CPB Fearless QA

moleskine drawing by lordmx

So @bogusky posted a new video for his Fearless QA project today and it is definitely the best one thus far. He pulled in a couple old school creatives and just really talked about the importance of technique for art directors. Actually having thumbnails before you jump on a computer and start executing, the fact that some people don't even know what visual hierarchy is . . . it's kind of embarrassing for my generation.

Design has always been a part of my life starting with my great grandfather who was a typographer and illustrator (personally invited by Walt Disney to be an illustrator on Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs). I still have the sketch books of type he created for his clients and all the squirrel hair paint brushes he used to hand letter various types of signs.

With architects, designers, typographers, interior designers and illustrators in the family it was hard to not follow in the footsteps of the family business. Once exposed to design, it's possibilities and the ability to influence society it is hard to go on any other career path.

I went to Arizona State to get my BS in graphic design and I am so grateful for the professors that I encountered there. The first two years were spent studying the craft and it was LONG LONG hours and countless bottles of plaka and gesso. We spent semesters training our eyes to be able to kern from 20 feet away and be able to tell a half millimeter just by your eye (thank you Andy Weed). Also included is a whole semester packed with handmade books and portfolio boxes.

The professors are hard, trying to get you to quit, just like one of the CDs mentions in the FQA. We even had a professor tell a student that she should find anothere major on a post it note. . . I think it's though good because if you don't have the passion or the drive you won't make it anyway.

I really saw the benefit of my education when I went to grad school, I chose to go to Texas instead of portfolio school because of their creative program and consistant competitive nature. When I got there I saw people in the creative program that wanted to be ADs though they didn't have the design background, a lot of them didn't make it. Some did though, I have to give credit to those who have a natural talent and the ability to learn fast.

Now as an Art Director, I was incredibly lucky to find a great mentor. He has kind of taken me under his wing and has/is teaching me things that are impossible to learn in school. I think the last year has been such an incredible learning experience that has helped me expand on the skill sets I learned at ASU and UT.

I am somewhat nervous about the generation that comes after mine, because I see so many jump on the computer before concepting and developing an idea. Until Adobe creates a program that generates ideas for us, I feel very strongly about concepting with a piece of paper and a pen (I really don't like pencils). Another topic they touch upon is drawing . . . even if you suck at drawing just do it. . . there is a saying "Practice Makes Perfect" not sure if you've heard of it. Hopefully there will be people in the future generations that feel the same.

Wow. ok just needed a little rant. Here's the link to the video

FearLessQA video interview with CP+B CDs @bwright303 and @Davesz1 http://post.ly/N1Mm

Super Bowl Monday.

So football season is over again . . . and that just sucks. Let's talk about those commercials . . . they also sucked. As a female who loves football I was kind of (alright completely) turned off by all the stereotypical high maintenece women tricking their boyfriends into not watching football. REALLY ANNOYING.

Also, assuming that the creatives on these commercials are male, I am starting to think they have inferiority complexes. Why?! are there all of these hot women (hot women are not the issue) in these commercials and then they put all of these balding over weight men (ugly men are the issue) in the remaining commercials. Thanks a lot, I now think of your brand and ugly hairy white man legs. My money will stay in my wallet or go to your competitor. Definite SB spot fail.

All the hoopla around the Tim Tebow commercial, lame. The gay meeting company that CBS wouldn't air, be happy that you aren't associated with this year's spots.

The E*Trade Babies, kind of getting bored with them. . . that's all I have to say about that.

Budweiser, your agency has a Longhorn Alum working there and I like it! hook 'em horns.

Doritos, definitely think you hit one out of the park with the Dog Collar spot. The other spots, don't really even remember them.

For the most part I was disappointed with the spots. But who dat think they gonna beat them saints . . . Congrats Saints on successfully completing the Cinderella story and winning the Super Bowl!!

Lemonade on Hulu

Picture from PleaseFeedTheAnimals.com

Click on the image to view the movie on HULU

Lemonade Movie is about advertising professionals that have been laid off and their exploration into a new life beyond advertising. It is a great movie, really inspiring. <-- With that said, go watch it.

Click on the image above to go to Hulu and view the 35 minute movie, or watch the trailer below.

BEAT BAMA!!

Today is the Day for the BCS Championship game between Texas and Alabama. All I can say is HOOK EM HORNS!! BEAT BAMA!!

A Day in the Life of a Creative

UPDATE: DEWmocracy

UPDATE: Voting started about an hour ago and continues until midnight 13.December.09.

To vote, you simply log on using "connect with facebook" or create a profile and click the vote button next to our video, each person can vote three times a day for each of the 13 days. The link to the competition is http://www.12seconds.tv/campaign/dewmocracy, our video is under the user name bruonis and titled "DUDE! No, DEW." You have to click "show more" at the bottom of the page because the site doesn't display all of the videos at once. I understand this makes the voting process more complicated, though we would appreciate if you would take a few minutes each day for the next two weeks and help two ad creatives (myself and Krystha) win this competition and make the spring 2010 Mountain Dew commercial.

