Undercard Productions

Bobs from Brazil

They have been cloning me for years in Brazil. You wanna know what happened to Steve Guttenberg? He found out. We had him taken care off.

Old blogs and visitors stink after three days.

I've been absolutely terrible about blogging as of late. I apologize. (not that many people read this) I have been a terribly busy boy, with both the day job and the night jobs.

I've been working on a lot of freelance work as of late.

NEW WORK | STEPHANIE BUSCEMA

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First and foremost, me and my wife Steph sat down and gave her site a nice overhaul. I think it turned out really great. I used the beautiful Girard Script and Sansusie from House Industries(@twitter) along with their Rat Fink Sans.

(home page)

(comics gallery)

(blog roll)

 

NEW WORK | WASH YOUR MOUTH OUT SOAP COMPANY

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I've also been working on really fun branding and design exploratory with a handmade soap company Wash Your Mouth Out Soap Company(as I said, these are glimpses, none of the branding has been rolled out yet... their soap is also FANTASTIC, they sent us a box when the project started). I can put up a few glimpses into the visual studies. Most of these were done for their catalogue but are in process for packaging and website.

(logotype visual exploratory)

(bug/secondary visual exploratory)

They have this really great tag line, "So good, it'll make you wanna cuss." It was a lot fun to play with that aspect for a secondary mark.

(catalogue layout exploratory)

I really wanted to keep this project clean and very type heavy. Make it more about then high details of the soap than the actual "designy-ness" of the packaging. They have a really hands-on soap making process, and I didn't want to lose that focus on the details. I tried to pull that through in the photography of the catalogue and the logotype itself. No fuss, no gingerbread.

NEW WORK | SCHOOL OF VISUAL ARTS

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Gingerbread brings us to my next topic. I have also been taking a night class. This class is a blast and it is with one of my idols Ed Benguiat. Ed has been teaching at SVA for something like forever. I didn't get a chance to study with him while I was an undergrad, but the chance arose to take his "Designing with Type" class this summer at night. I am having a blast. I don't know if some of the kids aren't sure who he is (I feel rather old in the class) but basically I get to spend 4 hours a week in the presence of a living legend in the type world. It's extremely humbling and super inspiring. I will write more about the class and share some of our assignments. I don't see why everyone shouldn't have access to this man. But I basically have a nerd-fest/fanboy moment in every class. PLANET OF THE MUTHERFUDGIN APES people!? Guns of Navarone? Chanel? I mean come on. 

This was my most recent assignment.

SPEC

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MOVIE LOGOTYPE

"Bad Day at Blackrock"

Cowboy movie, real cowboys, cow wranglers, not a shoot'em up.

ONE LINE. MAKE IT TALK.

He viewed it favorably, minus the "AT", which I felt was a throwaway as well. I didn't want to go with a Playbill or something along those lines. I wanted something more ubiquitous, not something that cliche. As I said, he received it well. They weight concerned him a bit with the A's and Ks. I just wanted to keep in black for the sake of weight avoiding the gaps. I am a House Industries whore and used their Nuetraface Slab. Which might be my new go to font for a bit.

If you want me to put up the rest of the assignments let me know. I think it's a great thing. I have all them written down by spec. FYI, this is the first time I have really put *REAL* work up. PLease, let me know what you think,  I'm looking for some good input.

WORD IT: flow

WORD IT: is a fun little program from Under Consideration. The kids behind Speak Up!, Quipsologies, and my personal favorite Brand New.  I did this really quick at work after looking at this month's selection. I felt like it was a little subpar, so I just decided I'd give one a whirl...and I need a quick break from "making the design". This one is a bit "in the know" but I still like it. These are cursor cues for flowing text threads in InDesign. Simple and fast.

type...errrr.....yeah...

So they unveiled the Mocca poster this year. Mocca, if you do no know is the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art. They put on a really amazing independent comic art show ever year. Its fun, all our friends go, I'm sure we will go this year to support them. Anywho, they unveiled the poster today on The Beat. Yes, it is illustrated. 

That does not bother me merely as much as the type choice. The executions seems hurried to me, but that is not my biggest concern. My biggest concern is the choice of the typeface. Bear with me. At least for me, the Mocca shows stands for the pure art form that is comics. The weird wonderful and bizarre stuff that makes that niche of comics so interesting. Also alot of the art at Mocca is handmade. That is the biggest appeal to me. You have print gocco comics, handmade books, silkscreens and so much more. I lose a lot of that in the typography of this poster. It is just a bum out compared to the beautiful type that a lot of the comic artists create by hand. 

Comic Sans: A Watchmen comedy of errors?

Are you looking for somewhere to place your ill feelings towards this font? Then look for Vincent Connare.

 

He designed the font for Microsoft many moons ago, namely as something to be used in word bubbles by "Microsoft Bob." I'm not at all familiar with it either, it's ok. If you send this man hate mail, spam, or some ill-vibes, he may give it back to you. He provides an interesting back story on its creation and many of the ills it's poor use has created. He approaches the subject with humor and insight, which may confuse some of us in the design world who seethe over it's use.

