** UPDATE **
Abduzeedo Wallpaper of the Week #137 featured!
see article here

i crossed paths with Stephen Lam, whom is a 17 year old self taught graphic designer based in Palmdale on Behance and decided that a digital collaboration with him would be interesting. Due to Stephan’s color usage and abstract shapes I knew he would be a good candidate to investigate.

Empty

The theme of the painting was rather open ended, However we intentionally kept the word “empty” in our heads throughout the process.

We are now currently working on our second painting.

Wallpapers available;
2560×1440
1920×1200
1680×1050
1440×900
1280×800
1280×1024
1024×768

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The goal was to create a brand identity and imagery that brings the core concept of the business in front of the customer and engage him with the brand.
As the concept is built around 5 core beliefs (Safety, Love, Health, Happiness, Prosperity), we decided to work closely around them in the logo.

First Round – Directions

Our process started with collective brainstorming that quickly turned to detailed sketches.

After a few days, we confronted ideas and collectively made a selection of the best 3 to 5 directions out of the 15+ collected. These were the ones presented to our client..
Here are our favorite logo directions we came up with:

We were inspired by the SuperMan symbol, & the force field idea that harnessed 5 different colors. We also liked the idea of implementing a simple typeface that brings elegance and a more modern approach to the logo.

Second Round – Placement and Typography

After the first round of logo design, we needed to refine this raw direction and think about few other aspects that will make this emblem powerfull and life lasting.

Placement and Tagline:
the choice of the tagline “Live” has been made in reference to the lifestyle idea that is present in the concept.
It was also complimentary in a nice way to empower the emblem without competing with it.
We like this approach better than the usual tagline underneath that could potentially endanger the readability by creating “too much”. So the hierarchy starts with the emblem and then the name.

Typeface:
we used a Sans Serif font, Gotham THF, book
we also worked on different spacing between letter to maintain readability and a modern feel.

To increase awareness in the early stage of the brand identity, we designed it to be an emblem and a name.
Ultimately, we think that this brand could use either the emblem or the name by independently.

Third Round – Finalization

At this point in time, our last step was to take all the previous feedback together and create the final logo and deliver it for print and web use.

Identity Manual

We have been very pleased with the result of this project and our client too!

“The final product is not only beautiful but also expresses the energy and vitality at the heart of my vision. I’m thoroughly impressed with the final product and had fun in the process.

Rook Torres, Founder.

Project Information:

Requierements: Brand Identity Design and Logo Creation
Client: Live SuperHuman
Date: October, 2010
Project Manager: Oscar French
Art Direction : Tony Montano

Any reuse or recreation of the typeface and/or logo is prohibited. The logo and typeface is property of Dr. Rook Torres. 2010, 2011 all rights reserved.

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Despite a name coming from the video editing software “Final Cut”, the identity challenge was to create a meaningful identity to a growing video group. Elements from the film industry were at the core of the concept but we decided to create a unique logo design by adding mixed media elements (illustration ad 3D) as well.

We created an icon for small web format.

As a result, the logo is very clear and energetic with a clear meaning of what the group is about.

“BIG BIG THANKS to the talented artists who shared their creativity for a new Boise Cutters logo. Congrats to Christopher Raymond Brown, whose film/sky design gets the final nod!”

Seth Randal, Founder

After a first round of entry selection, the board members of Boise Cutters held an public pool to chose the final logo.
Chris’s logo entry was selected as the winner of the contest!

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Enjoy other boise graphic design, boise web design and boise video production related topics by browsing our website!

CMI Basic & Advanced Floor Care are part of a series of training videos for custodian education and career improvement. We worked closely with agency Mitchell+Palmer who provided the creative concept and storyline to make the topic interesting and entertaining. Being involved early with the scripting process (80+ pages of script!), we created the production book for the shoot including storyboard and itinerary for the 3 day shoot.

In this production video, educator of the decade Carl Reeder (Travis Schwartz), is assigned to partner with Larry (Nick Garcia) to demonstrate all cleaning technics and procedures. Not liking sharing the stage, Carl makes Larry doing the dirty’s tasks…

Shot in 16 different locations including the College of Idaho, a green screen stage and other Boise locations, we gathered a full wardrobe and plenty of props to give these videos a strong look and better credibility.

