Align Center – Eyes straight

An insane close-up of the face with the eyes staring straight at the viewer can be both captivating and menacing.

Align Side – Eyes sideways

In this type of framing, subject’s eyes lead you out of the frame’s border from one corner to the other. Normally eyes will be placed according to the Rule of Thirds. Also, most of the time, the subject itself fills the canvas in its entirety in the direction of the eyes.

Align Side – Eyes straight

The subject will be placed in the right or left corner of the frame with eyes looking straight at us.

This post is an attempt at generalizing the approaches of better photogs to help photogs like us to make a better and learned judgement about the shots we are about to take. Keeping in mind that the key to better portraits  is to keep on experimenting, I would like to hear your observations on the topic.

Q. Is there anything you wish you knew when you started photographing?

A.

Sriram Guruswamy (Style – Potrait)

I never had the luxury of a mentor or of a formal training. My Photography style is totally self-taught and it took years to get evolved. I realized late that photography is not just about capturing something that is already beautiful.
There is a bigger dimension to it as being an honest perspective into those real moments of truth depicted in an aesthetic way.

Fabien Bravin (Style – Macro)

He he… On my side, there is nothing that comes to my mind right now. But, I think my wife wish she knew, when I began photography, that macro was a kind of drug and that you can become quickly addicted to.

Richard Gastwirt (Style – Stage Show)

If I didn’t learn by trial and error, the lessons probably wouldn’t have stuck. So I’m not sure that if there’s anything I wish I knew. But it took me a while to realize that the histogram was more important than my exposure needle and that cameras aren’t very intelligent and their metering isn’t suited to concert photography.

James Brandon (Style – HDR)

In the beginning, I wish I had surrounded myself with other photographers. I’m currently a part of a local photography group through meetup.com and it is awesome. I think a new and aspiring photographer should surround themselves with other photographers to learn from them and grow.

Mukul Soman (Style – Street)

I wish I knew how to anticipate a moment and wait for it, before taking that photograph at the right time.

Phalgun P (Style – Wedding)

Yes! There is one thing which I came across very late. It is the podcast series of the photographer Brooks Jenson called Lenswork. Each of them is just three minutes long and it leaves you thinking at the end. I wish I’d started listening to his podcasts before.

Enjo Mathew (Style – Visual Art)

I am painfully self taught, so yes, there are a lot of things I now know, that I wish I knew back then. I have never gone for any formal photography classes nor have I gone to anyone to formally train me. I just had the will and a lot of patience to discover things around me on my own.

Nidhin G Poothully (Style – Wildlife)

I usually travel to the jungles in Karnataka as they are nearer since I stay in Bangalore. In my earlier days, I used to get excited a lot while seeing a bird or a mammal. I have tried to capture them in my camera as soon as possible. I used to chase them away as they see the sudden flurry of my activities. Now I know that I need more patience to get the click without causing the least disturbance to the subject.

In all wildlife encounters, there are a thousand possibilities to take a bad photo and there are only one or two opportunities to take a good photo. A nature photographer learns to be ready for that perfect moment. This needs years of patience and practice.

Jyothy Karat (Style – Photo Documentary)

Ayyo! I can’t think of anything specific at the moment.

When you are starting out and learning the photography basics in the Academy, you will be flooded with the works of other master photographers. They are the references that will inspire you.

The study on the history of a painting or an object of art can also have a profound influence on your photography style.
That’s something I could have started earlier. Nowadays I am reading a lot on these subjects.

Akosoto.com is a place where nursery rhymes, songs, riddles, games, do it yourself toys, illustrated stories… are compiled in the Malayalam language. This is a new venture from antzFx.com. Let us try to know more about the website.

Click on the following images for full size view.

Here are the posters in the language we all speak.

What is ‘Akosoto?’

No, the word is not Japanese. The name ‘Akosoto’ is a tribute to the 1992 Malayalam Film ‘Yodha’ directed by Sangeeth Sivan. The hero of the movie is fondly addressed as ‘Akosoto’ by the Rimpoche – a small child. We are sure that all the Keralites will identify themselves with the name. We are presenting Akosoto as a friend of your child.

