all posts tagged “art”
One Producer's Perspective on Copying "Common Craft Style" Videos
Posted by: leelefever on August 21, 2011- 12:04pm
Categories: art, brand, Common Craft Style, inspiration, video
After noticing a Twitter conversation mentioning Common Craft, I met Chris Johnson of Simplifilm.
Last week Chris posted a blog post that provides a look at his position regarding Common Craft and Common Craft Style videos in the context of other producers. The post is called: Have Your Own Style (What Happens When We're Asked to Make a Common Craft Video). Chris writes:
They have their niche and nobody good would ever copy their style. Common Craft should be the only people that make a cut-out-videos-that-explain software or web services. Anything else is an echo.
and
If a client asked, we’d say no. It’d be an admission of creative bankruptcy to try to mimic the very clear, original style that CommonCraft uses.
First, I want to thank Chris for standing up for our work so publicly. I like that Chris’ perspective is not about legal ramifications so much as recognizing another company’s work and making a conscious choice to take a different creative direction. In some ways, it’s how the world should work.
The fact is, there are many videos out there that could be called “Common Craft Style” - we see them all the time. Like Chris, people sometimes expect us to be up-in-arms about other producers who take inspiration from, or even directly copy our work. While plagiarism and trademark infringement is unacceptable, we recognize that there is a gray area and always appreciate attribution if our work is indeed an inspiration. It's this gray area that makes our position on Common Craft Style a bit complicated.
Example: Educational Use
Teachers and students are currently working on what they call “Common Craft Style” videos in classrooms. These are often middle and high school students making videos that help them learn about history, for example. While we are not involved in any way, we have always encouraged teachers to take inspiration from our work in school projects.
Here's an example created by Wendy Drexler:
Here's another made by 8th graders that makes me LOL:
There are 100s of examples on YouTube and even a Common Craft Style video explaining how to make Common Craft Style videos in the classroom.
As we mentioned, the existence of these projects makes having an absolute position on Common Craft Style difficult, as we are very supportive of these educational, classroom-oriented videos.
Years ago, we decided that the best thing we can do is focus our attention on building our brand and making the best possible videos. Our goal has always been to create a brand of videos that speaks for itself and I think we’re getting close.
There will always be the company, producer or agency who chooses to make a video in “Common Craft Style”. Sure, you could say they’re copying us. You could say that we need to stop them. But as Chris’ blog post shows, the market has a way of recognizing and even protecting unique and valuable creations. Here's what I mean...
Rock and Roll
Chris quotes Scott Ginsberg in his post, “There are no cover-bands in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.” While this may be true, that building is filled with individuals who were inspired-by and copied the techniques of others. Even though Chuck Berry inspired Elvis Presley, there will only ever be one Chuck Berry. And maybe that’s the lesson here.
More than anything, we want to see video explanations become the next rock-and-roll. We want our little industry to grow and for talented producers to build careers on using videos to explain and educate. And for that to happen, the environment needs to encourage producers who take inspiration, but also find responsible ways to make their own creative contribution.
We’ll always protect our brand and appreciate attribution where it's appropriate. But at the end of the day, we want to be the people who help inspire the next Hall of Fame inductee, not stand in their way.
If you’re considering a Common Craft video, please contact us.
I'm the first to admit that we haven't done a great job on the much-requested Common Craft t-shirts, etc.
But we do have stickers!
If you'd like a few (supplies are limited), please be like the person below and send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to:
Common Craft
P.O. Box 18322
Seattle, WA 98118-0322
We'll look forward to hearing from you!
Yaay! Common Craft Stickers
Posted by: leelefever on February 4, 2009- 4:00pm
Categories: art, conference, marketing, stickers, Swag
Thanks to John, Maureen and the folks at Sticker Giant for their help with these little guys. We're planning to carry them with us at conferences, etc. If you see us at SXSW or anywhere else, ask for one!
Would you like a sticker? Send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to:
Common Craft
P.O. Box 18322
Seattle, WA 98118-0322
From the description on the video page, this is:
A video that Saatchi Moscow created and produced for Google to attract more Russian people on GMail.
Visually, it's a bit like our videos, but in a giant format. Instead of pieces of paper, they are using giant pieces of pre-printed fabric. The video is quite artful and well done. Isn't it funny too, that it's by Saatchi and Saatchi instead of Lee and Sachi?
Thanks to Bruno for sending over the link!
Sooo Typical
Posted by: leelefever on January 10, 2008- 4:00pm
Categories: art, humor, ourwork, paperworks, personal
Sachi came into the room where I draw and saw this piece of paper and nearly died from laughter. It's true - I'm sorry to say, I had a problem coloring a checkered flag. Such things are all too common in my world.