We have had a few people ask us to send them reminders, so if you would like to receive a daily email to remind you to vote, reply to me only with your email address. We aren't going to sell them or spam anyone, you would just receive ONE email around 9am California time reminding you to vote and 13 days later . . . no more emails. On the 14th day you will probably be sad that a reminder email isn't in your inbox.

Thank you to those who have already spread our video around facebook and twitter helping us get over 6600 views thus far and be the only one of the videos tweeted by Mountain Dew's official twitter feed.

Mtn Dew Voting Begins Tomorrow!

Ok so it's here! The voting period for the Mountain Dew DEWmocracy Competition. The voting period lasts from 01.December until 13.December, each person is allowed to vote 3x times a day for the 13 day voting period. So, that means each person can contribute 39 votes during the voting period.

We need all the help we can get. If you just want to vote that's fine, though if you could pass the word along to your friends we would appreciate that as well. We are putting together an email list to send ONE reminder each day for you to go and vote. If you are interested in being on this list please email me George at Bruonis dot Com.

We are really excited about the opportunity to work with Mountain Dew and hope to be one of the top 6 to compete for the national commercial.

Go See Art & Copy

Alright so I was a little nervous to go see this, because I don't do too well with documentaries. Though if you are a creative you really need to see this movie. It really makes you have pride in this industry and for me it made me re-understand why I do what I do.

In our 2009 Young Guns submission we poke fun at the elders in our industry but I have soo much respect for what they have done and in most cases continue to do. It's really nice to listen to them talk about risk taking and doing things that cause a little havok. Lee Clow is probably my favorite, he is just one of those old men that you want to learn everything from and be best friends with. It's weird to think I lived a block from him and all he does for nine months in L.A.

So that's it. Short and sweet just like the movie. It's only at the Roxie for this week. Go see it, take it all in and be inspired.

King Tut Exhibit

tickets and info

A couple of the Texas Ad Grad ladies were in town this weekend and we watched Texas kill UCF, always a good time, then we went to the de Young museum to see the king tut exhibit. I have heard mixed reviews but I really enjoyed it, there were a few too many people there for me . . . but not a big deal.

A few things I found interesting were:

It is now believed that KT died of an infection from a broken leg instead of a blow to the back of the head.

They don't know who his parents are, and the ones that they assume are his parents also birthed his future wife (duurty).

The pyramids had been built for around 1,000 years by the time that Tut was born.

 One thing we talked about is how beautiful the jewelry and artifacts look in photographs but when you see them in person, they look so cheap. Granted they were made in 1332 BCE and earlier . . . they didn't really have all the tools we do now to make jewlery. Though the intricate details in the death masks and heiroglyphics on the coffins and other artifacts are incredibly beautiful.

Apparently Egypt won't let the mummy of tut or his death mask travel because they are too precious/fragile, so as great as all the artifacts are, if you actually wanna see this young king, you are going to have to go to Egypt.

Oh and doesn't King Tut kind of look like Michael Jackson? Weeeiiirrrdddd. 

Advertising Contest Maniacs.

So what have we been working on lately? Since Mavericks Surf window is now open, & we are waiting on Mother Nature to unleash her fury and send us some gnarly waves. What the hell have we been doing? Well K-Dub (my copywriter) and I have been working on trying to win some hardware. Currently we are working on entering Young Guns which is a competition for advertising creatives under 30 and also are trying to win the chance to make a TV spot for Mountain Dew (view our pitch video).

We've had a lot of fun getting all of the deliverables ready to go, and doing contests have really allowed us to flex some more risky creative muscles. So keep your fingers crossed for us! We will keep you updated on when the voting window opens for the Mountain Dew Competition.

Just For Fun: MSNBC Twitter gets hacked.

Some days there are things that happen that provide just enough entertainment to make your day. Well today, someone or multiple someones hacked the twitter feed on MSNBC. If you missed it I was entertained enough to take a screen shot. I love that you can obviously see they had free reign for half an hour before the feed got suspended. Enjoy!

UPDATE: Sadly this was a hoax. . .but regardless . . . it is still entertaining.

Jr. Creative Advice: In my thoughts and prayers.

photo by De-ann Black

Yesterday a graduate student committed suicide during a professor's office hours. That professor was Mookesh Patel, he was my professor during my undergraduate studies and is now considered a dear friend. I can not fathom going through or witnessing something like that and I want him to know that his students past and present are here for him as he has always been there for us. State Press Article.

I found out from one of my friends who I went through the program with and we started talking about the program and the stress that goes with it. Many don't understand how the ASU Graphic Design program works, it is a hard, nose to the grindstone program that really bonds a class together. There is no just sitting in a lecture for 60 minutes and then taking a midterm and a final. You are in rigorous 3-4 hour classes making, building and exploring. Your first year it's plaka and plaka and oh yea did I mention plaka . . . you will have nightmares about that stuff. There are insane deadlines and extremely high expectations, we are after all the best design program in the nation.

