Everyday is an Event, or Two, or Three.

My life is truly nothing short of amazing, and on days like these, I think about all the events and ongoings that I get to experience. What a range. In just the couple of days this weekend, it was a drag birthday extravaganza followed by a leather event. The next day, a midday plant sale, finals for the Bare Chest Calendar 2014 (who's efforts benefit the Aids Emergency Fund) and then to Ruby Skye we went where a close friend was participating in the NorCal Aveda Trashion Show, benefiting clean water resources for those in need. Phew! What I love most is the amount of creativity my life is strewn with. Here's some pictures from the "festivities". Until the next adventure...

Celebrating a birthday with Ethel at Midnight Sun

Setup for CODE at The Edge in Castro

The Bare Chest Calendar at DNA Lounge

Aveda Trashion Show at Ruby Skye

Cargo, Cargo Collective

In case I haven't posted about this before, I wanted to put forth the amazing Cargo Collective. Something that I have found extremely useful and practical to host and use as my CMS for my creative portfolio and other works. It's a killer way to display all kinds of creative work simply and professionally  Knowing CSS with a premium membership (like $60 a year) allows for a lot of customization options. Check it out, share it around, and start sharing your creativity, damnit.

http://cargocollective.com/favorites

and in case you're interested in checking out my work... ya know, just because...
ckswanson.com

Must Have Wheat Thins!

I like 'em, a lot. And for good measure I threw in a little bit of an older spot featuring Family Guy. Well done.

Weapons of Mass Creativity

Saw this, liked the post, and then a friend, living back in Tennessee sent me a text this morning with this attachement stating that, "this has you written all over it." And for that, I thank you Jeremy.

Credit // Art & Design, Weapons of Mass Creativity by Mark Fitz

Feed Me, Feedly.

With Google Reader going away (July), I needed something to aggregate the things I follow, and while apps for iPad like Flipboard are great, I wanted something a bit more desktop-orientated. From a recommendation I found Feedly, and couldn't be happier, in case you were wondering (i know you weren't). Either way, if you're in need of a similar offering, I thought I'd slap this up with a link to check it out. Nice interface, easy navigation, search, and what pushed me over was it imported everything exactly from my current Reader subscriptions. Done and done.

Feedly

Who Doesn't Love Comfort Food?

And who doesn't love awesome illustrations? Combine the two and this is what I stumbled across on Buzzfeed. Enjoy what they've called (and I agree with) charming illustrations. Created by Brooklyn illustrator Monica Ramos.

And I tend to agree with the subhead of the posting, "So jealous of that dude who is face down on a pat of a butter on a giant waffle stack."

credit // Buzzfeed

PK Brand Identity

Just because. I saw it in my Feedly and needed to give it a blast. Simple and interesting rebrand for the Minneapolis agency. I found out they also did the OfficeMax spot with the tiny elephant so with my obsession of that animal, it gives them a huge win in my book.

credit // designcue
Preston Kelly

The Human Printer

Pretty incredible and patience-needed process by which students at the University of Derby. So tedious, and honestly not something I'm sure I could do, at least to this extent. They're work and effort is pretty incredible and some of the results look astounding. Well done.

credit // Colossal

 

Sad But True

It's one of those touchy subjects indeed (and understandably), but when I saw the ads while looking through my Feedly feed (not sure how I feel about that phrasing) they definitely caught my eye, made me stop and click to see them in detail. What do you think?

credit // Ads of the World

Laceless, Colorless Street Soccer Boots

I dig this package design, as organic in nature, thoughtful and representing street soccer. It's for new soccer boots from Calle.

"Calle street soccer shoes are the first of their kind: laceless. I pushed to reflect this in the package
design by making an unconventional but highly memorable experience, from the opening of the package to keeping some of its elements for later use, such as its monstrous illustrated flag."

Dieline posting

Octopus Wine

Wicked package design for The Argonaut, from Eight Arms Cellars. Found through my Feedly RSS of The Dieline. It's awesome and interesting description of what The Argonaut is/was...

"The Argonaut is an octopus with a shell. As bizarre as that sounds, in 300 B.C., Aristotle proposed that the female Argonaut used her shell as a boat and her eight arms to row it!"

The Dieline article

Earth Shattering

I've withheld from posting tutorials, but am going to give in and start throwing them up here. That way anyone can see them and I can refer to them when I need to go back to them. Haven't completed this one, it's a bit time consuming, and well, I just haven't had the time, but I thought it was a really cool tutorial, and I LOVE the Tuts websites. Everything from Photoshop and the rest of the creative suite, to things that showcase specific artists. Highly recommended.

The Step-by-Step Tutorial HERE.

