Tackling Cinema 4D

We've always been an advocate for not falling into complacency. One way to avoid that is to continue to learn new things. Well, we're about to take on the bold task of learning Cinema 4d. Its capabilities are super attractive for both graphic and industrial design work we do. It'll be a long journey but we're excited none the less. 

Starting with what we know best. Building a highly detailed pair of headphones, so when we start to animate its construction, every detail matters. We're done building the headphones. Next up is throwing it into Cinema. 

Adidas Tubular Primeknit Stone

Unfortunately we failed miserably trying to pick up a pair o Yeezy Boost so I settled for these poor mans Yeezy. The Tubular Primknits stone grey are pretty underated, personally i think they're hot. I'm digging everything Adidas has been dropping in the last year.

Y-3 QASA NINJA SNEAKS

I don't stray from Nike too often and have not fallen so deeply in love with a pair of shoes since the Nike Inneva NRGs. I would have to say these are the best designed sneaker of 2013. Yohji Yamamoto definately made the decision easy for ya boy! Experience the hovercraft/floater/donut/airbag sole for yourself! :)

FIRST

First off I would like to apologize for the sloppy iP5 photos! You're looking at the first watches I've ever designed. This was a colaboration between the man David Whetstone and I through our design gig at ASTRO studios for Electric! These were intended to  expand their brand and launch a new watch division! After working in the consultancy world for 4+ years I can tell you this - RARELY does a design stay true to its original intent so when it does EMBRACE the shit out of it. It is definitely awesome seeing the product through production and how honest the watches kept to the original sketches. Thanks to ASTRO + Electric for the oppertunity, the design experience was truly one of a kind! #THUMBSUP

MINUS-8 LAUNCH PARTY - RSVP!

The DOPEST thing about designing with the ASTRO crew is the amount of creative control and support each and every designer is provided. We're all given the rare opportunity to explore and fall in love with design through creating "passion projects." It is the things we love most, we fight the hardest for- and personal projects  are the ones that push us to do just that. This is the result of a 3 year long ASTRO incubation from our CD Dana Kreiger with the support from the whole ASTRO crew! Make sure you RSVP and show up to the event to see and hear the complete process, from sketch to manufacture! Below are a few  grainy snaps of what to expect from the Minus-8 launch party!

BE SURE TO RSVP: LAUNCH@MINUS-8.US 

Lumix 12-35

As you know we recently picked up the new BlackMagic Pocket and super excited about using it for our future projects. Now if you're in the same boat as us and looking for an affordable video camera packing some major heat, this is your camera. We picked up the Lumix 12-35mm 2.8 lens last week and I think this will be our main squeeze for the type of video work we do. So if you mainly shoot interview style and process type videos this lens is fully capable and exceeds expectation. It is equivalent to a 24-70mm when locked onto a Micro Four Thirds. The process video shot for Baker's Son, if scroll up to the next post, was shot with this lens.

GAMESTICK HAS ARRIVED

When I first laid eyes on the original GameStick concept I immediately knew I needed this game system in my life. My 100 dollar contribution to this Kickstarter project soon meant nothing since "Playjam" went on to raise more than 600k on kickstarter.

I was pleasantly surprised coming into the office this morning and receiving a package from GameStop and not knowing what was inside. I will not be doing a review of this product because I'm sure there are a ton on youtube. I will share with you what the final design looks like though.

For now here it is laid out neatly:

What are your thoughts about the original and the finished design?

T431 PROCESS VIDEO

We quickly shot this footage to share on instagram. Most of you whom seen this probably seen the crop and shorter version. Here is the wide screen and full length.

Lens Whacking

I stumbled upon lens whacking while spying the inter-web for the new Black Magic camera. Lens whacking is such an awesome technique to add flares and light leak to your videos. What is lens whacking? Lens whacking is filming with a 50mm lens or lower not attached to the camera body. As you're filming you shift your lens in various angles allowing light to hit the sensor. This is a great way to add flares manually without doing it in post. I prefer this technique because the video feels very dreamy and the light leaks are consistent with the light source on location.

DSLR mini JIB

So we've been entertaining the idea of buying a travel JIB to add more dynamic shots to your videos. Last week I pulled the trigger on an affordable 4ft JIB adding to our quiver of modular video equipment.

Today the JIB arrived, I'm not going to do a full review on this guy but here are some photos and a quick video I put together using the JIB.

