have some reference to the original “In Rainbows” titling. The brightly colored text has been tinted with blue to better blend into the composition and keeping with the cold blue color scheme. These changes will be a sure fire way to make the album one cohesive masterpiece.

Blue is calming. It can be strong and steadfast or light and friendly. Almost everyone likes some shade of the color blue. In many diverse cultures blue is significant in religious beliefs, brings peace, or is believed to keep the bad spirits away. Blue conveys importance and confidence without being somber or sinister, hence the blue power suit of the corporate world and the blue uniforms of police officers. Long considered a corporate color, blue, especially darker blue, is associated with intelligence, stability, unity, and conservatism. Blue would fit Radiohead's “In Rainbows” for these exact reasons. The calming nature of the entire album deserves a blue scheme. There are moments in the album that I wouldn't consider calm. They are chaotic and put you at the edge of your seat. That is where the moon destruction comes in. The music is meant to calm a sooth you.

For a project in my Intermediate Drawing class at school I was assigned a gallery to visit and gather some inspiration for our next project. I did not intend on participating more then just viewing the art at the gallery but when I came across Snowberries it was clear to me that I should make my feelings known. I hope Neal doesn't find my blog and kill me.

Cheers,
Aaron James Trigg

Snowberries

Artist: Neal Philpott
Medium: Oils
Dimensions: H 48in x W 54in

I found Snowberries in the last gallery I visited. It was displayed in the Lawrence Art Gallery close to a side window and was being blasted with light from the mid day sun. It stood out to me, not because it was well-lite, brighter or better then any of the other compositions in the gallery, but because it was seemingly incomplete. The artist Neal Philpott had a few other paintings on display at the gallery. They were a fully flushed out and full of life-like details; an accurate representation of the world around us almost like a photograph. Naturally, if there is an incomplete work next to these beautiful life-like compositions it will stick out like a sore thumb as it did to me.

Upon doing research on snowberries I found that they are a small winter fruit. Many animals rely on this fruit to survive the cold winter months. Snowberries are poisonous to humans and are used for seasonal decoration. In Philpott's composition one can see the changing of the season. The looming winter months are just around the corner as the forest floor turns from a lush green to the vibrant yellows and oranges shown in the painting. Snowberries could be symbolic of the struggle winter brings to the forest or symbolic of the beauty found in the struggle to achieve.

Philpott is working in a relativity large size for this painting as he usually does; H 48in x W 54in. Oil paint seems to be his choice medium on canvas. There is some sort of sponge brush work in the foliage which gives it an organic spark. The rest of the painting looks to be done in short brush strokes giving the bark a fairly pleasing smooth tactile texture.

Deploying the theory that the farther a line recedes the smaller, darker and less saturated the line becomes helps this composition immensely with its illusion of depth. Also, the over lapping of the trees (line) helps this illusion. But what seems to be missing in Snowberries that is well executed in other Philpott work is the value contrast which really hits the illusion of depth home. If the overall value contrast of this piece was bumped up it would be beneficial for its depth illusion. Atmospheric prospective could also be utilized in this piece toward the top left where there seems to be a clearing giving the piece a much more dominate focal point. Just a little bit of gradation could have made the background seem much deeper too. Philpott uses this technique often but seems to have neglected it on this composition. (I wonder if it was intentional?)

The upper two thirds of the composition is dominated by the repetition of trees. These trees create an interesting rhythm throughout Snowberries and keep the interest of the viewer. One might feel that the repetition of the colors, however, is not so pleasant, almost distracting. A solution to the monotony of the limited color pallet could have been the increasing of contrast between light and dark, not only helping with the illusion of depth but breaking up the colors just enough to capture the attention of the viewer for a bit longer. A simple solution for a major problem.

