R27.CREATIVELAB / Blogspot

"It's the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Latino, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled - Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been a collection of Red States and Blue States: we are, and always will be, the United States of America.” - Barack Obama

Inspired by these words, Greg Beauchamp, executive producer of the advertising documentary Art & Copy, has created this graphic poster for Barack Obama.

Greg Beauchamp hopes the image will get to Obama via the internet, forwarding emails or retweeting on twitter to prove that everyday Americans have the power to reach the president. Beauchamp has embedded a timeline on Flickr, of when states joined the union into a tiled image of the poster.





Image Source: Flickr
Documentary: Art&Copy

Full Credits
Creative Director/Copywriter: Greg Beauchamp
Copywriter: David Baldwin

(you can hear samples of her music at the end of the article and download desktop images)

"In the light she dances to silent music, songs that are spun of gold somehow in her own little head."

That's the lyric on the bridge of "Waltz For Debby," the title song of Elli Fordyce's next album, "Songs Spun Of Gold," which will be available for downloading in March or April (with the CD to follow). The album's title comes from that snippet, the whole lyric of which is about Bill Evans', the composer's, niece with lyrics by Gene Lees. The song always reminds Elli of her daughter at 4, to whom it's dedicated in this version.

Here's the entire lyric, which Elli says always brings her to tears and perfectly matches one of the world's most glorious jazz melodies.

"In her own sweet world, populated by dolls and clowns and a prince and a big purple bear,

Lives my favorite girl, unaware of the worried frowns that we weary grownups all wear.

In the light she dances to silent music, songs that are spun of gold somehow in her own little head.

Someday all too soon she'll grow up and she'll leave her dolls and her prince and her silly old bear.

When she goes they will cry as they whisper 'goodbye.'

They will miss her I know but then so will I."

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Gene Lee's history includes: writing lyrics for many songs (often the English version) during the 1960s. In addition to "Waltz for Debby" were, among others, "Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars" and "Someone to Light Up My Life" to music by Antonio Carlos Jobim; "Paris Is at Her Best in May" and "Venice Blue" (Charles Aznavour); "Bridges" (Milton Nascimento), and "Yesterday I Heard the Rain" (Armando Manzaneiro). The most successful, "Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars," was recorded by more than 150 performers, among them Tony Bennett, Perry Como, Vic Damone, Peggy Lee, Sergio Mendes, Frank Sinatra, Sarah Vaughan and Andy Williams. Lees later translated several poems by Pope John Paul II for the song cycle One World, One Peace, recorded in 1985 by Sarah Vaughan. Other singers who have recorded "Waltz for Debby" are Al Jarreau, Tony Bennett (in a duet album with Evans) and Johnny Hartman, with the song being Evans' most recorded song, instrumentally.

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You may also want to read Elli Fordyce - Still very cool

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Useful Links

Elli Fordyce's Website: www.ellifordyce.com
You can follow Elli on twitter @ElliFordyce
Management: Redwood Entertainment [see artists page]

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CD and samples available from | iTunes | CD Baby | Amazon | Napster | AmieST |

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Wallpaper Images

On behalf of Elli - download your desktop wallpaper images by [clicking here]

Available in the following screen sizes 1280x960 | 1024x768 | 800x600

If there are any other sizes that are needed or you would like an image for your iPhone leave a message and I'll arrange it for you...



Certain images are provided and owned by © 2009 Elli Fordyce |
Desktop images and text created by R27 | © 2009 R27 Creativelab

If you're passionate about anything in life then this is for you. You'll have good days and bad days as you struggle to better yourself trying to find the right direction to go in.

Zack Aris hits the mark with this short video. Listen closely and let him take you on a small emotional journey which you don't have to be a photographer to understand. Bear with the long intro as the rest is worth the wait....



Happy viewing and thanks to Stewart Smith (teamtomsk) Ginkgostudios.com for bringing this to my attention.

Main site for Scottkelby.com

Shhhh, and stay very still. There's a no-noise and movement policy on this construction site



2009 Lexus ES "Cards" Behind the Scenes



To show how the vibration-reducing features of the ES create one of the smoothest vehicles anywhere, we wanted to put the ES in the most fragile and unstable environment imaginable. So going a few steps beyond the proverbial house of cards, we set out to build an entire city around and on top of the vehicle.