All this rounds out the year with an application to the professional program consisting of multiple tests and then onto the waiting game til July to see how many of the 200 get to be part of the lucky 30 to get in. After your first college summer, come the three professional years . . . and that is a novel in itself.

As challenging as the program is I wouldn't trade my experiences there for anything, All the professors, Andy Weed, Mookesh and Al, Jennifer, Haywood and yes even Beth . . . are so true to the craft and the pursuance of making us the best we can be. That program really prepared me for graduate school and for real life in the advertising world. There was a stint of 4 months where I consistently worked 80 hour weeks just to make client deadlines. Yes, I have even slept in the agency.

Mookesh, I am really happy you are safe and hopefully can put this tragedy behind you to continue doing the great work you have done for so many over the years. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family during this trying time. You truly are a beacon of inspiration.

Relay for Life

Here is some work that we did for the Marin Relay for Life. Krystha up on her soap box.

Here's one of the videos we did for Mavericks Surf Competition. The window for the competition opens Nov 1st. 

Mavericks Live Tour 2009 Video

Here's the final cut of the video for Mavericks that I worked on. If you want to share it on Facebook visit Facebook.com/Mavericks
and click the share button. The opening ceromonies are going to be held in a week!

Mavericks Surf Competition 09/10

So it is less than one month until the Mavericks Surf Competition window opens and everyone is getting really excited. This is the logo I just finished for the 09/10 competition. We are busily getting all the promotional materials ready for the competition. There are some great shirts coming out for the competition and all kinds other promotional items.

If you are not familiar with Mavericks. It is a surfing competition unlike any other. You can read about the history on their website maverickssurf.com. A basic bare bones of it is 24 surfers get 24 hours notice to get their asses to Half Moon Bay, CA to surf the biggest baddest waves in the world.

Jr. Creative Advice: Break Rules.

I am all for learning the rules of design and mastering them as well. . .but along with that I am for breaking those rules as long as you can defend your reasoning for breaking them, or you just make something remarkable.

So in the spirit of breaking rules here are some tunes from Little Texas: Kick A Little.

VOTE: Phoenix Design Week 09 Poster

So I entered a contest in my free time. Yes I know I am crazy for doing more work when I'm not at work . . . WOO! Anyway click on the poster above to VOTE for my poster much appreciated.

The poster celebrates the Phoenix Bird as it dies and is reborn from the ashes, very similar to the generations of designers. One set goes out and then another comes in all further paving the road than those before him. That is the reasoning for the copy "To those who came before: thank you. To those who will come after: good luck."

Enjoy!

UPDATE: Mavericks Live Tour 2009

The stage has been set . . . Mavericks has released the tour dates for the 2009 Mavericks Live Tour! Above is the poster I did for them and below you can see if the tour will be coming to a city near you.

If you're in San Francisco, I hope to see your there!

October 17 - Calgary @ Flames Central
October 18 - Vancouver @ Commodore Ballroom
October 19 - Eugene @ McDonald Theater
October 21 - Anaheim @ House of Blues
October 22 - San Francisco @ The Fillmore
October 27 - Denver @ The Fillmore
November 2 - St. Louis @ Pageant
November 3 - Chicago @ House of Blues
November 8 - New Orleans @ House of Blues
November 10 - Raleigh @ Lincoln Theater
November 11 - Charlotte @ The Fillmore
November 19 - Myrtle Beach @ House of Blues
November 21 - Baltimore @ Sonar
November 25 - Washington D.C. @ Sixth & I Historic Synagogue
December 2 - Cleveland @ House of Blues
December 3 - Cincinnati @ Bogart's
December 7 - Detroit @ St. Andrew's Hal

Stan Richards you are my inspiration.

Ever since I met Stan Richards at his agency (thank you Dr. Burns) and then heard him tell his first advertising story, he has become my inspiration.

There is one part of the speech that is also written on the AIGA website. This paragraph has been permanently burned onto my brain:

"Stan started his Dallas career by taking a job with the Bloom Agency. "I hated it," he says. "I hated the politics and the bureaucracy, but I figured you owed an employer at least a year." In 1953 he and his wife, Betty, began selling freelance design services to agencies that were looking for outstanding creative. And soon there was a milestone month when they billed $135. They spent their times looking for the best clients, putting together the best-run shop in town, finding the best people and getting them to do their best work. Looking back on those years, Stan says, "I made a point of seeing every kid who wanted to see me. I hired the most immensely talented people. I taught them how to run a highly disciplined organization, and how to run it profitably. I taught them how to fight very hard for doing things right. It took a while, but soon we dominated the local awards shows. And then my competitive instincts ran nationally."

He makes you believe that no matter what you want to do, if you put enough sweat and persistence into it, you can achieve anything. I thank you Stan Richards for your dedication to your craft and your determination to do great work.