The Raw Blog » design

Pen & Pixel: Art Work From the No Limit Era

dj orion — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 21:35:13 +0000

So my boy Cauze One and I had a brilliant idea recently to throw what is going to be the ‘ghettoest’ party Austin has ever seen. Together with Knuckle Rumbler and us here at Raw Word Records, on July 30th the Scoot Inn will host what will be an epic amalgamation of everything No Limit with a taste of Bounce. But i’m not here to promote the event. When we first came up with the idea I immediately knew that I wanted the flyer to look and feel like the old No Limit records covers. I felt a wave of excitement over come me, “that’s it” i said – ‘ghettotastiklade!!”. This is how i interpreted what I grew up seeing on Cash Money, No Limit, Big Boy and Suave House record covers:

(I think I should note that Cash Money was Pen & Pixels biggest client followed by No Limit then by Big Boy Records and Suave House)

I added my own flavorings with Big Freedia’s gator shawl and bedazzled Cauze One and Orion’s shirts with real diamonds (couldn’t have a No Limit flyer without tanks, cars, asses and shit blowing up either). But it got me thinking. Although nostalgic and, might I say, awesome, my art work isn’t original in concept by any means. I knew I was replicating the throw back album covers but who was responsible for those covers? I may not be the most ethical of internet users but i felt like i needed to find the culprits responsible for an era of crazy photoshopping and give them props.

Upon researching, I not only learned of the history of this ‘bling-bling’ stlye of artwork but I think I have become enamored as well. Shaun Brauch may be the most influencial man of late 90′s hip hop.

(nevermind the silly british guy)

I hope to catch an interview with him soon. With over 19,000 album covers under his belt for his years as Pixel & Pen (note: Pen & Pixel was sold and is no longer owned by Shawn) and two new ventures (Smart Face Media & Creative Resource Management) the man behind it all admits that it was he and B.G. that coined the term “bling-bling”.

The Pen & Pixel story from what I’ve seen Shawn post on several blogs:

The company was sold in 2003, 911 caused major problems for the entertainment field all around, that combined with napster was the final straw. The company at it’s peak (1998-2001) was billing almost 6 million dollars a year and was producing more that 23 covers per week. Yes, some were cheesy, some were insane and some were amazing…but the main thing to remember was PPG was a business enterprise, it’s function was to please the customers…we had thousands of maverick ideas that would have pushed and developed Hip-hop graphics further and faster…but the clients demand for the “same ol’ Bling Bling, Ho’s and cars kept the monster fed.
There is a company out there now that have taken the Pen and Pixel Graphics name, but they are not PPG! There is no one there that has worked for Pen and Pixel. For more information on this company and it’s history…get it form the person that founded the company back in 1992. -Shawn Brauch

There are a lot of question I have about Pen & Pixel and how it ended. There seems to be some controversy regarding the current owner of pixelandpen.com, a company called AKA Studios and Shawn Brauch himself. I hope to get to the bottom of it with some good old fashion conversation but in the mean time I highly recommend you read an interview Shawn did back in 2009. It will motivate you.

Simple Yet Plain

dj orion — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 19:04:54 +0000

Every now again I’ll go on two or three binge on internet searching for new design ideas, strategies or technical tips for using photoshop (illustrator sometimes). It’ll usually, as in this time, starts with a visit to one of my bookmarked sites like ffffound, bittbox or Signal Noise. I pay close attention to detail looking at the shapes, colors, layout mostly on the flyer tip cause that is most of what design. On this occasion I came across something i find quite intriguing and since I it probably wouldn’t use it for any flyers i thought it would be nice to share them.

I want to credit the artist and I think it’s David Pope but you can’t go around trusting the web.

Ryohei Hase

dj orion — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 22:29:43 +0000

If you’re in to rabbits and elephants check out these new pieces from Japanese artist Ryohei Hase done in photoshop if you can believe it. I can’t unless we’re talking wamcom tablet or some ish.

This other one was done by Hase for a group from Toronto Magnolius. Sounds like qwel with aesop rock kind of steez if you’re into that sort of thing.

