nate update

I’m extending a special invitation to the Las Vegas Creative Community about this event because I think its very important that Vegas steps it up a notch. In order to step up our game, we need to see what’s going on in creative communities globally. The days of picking up a publication and expecting design inspiration are soooo 1990s.

This is the official event information. I hope you’ll attend.

Order tickets via Eventbrite:
http://chineseexchangelv-efbevent.eventbrite.com/

Ni hao!

…An exhibition and idea exchange
with 30 design ambassadors

Spend an amazing transglobal
evening socializing, exchanging ideas and crossing cultures. Thirty Chinese
graphic design professionals exhibit their latest work in advertising,
packaging, book design, posters, photography and contemporary Chinese
calligraphy.It’s a true cultural
exchange where we’ll share the flavor of Fabulous Las Vegas with our visitors,
while getting a glimpse into the design sensibilities of their vast and
fast-developing market.

Las Vegas is distinguished to be one of only four U.S.
cities on the 11-day tour that also includes Washington, D.C., San Francisco
and San Diego.

Hosted by the Center for CrossCultural Design, which fosters greater communication between designers across cultures, and a better understanding of the interwoven experience of design and culture.

EVENT PRESENTERS

City of Las Vegas

Center for
CrossCultural Design

Colors of Lupus Nevada

Las Vegas Chinese Association

Las Vegas-Clark
County Library Foundation

EVENT PARTNERS

AIGA Las Vegas

International Association of Business Communicators

Las Vegas Cultural Corridor Coalition

The Neon Museum Las Vegas

Studio J Photography

EVENT SUPPORTERS

American Advertising Federation

Association of Students in Communication, UNLV

Student Association of Graphic Arts, UNLV

Produced by eurie creative

Watch for new Event Partner and Event Support listings as additional sponsors come on board

For information about being
an event partner, contact Victor at victor@euriecreative.com,
or call him at 702-383-9805.

If you consider yourself a rock music fan – you should treat yourself to a Sinners show. They do tribute tunes and originals. I saw them cover Guns N’ Roses Appetite For Destruction a while back – and I was hooked.  I have seen them at Ovation at Green Valley Ranch, as well as Club Madrid at Sunset Station. Both are awesome places to catch a great free concert. I’m not just saying that because I work for Station Casinos, either. In fact, you can catch the Sinners with Nawgahyde (don’t miss those whacky rockers, either) opening for Great White at the end of July at Sunset Station.

Here’s a review I wrote of the GNR show at GVR last November.

Moving some stuff around on the host. Hang tight and this site should be back in action in a day or two.

Thanks for stopping by. Hit me up on twitter (@natevegas) if it’s urgent.

Nate

I have been involved in the “Facebook is Big Brother” privacy discussion about 5 times this week, and I’m frankly, bored with it. I understand the risks of saying this aloud on a blog – but I’m going to do it anyway: Lay off Facebook! Yeah, I said it.

There’s privacy risk involved in uploading anything to the web, akin to driving a car on a freeway. You see, it’s not up to Facebook to determine what’s on your profile so quit blaming them for that shot of you at your bachelorette party dancing on the bar. You uploaded it to the web, sister. Period.

Frankly, I think the integration of the “like” button on other sites is VERY cool. We’re in an era where peer reviews sell products moreso than ads. I think it’s helpful for us all to see who likes products, especially your friends. I’ll tap them for a review, increasingly holding product sellers accountable for having a good product. And regarding privacy – again – your user settings allow it.

Look, could Facebook turn off a few buttons on default? Sure they could – they may have to, if the government gets more involved. But, as I pointed out a few times this week via twitter, there’s no OPT in default Opt-Ins – by definition. They do encourage you to edit your privacy settings, which is pretty fantastic, considering what it meanst to their bottom line.

We live in a society that likes to “set it and forget it” when it comes to preferences online. Not anymore. Set ‘em! Change ‘em! Control your own data.

At the end of the day, Facebook is a company. Companies like to make money. No amount of people are going to change that. So, save the “Yeah, but they’re making money off our information!” argument. It doesn’t hold water. Do you think your TV watching habits, magazine subscriptions, web clicks, and credit scores aren’t being bought and sold?  You bet they are! My wife and I had free diapers in the mailbox the day we arrived home from the hospital after my son was born.  In years past, I’ve bought lists from the post office for direct mail pieces, targeting men who subscribe to certain magaines who own pools in a certain zip code. Companies buy and sell your data every day without your knowledge of it.

The two types of information carriers in existence are 1) pay for access (SIRIUS/XM Radio, Cable & Satellite TV) and 2) free and full of ads (terrestrial radio, Super Saver Newspapers by the door at the grocery store). This isn’t new. You can’t have a free information carrier without Ads  – even MySpace has that figured out. Where MySpace screws up is sporting a nauseating user experience, which has helped Facebook flourish into the #1 visited site and more importantly – the 7-minutes-plus on average that people spend each visit. Facebook users are very lucky their Ads are not intrusive and even let you close an ad and ask why you closed it.

You’ve seen the groups “1,000,000 strong to say NO to paying for Facebook” and the like. It won’t happen as long as Facebook continues to evolve as an information carrier. Because they’ll sell ads. And – let me tell you – these are the most effective, super targeted advertising system in history. Because of the information YOU gave them.

If you’re in the creative industry, (unless you live under a rock) you have probably noticed in the last few years or so, most professional Graphic Designers have successfully adpoted the use of quality photography and the way it is utilized in advertising. We rarely see low-resolution photos in print anymore, and more often than not, the images are using correct exposure and beautiful depth of field, therefore lending great imagery to commercial projects.  Now, I’m issuing a challenge on behalf of designers: Photographers, its time to raise your design game.

