Russian GMAIL

I saw this video on motionographer and thought it was a cool way of just promoting Gmail's interface.

Get Naked

This past Monday, I was watching Making the Band 4, and just like any reality show, it's a bunch of people put together that don't belong together, and of course there's conflict and drama, etc. Anyway, Puff (Puff Daddy/P. Diddy/Diddy) kicked the guys out of the studio, because he said they weren't ready to record yet. The guys had to go back to vocal training, before Puff let them back in the studio.

After a couple of lessons from the vocal coach, Diddy pops up and he wants to put them to the test, and see if they're ready to get back in the studio ("Daddy's House" from what Puff calls it). The guys started singing for him, and obviously, Puff wasn't feeling it. So he had them singing over and over again, until they got it right. (This is the good part of the story) Diddy looked at all of them and said, "Yall too worried about how you look while you singing...None of yall have blacked-out and sung yall hearts out...YALL GOTTA GET NAKED WITH THIS SONG".

I thought this was hilarious when I heard him say that; but it wasnt until I read a scripture in the Bible, the following day, that I understood what Puff meant by "getting naked".

Hebrews 4:12 and 13 read:

12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of the soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

13 Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.

In verse 12 when it says "...the word of God is quick, and powerful..." it means that the word of God is a living word and an active word; it's not old or archaic, but it applies to your life both today and tomorrow; and it reaches into and discerns "the thoughts and intents of the heart." Verse 13 speaks of how God sees us. He sees us without the fame, the awards, the good grades, etc. He sees us bare of those things; and "naked". He sees and judges us on our heart.

In no way am I relating the authority of God to the "authority" that Puff has, but I understand when he told the band to "get naked on this song", he meant for them to expose themselves, pour their hearts out, sing without worrying how people see them; he wanted them to sing for people to feel what their hearts had to say.

New Blog Coming Soon

This isn't really a big deal and I'm sure people knew about this already, but through .mac ("dot mac") you can set up a blog just the same as blogspot.com, but through .mac and iWeb it looks a lot better. Anyhow, I'm going to redesign my blog with iWeb. Please still visit this blog though because I'll continue to have entries until I get the new blog. Stay tuned to find out the new web address for it (this is just a note for those who actually come to this blog).

Interview (#1)

Today is the first/trial-run/pilot of my first interview. I interviewed a graduating fashion designer/styler who attends Morgan State University in Baltimore, Maryland. Thomas Wynder is very passionate about fashion and design, and this should be evident through his comments in this interview.


JC: So how long have I known you man? I know it's been a crazy amount of time.

TW: Uhhhh, since you were like 4 and I was 5; something like that.

JC: Yeah that's crazy. If you could describe your childhood in 5 words what would they be?

TW: “Fortunate”, “Privileged” (either of those), “Challenging”, “Educational” (That's whack I know), “Non-conventional”, and.....”Mine”. Yeah... we'll go with those.

JC: If you could describe your life now in 5 words what would they be?

TW: Hmmmm. These are hard ass questions. I'm sticking with “Privileged”. Hmmm, “Crazy”. Hmmmm, Damn, I'm likely over-thinking this; “Fantastic”, “Blessed” and still “Challenging”

JC: Ok, good. I was about to have you just list 3 if it was that hard to answer. Alright so this screen name (SartoriallySavvy) that you have, how did you come up with that?

TW: Ummmm. Well, it has to do with my interest in fashion and that I've always been called stylish and best dressed and things of that nature, and how all my friends always ask me for fashion and style advice... hence the alliteration, "SartoriallySavvy".

JC: It’s always funny seeing what people's screen names are. I've heard some pretty regular stuff, to some wild stuff. My brother's (Bilal) screen name is "woodlayer", which is hilarious cuz he came up with that when he was like 12 or somethin.

TW: Ummmm. Tell Bilal I said, he's not grown.

JC: Haha. So yeah man, out of everything else you could do, why fashion?

TW: You ever feel PULLED towards something? Like, it's in your blood? Something that's inherent to you, like, you're not even consciously aware of it, but, you just have this... connection...That's me and fashion.

JC: I know what you mean. Is that what you were interested in doing when you were a kid?

TW: Not at all. You know I wanted to go to law school until I was like 17.

JC: So do u know how to make clothes, do you design clothes...what do actually do when it comes to fashion?

TW: I can make clothes, I can design and sew but my expertise lies in my eye, I like to style, specifically, put things together for others and myself, styling photo shoots, pulling things that work best on different body types, the entire sartorial aesthetic.

JC: I assume you like project runway right? Why do you like it, and who do you think is the best designer on that show?

TW: I do like Project Runway, and I think Christian is the best designer. I like it because it shows the creative process, and shows the inner workings of those who are fashion minded, I like to see how different people, given the same set of rules and regulations express themselves.

JC: What's your favorite clothing brand?

TW: Ohhhh wow...hmmm. That's really hard. Gucci.

JC: Gucci, damn rich kid.

TW: Shut up.

JC: Haha, who's your favorite fashion designer?

TW: Tom Ford. Hands down. Bar none. His lines, his entire aesthetic is ridiculous.

JC: If you weren't in fashion what would you be doing?

TW: Trying to figure out what was missing in my life.

JC: Good answer. What is the biggest thing that people don't know about you?

TW: I'm an avid swimmer

JC: What one word would the people closest to you describe you with?

TW: Hmmmm, I'm cheating by asking my best friend who lives with me. “Loyal”.

