better kommunikation

ROLLING STONE GAVE PAPER ROUTE GOOD WORDS

2009-05-18T02:37:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite band, Paper Route, got a really good review, and also responses from RollingStone.com for their major label album Absence. I have listened to the album for the 10th time now, in a row. Yeah it is that good. While you are at it get their EPs too, they are incredible. And while we are still talking about them, if you can please do yourself a favor and go to one of their show. I guarantee that it will, it WILL, blow your pants off. They out such a beautiful on stage performance. I went to one of their show in DC, when they opened for Boston's dance pop band Passion Pit, and honestly, Passion Pit's live performance didn't even stand a chance in compare to Paper Route's. So yeah check the article here.

ANDREW ZUCKERMAN PHOTOGRAPHY

2009-05-10T22:44:00.000-07:00

Who could take a more gorgeous picture of a lion than Andrew Zuckerman? No one. His latest work is called "Wisdom". It's a set of a portrait book and a 60-minute film DVD of the interview. Check him out here.

TILT-SHIFT VIDEO

2009-04-11T22:04:00.000-07:00

This is a pretty neat video using the tilt-shift camera technique.

JOHN, MATT, AND JAMES

2009-04-02T09:31:00.000-07:00

I am surrounded by amazing talents. These are some of the latest photos by John Carl and Matt Addington. If somebody asks me if I know a good photographer, their name would be the first that will come up to my mind. The talent that became their subject is my friend James Treadwell. He is a singer and songwriter that is about to come up with his debut CD soon. Amazing guy with amazing talent, check here to listen to some of his music.

NEW WORK

2009-02-04T15:19:00.000-08:00

Hams Restaurant:
This is a collaboration work of me, Daniel Jones, Glauco Lima, and Oliver Sherret. More stuff from this project will be posted soon.

Freedom 4/24
A logo for a non-profit organization named Freedom 4/24. Their goal is to educate and help girls that are trapped in the prostitution ring across Thailand to find a better life. You could find out more about it here.

VIDEO WORK

2009-01-13T07:34:00.000-08:00

A video work using stop motion action for Stimulus Advertising.

TOP TEN LISTS (MOVIES, MUSICS, FOUND STUFF)

2008-12-24T07:41:00.000-08:00

Everybody is doing it so I don't want to be left out. Lets get this started.

Top 10 Albums of 2008:
10. Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
9. Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles
8. Lykke Li - Youth Novels
7. Little Joy - Little Joy
6. Kanye West - 808s & Heartbreak
5. Bloc Party - Intimacy
4. Lisa Hannigan - Sea Sew
3. Fleet Foxes - Ragged Wood
2. Jon Foreman - The EPs
1. Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago

Top 10 Movies of 2008:
10. Kungfu Panda
9. JCVD
8. Iron Man
7. Kabluey
6. Be Kind Rewind
5. Son of Rambow
4. American Gangster
3. Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who
2. The Dark Knight
1. Wall-E

Top 10 Found of 2008:
10. Michael Chabon's The Yiddish Policemen's Union
9. Ms. Gretchen Nash
8. Canadian's Olympic Team Sweatshirt
7. Gemma Booth and Xevi Muntane Photography
6. The Grid System Design - Khoi Vinh's Subtraction
5. Julien Vallee Paper Art
4. The Office Halloween Intro
3. Stephen Colbert v. Jon Stewart v. Conan O'Brien
2. Anna Wolf Photography
1. Stephen Colbert v. Kanye West

PHOTOSHOOT

2008-11-30T10:47:00.001-08:00

I was helping one of my friend with his project and I got carried away just a little bit.

KANYE WEST, THE KILLERS & JUSTICE

2008-11-26T07:26:00.000-08:00

It is turkey time. But I am not gonna even start talking about that. I am gonna talk about three things that I have been waiting for. Kanye West's "808s & Heartbreak", The Killers' "Day & Age", and the long-awaited Justice's "A Cross the Universe".

