This has got to be one of the best mashups i’ve ever seen. Be sure to watch the entire thing, it’s completely changes the feel of the movie Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. Brilliant!

As first seen on Kontraband.

Here’s how the game works. First, and foremost, there’s a certain sense of boredom that plays a huge factor in the conceptualization of the images. Secondly, there’s also gotta be a lull in work, or a downtime. Lastly there’s that silent “wait until they open their e-mail” factor you have to be ready for… or in some cases when it’s just too good to be true, a little prod of “hey, buddy, you should probably check your mail” will suffice.

Rules:

Rule 1: All images must be SFW (Safe for work), unless you plan on sending these to a personal e-mail address of the Bingo Bango victim.
Rule 2: Search, scour and google creative keywords to find the funniest pictures.
Rule 3: Build a network, share the images you create in the workplace with other co-workers, just keep the spam to a minimum.
Rule 4: No holds barred. Be creative!
Rule 5: BE LIGHTHEARTED! This is just to help the time in the day pass, and it’s a great way to learn some quick photoshop tips and tricks!
Rule 6: And the most important rule of them all… do NOT neglect your work. Thanks!

Artist: Luke Hodsdon (e-mail)
Title: Art Director
Company: Churm Media (link)

Artist: Brandon Jaime (e-mail)
Title: Graphic Designer
Company: Churm Media (link)

Please, feel free to comment this page with your own workplace Bingo Bango’s! Some comments may await moderation, but i will be sure to get them up! (sorry, had a bad spam problem so i had to moderate)

»ANNOUNCEMENT TO ALL BALLOONANCY PARTICIPANTS: I’m going to be frequently checking my page, if your balloon happens to be on my page at the time i’m checking i’ll be sure to give you a 5x boost! Good luck, and good race!

At my current day to day job I use this technique religiously. It’s fast, easy and extremely effective when trying to achieve better quality photos for print and online. In the following Adobe Photoshop tutorial I’ll walk you though a quick (less than a minute once you learn the steps) process on how to brighten up those dull, dark photos you’ve been sent from your clients… or in my case, taken with your poor digital camera.

The following tutorial was done in Adobe Photoshop CS3, but 80% of the process can be used on just about any program with a “Levels” function (such as the freeware, open source image editing software, GIMP) while the last 20% can be done all the way back to Photoshop CS1 (this is the black overlay feature achieved by holding the ‘option’ or ‘alt’ key in levels).

» TIP: IT’S ALWAYS GOOD TO MAKE DUPLICATES OF YOUR LAYERS IN CASE YOU NEED TO GO BACK IF YOU MAKE A FATAL MISTAKE.

Step 1:

Open the file you wish to adjust and open the Levels adjustment window » SHORTCUT: COMMAND+L (pc users: CTRL+L). This will bring up your image’s histogram and the palette where this tutorial will focus. Locate the white point slider as seen above.

Step 2:

One of the best features of this tutorial is built right in to Photoshop CS1+. While on the white point slider, press and hold OPTION (pc users: ALT) and begin scrubbing the bar left and right. This will give you a black overlay over your image. If you’re using an older version of Photoshop or a different program you can skip to step 4.

» NOTE: THIS FEATURE WILL ONLY WORK IF YOUR IMAGE IS IN RGB MODE.

» TIP: USING ADJUSTMENT LAYERS IS A GREAT WAY TO INSURE THAT YOU DON’T RUIN YOUR ORIGINAL FILES. THIS IS CALLED “WORKING NON-DESTRUCTIVELY”. IT WILL ALLOW YOU TO KEEP YOUR ORIGINAL FILES INTACT FOR FUTURE PROJECTS, OR TO RETURN TO A PREVIOUS STATE IF YOUR ADJUSTMENT LAYERS AREN’T WORKING FOR YOUR DESIGN ANYMORE.

Step 3:

While still holding OPTION (pc users: ALT), scrub your white point slider to the left on the histogram. The key here is to slide the white point until your overlay image starts to get to a point where it turns pure white. This is where we will be setting the white point of your image, thus adjusting the entire histogram to account for the new white point of the image.

