Motorcycles and web sites have almost nothing in common. Almost. As designers and planners we are naturally drawn to most things of beauty and motorcycles are certainly no exception. The lines, dynamics, matte black to chrome finishes, and the highly detailed paint jobs all serving the roaring engine underneath have duelling qualities to what we do everyday – just a bit more rugged I suppose.

I remember when American Choppers premiered in the dawn of reality TV shows in the early 2000′s. Dismissing most reality TV as worthless time wasters, this show stood out to me. How unique that it was a real business, already operating vs. fabricated for television, that had this angtsy father-son dynamic that propelled a human curiosity in tandem with the next cool motorcycle they were going to build. I’ve been an avid fan ever since.

At Treble Red we know we have a pretty cool thing going. Meetings over coffee in the morning and libations in the afternoon, ever-present internet access, designing and developing web sites and applications for always changing companies and purposes. It really doesn’t get old. But, the grass is always greener and there is always a tinge of jealousy in the thought that finishing and launching a new web site, no matter how cool, just isn’t the same as doing 65 on the open road on your latest project. For that I salute the guys of American Chopper on their success and the road they’ve taken to achieve it. I’m sure it wasn’t easy, but I’m betting it was fun.

* photo credits: Discovery Network

One creation from a few seasons back was the Mercedes Benz AMG inspired "AMG". It was a great episode, and though not their most radical creation, it truly captured the essence of Benz.

* photo credits: Orange County Choppers

Tonight is the season premiere of American Chopper: Senior vs. Junior. Although this new twist with the Sr. vs. Jr. rivalry isn’t my favorite I will say the producers have at least kept it about the bikes, for the most part. I hope the family finds resolution this season but what I’m sure of is the 2-wheeled creations to come will inspire.

www.dsc.discovery.com/tv/american-chopper

www.orangecountychoppers.com

www.pauljrdesigns.com

Over the holidays, I took a screen printing class at a local small press in Denver called Ink Lounge. I made 9 custom designed calendars, with shiny purple and orange inks on colored paper. It was a refreshing break from my computer, where I spent 90% of 2010 communicating, designing, modeling, animating, and going cross-eyed and hunch-backed.

There is a fantastic movement I’ve noticed as creatives are temporarily abandoning their computers and reuniting with paper, ink and graphite, paint, and cameras (sometimes with FILM!) A lot of this physical creativity is finding its way back into the digital realm, producing beautiful, tangible video and interactive.

Certainly, the thrill of modern special effects in film, and the power of the internet and robust software and hardware, make it difficult to turn away from everything computer generated.

But there is a magic in turning pages through a book of sketches. It feels personal, even private. It feels precious.

[Sketchbooks of Jonathan Harris]

Jonathan Harris (www.wefeelfine.com) recently spoke for AIGA’s “Gain” series about his transition from the artist who draws with a pencil to an artist who creates with code. He described his vision, entering the realm of interactive design, as an effort to bring back the “level of humanity that a sketchbook used to have.”

Bryce Wymer, Senior Art Director at Digital Kitchen, is a prolific illustrator. He captures unusual portraits of people, real and imagined, in a raw, sometimes primitive style. Digital Kitchen attests “We make stuff from scratch, hands on.”
http://brycewymer.blogspot.com/



[Sketchbook of Bryce Wymer]

Rick Morris, an incredible illustrator, inspired me to get into motion design. He adopts a tool much beloved by myself, and incidentally, the current teenage population: The trusted black Sharpie. He describes himself as a “constant scribbler” and this helps fuel his motion work. He says he’ll “just sit and fill up a page” with “thoughts, scribbles, conjectures.” Sketching is the first stage, Software is the second stage. www.nobleassassins.com

[Rick Morris, photo by Lynda.com]

A while back I tried to get back the spontaneous sketching I used to do in a notebook. I called it my “iPhone Portrait Gallery,” where I quickly documented fellow bus riders on my commute. It’s a bit of a cheat since not on paper (more like digital finger painting), and it sure ain’t Bryce Wymer, but it was an attempt to get back the spontaneity of the art of the sketch. You can check it out here:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=15806&id=1379651858&l=2a2fa243ae

I recently read about this endeavor in Esquire’s "Best of 2010" issue while travelling last week. Being an avid Johnny Cash fan I couldn’t wait to get back online to check it out. TheJohnnyCashProject.com absolutely didn’t disappoint.

So it’s like this. Johnny has a final release coming out called "Ain’t No Grave". It’s incredible of course. In an effective measure to bring life to the title track post Johnny Cash’s departure an idea was born to create portal that connects the fans of Johnny from around the world. This portal enables users to select from a series of still images from the artist, and then use online drawing tools to create their very own drawing which is then added, without delay, to the actual music video playing online. We here at Treble Red created a frame of the video which is shown in this posts preview image – it’s an abstract.

Here’s a snap shot of the video in motion. You can pause it to inspect individual frames any time during the video.

The concept was created and developed by several, but namely a gentlemen named Chris Milk. The website was done by Radical Media.

Projects like this that connect art and digital in real time, real ways, with real people are so fresh and exciting to us here in the office. Not too shabby getting to hear the new Johnny Cash track either…

www.thejohnnycashproject.com