This is the week the WPPI (Wedding & Portrait Photographers) Convention comes here to Vegas. It’s always a great show.  On behalf of my city, I’d like to welcome some of the best photographic talent in the world.

I have attended the last 3 or 4 WPPI conventions, and it’s clear that my email and mailing address has been cycled through several mailing lists.  Let me tell you – there’s something awry with much of this massive load of photo-promotions. It’s not just email marketing, either. Many of the trade publications, sites, signage, and mail pieces, too. Most of it’s really, really poor.

Look, typography is a science in itself, so don’t be surprised to learn that cute font that came with your wife’s Dell just doesn’t cut it. While you were in the darkroom, Designers were in their second semester of color theory. Look at the “big guys” at the trade show. They have beautiful booklets, great logos and packed booths. Not a coincidence.

Investing in porfessional design shouldn’t be hard to grasp for shutterbugs. And its certainly not meant to sound condescending or offensive. All of us creatives need to check our egos and take a critique from time to time. The experienced Designer’s mantra is identical to yours, Photographers: when your clients hire true, experienced professionals, they get top-notch results. Designers carry the same responsibilities as Photographers, too. Deliver results on behalf of your client, or your phone may not ring again for awhile. In this, the era of facebook and twitter… word gets out about poor service in a short moment.

I’m as aware as anyone of the financial challenges both industries face, so my advice is this: Buddy up. Professional photographers should seek partnerships with Professional Designers and vice versa.  Build it in the budget. Find a way. Work out trade deals, retainers, industry-rates…  hell, issue frequent flyer miles if you have to!

Tonight I had some fun playing with a logo redesign for a band. Good friends, Slow To Surface called last week to see if I could help with a shirt design based on their recent album, The Reason We Do This. (Available on iTunes- pick it up, you won’t be sorry). I designed the CD last spring for the band – see below. (For the record, I like their current logo, but it could use a little more “edge” to match their new style, in my opinion).

Pick up this album. It's damn good.

Here’s a sped-up version of the process. The first thing I did was (duh) put on the album. Then I started to search through my database of fonts from recent projects. Probably about 375 selections. Most are completely incompatible… but I narrow it down to a typeface that conveys their style of music – I settled on Dirty & Classic by one of my favorite artists and fontographers, Billy Argel. I tweaked it until it was easier to read at a smaller size (from a distance, in this particular application), but still gets across the “vibe” I was going for.

Check out this video I made using Jing (killer app!) and let me know what you think. Starts out a little slow (no pun intended).

Wow. My head is spinning with so much new info. It seems like Thursday’s sessions were a month ago.

I’ll keep this short, because I’m hardly an aficianado for BlogWorld09, it was my first year attending, after all. Personally, I went to bwe09 to learn about social trending, get some help with a few problems, and peek into what’s next for new media. Each of these were answered, and I think my company is on target for big success. Being a corporate blogger, with B to C (Business to Consumer) priority, there were few courses aimed at us – didn’t matter. My team was able to flex and see many other sides of our next phases into social networking. Moving ahead, I’m interested in trending for travel, retail, entertainment and gaming (Vegas, remember), and I got a great insight into some other areas, as well.

If there were any repeating trends, it’s a very positive report for consumers. Maybe because it has to be. Consumers hold a ton of power now that well, hasn’t been the case in recent memory. Conversational, Two-way marketing initiatives are the way to go, if your company isn’t doing it already. Getting to know your _________________ (insert: segment, demographic, target, guests, clients, customers, etc) is now easier than ever using blogs, facebook and twitter. It seems like the only big fat losers are the poor market research companies who do used to organize focus groups and get paid handsomely for it. Oh, and MySpace. (Who?)

What was missing? Not much. It would have been nice to see a keynote from Facebook or Twitter representatives. Perhaps it’s not the proper place. Maybe I just don’t know where that convention is yet. I would love to see a Facebook Damage Control panel, but that might make it seem okay to violate Facebook Policies.

I picked up a ton of new followers on Twitter this week, which I appreciate. I also picked up Chris Brogan’s book, Trust Agents, and I’m tearing through it this week. I’m only about 40 pages into it, and I can say this: Buy the damn book.

Here’s a fantastic recap of Brogan’s very inspiring Keynote Presentation at BWE09.

I’ll have a few more updates as soon as I can get to it. Hey, cut me some slack! I’m sorting through 29 pages of notes!

… If that’s not a testament to conference, I’m not sure what is.

For sale as a body or as a package. Email me for more information: info (at) blackdiamonddigital.com.

Here’s Canon’s Product Page for this awesome camera. It treated me well for 2 years, typically in a studio environment. Just bought the new 5D Mark II and had this cleaned by Canon Service Center in Irvine, CA. (I have the official paperwork to go with it). Has not been used since it’s return from Canon, except to pose for this shot.

Canon 5D Package

CS4 launch

It’s great to see the AIGA and Adobe teaming up again here in Vegas.  I highly recommend attending this event on February 25th. It’s at Town Square at the Chamber of Commerce.

Here’s the link to RSVP. Check out the JPG flyer attached, too.

See you there!

I’d like to thank Erika and the folks at Glaceau for calling me to shoot for them at VooDoo Friday night. Check out the link below to view the gallery photos. There are some silly ones, and some sexy ones, and probably some stuff that you might not want your co-workers to see… perfect ingredients for a good party!

Here’s the link to the web gallery.

Barack and McCain were there...