ANNUAL REPORT

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Hello!

When I was fifteen I was obsessed with reggae music. There was something about the beating of those drums that left me ecstatic every time. I felt as if I had to impart these vibes on everyone, so I took on a mission to advertise this great feeling. At this time the internet hype was beginning to blow up and I figured that building a reggae web site would be the best way to share my passion with the rest of the world.Two problems hit me right off the bat, hosting services where expensive and I had no design experience what-so-ever, I didn’t know that Photoshop or Freehand or that any design software existed, and I was under the belief that web design was based on codes and programming which I lacked all skill as well. However, the will to accomplish my mission was stronger than any problems that might have come up. A couple of friends chipped in on the hosting service and NattyBeat.com was born, now I had to design it. The layout of the page was a standard format that I could make tables and customize colors the service provided as part of the package and I was left with the logo. This became my first design job. I remember coming up with a few sketches and finally settling on what I believed was the best possible mark. A script typeface and two illustrated drums in the middle dividing the two words, I was finally done and nattybeat was published. It had Rastafarian images a list of my 50 personal favorite reggae songs and a constant loop of a nyabinghi drum giving the visitor a pleasant experience while they browsed through the images. After the page went up and all my friends would visit it and talk about it in school, I started giving out stickers of the logo and people posted them on their lockers and the back of their parents cars. I had just discovered my love for branding and design. This was something that interested me now, it had instant gratification, I had something to show.

“I seek to reveal a brands intrinsic emotion to consumers”

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making the beast

monster face: typefaceDesigned to show the graphic roughness of a monster while implementing the idea that each character is a character.

Based on responses of 285 design leaders from various types of practices—dropped to the lowest level since the survey was launched in 2005, hitting a measure of 50. Although this confidence reading is down from the previous quarter’s 68, the positive views balance negative outlooks on economic conditions.Only thirty-four percent of respondents believe the design economy is as strong or better than six months ago. Yet their perspective on the next six months is more positive than business leaders’—though still very sobering: 38.5 percent feel the design economy will be moderately worse, and 13 percent feel it will be substantially worse. Twenty-three percent believe the design economy will be stronger in six months. Design leaders are not positive about hiring prospects or equipment purchases. Only one in eight is likely to increase either staff or equipment during the next six months. The corporate CEO confidence survey conducted by The Conference Board among 100 leading corporate CEO posted a reading of 40 in the third quarter, virtually unchanged from 39 in the second quarter. (A reading of more than 50 points reflects more positive than negative responses.) Only 7 percent claim current conditions are better than the previous quarter’s. About 20 percent of business leaders expect economic conditions to improve in the next six months and only 17 percent believed their own industries would be stronger in six months. Both of these measures are more pessimistic than the previous period.

hard times

bait

feed

Advertising and propaganda play a key role in a brands life. In terms of the BEAST, advertising becomes BAIT, a way to lure the consumer in by giving them something that they like and trust.

A prospects need to communicate with the consumer is one, if not the main problem a designer is confronted with. An interchange of information and the ability to communicate the brands journey is what the BEAST FEEDS.

winnebago: location, location, locationWinnebago Industries is synonymous with motor homes and the Winnebago brand continues to create some of the most dependable, longest-lasting motor homes on the road. In a attempt to show the endless possibilities and freedom these motor homes offer, a simple but memorable headline comes to mind: location , location, location.

annual typography exhibitThe Annual Typography Exhibit was a project that required complete awareness of the typographic aesthetic in order to represent the high level of work that is going to be presented at the show. The direction I took was to have a certain mixture of old, classic style typography with a modern touch to successfully create a visual language that conveyed the essence of the show and hold parallel to the clubs standards.

inbeastroThe American Marketing Association provides an expanded definition, recognizing that branding includes the concept of trademarks and other graphic representations of intellectual property: “A brand is a name, term, sign, symbol or design, or a combination of them intended to identify the goods and services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of other sellers.”

