Creative Monsoon: June 2008

Logo choice

On - Thursday, 26 June 2008

Four options for a logo, what does everyone think? Which one do you prefer?

Use the poll on the right to vote. Thanks

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photography

Cross-processed in Italy

On - Monday, 23 June 2008

Cross-processed La Creperie in Italy

Cross-process effect:

• make a new adjustment layer, levels. Set the red channel to 22 0.32 213

• green channel 36 1.45 231

• blue channel 0 0.62 234

• duplicate the background layer and drag it to the top of the stack. Go to adjustment hue/saturation

set saturation to +60

• set blending mode to hard light. open new adjustment layer photo fliter. choose cyan set intensity to 89% and uncheck preserve luminosity

• set blending mode for this photo filter layer to colour. Click on the layer mask and fill with black.

• choose a white brush opacity 50% paint over areas to reveal a stronger cyan cast, then flattern image

• finally choose the sponge tool flow 50% and go over any red and yellow areas to intensify them

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Italy trip June 2008

On - Monday, 23 June 2008

Part 1 Sicily:

Yes we go all the way to Italy and photograph doors and windows, but no one does doors and windows quite like the Italians:

Three things stand out from the trip: Lemons, Gelati and Bougainvillea

Limoncello

is a lemon liqueur produced mainly in southern Italy. It is made from lemon rind, alcohol, water and sugar, but no actual lemon juice.

15 lemons (choose thick-skinned lemons that are easier to zest)

2 bottles (750ml) 100 proof vodka

4 cups suagr

5 cups water

• Wash the lemons and carefully zest making sure not to get the white part underneath the rind as its too bitter and will spoil the lemoncello

• In a large glass jar add one bottle of vodka and add the lemon zest, cover and let it sit at room temperature for up to 40 days in a cool dark place

• In a large saucepan, combine sugar and water, cook until thickened 5-7mins. Let it cool and add to limoncello mixture. Add the additional vodka and rest for another 40 days.

• Strain and bottle, discarding the lemon zest. Keep in the freezer until ready to

serve.

Taormina

Located on a terrace of Monte Taurowith view to Mt Etna, Taormina is full of antique and craft shops, delis and designer boutiques.

Syracuse

The cathedral in Syracuse was originally a Greek temple. Inside you can see the huge 5th century BC Doric columns.

Agrigento

The Valley of the Temples is the ancient Greek city of Akragas.

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Water drops

On - Saturday, 21 June 2008

Sometimes the most simple things can make a great image. Here is a pic of our new shower curtain (with a little bit of photoshop help to bump the colour up)

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handmade gifts

Typewriter key jewelry

On - Friday, 20 June 2008

I've come across these great handmade bracelets made from old typewriter keys. A great idea!

They also make cuff links and rings out of them.

You can see the work on Flickr or visit the website

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Dotty

On - Friday, 20 June 2008

I've gone a little dotty. Been working on a painting to hang in the room of a friends baby, and tea pot for another friends birthday.

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australian art

Ive come across this artist, Nicola Hensel. Her work seems to be a combination of drawing and collage. I wish I could see bigger pictures to get more of an idea of how she works, there seems to be fabric in there.

She exhibits at the Jan Murphy gallery in Australia.

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art and design

SpaceNK gift box

On - Monday, 16 June 2008

A happy client recently gave me this SpaceNK gift box as a thank you. I think I like the packaging more than the products inside!

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Arundel walk

On - Saturday, 14 June 2008

My first attempt at a blog post :)
A selection of pictures from a walk we did in Arundel this long weekend. Shot with the little plastic holga lens I had modified to fit the digital camera, and then a bit of photoshop work. Used a new lomo technique I found online, think I prefer this one to other Ive tried:
Vignette: Make a freehand selection with feather set to about 80, invert. Create a levels layer and darken the selection. (Didnt use this step on some of the images)
Colour saturation: Create a new layer and fill with black, change the blending mode to Hue and opacity about 40%.
Sharpen: Change image mode to lab colour. Select the channel window and click on the lightness channel, then use unsharp mask. Change back to RGB.

This is the basic version. The full tutorial is here:

How to make digital photos look like lomo photography

To finish I added texture from other images with layers, blending mode set to multiply, colour dodge, overlay and vivd light work well too for different looks.