Max Gordon’s created the Dirty Bastard beer packaging for his senior thesis. Everything except the bottle labels are hang screen printed. Max constructed a 6 pack holder, coasters and a magnetic sign that catches bottle caps. This series was entered into the Altpick Awards.
For more of Max Gordon’s work check out his Altpick page and his blog.
Chris Crisman photographs acrobat for Cirque du Soleil and Infiniti in Montreal, Canada. “Acrobat” wins 3rd place in Altpick Awards’ Photography Single category.
” This image is from an incredible opportunity working with Cirque Du Soleil artists through German Agency KÖCKRITZDÖRRICH. We were working on a profile picture package for their client Infiniti and focused on the development of artistic perfection while working at the Cirque Du Soleil Headquarters in Montreal, QC. This particular artist was training on the parallel bars. To get create this image and I had shoot underneath him as he did his rotations around one set of bars. It was a tough photo to capture as his feet were swinging within inches of my lens. Needless to say, I’m very happy we took the chance on this one. “, comments Crisman.
To see more of Chris’ work go to his Altpick page or his website.
Chris Sembrot won 1st place in the Altpick Awards Photography Single category for his photograph titled ‘Spank Rock”, which is part of a series of 20 images shot for Fabric Horse’s 2011 Look Book.
Chris photographed the assignment over 2 weekends in Philadelphia with his friend and client, Carrie Collins – owner and designer of bike messenger bag company, Fabric Horse. “I was tasked with shooting these for her 2011 Look Book, while Carrie handled all aspects of production. Carrie asked a bunch of friends to take part in the shoot and Naeem Juwan, aka Spank Rock was one of them. Her connections to talented, great looking models (all friends) seemed limitless. I’m still so happy with the images we got from that shoot.”, comments Chris.
By Baldev Duggal
It was more than ten years ago when we first worked with acclaimed photographer Russell James. He had been commissioned by Hermes to create a site-specific installation at the Academy of Art in Tribeca.
James, already pushing his fashion photography into an experimental fine art genre, was exploring the theme of the “Nomad” in his photography at the time. He conceptualized the installation as “islands” of visual experiences that would lead people through a journey through five elements. I remember creating floor to ceiling prints of James’ pictures to emulate wall enclosures through which people could walk into different “rooms” of James’ gorgeous photographs.
We printed his images as large as possible on materials that ranged from Copper, Aluminum and Acrylic to Mirrors and Silks. At a time when many photographers were still questioning the future of high resolution digital imagery, Russell experimented freely with our latest digital printing techniques to deliver an experience that went far beyond the experience of his photography on glossy magazine covers. The success of the exhibition demonstrated James’ unique ability to channel his intuitive connection to the earth and his nomadic spirit into a visual spectacle that would both aesthetically and metaphorically transport the audience into another world.
A decade after that experience it came as no surprise when I discovered that Russell had channeled his versatility with art and culture into a wildly successful creative organization that collaborates with Indigenous artists from around the world. Nomad Two Worlds, a project, which began as a “steeply messaged artistic collaboration” between James and Australian Indigenous artists, is now a socially responsible global business that works to “raise awareness of the beauty and rich cultural history of Indigenous people worldwide”. The Nomad team collaborates with Indigenous artists to create culturally relevant contemporary art and consumer products to provide sustainable economic opportunities for the artists.
The project has also spawned the Nomad Two Worlds Foundation, a philanthropic entity established to support, nurture and promote artists from Indigenous and marginalized cultures and through art, create a platform for dialogue and education on the importance of cultural preservation to Indigenous communities’ health, self-esteem and the well-being of its children.
If you were to catch Russell on one of his regular gigs when he is shooting supermodels for campaigns for the world’s biggest glamour brands including Victoria Secret, Donna Karan, Revlon, Rolex among many others, you’d be hard pressed to link him to the man who spends much of his time traveling to remote parts of the world developing multi-disciplinary art projects with Indigenous artists. James is working on a mission to preserve what he considers the most pressing cultural issue of our time—preserving our threatened links with the native cultures we come from so we can remember our “individuality as people.”