This training video production on floor care was created in the format of a “feature film”, 32 min. and 42 min. with an inside story in each video.

All in all it has been an epic last couple months shooting and cutting this film together!

“Great job, Yellow Box! It was a pleasure doing business with you. Oscar, Ethan and the crew are so much fun to work with.”

Tom Danahoe, Mitchell+Palmer

Credits:

Director: Ethan Chancer
Producer: Oscar French
Agency: Mitchell+Palmer
PA: Tom Racine
Lead role: Travis Swartz
Second role: Nick Garcia
Audio production: Red Tent
Locations: C of I, Tsuvo

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Below are some part of our creative brief, some sketches and concepts we came up with.

Final logo.
Simple and elegant, this concept keeps the hip flavor which will effectively represent the atmosphere within the facility.
Many find themselves attracted to the clarity of this sans serif logotype.

Green Chutes is a catalyst for local artisans of all sorts. It’s a design driven retail store for customer looking for local craftmanship, quality and value product. It is a place to eat, meet, shop, relax, discuss, network.. because the project includes a Café/expresso bar with finger food. CG is also a co-op where members will commit to help the project with few hours of work commitment.
“It’s a non traditional, loft-like gallery environment”

Influenced by Origami shapes, this first direction has a strong organic feel to it without the vegan connotation.
It’s a very imaginative concept that will be recognize as the direction of choice within a social experiment of fine artists.

Design Aspects:
Green shouldn’t be perceived as the “environmental friendly” trend. some artists might be using sustainable process or materials but it’s not the main focus, we want to avoid this easy-to-make mind association.

Colors:

++ Green / chartreuse, lime, absinthe
++ White..which kind?
+ Deep Metal blue
+ Deep Metal red

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November 4th 2010
Location: MacLife DT Boise
Event from 5 to 8pm
Demo from 7 to 8pm

Come and learn more about digital painting techniques from our awesome Graphic Designer Christopher Raymond. and Guest David Waters

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Instead of bringing up the fear of cancer or trying to make it funnier, we decided to take a creative approach through different demographic’s eyes and on a very personal level.

Because even with messages of cancer prevention all around us, we continue to avoid slowing down our fast paced lives to take a moment and get screened. Getting screened before noticing the signs of cancer is the focused message in this piece.

Video Production Brief:

The Idaho Department of Health & Welfare’s latest statistics show that for the very first time, more Idahoans die from cancer than anything else. More than heart disease, more than car crashes.
The KTVB News Group and Peak Broadcasting have teamed with local businesses for a fall campaign to help boost the number of cancer screenings in Idaho.

Enjoy other boise graphic design, boise web design and boise video production related topics by browsing our website!

Running a creative business with four totally different departments (Graphic Design, Boise Web Design, Interactive Design and Boise Video Production) and individuals put us in front of unexpected management challenges to get our stuff done on time, at the quality promised and with an outstanding experience for the customer.

Project Management isn’t a goal by itself, it has to solve business needs. We believe that better design comes from better communication along the projects.

The first mistake we made was based on the assumption that being a small team we could handle communication without tools or methods, unlike the big corporations. When we realized that we were dealing with multiple projects, multiple team members and outside resources, multiple deadlines and milestones we had to find our solution. The problem encountered was proper scheduling and communication along the project between the different team members.

To achieve a project, we use a process that relies on different tools:

- Online PM Application (Basecamp) that keeps our projects organized, allows us to assign to-dos and milestones, track our time, exchange files, etc.

- Gmail Calendar for all schedules. We are using the free version of Google App that powers all of our email adresses (name@yellowboxstudio.com) to the gmail features. Anybody can at any time look at other’s schedule and invite them to meetings.

- Internal server. We recently invested in a mirrored 1TB server that keeps all of our files in the same place, making our data safe and help us to avoid file duplication. We also created a file structure unique to our studio.

- YellowBox Board. A white board that shows an overview of all projects that are currently active in the studio. It’s sorted by project and shows the important milestones/to-dos on a weekly basis. This tool helps us to keep in sight the big picture by being able to see a 6-7 weeks period in a glance. Our previous board system wasn’t taking into account the timeline aspect and made it useless.

- Project folders. Each new project gets a folder that will centralize all non-digital information related to the job in one place. As most of our work is digital, the use of this method is very light, Basecamp being the main place to access information such as creative brief, references or deliverables. Because we found ourself in a struggle every time we came across non-digital information, we realized that not having this traditional form of PM was very painful.