Lately I have had to write a few essays that have been really bogging me down in school. Write is a very difficult thing for me to do when I find myself not interested in the subject. I was relieved to find out that my typography class' essay would be about a topic a care very much about which made it an easy essay to write. Design is something I hold dear to my heart and writing about one of my favorite designers is just something I thought would be appropriate.

-Aaron James Trigg

David Carson: Non Traditional Design

The term graphic design can refer to a number of artistic and professional disciplines which focus on visual communication and presentation. Various methods are used to create and combine symbols, images and/or words to create a visual representation of ideas and messages. All graphic designers have there own creative way of solving the problems of visual communication. David Carson is no exception; he is one of the great designers of the time as he breaks the mold of traditional design. He is the master at creating solutions for problems that would challenge the boundaries of design and logic. He is perhaps the most influential graphic designer of the nineties. If Harry Houdini is the master of illusion in magic then Carson, for graphic design, is the master of making magic from chaos and rebellion.

David Carson is an American graphic designer who is known for his innovative magazine design, and use of experimental typography. His designs are governed totally by feel and he often says he does not care about the people who do not like what he creates. If a graphic designer had to live by one quote it would be of Carson's, “...don't confuse legibility with communication just because something is legible doesn't mean it communicates. More importantly it may not communicate the right thing.” He was one of the first designers to completely shatter the rules of graphic design. Legibility was no longer the main focus of graphic design with the introduction of Carson's work. If a design could portray a feeling then the goal was met. The text no longer matter as much as the meaning that could be gained from the work.

Carson was born September 8, 1952 in Corpus Christi, Texas and has traveled much of the world. He was a very talented young artist yet his first significant exposure to graphic design education came as part of a two-week workshop in Switzerland, where the Swiss graphic designer Hans-Rudolph Lutz influenced him in the early 80's. He did also have a graphics class in 1980 at the University of Arizona but was not as influential as his later journey to Switzerland. A Bachelor of Arts in Sociology was Carson's main course of study.

Many people are astonished to find that Carson is not trained in the art of graphic design. A degree in Sociology and his professional surfing background are the only training that has acquired. All of his design work is gaged primarily on the message that he feels needs to be conveyed, nothing more. It must effectively portray the core meaning of what must be communicated for Carson. Similarly, when one knows when he or she has fallen in love Carson knows when a piece has been flawlessly executed. There could be loose ends defined by the standards of traditional design but if it does not help the meaning it is usually left as is.

In November 1995, the same year of the Oklahoma City Bombing, Carson published his first book the End of Print. It sold in five different languages over 200,000 copies and soon became the best-selling graphic design book of all time. He has gone on to publish a series of six other books: David Carson: 2nd Sight: Grafik Design After the End of Print , Fotografiks: An Equilibrium Between Photography and Design Through Graphic Expression That Evolves from Content, Surf Culture: The Art History of Surfing, The Book of Probes, Trek: David Carson, Recent Werk, and Ortlos: Architecture of the Networks, all of which are critically acclaimed and have sold very well. In addition to Carson's arsenal of great graphic design books he has also been apart of some of the most cutting edge magazines to date. He is the art director of the Transworld magazine series and was the co-founder of Ray Gun, a magazine of international standards which had music and lifestyle as its motivating subjects.

Not limited to just magazine layouts and other type oriented design, Carson has worked with major companies such as Pepsi Cola, Ray Ban, Nike, Microsoft, Budweiser, Giorgio Armani, NBC, American Airlines, Levi Strauss Jeans, AT&T, British Airways, Kodak, Lycra, Packard Bell, Sony, Suzuki, Toyota, Warner Bros., CNN, Cuervo Gold, Johnson AIDS Foundation, MTV Global, Princo, Lotus Software, Fox TV, Nissan, quiksilver, Intel, Mercedes-Benz, MGM Studios and Nine Inch Nails. These major companies have put Carson's work on the map as some of the most innovative designs to come from America. We can only hope that he will continue to be inspired and inspire.

Here are some links that Carson is apart of:

http://www.raygun.com/