A small talk on the inspiration

It was some months ago. When I was singing a nursery rhyme to my daughter (now she is two years old), my father asked me in surprise “Do you still remember this song? I taught you this song some 30 years ago from a children’s magazine!” My father has forgotten many of the lines. This made me to think about a website where we can collect and publish old songs, stories, games, ‘do-it-yourself’ toys…

My brother FULLfx | aneeskA immediately jumped into this and he made sure that the website will be up and running. He plans and posts the articles and does a lot of house keeping of the website.

The Akosoto Team

I must say that a big group of people contributed and encouraged us. Apart from my brother, my wife and daughter, my parents, my in-laws, my friends… are consulted for various articles posted here.

I should name two friends here: Geo Paul E and MahEsh C Menon. They are with us in every step and provides unconditional support, ideas and criticisms.

@AkosotoDotCom

Our Twitter handle is ‘@AkosotoDotCom.’

Tell us what you think

Simple. Shoot an email to:
write[ at ]akosoto[ dot ]com

Image Credits

Following images are used to design the poster and header of the website.

• Think: Jesse Therrien, Alberta, Canada.
• Pills: d-s-n, Warsaw, Poland
• Medicine 2: Sergio Roberto Bichara, Sao Paulo, Brazil

Download JPEGs of the whole Calendar (ZIP, 4.38MB) »

January 2012 Download (JPG, 1440x1030px)	February 2012  Download (JPG, 1440x1030px)

March 2012 Download (JPG, 1440x1030px)	April 2012 Download (JPG, 1440x1030px)

May 2012 Download (JPG, 1440x1030px)	June 2012 Download (JPG, 1440x1030px)

July 2012 Download (JPG, 1440x1030px)	August 2012 Download (JPG, 1440x1030px)

September 2012 Download (JPG, 1440x1030px)	October 2012 Download (JPG, 1440x1030px)

November 2012 Download (JPG, 1440x1030px)	December 2012 Download (JPG, 1440x1030px)

Design Thoughts

Compared with the designs of previous years, we have changed the format of the calendar.  Earlier we used to give two months in a sheet. This time, only one month is in a sheet and the digits are arranged inside ‘S M T W T F S’ — representing ‘Sunday Monday… Saturday.’ The digits are in the font Constantia.

Following images show the metamorphosis of  ’S M T W T F S.’

The first version had  ’S M T W T F S’ in Constantia Uppercase. The second version had Constantia Lowercase. The current version uses an outline (without fill) of modified Swatch font.

I modified ‘t’ and ‘m’ in the Swatch font to better adjust the digits inside. The ‘s’ for Saturday and Sunday are rotated 90 degrees. These changes ensured that the dates coming under a particular week are in a single column rather than staggered as you can see in the first two versions (Sunday, Wednesday and Saturday). Also, I removed the black fill of the ’S M T W T F S’ and retained a thin grey outline to give more emphasis to the dates and images on the sheet.

Dear Reader, I hope all of you will like this and will buy a print version from us.

Design Date: 09-Nov-2011

Extra – Our calendar designs over the years – 2011 Flowers, 2011 Green, 2010, 2009

Guest Author

Barun Patro is an architect and designer from Chennai, India. He is passionate about creative ideas and love digging anything that comes under design. He is also a part of a global design community called ORTAP. He loves to travel and socialize.

Off late, a lot of our friends have been asking us to tell them how do I make money online. One of the favorite ways of mine is – stock photography.

What is Stock photography?

How do I make money through Stock Photography?

Stock photography refers to a collection of photos that are available online for use to designers and individuals for free or for a nominal fee,  to be used in their design projects and presentations. It can be the picture of a ball, a chair or even the sky that people can download and use.

For example, consider that I am writing an article on chocolates. Instead of googling up an image of a chocolate, I download stock photo of a chocolate and use it . Stock photos are licensed for such kind of use. Some sites offer them free while others offer them for a small fee which goes as royalties to the photographer .

Here are a few links to stock photo sites:

• dreamstime
• iStockPhoto
• SXC
• shutterstock
• gettyimages

Who can be a stock photographer ?

Anyone who is interested in photography, knows how to operate a digital camera and can shoot decently good photos can become one. I am a stock photographer myself and I don’t even own a camera myself. I borrow “point and shoot” camera from my friends to take pictures.