In the presentation on his site, he goes through then history of MS, the intended use, and some of the "amazing work" people have created with it. He also references his inspirations behind the hand of Comic Sans. He references two beloved DC comics book; The Dark Knight Returns & The Watchmen. The Dark Knight Returns was lettered by John Costanza and The Watchmen was lettered and drawn by Dave Gibbons. Both comics were published originally in and around 1986. It fits the time lime for Comic Sans creation with and the tale that Connare shares.

"Comics use primarily uppercase letters. I found the DC Comic ‘Watchmen’ more consistent and it seemed appropriate for the job.  I looked at the best versions of the various forms of the letters. And began manually drawing the letters on the computer with Macromedia Fontographer. I drew the letters over and over until I had a good letter that captured the feel of the hand drawn letters in the comic." 

-Vincent Connare

I find great irony in the fact that Comic Sans was created out of two of the most acclaimed comics of the last 30 years. I would definitely check out the slides(about half way down then page under the photo above), there are some great tidbits in there. 

Complete your comic for a dollar

The idea of comics existing outside of the printed world is really heating up lately. Over here on Newsarama and on The Beat, there has been a lot of discussions concerning what the market will look like. I think whatever is happening will vastly re sculpture the layout of the comic world.

I think indies & small budget will continue to be as they always have been. Some kids telling great stories outside of the world of brawn and beauties. The process of distribution will change, but these kids are plucky. They've broken in before, they will break in again, it will be rocky for a time, but as all clouds do, they will pass.

One thing I am really interested in is the digital comics world. I see a great promise in it. I know people swear by then printed book. Just like records, I don't think they will stop being made, especially TPBs. I mean that is basically all I buy anymore. The weeklies are interesting. I think moving digital is a great way to stay in touch with the youth. Kids are basically born with computers and cell phones now. Sadly, it will soon be the only medium that they connect with(coming from a man who aspires to design book/comic covers).

I don't think the subscription model is that bad. I would even go as so far to enhance it. I am only familiar with Marvel Digital, so this is roughly based off of it. Base a monthly subscription for a set amount of views (more) & downloads (less). Or a two page preview, kind of like a track preview in iTunes. The downloads should work like an iTunes complete my album option. Download a printable pdf for 1 dollar more, or whatever amount is effective. It can be taken even further. On demand printing is a pretty good idea. I like the model that Shutter-fly has adopted. Print for a set amount on-line and have it shipped to you, or you could even pick up at a local comic shop or major retailer? Then the revenue stream is still extended somewhat to the comic shop from the publisher. (The print quality would not be as good as it is now, but with most 4 color digital, the color is pretty predictable and it is cost effective in mass) And all on demand.

I think it would make it more cost effective for everyone. Diamond could even extend to be a vendor in then on demand print module so people can stick to the assumed manner of distribution. Also it would keep hard drives from getting filled up with pdf's(above sketch of a sad external drive) and give people an archival method to own and touch their comics. Eh? Eh? I don't know...I just think it is a really interesting option And I think it is going to take some major overhauling to get everything in line. Just like it is in every business model now. Just as long as CEO are not buy 90,000 dollars rugs that really tie the room together...does it not?  

The beautiful underbelly of pro football

The NYTimes had a great article this morning featuring some great design from the WW2 era. In a little known turn of events, some teams joined together to maintain their rosters during war time. The three teams were the Cardinals, Eagles, & Steelers. Compared to the celebrity status of pro football players, it is inconceivable, but then again, these guys had bigger fish to fry than taking a gun to a club.

I digress. I love. *LOVE.* The program cover on the right. I live the font choices, namely the headline of then teams. The layout seems very strong and grounded. As opposed to then cover on the left, seems more wish washy. The one on the right echoes the strength of soldiers, that I'm sure they were trying to convey, in the layout. Clean and lively. I love then Rockwellian, Leyedeckerish punter. This made me so happy this morning when I saw it.

Make face time

Instead make a bad type choice. I love the idea of theses. I love the execution. I do not like the type choice. I don't get a disconnection from computers from the choice. What about something with more of a handmade quality? The type they chose just feels very rigid and emotionless to me. Type choices should reflect the emotion of the ads. I would have preferred to see more of a juxtaposition with the "computery speak"(e.g. chatroom, voicemail, instant message) and the personal nature of the images reflected in the type.

*swoon*

I was doing some serious vibin' on this book cover archive(from SwissMiss), when I came across this cover by Jason. The Norwegian comic artist whose work I adore. I would have preferred less emphasis on the title, underplay it a bit. I feel like the sparseness plays to the actual story of Dharma Bum. I actually like this cover a lot aside form my gripe with the title. The colors actually remind me of my copy from college.

The new WPA

The Work Projects Administration helped put millions of Americans back to work following the Great Depression. It formed a work force which completed many public buildings, projects and roads and operated large arts, drama, media and literacy projects. It fed children and redistributed food, clothing and housing. It's almost safe to say, that America will need a new "new deal" to help our economy & workforce recover.

We can only hope that it will be created with the environment in mind. Doing so can help quickly change companies and labor forces impact on the environment, faster than any government regulations could. We could create a entire workforce, form scratch, with new morals and beliefs in place. I only hope our government can meet then challenge. I just was playing around with some WPA era posters and wanted to create something pro-union & pro-environment.

I hope everyone likes it, I'm gonna make an effort to overcome my fear of general criticism and get some more of my work out there.