All posts by toddlove

Inspiration, Music

This Song May Change Your Life: Tame Impala’s “Let it Happen”

Artists draw their inspiration from a variety of sources and the link between design and music is a strong one. It isn’t a coincidence that many Graphic and Web Designers are record collectors, DJs, and musicians (present company included). I am constantly on the search for new and classic music to fuel my creative fire and Tame Impala’s ” Let it Happen” may well be my song of the season.

Kevin Parker’s psychedelic recording project since 2007, Tame Impala is on the verge of its third album, Currents and this opening single finds Parker at the height of his powers. Signaled by the opening keyboard swell and martial drumbeat, Tame Impala’s “Let it Happen” gallops with an energy, insistence, and purpose of creative possibility that seemingly cannot be contained in its sprawling 7 minutes and 30 seconds:

It’s always around me, all this noise
But not really as loud as the voice saying
Let it happen, let it happen (It’s gonna feel so good)
Just let it happen, let it happen

Alternating between moments of brashness and solitude, analog and digital, old school rock musicianship and postmodern electronic studio manipulation, “Let it Happen” redefines the parameters of the modern rock song (Doubtful?  Fast forward to 3:49 mark of the song to hear the track deconstruct and reconstitute itself to epic heights).

As Kevin croons to the song’s fade out:

Maybe I was ready all along
Maybe I was ready all along

The more appropriate question is, “Are you ready?”.

 

 

 

Feature, Philosophy

4 Words or Less?

Best Advice

From time to time I receive these kinds of inquiries on LinkedIn and choose not to comment, but this one merited a response:

PWPG
Hand Drawn Text Scanned in Adobe Shape CC and Edited in Illustrator

 

PRAY, WORK, PLAY, GIVE,

A well-reasoned, sincere, and articulate mission statement is personal branding at its best. Four active words can serve as a motto to quickly define your being, a mantra to motivate you through self doubt, and an ethical center to guide your actions:

  • PRAY—make time for learning, meditation, and reflection,
  • WORK—nothing meaningful is accomplished without genuine physical and mental effort
  • PLAY—constructive recreational activity and relaxation strengthens and rejuvenates the body and mind
  • GIVE—contribute your time, knowledge, and experience to benefit yourself and others

P.S: It may be impossible to truly achieve a perfect work-life balance, but having a core set of principles and practices can provide an important framework for addressing future challenges.

Design, Feature

Adobe Mobile Apps Part 3: Adobe Draw CC

As discussed in part 2, Adobe Shape CC is an incredibly useful tool for scanning sketches into vector files, but I find the Adobe Draw CC’s ability to DRAW directly into the application to be faster and more functional.

Adobe Draw CC rendering and layers
Adobe Draw CC rendering and layers

I am creating a poster design inspired by the film Whiplash and Adobe Draw CC is ideal for importing my photo layer from my Creative Cloud library and tracing the image layer with a Bamboo Stylus Pen.

At this point, I can use Draw CC’s layers, brushes, color palette, and opacity functions to modify the image, or export the file to Adobe Illustrator or Photoshop.

Detail of Illustration
Detail of Illustration

Adobe Draw CC is also a useful tool for creating custom fonts, so I am experimenting with the brush tool to render different hand-drawn text treatments for the poster’s titling.

Illustration and Text Treatment
Illustration and Text Treatment
Design, Feature

Adobe Mobile Apps Part 2: Adobe Shape CC

Once upon a time (not so long ago), I laboriously scanned my hand drawn sketches into as a useable file format and meticulously traced as vector art. Now thanks Adobe Shape CC it is possible to transform sketches into vector art from your phone or tablet in a matter of seconds and export into Adobe Illustrator for editing.

Check out the video to witness this miraculous process:

Design, Feature

Powerful Adobe Creative Cloud Mobile Apps Enable Design Anywhere

As an Adobe Creative Cloud subscriber I have recently added a suite of their mobile applications to my iPad to test their functionality and possibly integrate into my workflow and I have been impressed by these powerful, yet easy to use tools.

Create layouts, illustrations, edit photos and video, export them to Adobe CC applications.

IMG_0324

Caroline Blanchet's Adobe Ideas - Illustrations series, Vol. 3
Caroline Blanchet’s Adobe Ideas – Illustrations series, Vol. 3

Share completed and work-in-progress projects via the Community Drawings portal, powered by Behance.

Shared work via the Behance Network
Shared work on the Community Drawings portal

 

 

 

Books, Design, Film

Fantastic Design from Criterion

Being both a design and film enthusiast, the book Criterion Designs
is a 10″ x 13″, 306-page collection of cinema history as well as a fascinating insight into the creative process of some of the finest commercial artists and illustrators working today.

This is inspiring and challenging work that will enhance any studio, office, or coffee table. Check out the book teaser below:

 

 

 

 

Music

DC’s 1432r Label Explores “Ethiopian Electronic”

Unique? Check. Ethereal and Hypnotic? Check. Future leaning and Classically grounded? Double Check!  Washington DC’s 1432r label has released some impressive electronic imprints of late.  Ethiopian Electronic music producer & performer Mikael Seifu’s Yarada Lij EP is an intoxicating fusion of “Ethiopian folk, UK garage & his own dream brew, which he calls ‘Ethiopian electronic.'”

Pick up the EP at 1432r.com 

Uncategorized

Welcome

Welcome to Todd Love Supreme.  A site dedicated to music, culture, and the creative process! We have a lot of great content in store for you in the months to come. So please be patient and come back soon.

Peace Always,
Todd.