July 15th, 2010 by Erik Paul under Business, Design, Informational. No Comments.
There’s a time and place for everything and thus was the case for Little Creek Casino Resort’s logo in their most recent outdoor advertising campaign. As with any business, the logo will always be an ongoing topic of discussion as to placement and size in advertisements. This is a good discussion to continuously have for the business’s sake and the public’s sake. If a logo is too often “overstated” it can overpower the message and take away from the effectiveness… the same being true if a logo is too small, then the message may have no impact or might lack context. For many years Little Creek has delicately wrestled with this logo-to-message balance and finally decided it was time to go for the bold with a “logo message.” By definition “logo message” is a bit of a paradox as that really is not a message, so many industry buffs and advertisers will call this style of advertising “logo branding”… which is just that; placing a business’s logo onto as much media as possible and immersing that media into as much of the target market as possible. Recognition and acknowledgement… be it through conscious reception or subliminal absorption, the public becomes better informed of a business’s presence. With all the bold messaging Little Creek has continuously posted in their outdoor media campaigns, their logo was not the star performer until now. In outdoor advertising, the bigger an element is, the bolder that element is, and when Little Creek asked that I design this campaign with the logo as the forerunner, I made sure it was the biggest element. To add a visual splash of just one of their many gaming, lodging, dining and entertainment amenities, Black Jack seemed like a quick read as to them being the winning casino that they are [Voted the South Sound's Best Casino five years in a row]. If you’re thinking it’s time to brand your logo on a broad reaching outdoor campaign or through various formats of personal print or online advertising, please contact me, Erik Eikenberry at Erik Paul Artistic Communication… and let’s get started today!
PLEASE NOTE: The above images are “proof of performance” photos provided by Clear Channel Outdoor and are intended to show that the client’s advertisement has been posted on the specific medium. The media is not photographed for graphic designers to use as portfolio pieces such as I am doing here on my blog [meaning I have the right use these images, but they were not shot with the intention of being a "great" photo].
Tags:advertisements, Advertising, Billboard, black jack, branding, Bulletin, Bus, Campaign, dining, entertainment, Erik Eikenberry, Erik Paul Artistic Communication, gaming, general message, graphic design, Lacey, Lewis County, Little Creek Casino Resort, lodging, Logo, Mason County, media, Olympia, online advertising, Outdoor, Print, South Sound, target market, Thurston County, Tumwater, Voted Best.
June 21st, 2010 by Erik Paul under Business, Personal, Photography. No Comments.
As a photographer, I use my camera as I would a paint brush and the subject I am photographing I see as a blank canvas. There really isn’t much difference in the two mediums other than the process to achieve the final piece of art. I feel that art captures emotion and releases expression, or vise versa, but above all it should be personal and honest, or “true art.” “True art” can be raw and gritty (but as well it can be offensive and disturbing to the viewer or an audience as a whole). Art in general is subjective. I think most anyone will agree on that. There are those who say art should be visually pleasing and built on a foundation of experience and skill. This can lead to labels of commercial art or labels of “craft art” (very different but based on the same constructs)… commercial art and “craft art” lack real emotion or personal expression (ever seen a beautifully painted bowl of fruit? I’d call that “craft art”). I suppose if all the loose definitions of art could be combined to create a label that might be “agreed upon” as to define art universally, I think it would be called “safe art.” Not to diverge too far off the topic as I love discussing art and it’s perimeters in general, but I feel that landscape (and cityscape) photography enters that realm of “safe art.” It’s hard to offend the masses due to the lack of personal content, and with a beautiful subject, it’s easy to please many when it is shot from a view that is uncommonly appreciated. This brings me to my point of panoramic photography.
I think one of the best things about panoramic photography is that it must be appreciated in pieces. By this I mean the viewer has to “read” the photo from left to right (or right to left) to absorb the entire photo just as they would need to do if they had been standing where the photo was taken from…. no panoramic can be viewed in a quick glance, it must be studied to be appreciated. So why do I bring up panoramic photography now when I have been doing panoramics for over 10 years? I think as many artists will tell you, some really good artwork gets “shelved” due to other works of art that are being created simultaneously at that time… just like the above panoramic of a small rock island (taken on the Monterey Peninsula) and the below panoramic I shot of downtown Los Angeles (taken from Thomas St. & Tree Ave). This is the first time I’ve ever presented either image to the public due to them getting “shelved.”
The below view of the South Sound looking towards downtown Olympia was taken over 5 years ago, but in contrast to this being personal art, this was actually one of many multiple panoramic photographs I shot for a local real estate company who used the images as their website header. These extremely wide views would scroll horizontally to give a concise view of the Olympia cityscape while adding appeal and visual interest to their website. As a photographer and a designer, I highly recommend some sort of appeal and visual interest be integrated into your website, as stagnant, content-cluttered sites are turn-offs to the majority of onliners.
Now to one of the key inspirations that re-sparked my panoramic interest and motivation to share previous panoramic photographs… the Seattle Skyline (seen below). When I was at Alki Point the other night, I could not resist the gorgeous view. I am a city boy so there’s no shame in admiring a city for its massive sprawl and powerful presence. I think what sets this photo off as being so different from my other panoramic photos isn’t that it was shot at night, but that there is basically no foreground information other than the blackened Seattle Harbor… just a distant level of lights and a colorful glimmer intensely radiating above. Only from this particular vantage point at Alki can the true skyline “floating” on the Puget Sound be captured.
Not all businesses need panoramics, but I believe all businesses can benefit from strong photo images… be it for print ads or online advertising, websites or print collateral, even for a lobby or conference room, powerful photography will only add to a message and its environment. If you have recently been inspired to want photography work that is massive and wide, or small and narrow, please contact me, Erik Eikenberry… and let’s get started today!
Tags:alki point, art, artist, cityscape, commercial art, commercial photography, Design, Designer, Lacey, landscape, Los Angeles, Olympia, online advertising, panorama, panoramic, photograph, photographer, photography, print collateral, seattle, seattle skyline, South Sound, Thurston, Tumwater, Website.