“ALL YOU NEED FOR A MOVIE IS A GUN AND A GIRL.”

dixie cups advertisingDixie makes high quality disposable cups, cutlery, plates and bowls. The strategy for this project was to emphasize the fact that you can dispose of the products and that it will be OK. To show this train of thought a strictly typographic solution was an interesting way to start a conversation with the consumer. The copy has somewhat of a sexual twist and a play on the word Dixie (as a girl name) and the idea of a one night stand without the guilt of not committing to a relationship.

always in trainingmass producing sheep eating motherfuckermy revolver lets me take turns

Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary defines “brand” as “a class of goods identified by name as the product of a single firm or manufacturer.” That’s a good place to start, but “goods or services” might be more accurate, since Harvard University and Harvard Business School, for example, are brands just as much as Apple and iPod. An additional refinement would be to say that the concept of brand isn’t confined only to “firms or manufacturers.” Personalities can be brands, too: Martha Stewart, Steven Spielberg, John Grisham, James Bond, and even Batman, are all brands.

a state of branding

sundance film festival posterThe Sundance Film Festival is the largest Independent film festival in the U.S. To keep in touch with the roots of this festival a graphic representation of the directors chair gave a strong visual impact that kept in tone with the rawness (non-Hollywood feel) of the movies presented in the festival.

VJ culture is something I really know nothing about. I only know it exists from dancing all night long at raves and nightclubs back in the day when my body could handle that sort of thing. This type of work doesn’t really fit into to the commercial world we know, so it’s a challenge to look at it from that perspective and ponder all the why’s and what if’s. All I do know is that the A/V world has been evolving along with everything else, and with today’s software and hardware the possibilities are pretty much as endless as creativity allows.

After recently discovering a very talented visual artist from Roma (Italy) known as Chevy, I decided to ask him a few questions to help gain a better understanding of his work and the A/V world in general.

q&aTell us a little bit about your background, like where you are from and what it is you do?

My name is Luis D. Ortiz aka Chevy Chasing, I am Puertorican and I live and work in New York (and sometimes around Europe). I guess I could say that I am a Multimedia Artist / Graphic Designer. When someone asks me, I usually tend to answer different things depending to whom I am talking to. This because I do a variety of things that are likely to be perceived as separate fields. For me they are not.

As a Artist I do Videos, Installations, A/V Performances and Prints. These works are mainly screened, performed or exhibited in festivals and events, or in galleries. I would say this is what I do the most.

As a Graphic Designer I deal with Video, Motion Graphics / Compositing, Web and Print. I bring forward this kind of stuff as a freelance working for a couple of agencies, production companies and some other clients between NY and Italy.

q&a

As a Director (just starting) I do music videos.

In general, I like to work with people from different backgrounds, especially with musicians, architects and programmers.

Your work is different from most A/V work I’ve seen, probably owing to your sense of design. Were you rocking design before you got into programming, or was it the other way around?

I am definitely more a designer than a programmer, but I am fascinated and inspired by the aesthetics of coding and digital art in general. I try to bring together these two languages to create some sort of hybrid work in between

I’d like to talk a little about a project you did for D-Fuse called Architectural Density, since it feels closer to the motion graphics we see today created with After Effects. Explain the process and what you used to create these intricate sound driven compositions.

This is work is all done using AE (for the animation) and Shake (for the grading) As I said before, I am very intrigued by the aesthetics of generative art, and I try to create videos that reflect this, either if they are created just with AE or with a combination of generative and keyframe-animated stuff. This piece has been commissioned by D-Fuse and supported by the Art Council of England as part of the cross-cultural art project Undercurrent. I™ve been given a huge database of audio-visual material (panoramic photos, videos and field recordings) from which I had to create a video for a 2-screen installation. I™ve then commissioned a musician myself, Ultre, to deal with the audio part of the database and create the actual sound design for the video.

For me, an interesting thing about this project is the way Iâ™ve collaborated with the sound designer and the fact that both the video and the sound were created in a very similar way (selecting data from the given archive and reinterpreting them). As I am based in London and Ultre in Sheffield, weâ™ve mostly worked over the Internet; a password-protected directory was created on my server where I started uploading lots of bits and pieces of animation. These were downloaded from Ultre as references for him to build a soundtrack. I wanted the music to reflect those animations but also to be something on its own. The final audio track was then used for the final edit of the animations. This video is Uncompressed HD 1080p.

From the artist’s statement: This video is a visual interpretation of Bolivias irresistible process of growth through urban development. Series of photographs, computer-generated graphics and sounds are amalgamated together in a 3D virtual environment. Here a process of metamorphosis transforms the existing architectural matter into a fleeting two-dimensional skin, revealing its precariousness. The fragmented reality achieved in the video is a metaphor for the collision of two opposing worlds: one related to contemporary urban development and the other representing Chinaâ™s traditions and spirituality.

ask the beasts, and they will teach you

xerox: weaponsXerox is a brand that has been with the consumer since the beginning of the computer age. They are known for the high quality service and their massive multi-tasking machines that make all office problems a lot easier to deal with. On that note to advertise the brand, a twist on the now very controversial phrase “weapons of mass destruction” to “weapons of mass production” and a picture of the massive high tech machine was an interesting way to impact the costumer, make them stop and read again, and finally tell themselves “TRUE.”