This organization structure isn’t set in stone, it really reflects our current needs and as time and clients go by we might change and adapt it.

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NAS (Network Attached Storage) Device

When Yellowbox Studio manifested over a year ago we struck lightning into the Idaho web design scene. Working with multiple local and national clients we quickly found ourselves outgrowing our start-up sized digital storage devices and file management networks. Kalani, our in house Interactive Designer, quickly took charge. After discussing the needs and possibilities with the team the decision was made. In order to properly and efficiently share small and large files, all of our computers (Apple and Microsoft) needed to be networked together. This is where the big-boy toys come into play. The LG Super-Multi NAS N2R1DD1 is a network storage device with a DVD rewriter which serves as an additional backup option storing up to 8.5GB on a dual layer DVD. To ensure fast data sharing and maximum data throughput, the Super-Multi NAS N2R1DD1 includes a gigabit Ethernet connection and three USB 2.0 connections.

1000Mbps-GREENnet-Switch

This just kicked Boise web design into the next gear. Paired with the all-awesomeness that defines the TRENDnet name, the EG-S80G GREENnet Switch truly brought this Gigabit network to life. After combining 8 energy-saving ethernet ports with 10/100/1000Mbps of data streaming madness, our network solution was complete. All in all, the setup and wiring took roughly 4 hours. The LG-NAS manual was quite basic and did not define many of the extremely useful features it was capable of. After assigning and creating individual user accounts for the Boise web design team the features came pouring in.

The FTP and AFP features allowed our team to connect to the server regardless OS preference. The iTunes function allows all of the libraries that are avaiable to sync and allows anyone with an account to listen to the music. The Online Access feature is worth its weight in gold. Simply type in a specific URL (e.g. yellowboxstudio.network/ Boise_Video_Production) and you are instantly connected to the network and capable of sharing files via the cloud. The basic function of the Public Dropbox feature is the capability to store files on the server and create a download URL for others to download files, again, from anywhere with web access. An example scenario would be that a client needs access to our Idaho web design files. We can easily store the video files on the server, create a temporary download URL, and email that link to the client. They can easily click that link and the download will begin.  We proceeded to install two 1TB Hard-drives into the NAS, and then formatted them to mirror one another. The first drive will be identical to second. This ensures true data backup. In the case of hard drive failure, the secondary drive stays intact to your last point of backup. The complete system cost right around $350 US Dollars. Everything about this screams value. Aside from instant operation savings and the gargantuan stress relief, our data security and general productivity is at an all-time high.

Make sure to check out our website for more boise graphic design and boise video production related reviews!

Some of you have seen the digital collaboration between Christopher Raymond and David Waters at our Open House about a week ago.

Time to polish some details and here is the WallPaper!

• 2550 x 1440
• 1920 x 1200
• 1680 x 1050
• 1440 x 900
• 1280 x 800
• 1024 x 768
• iPhone
• iPad

For this interview, we are with David Waters, a Moscow (ID) based freelance illustrator and graphic designer also member of the DepthCORE art group. David spent about a month with us at YellowBox, so now let’s discover a bit of his secrets to create great designs. Enjoy!

1. First of all we would like to thank you for taking the time to realize this interview. Please tell us more about your art and design background?

Alright. I’m David Waters, 23 years old and I study graphic design and illustration at the University of Idaho in Moscow. I’ll graduate at the end of Fall 2010.
I never really thought that I’ll be doing a artistic career or even attend to college for that! I I think I did my first drawings/doodling when I was 8 and since that I never really stopped. The thing that really triggered me to pursue art in my life was the 30 days Photoshop free trial!! But at first I started an engineering degree… I was spending more time on Photoshop to develop personal ideas than working on homework! So after a year I switched over to a graphic design/ Illustration program.
I began with graphic design over illustration that’s sure. It was more a college thing were you have to design brochures and stuff. Illustration came after I would say. At that time I was doing a lot of poster work and project after project my work included more and more illustrations.
And besides my school work, I have also freelancing for about two years, for small and large companies.

2. Your work is full of creativity mixing photos with digital drawing but with a sort of dark feeling. Where does your inspiration come from and could you describe a bit more about your style?

