Books with pretty pictures.

I picked up a couple of good books over the holiday break and thought I would pass along some info.

Many of you probably know the series of books put out by the “oh, so funny” Scott Kelby of NAPP. Well he’s now ventured into photography. His book The Digital Photography Book (er..so creatively named I might add) hit the shelves earlier this year and has received some great reviews on Amazon. I must say that this book is great for the designer and the amateur photographer. Like all of Mr. Kelby’s books, it’s made for the trade. It has a nice small size that makes it easy to carry around with you in the field or in your camera bag. It’s design is nice too, if you’re familiar with the Visual Quick Start book series, and like the way they read, you’ll appreciate this manual. 5 stars from me.

I found this next book at Urban Outfitters when I was Christmas shopping for my dearest loved ones.. so I dropped 20 bucks on it and convinced my girlfriend that we shouldn’t exchange gifts this year. (insert Guinness commercial’s “BRILLIANT” here)

As a designer and graphic artist I sometimes get a little peeved when someone, say another designer, writes a book that gives out trade secrets and ideas. At first glance, D.I.Y Design It Yourself by Ellen Lupton, seems to be just that. This book really is a great find though. It doesn’t get into the nuts and bolts of photoshop and design itself. You still have to be schooled in “the arts” to understand how to make these ideas come to life. Instead it’s a book of ideas and already has me excited about designing some crazy fun stuff for the new year. Another 5 star book in my .. book. Check it out if you ever get stuck or in a design hole, as we creatives often do.

Speaking of New Year, I hope all three people out there who read this, have a healthy and prosperous 2007, or as I like to call it, The year of the Open Door.

Recognized for Excellence…hmmmm

So I was driving the other day to get coffee and noticed an ad I did a few months ago on the side of a light-rail vehicle (LTV)… what we here in Pittsburgh call “THE T”.

It is an ad for UPMC and I’m proud to say we (now OpenDoor Creative) did the work on this one. If you live in the Pittsburgh area, you’ve seen it, if you haven’t you will soon, it’s everywhere.

This was the last ad I officially created for the small agency I worked for before starting OpenDoor Creative. Apparently UPMC really liked this ad, they just spent $1.1 million on it.

$1.1 Million on a transit buy is big news, so big it made national news. Check out these articles, just a few from across the country.
The official Press Release
Pittsburgh’s KDKA (with video)
Florida
San Antonio
New York

PLGFS

I have recently finished work for PLGFS. One of our first clients. We are proud to support the Pittsburgh Gay and Lesbian community and it was a pleasure working on this.

I did the new logo and web site and created the program for the Film Festival.

Check out the PLGFS’s new web site.