A modern perspective on school supplies and uniforms. For those who are tired of the Old School. Prepare Yourself!www.newkid.com

A modern perspective on school supplies and uniforms. For those who are tired of the Old School. Prepare Yourself!www.newkid.com

newkid: prepare yourself NEWKID is a company that focuses on creating modern school supplies for kids.

HOME

PREPAREYOURSELF

BRANDNEW

NEWS

02.20

CUSTOMER SERVICE FAQ ABOUT NEWKID FOR PARENTS TERMS AND CONDITIONS SITE MAP

What happens when a global pop icon teams up with the coolest international computer brand? NEW KID x MAC! Modern cool kids and...

WINTERCOOL.

SEARCH GO

newkid: website,products and bags

pencil sharpenerpen bagsnotebooks

The NEWKID brand functions only through their website. To keep the customer entertained and build a strong database the website had to project the personality of the brand. With the ability to customize your products, uniforms and everything else to prepare yourself for school, the NEWKID website is built to create a community of the future generation. All the products ranging from notebooks to the shopping bags are branded with the mark of the NEWKID and COOLTOOL.

shopping bags

Cristina de la Ghetto

It is with great pleasure that I introduce to you the Elephunk uniforms is also used to demonstrate the appearance of different typefaces and layouts, and in general the content of dummy text is nonsensical. Due to its widespread use as filler text for layouts, non-readability is of great importance: human perception is tuned to recognize certain patterns and repetitions in texts. If the distribution of letters and 'words' is random, the reader will not be distracted from making a neutral judgement on the visual impact and readability of the typefaces, or the distribution of text on the page. For this reason, New Kid usually consists of a more or less random series of words or syllables. This prevents repetitivepatterns from impairing the overall visual impression and facilitates the comparison of different typefaces. Furthermore, it is advantageous when the dummy text is relatively realistic so that the layout impression of the final publication is not compromised. Dummy text is also used to demonstrate the appearance of different typefaces and layouts, and in general the content of dummy text is nonsensical. Due to its widespread use as filler text for layout non-readability is of great importance: human perception is tuned to recognize certain patterns and repetitions in texts. To demonstrate the appearance of different typefaces and layouts, and in general the content of dummy text is nonsensical. Dummy text is also used to demonstrate the appearance of different typefaces and layouts, and in general the content of dummy text is nonsensical. Due to its widespread use as filler text for layouts, non-readabilityis of great importance: human perception is tuned to recognize certain patterns and repetitions in texts. If the distribution of letters and 'words' is random, the reader will not be distracted from making a neutral judgement on the visual impact and readability of the typefaces, or the distribution of text on the page. For this reason, dummy text usually consists of a more or less random series of words or syllables. This prevents repetitive patterns from impairing the overall visual impression and facilitates the comparison of different typefaces and in general the content of Elephunk.

A modern perspective on school supplies and uniforms. For those who are tired of the Old School. Prepare Yourself!www.newkid.com

A modern perspective on school supplies and uniforms. For those who are tired of the Old School. Prepare Yourself!www.newkid.com

newkid: stationary and postersIn keeping with the visual language created for the NEWKID the stationary and advertising took a life of their own. From using a new and different set of guidelines in a notebook paper for the letterhead to expressing the power of the newkid in class with the headline “Prepare Yourself” over a kid raising his hand in class.

branding an emotion: xtasyThe goal for this project was to successfully brand an emotion. The problem I had to solve with the feeling of ecstasy was that the public associates it with the drug. My task was to take it into a completely new direction that had no connection with the latter. Through a vast study of possible marks and different typographic possibilities I arrived at a simple and powerful solution that embodies all that is true about the emotion of ecstasy.

yrc annual reportYRC Worldwide Inc., is a Fortune 500 company and one of the largest transportation service providers in the world. Their annual report holds the truth about their progress over the course of one year. Conceptualizing for this project the idea of “ways” “transit ways or paths” seamed like an interesting direction to take. In striving to keep it simple I imagined these “ways” to be color bands and decided to connect all themes in the book with different color bands and typographic solutions to the information provided.

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YRC WORLDWIDE INC.

previewfull spreads

pag # 3,5,7,9,15,27

rastafari bookIn this narrative a mixture of illustrations and photography are used to represent important characters in the rastafari movement.

architecture portfolioArchitecture portfolio book for client.

beastmode