If you want to create an enormous house of cards, theres only one guy to turn to—Bryan Berg. A self-taught artist, Bryan has been stacking cards since he was eight years old. He set his first Guinness World record when he was 17, with a tower measuring 14 feet, six inches tall. He has since set six more world records; his current record-holding structure towered over 25 feet.

Just for the record my present car probably wouldn't hold a card on the bonnet even if it was laying flat.

Client: Lexus
Agency: Team One
Chief Creative Officer: Chris Graves
Group Creative Director: Gavin Lester, Jon Pearce
Copywriter: Molly Grubbs, Schuyler Vanden Bergh
Art Director: Ryan Fluet, Lou Flores
Agency Producer: Beth Hagen
Production Company: MJZ
Director: Dante Ariola
Executive Producer: Jeff Scruton, Eric Stern
Line Producer: Natalie Hill
Director of Photography: Toby Irwin
Telecine: Company 3
Colorist: Stefan Sonnenfeld
Editorial Company: Rock Paper Scissors
Editor: Kirk Baxter
Executive Producer (Editorial): Linda Carlson, CL Weaver
Producer (Editorial): Kim Colen
VFX: a52
VFX Executive Producer: Ron Cosentino
VFX Producer: Heather Johann, Pete King
VFX Supervisor: Tim Bird
Flame Artist: Joana Cruz, Mike Bliss, George Cuddy, Alex Kolansinski
Music: Elias
Sound Design: Stimmung
Mix: Juice
Mixer: Bob Gremore

A few words from me... Rajesh, who were you expecting?

We've all seen well-shot photos. The ones that stop you mid-flow and just for a second take you on a little journey but what about the photographers behind the photo. The photographers that don't just press the button to release the shutter, but are a mother and wife, who run their own business and still have time to be an integral part of other ventures, guiding, teaching and encouraging.

I am, in case you didn't know, talking about the lovely Leigh Caraccioli, you can view some of her work by visiting her site which is going through a transformation very soon.

Click here to go to www.fleurdeleighphotography.com


Hay but wait there's more, you want to know about Leigh don't you and so lets start at the beginning...

You were born and then?
I was born on a farm, the middle child of Tom & Meg Herman and enjoyed a Mark Twain type childhood full of nature, mischief, and exploration. My family lived in a spacious newly converted green barn with a sprawling landscape. It was a magical place and former home of one of my idols Dayton, Ohio's Erma Bombeck, writer, humorist, and teacher.

Leigh on the other side of the camera

A younger me

My husband, Paul

College took me to the University of Georgia on a gymnastics scholarship where I studied journalism, experienced a career ending injury and transferred to The Ohio State University. I pursued my Master's degree in Creative Writing at Wright State University allowing me to teach Composition for two years. While I enjoyed the noble task of teaching, I was lured by the fast paced lifestyle of Sales & Marketing. I spent the next decade pursuing lofty sales goals and climbing corporate ladders.

My decision to start my own business in photography was cultivated by my husband, Paul, after my second child was born because it allowed me a stay at home career doing what I was already passionate about. Earlier this year, I added a second career as a Talent Agent for Talent Revolution by linking up with the visionary career networker Amanda Hite, founder, C.E.O. & change agent. I also am certified to teach in the Language Arts and substitute teach as often as possible.

Why Photography + what got you involved?
My dad had an old 35 mm that I adored. A picture is an economy of words so as a storyteller, photography appealed to me. Black and white photos are my first passion and I still have to make myself opt for color images occasionally. When my husband bought my first digital camera nearly two years ago. I realized what I wanted to be when I grew up. My path here was guided most by Paul, but also Amanda HIte, Darrin Ballman, Angela & Chris Caraccioli, and my IT creatives Chris Reed & Brian Peterson.

What was your first camera and what do you use now?
Camera one for me was a 35mm Nikon N65 I toted 6 years ago. Then I stepped up to digital, the future of photography, and began using the Nikon D50 with a kit lens. My bag just bigger with the new Nikon D300, various super cool lenses and I am thrilled with the results...and I am ready to add more!

How long have you been doing this?
Photography - 6 years, running a business - under a year. Momming - 8 years to daughter Pruitt (8) and son, Max (almost 2)

My daughter, Pruitt

My son, Max

Humans or nature, do you have a preference, if so why?
Nature doesn't pay me as well as humans and is only half as fun. *giggle* I love nature and capturing it on film, but seeking the personality in an individual and capturing that in a photo is my passion.