You must know a little about noise and exposure which determine the quality of your photos. Otherwise when you submit your photos to those sites, you might get rejections. But that also is a good learning experience.

A decent camera and understanding of photo editing tools like Photoshop or Lightroom to fine tune your photos, if needed, are the basic necessaries for becoming one.

What type of photos can I include in my stock?

It depends on the website where you upload your photos. The subject of your photography can be anything – from safety pins to mountains, pencil sketches to illustrations.

For example, SXC allows only photo upload. While iStockphoto, in addition to photos, allows uploading of vector images, illustrations, flash animations, videos, 3D animations etc. You are only limited by your creative talents.

How much will I earn per photo?

It depends on the dimensions of the photo the user downloads. You should always upload the largest and highest quality photo that you have. The website will automatically generate different sizes for your photograph. If a user downloads a thumbnail version of your image, you will probably earn $0.5. Higher earnings are credited for bigger dimension download. The exact rate varies form site to site. When you reach a minimum earning total of, say $50 or $100, you will be allowed to transfer it to your bank/paypal account.

Check out the screenshot below of my account in “dreamstime”, with my total earnings on the top right corner and detailed earning for each image.

Keywording your photos

Keywording your photos is also known as labeling your photos with IPTC tags. This is a very important part in managing your stock photos. It is the process of embedding keywords to your photos that describe them. When a user searches for a photo, the results shown will be based on a match against the tags that you have given. The general approach should be, “the more the number of keywords, the better.”

The above photo, for example, can have the following keywords:

interior design, white, clean, 3D, rich, living room, concept, bungalow, space,black and white etc.

Keywording for Batch  upload

Every time you upload an image you will be asked to fill in the keywords manually. This can get a little tedious when you plan to upload your photo on multiple sites. Instead you can keyword the image before hand and upload. To do this, right click and check for properties of any image/photo and you’ll find the option to add keywords. Otherwise you can also use Photoshop software to add keywords to image properties. Now when you upload your photo to the stock website, the site automatically detects the keywords/descriptions attached to the image. That’ll save a lot of your time.

Cautions

Rejections

If your images are rejected , they will mostly be done so with an explanation for the rejection. It may be because of factors like excessive noise, chromatic aberration, artefacts, over saturation, low exposure, low resolution etc.

Basically these sites just want a good photo and over a period of time you will learn to get your photos approved with lesser rejections as you learn. Most of the times, you can simply correct the image and upload a better one and it gets approved. In any case be prepared for rejections and learn from every fedback to improvise every photo you take.

Logos

Be careful to avoid taking photos with any brand names/logos . You are not supposed to do that. In case they come in, try to remove such signs from your photo before upload.

Plagiarism

You cannot download some photo from the internet and do minor modifications and upload it as your own. That’d be illegal and you’ll be in trouble if caught. It is better to go through the terms and conditions of these sites or go through their guidelines.

Managing your multiple stock photo accounts

The more number of sites you post your photos to, the more wil be the money you’ll earn. To manage my stock photos, I keep a track of them in an Excel sheet, and I track my image uploads like this

Photo1 —> Website 1—> Website 2—> Website 3

This way I know which all sites I have uploaded my works to. You may also use software like http://prostockmaster.com to manage/keyword your photo collection.

Getting Started

To get started, you can register yourself at dreamstime by clicking on this link. Don’t forget to check out my SXC portfolio.

I’d love your comments and feedbacks. Let me know if you have any questions. Cheers !

Recently a friend of mine asked me to help his friend buy a DSLR. To be frank, it left me scratching my head as I was at a loss as to what to tell him. Then I realized that the posts that have been published in antzFxWay are indeed a great place to start, if read in the right order. Once I sent him the mail, I figured it could help more people. So here is the post from where you can start your research.

	A Beginners Guide to Buying a DSLR (from a Beginner) I wanted to make a transition from P&S to DSLR. So I asked Google, my all-knowing ever-faithful friend, “What should I do?”. The keeper-of-all-knowledge promptly dumped thousands of camera reviews in front of me to choose from. “Oh my!” - I pinched myself.
	Photography – Reliable DSLR and Lens Review Sites Trust is a little hard to come by – especially in online sector. I spent the last two weeks in search for a “good’ DSLR. (Read More)
	Half A dozen Stupid things people will do after buying their first DSLR It is astonishing to see that newbies buying their first DSLR (including me)have hit on a sequence of spending behaviours that is not exactly helping them. (Read More)
	Realizations of a DSLR newbie It’s been almost 10 months since I bought my first DSLR.Given below are a few realizations I had in the last few days. (Read More)
	A dozen sites for Photography Inspiration – Part 1 and Part 2 A collection of sites that will help to run your imagination run wild. Enjoy.