Photo Products to Watch in 2008
Posted by: leelefever on January 7, 2008- 4:00pm
Categories: art, flickr, home, personal, photography, photosharing
2008 is shaping up to be a interesting year to try out new things when it comes to digital photos. From photo transfer technology, to wall hanging, to photo sharing services, here are a few things I'll be using in 2008.
Eye-Fi
I consider Eye-Fi a magical piece of photo technology. It makes it possible for me to upload photos to Flickr (or other services) and to my computer directly from my camera using my wi-fi network - no wires, no card readers. Once it's installed, you just shoot a photo and within seconds the photo magically appears on the web and my computer.
Update: I use Eye-fi on my home wi-fi network - when I arrive home, the camera starts uploading as long as the camera is on. I set it to upload to Flickr as "private" and then change permissions as needed.
For SD memory cameras, you just replace your SD card with the 2gb Eye-Fi SD card and load the software on your computer. Once it's set up, the Eye-Fi SD card makes it possible to transfer photos automatically. If you don't have an SD camera, you can use the Eye-Fi card with a Compact Flash adapter too. I first heard about Eye-Fi from Anastasia of Juxtaprose and this year, it was a Christmas gift from my Mom. Thanks Santa!
FotoflÅ??t
Last year I gave Flickr's photo printing service a try and was impressed. I get so used to seeing photos online that I forget about how they look on a wall. Just recently I came across fotoflÅ??t - which takes photos and wall mounting to a new level.
Two things I love about fotoflÅ??t:
1. Frameless design and photo protection. They print your photos on high quality photographic paper and then fuse it to 1/8" thick acrylic. This makes them low reflection, low glare and high durability. I printed some of our travel panoramas.
2. Magnetic wall mounts. Each fotoflÅ??t comes with a wall mount that makes the photos modular. Once the mounts are in place, you can have a number of fotoflÅ??t photos and switch them out in seconds.
Right now, fotoflÅ??t is working directly with Smug Mug, a photo sharing service. In fact, in order to use fotoflÅ??t I had to upload my photos to Smug Mug first. This may change soon.
SmugMug
Either way, it gave me a reason to try out SmugMug and I'm impressed so far. SmugMug is a bit more professionally oriented (and expensive) than Flickr, and I'm not a pro, but here are a few things I dig about SmugMug.
Photos really do look good on SmugMug. Maybe it's the black background or pixie dust, but I love how my photos look there.
Nice options. I like the new Picnik integration on Flickr better, but SmugMug provides a few options for online photo editing. If you become a power user (59.95/yr), you can even upload videos to your account.
Build a store. If you become a Pro user (149.95/yr) you can make SmugMug a platform on your domain. This means that I could use SmugMug to create LeesPhotoStore.com and sell my photos. They keep 15% and handle support and technical details.
The SmugMug attitude. I love their story of passion, family, being small and living a dream.
So these are a few products I plan to use this year. Maybe you have more?
The Tools of Our Trade (analog version)
Posted by: leelefever on December 12, 2007- 4:00pm
Categories: art, Behind the Scenes, lesson, ourwork, paperworks, productions
Like our videos, the tools we use to make them are quite simple. Below is a quick tour of some of the non-electronic elements of our productions...
The photo below represents a near-complete selection of the tools we use almost everyday to create illustrations and videos. You can view the photo below with "notes" on Flickr.com.
Because neither of us brought video production/scripting/storyboarding experience to the table, we've tinkered our way through and created a couple of resources that help. One is our thumbnail storyboards. Once a script is written, the first draft of visuals are done on small squares. This one is from Blogs in Plain English.
Of course, we couldn't do what we do without paper. We go through more of it that I would have ever imagined. It's nothing fancy - just HP inkjet paper. And yes, we recycle the waste.
OK, this is a electronic, but still fits. We couldn't be as productive without coffee and have fallen in love with our Keurig coffee maker. It makes a consistent cup of great coffee or tea anytime.
I see this as one of the iconic tools we use - a traditional paper cutter. Sachi is better than me with the scissors, but neither of us can cut a straight line. This does it right.
I spent too long with my art supplies spread all over the house. Finally I invested in a toolbox. Now it's like my own portable bag of tricks.
You might have noticed more color in the videos. We invested in some Tombo watercolor brush pens that I love to use. We have a set of color pens and a set in shades of gray. Inspiration from Nancy Margulies.
This looks kind of gross, but it's putty and we use it in almost every shot to stick paper to the white board.
Of course, Amos is a part of everything we do (see photo above). One hair at a time, he appears in every video.
We're very big believers that we don't need big investments in production to make our videos. We'd rather invest our time in developing what matters most - the script.
One Sharpie, One Wall - A Music Video
Posted by: leelefever on November 16, 2007- 4:00pm
Categories: art, inspiration, simplicity, video, whiteboard
Nancy White pointed us to this awesome video. From what I gather, it's a music video for the band Field Music. Impressive. Maybe one day I'll have such mad skillz with the sharpie.
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