What inspires you within the photography field and/or outside?
The industry gives and fosters new people like me all the time. Freebies, help sites, mentoring all are commonplace and I have utilized them all. Without any formal photography training, things like free tutorials on how to post process in Photoshop MEAN something to me. My idol is Lindsey (Yates) Teal, PIF (Pay it Forward) Blogger. pifphoto.com who is all about giving in this creative industry.

Outside of the field, people who think independently, live robustly, and give back inspire me, like my father. My daily inspiration comes from Paul, my best friend/hubby, my kids, and stepchildren. I couldn't be more fortunate for my intellectual entourage at Talent Revolution. They are visionaries who amaze me.

My Family

Which other photographers and designers have caught your eye?
Out of the gate, Joyce Smith, Photography.com and Leah Zawadzki made my head spin with their talent for capturing youth and exuberance. Now a few of my favorites are Michael Norwood. He is the MASTER of the light. The emotion filled photos of Tiffiney at Momentscaptured4u.com, and few others I peek in on often are Matt Sloan, Chenin Boutwell, and Amelia Lyon. They all inspire me.

Hopes for the future?
To learn my trade further including post processing. To meet new fun people to photograph. To start dabbling with weddings by following some great photographers. To provide a great service to my clients and make a living at this thing that I love doing everyday.

What makes a good subject to photograph in your opinion and what would you say to the shy or nervous to help them while shooting?
For me they are all good subjects but brave, animated people (big & small) are my favorite. Hmmm. People aren't shy or nervous with me. My being an unassuming goofball usually puts them at ease. I think instantly, I know my subjects and that may make them feel comfortable.

A favourite of mine "Braid"

What's the oddest subject matter have you had to shoot or most memorable shoot?
When I photographed a young mother in advanced stages of cancer as a favor for my parents, I was moved. My Mom felt sad this beautiful strong mother had no photographs of her family so she set us up. Photographing a family who needed warm images for a legacy was both uplifting and gut wrenching. Seeing her two daughters, younger than my children, and knowing that I gave them photos that they'll have for the future made what I do make sense. I am committed to doing a few more gratis sessions this year. They are good for the spirit.

Jamie and her daughters

Future works / Do you have any creative works in progress/planned?
More cool photo shoots, a regular blog, and an overhaul on the website.

I see you're also involved in Talent Revolution can you tell me more?
After doing the photography for Talent Revolution, I decided to add a career. They were so awesome, and I was such a groupie they made me a talent agent helping jobseekers find their ultimate career lifestyle. It has been a business symbiosis that has been mutually beneficial and keeps me ultra busy.


What would you recommend to those new to the field of photography wishing to take it up?
Don't be afraid to fail. I learned more from trial and error than anything else. Keep trying. Keep learning. In the words of President Obama: we must "pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and begin again..."

Funny stories
I once caught strawberries on fire in the microwave...No really, there are too many to mention!!!

If any of our readers would like to get in touch with you what's the best way to do this?
Email me at leighcaraccioli@gmail.com
Go to Talent Revolution/LeighCaraccioli.
Follow me on twitter @fleurdeleigh
I am also on Facebook, Linkedin, FOHBOH

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On behalf of Leigh Caraccioli & Fleur De Leigh Photography- you can download your exclusive desktop images by [clicking here]

Available in the following screen sizes 1280x960 | 1024x768 | 800x600 | 600x450




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Thanks Leigh, for taking time out and sharing a little of yourself.
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All images are provided and owned by © 2009 Fleur De Leigh |
Desktop images created by R27 | © 2009 R27 Creativelab with permission from Fleur De Leigh

The man who perfected Penguin's classic paperback deserves to be remembered as one of the great designers of the 20th century.


It is something of an understatement to say that typographer Jan Tschichold was confident of his own importance. On the occasion of his 70th birthday in 1972, he wrote his own tribute in the third person. It began: "Two men stand out as the most powerful influences on 20th-century typography: Stanley Morison, who died in 1967, and Jan Tschichold."

Morison, begetter of the Times typeface amongst many others, is now largely hidden in history. Tschichold, however, has recently come to fresh prominence. An avant-garde German typographer in the 1920s, Tschichold is most remembered in Britain for his postwar refashioning of Penguin paperbacks, with their famous, horizontally banded covers – orange for fiction, green for crime, blue for biography. Celebrations of the publisher's 60th anniversary in 2005 helped bring him out of the circle of professional and academic admirers to a much wider audience. Since then three books have appeared, and now comes a coffee-table tome from Thames & Hudson.