Let's start with Kanye's "808s & Heartbreak". Kanye is one of my favorite artist/musician ever. He might not be my favorite person in the music business, but I must admit that he is one of the rapper that is brave enough to experiment and break the mold of rap music. And fortunately, he did it quiet well in this CD. I was also surprised that in this album the lyrics are quiet good. Well for some people, the word 'good' for rap music could be an overstatement, but I am just saying that the lyrics is way better than the typical "shake that thing and i'm gonna tap that thing," or "look at my grills because i'm so fly." One thing that I love from this CD is the aspect of unpredictability of each one of the songs. The patterns, the beats, the sounds are just so unique and unconventional. Another thing is, the melody, I love it! Kanye sings in it, although I am 100% sure that he is going to suck at singing these songs live, but on the album it's pretty remarkable. Kanye posted the whole album on his myspace, give it a listen and tell me what you think.
Then, The Killers' "Day & Age". Hmm man, let's just say that I have been listening to more 808s than Day & Age. I like it, but it is one of those things that takes awhile to seep in. The first four tracks are amazing, especially Human and Spaceman, but after that the whole album just feels so platonic. I am sure that I will like it more as I listen more to it.And I just watched Justice's "A Cross the Universe" last night. My feelings toward it is a little bit so-so. There are too much drama in it, it's almost like watching "Paris Hilton New BFF", or any of those MTV style reality TV-shows. It almost kinda ruined my love for them but nonetheless they are still pretty bad-a__. And they put some amazing footage from their live shows there in the DVD.

SUPPORT CARE for AIDS

2008-11-19T19:39:00.000-08:00

The new Care for AIDS t-shirt that I did the design for has arrived. Support them. Check out the cause at www.careforaids.com.

SOME UNNECESSARY PHOTOS OF MY ROOM

2008-10-26T01:22:00.000-07:00

I just put bunch of music related graphic stuff on my wall this morning right after I got up.
I didn't even plan it. Turned out pretty nice. I like it.

THE COMEBACK

2008-10-15T20:09:00.001-07:00

So.. it has been a long time. Here are some the things I have done since the last time I was here.
I'll do some more shenanigans later. About to launch my own clothing line.

SLUG: A TRAGIC STORY

2008-07-14T05:09:00.000-07:00

So a couple of days ago after a long day of work
I got back home and went to the bathroom.
There, straight across of me,
in the middle of one of the bathtub wall, was a slug.
The first thing that came up to my mind was not disgust,
or any freaking-out-related expression.
It was,
"how the heck did he end up there?"
It's probably because
I had been staring this slug for 15 minutes,
and he only moved for about an inch.
Man, it must took him forever to get there.
So I picked him up with one of my finger,
it was squishy and slimy. It feels weird and unique.
It's a snail without the shell.
Then I flushed him in the toilet.
What a waste of life.
Sorry.
But I think he is still alive.

I HAVE BEEN CUT IN HALF

2008-07-07T15:17:00.000-07:00

Well finally! One tee design that I have been really looking forward to see the end product is here. take a real good look of it, and order it from Benaiah Clothing.
And I found this one website that always makes me so happy whenever I look at it. It is by a design duo, one from LA and the other is from Vancouver. They have such a fun and innocent, could be annoying after a while, characters. It is called Meomi Cloud House.
Finally I have my own Muxtape!!! I love this new website. I love looking at website that looks really super simple but then blow you away with their super cool and super user-friendly features.

YEAH, HER NAME IS LUCY

2008-06-29T23:26:00.000-07:00

The girl with the gas mask, her name is Lucy.

I am supposed to be in bed right now but the rush just kicked in. I am listening to the new Sigur Ros CD and it's beautiful, need some time to get used to it, I guess since I have no idea what they are singing. They are probably singing in series about butt naked people crossing the street for the whole album.

new shizzz...

2008-06-29T23:24:00.001-07:00

up-da-tes

2008-06-27T08:09:00.000-07:00

Here are some up-da-tes of works that I have been working on.
First, I have been working on re-branding and re-building the website of a marketing agency here in town called ShoutOut. They are such a fun and thriving small company. After countless trials and failures, and risking myself of losing sanity and developing an acute back problem, I am proud to say that I am 'almost' able to capture the feel and the soul of the company.

Second, I have been working on some T-shirt designs, I am pretty excited for one particular project for this one small starting company called Benaiah. Their market is for young, adrenaline driven, 14 year olds till twenty something hardcore-scene lovers crowd.

Third, I am working on another website for an engineering company. It is gonna be a challenging one, but it is gonna be enjoyable. Other than that, I am excited to do this project because I think it is gonna be a really good way for me to learn more about building a solid website. The guy who commissioned this work to me is also my kind of client. He has a pretty solid and clear idea about what kind of website he wants, and that visual direction will really make my job easier.

