Category Archives: Uncategorized

All work, no play – a very dull girl?

Posted by Angie on

Well, what a busy old month I’ve had! I’ve crossed several time zones and been on more flights than I care to mention. But all for good reason.

Earlier this month I went to Gratz to record an After Effects training DVD for the amazing folks at Video2Brain. It was really good to be back providing training for After Effects again. I’ve been looking for a new method of delivery since I stopped updating my “Creative After Effects” books and Video2Brain provide the perfect vehicle for it. I’ll also be recording some Video2Brain titles for our very own GridIron Flow soon and will keep you posted on that one too. The DVD is available for pre-order now. 10 hours of me and Adobe’s own Todd Kopriva teaching you all we know about our favorite motion graphics application, Adobe After Effects CS5! Order it today and save 37% off!

GridIron Software have been very supportive too. It’s so refreshing to work for a company that actively encourages employees to keep real contact with the creative industry it services. I must say it’s too rare. There are so many occasions where I’ve seen creative people join software companies, only to be consumed totally by the business aspect of their job till eventually they struggle to use the products in a creative way or even understand the customers requirements. I’m very grateful to GridIron Software for having the foresight to avoid these problems and for allowing me to remain in touch with the creative aspects of my role.

I’m also happy to report that Adobe have also adopted a similar approach. I shared the training delivery with the amazing Todd Kopriva from Adobe. Together we recorded almost 18 hours of video based training in just over a week. It was intense but very rewarding. I really enjoyed working with Todd so thanks to Adobe too for allowing him to be involved in such a great project.

So I left Gratz, via Frankfurt, got home to Brighton and slept for a few hours and was then whisked off to Ottawa (via Halifax) the next day to meet with my new colleagues at GridIron Software. It was really great to meet the new team and have some face to face time with colleagues that I usually only meet remotely with.

On my way to the airport after four days of meetings I was then kidnapped by my friends and taken to a lovely cottage in the Canadian wilderness for a perfect wind-down weekend of swimming, fishing, eating and campfire singing. It felt very good to finally have some time off after four consecutive weeks of work.

I finally got home last Tuesday and it’s taken me a whole week to unpack and settle back into home life. It’s good to be home and be able to focus on my work again.

The influence of Punk

Posted by Angie on
Angie Taylor - Art School ID card

Angie Taylor - Art School ID card

I was asked on Twitter to write a blog about the early days of Punk in the UK and it’s influence on the world of design. I, probably more than most, am influenced strongly by the punk movement that started in the seventies in New York and London. I was 12 when it all started to kick off in the UK with the Sex Pistols and their entourage, the Bromley Contingent causing joyful havoc in the UK media.

Before the punk scene things had become very sterile and safe. Politically, the UK was in a mess with regular strikes and power cuts disrupting everyday life. The music scene was drowning in boring “prog rock” and endless, indulgent guitar solos. Something had to give!

Then along came the idea that you didn’t have to put up with what you were being spoon-fed. The disillusioned youth of Great Britain realized they could make their own music, art, magazines and fashion. Using the influence of the New York underground music scene (Patti Smith, The New York Dolls, Richard Hell, Iggy Pop, Velvet Underground, The Ramones) the kids of the UK took it upon themselves to create a whole new genre and to revolutionize a complete culture in a way that had never been done before (or has ever been done since).

As you can imagine, this was a really exciting time for a teenager to grow up. It wasn’t really till 1977 that I got hooked into the Punk scene. I loved it! Before then I was an awkward, funny-looking, scruffy, Tom-boyish kid with glasses who didn’t really fit in. I survived at school by being the class clown, and that way avoided any physical abuse from my fellow classmates, but I was regularly ridiculed for being “the outsider”. Suddenly with the Punk scene I could belong! It’s ironic, isn’t it, that the movement that purported to be all about being different, and not caring what other folks thought, became a lifeline of acceptance to kids who didn’t fit in anywhere else. It wasn’t that we wanted to be different, and didn’t care, it’s that we cared and desperately wanted to belong to anyone who’d have us. It’s human nature to want to feel like part of a gang, or a movement.

Anyway, inevitably, the vultures descended, and what started as a revolutionary, do-it-yourself, creative movement turned into just yet another fashion. Mainstream media quickly gobbled it up and spat it out as a kind of bastardized version of what it one was, and things have never been quite the same again.