Click on the image for a closer view.
Blank ‘Business Card’ stock image by: Brian Lary, Madison, US

A page from my notebook

I don’t remember from where I got the inspiration for using a notebook page background, but I have successfully used it twice thrice in the past. First, for my brother, I designed prize certificates with ‘notebook’ background for “Melange 2006,” organized by University College of Engineering, Thodupuzha. Then a notebook page served as the background for my e-mail wedding invitation card. People liked this unique look.

For a final assignment/presentation of a Post Graduate Degree subject, I again used this background for the PowerPoint slides. Initially we (two of my friends and I) wanted to project the slides in ‘portrait’ format; but reverted to the traditional ‘landscape’ format a few minutes before our turn as its readability was better.

When we projected the slides, our Professor was surprised and she blurted out a “What is this?” Fortunately the GE Healthcare team, who were evaluating our assignment along with the Professor, liked it and we got an ‘A’ grade. In the clutter of plain vanilla and PowerPoint default templates, our presentation did manage good ‘brand recall.’

Because of these experiences, I wanted to use a notebook page background for our new business card.

The design

The logo, company name and URL follow the antzFx logo and typography standards. They are placed on the top of the page. The person’s name (14 pt font size), Mobile phone number (8 pt ) and E-mail ID (8 pt) are in a font called ‘Hand of Sean.’ The font color is a blue (#003399) that we usually find in gel ballpoint pens. The mobile phone number is given a yellow (#ffff30) fluorescent highlighter effect. A single ‘space’ is given at both the sides of ‘@’ for easy readability of the E-mail ID.

The reverse side of the business card has a green (#009f00) background. All the text is in ‘Trebuchet MS’ font, except the ‘Arial’ ‘@’ sign of Twitter handle.

Download a blank PSD template for this business card (ZIP, 64 KB).

Who printed this?

Many asked this question to me. I printed 96 business cards for Rs.185/- (This includes printing charges, cutting charges and VAT for double sided prints on four 300gsm A3 sheets, matte finish) from Print Xpress, Richmond Road, Bangalore. Their customer service is the worst among competitors, but they are also the cheapest in Bangalore.

Reactions

Click on the image for a closer view.

The few ‘lucky’ people who received my new business card generally favored the design and mentioned that the card is quite memorable. Well, what do you think?

Design Date: 03-Sep-2011

An aeronautical engineer by profession, Fabien Bravin is a macro photographer who has chosen to walk a path rarely trodden by photographers of similar interest. A self-confessed addict of macro photography, he tries to emphasize the beauty and poetry of nature in his shots. Here we are in talk with the man who has produced an array of stunning pictures.

Fabien Bravin Flickr | 1x | Blog Technique: Macro

Q. Your macros are a celebration of colors. What influenced you to take up macro photography?

A. Even before I started photography, I’ve always been attracted by nature and its inhabitants. It’ s so appeasing to be alone in the meadow watching and enjoying the moment. So, when I started photography in 2008, I already knew the kind of photography I would be doing. But taking sharp insect photographs and present them in a documentary format was not my aim. All along the way, I learned how to take macro photographs, constantly asking myself what could make an artistic picture and what I would’ve to do to get them. All my attempts have been towards achieving that goal.

Q. How do you go around looking for subjects? Are your images pre-arranged or mostly by chance?

A. From my beginning and up to last year, I just went in my garden (which is a very good spot for mantis) or in the meadows looking for some subjects (mainly damselflies and butterflies). I tried to work and improve my technique choosing some simple composition and easy subjects. So during these 2 years it has always been by coincidence that I found my subjects.