This summer has been pretty eventful and amazing. And I think that has something to do with hanging out with some awesome people and an amazing person. Also there are a lot of good movies coming out, some sweet tunes are being released, and of course quite a bit of adrenaline pumping concerts are coming around.
Alright again, like always, I will throw some music that I have been listening to, or music that I am really interested to listen to, to you guys. One, Coldplay's Viva La Vida is a really good CD. It flows really well as a CD, and I am sure that it has something to do with Brian Eno's utter brilliance. The songs in this album are more complex than their three previous albums. I know that some people thinks that this kinda stuff bore them, but I think it proves that their music is maturing, and they as a band also growing. I can't wait to see them live in DC on August 3rd, I think it is gonna be amazing.

Another CD that I am really looking forward to listen to is Sigur Ros new CD, which the title I can not even pronounce or say. It is called "Með Suð í Eyrum Við Spilum Endalaust." Arggh, can't wait.

Well I found this two CDs from a local record store a couple of days ago, it's Crystal Castles and Girl Talk. I have heard some good things about them, so since they are only like $5 each I bought both of them and they are surprisingly really good. Crystal Castles is a Swedish electronic duo. Similar like The Knife who uses sounds and samples that sound straight from the 80s, so is Crystal Castles. The difference is, Crystal Castles' music is more hectic, harsh, and there is a healthy dose of rock n' roll attitude in it. The second CD that I bought is Girl Talk's Feed the Animals. He is a mashup DJ. From my experience listening to Girl Talk's Night Ripper EP, I think this is gonna be a good CD to accompany me doing some web work or couple of hours of tedious vector drawing. One exceptional song is called "Set It Off."

Last but not least, The Mae Shi's "HLLLYH" is a solid CD. Amazing CD. They play a spazz rock with cool synth sounds, their music is pretty diverse, but somehow they are able to keep it consistent. Well if you are not ready to be shocked with their amazing CD, you can check out this link for a starter:
It's The Mae Shi covering Miley Cyrus' song "See You Again". Yeha Hannah Montana. This is for Dan.

what?!

2008-06-19T15:42:00.000-07:00

Words cannot describe.

eye candy for you

2008-06-15T18:54:00.000-07:00

Hello peeps, can I say that my birthday is coming soon, and I still don't have this book by Pentagram. It's a limited edition and I think it is already sold out, so if you want to sell it, I am really interested.

And this is a cool looking home theater:

And the cover of my favorite magazine ever, The New York Times Magazine, is pretty dope too, just so you know.

no secrets anymore alright? promise?

2008-06-12T22:45:00.000-07:00

let's get this back rolling again

2008-06-12T22:07:00.000-07:00

Since the last time I blogged. A lot of things have happened in my life. For instance, I just put a 2GB RAM on my laptop yesterday, although I have bought that two months ago. Trying to get things in my life straight. I have been doing quite a bit of freelance works. I have been doing some sweet sexy looking tees.

Other than that, I just got a full-time job at a marketing agency here in Lynchburg, called Shout Out. I am pretty excited about it because although the company is really small, they have been running like a mad dog, and I would love to be a part of it.

I have found a crapload of good new music. One of them is FLEET FOXES. I have never been so excited about folk slash rock CD since Damien Rice's "O". And if you know me, I have been telling people unabashedly that every single day I have my own Damien Rice quiet time. So trust me they are good. Then Phantom Planet, those boys whose single, "California", desecrated by being the opening music for the tv series, The OC, came up with a new CD. Skeptical at first, I tried to listen to it, and it blew my mind. They are nothing like Phantom Planet three years ago. This CD is good. They are like a mix between The Beatles, The Strokes, and.. .oh gosh I don't know what else, just buy it!!!

So to be fair I guess I'll give you guys a peek of things that I have done, and what I have been doing lately.

Cheers,
Steven Abraham

oh the peek is on the post above, so it's not really a peek.

one month ago

2008-04-22T00:32:00.000-07:00

One month ago was my last post. Man. Been so long.
But now at 3.30 in the morning I found a nice quiet time to write.
I have been sending out job applications and resumes and my portfolios to several companies, but I still haven't heard any responses yet. I am still waiting. But it is so hard to wait, I am getting so anxious and antsy.
Oh well, that's it for today. I am tired.
Steven

man in pink sweater

2008-03-22T23:06:00.000-07:00

Hello,

So I was hanging out at Barnes & Noble the other day and I saw a man in pink sweater, somehow it made me respect him more.

So I can proudly say that I have been really productive during this spring break. I have been working most of the days and nights. My stop action animation has been showing a great deal of progress although I have been contemplating to bail out of it and just burn the whole set to ashes, fortunately none of that things have happened yet.