Russell’s works have appeared in leading publications such as Vanity Fair, W, American Photo and Sports Illustrated, and have been published in several fine art books by world leading art-book publisher teNeues Publications, including the three-hundred page retrospective ‘Russell James’ (2009) and his sequel ‘V2’ (2010). In August of 2007 Russell was awarded the Hasselblad Masters Award, and in 2009 Russell joined the prestigious ranks of Irving Penn and Helmut Newton as a resident artist of Camera Work, the world’s leading gallery for contemporary photography and vintage master works. In September 2010 a series of James’ images was inducted in to the ‘fashion’ museum tour alongside such greats as Richard Avedon, William Klein, Peter Lindbergh and many other master photographers of our time.
Russell’s stardom in the fashion industry won him many admirers, the most wonderful of them, Donna Karan, whose foundation Urban Zen became fully dedicated to supporting Nomad Two Worlds since its very inception. “Nomad Two Worlds is a creative, multi-media collaboration I became involved with two years ago with the brilliant photographer, Russell James. Nomad Two Worlds is everything Urban Zen is about and frankly everything I’m about. Connecting the dots between the past, present and future. Expressing the artistry and soul of native cultures through the technology and creativity of modern artists,” states Karan as she travels around the world to develop new projects with Urban Zen and Nomad Two Worlds. Nomad Two Worlds was invited to Haiti by the Clinton Global Initiative together with Donna Karan and her foundation Urban Zen to help stimulate the artisan community after the devastating earthquake. James had been developing art in Haiti since 2009 collaborating with Haitian artists including Pascale Monnin, Debreus Lherisson, Reinold Clerisier and Philippe Dodard to create beautiful contemporary artforms that combine James’ photography with traditional sequin-work, acrylic painting, beading and sculpting.
In November 2011, the Clinton Global Initiative invited Nomad Two Worlds and UrbanZen to create an outdoor exhibition of the artworks they created with Haitian artists as part of their “Invest in Haiti” forum organized by CGI, Inter-American Development Bank and the Government of Haiti. James who has been running Nomad Two Worlds as a non-profit organization turned to my son, Mike Duggal for assistance in reproducing these artworks for the exhibition. Given the opportunity to assist the rebuilding and economic empowerment of Haiti after the devastating earthquake, my son and I were only too eager to help Russell in any way we could. We digitally reproduced all of the 30 works of art on large format fabric through a dye-sublimation process in which the image gets permanently transferred to a substrate making it perfect for outdoor conditions while retaining the pictures’ high resolution. The pictures were hung like paintings across the periphery of the forum’s venue. “The combination of our images and Duggal Visual Solutions’ high quality printing brought a beautiful array of color, style and design to the exhibition that President Clinton felt was an important visual component to the forum,” stated Russell James.
Last month Oprah requested several of the printed pieces to be used as backdrops for a documentary she is making to support Haiti. I am extremely proud of Russell and Donna Karan’s commitment to highlighting these poignant shifts in our global culture and am excited that Duggal could contribute to this phenomenal convergence of fashion, entertainment, philanthropy, cultural preservation and economic empowerment, through the lens of a camera. This is what drives each one of our 300 employees at Duggal and makes our journeys truly meaningful as we continue to support artists and artisans who create to change the world.
Stay connected with Duggal here.
Thinking about coming to ICON7 ? Buy your ticket now, and you’ll be entered to win an original puppet from the famed Red Nose Studio.
Meet Neven (photos below). Resting upon his shoulder is his pet moth “7”, who is fashioned from a Speedball B-5 nib. Together they make perfect companions for ICON7. Ever dapper in his paisely suit, Neven is valued at $2100.
This is the first in a series of raffles with prizes offered by artists, organizations and friends of ICON. The earlier you register, the more chances you have to win one of our raffles. ICON will announce the winner of this raffle in the upcoming weeks. All prizes will be given out at ICON7 in Providence.
Register by the end of day (EST) March 11th and you could be a winner. ALREADY REGISTERED? Great! You are automatically entered to win all raffles.
To register for ICON7 click here.
To see more puppets from Red Nose Studio click here.
A Global PowerHouse Suffers An Identity Crisis
We all knew The Bad Boy Club from the 80’s Action Sports Industry. Times have changed and so did this brand. The license for BAD BOY in the U.S. had been dormant for some time, while BAD BOY International licensing had been quite alive and well and prospering with growth. Disparate visual systems and messages amid the different product markets from Licensee to Licensee and Nation to Nation had created a fragmented Brand Identity. Focus Groups confirmed 13THFLOOR’s observations that the old mark was, as one MMA competitor put it, “out of touch” and skewing too young for this market.
