A five minute cut down of the Lexus “Dark Ride” project we completed visual effects for at Speedshape has been added to the L Studio website (another project I concepted while freelancing at Team One). While you’re watching, keep in mind that all exterior shots of the vehicle have been tracked and replaced with CG, and all action interior driving sequences were shot with a buck on a green screen stage.
Emotions Book
July 9th, 2010 § comments 0
The Emotions project is now a book. I was digging this little widget tool from Blurb. The fullscreen and thumbnail pagination views are very nice. I’ve added a new “hipstamatic” film light-leak style image for each student.
If you haven’t used Blurb, I encourage you to make your own book. Thier Booksmart application practically does it for you — with templated styles to choose from. Order it with the paper upgrade. The quality of printing is fantastic.
Emotions Photo Project
June 16th, 2010 § comments 12
Yesterday morning I completed an “Emotions” photography project for my son’s 3rd grade class.
Last Thursday, I went to speak to the class about advertising. We discussed modeling and making emotional expressions with our faces. We brainstormed a lengthy list of emotions, and then stepped outside to take some pictures. Fellow class parent Kelli Martin and I photographed each child doing various emotions in a marathon session yielding hundreds of photos.
I selected nine images for each student, and then cropped/retouched into an 8×10 grid for printing and framing. Four fun versions were created: color graded, distressed, gradient map illustration, and cartoon.
I returned yesterday morning and presented the imagery to the class in a fun Keynote slide show that included their images, and a clip of video showing several of the students doing their expressions.
In addition I supplied each student with a printed poster of their classmates, and links for digital copies to share with their families.
What do you think? Here are a few more samples.
Fall Fun 2010
February 4th, 2010 § comments 29
Monday night I completed “Fall Fun 2010″, a Gap-like art project featuring all 23 of my son’s kindergarden classmates. Just before Thanksgiving I photographed the children in the schoolyard. I explained my job as an art director for advertising, and told them that they were all “Talent” or “Models” for my project.
It was challenging to fit so many people into such a small space. Blame that on the state budget. Number two son, Miles, is featured jumping into a pile of leaves.
Today I went back to unveil the final product via a big screen projection complete with music. I described the “client presentation” process, and told them they were the clients. They were very good clients, since they liked everything. I gave them each “leave behinds” of an 13 x 19 archival giclee (poster print suitable for framing) and a personalized 5×7 image with a link to this post. It is really fun how excited the kids are when they see themselves on the screen for the first time. They literally vibrate with energy!
This is part III of a 4-part series. Last year I did a summer scene called “Summer Break 2009″ and two years ago a winter scene titled “Snow Day 2007″. Only one season left!
Right click the image above and choose “Save link as…” or “Open link in new window” to download a copy of the large version.
What do you think? (make a comment below)
Lexus Enform Logo Sequence
October 18th, 2009 § comments 3
I was pretty excited back in in Q4 2008 when awarded an assignment to design an in vehicle motion graphics logo startup sequence with sound design for Lexus Enform – the cutting-edge new premium subscription telematics service available in all 2010 Lexus models.
This was a case of reverse-engineering logo design. Come up with a compelling 6 second futuristic 3D animation for Enform that plays upon startup of the vehicle, and back that into a logo for print using corporate colors. In a combined design project, over 400 logo variations were created, with several final rounds making their way to Toyota headquarters in Japan for reviews and approval.
The final “ribbon” concept that you see here recently made it’s debut in all new 2010 Lexus models. So, if you buy one, please let me know so I can check it out!
[ Click the image above to see the slideshow ]
Lexus Innovation Full Line Expanding Video Banner
July 27th, 2009 § comments 0
In these stylized expanding video banners, users can explore three Lexus innovations per vehicle via hot spots and a building block nav. Featuring the entire Lexus fleet of twelve vehicles, these banners function more like a microsite. One of the many click-thru destinations is the Lexus Innovation section of Lexus.com.
300×250 expanding,
728×90 expanding,
160×600 expanding,
Don’t forget to rollover to explore Lexus technology so you can see my nifty transparent block wipe transitions.
Summer Break 2009
June 15th, 2009 § comments 31
Sunday afternoon I completed one of the most rewarding projects this year. A Gap Ad-like art project featuring all of my son’s second grade classmates. A couple of weeks ago, my brother-in-law and I photographed the children in the classroom. I explained my job as an art director for advertising, and told them that they were all “Talent” or “Models” for my project.
Today I went back to unveil the final product via a big screen projection complete with music. I described the “client presentation” process, and told them they were the clients. They were very good clients, since they liked everything. I gave them each “leave behinds” of an 13 x 19 archival giclee (poster print suitable for framing) and a DVD rom with images and the presentation movie. They were soooo happy, it left me with a stupid grin on my face all day.
This is part II of a 4-part series. Last school year I did a winter scene titled “Snow Day 2007″. Only two seasons left!
Right click the image above and choose “Save link as…” or “Open link in new window” to download a copy of the large version.
Melissa Etheridge Holiday CD Design
October 4th, 2008 § comments 5
I was pretty excited for a few weeks at the beginning of the summer. I had an opportunity to do some comps for Melissa Etheridge’s upcoming holiday release, A New Thought For Christmas (released 9/30/08). The theme was global peace and tolerance. I came up with an iconic solution, which I can’t say I’ve seen before. A simple, graphic Christmas tree made out of peace signs. Melissa saw my comps and was thrilled to choose this one for the cover. I was psyched to think that I could add this to my collection of rocking holiday CDs!
About six weeks later, I got the unfortunate news from the Island Records representative that they decided to go with something else. C’est la vie.
While I admit their design is quite nice, I think my design would have looked way cooler featured in the iTunes music store. What do you think?
L Studio Beta
September 30th, 2008 § comments 0
L Studio, the broadband entertainment community that I designed for Lexus, launched its beta last week. What is L Studio? Here’s what Reuters news agency had to say…
“The carmaker is launching an Internet-only branded channel Tuesday (September 23) stocked with a full slate of original programing headlined by [Lisa] Kudrow [from Friends] in a shortform comedy series in which she plays a nutty shrink.
In an effort to keep the buzz going for the project, Lexus plans to recruit more celebrity contributors in the coming months. For now, the rest of L Studio is an eclectic mix of high-toned nonfiction programing that concerns everything from art to architecture to science. Some notable figures who are profiled on the site include the Doors’ Ray Manzarek and designer Patricia Field.
Taken together, the connective thread between the programing mix and the Lexus brand, Blanchard said, is the theme of innovation. “We kind of look at ourselves as a broadband HBO,” she said. “Being on broadband in and of itself is innovative for a lot of these artists.”
I can’t wait until it’s finished, and everything is running smoothly. Lisa Kudrow’s “Web Therapy” series is pretty damn funny! And so is Starlee and Arthur Review. Go check it out.
—– here’s a positive review of the content.
—– here’s an article from the Hollywood Reporter.
Creative Director, Speedshape
September 7th, 2008 § comments 0
From the press release…
“Speedshape, Inc, with offices in Birmingham, MI and Venice, CA and providing services including CGI 3D/2d modeling, animation, virtual environments, VFX, motion, film, multimedia design, pre/post production, retouching, web design, digital asset management, distribution, closed captioning, and tagging has hired Nels Dielman as Sr. Creative Director.”