Ahah! I think that’s funny that you are saying that because my mom also told me that my work was really dark! It’s not to portrait negative ideas… it’s more about the color itself and the contrasts that I can create with other colors. It make shapes really sharp, line very crisp.. I don’t know, I like playing with it!
As far as a style, I think my work is unique but it’s hard to define. I usually got idea from different source of imagery, either it’s online, on print or even just things I see in my everyday life. I feel I can have a grasp on it, can make it tell more something and so I start my work process. I can be inspired by really any topic; it’s a matter of what is in my mind.
And I have been moving towards photography lately, because I needed to capture very specific images or things that I couldn’t find online. And having that ability to start with your own picture makes the process very more personal and interesting.

3.So then, could you describe for us your typical ‘start to finish’ workflow when working on a design?

As I said it usually start with an image. I spend some time online to see what I can find as a starter and gather many different shots. Then I have to make a selection, one or two that I’ll keep to begin the creative process.
At that moment I don’t know exactly what the final piece is going to look like but I have the idea I want to portray. I’ll just start to modify/ enhance this picture and draw over it or ad textures and shapes.
I’ll spend a good amount of time on the details, perspectives and shadows. It make the final piece more deep to the viewer I think.

You have been collaborating with other artists, how different is the process?
Well, I collaborated with other digital artists in the past. But it wasn’t intended. I was just talking to him online quite often, we were showing each other’s work for feedback, trends and just good discussions. I think I was showing him one of my piece and he really liked it, and said that I should probably add a little bit here and there and could make other modifications. And he told me that he would show me what he has in mind so I sent him my file and he worked on it for a day or so and sent it back. We did that few more times until we both really like it. And that’s when we started to think about it as a collaborative piece!

It was the same kind of process with Chris, he started to create shapes and lighting effects on a blank canvas and then sent it my way. Back and forth, back and forth, we worked on the file no more than few hours before sending it back to the other.
We did that so much that it’s really hard on the final piece to say who did what!
I would just say that working in the same studio was a new experience, it made the communication easier during the work. Getting instant feedback was great too!

4. What, for you personally are the pros and cons of being a freelancer vs working in a studio?

Before answering the question, I want to say that it was a great experience for me to spend a month with the team in your studio. I had never done it before, I mean working on digital art projects in team. And even if at first I lost the comfort of working at my own pace in a very personal environment, I think that a studio space can help my work.
Having that ability to share files in a minute with Ethan (Video Lead) or Kalani (Interactive Lead) is really unique and we can mix our skills and field of expertise. That brings the realization of ideas to another level I think. With very few web experience, it’s amazing to see some of designs used to make websites!
Also, and more on a business side than creative side, I can see how you guys can focus on your own field of expertise without having to handle the work of running the business, market yourself, deal with client and paperwork. Not that I haven’t seen you guys doing it, but it was more a team effort were you can rely on the others than a solo run.
I have to say that it’s great to get to know others peeps that are the same age passionate about the same things and yet have different personalities.

5. What are your tools of the trade, both hardware and software?

As far as software, I exclusively use Photoshop, which seemed to surprise you guys at the begnning! I pile up a lot lot of lawyers in photoshop but I like it better because I feel very at ease with it and I can really create what I have in mind.
I also use a 21in Wacom drawing tablet with my iMac 27in.

Thank you very much for the interview and good luck for your future projects!

Enjoy some details and progression of this unique collaboration

YellowBox Studio, Boise Web Design, Idaho Web Design, Boise Video Production, Idaho Video Production

It started like that… Greetings meetup members.

Our meetup this Thursday is finalized. Sean Boone from Yellow Box Studio will be talking to us about WordPress 3. We will also have two WordPress books to raffle off. And of course we’ll have plenty of pizza and pop.

Sean Boone Presenting at Boise Web Technologies Group

Sean’s presentation included the hot topic WP 3.0 and answered questions on this upgraded platform.
Sean also moved the debate to the essence of WP as a blogging platform at first and its strengths and weaknesses compared to other Content Management Systems out there (Drupal, Joomla, ExpressionEngine..).
One of Sean’s statements was that all CMS’s have their advantages, it really depends on who uses it and for what purpose.

As a front end web designer, his personal preference falls into WP because it allows him to:

• Have full control of the layout.
• Add/remove functionalities through plugins.
• Customize plugins/themes with basic knowledge in php/js.

The main point of his presentation was illustrated with examples from summer release TechBoise.com that has been built on WP3.0. Sean also demonstrated a quick install of WordPress from scratch and the basics of this CMS for WordPress newbies.

Boise Web Design - Tech Boise Website

He also shared a list of plugins that he uses for most of website developed by the studio:

WP-FB-AutoConnect: A LoginLogout widget with Facebook Connect button, offering hassle-free login for your readers. Also provides a good starting point for coders looking to add more customized Facebook integration to their blogs.
get the plugin

WP-Paginate: A simple and flexible pagination plugin for WordPress posts and comments.
get the plugin

Fluency Admin: give your WordPress admin the Fluency look, Fluency 2.3.1 is the latest update and is compatible with WP 3.0.x. You can customize Fluency using the options found under ‘Fluency Options’ in the ‘Settings’ menu
get the plugin

“ Great talk on WordPress by Sean Boone and close to a full house. ”

Patrick Lee

When: Thursday, September 16, 2010 6:00 PM
Where: US Bank Building
101 S Capitol Blvd 2nd floor conf. room “Volt Technical Resources”
Boise, ID 83701

For more details about the MeetUp group and other boise web design related topics, see the full listing here

Besides te design aspect of the job, our studio was able to provide a fresh and extensive creative solution by updating their photography materials and give the brochure a sweet facelift!

The  Boise based comapany offers the most luxurious Satin Pillowcases, Satin Robes, Spa linens, and Travel Pillows available in the North West.

Dealing with Spa owners, health and beauty vendors on a daily basis, Crista and Lisa had very high expectations on how their line of product should appeal to their customers and we delivered a complete visual solution.

Project Information:

Requierements: Brochure Design and Commercial Photography
Client: Satin Serenity
Date: August, 2010
Project Leader: Oscar French
Graphic Design : Christopher Raymond
Photography : Richard Kennedy
Editing : Christopher Raymond

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At first Tony was attracted by the endless possibilities that flash could offer. When we went on the topic of site management and content updates, he realized the advantages of a Content Management System and we decided to go with an entirely custom WordPress website.

Creating this online portfolio website was a creative challenge because we wanted it to be as original as Tony’s art and at the same time give a very professional feel for potential recruiters. A “Hire Me” call-to-action button was implemented to lead people towards Tony’s contact info.

After several concepts and many slider prototypes, we decided to move away from the conventional and implemented jQuery Masonry that gives a very unique experience to the visitor by being able to “sort” through artwork.

Featuring jQuery Masonry

YellowBox studio is incredibly talented.  I contacted them in need of web development services for my online portfolio.  They were enthusiastic about the project.  YellowBox studio provided fresh and innovative web development ideas and produced an outstanding website. I am very happy with our creation.

Tony Montaño

Project Information:

Requierements: Web Design and CMS
Client: Tony Montaño
Date: August, 2010

Project Leader: Oscar French

Graphic Design : Tony Montano

Web Development : Sean Boone

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“Good time!” is the overall feedback we got from our event last Friday!

The WaterCooler turned into a digital gallery, a loungy music in the background, the YellowBox Team dressed up in bright yellow and the sweet taste of French Rosé were some of the experiences offered to our invitees.

This event was really an opportunity for us to give back to Boise what its communities have been sharing with us over the last 12 months that we have been in business. We feel very lucky and thankful to be were we are at now and know that it would have been impossible without the help of the local spirit.

It was also a chance for us to explain and show what YellowBox is about, who we are and share our passion for digital creation. And to create memories in our invitees’ lifes, we even raffled four of our best digital illustrations printed on a large sheets of aluminium.

A huge thanks for our sponsors, for supporting us and helping us making our ideas happen!

• Kelly A Madison (http://kellyamadison.com)
• Signs 2 Fit (http://signs2fit.com)
• Gospad (http://gospad.com)
• MacLife (http://maclifeboise.com)
• Le Café De Paris (http://lecafedeparis.com)

As we are not event planners, flaws happened here and there… Which made us want to improve them by throwing another eventin the next few months!!!

Thanks all for coming!

YellowBox Studio – Boise Web Design – Boise Video Production – Idaho Web Design – Idaho Video Production