Japanese Ramen Bars Have More Perks Than Simply Great Food... There Are Numerous Perfect Pictures Just
Japanese ramen bars have more perks than simply great food... there are numerous perfect pictures just waiting to be captured.
More Posts from Artificelux and Others
Prose + Soundtrack + Art = Color of a Mirror
^ this is what this project is all about ^
The newest in my motion design previews, incorporating one of my favorite descriptions in the book, a Vangelis-level soundtrack moment from Josh McCausland (song titled “The Taste Was Blue”), and some brutalist artwork (also by me)… multiple disciplines coming together into a single experience.
If this multi-sensory approach intrigues you or if you just want to support an independent publishing venture that strives to upend the norm and the status quo, I’d be thrilled if you’d check out the Kickstarter project link below.
Ends the day after Cyberpu… I mean, Cyber Monday.
About a year ago now is when Josh McCausland and I first wrapped production of the Color of a Mirror soundtrack, and sent it off for pressing! (The above photo is an abstract shot of the first test pressing sleeve.)
After the post the other day about the Full Moon Bundle (containing the limited vinyl release) I wanted to take a moment of special mention for this soundtrack and what it means to me.
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One of my biggest loves (and frustrations) of a show or video game is the music. When it’s done right, it’s one of those things that gives you chills, and you can’t wait to return to that universe, can’t wait to hear that title card music at the start of the next episode. (Like launching the original Mass Effect and hearing that menu music.) On the flip side, it can derail the whole experience for me… or at least make it far less memorable, because music often sets the scene for me.
This extends to when I’m writing, as well. Depending on the mood or the emotion, I’ll find different songs that fit that character or scene. And then lots of times, I’ll have that selection on repeat for a few days. Haha.
So being able to collaborate with a composer on the sound of this dark cyberpunk universe I’d been writing for a handful of years, trying to pull on all those ambient/sci-fi/industrial influences but also create something that felt new, something that could be listened to while you’re reading or on its own… it was really an amazing experience, and I couldn’t be prouder of what we came up with!
It all started with just two images that I sent to Josh; I said, “This is the vibe.” (He hadn’t read the book at that point, and I was thinking he was just going to make a single promo song for me.) When he came back to me with about ten different options, making it super difficult to choose, I knew the project had to be a full album. Iterating back and forth with him and seeing his process, taking some of those initial hooks and tying them together… so much fun!
The title track “Color of a Mirror” was one of those original concepts that I just couldn’t get enough of. The sound for the rest of the album was really born there, I think.
All in all, it’s such an honor to see my vision of this novel through someone else’s skill and expertise in an entirely different discipline. Such a pleasure, and I cannot wait to work on Vol. 2 together!
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Check out the soundtrack on Bandcamp to give Josh some love:
(Also available on major streaming platforms.)
And if you want to check out the book as well, head over to my website.
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Thanks for reading!
-Daniel
Night Sky
Have you ever seen the Milky Way...
The Milky Way with naked eye?
Where all these other Earthly lights
Don't push and pull to cloud the sky?
The dusty trail
Like speckled paint...
In barren places
All but faint.
From nothing--Life.
From life--Nothing.
Can’t think of a much better way to celebrate one year of this project, than by getting to see a review for COLOR OF A MIRROR in print for the first time! And in the indie section of Publishers Weekly no less!
Written, designed, published, and sold by me.
Thanks to BookLife for the review, and thank you always to the Kickstarter backers who helped make this possible (and to everyone who’s picked up the book since then).
colorofamirror.net
TONIC (n.) - Badass, cybernetically-enhanced, industro-punk star of the dark future.
A WIP of my previous line-drawing post, this is my newest artwork for Color of a Mirror, featuring my main character!
Really trying to stick to my love of minimal, restricted color palettes (plus leaving it mostly black-and-white fits the noir feel of the book). A lot of work for me to figure out the lighting and materials--and then leaving her cybernetic arm disconnected was a late decision; I really like the asymmetry it provides, but I also love how it fits with her character arc.
This armor she's wearing is part of her concert attire, a reclaimed outer-space exosuit painted in a red-glow-in-the-dark finish. It's a piece of her character that I've always had an idea in my head of what it would look like, and to be able to finally visualize it like this is so much fun.
More progress to come on this.
(Painted entirely in Photoshop, with some 3D lighting reference work in Daz3D.)
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If you want to see Tonic's vibe from a music perspective, I have an ever-evolving playlist on Spotify. Periodically, if I hear something new that feels like her, I'll add it in, but overall I try to keep the flow nice.
And if you haven't had chance to read the book, there are still physical copies of the first printing or e-book, both available through my website.
Main Title Design: Lesson 3.
For this assignment, we were tasked with creating six narrative frames with typography using only a limited set of 40 images. The film is a documentary about the Apollo mission. I used only 6 of those images, in my effort to create a set of modern minimal titles.
Instead of going for the sepia-faded, old-film look, I really wanted everything to have a strong black level, to make it feel more modern, (perhaps more like how the movie Gravity made me feel about outer space). However, I didn't want to completely do away with a nod to the past, to the "Golden Age" of space exploration, so the opening frames are very warm as the sun breaks around the edge of a hidden planet. It evokes a more mysterious energy, more like a sci-fi movie, speaking to discovery and unknown worlds.
As we begin to pan across the planet, we see the Command Module hanging in orbit around the planet. It's moving towards us slightly, even as we pan further to the left of it. As it grows larger in our field of vision, preparing to pass by on the right side of the screen, the camera pulls back through a window, and we realize we are in the Lunar Module, seeing through the eyes of one of the astronauts.
The camera pans away from the first window, settling on the smaller "approach" window. At first the view through that portal is blurred, focusing instead on the numbers on the glass. But once we move beyond that glass, the moon is passing by, filling our vision, until finally, we settle on the final frame. This last shot mirrors and inverts the first frame, contrasting the warm glow of exploration and expectations of 1960s space exploration with the colder, harsher reality that is outer space.
As for why I chose the "side" view of the moon, instead of putting it at the bottom of the shot... simply put, it's not a view we see as much in film and other media. And the truth is, there is no up or down in space, so the views aren't grounded in the planet's surface being beneath your feet.
The font is "Impact Label Regular." I chose it in an attempt to replicate the old-style label machines that created the raised labels for technical systems and buttons back in the 60s and 70s. The font also evokes the feel of classified documents, riddled with black redaction marks. The Apollo missions were all part of the space race and NASA's battle with the Soviet Union (not to mention the strong undercurrents of the Cold War). The science and research documents behind the rockets and computer systems were highly classified materials, and so I wanted to make sure to include an homage to this atmosphere.
(via Homework - 3. A Controlled Experiment)
@ashthorp
“Stellar System.” (AKA “Crying Wolf.”)
Taking the expoart idea and doing it bigger.