MMA Research: Already being familiar with the MMA industry, 13THFLOOR assembled a complete hit list of competitors, their marks and their positioning within the marketplace. Meeting with BAD BOY, they reviewed the competitor’s strengths and weaknesses and discussed MMA trends which brought the goals for the BAD BOY brand mark into the cross-hairs.
A New Identity Defined:
BAD BOY in the U.S. today is all about MMA (Mixed Martial Arts.) In 13THFLOOR’S discussions, they found that it was important to understand that BAD BOY was not jumping on an MMA trend, but was rather one of the genuinely credible MMA Brands with solidly established MMA roots back to Brazil and Japan. Working closely with BAD BOY, a positioning goal was clearly defined as wanting to stand out as a “Technical Brand” for athletes.
BAD BOY also asked 13THFLOOR to visually define two additional divisions of the brand with two distinctive Marks- BAD BOY PRO SERIES, and BAD BOY MMA. Each mark needed to stand alone, but clearly communicate BAD BOY, shown further down this page.
BAD BOY Brand Mark
BAD BOY Global has a multitude of products in different markets that come in all shapes, sizes and forms. 13THFLOOR designed the brand mark with lockups that work in different applications and production techniques. This required the brand mark lockups to be designed with both functional and creative options.
BAD BOY PRO SERIES Brand Mark
The BAD BOY PRO SERIES is a high quality line of equipment and apparel for training and competing in MMA. Designing a mark appropriate to this specialized and technical gear was needed in addition to the main BAD BOY brand mark. After discussions between 13THFLOOR and BAD BOY the design goal for PRO SERIES was to be easily identified as BAD BOY, but set apart enough to be recognized as a high-end and exclusively distributed line of MMA gear and apparel for the serious athlete.
BAD BOY MMA Brand Mark
BAD BOY Flag Icons
A Boost To Brand Equity
The credibility, roots and international involvement of BAD BOY in MMA were important aspects to identify and design into this mark. The flags of the U.S., Brazil and Japan in the mark remind the consumer that BAD BOY is a credible global MMA brand with roots in these nations of fighting origins. By stylizing the flags into more abstract interpretations, these icons of flags became an ownable part of the BAD BOY Brand and what would have been just a typical ubiquitous flag is now recognizable only to BAD BOY. These icons were designed to be used in an assortment of configurations and have become integral elements used throughout all branding of equipment, apparel and accessories design along with collateral, packaging and all levels of promotion.
Brand Mark Guidelines
The need for consistency and clarity across different geographies and Licensees for the use of the new mark was to be managed with a well crafted set of guidelines. Both internal and external users at BAD BOY Global now had the tools to successfully apply the mark with global unity.
Design Direction / Art Direction / Production – 13THFLOOR: Dave Parmley + Eric Ruffing – See more of their work 13THFLOOR and Altpick.com.
Creative Direction – BAD BOY: Robin Offner, Alexandra Ponce De Leon, JT
Brand Consultant- THE BRAND FACTOR: Brad Horn
Ad Photography / Ad Design- Tyler Clinton
Jeff Green shoots images that make you say “Oh! I want to (go, stay, play, eat and drink) there. Welcome to his playground.
Based in Las Vegas, he shoots ad campaigns, annual reports, editorial and stock photography on a variety of subject matter from architecture/interiors to food to portraits for a global clientele.
His is a graphic style in composition with an intuitive lighting sensibility that appeals to clients that include Wynn, Armani, Pepsi, Wolfgang Puck and Adidas amongst others.
His tools of choice? Canon 35mm format and Hasselblad medium format digital camera systems.
On assignments the world over, he calls Las Vegas home. Wish you were here.
See more of Jeff’s work on his Altpick page and his website.
Selina Maitreya, photographer consultant, wrote this for a recent blog post and wanted to share it with you…”As we start another year, walk in your integrity and make this YOUR
best year ever!” Lessons I’ve learned….Selina Maitreya 2011
In Grace
With Gratitude
Selina
http://www.selinamaitreya.com
http://www.professionalphotographyteleseminar.com
Hands are important to those who frequent Altpick. They are an almost indispensible part of creating artwork. We are all familiar with the emotions stimulated by an infant wrapping its fingers around one of ours, of a pat on the back, of a high five and an infinity of other gestures that communicate across distances and touch up close.
