Bringing a Portfolio Back to Life

Here we go again.  It doesn't seem like very long ago that I took my first shot at creating a separate portfolio site to highlight all of my online ventures.  I launched a site at the beginning of 2010 and after months of upkeep and rearranging, the project fizzled out by the end of the year.  So what's changed?

Even though the portfolio didn't quite work out the first time, it didn't stop this blog or my ambitions from growing.  My online video views have continued to increase, I launched Jeeves and the Jaguar this year, and my content has become more diverse as Editing Luke evolved largely on whims.  The challenge for me then has been about how do I sum all of this up? Where do I send people? How do I promote myself? How do I take this to the next step?

When I considered all of these things I realized that what I really wanted was a portfolio again.  Editing Luke or my YouTube channel seem like obvious places to direct to, but if I'm honest, there's so much content on both that they're not always focused enough to be strategic. A portfolio has that luxury and I can feature content with goals in mind. I can also work business cards into the mix to then direct contacts and friends to my portfolio as a hub. The plan therefore is simplicity.

The new site has already been designed so this project isn't far from completion.  More updates will be available shortly. 

A Logo For the Moment

I change my blog headers like I change my T-shirts, but therein lies part of the creative vibe that I'm always trying to project on this site.  As I played with some new fonts I pealed away the layers of my old headers to create these simplified variations in an array of colours with an image of me incorporated into the logo.  There's no telling how long this latest badge will stick, but in any case, I'm happy to add another design to my gallery for the time being. 

Office Propaganda Posters

I recently came across some original artwork by Steve Thomas.  He designs a variety of vintage and propaganda style posters that highlight everything from space travel, battling sea monsters, and scenes from the movies.  He also created a cool series of vintage themed Star Wars travel posters.

These office propaganda posters are what first caught my eye.  It's a fresh perspective on those familiar workplace signs, playing on a style often used for much heavier themes.  You can view more of Steve's work on his site HERE.

Snapshots Book Series

After publishing my first photo book with Blurb (for my 2009 road trip) I became hooked on the idea of sharing my photos in an original way.  What I opted for was creating smaller soft cover books of three previous trips.  

By creating a Polaroid template, I took a variety of my digital photos and created a uniform border for each image and page of my books.  I really just wanted to highlight some of the memorable spots that made up each trip.  I've since made several more in depth photo books for my 2010 trips to Singapore and California.  

I just thought it was worth bringing attention to these projects again as now you can view the books with them embedded on my blog.  The process and expense of creating some of these photo books is long and expensive, but the reactions and permanence of having a hard cover copy of your images is totally worth it.

Click the links to view the books - LA 2004, Rushmore 2007, Vegas 2008

Evolution of Editing Luke (2009-2011)

This blog has been designed, re-designed, tweaked, overhauled, and upgraded many times in its almost four year history.  This will likely never change.  I first documented some of the original banners from 2007-2009 in an earlier post, and the reason why I put so much energy into how Editing Luke looks hasn't changed since then.

Keeping an online journal is, for me, about growth, creativity, and change.  I've always felt inspired to rethink my presentation and to keep myself interested in it by not letting my site ever look too familiar.  Most banners only ever last a few months before they're changed or updated.  Sometimes the changes are minimal, sometimes they're more dramatic, but in general I think my banners have become a trademark of my blog and capture a slice of my visual style.

Starting this year I began rethinking my Editing Luke logo, and have since incorporated it into the background graffiti of my latest blog header.  I've also been using the current image of myself since 2010 and I think I'll probably update that at some point this year.  That could radically change the entire layout of the banner, but then again I can't predict where the design will go.  

I'm always trying to refine an earlier idea with a new bit of inspiration it would seem.  As everything is on this site - it's a work in progress.    

From September 2009.

Minimalist Oscar Movie Posters

Showcasing the 10 Best Picture Nominees for the 83rd Academy Awards, David Lopez created a series of minimalist posters.  I love his idea of breaking each film down into a symbol, and in a stylized way putting each movie on an even keel.

I think it can be debated for every one of these films what the best symbol should be, but it's an intriguing exercise in simplicity and categorization.  How would you sum up an entire movie with a single image?  It's a great work out for the brain and certainly made these worth sharing.

We Two Kings Photo Collage

The joy of creating something like We Two Kings is that it reminds you of all the reasons you liked making movies in the first place. The surprise of how it would look, of how the random story would come together, and how it would be received proved to be as addicting as ever. I created this photo collage to summarize both the 2009 video shoot and the photographs taken several weeks ago as we went back to revisit our shooting locations.

Fremont Street Cutouts

Having been to Las Vegas and the famous Fremont Street Experience several times before, I thought it would be cool to play around with these photos that I shot on our 2010 road trip to California.

Manipulating the cutout filter in Photoshop and boosting the color and vibrancy of some of my select images, I created stylized prints of some popular Fremont Street scenes. For my own sake, this was an easy way to separate and re-imagine a series of images that I seem to shoot over and over again each time I visit.

