I've been seriously neglecting this thing... again...

Apologies.  Just a lot of things going on lately, and I have to admit.  I got a little burned out.  But, I've had a little time to catch my breath now, so to speak.  So hopefully I can get back to being a little more regular again.  On that point,  here are a few e-mail designs I put together over the past couple weeks.

If you'd like to see more,  LIKE me on FB!
Or if you have a question, feel free to e-mail me: atheoryofmadness@gmail.com
  
Last but not least, I expect to have a Twitter page ready soon :).
 
Thanks for reading.

Graphics on the Fly

Normally things at work aren't very hectic for me.  Our deadlines concerning most marketing materials can be seen pretty far in advance (at least when it comes to the print and e-mail stuffs that I have to deal with).  And I seriously doubt anyone has ever rejected a mortgage offer based on an e-mail blast that wasn't delivered on time.  

So on most days, I have more than enough time to decide which ecstatic jumping family from istock I get to cut and paste in front of that 2 story traditional for my next FHA flyer.

Sweet!  These guys will be perfect in front of that condo!

It's all really pretty easy going… that is… until someone forgets that they need something in the first place.

The following images were put together (from visual conception to completion) in about an hour.  They mostly stemmed from last minute or forgotten job fair/convention type appearances, company functions happening sooner than expected, and a spur of the moment realtor luncheon.  

Team Booster Flyer for a Company Meeting 

E-mail Blast

Flyer for Job Fair or Convention (Don't remember)

Half Page Flyer for a Luncheon

Made yesterday! Now we have 2 weeks to order tickets! Yay!

All I have to say is Thank Goodness for free stock vector sites! :D

Thanks for reading!

My Favorite Model: The Sequel

Why does it seem like the older you get, the faster time moves?  When you're a little kid, things always take too long.  

"An hour of homework?!?!  Thirty minutes till cartoons?!?!  A second in the lunch line?!?! ... Thats SOOOOOOOOOOOO long!"

Or so my niece reminded me last month when she came to visit.  I can no longer relate.  Lately things have been moving by so fast.  Wake up, drive to work at the start of the month ... only to come home, kick off my shoes, and turn on the news to realize that the months over and I have a credit card bill waiting for me.

But enough rambling.

So last month, my niece came to visit.  The last time she has been around was more or less two years ago.  She was so happy and bubbly back then.  It's true! I have proof!

SEE! Look how big that smile is! And she didn't need to be bribed or anything!

Now, she's still happy enough (more or less)... but I have to work a lot harder to get those smiles out of her.  More frighteningly, I can see the early signs of the "Angsty Teenage Monster" growing behind that goofy grin.

Don't worry, dear.  Some Oxy 10 should clear that right up!

Suffice to say I took some portraits of her.

I used the same uber-simple setup as I did two years ago (see aforementioned Happy Bubbly Proof) ... Not because I'm lazy or haven't grown as a photographer or because she wasn't patient enough for me to work out the kinks of the complex flash arrangement that I tried to arrange the night before.  But because I wanted to do an artsy fartsy retrospective, and compare how much she's grown since then........maybe ....... well that and ... yeah... children aren't very patient. :D

If you'd like to see more... and I know you do ;) ... CLICK HERE.

Thanks for reading.

Engagment Photography Design

I have to admit.  I like shooting engagement photos. I've only done it a few times, but by and large, they've been really fun to do.  I think part of it has to do with control. With engagement shots, you're not at the mercy of time, the location, and anyone's nagging parents or wedding planner. Not only that, but since it's still the beginning, and all the stress of setting up the event hasn't really built up yet, the bride and groom tend to be on the jovial side.

So when my friend asked me to help shoot some engagement shots and work on a Save the Date postcard, it was easy to say yes.

I played more of the helper role, so I didn't take too many shots, but here are a couple of my favorites.

I added a little aged effect to it. I know it's getting pretty cliche'd now with EVERY Instagram photo using it, but it seemed appropriate with these shots (at least while I was processing them).

And here's the layout I put together for their postcard.

5.6" x 4" Postcard

The background photo is one of mine, and the other photos my buddy took.

A GREAT BIG THANKS, too, to Holly and Gene, for being such fun to work with :).

Thanks for reading!

What Happened One Day When I Took My Camera to Work...

So a couple months ago, it was kind of discovered around my department at work that I dabble in photography.  And  since then, it has been part of my job responsibilities to take and or update the staff photos for new employees for our website.  For the most part, I just used our cheap Kodak point and shoot with it's built in flash.  That is, until it unexpectedly met it's end at the hands of a hard concrete convention floor and the stampeding feet of a few over-eager job seekers.  Suffice to say, the next time we needed staff pictures, I brought my own camera :-D.

I used my trusty Nikon D90 and an SB-600 flash without a diffuser (not that I didn't want one, I just forgot to pack it).  I ended up using a simple flash bouncing technique (discovered by some random tutorial ... YAYS for Youtube!) off a close wall to diffuse some of the light.



As far as the shots are concerned, lets just say I got a few less complaints than when I used the old Kodak :-D.



You can see more HERE on Flickr.



Thanks for reading.

Hitting the Big Screen

COMING TO A THEATER NEAR YOU! (or more accurately the Harkins Movie Theater in Chino Hills)  Century 21 and Mountain West Financial proudly present:  

YOUR REAL ESTATE ANGELS!!!

