A Birdseye View

New Harmony in Health Client Promo Site

noreply@blogger.com (We are a Canadian) — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 21:46:00 +0000

After having Jaye Yarrien to provide consultation services as a Christmas gift for my father, we chatted after about Birdseye Studios and my work, which naturally developed into a discussion for her new business venture, Harmony and Health, with the production off her promotional site harmonyinhealth.ca.

Design aside, I personally learned so much about food, nutrition and exercise from her, it was one of the more rewarding collaborative projects I've worked on in some time, so please take a peek and when in need, call her, with my recommendation!

Creative meanderings from 2009

noreply@blogger.com (We are a Canadian) — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 16:29:00 +0000

Stumbling upon creative that is fun, engaging and makes us stop still happens out there. Original material is still easy to find, you simply have to dig for it. consider the best of the web on Webby Nonimees page for 2009, and have a look at some of my fav's from Crappy Cat, to the unique brand Hello Sour Sally. It seems a touch of whimsy was never out of vogue.

Canvas transfer prints

noreply@blogger.com (We are a Canadian) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 15:22:00 +0000

I've finally completed the series of digital canvas transfer unframed art. After much ado, the process was quite a bit more laborious than expected. Finding a border style and background unique to each visual wasn't enough. I colorized the series to fit in a grid style format as a digital art installation, taking cues as usual from mother nature. Now looking to extend the art to stationery designs as well.

Vanderwater Park

noreply@blogger.com (We are a Canadian) — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 00:32:00 +0000

Took a great sunny bike ride with my brother to Vanderwater Park, wish I had my bathing suit, the water was amazing for this time of year! The sound of the water is so soothing, wish I could live there!

Do cell phone companies know about the recession?

noreply@blogger.com (We are a Canadian) — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 00:07:00 +0000

I finally broke down and bought a sexy Apple Itouch 3G phone. Tired of carrying around a cell phone and and Itouch. Simplify. Why on earth anyone would agree to purchase a Canadian plan for 3 years, with taxes and phone included with the plan for just under $3000 for the duration of the contract is beyond me. Off to eBay I went, fetching a sweet deal, swapped out the Sim card, and ported over my old cell number and did the pay as you go. No not the pay as you go plan, but real pay as you go, meaning You pay what You want, when you want, how you want. Savings on the phone alone was $250. vs. Rogers. Canada continues to have the most expensive cell plans in the world, boggles the mind. Just a rant, the phone is a great multitasking device though!

An Incomplete Manifesto for Growth by Bruce Mau

noreply@blogger.com (We are a Canadian) — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 16:19:00 +0000

Written in 1998, the Incomplete Manifesto is an articulation of statements exemplifying Bruce Mau’s beliefs, strategies and motivations. Collectively, they are how we approach every project

1. Allow events to change you. You have to be willing to grow. Growth is different from something that happens to you. You produce it. You live it. The prerequisites for growth: the openness to experience events and the willingness to be changed by them.

2. Forget about good. Good is a known quantity. Good is what we all agree on. Growth is not necessarily good. Growth is an exploration of unlit recesses that may or may not yield to our research. As long as you stick to good you'll never have real growth.

3. Process is more important than outcome. When the outcome drives the process we will only ever go to where we've already been. If process drives outcome we may not know where we’re going, but we will know we want to be there.

4. Love your experiments (as you would an ugly child).Joy is the engine of growth. Exploit the liberty in casting your work as beautiful experiments, iterations, attempts, trials, and errors. Take the long view and allow yourself the fun of failure every day.

5. Go deep.The deeper you go the more likely you will discover something of value.

6. Capture accidents. The wrong answer is the right answer in search of a different question. Collect wrong answers as part of the process. Ask different questions.

7. Study. A studio is a place of study. Use the necessity of production as an excuse to study. Everyone will benefit.

8. Drift. Allow yourself to wander aimlessly. Explore adjacencies. Lack judgment. Postpone criticism.

9. Begin anywhere. John Cage tells us that not knowing where to begin is a common form of paralysis. His advice: begin anywhere.

10. Everyone is a leader. Growth happens. Whenever it does, allow it to emerge. Learn to follow when it makes sense. Let anyone lead.

11. Harvest ideas. Edit applications. Ideas need a dynamic, fluid, generous environment to sustain life. Applications, on the other hand, benefit from critical rigor. Produce a high ratio of ideas to applications.

12. Keep moving. The market and its operations have a tendency to reinforce success. Resist it. Allow failure and migration to be part of your practice.

Book Jacket Design

noreply@blogger.com (We are a Canadian) — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 14:18:00 +0000

Yes, it's been a few months since a posting has made its way here. Long term contract work will have that affect. I appreciate the emails though! Now I'm surfacing, with a cornucopia of funky blogs I've worked with or run across, in the design realm, and as usual, new art in progress from the Birdseye Studio.