This evening in early September was a general blur between casinos, bars, and souvenir shops. It was the first evening of rest and celebration after two days of driving from Canada, and we both seemed anxious to kick back. Inadvertently ending up in Vegas on the long weekend, the crowds actually made the short stop seem more iconic of a classic Vegas trip. In an alcohol and neon fueled hypnosis, the hours flew by.

For more, here's a video I made from a previous visit to Fremont Street and my complete photo set of downtown Las Vegas from 2010.

Joshua Tree Photo Collage

The desert allows your mind to wander. Expansive and unmistakably harsh you're left to question what could possibly survive in such an aggressive landscape. Yet the textures of the cracked ground and jagged foliage lend themselves to an expressive organic canvas. You suddenly realize that this isn't a barren wasteland; you're surrounded by thriving examples of life that have prospered against seemingly death defying odds. Alone with your thoughts in the heat of a glaring sun, you think to yourself what a truly amazing world we live in.

1999 Jaguar XJ8 Photo Collage

I doubt there's been any question about how much I love my car. I shot this collection of photos shortly after purchasing my Jaguar in June, and it seems like the euphoria has yet to wear off. Granted she's designed to get noticed, but for a guy like me who makes his living focused on creative details it's a pleasure taking the commute every morning in a car that not only holds my attention, but actually inspires me. That might sound hokey, but with dramatic detailing and performance to match, driving across town has never felt like less of a chore.

Elliot Photo Collage

As my final project of Film 400, creating Elliot proved to be a challenging, fun, and memorable experience. This mockumentary about a struggling author trying to get in to a prestigious writing guild gave me the chance to create a bunch of fake documents and images, and also gave me the chace to create my own fake reality on camera. The result was a generous grade in class and more fuel to pursue personal projects. I have yet to create another fake doc, but I can certainly see more mockumentaries in my future.

California Photo Book

Of all the photo books I've created since my introduction to Blurb.com last year, I have to say that my California coffee table book is my best one yet! Featuring over 700 original high quality images (cut down from nearly 1500) this 280 page book chronicles the 12 day road trip that my friend Dave and I took from Canada to Southern California and up the coast.

With a story told entirely in images, I took full advantage of the wide array of details I captured to really paint a picture of the locations we found ourselves in. This photo book was also given an added level of variety in that it wasn't competing with my usual videography. Since I wasn't juggling both mediums I had a lot more time to focus on the quality and creativity of my stills.

Highlights of the road trip (and of the new book) include Salt Lake City, Las Vegas, Hoover Dam, Indio, the Coachella and Imperial Valleys, Palm Springs, Salton Sea, Los Angeles, Hollywood, Long Beach, RMS Queen Mary, Sunset Beach, Joshua Tree National Park, the Pacific Coast Highway, Big Sur, the Pacific Ocean, San Francisco, Alcatraz, the Golden Gate Bridge, Reno, and all the odds and ends that sprung up in between.

I'm really proud of how this all came together, and as the most expensive memento I purchased/created for this memorable road trip I know it's something I'll be sharing for years. And even though I paid a pretty penny, you can preview the entire book for FREE simply by clicking on the badge below. You can also click the following links to preview some of my other photo books, including: Indio 2009, Singapore 2010, Rushmore Snapshots, Vegas Snapshots, and L.A. Snapshots. 

California 2010 by Luke Fandrich | Make Your Own Book

Educated Detours Photo Collage

I have no shortage of photos! In recounting some of my past projects I had the idea that it would be fun to create small photo collages to highlight the unique look of some of my older work. For the most part a lot of these photos have sat on CD or in a folder where they're just not seen. Once again, the blog seems to be the perfect venue for quick reference and a bit of nostalgia. Expect to see more of these as I work my way through my archives.

Check out the complete Educated Detours project by clicking here, and have a look at the short trailer below.

Singapore Photo Book

In the same style as my Indio Photo Book and the smaller snapshot books that followed it, I've finally completed my coffee table photo book from my trip to Singapore in April this year. My goal was to create something that felt really stylized, personal, and varied. I was keen to make it feel a bit like a scrap book of the locations we saw.  I think I accomplished what I was after in creating something that doesn't seem amateur, but also doesn't seem so polished or staged that it doesn't seem genuine.

After completing my Singapore edits soon after getting back, I took my time in going through the photos. It actually proved to be a very relaxing way to remember the trip and to try and contextualize the experience.  For as much as we did, I had to remind myself that it wasn't technically a vacation.  What a business trip though!

In any case, this 200 page photo book was one pricey souvenir at over $100 to publish, but I know it's something that I'll look back on for years to come. Luckily, you can preview the entire book for free online by simply clicking the Blurb link below - same goes for all of my previous photo books.

Singapore by Luke Fandrich | Make Your Own Book