From last year, i decided to increase the challenge and to try some more complicated compositions with multiple subjects. To do so, I had to arrange some meetings

Typically, the series of pictures with ants and my latest picture with the mantis and the spider, I would like to emphasize that, I took great care while manipulating the insect to bring it to where I want it to be. I never manipulate the insect directly with my hands because they are fragile. So I just take the support on which it is and bring it near the support where I want it to be. I’ll wait for a few seconds to let it climb on the dedicated support and that’s it.

This requires many tries. You can’t just ask an insect to do this or that, stay here, turn your head, look at me and smile.

Q. Do you have any preferred time to shoot macro?

A.

As I’m really keen on natural light, I prefer the early morning of a sunny day or sunset.

So spring and autumn are my preferred season. During summer, sun rises too early for me. So I prefer the evenings. This year was more complicated as I’ve had some difficulties to manage all my activities, so I shot only when I could. But this has led to a change in my setup.

Q. Most of the people I have seen take macros in an indoor, controlled environment. But your approach is completely different. Rather than an insane close-up of the insect, you seem to be able to bring out the character in the nature through its subjects. Can you explain your setup while taking a macro?

A. Yes, you are right. I do not like taking insane close-ups of insects. I would rather like to show the insect in a natural environment.

I always perform my pictures outside.

I tried once or twice to make some indoor pictures but quickly realized that it is not my cup of tea as I didn’t succeed in getting good results. From my point of view, it requires complicated lighting system that I don’t have. So, all my shots are taken in the natural environment of the insect.

Also I’ve no pre-established recipe. I go outside, look for a subject, evaluate the situation, the direction and intensity of light. Then I try to find the best angle to compose the picture taking into account all these parameters. I especially focus my attention on the background quality (the bokeh). Considering all these things, I select the suitable gear parameters (aperture, shutter speed and ISO). I also try to vary my angle and composition as much as possible. When natural light is not good enough, I often use an additional flash lighting to create some nice rim light effects.

Q. What kind of gear do you use?

A.

Body – A canon 7D since the last two years; I started off with a canon 400D
Lens – The Sigma 180 mm f/3.5 macro lens since the last two years and I started off with a Canon 100mm macro lens. I also have a wide angle lens, Tokina 11-16mm, Canon 50 mm f/1.4 for portrait. Sometimes for macro, I use a Kenko extension tube. For long distance shots, I use a canon 70-300mm f/4-5.6 lens.
Tripod – I prefer to use a monopod which is easier to use and easily mobile. I use my Benro tripod only for long exposure shots.
Filters – None for macro. But I’ve some BW filters for landscape and long exposure – a circular polarizer filter and a 10 f-stops filter.
Flash – As an additional lighting source, I use a Canon speedlight 580EX II. I also have bought a macro flash – Canon MT24 EX. But for the time being, I find it too complicated to use.
Camera bag – LowePro Slingshot.

Q. Which is your favorite lens? Why?

A. The sigma 180mm macro lens; because I am more involved into macro. Compared to a 100 mm, I find it much better because of its long working distance and the beautiful bokeh it gives.

Q. When you go in one of your travels, what all do you take with you? Why?

A. I often take all my gear, because I never know what kind of picture I will do.

And I don’t want to miss an opportunity just because I’m too lazy to carry my gear.

Q. Among the many gadgets that you own, is there something that you wish you hadn’t bought? Why?

A. Maybe one – a ring flash head to be adapted on a speedlight flash that I do not often use.

Q. What kind of tools do you use for post processing?

A. I always shoot in raw format. At the beginning I was using Adobe Photoshop software. Since I’ve discovered Adobe Lightroom, I use it extensively. First, to manage my library and second to develop my pictures.

To process my pics, I have no pre-established recipe. It depends on how the original image is, the light, the colors and the way I feel, the mood I want to convey or emphasize. I like to play with white balance and colors cursors till I get the expected result.

Q. Among your works, which one is your favorite? Why?

A. It’s hard to answer. There are many pictures which have a story behind and some nice encounters. If I have to pick one, it would be “Last Night On Earth“. It is simple and feels ethereal. I like the strange and fragile aspect of this tiny mantis larva.

Another favorite would be “The fable of the ladybug and the empusa“.  This picture brought me a lot of satisfaction and happiness when I made the encounter.

Q. Whose work has influenced you the most?

A. When I started doing macro, I joined a French photography forum website where I met an artist from whom I have learned a lot; technically and artistically. He – El Justino – is a talented artist.