Step 4:

Now that we’ve found the new area of the image we want to set our white point, we have to actually do it. Locate the WHITE POINT EYEDROPPER tool, as seen above, and click it once to highlight. Your cursor should now change to the little Eyedropper icon (Depending on how you have your preferences set up in Photoshop, this may or may not happen.). Take the White Point Eyedropper and find the area of the image we designated to be our new white point, click once. You should see an immediate change to your image and a new histogram should be generated in your Levels window as well. If the desired change is too much, or too strong, you can keep clicking around until you get a nice new balance for your white point.

» TIP: DOUBLE CLICKING THE EYEDROPPER ICON WILL LET YOU CHOOSE A BASE COLOR AS YOUR COLOR POINT. PLAY AROUND WITH THIS FEATURE FOR SOME NEAT EFFECTS.

Step 5:

Now we will repeat steps 2-4 above, but on the opposite side of the histogram, the black point. Again, we will hold the OPTION (pc users: ALT) and scrub our black point slider on the histogram, but this time we will be looking for the image to turn it’s blackest.

Step 6:

Now that we’ve found our new black point we will follow the same process as step 4, but using the BLACK POINT EYEDROPPER. Locate the Black Point Eyedropper and click once to highlight it. Now, find the area we designated to be our new black point on our image, and click once. Again, if the desired effect is too much, or too strong, try clicking around to find a more suitable black point. Once you click you should again see an immediate change in your image and a new histogram should be generated.

Step 7:

Lastly, review the changes you’ve made and adjust the slider bars to tweak your image to get it just where you want it. The final result should be a much brighter, more vibrant picture.

Hey look! It’s a me (the man) and a Kristen (the occasional woman) behind the ninethreestudio posts! The man, and sometimes the occasional woman, behind these lovely blog posts. (EDIT: After re-reading this, i realized this almost made it sound like i was an occasional woman. It made me laugh, so i decided to leave it in to show you just how my hamster-on-a-wheel brain works, enjoy.) Where you ask? Ohh, in a photo booth…. okay, okay. STRIKE bowling alley in Orange County had some hoopla event grand opening thing hosted by Lauren Conrad. Yadda Yadda Yadda. Lots of people, free food, booze and bowling… ho hum ho hum…. and now the good stuff. Justice, from American Gladiators… yeah, he was there. I’m not the shortest guys in the world, and he still towered over me. I got all giddy and told Kristen, “Look, there’s that huge dude from American Gladiators!”, then the glaze over of uninterest, but i didn’t let it phase me. haha.

Well, sadly i didn’t quite make it to the 2 week, 14 day straight mark. I had to go out of town this weekend and my job has been keeping me pretty busy. So, in hopes to get back ON the wagon, or ride the white snake as the kids are calling nowadays (source: unfounded), i’m posting a new photo of the day that yours truly actually took. Lazy sunday lying in bed. Kristen with Frankie. Yes, Frankie is a girl. i named her after Frank “Old Blue Eyes” Sinatra.

Remember that whole thing about me being kind of a geek… well this is like my holy grail. As a kid i always used to play with Legos, i never bough the pre-make stuff, it was always the bucket. So i was never short of imagination (clearly short of friends though). When my fingertips hurt from pushing against all the sharp corners it was cleary time to go massage them on an old NES controller. Something about the 80’s and their block, non-ergonomic designing. Enjoy… just as i did!! THANKS GEEKOLOGIE!!

Abduzeedo has added an awesome post about a fun, creative way to create a CD cover. After i read this post i got addicted, neglected work, and did about 6 of these things… 3 of which actually came to fruition.

Here’s the steps….

Do you know when saw that new band cd and thought: “how in the world did they think of that”? Well, someone out there figured out the equation, and man, it’s really fun.

And what equation is that? Simple:

1. Click HERE. The random article title will be your band’s name.
2. Click HERE. The last 4 words of the last quote will form the name of your album.
3. Click HERE. The third picture, whatever it is, will be your cd cover.

