This Blog Is Retroactive

If you’re active on the internets and you don’t use a Gravatar I highly recommend it.  If you don’t care what your avatar image looks like when you post on forums or comment on blogs, then I wouldn’t fuss with it.  However, if you’re like me and you want your avatar to be the same everywhere, then a Globally Recognized avatar is the way to go.  It’s linked to your email address so anytime you comment on a blog and enter your email address it will automatically appear.  It’s also an easy way to have an avatar image in the proper format readily available to link to, in case the site you’re on doesn’t support Gravatars.  I was tired of the Gravatar image I had so last night I made a new one.  I think it’s fun.

Where indeed.  More often than not, artistic inspiration comes from the most unlikely of sources.  Take the movie 21 for example.  It’s not the greatest of movies.  It’s somewhat predictable, and pandering. Overall, it was definitely entertaining, but I doubt anyone would consider it a prime example of expressive and innovative artistic direction.  That being said, 21 provided me with not one but two sources of creative inspiration that sent me in a design direction I never would have thought of on my own.

This in and of itself is not that remarkable but I do think it’s important to note that artistic inspiration can come from anywhere and anything.  It can be mundane or extraordinary.  In this case, it was rather mundane.  These scenes and the pieces in them I found inspiring were so short and inconsequential it’s a wonder they registered at all.  Here’s a still from one scene in the movie.

See anything inspiring?  No?  Take a look at that old-timey folder!  Before I saw this movie, I had forgotten how cool those old pressboard folders were.  They’re also bound at the top of the folder, not along the spine.  It totally changes how you interact with the pages.  Also, check out the rich caramel color of this folder.  This style of folder is iconic.  This might all seem apropos to nothing but I was trying to decide what to do with my print portfolio at the time.  When I saw this scene I knew I had to make my print portfolio out of one of these classically styled pressboard folders.  Alas, it was impossible to find any folders anywhere in the same gorgeous color.  I settled on mint green.  I’ve included some pictures of what I came up with.

Not only is this a fun and unconventional way to present your work in a print format, it was economical.  The pressboard folders are inexpensive.  The text and illustrations are just clear full-sheet labels that I printed on, cut out, and stuck to the folder and dividers.  The most expensive part was probably the paper I printed on, which was HP Advanced photo paper.  I would suggest sparing no expense with the paper you print on.  It made a huge difference in the quality of my printed images. Anyway, I was pretty happy with the result, all of which came from one little scene in 21.

The other scene in the movie that I found inspiring probably contains imagery that could more obviously provide me with some creative direction.  See below.

Ahhh, neon light reflecting off the glossy black surface of a Lincoln Town Car.  First off, I love neon lights, and I love glossy black surfaces, like iPhones or designer sunglasses.  What really does it for me is the combination of something kitschy and garish like neon lights merged with the ultra-luxurious, sophisticated feel of glossy black.  Put them together and it’s a formula for something really striking.  I’m sure this has been done dozens of times.  However, when I watched this movie I was in a creative frenzy and hungry for more inspiration, so this scene really popped out.  Unfortunately I haven’t done anything with these ideas yet.  I’m saving them for later.  I plan to implement this imagery into a design for a revamped version of my online portfolio.  I love the design I have now but I know I can really kick it up a knotch by emulating the feel of the image above.  As it is, I’m still wrapping up a little bit of version 1.0, so the new version probably won’t show up for a little while yet.  No matter.  Inspiration like this doesn’t disipate over time.

Ben Jenkins, the founder and creative director of One Fast Buffalo (a creative agency here in Dallas) said on his website, “I truly believe that creative people do not just ‘have’ ideas.  I believe we are just better equipped to search and find them.”  Amen brother.  All one has to do is look around.  A pressboard folder, a parking garage, a crappy photo your fiance took of you…any of these could possibly be the origination of something really special.