Permission To Suck

What makes great photographs and illustrations?

Thursday, July 1, 2010

There are elements of a great picture beyond composition, simplicity, light, color, texture and all that designy-crafty stuff. With some tormented thought, I’ve narrowed it down to three elements that seamlessly overlap but are also separate enough that they seem to own a category.

Talking with Advertising Creative Director – Mike Allen

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

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I had a chance to talk with Creative Director and Copywriter Mike Allen about his career in Advertising and get some of his thoughts on branding and creativity. Here are 10 minutes from that discussion.

Don’t Waste Your Change Reserves

Thursday, June 3, 2010

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How do we know we aren’t behaving like comfort loving factory workers? I doubt there is a material answer, but the subtlety of creative exhaustion knows no bounds. Take a look at this experiment explained by Dan Heath at Fastcompany.com.

Influenced by Weegee the Famous – Who?

Thursday, May 27, 2010

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I've been influenced by Usher Fellig (aka Weegee the Famous). I had no idea. But I’m in good company from Diane Arbus to Cindy Sherman, and the rest of us. It’s hard to peel away the nostalgia from his photos from mid 20th century NYC, but as I try the feeling of intensity remains; as though one held a candle under humanity fluid and let it reduce.

What’s the Deal With Storytelling?

Monday, April 5, 2010

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Things begin to go awry when I have no point of view; no opinion, no specific observation, nothing to reveal. I spend most of my time trying to uncover the problem, though once established, the rest is hard work that is relatively relaxing. I’ve discovered that most of my restlessness lies in finding the story not telling it.

Food for Thought – James Geary’s Metaphor

Thursday, February 25, 2010

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Visual metaphor is not only the staple of advertising but the backbone of all art. James Geary points out in his TED presentation (embedded) that metaphor is when we perceive X = Y. Though, in our struggle to understand visual abstractions, I believe we search for metaphor rather than analogy. We adore closure.

Yes and …

Thursday, February 18, 2010

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I live for the thrill – a captivating moment in the creative process when engagement turns exciting. Nothing else matters but refining how it sounds, looks, reads, feels. My concentration is off the immersion chart. It’s nothing like drilling for oil – more like sharing demonstrative dreams at 20 - 20,000 MHz.

So Where is the Democratized Artistic Genius?

Monday, January 18, 2010

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Evidently neither technology nor egalitarianism does anything to stir the soul, yet, Rauschenberg erases beauty and inspires – or provokes - the heart of an artistic movement. Watch a short video interview with Rauschenberg about his erasure of a de Kooning masterpiece.

“Look for excellence rather than the results of it” – Ryan Lobo

Monday, December 28, 2009

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Photography at its root is honest. Its analog legacy is documentary, accuracy and authenticity. Digitally transformed, the honesty of image capture is being questioned. Regarding truth, however, photography’s quality has remained unchanged. Each capture is a story and the storyteller is the purveyor of truth. Compassionate storyteller, Ryan Lobo, relates some remarkable insights in a 15 minute presentation.

The Space Between Your Notes

Thursday, December 17, 2009

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“Music is the space between the notes” – Claude Debussy I thought of this quote before discovering someone much more intelligent said it first. I was at a show listening to bluegrass virtuosos play so fast that it was hard to discern a space between notes. It made me realize that there was only one interpretation possible. There were no spaces for me to think or feel anything but the energy of their content.