Projecto a Kickstarter Project

I didn't get a chance to fund this project but plan on buying a few of these bad boys to gift to family and friends. My co-worker Monica Mecchella received her tiny projecto today so I took some photos of her un-packaging the little guy. If you're not familiar with the product here is a short video about the "Projecto"

NixonMAG

Spent sometime after work knocking out a pair of Nixon headphones. These quick exercises are doctor recommended in keeping your skills fresh and relevant. I know most of us designers spend all damn day in front of our computers whipping up awesome designs. The last thing we want to do is come home and sit back in front of another monitor and re-up. I've had this idea for a pair of headphones with all its connecting mechanics removed between the cans and the band. Only connected through a magnetic plate and a simple customizable metal band, allowing the user to adjust through friction and band tension. The concept is to consider the manufacturing process, by deleting the connecting mechanics and replacing it with a magnetic bridge we're saving $$$ and engineering cost.

Here is a quick rendering I did- Stay tuned for full TUTORIAL on how I rendered this in Keyshot then post editing in Photoshop.

Impatiently waiting

One of many Kickstarter projects we"ve funded is this "GameStick" So excited about the companies progress and can"t wait to get a hold of ours.

Kickstarter Page

CS Black Moon

Caselogic Ag++ (arrived)

I've been anxiously waiting on this Caselogic "Ag++" case for about two weeks now. Surprisingly when you order from their online store, all orders are fulfilled in Hong Kong so shipping takes longer. I would imagine them having a US presence and shipping be a bit faster (unfortunately not.) I actually stumbled upon this case by accident looking at various ID work on Behance. (great site for those of you looking for inspiration or to hire) The case is designed by Andrea Ponti check out his Behance here.

Canon 40mm 2.8

Here's one of those lens that are so inexpensive I don't see why you wouldn't pick one up just to have a light walk around piece of glass to snap some quick portraits. I ordered this sucker from Amazon Friday for only 149 and would def recommend this lens for those of you whom are looking to add to their lens game. I'm not going to do a review of it only because Youtube has a ton of great ones out there already.

I can appreciate that Canon built this bad boy with a metal mount. In comparison to the infamous 50mm 1.8 that you can score for under 100 (with a plastic mount), the 40mm's metal mount made for a good enough reason for me to pick this one up instead.

Its so funny how dorky the lens look on my 5D Mark II; though I would imagine it looking quite nice on your entry level DSLR T series.

Here is a quick photo i took at my desk at - 400 iso f 2.8

UPDATE: Lighter Koozie

UPDATE:

We're working on filming a short video of the process of making this lighter koozie. Instead of writing an excerpt on this I think you will enjoy the video. Enjoy the photos for now.

BREAKBREAD : Keith aka BakersSon

Keith of Creative Session has been working quite hard on his own brand "Bread" collection. Here a little something from the things he's got made for his big launch. Doing work my man Keith.

Lighter koozie

While scrounging around for bottle opener this weekend I grabbed my roommates lighter to pop open a few beers to quench our thirst. After popping a few tops my eyes dropped down to various leather scraps sitting around the shop. Jokingly I suggested, Lets design some lighter koozies for your bic lighter. Sketching a few ideas I realized that the leather sleeve will be ruined if the design fully enclose a lighter. A potential could quickly shorten the life span of the leather koozie if using the leather surface as leverage in opening a bottle. The next logical step was to aesthetically design in an opening to accommodate bottle popping. This is our result. Quick. Fun.

LAMPFIRE

The fire is the main comfort of the camp, whether in summer or winter, and is about as ample at one season as at another.  It is as well for cheerfulness as for warmth and dryness.  ~Henry David Thoreau

It used to be each summer a group of friends and I schedule a summer camping trip at the Oregon Coast, generally this lands mid to late August while summer is at it's best. If you're an Oregonian you know we are dark, cloudy and rainy about 85% of the year so we take advantage of the good weather when the opportunity is there.

Now the complications of growing up are that people move away, we become busier, we start families, our schedules and lives are based around timely factors.

Driving to work one morning two miles of my commute is graced with vast plains of grass and greenery. With my window down the crisp air brought back nostalgic memories of my used to be yearly camping trip. Late evenings around a campfire; yelling, joking, eating, telling stories, pure joy, fear, excitement ... insert emotions. This is natures invitation to bond, to come together, to surround ourselves with loved ones and get lost. At this very moment these memories converted into a design, a design with meaning, something to capture the essence of a campfire.

This is the "LampFire"

Check out our full process album via FACEBOOK