The Enfineitz Blog

It has been a long time since I updated the news at Enfineitz. This is a good thing, as it reflects a season of increased productivity.

I have just returned from my fifth visit to Japan. This time, as with others, I traveled there to direct a film.

I’m a core member of Studio Re:, a grassroots not-for-profit film studio tasked with making positive films within Japanese culture and lifestyle.

I’m not Japanese, so I go there as a gaijin film director. I collaborate with many talented people, ex-patriots and Japanese nationals alike.

The project I worked on this time was a documentary about a live collaboration between a wadaiko group and a black gospel choir. See more about this in my blog post: http://enfineitz.com/wp/?p=366

This week I’ll be finishing up Intelligent Utility July/August 2009. Since my travel to Japan was almost smack in the middle of the scheduled production for this publication, I will have to double-time it to catch up.

I will also continue to design the new website I’ve worked on since April for Maxcomm. I am collaborating with my good friend Dru Shockley to take my skills and creativity to new heights with this high-profile client referred to us by Yale University, another client.

I’ve also been commissioned by Scott Kronberg of Boll Creative to create an original editorial illustration. Should be a fun project.

I believe my work will become a bit less busy in July, as some of the bigger projects have been completed.

Still shot captured from one of the stage cameras of the wadaiko group Matsuriza and the Hallelujah Gospel Family in Tokyo, June 20, 2009

This past week I had the extraordinary honor of being the director of a documentary film exploring the collaboration of a traditional wadaiko group and black gospel at a live music event in Tokyo.

I’ve been working with a grassroots film studio in Tokyo for the past year. The first film I directed was called My Stunt Double (I made an earlier post about it in this blog), which is now in final post-production. The studio is called Studio Re:, and it is tasked with making great short films which bring a positive message to the Japanese.

The event seen in this photo was the result of some conversations between the Tokyo-based Hallelujah Gospel Family Group and the head of Studio Re:, Paul Nethercott.

Saturday, June 20, 2009, was the day we shot the big concert. We had four cameras and operators, and they were connected to me through a communications link and a four-way monitor. In addition, we had two fixed cameras shooting direct to hard drives as a backup.

The film is supported by a series of interviews which explore the roots of the two very different styles of music, and what led to this eventual and amazing fusion.

Not only has the music created a powerful and original piece, but the anthropological background explored in the interviews will make for a stimulating experience.

I hope to finish post-production by September, 2009. With the captured footage I need, now adding up to 220 gigabytes, I will need to assemble a multi-lingual dialogue with subtitles for both languages, and arrange the narrative to culminate in an intense visual and aural feast.

Stay tuned!

Sea anenome at Beach 2 on the pacific coast of Washington State, April 2009

I confess I have been negligent to my blog. It has been about a month since my last post.

Not that there has not been anything to write about. On the contrary, I’ve been busier than normal.
I definitely feel a deep sympathy and concern for the millions of Americans who are without work while our economy purges the imbalances from the past 15 years. I am happily and mercifully employed and able to pay the bills. I think my sentiment is “there, but for the grace of God, go I.”

In the past 30 days I have completed an issue of EnergyBiz, Intelligent Utility, launched the first print edition of LBx Journal, and redesigned a website for a new client.

In the next 30 days I will travel to San Jose to attend the Where 2.0 conference, which coincides with the launch of a new enterprise I share with my partners Myrna and Natasha. The website goes live at the end of this month. It is an innovative new editorial website with a strong social networking framework, tailored for the a special elite industry. I’ll also be going back to Japan to direct another film for Studio Re:, this time a documentary about the fusion of Black Gospel and Wadaiko. Within this 30 days I’ll also finish a print edition of Health Elevations, EnergyBiz and Intelligent Utility.

Hopefully I’ll be able to take a vacation to recharge within that time.

Tide pools at Beach 4 on the Pacific coast of Washington state. 2009

This week is, again, very busy.

Uberzeckretprojekt is moving along, aiming for a May 20 launch date. We’re currently examining several mockups I am composing of the home page, which will be the basis for templates for the whole site.

I’m also closing on the finish line of the other project, another Uberzeckretprojekt (code for I can’t talk about it by name). We’ve been working on this since February, and had originally planned an April 6 launch. Now we have beta testing scheduled for April 20.

I’m starting Intelligent Utililty May/June 2009 as well. I’ve gotten a head start on the cover illustration, and have been able to stay on schedule with editorial production. Again I’ve solicited artists from Debut Art in the UK to illustrate the other two features I do not do.

It may seem like nepotism for me to always do the cover art and cover story illustrations. I think the real driving factor is my need to maintain a tight budget. If I do the cover story illustrations, my client, Energy Central, pays about 50% of what it would cost in the marketplace. This allows me to just barely finish the issue within budget.

I also enjoy doing the art, though.