So I was hanging out at Barnes & Noble the other day and I saw a man in pink sweater, somehow it made me respect him more.

So I can proudly say that I have been really productive during this spring break. I have been working most of the days and nights. My stop action animation has been showing a great deal of progress although I have been contemplating to bail out of it and just burn the whole set to ashes, fortunately none of that things have happened yet.

Other than that I have been having a lot of time to think and re-think about everything in my life. But, somehow I still have no words to explain my feelings, my fears, and my hopes. And I still have no idea to even describe what I am going through.

Tonight I went to Olive's Garden with some of my friends, Wes, Mike and his girlfriend, Amanda. It was a good time, really good time.

new website

2008-03-02T15:32:00.000-08:00

I just updated my website!!! Check it out, spread out the word.

word...

bonfire of trust and flashflood of pain

2008-02-25T18:39:00.000-08:00

Been escaping myself to fun and bouncy musics lately and have found a couple excellent bands. First, I found The Boy Least Likely To. Well I actually re-found them again, because I have known this band since last year through their song "Be Gentle With Me," but it was just today that I realized how good they are. TBLLT's "The Best Party Ever" is an irony pity party. Because although Rolling Stone Magazine says that their music is like "if all your childhood stuffed animals got together and started a band," the lyrics are actually quite emo-ishly dark and deep. Lyrics like "I'm a balloon on a broken string, I don't belong to anyone or anything," or "I may look shiny and bouncy but I'm all empty inside." The music itself is really catchy and simple with acoustic guitar, keyboard, bells and drum they successfully deliver the funnest pity party ever.

Vampire Weekend's self-titled album tricks out their pop-punk sound with African beats and classical arrangements to create such a unique, laid-back and playful atmosphere. This album kind of throw you back to The Clash's sound but without all the heavy political and anarchist rage.

Oh, TBLLT also has a regularly updated blog at http://theboyleastlikelyto.blogspirit.com/. Other than finding good music, my laptop's power cable just melted entirely last night. Officially died. I have been working on my portfolio, again, and also did a lot of progress on my design reel animation (photos will be posted later). Other than that I miss her so bad.
Chao.....

design reel is on the way..

2008-02-10T22:32:00.000-08:00

Several things that I have been doing this past couple of weeks.

Illustrating a tee, it is called The Lost Paradigm for Paradigm Clothing.

Drawing a storyboard, drawing some characters, doing a lot of planning, buying some little things for the set, its all for my first-ever stop motion action design reel!!!!!!!!! I am scared but excited at the same time. It's gonna be fun.

Re-doing my portfolio for the fourth time in two months.

Missing my favorite, and the most beautiful girl ever, Monica.

Drooling over Pentagram's portfolio:

And Josh Cochran's portfolio too:

Craving some Indian food.
Too much for one week.
Steven

hear.....

and I will listen.

Open Mic Night poster

2008-01-30T15:05:00.000-08:00

My first full week of working at Student Activities was a really good one. There are several events that contribute to this. First, my roommate, Daniel Jones, is now officially a part of Student Activities as an Event Staff. He is a really cool guy, I can't really describe it, you just need to meet him. The second one, I got my first design assignment of the year. It was the most challenging poster that I have ever designed. Mostly it is because of the size of the event that is not big at all, it was an Open Mic Night.

I have dealt with many big event posters. And for me personally, it is easier to draw out inspirations for these events because they encompass so many things. For example, doing a promotion set for Switchfoot was pretty easy because their music is one of the source of inspiration, and they also have a couple of music videos, which also could be another source of inspiration. On the other hand, an event as small as Open Mic Night seems almost so random, and too open wide for any possibilities. I think this is another proof that absolute freedom to be creative is not always a good thing.

Finally I managed to toss some idea around, and fortunately a good one got caught in my head. The concept is to make a poster where the title takes a prominent space, which would make it easy to spot and it also would be easier to communicate to the audience. To make it even more standout, the poster is going to be just in plain black and white. But that does not mean that I totally sacrificed my creativity to effectiveness. I showed my creativity by decorating the title fonts with some vector decorations on the top of it and also on the bottom. To make the poster more captivating but yet still simple, I added a grid on the background. The grid is faded but it covers the whole poster from the top to the bottom. This grid creates a sense of solidity to the structure of the poster, but somehow it also creates a sense of originality and closeness, because it makes it looks like it is still in the end stage of the process of making this particular poster. By showing the grid I try to give the audience a sense of involvement in the whole creative process.