I'm working on a book jacket design and will be making my choice from these concepts. Which one has the most shelf appeal to you?

new web site refresh for www.zelcoviacookies.com

noreply@blogger.com (We are a Canadian) — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 02:20:00 +0000

As I've heard, its been some time since a posting fell on these pages. Busy doing a few contracts, one being a refresh on a gourmet cookie site, with my design below thus far, and here is the link to the existing site for Zelcovia Cookies My second project is a series of 12 giclee canvas transfers for an upcoming exhibition in early September. (yes, you need that much time to create works from scratch!). Postings next week of the works in progress. ttfn!

New viewfinder pics

noreply@blogger.com (We are a Canadian) — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 14:48:00 +0000

I have just completed a new viewfinder styled image treatment (measuring five square inches) and quite like the vintage look and feel - There is a blue series and a taupe series with about twenty or so images to start off selling on my etsy site so take a peek and look at the sale till the end of the month as they look great on a wall mounting with several others!

Review of Francesco Jaya's - I Have a Dream Cd

noreply@blogger.com (We are a Canadian) — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 14:45:00 +0000

Last summer I had the pleasure of designing a CD jacket and booklet liner for this beautiful audio Cd, and Francesco JaYA's music is getting some insightful reviews be sure to have a peek:

Surely one of the more jubilant and fascinating chant albums I’ve ever heard, Beyond Doubt takes the genre and injects copious amounts of passion, joy, and sheer love of the music itself. The CD is energizing and celebratory. Francesco JaYA is the man driving the project with his powerful singing voice—rich with resonance and emotion—but he is assisted by more than 20 others, particularly the various members annotated as “choir” in the liner notes. Using such modes as “call and response” (commonly associated with gospel music), as well as vocal stylings that hew closer to blues, gospel, and rock music (even though these are mantras), Beyond Doubt holds one surprise after another throughout its eight songs, including an English-language, straight-up, Gospel-inflected number, “I Have a Dream.” Many, but not all, songs start off as a solo mantra by JaYA and build into powerful massed choral efforts, while the music itself features subdued, traditional instrumentation anchoring explosions of unbridled joy, such as on “Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya,” which pulses with rock-like power. This is one powerful album!

Bill Binkelman has been reviewing New Age, ambient, and world-beat music since 1997, first for his own magazine/webzine Wind and Wire (www.windandwire.com), then for New Age Reporter (www.newagereporter.com), and now for New Age Retailer.

Spring Meadow Fine Art Print

noreply@blogger.com (We are a Canadian) — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 03:57:00 +0000

Second in the series of my new fine art prints, this new design was even more of a departure from the first one. I combined four different digital illustrations to provide a ground view perspective on an abstract meadow, integrating shades of red for added depth and foreground focus.

This design was about 8 hours of work all tolled, and was a great adventure in editing for eye flow and movement. This is going to be entered into the Expressions 2009 QAC juried art exhibit for May 2009, and I'm hopeful it will be accepted into the show as my first foray into this exhibit. I'll keep you posted either way, and as an fyi, there is a version of this print reformatted in my stationery collection on etsy!

This small screen version does not do the 8x25 inch tall print justice, as it was printed on 100% fine cotton stock, so you really miss the subtle texture that it lends to the overall look and feel. I have no idea how to frame it, any suggestions?

New Etsy Treasury

noreply@blogger.com (We are a Canadian) — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 02:31:00 +0000

I've created a "Forest Green" treasury of many of my favourite artisans from Etsy and encourage you all to have a quick peek. Some very practical everyday gifting ideas that everyone with a birthday coming up could and would use. Nature lovers will appreciate this fine selection of both Canadian and US artists that I have featured. Cheers!

I am - Prayer of the woods

noreply@blogger.com (We are a Canadian) — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 17:40:00 +0000

For this weeks Inspire me Thursday theme "I am" a wonderful inspirational poem was chosen with a custom collage print that speaks directly to the sentiment. Enjoy

Mourning Dove Fine Art Print

noreply@blogger.com (We are a Canadian) — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 16:08:00 +0000

Hot off the press: Our first vertical format fine art print, incorporating the stamped style and hand illustrated techniques made popular in our retail stationery. The result is a rather dramatic print 8.5 wide by 25 inches, on 100% cotton rag stock.

Elements from several original photographs were refined then redesigned as digital illustrations, layered with scale and depth of field in mind, to give the forest the illusion of depth, and a color burst featuring blue mourning doves. Once the illustrations were complete, they were composed and matched against the original concept sketch. While this is quite a departure from photography, all the techniques for a great photo remain consistent: framing, staging, color and lighting (or contrast). Each print will be offered as a limited run, selling unframed on my etsy site, starting April '09, so keep an eye out for this lovely series!

Bamboo

noreply@blogger.com (We are a Canadian) — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 16:33:00 +0000

At a recent spring garden show I photographed this very funky display using bamboo and other suspended natural objects, as part of a room divider display. Very funky, and eye catching piece of art, wouldn't you say. love the play on light and shadows here. Bamboo is still a huge item in home furnishings these days, and the natural texture & colours work well with the contrasting reds. more to follow.

New Line of Mens Stationery

noreply@blogger.com (We are a Canadian) — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 16:00:00 +0000

While much of our stationery exists for our loyal female clientele, there was a lot of gift requests over the holidays that led us to develop a line of note cards for a decidedly male audience. Each image was chosen to match the texture of the paper, with a warm, natural aesthetic, mimicking the 100% cotton fiber stock we print on, with bold patterns on muted imagery.

To that end, this set, along with four other versions are available on our Etsy site. Surprisingly, feedback suggested men were fine with shades of pink after all, who knew, and that in the end, our female clients are still the ones purchasing this as a gift for their male counterparts!.

All that glitters

noreply@blogger.com (We are a Canadian) — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 01:19:00 +0000

Bravely I went out during a freezing rainstorm recently and was fortunate enough to

A) keep the camera working and
B) to capture some great shots such as this frosted forest that had a silver sheen to everything it blanketed, including everything I was wearing.

Queen Anne's Lace

noreply@blogger.com (We are a Canadian) — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 01:55:00 +0000

My absolute all time favourite flower to photograph, bar none, is Queen Ann's Lace. It is one of those rare native flowers that takes a stunning picture in all four seasons. To that end I'm featuring shots of taken in spring, summer, fall and winter (left to right) When you walk through a field in the summer, the scent is pure heaven. All shots were taken in the field outside my backyard, such a contrast! Enjoy!

The Birdseye Stock Photography Niche

noreply@blogger.com (We are a Canadian) — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 21:17:00 +0000

Above are a few shots from our nature inspired photography: Canadian Scenic, Holiday, Market Square and Gardening. We have been religiously uploading to Alamy.com. Thankfully, upgrading to a 14 megapixel professional camera allowed us to shoot images this year with press quality standards in mind - a must have for the level of entries accepted at Alamy. Most of our images are licensed, vs. royalty free, so we can balance quality of image and return on investment. We will continue to feed the growing demand for "Green/Environmental" imagery in the higher end stock photo market.

Birdseye Stock Photography at Alamy

noreply@blogger.com (We are a Canadian) — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 02:33:00 +0000

With your requests coming in (from our DIY and studio design clientele), we have decided to market Birdseye's most popular images from our stationery lineup into a stock photography house for all your needs (finally), alamy.com As a licensed contributor we will start filling out 4 collections on a weekly basis: Canadian scenic, Holiday, Marketplace and Gardening. We will also shoot custom imagery for these for sections, not to be used in any other product line. Search by Eric Gainer or Birdseye Cards to find us.

New Personalized Stationery

noreply@blogger.com (We are a Canadian) — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 15:57:00 +0000

We are in the process of redesigning a line of our Mini Cards for the everyday collection, adapting the most popular themes on our main web site to test on our etsy site for feedback, so take a peek! As per these samples we have gone from bold to playful styles, with a more hip feel that could easily be offered as a thank you or thinking of you card. More to come this month, stay tuned.

2009 Wedding Sets

noreply@blogger.com (We are a Canadian) — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 06:25:00 +0000

Took the day to refresh and extend our mini cards into our lineup of wedding stationery sets, so we now have 11 very unique designs to date. Expect 4 more water color styled designs to round out the collection by months end. As usual, thanks for the input from our main site at birdseyecards.com for the feedback, much appreciated.

Take a peek at our etsy web site listings for a complete showcase!

Weddings in the air

noreply@blogger.com (We are a Canadian) — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 02:17:00 +0000

It's that time of year, and we are diving in head first by request from several clients at birdseyecards.com to adapt some of our custom cards into wedding stationery for sale online. To that end, here's a sample of one of 5 adapted styles, and expect another 5 original sleek, contemporary "stamped styled" designs over the next month, in time for the January rush! Any questions, we will pre-launch at our etsy site soon.

Tis the season

noreply@blogger.com (We are a Canadian) — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 01:47:00 +0000

Hi all, apologies about the scarcity of postings lately, in the busiest last minute rush for online card and customized stationery orders for customers gift giving. Many customized stationery with friends names imprinted on our mini cards, seem to be popular both in store and online, as part of larger social gifting ideas this year. If you haven't placed an order yet. well the deadline for Christmas orders is December 12th in Canada, the US deadline was December 8th for guaranteed shipping. If I dont post before the 25th, happy holidays!!

Holiday Angels Travel Cards

noreply@blogger.com (We are a Canadian) — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 17:13:00 +0000

Another request to adapt one of our 5x7 Christmas cards into boxed sets of the popular "mini cards" came in this week, for the "Holiday Angels Travels". And so, we've already shipped a few out to the stores. Seems this style and format in a budget minded season is really more popular than their larger cousins!