I want to relate the single most important hand moments of my family. Then Altpick and I invite you to go to the comments icon and instead of leaving a comment, we would like you to leave a word image of the hands most important to you. It could be one line or a few. Let’s see what variety there is in this. Invite those you know to also come and share with us.
I start with my Dad because it is the earliest imprinted hand event I can remember. My Dad has always been a rather robust man. His hand is correspondingly robust. When I was very small, perhaps three or four, he was showing me the plants in his small salad garden. His large (to me huge) finger delicately brushed crumbs of soil away from the growing root of a radish so I could see how it grew, invisibly, under cover. He recovered it with the same extraordinary gentleness, I would say, tenderness. Those graceful movements, which astonished me at that time, have remained with me. It is a challenge to eat a radish without thinking of him.
My Mother is more difficult. A mother has her hands everywhere, taking care and always doing. On reflection I decided that the most definitive memory of her was an image that comes more from her retirement. She has the time to dedicate daily and I can see her when I visit. She is, as my sister has called her, “a prayer warrior”. Her hands, usually in the lamplight of evening, quietly holding and moving her rosary, are an image of her caring for all. Her soul is in them then.
My brother. He was eighteen months younger than me and our first passes as children were made together. Together we built with blocks, we wrestled and ran and played. He ferociously was my equal in all despite my being older. When I was about six, we found a pile of bricks out back and decided to build a wall. We faced each other and built it between us. At one point there was a place we both wanted our bricks to go. We slammed into that space as fast and hard as we could, each trying to get there first. It was a tie. I lost a nail (pride in that) from a very black and blue finger caught in the crash. I can still see his small hand on that brick zooming towards the space I wanted for mine.
My sisters’ hands come together as a package. The memory is from a little over two years ago. It was at a funeral Mass for my brother’s ashes. We went up to the altar podium. Each of us, in turn, stepped forward and addressed those gathered. I was last. I was reading a memorial written by his best friend, who couldn’t be there. Even though I had reviewed it all, at length earlier, my voice started to crack on the first sentence. From behind me, immediately and without pause, I felt my sisters as one, take half a step closer and each placed a hand, just perched it, on the back of a shoulder. I have no real visual. It is a visceral memory. They made a circuit with me and I read that entire letter with strength and grace because of their hands touching me.
My Husband’s hands are very large. He is a big man. During a visit, while we were dating, I was seated at the table in his country kitchen and he was massaging my shoulders. A wasp flew in and started walking around the rim of the lampshade hung over that table. One hand never left my shoulder. The other hand reached up and one huge finger delicately stroked the back of the wasp. He was petting it! He was so gentle it let him do this. He continued to stroke it several times and then, when he stopped the wasp continued its circuit of the lamp.
In some way this is where it all started, with the tenderness hidden in huge, rough, manly hands. But it truly expands outwards to all. Please share your ‘hands story’. Click comments, below, and write, for all of us to share.
Written by our Italy Correspondent and Artist Carol Schultheiss in Cavallini.
Photo by Maria Ragusa-Burfield.
Sometimes the less we are given, the more we give. On assignment to shoot for BMW, KKLD discovered just how creative they had to be with some temperamental prototype cars teasing them with all too brief glimpses. They didn’t have time to be jealous with sharing them. They just focused their lens and wooed some finely tuned machine hearts.
Simon Puschmann had one prototype car per Model i3 & i8 that were extremely sensitive to heat and sun (must not get hot) which meant that the actual shooting times were extremely short. Sometimes the prototype cars were only allowed out in the sun for 10 minutes at a time. The prototypes were shipped straight from the shoot to their first official presentation at the Frankfurt Auto show and hence they had to be looked after really well. They also had to share the prototypes cars with a press photography team and a film team who shot a commercial.
Impossible conditions and parameters? Gentlemen, start your engines.
Agency : KKLD, Berlin
Client : BMWi
Producer local : Jake Mills Productions
Producer over all : Tim Michel Producer, Hamburg
Photographer : Simon Puschmann
See more of Simon Puschmann’s work on his website and his Altpick page.