Tschichold was born in 1902. The son of a signwriter, his first career was as a calligrapher for advertisements. His home town of Leipzig was the centre of the German book trade, and the young Jan was naturally drawn into the world of print. But he'd also heard about the new "-isms" in art, and was curious. Constructivism was on view not far away in Weimar, when the Bauhaus opened its doors for a public exhibition in 1923. Founded by the architect Walter Gropius as a school of arts and crafts in 1919, Bauhaus staff included well-known artists such as Paul Klee and Wassily Kandinsky. Abstract art of the kind imported from Mondrian and the Dutch De Stijl movement, and in particular the ideas of the Russian Constructivists, influenced Gropius to expand the aims of the Bauhaus, embodied in the slogan "art and technology, a new unity". In the exhibition catalogue, itself a kind of manifesto, the Hungarian artist-designer-photographer Moholy-Nagy pronounced that "typography is communication through print" – in other words, that a message should not be forced into a preconceived aesthetic.

Tschichold came away from the Bauhaus exhibition "in a state of great agitation", as he remembered in his 1972 testament. Soon he was the chief propagandist for the new movement in typography, crossing Europe for lectures, and after a spell in Berlin – the centre of the trans-European avant-garde – his first major work, The New Typography, was published in 1928.

In the words of his subscription leaflet, Tschichold was connecting the new typography to the "total complex of contemporary life". Its title borrowed from Moholy-Nagy, the book set out a series of stern foundational principles for good design: the use of sans-serif fonts, standardised paper sizes, photographs rather than drawn illustrations, asymmetrical rather than centred layouts. Partly as a result of Mondrian's influence, abstract art came to play a large part in Tschichold's work. He used geometrical elements and diagonal arrangements, not only in everyday jobbing printing – business cards, letterheads and brochures – but also in a series of cinema posters. Rarely in more than two colours, these designs incorporate small half-tone photographs, never rectangular, but cut-out as circles or silhouettes. The text, often hand-drawn, was always sans-serif.

Not everyone was impressed: the Nazi party remained deeply suspicious of modernism, regarding it as fundamentally "un-German", and after Tschichold took up a teaching post in Munich at the behest of Paul Renner (best-known for his design of the modernist typeface Futura), both he and Tschichold were denounced as "cultural Bolshevists". Only 10 days after the Nazis surged to power in March 1933, Tschichold was taken into "protective custody". The authorities had made it clear that progressive ideas would not be tolerated.

After four weeks in prison, and with no prospect of work in Germany, Tschichold and his family soon took refuge in Switzerland, leaving in August 1933, thanks to a sympathetic German policeman who helped him get a passport. The transition does not appear to have been difficult: with an established reputation and connections with the School of Arts and Crafts in Basel, Tschichold was soon teaching, designing posters, curating exhibitions and writing on typographic practice and history.

Tschichold's relationship with England began before 1935, when he visited London for the first time for an exhibition of his work. Since 1928, in a series of articles in trade magazines, he had given British printers an insight into the continental avant-garde, explaining the New Typography, Russian Constructivism, photomontage, and the work of Moholy-Nagy – himself now working as a freelancer in London. Encouraged by Moholy's success, Tshichold was anxious to find work in England too.

It helped that since leaving Germany books had become Tschichold's chief interest: and, as luck would have it, in 1946 the founder of Penguin Books, Allen Lane, was looking for someone to professionalise the company's design and production. Founded 11 years before, Penguin had transformed the economics of British publishing by selling (as the slogan had it) "good books cheap" – three million copies at sixpence in the first year alone – making high culture available to the mass public at a lower cost than ever before. But cheap did not mean shoddy, and Lane urgently wanted to improve the quality of his output. After consulting one of England's typographer-printers, Oliver Simon, a German-speaking admirer, Lane and Simon went to meet Tschichold in Basel. In March 1947, Penguin had a new designer.

Allen Lane noted that "nothing compared to storm when Jan Tschichold arrived. Mild-mannered man with an inflexible character. Screams heard from Edinburgh to Ipswich and from Aylesbury to Bungay." This was the result of Tschichold's immediate effort to raise the standard of undisciplined English typesetting; to his frustration, Tschichold found himself obliged to treat the compositor not as a craftsman but as a machine, by specifying precise measurements for the spaces between each combination of letters in a title. It was the only way to get the results he desired.

