We have to go off topic for a second. Tiger Woods won the 2008 US Open today in spectacular fashion. Whether you are a golf fan or know nothing at all about the game of golf, one must appreciate this achievement.

We have witnessed a rare feat in sports history that will be talked about in sports lore for years and decades to come. Now, I know what your thinking 'but Tiger always wins.' Yes, he does but HOW he won is the amazing part. Set in California's Torrey Pines Golf course was special. Rocco Mediate was a true competitor he kept tiger at bay, playing a had fought round that kept Tiger from winning the championship in regulation. Tiger hobbled by pain in his knee from surgery months prior at times looked like he wouldn't even finish, could have folded and still keep his reputation intact. But unlike most he pressed on and on and on. Just when you thought he was out of it...he found a way to pull a tiger out of his hat.

Answering questions about the pain in his knee after every swing he replied "Its just pain"
The 2008 US open would be decided with by another round of 18 holes. The crowd learned something about two golfers today, even with Rocco playing his very best round he could not beat what we are coming to see is the best athlete in all sports. Class, grace and tremendous focus.

It would be interesting to see Nike ROI in Tiger. In the end, Tiger embodies what Nike has told us throughout the years. JUST DO IT.

The Jazz scence continues to be a source of inspiration. Jerome Jones looks to Graham Marsh the legendary Blue Note Records Art Director for inspiration when designing CD jackets for client Nichelson Entertainment. "Graham Marsh set an incredible design pace at times designing as many as 50 Album covers in a year. This is incredible because he often photographed the subjects in studio or were ever he could catch up with them. Marsh also didn't have the convenience of computers to help turn the product out!" _Jerome Jones.

Look for the latest release from Jazz drummer Sebastian Whittaker and the creators. "Moving on and upward" Read more about Sebastian Whittaker go to Record Company www.upfront-music.com


To see the design work of Graham Marsh http://lpcoverlover.com/category/blue-note/

The Vibe Refinery was invited by Kim Starr of Appleton coated (a premier paper mill) to judge the top printed sample in the region for The Utopia design award show titled "UB the Judge". Held at the very swank DALLAS DESIGN DISTRICT's "The Apartment." WWW.THEAPARTMENTDALLAS.COM
While munching on great food and sipping on sour green martini's and chatting up fellow design firm heads, other designers and CDs and we had the pleasure of reviewing impressive entries.

A few stood out immediately: The 50 year retrospect of the Hunt Oil company was extremely impressive. Not only did it have a blind embossed title and raised gold seal on the cover, but the black on shiney black printing technique has flawless. This should have been in unlimited budget catagory. However the one that really showed the best use of paper, high concept and design plus best printing practices , was the piece "The Magic of Ten" designed by Squire and Co. A slick capabilities piece for the Allen, Texas based printer Color Dynamics. "The Magic of Ten" revolved around the many uses of a 10 color press, The design theme focused on magic tricks, this may sound lame-however the execution was amazing. The use of dull varnish on a bright coated Utopia 1X green got our vote. And prevailed as the regional winner.

Happy Birthday to a visual artist Frank Frazier, a mentor, friend, business partner, a trail blazer.

Happy Birthday to Dominique Jones studying at Long Island U.
Stay Focused.

Happy Birthday to Mother Jones. You look better than ever. Keep doing what you do!

Happy Birthday Ayanna. Keep up the good work.

We have designed trade show booths and graphics before. This would be a first in directing the actual construction of an entire convention. Since there is no template or prefabricated modules to build out, the trade show contractors have to rely on the design team. We are confident that we worked every detail out in the design. What I do know is that union workers can be really difficult to work with when you are in effect bossing them around.

Working on a international trade show presents an opportunity to work with other languages. We enlisted the help of a international designer and translation specialist. Yuki is a great asset to the creative team.
This retractable banner was designed to meet the convention goes at the entrance to the international booth. Each country would have a custom designed banner in their native language a graphic shape of the country as well as the actual country flag.

The Plus booth graphics help to communicate the benefits of the product. Sarah the copywriter boiled down complex information to small nuggets of great copy

graphics The elements with in the convention will be varied. The great think that helps this fact is the support from Glenn the Director of creative services. Glen has shown a willingness to go to bat for us. All the environmental graphics that will hang above the booths almost didn't make the cut. These pieces will serve to give the viewers a variety of visual elements to enjoy.

One of the interactive elements of the booths will be a butterfly image that will be cut out and constructed on site. The final size will be 5 Ft.
The butterfly will attach to the wall just over a flower graphic.

With a project this large, it is possible to lose focus, you constantly have to look at all the elements to make sure that all parts need flow consistently. Jerome Jones makes sure that the design direction continues to flow.

The self learning area of the convention will be equipped with flat screen PCs. We moved toward a design that would focus on the use of the technology as well as serve as a backdrop for the PCs. Keeping the design simple and direct.

Here is the final approved registration banner design. It measures 19 Feet x 45 Feet. Sarah the copywritering whiz created a series of feel good statements that helped to set the tone. The color theory is set in tones of green-to keep the natural, healthy feeling.

The Indesign workflow really helps to organize the production. Christy and Matt kept the production of the files moving. To keep the file size managable, we created the designs 1/4 of final size output.

When your on a deadline this tight it helps to order in. Jason Deli for lunch hit the spot. OK team lets get back to it.

Blueprints of each design booth and lighting were ftp to Freeman.
The booth average size is 10FT X 60 FT.