I Married A Woman

dj orion — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 20:58:45 +0000

High quality movie scans of famous screen stars, mostly from the 1940′s and earlier.

www.doctormacro1.info

Why the long beta?

dj orion — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 22:53:25 +0000

I wonder how many websites there are out there? All these new technologies are mashing and melding to form a more perfect union. Between the social networking sites, the forums, the fancy animation sites and all the boring plain jane html sites out there, i rustled up a list of sites that a) i think will be used by many in the near future, b) offer compelling new technology and/or c) just look good. Enjoy.

This first site www.jingproject.com is so ingenious. Three very simple steps to get going, and it’s a downloadable application. Simply:
* Snap a picture of your screen.
* Record video of onscreen action.
* Share instantly over the web, IM, email.
As the site says it’s free software that adds visuals to your online conversations. This comes in handy when you want to show your homie how to quantize something using FX Pansion Guru or introduce your friends to your process of making a flyer (hint hint). You can record your video and upload it to your flickr account, upload using an ftp server, save it, or copy it to your clipboard to share some where else.
Here’s a screen shot of the program running on my mac:

That’s right is sits quiet in the top corner of your screen. Very unintrusive, indeed simple is beautiful!

The company that makes this www.techsmith.com also makes other screen capturing tools like SnagIt and Camtasia which offer, for a fee, more editing options for those folks that make a ‘living’ off of posting video tutuorials, thank you so much by the way for that.

This next site i found looking through the hundreds of informative posts on www.readwriteweb.com which itself is very handy and should be added to you RSS feeds. The site is still in Beta meaning you have to be invited to use, so I actually haven’t been able to try it out yet although I’m pretty excited about it. The site: www.rockdex.com. I really can’t explain it better than the actual site does so in quotes:
What is RockDex Pro?

RockDex Pro is a revolutionary web application that tracks 1000′s of music websites and collects data on any artist, such as blog posts, tweets, plays, and much more.

RockDex analyzes and presents the information to you in one convenient dashboard that gives you a high level view of what is happening online with the artists that are important to you.

Drill down into your data to discover trends, gauge the effectiveness of your marketing, and find out what your fans are saying–and where they are saying it. RockDex Pro helps you capitalize on a valuable and too often overlooked asset: Your Data. Plug in and sign up now!

Although when you go to sign up it informs you of the very sad fact that it’s in Beta. It does offer a glimpse of hope however, saying it will send you an invite code! This looks like a useful tool for Artists, Labels, Managers, Booking Agents, A&R Reps and Publicists. The folks that made this also made www.musicarsenal.com.
Here are screenshots from the video on their site:

And you can upload a song to their soundcloud account and they’ll let you know if you rock!

Lastly, for today, CargoCollective.com. This is from their site:
Cargo is a web publishing (CMS) and community-building platform currently in development. It powers a variety of creative communities in the fields of Education, Design, Research, and Conceptual Art. To apply for an account contact us here.
Cargo evolved out of the system that runs the SpaceCollective community. We found it remarkably successful and efficient in creating visual content on the web, placing a strong emphasis on design, layout, image quality and typography. Our goal is to dramatically increase the accessibility and exposure of creative individuals on the Internet, while aspiring to build a networked context that will contribute to the culture as a whole.

Like the previous site it is in Beta or as they call it ‘pre-release’ which looks like it means, if we think you’re good enough we might hook you up with an account. I like their taste though so good job.
Let me just hit you with some images then you go scroll the illness!

Raspberry Criminal!!

dj orion — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 22:03:48 +0000

I worked a long time on these flyers and I think they are favorite series.

here is the rsvp link on do512 – http://do512.com/event/2009/08/01/raspberry-criminal-michael-jackson-vs-prince

http://knucklerumbler.com

Digital Engineer Dat!

dj orion — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 22:11:57 +0000

I’m secretly a complete graphical junky and it’s getting worse and more addictive by the day. I have had a couple days off in a row and have spent my time researching the who’s who of the graphical design world. I know there’s a million designers out there, some in my own town in fact that inspire me and keep me on my toes. Lydia Reynolds is one local artists that I look up to, soon to reside in New York. Jorge aka Abominatron, is another guy I like (he’s in New York now but he’s a transplant of Austin (what’s with the ATX NY connection?).

Lately I’ve been digging on this dude James White.

You can find all his works through his website Signalnoise.com.

You can check a couple of my pieces on my newly started flickr page.