This past week we finished an experimental productivity program that we like to call The Dream Incentive program.

With the goal of making the design agency even more productive and efficient, our team set out to keep 85% of all projects at or under the number of hours budgeted for that work. Through the employee incentive program, ST8MNT learned to better communicate and develop project management skills — meaning we are an even more well-oiled machine. At the end of the program (an impressive 4 months) we had a ceremony where every team member who met their goal was presented the reward that they had chosen at the beginning of the program. And we had rootbeer floats — YUUUUUUM.

Rewards ranged from plane and basketball tickets to a designer handbag to a Mac Mini to a miter saw (yeah Austin’s weird like that). We also had a special award for keeping all projects under hours that was presented to our very own Alan (you can see him holding the coveted Championship Cup O’ Dreams in the GIF above). Just another reason why ST8MNT is kicking’ ass and taking game.
– Frank out –

Check out our sweet Dream Catcher card Austin made and Erica’s pretty pink purse

If you’ve been in the dark for a little while, a new stage in UI/mouse/stylus/pointing at stuff is about to be set with Leap Motion:

Historically it first started with the track ball, invented in 1952 by Tom Cranston, Fred Longstaff, and Kenyon Taylor for a Royal Canadian military project, which used a five-pin bowling ball for the track.

From there we developed the first mouse prototype in 1963 by Douglas Engelbar and Bill English. A German company then invented the Rollkugel a roller ball mouse in 1968. The roller ball mouse got some lasers, evolved without a tail. Wacom gave us some cool-ass stylus and tablets. Then the iphone dropped giving us a great jump in touch technology.

Que Tom.

Now we have Leap, a fusion of Magneto and Harry Potter.

Not only can you interact, manipulate, game, and draw with Leap. You can also do some other really cool shit:

Like a navigate a mini-yacht in the pool.

Or take for-fucking-ever to pick up a foam ball:

The leap is 100x more accurate with signature reading that the Kinect.

And can differentiate between your fingers and a stylus held in your fingers.

Yes were not on par with the genius of stark industries, or won’t be chasing down criminals with any precogs. But it will be exciting to see how leap changes the face of UI in next few years, and what implications this might have for the future application and tools used in design.

Does your gender really matter when it comes to certain projects? Do you think it should? Would you be more apt to assign a make-up client to a female in your office? Initially you would say, “Sure, she probably knows more about make-up from experience being part of the industry’s target audience.” Not sexist, probably true. But not so if that girl is me, who most days does just fine with a little lip gloss, concealer and mascara. I am not your experienced woman when it comes to smokey eyes and the right shade of lipstick. I hire people if I’m required to wear more than the basics.

Gender roles and interests are blending more than ever these days and, as a designer, I think it should behoove us to have at least somewhat of an understanding of how to market for both our own and the other.

Below are some sweet designs by established and up-and-coming designers/artists that I came across while searching for examples of good type today. See if you can guess the gender of each’s designer. Have fun and good luck! Click the link below each image for the answer.

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So how’d you do?

We were thrilled to have the opportunity to do just that, and since we did all the creative for Taylor Swift’s Speak Now Tour Book two years ago, we knew that this would be a large, exciting undertaking. This was especially true for The RED Tour in that this year the book was going to be compiled entirely of live photographs. This meant that famed photographer Christie Goodwin would film Taylor Swift’s first few shows, then send us the photos so we could push out design as fast as possible and have books approved and printed for the next tour dates.

We prepared our tour book designs as best we could before we even knew what shots we would have to use. Taylor had her final dress rehearsals and first live show the second week of March. Then, ST8MNT received the first batch of photos the next morning and immediately began! There were many proofs for this project, but after all of the debating, adjustments, and decision-making had come to an end, a beautiful book was born.

The RED Tour book consists of 44 full-bleed pages of stunning live RED concert shots and full-size, removable poster. It features a two-panel gate fold cover complete with pigment-matte foil and embossing detail. Check out our process pics below from start to finish!

(1) Plan of Action, Map it Out:

Here you’ll see Erica organizing our camp so that we can go ahead and plan out flow from one spread to the next and how the tour book will be assembled for the production team. Oh, and if you noticed something here–you’re very observant. Yes, the 44 page book actually started off with only 36. We added the other eight pages much later on in the process.

(2) Organizing Photos & Layout Design:

Bethany and Austin are helping to organize all of the images from Taylor’s first performances. By breaking up all of the photos by song and using contact sheets, we can see what is working, what’s not, and what additional shots we think we need.

Then it’s off to the races for Austin, Alyssa, Aaron, and Greg to get through the first round of changes and prep a new proof to go out!

(3) Late Night ReFuel:

We’ve been at it for hours. The best way to recharge? Oscar’s burritos and tacos…and apparently a lot of hot sauce.

Ole!

(4) Spread ‘Em:

We printed our tour book designs several times over the course of designing so that we could look at each spread with fresh eyes. It’s amazing what happens between the image on your computer and the image that comes from the printer. Good thing our work table was big enough!

(5) Adding a Ticket:

Halfway through the process, the idea came from 13 Management to add a special VIP Ticket that would be tacked into the front fold of the book. Everyone loves a little something extra. Josh and Aaron whipped this beauty up in a jiff. It’s hand inserted into the book and secured with a small glue dot.

(6) Production & Press Checks:

Just like with the RED coffee table collector’s book, The RED Tour book is fully comprised of images that need to be color-checked every time a new print comes off the press. Our printers did a great job with color-balancing all of the images for this project, but these sheets could always use little more RED!

Then came the specialty production details of pigment-matte foil and embossing for the cover. Check out how using these techniques begins to transform the project.

(7) Final Product:

And the grand finale! Check out our portfolio for more images of the book here! To purchase this book, click here.

(8) Customer Reaction:

Ever wonder if your work makes a difference in someone’s life? When you’re designing for swifties (Taylor Swift super fans), you don’t have to — they will let you know if they like it! Here’s a video from Julie, a die-hard swifite who received her tour book in the mail — she’s probably still fangirling:

Blexbolex’s graphic illustration makes great use of pattern, silhouette, and a close-to-home color palette that reminds me of the posters of E. McKnight Kauffer and A.M. Cassandre.

With simple overlapping, fluid irregularity and geometric shapes with hints of texture, Blexbolex creates compelling compositions that play to mystery, horror, quirk, and playfulness.

Here are a few pulls (and some sketches!) from his books Dog Crime, Abecederia, and No Man’s Land:

After seeing his final work its interesting to view Blexbolex’s process:

Enjoy!

“Twelve Reasons To Die” is a concept album collaboration between rapper Ghostface Killah, composer Adrian Younge, and Adrian Younge’s band Venice Dawn.

On the drive home one night I listened to Adrian Young explain the wonderfully ridiculous concept of 12 Reasons on Fresh Air with Terry Gross.

The record tells the story of Tony Starks, a gangster raised in the Delucca Crime Family. Starks runs away with the boss’s daughter and starts his own prosperous narcotics enterprise. The Delucca crew seeks vengeance, killing Starks and discarding his body in pool of acetate salts. Starks’ allies press his remains into 12 vinyl records, which when played summon the revengeful spirit of the Ghostface Killah bound to get revenge on the Deluccas.

The album’s conception and execution started with writing the story of the Ghostface Killah, Younge and Venice Dawn putting down the instrumentation, and lastly Ghostface Killah contributing his delightfully lethal rhymes.

Younge known for his film scores, furnishes a record that operates as a Tarantino-esque soundtrack to the cinematic rise of the Ghostface Killah.

Here’s a clip of Ghostface Killah performing “I Declar War” on Jimmy Fallon.

As beautifully composed as the album is, we’re here to talk about the album cover and accompanying comic book.

Younge, obsessed with anything late 1960′s and early 1970′s, expressed his interest for the cover to feel like a B-movie horror poster.

The cover uses B-movie-reminiscent typography — raunchy fonts that find the perfect home on a grotesque movie poster depicting the Ghostface Killah in a fencing mask with Krueger claws.

There is also a limited edition LP pressing shown below, I’d love to get a copy of it.