However, the marks and influences of the punk movement are still alive and kicking today. Next week I’ll look at some of the deigns of today that were influenced by this movement.

Angie’s Punk shuffle Track of the day – Anarchy in the UK – The Sex Pistols, listen free on Last FM

My new job with Gridiron Software

Posted by Angie on

An Overview of Flow

On December the 8th I start work with Gridiron Software as their European Creative Director.

It’s all very exciting and scary at the same time. Big changes for me but I’m really ready for a new challenge and this role seems ideal as it incorporates a creative role with software design and development – so it’s right up my street.

I start in December and will be full-time with GI but they are still allowing me to take on creative projects as part of the deal. I will also still be able to offer my services as a demo artist to other companies on a partner basis.

Part of my job will be promoting a brand-new, revolutionary software product named Flow. I’m very excited about Flow as there’s nothing else quite like it out there and I reckon it will change the people connect with software.

I’d love to hear some feedback about Flow from anyone in the industry so if you get a chance to check it out please follow this link.

http://www.gridironsoftware.com/Flow

Thoughts

Posted by Angie on

OK, it’s been a while since I posted a blog, I’ve been really busy trying to reinvent myself again! The last year has been an odd one. I decided to take a few months off from doing international events after IBC 2007, due to sheer exhaustion. But just as I was ready to return, Adobe made major changes in terms of events and marketing. Unfortunately, as a result, most of the freelancers in the UK (including myself) have lost a lot of UK-based demo work. Freelancers in the UK region have had to find alternative sources of income to replace this work.

Luckily there still seem to be a few companies in need of freelance demo artists so I am still doing the odd demo here and there;

IBC

 

NAB Europe

But on the whole the slow down in demo work has been a good thing as it has encouraged me to get more involved in the creative pursuits that I have been studiously avoiding due to fear of failure! I’m now concentrating my time on writing my new book (which is not software based but still related to the industry) and teaching at Sussex Downs college and the University of Brighton. I’m also working on my own creative project when I can find time and am still doing freelance After effects work for production companies in the London/South East area.

Anyway, I’m looking for a bit of feedback regarding how many people in the digital media industry have traditional art or design training (art college or similar). Please feel free to respond to this post with a little info regarding the job you do, and how you got into the industry. Thanks for any responses,

Angie x

Adobe Seminar Stockholm and Copenhagen

Posted by Angie on

Well, I’m just back from a whirlwind tour of Scandinavia.

I did a talk in each city on adobe’s production Premium software. The crowds were very nice and friendly and I’m hoping to go back there soon.

Thanks to Max Hagelstam for his wonderful organisation. And thanks to Pierre and Jonas for sharing lunch with us.

I will be posting the “Dancing bottles” tutorial on my website in April for anyone to download.

Please subscribe to my RSS feed on my Blip.tv account to recieve this when it is posted.

Angie Taylor at Blip.tv

You can subscribe using Adobe Media Player.

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all the best!

Angie

Flash on the Beach 2007 – report

Posted by Angie on

Wow, what a great conference, very inspiring. I even got home tonight and started teaching myself processing!! I must say I’m hooked but am trying to decide what kind of scripting/ programming to concentrate on. My choice is Java script, expressions in AE, Action Script or Processing. Any advice would be gratefully accepted!

http://processing.org/ 

my favorite things from FOTB;

http://www.inthemod.com/inthemod.html 

http://www.quasimondo.com/ 

http://www.complexification.net/ 

Enjoy and please feel free to comment,

Angie

MacLive Expo Report

Posted by Angie on

Well I’ve just returned from MacLive Expo in London where I was proud to be demonstrating Wacom’s brand new Cintiq 12 WX which one a “Best of Show” award.

http://www.macworld.co.uk/mac/news/index.cfm?newsid=19489

There wasn’t much else on show that was very impressive, sadly the show was lacking in the big players like Adobe and Apple but the show did feel more like a Pro show than in the previous 2 years. I’m hoping that next year it will be back to it’s full glory, it would be a real shame not to have a pro Mac show in the UK.

http://www.wacom-europe.com/index2.asp?lang=en&pid=96

I also demo’ed Luxology’s Modo 3D modelling software;

http://www.luxology.com/whatismodo/

and Corel Painter for the first time;

http://www.corel.com/servlet/Satellite/gb/en/Product/1166553885783?lc=en&pagename=CorelCom%2FLayout&trkid=ukgoogpainterq406

I’m now hooked on both!