So, if you ever go see a movie in the Harkins Theater in Chino Hills, come early and don't blink (cause it's only on for about a minute before the previews at each movie showing for the rest of the month :-D) ... or you might miss YOUR REAL ESTATE ANGELS!!!!

Thanks for reading. :)

Different but Equal

For the few of you who read this blog regularly (HI MOM!), a running theme with the work I produce at work is trying to find different ways to say or sell what's essentially the same thing.  It's basically what I do day in and out, but in the end, I'm still surprised by how different the same thing can feel when it's dressed in a different way.

Thanks for reading!...

The Things I Get Away With... part 2

If you haven't noticed, I have a very cheesy aesthetic sense.  I go for the big smiles, bright colors, sun bursts and cartoon sensibilities.  Which is why from time to time, I'm still baffled that it's my job to do this stuff.  Especially considering some of the crap ideas I come up with.  But every once in a while, I create something that (by some miracle) the boss's like enough to show other people.  Other people outside the company even! ;)  Case in point, this print ad they had me do for National Mortgage Professional Magazine (and the pressure was on once I learned how much they were paying for this).  


The magazine campaign included a full page ad, a cover page blurb, and an animated gif for their website.

9.75" x 13.5" Page Ad

Being the summer, and with all the superhero movies coming out, I decided to make a little mortgage parody.  The headline is a nod to the Avengers, which came out the week I created the Ad.

5" x 1.875" Front Cover Blurb

This would cover a small area on the bottom left of the cover.  ("LO" stands for "Loan Officer")

300px x 250px Animated Gif

Made for the National Mortgage Professional Magazines Homepage as one of the rotating ads.  I'm not too experienced making animated gifs, and it's tough trying to fit in movement when you only have 50 kb's to work with.


Thanks for reading!

Patriot Graphics

Happy Independence Day everyone!  In the spirit of bbq, baseball, apple pie, fireworks, social security, inappropriate Facebook statuses and everything that makes America as kick ass as it is today, here are a couple of patriot related graphics I've made for work.

Holiday Themed Logo Tag for e-mail signatures

Flyer for VA loans

VA variant flyer

Quick note on the flyer formats.  We're moving towards an automated system for personalizing flyers for brokers, so the bottom 3 inches are left blank for their contact info.  It's made designing them a bit more dicey, but I try my best to keep it cohesive .

Thanks for reading! :)

Flashing Pretty Girls ;)

A couple weeks ago, my friend and old photo instructor, Peter, asked me to assist him in a workshop he was doing for small flash photography.  I took a bunch of random behind the scenes type shots (some for me, but mostly for his blog) and here are a few random ones I've had the time to process.  I'll probably be posting more later (I shot a lot and have been a little lazy sifting through them).

Peter setting up a shot

Unsuccessfully sneaking up on Lindsey

Artificial Wind? Check.

Caitlin checks out the results

Someone cracks a joke

A break between shots

Thanks for reading!

Killing Time with Photo-Retouching!

Every so often things get slow at work, and I'm left to my own devices to try to pass the day.  Most of the time I'm on reddit, mining basketball news, or stuck in a wikipedia loop.  But lately,  I've been having fun pulling random photos (from flickr, or the random employee shots for our online directory at work) and messing with them in Photoshop.  It's surprisingly addictive, seeing how much you can tweak a photo without making someone look like a mutant :-D.   

*Disclaimer: All photos belong to those people's who's flickrs I took them off of and the last 2 specifically belong to Mountain West Financial, Inc.

This was shot by my friend from class, Anita Malony. 
Visit her Flickr HERE

This shot belongs to Phoenix Photography (whoever he/she is)

This is a shot from work that a broker gave me for her business card.

Another broker for her business card.

On a quick side note:  I intend to start updating this blog on a more regular basis, (specifically, every 1st and 3rd Wednesday of the month).  So for those of you who look for updates (SHOUT OUTS TO MOM!), there you go.

As always, Thanks for reading!

Andy the Killer

Some portraits of my buddy, Andy, that I took for my studio photography class a while back.  I processed them a bunch to try to give them a tougher/grittier look.  It might have been a bit overboard, but I kind of liked how they turned out :).

 
Don't let these shots fool you, though.  Andy's a pretty decent guy :).

You can see more of him and my other work on FLICKR

Thanks for reading.

Fun with E-mail Blasts!

Happy Tuesday, everyone!  Here's just a few things I did recently at work.  It can get tough trying to come up with new ways to show what is essentially the same thing, but I think I might be starting to get the hang of it.  These particular pieces are e-mail invitations for informational seminars for our mortgage brokers.

All works shown are properties of Mountain West Financial, Inc.

Check out more of my work on my (Newly Updated!)
FLICKR

Thanks for reading :)

Skills USA: California Advertising Design Contest

Produce the following projects on your computer. Use any software you are familiar with. You will design a logo for a company called Evergreen Marketing. Evergreen is a new company, trying to enter the direct mail market and portray a “green” environmentally-friendly image. Once the logo is created, you will create an 11” x 17” advertisement Design your projects with the grading criteria (listed below) in mind. Remember, this project is destined for print production, so watch color model, resolution, and bleed issues.

Details:
Evergreen Marketing, 4800 Magnolia Avenue, Riverside CA 92506
Phone: 951 222-8583
FAX: 951 222-8491
www.evergreenmarketing.com
Jeffrey Finner, owner
Services: Ad creation, mailing lists, brokered printing, ink jet labeling, postage, and inserting (Make up other detail as you see necessary).

2nd Place Entry

Logo

Layout

Thanks for reading!