Once I discovered 1x, the amazing works of Marta Grzesiak and Magdalena Wasiczek have totally blown me away.

Q. What is the one thing you wish you knew when you started taking macros?

A. He he… On my side, there is nothing that comes to my mind right now. But, I think my wife wish she knew, when I began photography, that macro was a kind of drug and that you can become quickly addicted to.

Q. Your pictures have influenced me so much that I tried my hand at capturing the macro world. Can you please criticize my attempt?

A. It’s a very good start and the picture really pleasant to the eyes.Focusing is  sharp, colors are very nice and I love the bokeh.

For me, one thing could have been better is the composition. I would have prefered to see a bit more of the face of the bug (with a more lateral point of view). Also I would have framed the picture in order that the bug is located on the upper left third part of the picture instead of the center. Remember to adhere to the rule of the third when composing.

You are on the good way.

Q. To an aspiring newbie macro photographer, what would you like to say?

A. At the very beginning, put all your attention on getting the focus right.

Whatever the depth of field you have (linked to the selected aperture), it is very important to have the bug’s eyes in the focus.

Once you have this under control, next think about framing and composition. Don’t start with a complicated situation. Try to find subjects with light background placed at a distance from the subject. This will allow you to go to smaller aperture (giving you longer depth of field and more chance to get the eyes in the focus.)

Heavy and close backgrounds require large or full aperture to get a nice bokeh and here it is much more complicated to get the focus point precisely on the eyes. Take as many pictures as you could. Once the first shot is in the bag, go to picture viewer in the camera and make sure you get the focus point right. Practice a lot to improve your technical skills.

To learn the artistic aspect, study photographs of other artists . Then make your own way by developing your own artistic fiber.

Our favorite Fabien Shot – Hidden … Well almost!

Advertising

• Are you going to make advertising your career? See ‘A life in advertising’ http://www.munnaontherun.com/2011/08/life-in-advertising_05.html “Must be true!”
• You can turn any car into a convertible! A social service campaign by Amélie Company. http://osocio.org/message/you_can_turn_any_car_into_a_convertible/

Animation

• “Weird Al” Yankovic says “Stop Forwarding That Crap To Me.” The video is kinetic typography, probably in AfterEffects. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=KCSA7kKNu2Y

Art

• Ursus Wehrli finds everyday situations of disorder & organizes them into neat rows based on color, size, shape & type. http://www.fubiz.net/2011/08/31/the-art-of-clean-up/

Fun

• 14 things that always happen in movies, but never ever in real life. Movies just recycle unrealistic plot devices! http://unrealitymag.com/index.php/2011/01/26/things-that-always-happen-in-movies-but-never-ever-in-real-life/
• Cartoonist Donald Soffritti imagines the later years of superheroes, enjoying retirement, with some funny outcomes. http://dailyinspiration.nl/character-design-retired-superheroes
• See the doodles that people drew on windows with dry erase markers so that the images project onto the scenery outside. http://windoodles.tumblr.com/

Inspiration

• Jeff Meakins is a talented designer who does packaging, rebranding, logos, posters… for well-known brands. His works: http://jeffreycmeakins.com/
• Designers, Read “33 Designisms” – modified Holzer’s truisms, questioning what we do, why we do it & how to get it done. http://morladesign.com/MD_33ideas.pdf

Logo/Identity Design

• Beach, Umbrella, Jellyfish, Seahorse and Beer! Read the design story of the logo for BarCamp Goa: First Edition. http://antzfxway.com/2011/09/22/design_bcg1/
• These logos make you smile at the brilliance of both the idea & the execution & have several layers of meaning. Great! http://designshack.co.uk/articles/graphics/50-fantastically-clever-logos
• It is surprising how logos can influence other logos. Stefan Asafti’s project on interchanging logos of rival brands. http://www.behance.net/gallery/The-Greatest-Brandversations/1971913
• Redesigning a logo can be just as hard as creating a new one. Here are five ideas to spruce up your logo design. http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2011/08/5-ways-to-spruce-up-a-logo-with-examples/
• A fauxgo (fake logo) is a symbol created to represent a fictional company or organization that exists only on film. http://fauxgo.com/archive