As well as demanding more from his printers, Tschichold tidied up the horizontally banded covers of the standard Penguins and refined the Penguin emblem. Each of these adjustments hardly changed what we now think of as the "classic" Penguin designs, but the effect was to set new standards for book production in England. To other special series, Tschichold brought a distinctive German tradition. The small hardback King Penguins followed the elegant format of the Insel books: the cover with white, bordered titling label centred on a colour or patterned background, the inside pages laid out with impeccable and traditionally detailed typography. This style, which he had already employed on similar books for the Basel publisher Birkhäuser, was repeated on music scores, the Reference Library series, on Penguin Handbooks and poetry titles.

Not everything was imported from Tschichold's experience on the continent. One English achievement that he respected was the quality of typeface designs available for machine typesetting. For the covers of the main series, Tschichold retained Eric Gill's elegant, clean fonts Gill Bold and Gill Sans. And the way a book opened, how comfortable it felt in the hand, were as much Tschichold's concern as the details of its typography. He considered the weight and grain-direction of paper, stiffness or flexibility of cover boards, and binding. After the wartime restrictions on paper were lifted, Tschichold was able to replace the greyish stock with something more cream-tinted. These reforms were made on a tight budget: the standard Penguin cost the equivalent of 15p. Tschichold was producing a quality product for very little money.

Each phase of Tschichold's career has had a lasting influence. The early work of uncompromising modernism which brought together different strands of the Modern movement has been much imitated for its bravura. The theoretical pronouncements of his early period in Switzerland – of how to space letters and words, of what typefaces to mix – are rules which are still followed. His examinations of book proportions and critical histories of lettering and typefaces, and the elegance of his book design, are on the shelves in advertising agencies and design studios. And his Penguin rules are now available, adjusted for the web. Perhaps his 70th birthday tribute was accurate after all.

SOURCE: Richard Hollis, guardian.co.uk, Friday 5 December 2008

It's all talk... McKinney, a North Carolina based agency reintroduces itself using 3D type, personal staff video and AI. Based around conversation, visitors can zoom through FAQs or you have the option of asking your own question... What makes Jenny tick? Watch her video cast and find out. There's stacks of personal and company info for you to explore through without being left with the feeling that these guys are just another quirky agency with technology at their disposal... great interaction at a very controlled pace.

Go to the main site

In this unmissable look at the magic of comics, Scott McCloud bends the presentation format into a cartoon-like experience, where colorful diversions whiz through childhood fascinations and imagined futures that our eyes can hear and touch.

TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes. Featured speakers have included Al Gore on climate change, Philippe Starck on design, Jill Bolte Taylor on observing her own stroke, Nicholas Negroponte on One Laptop per Child, Jane Goodall on chimpanzees, and "Lost" producer JJ Abrams on the allure of mystery. TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design, and TEDTalks cover these topics as well as science, business, development and the arts. Watch the Top 10 TEDTalks on TED.com.



Thanks to Vera @ inko9nito.com for bringing this to the surface again.

I've just completed the creation of a personalised wedding motif consisting of the bride and grooms initials "S & D". This will now be used across their wedding stationary including, invite cover, inserts, placecards and thank you cards. Best wishes to Sandhya and Darren.

Venables Bell & Partners - A San Francisco-based agency has created a clever method of visualising the data flow of reactions all revolving around its time-travel themed Audi "Chase" Super Bowl Spot on its own website.

The navigation consists of a very simple slider with vibrant blue green discs. Rollover any of these and gain access to articles relating to the "Chase", Audi or Jason Statham appearing in the tongue-in-cheek sequence. All data can be filtered into 3 categories, Blogs, News and Social Media.

The ease of use, simplicity and clean typography throughout the site do it for me and of course the fact that I love Audi.






Client: Audi
Agency: Venables Bell & Partners
Creative Director: Paul Venables, Greg Bell
Digital Creative Director: David Kim
Art Director: Omid Rashidi
Copywriter: Nick Cade
Agency Producer: Mike Huntley, Eli Shillock
Web Design: Gridplane, Instrument
Lead Designer: JD Hooge
Flash Developer: Travis Rimel
Programmer: Matt King, Ryan Spangler
Senior Project Manager: Kim Stetson

A great simple little technique that works wonders, of course the camera and photographer know what they're doing, but a nice trick all the same. Using a cellphone display light for a product shoot by Jann Lipka


using a cellphone display light for a product shoot from Jann Lipka on Vimeo.