Done! Now you got the formula to make some funny, yet great albums. I’ve actually made about 6 last night, and my favorite, by far, is this one.

So. following these easy steps, Here’s what i came up with.
PLEASE feel free to follow these steps and submit your own. it’s addicting, and fun! see what kinds of covers YOU can come up with!

Ohhhh how fitting that my #13 photo of the… would be on a night when i’m just thoroughly run down… need sleep… need sleep…. (i had to correct about 10 typos in this tiny tiny sentence)

“and now we dance…” ohh Mike Meyers, you so crazy….

Another perfect photo from my default, go to guy, amazing photographer… Stuck in Customs!

Here’s a collection of 70 of the coolest, most unique business cards i’ve ever seen. Thanks Francesco Mugnai and Justin at Big Head Design for passing around the wealth of this list!!

66 more cards after the jump. it’s a big post, i had to split them to the single page, haha!
Read the rest of this entry »

I was doing some browsing of my blogroll and got stuck on Jill Greenberg - The Manipulator’s website… again.

The portraits are so perfect.

Her portfolio is completely stacked with huge named actors and actresses that she’s worked with. This particular image just struck me. The framing is perfect, the colors are vibrant and the lighting is stark and crisp. Great contender for my Photo of the…

To the next big thing…. onward!

I thought this was one of the funniest things i’d seen in a while, granted i’m kind of a nerd… i even signed them over the cubicle at my co-worker to describe to him what i was looking at. I didn’t want to spoil it with just SHOWING him the picture!

Thanks SwissMiss via one+infinity

Harumph! Europe gets all the fun stuff! This year’s “Cans” Festival was help under Waterloo station and was an orgy of art. Artist from all over could come and leave their mark on the walls and sidewalks. Take up a paint bruch, spray can, markers, pretty much anything you can find and go to town. There was even a guy playing a piano in the tunnel! Art is a boundless medium.

Thanks Justin for another great post over at Big Head Design. Next year we plan the trip to Euoropeville and get OUR mark on the streets… literally!

Feeling in a destructive mood, i decided to post this nice little shiner for the photo of the day. Yup, one more for the books. Buying myself an exotic sixxer when i get a full 2 weeks worth. then i’ll have some quality posts. HAHA.

Great image from Flickr user CTRL-F5. Thanks.

For some reason this is the only photo i like of myself, i think its the colors that i like. I use this pic in most of my profile photos on all the sites i am a member of, and to answer everyone’s question.. No it is not photoshopped, it is real.
I gained this magnificent shiner just before xmas 2002, which isnt the best time to get facial bruising.

A drunk guy tried to start an argument with me on my way home from work (i was sober). After walking away from him he (or a friend) hit me with his car, my head hit the windscreen and this is the result. Fortunately this was the only damage i got.. I think i must a thick head and legs.

And a follow up five days later (after a shave)

Title: OC METRO BUSINESS Hot 25 2008 Logo Design

Client: Churm Media, in association with OC METRO BUSINESS

Program(s) Used: Illustrator

Time Span: 10 hours (Concept, client revisions, completion)

About: Every year OC METRO BUSINESS host it’s annual Hot 25 Event. the event honors hottest 25 people of Orange County, not a beauty contest. This includes entrepreneurs, business executives, managers, or just anyone in general making huge waves in Orange County. Every year the event is themed, and has to do with the new directions that OC METRO BUSINESS is going. This year the event, and the company, is completely rebranding itself as a web and digital entity, hence the theme “Hot Goes Digital”. The client’s idea was to show how OC METRO BUSINESS is moving into the 2.0, very web friendly.

Designer Notes: My original concept for this logo was to incorporate the feel of web 2.0. Very glossy, colorful, reflections, clean, simple and sleek all into one logo. After showing a first round of designs and color combinations the client didn’t want to stray from it’s branding and the logos went through a revision and font change. The end result is what you see above and a bit different that the original concept, but what the client wants, the client gets.