Becca Straus and Silkscreen Adventures

Part I: The Amazing Becca Straus
Becca Straus’ jewelry design (it's drop dead gorgeous, how could you forget?) from images I posted of Smart Ftizjerrell's debut collection. Thanks to Mary Kathryn, I was able to hook up with Becca to overhaul her entire brand: logo, identity, packaging, print and soon-to-come web.



We're currently working on a special holiday gift for celeb clients (holy crap Uma Thurman!!) and have designed a package to enclose her phenominally gorgeous jewels. Still in progress, but here is a taste of things to come:


Left: (comp) View from top of gold box with gold silkscreened wrapping paper, gold ribbon, gold stamped hand bound booklet. Right: Silkscreened wrapping paper


booklet

Part II: When Making Silkscreens, PAY ATTENTION!!!
A friend of mine named Hot Rob taught me how to silkscreen in college. We would hole up in my bathroom and burn screens, but with him in the lead, I didn’t pay enough attention (Rob, you're the MAN!).

This past summer, Fi and I tried our luck in the bathroom, this time we included a bottle of wine in the mix. Needless to say, all of those small details that I didn't absorb during the college years came back to haunt me and we had some trouble burning the screen properly.

The main issue: I couldn't find a 250 watt bulb at Home Depot (no idea how that happened), so we rigged 2 bulbs together to create a wattage that was close enough...This is what a screen looks like when your ghetto silkscreen rig blows a light mid-exposure:


Crusty emulsion!

This is what it looks like when you have an amazing 250 watt halogen burning your design into the screen for full exposure time:


Delightful!

My point: All hail the mighty halogen! For some excellent silk screen directions, take thee to No Media Kings.

The Answer May Surprise You Halloween Edition

Who you gonna call?

Dean Simakis posted an excellent ode to Halloween on The Answer May Surprise You. Go there to listen to Nathan Chase's The Ghost That Feeds mashup of Ray Parker, Jr. vs. Nine Inch Nails.

Alek Wek, Los Angeles, 1998

One of my favorite photos. So fierce and graphic. By the late, great Herb Ritts.

Very busy thinking and designing. Gearing up for the cross-country migration. I'll have something to say about all of that soon!

American Comics/Girls

I didn’t know the world of comic books as a kid, so seeing stuff as an adult is very exciting. Today, B showed me Hard Boiled by Frank Miller and Geof Darrow published by Dark Horse. It has an obsessive amount of detail:





Which totally blows my mind.

Did any of the ladies out there grow up reading comic books? Also, why (aside from Tank Girl) aren’t there more age/sex/interest oriented American comic books? Am I missing out on another genres that exist but I just don’t know about?

An Honest Post: The New Tattoo

For the past few months I've been working on a design for a new tattoo. It is frustrating the hell out of me, but I am determined to finish the design by my birthday in January.

I really want the Faust Family crest on the ol’ upper arm. The crest is made up of really insane elements: a Fist (Faust means Fist!!YEAH!!), a screaming eagle, a knight's head, a crown and a shield. The way they combine has to be perfect or it will look like crap. I've seen a few executions of the crest and they all looked bad- so this is a real challenge.

In the past, I have been petrified to share my process because I like to show my best effort. How designers arrive at a final product is often a windy (too trite, too stylized, too trendy, too…boring) road, it can be tedious and private. But screw it. I'm going to show my drawings as they progress. Feedback is welcome. These drawings are still loose!

p.s. Mom- I am going to try to make it less “Ugly.”


Most recent digital sketch


The 3rd sketch

Thanks for any feedback-I’ll keep you posted.

Britain scared of creative CD packaging

Beck’s new album has been banned from U.K. charts, as a result of the unusual packaging that accompanies it.

The Information was released this week and includes a set of stickers allowing fans to design their own sleeve. However, the sticker arrangement, specially designed by Beck, has been ruled as an unfair advantage over other albums by Britain’s Official Chart Company.

The CD will therefore not be eligible for Sunday’s chart run-down in Britain, which has annoyed Beck. “It’s an unconventional package, but it shouldn’t be penalized for that,” he told Billboard. “Any art on a CD is an incentive to buy and listen. Ultimately, it doesn‘t matter. The response from the fans has been so strong, and that is the most important thing.”

Faust Haus says: Beck & his graphic designers can’t help that they are superior and the competition sucks.

Source: Yahoo News

Where in the World is the Intern?

Today, Stonehenge (the real one, not the minature Spinal Tap version):



She’s covered Scotland, Ireland, Spain, Holland and England over the past few weeks. I really can’t keep track- she’s chronicling her travels with photos and stories over at Wee-Fi!

Diamond Nights and Boudist

Forgot to mention we also caught Diamond Nights (opened for JET), who are worth a shot- even if you aren’t into the music- if only to experience the showmanship of singer Morgan “Take Off Your Wig” Phalen.



The photo? Shot by Daniel Boud, of Boudist- a truly gifted, badass rock photographer. Go to his site and feast your eyes.