4th Wall Productions

My friend Harry has a very unique business ethos, one that I think, helps 'dodge' the problems of modern business. It first involves a complex series of checks to make sure any uneccessary work doesn't get done. Putting something on a 'to-do' list is a complete waste of time, so sometimes a 'filter' needs to be 'applied'. In Harry's case the 'factors' to examine before doing something include;

• Will the task be excessively challenging?
  
• Will the task encroach on any potential recreational benefits?
  
• Does it really need to be done today?
  
• Yeah. But, does it really?
  
• Is it lunchtime yet?

Once these questions have been 'tackled', it's from here that he really make a decision whether 'to' go forward with a 'project'. And' it's not just in the 'decision making' that Harry's methodology's are 'unique'. His project briefing also adopts original 'solutions'. Take for instance the brief for the design above, which was worded "Hey man, we need a funky logo. Hurry up". To some, it may seem a 'lazy' and 'vague' brief, but once you discount this reasoning and look beyond the surface you can see just how clever the design brief actually is. A man as busy as Harry doesn't need to waste time meshing out 'unnecessary' details, and instead encapsulates only the very, very important specifics. Extra 'words' and 'information' wouldn't give direction, but rather take it away. It's not laziness, but actually a disguised genius. Harry doesn't do 'business talk', he 'talks business.'

On a serious note, the guys are at 4th Wall in Manchester are a really a talented bunch, including Harry, and it was a pleasure to work on their logo recently. The interia of the logo can be swapped in and out creating a very flexible, yet still recognisable logo. Perhaps, they do a nature documentary and for this they can swap the inside of the logo with leaves or something like that. It's like a logo that never gets boring. Well, that was my reasoning. Once they get their new website up and going I'll post a link below.

The Elusive 'Cool'

What is cool? Whenever I work out what cool is, it moves. Like a bandana wearing leopard suddenly leaping away into the dark and morphing into cliché. It's an endless chase. Is the word 'cool' cool? Probably not. Should I hang onto it until it becomes cool again? Again, probably not. Are blogs cool? Certainly not. Is fashion cool? Broadly speaking and by definition, yes. So are fashion blogs, cool? It's that grey area where cool could be hiding. Perhaps they now just clichéd? Meaning they were once cool, but then got overcooled and are now uncool. Skulls for instance, was once an integral part of 2007/2008 fashion with the ability to turn an ordinary shirt into an amazing, friend-winning, door-opening wardrobe centre piece. But now every second shirt in supermarkets from here to south-east Asia has at least one slapped on the front.

Somewhere there must be some kind of board that tallies up what is cool and what isn't. Some kind of stock exchange that gains and looses points as things get cool and uncool. Constantly changing and moving yet still keeping a definite record of exactly how cool something is. Today I would have watched in awe as Eminem stocks dropped and Sacha Baron Cohen's drastically rose over last nights MTV Awards. But then again, knowing exactly what is cool probably means is not cool anymore.

Ghosts

When I was a kid, I really wanted to call the Ghostbusters. I was pretty young and from seeing the movie I couldn't quite work out if they were real or not. I mean, the ghosts looked real, then they had the newspapers and all the publicity on the movie. So I thought that was real. And then, at the end they have them doing a parade through New York with all the people celebrating. All this added up to it being real. One hundred percent real. I just figured that sort of thing didn't happen in our city.

I never worked out the difference between documentary and film when I was young. Cartoons I knew weren't real, but live action film? Who knows? I had the same problem with Degrassi High. Are these actors or are they stalking kids with camera's. Sports films I often thought were real too and I really hoped Doctor Who wasn't real. But at least I knew Wrestling wasn't real. 

Staines; Home of Ali G

To celebrate me doing a wonderful poster for him, Pete McAllen will be supporting some bloke called David Gibb at the Hobgoblin in Staines. The beautiful scenery of the area might be familiar to movie-goers as its the back drop to the thought provoking movie, Ali-G in DaHouse. Should be a good night, unless of course you're deaf or you hate Pete. If either of these are the case, then avoid being at The Hobgolin, in Staines on Sunday the 19th of April.

www.petemcallen.com

More Newish Stuff

Here's some more new stuff. I'm pretty tired, so I'm not gonna write much. If I could I'd love to update this blog daily but I don't have the time or desire to loose anymore sleep. No brief for the above work. I seem to come up with my best stuff that way. I find trying to be creative and also pay the bills similar to an endless spoon and egg race with no finish line.

It's a piece that looks at WWI trench warfare and was inspired by a lot of the history I've read on the subject. It's all pretty sad, realising thousands of people like you and me threw themselves at each other and machine guns and artillery in areas that are now empty fields around Europe. Each person had a real life, ambitions, dreams and a family somewhere and all that came to mainly unrecorded ends miles away from where they actually lived. Sorry to end on such a sombre note, but I think it's actually worth stopping and thinking about that.