Photography

• Why I never got this idea? Large Objects shot as miniatures using a giant coin and tilt-shift effects. http://www.petapixel.com/2011/08/18/large-objects-shot-as-miniatures-using-a-giant-coin-and-tilt-shift-effects/
• Gulp: The world’s largest stop-motion animation shot on Nokia N8. The crafting surface was 11,000 square feet of beach. http://www.dudecraft.com/2011/08/gulp-worlds-largest-stop-motion-film-by.html

Print Design

• ‘Truth and Lies’ humorous poster series: this is what you say, but (this is what you mean) – and we all know it. http://www.behance.net/gallery/Truth-and-Lies/2018665
• Kerning is fun! All right, unless you’re a serious typography nerd, that’s definitely not going to be a true statement. http://designshack.co.uk/articles/typography/8-simple-and-useful-tips-for-kerning-type/

Product Design

• MuteWatch – An interesting product, more interesting packaging design. I love it! http://www.notcot.com/archives/2011/09/unboxing-the-mutewatch-at-ar.php
• Lovely idea! The Karlsson Table Clock Book adapts neatly into your bookshelf disguised as an actual set of books. http://goo.gl/lGtfu
• Printed Circuit Board business card with inbuilt electronic decision maker logic. Press the button to get ‘yes’ or ‘no.’ http://www.devicers.com/ynbc/
• A low-cost, ergonomic load carrier for laborers wins Core77 Product Design Competition. Design: Vikram Dinubhai Panchal. http://www.fastcodesign.com/1664663/core77-taps-7-carryall-as-years-best-product-design

Web Design

• Even if you’ve never heard of Andreas Shabelnikov, you’ve almost certainly seen his works: movie websites. Interview: http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2011/09/interview-andreas-shabelnikov/

Why? Because I love to do a design under a lot of constraints. I believe that this will help me to explore and find innovative solutions. If I am correct, this is my fifth logo for a BarCamp (BarCamp Bangalore 7, Bangalore 8, Bangalore 9 and Kerala 9, Bangalore 10). I have tried to give an individuality to each of them. I suddenly found myself in an ideating mood.

Beach, Umbrella, Jellyfish, Seahorse…

This image shows the direction of my initial thoughts. Then I remembered the excellent observation by Joshua Johnson.

Rather than just making something attractive, designers look at the design process with a pinch of added intelligence and a perspective that skewed enough to see things differently than the rest of the world.

These types of logos make you smile at the brilliance of both the idea and the execution and have several layers of meaning that can hit you in waves.

A Foaming Beer Mug

The first time I visited Goa was on a ‘study tour’ from my graduate college. I remembered my friends observing that ‘Beer is cheaper than water in Goa!’ This made me to visualize a tall and foaming beer mug that you used to see in movies like Pirates of the Caribbean franchise.

I had to add a yellow side and bottom lines to enclose the words tightly. The foaming bear is made from a half of the standard Barcamp logo.

Yes, I know. You indeed need ‘a lot of imagination’ to visualize this logo as a foaming beer mug!

One more option I tried was the one with a thought bubble in the place of the present foam. Later I abandoned it.

Incidentally, just see the typographic treatment given to the 2010 Tamil film Goa directed by Venkat Prabhu.

Fonts in the Mug

I wanted the alphabet ‘p’ of ‘BarCamp’ to be the handle of the mug. This made me to split the words as |bar|camp|goa| and arranged them one over the other to form the tall mug.

|bar| and |goa| are in Niagara Solid as it is a tall font. ‘The first edition, 30 October 2011′ is written in the font Journal. Now it took some time for me to decide on the ‘mug handle.’

Earlier I considered both Quadranta and Century Gothic. After the feedback from Niju and others, I settled for Yanone Kaffeesatz as the ‘p’ in this font resembles the shape of the actual beer mug handle pretty neatly.

Posters and Badges

Following are the two teaser posters designed for BCG1. Click on the image for a larger view.

Title: Chair on empty beach
Photographer: Fred Fokkelman, Rotterdam, Netherlands

Title: Colourful umbrella
Photographer: Gareth Weeks, UK

Two badges are also derived from the above posters so that people can display them in their websites.

So, what do you think? Drop your comments below.

Design date: 22-Sep-2011