JC: Ok, now 3 quick questions, and then the last question. These are preference questions…sidekick, blackberry or iphone?

TW: Blackberry.

JC: McDonalds, Wendy's, or Burger King?

TW: Wendy's.

JC: Corvette, Lamborghini, or Maserati?

TW: Lambo.

JC: …And if you could give advice to someone that's trying to get into the fashion business without saying "work hard" or "grind", what would it be?

TW: Develop your passion. Everyone can't be a designer. You might not be an excellent designer, but you know what looks good on people...like me. Develop your areas of strength, turn it into something uniquely yours.

JC: Nice.

TW: Thanks.

JC: I appreciate it letting me interview you. Hope it didn’t waste your time.

TW: Not at all! I'm glad I could help.


(Next Week, Interview #2)

What's your motivation?

[One Show Pencil (a big advertising award)]

[Cannes Lion (advertising and film award)]

[Oscar (you know what this is already)]

[Grammy]

What's your motivation? For the last three months, my motivation has been the One Show Gold. I've been thinking about the college competition brief every single day since late October or early November. There has been other things that I have needed to do, but I pushed it to the side so I could figure out an idea that was good enough to win a One Show gold pencil.

When I was reading the Bible last week, I came across a couple of verses that spoke about Treasures in Heaven (Matthew 6:19-21). And it read:

19   Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rush doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:

20   But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:

21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

One show pencils, cannes lions, grammys, oscars, mtv moonmen, and any other tangible awards can rot, break, disappear, or be stolen. So why do we stress so much after temporary awards?

God has blessed us with so many talents, skills and gifts; and we should understand that the awards that we've won, will win, and/or hope to win aren't demonstrations of what we've done; They're demonstrations of what God has done through us.

It's not bad for us to go after the things that we want; we just need to know why we're going after them, and what we plan on doing with it, once we get them. And most importantly, knowing that the things that we've accomplished, weren't accomplished on our own.

When we lean on our own understanding, and try to take ourselves up the proverbial ladder without God, we have to work extremely hard to keep ourselves up. However, when we allow God to be the start and the guide to our journey of going up, we don't have to worry so much about falling, because we have the support of God that will keep us up.

The Pastor at CCC (Christian Cultural Center) in Brooklyn said, we can find our purpose by not asking ourselves "why are we here?" but "who are we here for?"

Typical Day at the Curtis Residence

(top to bottom: sketch of barbecue grill, barbecue grill open, barbecue closed)

In my Freshman year of college (2004-2005), I had a 3d class. On the first day of that class, the instructor, Kevin O'Callaghan, handed everyone in the class a mailbox (the kind that would be outside of a suburban home), and the assignment was: using the mailbox, describe how your family is, or how a neighbor of yours is.

Because my family cooks a lot, and we're always having gatherings at our house, I decided to make a barbecue grill out of the mailbox. Then I topped it off with a Corona bottle (I put super glue on it to make it look cold), and then I got some fake ice cubes from Canal Plastics. (For future references, you can find anything in New York's China Town)

[photographed by Tony Chang]

"IT"

Back in November, I was apart of a creativity workshop held by John Jay, Partner and Executive Creative Director of Wieden and Kennedy. John Jay is person who is very interested in culture; he told us that staying informed and immersed in culture allows him to not only find out what is happening, but more so, why it's happening. People tend to become trendy when they just follow what's happening. On the other hand, when you know what a culture is like, and why the people of a certain culture are the way they are, you can start a trend.

John Jay also expressed that finding out what your "IT" is, allows you to have a longer and successful career...because you've found out what your secret weapon is. Everyone has a secret weapon or a "IT". Some ITs can't be articulated. For example: Eli Manning. I don't why he's good; in my opinion, his arm isn't that great, he can't particularly run to well, and his passing judgement isn't great either. However, he has something about him that makes him a good quarterback...something special. A scout during at the NFL Combine described Eli as "magical".

The students that participated in this creativity workshop were assigned a project. It was to design a poster that communicates what makes us unique. [Above is the poster that I designed]

Less Hulk, More Bruce Lee

"Less Hulk, More Bruce Lee" is a quote that I heard from the Creative Director of

JDK Design. He's referring to design being less loud, but more elegant, with the same

striking power. Check out the article here.

Change

This poster designed by Shepard Fairey, seemed like a different approach to what a "normal" presidential poster would look like. The illustration of this poster has a more personal appeal than the classic "vote for____" poster, with the picture of the candidate. And the word "Progress" really has volume. "Progress" communicates persistence, dedication, and change; all those things lead to hope, in which our country definitely needs.

The theme of this year seems to be "change". In May I'll be graduating, which will be a huge change for me, because I'm 21 years old, and I've been in school for the last 18 years of my life; Today, an unexpected change happened in the Super Bowl...the only thing that was similar to us was the name "Manning"; In November, there will be a new president that will attempt to change what America has gone through for the last 8 years; and the 2008 Olympics will take place this year in Beijing, which is a country that's looking to change the outcome of what the previous olympics have shown us (the U.S. taking home the most gold medals).

I have a guerilla advertising class right now, which some people may call ambient, outdoor, or unconventional advertsing, and it has been a challenge, because the objective is to create something that people aren't use to seeing, which means I have to go outside of myself to seek inspiration from sources that I'm not used to seeking. An award-winning art director wrote (in an article that I received from one of my teachers Sal Devito, of Devito/Verdi), "...perahps when an obstacle presents itself, it may be a blessing in disguise. It could force you to do something you ordinarily wouldn't." I try to remember that everyday.