The Finished product...
credit // PSD Tuts

Needles Side Tattoo - Loïc

Chatting at dinner last week about tattoos and then my friend Jordan shared this amazing artist with us, Loïc. I had to post about it, along with their Facebook page link and of course some examples. Truly awesome work and wicked design, too bad to get any ink from him would require travel across the Atlantic to France.

Needles Side Tattoo on Facebook

Michael Stokes

A great photographer and attractive models, both male and female. Had to share and found out he also has a Tumblr. Check out his work, he does great things, and I included some shots below as an example. A lot with the human body and sometimes highly provocative. Just my preface before you dive in. I love his work.

http://michaelstokes.tumblr.com/
http://michaelstokesphoto.com/

Ski Mask & A Puppet

2 TV spots that I've seen lately that grabbed my attention are for the Beetle Convertible and Wheat Thins. And here they are.

Beetle Convertible 


Must. Have. Wheat Thins!

Ship My Pants

Whatever you might think of this, I will say I'm impressed by an approach that pushes boundaries and makes people uncomfortable. 

How To Make Denim

Short video and successful collaboration between G-Star and Skrillex. Takes nothing away from either brand and effectively promotes both in a visually entertaining execution. Well done.



Adverblog Post

Cover Me In Blue

Whether you're a fan of Chelsea as a soccer (football) team or not isn't the point. Had to share this new ADIDAS campaign for their 2013/14 kit. Found on Adverblog, I thought it was appropriate to post something involving 3 of my favorite things: the color blue, creative advertising and soccer. does it get better than that? Yeah, didn't think so.



credit // Adverblog

Underpantones

Genius. I can't believe I didn't think of this sooner. Kicking myself, but I'll take the Pantone 382 C and Pantone 327 C in case you're wondering.

Dieline Post

WWF's Digital "Hijack" on Brazil

The WWF digitally took over a international women's football match in Brazil to show the rapid pace of deforestation. Nice execution to show something in real time, driving back to their website by the end of it. What could this mean for many other brands?

Adverblog Post

Kiehl's, Earth Day, Alanis and Quinto

I love packaging and I love when it benefits the environment. Even better when it involves celebrities, that I actually like. "For the fifth Limited Edition Label Art Series for Earth Day, Kiehl’s Since 1851 has partnered with the inimitable Zachary Quinto and Alanis Morissette to benefit Recycle Across America."

Everyone knows Alanis and her angst-ridden tunes, and I love Quinto and his appearances on American Horror Story. Also a huge fan if they actually designed their respective labels, as the story mentions, "..each designed a Limited Edition label, depicting their vision of social responsibility.." 

Check out the original post for more on Kiehl's and their commitment to recycling and the environment.

Original Post

Bonnets - An Easter Tradition

In chosen family tradition (IDC), we meet the night before Easter to throw our creativity and hot glue skills down in a fierce non-competition style blowout. There's a theme, a lot of laughs and then some more laughs, mixed with banter, glitter and gossip. It's a great part of the process that allows us all to descend upon our beloved Mitch's home and go to town with our ideas. Once the final rhinestone has been glued on, the last sip of Sangria consumed (for now), the hats are laid to rest, to sleep before their debut. This was the last year at Mitch's for this annual treat we've been blessed to be a part of, and we no doubt went full force with our ambitious headgear.

We return on Sunday, to finish any lingering detailing and consume morning beverages. Of course making a to go cup for our parade down 18th street. For those with weighty, or taller fashions, the tying begins and you mentally prepare with how you will hold your creation atop your dome.

It of course has to be well documented, and not just by ourselves. It starts with the group shot, and then as we stroll down our pavement runway, onlookers, residents, and other Easter enthusiasts snap their own shots. There's probably a stop (or two) in case of a need for grub, possibly adult liquids, or in some cases last minute additions to one's costume. No matter what, it all eventually leads down to Dolores Park and the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence's hosted event in the park. Atop the grassy knoll is a bonnet competition for which our host Mitch has previously taken the crown. This year however, we had a couple entrants from our camp, sadly no one took the crown, but mother nature was determined to destroy what we had painstakingly crafted.

We endured the rainfall for as long as we could, cuddled under single umbrella's 4-deep and bonnets secured, until the unthinkable happens. One thing falls from one's head dress while another watches their's fall in half. It was destruction at it's finest, and an epic experience had by all. despite efforts to fix the destruction, it's been done. some rush home, others to the local pub.

No matter what anyone says, it was one of the best days I've had, with people I adore and one of those  experiences I'm lucky to have in my life - or what some tell me is Halloween, everyday.

I won't ever forget these times and am happy to share a couple photos of my bonnet (theme was 'Under the Big Top') and tell my little story. Until the next epic adventure!

Brown Was A Disaster!

The bossman showed me this, which I assume is one of the many April Fool's jokes Google did. This is for the ground-breaking, Gmail Blue. Thought it was a bit funny having had client discussions over colors of CTA buttons. Those are the best kinds to have, swear.