then DC

2008-01-14T09:35:00.000-08:00

on second trip to DC
our van got a $25 ticket
we ignored it
our van got towed
we looked for it
our van almost got ran over by a truck
we were alright
a little bit too much for a day
oh i saw one cool graffiti, wish it was one of banksy's

longwood

2008-01-12T17:47:00.000-08:00

Me and my host family went to Longwood Garden, it was pretty amazing, and also cold.

human after all

2008-01-07T09:10:00.000-08:00

So after my last post, a lot of things have been going on. I have finished my portfolio book, and it is almost ready to get out. I went to several wonderful places with some of my favorite people to ease my stress a little. And of course, I have been eating a lot of good good food. So it's been a good and relaxing break. But not to forget, I also have some insane plans next semester, like starting the t-shirt business, and also to hold an art show in downtown Lynchburg.

Oh, I also have been reading these books. Well, not really reading, instead looking through, but that phrase kind of diminished the value of this book. Maybe it's more appropriate if I put it this way, I carefully took a good look at each pages and be inspired to be human all over again. These books contain hundreds of postcards that people have been sending with their secrets in it anonymously to an organization called Post Secret. It is funny, disturbing at times, heart-wrenching, and also inspiring. It touches to the core of ourselves as a human being, beings that are not complete without our secrets.

You can also go to postsecret.blogspot.com

...

2007-12-25T18:25:00.000-08:00

It's Christmas day and I am stuck, too busy doing my portfolio book. I hope you guys have better things to do than checking out this blog. Merry Christmas.

blechh...

2007-12-19T20:11:00.000-08:00

There are a lot of things going in and out of my mind. Although it is already Christmas break, I can't help myself but worrying about every little and big things in my life. Relationships, graduation checklists, money, my portfolio, and decisions to make after graduation.

Why in the world am I spending too much time on my computer, bending my back to precise cut everything out of the printer, and stressing myself out. I do all of this in effort to get a good job at a stressful high-pace job, but of course, it won't be enough to pay my bills and my apartment.

And why in the world am I stretching myself too far for this one girl, who I am not even sure want to be loved by me. Who is not probably going to spend the rest of her life with me. But boy, oh boy, do I love her. I would do everything just to be with her. She is great, she says she loves me but the circumstances are just not right.

Maybe I am just trying to handle everything by myself. I am too afraid. At least I know that there would be somebody to blame if everything failed, me. Strange enough, I think that is the only thought that kind of give me a sense of assurance.

Well while I am still trying to sort things out in this labyrinth I am just done with one of my mock project. I redesigned Relevant Live Podcast's compilation CD.

alarm clocks

2007-12-16T09:18:00.000-08:00

Man, I need one of these alarm clocks so badly. I think the one that would wake you with the smell of bacon is the best one so far. But unfortunately, it is still a concept design.

Or, this one that will donate a certain amount of money to a charity organization that you hated the most is kinda cool and has a way to freak you out a little. But I don't think it would work that great for me because I am the kind of person that would actually pay for another 10 minutes of sleep.The carpet alarm sounds like a pretty good idea but, still, it won't really work for me. I would be still too close to my bed.

I think one alarm that has a possibility to work for me is the one that would wake you in your best sleep phase. It would wake you in your lighter phase of sleep, and has the chance to make you feel a little nicer when you are awake. It also comes with a wristband.
To look at these alarms go to: http://www.plazarugs.com/rug-alarm/

introduc(k)tion

2007-12-15T21:56:00.000-08:00

Let me introduce myself,
My name is Steven Abraham. And I am international. Such an odd sentence. I mean I am not an American, I am from Indonesia. But I go to college here in the States. This blog is meant to be a design blog but oh well, lets see what's going to happen.

Finally after all those toils, tears, sleepless nights, dramas, hard works, I am done with Fall semester of 2007. So glad but so sad, because that means in the course of less than 3 weeks, the love of my life is going to go away from the States for good to Indonesia. This is one girl that just captivate my heart. But I am pretty sure that everything will work out fine with both of us.

Well, I have been spending a lot of hours to reshape my portfolio and also the pieces in it. It's pretty amazing because I can't believe myself that in just a course of 16 weeks I have added a pretty ungodly amount of good solid works to be put in my portfolio. But now I am still struggling to get a business card and portfolio books get out of my system on the end of January.

The concept is just to make it personal, close, and friendly.
A little peek: