My favorite logos that just didn’t make it in ‘08
By John Potter
Got Pasties Logo
Matrix Logo
Motor Mouth Logo
Sometimes a lot of my best work never gets published.
That’s just the nature of the business, but I had to show off some logo designs I did last year that I thought were really cool. I’ve changed the company names on two. These were done through a crowdsourcing site, so I don’t really know the clients anyhow.
I should also note that although my potential clients didn’t purchase these, they are still my property and not up for grabs so to speak.
The Motor Mouth design was for a comedy group, the Matrix one for a gallery and the Pasties one for a website.
Since it was crowdsourcing I don’t really know why these designs didn’t make it, and it doesn’t really matter. I’m sure there were good reasons, but I am still proud of them.
See more of my logo designs on my Graphic Design Page.
Weird Photos Shot By My Grandfather
By John Potter
Among many other things my grandfather and I held in common is a love of Florida and a desire to experiment with photography.
I wanted to share this group of photos my grandfather shot from around 1948. Many are shot in Florida, although he lived in Rhode Island.
There are two types of photo here. One is simply a wide format which he mislabeled as sterescopic. The rest are sterescopic. Now sterescopic photos have been around about since photography was invented, but what my grandfather created were specifically called anaglyphs and used two images shot at about the same distance apart as human eyes and then recombined using a viewer. Kind of like the View-Master you had as a kid (if you’re as old as me). Anaglyphs were very popular from about 1850 to the 1920s. Apparently my grandfather decided to try his hand at it in the 1940s.
Anaglyph viewer
Anaglyph viewer with photo in it
Using the anaglyph viewer
I cannot reproduce the effect of viewing through the anaglyph viewer literally, so what I have done is create little two frame animations out of the two frames. Each frame displays for point one second giving you an idea of the three D effect. They aren’t all great, but a good effort considering I’m relatively sure he had no proper equipment. How he shot the ones of himself must have been an interesting story. If he didn’t have someone else move the camera and re-shoot he had to use some type of mechanical device.
(more…)
Preparing for a tile floor installation
By John Potter
I’m frequently asked how to layout tile for installation by friends who know I do my own home improvement. It’s not really that difficult. You just have to decide which two spots, from opposite angles are most important to you, and then make a cross in the middle of the room that aligns with what you want.
(more…)
High Dynamic Range Imaging
By John Potter
HDR or High Dynamic Range images show a greater range of tonal detail than any given camera can capture in a single photo.
Best exposure of image
Overexposed image
Underexposed image
(more…)
Use Panoramic Photos For Research
By John Potter
Panorama locations in Google Earth
A little while back I began maintaining a Google Earth file pinpointing the locations of most of the panoramic photos I’ve shot. Since most are clustered in southeast Florida, north central Florida and upstate South Carolina this file could be a handy tool for anyone planning on visiting these areas. It gives you a more realistic idea of where things are in relation to one another while still keeping that “feet on the ground” type of perspective.
All you need to do is open the KMZ file I’ve created for you directly in Google Earth or download it and open it from your computer.
(more…)
The benefits of using original art
By John Potter
An original illustration by John Potter
All of this Shepard Fairey business has gotten me thinking. The use of truly original work is greatly under rated and is diminishing in value all of the time. Not only do people take artwork directly from other websites and other sources on a regular basis, but “knock off” other peoples work all the time. For instance…Web 2.0 (see “Some Of The Latest Trends In Design“) means “copy Apple” to many people.
This leads to the question, “Why do people do this”?
(more…)
An ethical debate on image use
By John Potter
Artist, Shepard Fairey, used an Associated Press photo shot in April 27, 2006 by Associated Press photographer Manny Garcia at the National Press Club in Washington as reference for the image that later became the Obama campaign poster.
See the uncropped photo and a comparison here
The story goes that Fairey created the image for one event, free of charge, and it’s popularity spread viraly.
Fairey never asked for or received any payment for use of the image. Despite this fact the image is appearing everywhere and people are profiting from it’s use, just not Fairey.
There is the question of whether he used the photo as reference or just traced it. There is the question of whether he modified it sufficiently to make it his own. There is the question of whether he is responsible for the use of the image once it was out of his control. There is the question of whether he is responsible for keeping it under control.
(more…)
Why things look stretched or squished on your computer
By John Potter
If you haven’t read “Why Does My Website Look Different On My Other Computer?” you probably want to start there, since this article builds upon information supplied there.
(more…)