Big Wide Space & Itty Bitty Typography

It's a winner every time. Like pancakes on the weekend or a kebab on a late night, it never lets you down. Big, open spaces with very little going on and then there, in a corner somewhere, a little logo or some tiny writing. It always seems to look more sophisticated and stylish. I'm not sure why. It's easy to do, much easier than putting together some classified section in a trashy mag. It seems to say, "look at me, I'm so wealthy I'll take twenty pages to say what you would in one." But, it somehow works. Flick through a nice glossy magazine and then hold it up against your local TV guide and you'll find what I say is true. 

It's with this in mind that I 'll also add it's  always is the best page to design in any of my portfolio's. Above is  the last page of my latest mini-portfolio and some minimal purists out there might rave and rant at me for corrupting the design by adding my little planet halo. But, I think, looking at the design now, it's probably the best page in the folio. Which is good,  unless of  course I want people to like all of the pages in my portfolio. So, what's the solution? I've decided to put together a portfolio of all the last pages of  all my portfolio. Genius, pure genius. I'll let you know how it goes.

Holly

This piece was done a few years back when I first started getting interested in wooden textures, muted tones and ridiculous sized and layered photoshop documents. I took this photo from a young photographer named Caris Bridge and a spent a sleepless night reworking it for some band's promo. Whether or not they used it is still in some doubt, but I still think it stands the test of time a nudges into one of my favourite designs. I've since gotten rid of the bands name and slightly reworked it not so long ago. A link to some more of Caris's work is below.

http://miss-caris.deviantart.com/

My Little Sis

My brother, Christopher, took this. It made me a bit homesick so I've posted it up. Great tones, lens flare and dynamic action shot too. My family's great. I think this was taken in Moore River in Western Australia. Nice place in the middle of nowhere.  

Kings of Leon

If you listen closely to conversations in stylish bars all over the world, skinny jeaned, black shirted people everywhere seem to be saying the same thing, "Kings of Leon? Use to like their old stuff but now they've sold out". In a way it's true. Nowdays you're more likely to see them stuck to the front of a school girls folder than on a festival poster. And they have started making their music as catchy as an early winter cold, but I'm pretty sure we've all seen it coming.  This pic was done in 2007 and even then they weren't a breakthrough act.  
 

I figure most people, if offered the chance at being the worlds biggest band, would probably take it. Even if meant hanging out with their brothers all day. Give them a break indie kids, and let them be the inspiration to trailer trash that they deserve to be. I still think they're alright and maybe you should too.

This pic's been getting a fair few hits on my website too...

www.cameronkimjones.com

The New Formula for Cool

The Nu-Rave movement seem to be in it's final death throws as everybody seems to wearing the stuff. Once only a scene for trendies, ex-electro's and Klaxons, now everybody seems to be into it. When your 14 year old cousin starts wearing this stuff you know fashion's done it's full circle. Someone go tell Late of the Pier that they've only got 6 months left of their career as I'm sure fashion's new style is just around the corner. Not literally, I live in Walthamstow, but figuratively I think something new is coming. Perhaps loosely based on hotpants. 

It's also on Threadless if you care to vote...

VOTING OVER

Our Future

I know, I know. It's a little bit naff. Like I'm some kid who dreams of a better future for my children, having rights to hug whales and live in cities where people all hold hands together. But, it was for competition with that kind of vibe. Plus it was a couple of years ago when I cared about things like being nice and respecting people's rights. Now days I'm more likely to write, "Your Future Smells Funny" or something like that.

Bright Colours and the Constant Changing Forest of Fashion

I remember when bright colours were the new it thing again. Maybe they still are? I'm not too sure any more. Fashion seems to be a vicious cycle that repeats increasingly quickly. Changing more often than the numerous fashion and design blogs that are out there. I've learnt not to thrown anything out because no sooner than it's not cool, it's cool again. I got a flaired Safari suit sitting in a cupboard somewhere. So go ahead, laugh at these now, but just remember tomorrow they'll be cool...and then the day after they probably won't be again.

Another Self Promo Thing

Like the title gives away, this is another self promo thing. This one, like some others earlier in my blog, is to promote my website. Don't know if it actually worked, but I do like them a lot. I tried to make it so when you clicked on them it would go to my website, but instead it sent you somewhere completely different. Go figure. I'm glad I didn't choose a future in web design or I might have been the first person to break the internet.

Whoops

I did this a couple of years ago. A montage of images and illustrations I'd done. Spent a couple of hours arranging the elements and fine tuning the layers and constructing assymetric paterns and fine tuning the crimson colour scheme. Then, just as I was finished, someone come up and goes, "what's with the Nazi hankerchief ?" Sure enough, I slide my chair back and look at the screen, fold my arms and realise I'm staring at some kind of National Socialist propaganda. As a result, the one on my website looks quite different (link below), but this is the original and one I like the most.

www.cameronkimjones.com

Real Purty Flowers

Another of those pieces I'm dragging out from the archives as I get some new stuff together. This was me trying to be abstract with a lot seventies music playing in the background. Their meant to be Daisies on a Warm Spring Day. Looks like the sort of thing you buy on printed canvases in IKEA. I did quite a few of these and might return to them if offered to by a card company or something. Peace man.