The album is  being released with a comic book series from Black Mask Studios (publisher of outsider/transgressive/non-traditional comics) written by Matthew Rosenberg and Partrick Kindlon (Trip City’s Menu), and illustrated by an interchanging team of artists including Tim Seeley (Revival, Hack/Slash), Paolo Rivera (Daredevil), Francesco Francavilla (Black Beetle, Detective Comics), Ramon Perez (Tale of Sand), Ben Templesmith (30 Days Of Night), Riley Rossmo (Bedlam), Garry Brown (The Massive), Jim Mahfood (Tank Girl), Kyle Strahm (Haunt), Toby Cypress (Blue Estate), Tyler Crook (B.P.R.D.), Joe Infurnari (Mush!), Breno Tamura (Pigs), Nate Powell (Swallow Me Whole), Gus Storms (Space Creep), Chris Mitten (30 Days of Night), and Ron Wimberly (Prince of Cats).

Below is a preview trailer for the comic book series:

Cover by Ronald Wimberly

Cover by Christopher Mitten

Here’s are some spreads from XXL Magazine’s post of the comic:

The album drops April 16th and the comic books will be on shelves May 29th. Get your copy!

RANDA had just moved into a beautiful new building in Franklin and wanted to welcome its growing employee base into the space with a team-building, culture-cultivating experience. They created an event idea centered around riddles  — like a scavenger hunt where teams work to conquer challenges and search the area around the new office for QR codes.

The project was a full campaign, meaning that we touched social media, wearable, video, interactive, mobile and print mediums. First up? RANDA wanted us to name the event. We gave it the moniker “Orange Dawn,” which was a great fit because RANDA’s signature color is an unforgettable tangerine and the name supported the competitive, covert feel that the organizers wanted.

From there, we built out the brand to include a logo and personality, and gradually rolled out posters, whiteboard illustrations, video teasers and clues hidden around the office. Most of our work was done at night to increase the mystery around the event.

Our brand identity designer for the logo, Aaron, was inspired by Game of Thrones geekery and Grecian olympics. And he sprinkled in a little B-horror-movie typography. Note the pen and the sword — and “run, fight, survive” in Latin.

Check out this teaser website, which has a doom-and-gloom, get-serious-about-winning vibe. Since it was covertly planned, only a handful of RANDA employees knew what/when the event was, and imagery like this perpetuated the rumors. Steeped in mystique.

Next, we designed shirts for the actual day, with different colors for each team at RANDA.

Posters and a custom whiteboard drawings for their offices were thrown in for good measure. RANDA employees were pretty excited at this point.

Posters:

Whiteboard murals:

And we filmed a video for the employees to get excited, then edited it and others for their website. Here are my two favorites (that’s designers Austin and Greg staring in the first one):

For the event itself, we created QR-code clues, which were distributed at scavenger-hunt stations named for Lost Dharma Stations (more TV geekery).

And helped with their Instagram feed. Here are some of the best pics:

Time to bury your toes. It’s spring break and ST8MNT wants everyone to know that heat and sand are back! We recently got the opportunity to create new business cards for one of our long-standing clients, Blaster Entertainment. While the company has a very simple logo, just black and white normally, we knew that we wanted to play with awesome textures to really make this card memorable. After several ideas were thrown around, we landed on an old-favorite that we knew would make an impression for Blaster, thermography.

When you think of thermography, expensive invitations may come to mind, but we knew that we could take this technique to a whole new realm. By using white thermography with black ink, the clean and crisp thermography that we always see in those fancy invites was rendered almost impossible, resulting in an interesting “blasted” look for our Blaster client.

Amidst the intelligent dialogue and seemless CG of these beautifully-imagined rides you find yourself wondering where to get your tickets! It’s not until you realize the narrator just tried to convince you that a ferris wheel could reach 6Gs that you say to yourself, “Wait, this can’t be real! But how amazing if it was‽”

Since its release the film has been honored with over 25 national and international awards.

We here at ST8MNT are no strangers to animation and CG creations and as such definitely appreciate the hard work it took to dream-up and execute this short. Please enjoy the video and check out some of our own animation projects of late here.