I’m finishing EnergyBiz May/June 2009 this week. It’s been a long production cycle, but it’s also been efficient.

Brenda Casserly, president and CEO of ERA Real Estate, as photographed by Melinda DiMauro in New Jersey, February 2008.

I learned this week that the President and CEO of ERA Real Estate, Brenda Casserly, passed away. According to the blog of Sherry Chris, CEO of Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate, Brenda lost her courageous battle with cancer about April 1.

I had the opportunity to work with Brenda when we featured her on the cover of LORE magazine for March/April 2008. The photo shoot was at Realogy headquarters in Parsipanny, New Jersey, February 1, 2008.

The photographer for this story was Melinda DiMauro, a talented vendor I have worked with with excellent results on several assignments.

We worked together to present Brenda in an aura of grace. In this photo, we had moved the production to her country club. We found some nice curtains on the windows of a large ballroom. I had the idea to grab the curtains and let them drop behind her, which, with the right shutter speed and body language, could give the appearance of butterfly or angel wings.

It was an appropriate representation, and truly captured her personality. I feel it is a heartfelt requiem to a wonderful and influential person.

An information graphic for the latest issue of EnergyBiz, still in production.

I have a love-hate relationship with information graphics.

They are seductive because they are engaging and stimulating in the creation process.

They are evil because they look and seem to be so simple, but are really a time management black hole.

The image to the left is a great example. In the bi-monthly periodical EnergyBiz, which I have worked on since day one, in November 2004, we have a department titled Metrics, which shows anywhere from four to eight information graphics. Usually these are just tables, various charts, scatter graphs, and the like. The editor often encourages more illustrative graphics like this example.

The reason I consider them a time management black hole is because when I start work on one, it seems so simple to make the point, and use good color harmony and composition and typography to make it effective and remarkable. And it seems like it could be done in around 30 minutes. 

Four hours later, when you step back and consider it good, you realize you’ve spent half of your work day on it.

I’ve considered charging a premium for quality information graphics. It could be lucrative to create them full-time.

Lichen in Olympia, Priest Point Trail, 2007

This week I return to the race.

EnergyBiz May/June 2009 is in the heat of production, but has been staying on schedule.

The review of the special website for a certain Ivy League school is complete, with some positive feedback. There are a lot of changes before we are at full functionality, and I’ve adjusted the schedule to accommodate some further modifications.

We’re ramping up for the global launch what I’ve been called Uberzeckretprojekt, a new editorial enterprise I am a partner of. My partners are Myrna James Yoo and Natasha Leger. We’re depending on the very skilled web development firm Western Ascent to get this complex project up and running. The website and a print journal will be available in late May.

I’m also finalizing Health Elevations Spring 2009, and getting a head start on the cover story illustration for Intelligent Utility May/June 2009.

Thankfully I’m staying sufficiently busy in this tempermental economy.

For the latest issue of Intelligent Utility, I hired UK-based illustrator Nick Reddyhoff to illustrate a feature about demad response.

Nick is represented by Debut Art, which has been a source of elite talent for Intelligent Utility since we launched the first issue in January 2009.

Nick’s style is fresh and original, still on the cutting edge of vector-style illustration dominating a lot of the editorial market today. This style is particularly characteristic of UK magazines and design.

A hermit crab cha-cha, Costa Rica, 2007

This week brings a slight reprieve for the intesity if the last week or two.

Finished is Intelligent Utility March/April 2009.

Starting this week is EnergyBiz May/June 2009. I typically budget 10 working days for an editorial cycle like this, but it is optimized for magazines under 100 pages.

I’ve got Tacoma illustrator Stan Shaw working on the cover package for this issue, and Durango, CO, illustrator Bryan Peterson doing the second feature.

Another cause of my reprieve is the client review of Health Elevations Spring 2009, which will be returned to me for corrections at the end of this week.

I also have the website I’ve been creating with Dru Shockley for a certain Ivy-League school being reviewed by the senior leadership this week. When that is done, we’ll be back to full fever pitch and closing in on the finish line.

Illustration for LORE Magazine, January/February 2008

In November of 2007, I was researching illustrators for an editorial package in LORE magazine about a once-in-a-lifetime meeting of real estate giants Wes Foster and Dave Liniger.

I went through my usual keyword search on The iSpot.com and AltPick.

When I found the work of Graham Smith, there was no doubt that I had found the right person for the assignment.

Graham’s work is gritty and rough, but reveals deep character. He is able to capture the personalities of his likenesses with exaggerated features and body language.

His technique is secret, though I did quiz  him about what I guessed his approach was. I respect his “secret recipe,” as I wouldn’t want to copy this. I think the secret ingredient is a little artistic genius, with a pinch of insanity mixed in.

I’m looking forward to the right project to assign him to. I have no doubt that I experience exceeded expectations.

Look at more of Graham’s work at www.grahamsmithillustration.com.