Tag: John LeMasney

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On the benefits of the Creative Commons license

Album cover, Guy Joynson
Album cover, Guy Joynson

I got an email today that asked me if my work could be used as an album cover, and I am delighted.

To Mr Lemasney

My name is Guy Joynson. I’m a UK based musician and photographer. I hope you’re well. I’m currently recording my first EP which is a covers EP featuring four songs which are: Jolene- Dolly Parton, Used To Love You- John Legend, Only Love- Ben Howard and Wagon Wheel by Old Crow Medicine Show. I love your stormtrooper print and was wondering if I would be able to use it on the front cover of my EP? It’s only to give out as a demo and will make no profit. I have also attached a copyright notice to the back cover of the EP. I have attached a layout of the EP to this email. I hope you like it. I look forward to hearing from you.
Kind regards
Guy Joynson

Web: www.guyjoynson.com

Tel: redacted

E-mail: redacted
Twitter: @GJ_Photography
          : @Guy_Joynson

The album cover, including attribution to me is here:

Album cover, Guy Joynson
Album cover, Guy Joynson

The original work is on 365sketches.org, here.

Decorative classic stormtrooper mask by John LeMasney via 365sketches.org #cc #design #art
Decorative classic stormtrooper mask by John LeMasney via 365sketches.org #cc #design #art

There’s of course the issue of the use of an item from the Star Wars universe, and the fact that Lucas et al. have always strongly protected their work, but I doubt that anyone sees either Guy or I as any kind of monetary threat. Also, I highly doubt that anyone thinks that I was the designer of the original classic stormtrooper design.

My response was as follows:

I’d be honored. I use a creative commons – attribution license, and not copyright, which asks only that you mention me as the artist (preferred: “Stormtrooper helmet by John LeMasney via 365sketches.org (cc-a)”), but you have more than met the requirements of the license.
Congrats on the release, and I really appreciate that you asked!
Best,
John.

 

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Design process: On creating the Pods & Sods visual branding

Pods and Sods logo by John LeMasney via lemasney.com
Pods and Sods logo by John LeMasney via lemasney.com

My very good long time friend Craig Smith recently reached out to get some visual branding work for his new podcasting venture, Pods & Sods, which focuses on a love for music. Craig has always enjoyed vinyl, a Gen X sense of retro style, and sensitive, thoughtful conversation, so I think this venture will be a hit. Craig generously asked for my help. We started, as always in this kind of work, with font choice and color palettes. I wanted to meet his needs for vinyl centricity, funkiness, and urbanity.

I submitted this:

pods and sods font and color study by John LeMasney via lemasney.com
pods and sods font and color study by John LeMasney via lemasney.com

I had my personal favorites in this batch, but Craig responded quickly that he loved the upper right font, and the top most palette. I took this information and played with the font and color to show the ways in which the branding might be expressed.

pods and sods logo set 1 by John LeMasney via lemasney.com
pods and sods logo set 1 by John LeMasney via lemasney.com

In this set, I wanted to play with that retro style, emphasize or de-emphasize certain colors in the palette, and speak to the conversation and love for music. There are more and less elaborate solutions, but I like to give a range of possibilities. Craig responded that he really loved the upper right solution, and we began to talk about formats for Facebook, iTunes, and other uses.

pods and sods final branding set by John LeMasney via lemasney.com
pods and sods final branding set by John LeMasney via lemasney.com

In the final set, I played with a blue linear element, duplicated the groovy record image to balance the overall weight, and created solutions for a square, rectilinear, and profile image. I really enjoyed this process, it only took a few hours, and it resulted in a very fun portfolio piece. Special thanks to my dear friend Craig for the opportunity and willingness to share. I can’t wait to subscribe. If you love good conversations about good music, make sure to like https://www.facebook.com/groups/podsandsods/ on Facebook! If you’d like to have visual branding development for your business or venture, I’d love to help you! I’m always at lemasney@gmail.com and 609 553 9498.

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Illustration of a leaf by John LeMasney via lemasney.com

Leaf illustration by John LeMasney via lemasney.com
Leaf illustration by John LeMasney via lemasney.com
Leaf illustration by John LeMasney via lemasney.com
Leaf illustration by John LeMasney via lemasney.com

I saw a beautiful illustration on Pinterest that made use of clipping, and decided to play with the idea for myself. In Inkscape, if you import an image, like the palette in the illustration above, and make or import a shape, such as the leaf here, you can place the leaf shape on top of the palette image and apply object/clipping/set clip which results in the clipped image above. I added a rectangle in white, set transparency to 50%, and added the word leaf in one of my favorite fonts, Bebas Neue, and applied a skew.

It’s an interesting way to visually share two ideas in a single image. Both the palette and the leaf have their own visual message, and together they send an interesting combination of the two. I could have used a photograph instead to possibly make a statement about love or business or nature, or all three. Open up Inkscape and try this technique for yourself.

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On the five-minute ten-second egg.

fluffy by John LeMasney via lemasney.com
fluffy by John LeMasney via lemasney.com
English: Soft boiled egg with black lava salt ...
English: Soft boiled egg with black lava salt from hawaii (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Five Minute Ten-Second Egg

I really love clarity. The five-ten egg (the five-minute ten-second egg) does this.

The five-ten egg is a very specific instruction for a perfectly soft-boiled egg. It refers to the amount of time which you boiled the egg to make it simply perfect, that is, easy to disrobe from the shell, hard on the outside, soft on the inside, and neither under-cooked not overcooked. I can attest to this reality, because I’ve done it and reaped the luxurious benefits of it. Boil an egg for exactly five minutes and ten seconds, and you have joy in a shell.

Make it yourself

What’s more, it could not be more simple to make this perfectly cooked egg yourself. Do the following if you want to experience it for yourself.

Bring a pot of water to a boil. Set another pot with water at room temperature. Set a timer for 5:10. Don’t start it until we’re set to drop the egg.

Take a pushpin and pierce the end of an egg, and drop it in the water and start your timer. The pushpin pierce gives the pressure in the heated egg somewhere to go. You might also want a drop of vinegar in the boil, but I can’t stand to be around the stuff. I found it fine without.

At the timer’s beep, remove the egg and place it in the cool bath. I use a tablespoon to keep my fingers from the scalding liquid.

After a minute, crack and remove the shell. Use the cool water to help you. I found the membrane and made easy work of it.

Finishing

At this point, be creative. I added the egg to a hamburger roll and had the most delicious explosion of yolk. What will you do?

Maybe some very thin sliced cucumber or tomato? A delicious small batch ketchup? Rooster sauce? Salt and pepper and nothing? Asparagus? A simple spoon into the chamber? A curry of rice and chicken? Sautéed mixed vegetables? A cheesesteak? The yolk would be so incredibly complimentary to a crisp piece of bacon. Since I’m mostly vegetarian, those suggestions would just be for you. 🙂

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Making Sense of the Google Chromebook (September 3rd in Ewing)

Presenting by John LeMasney via lemasney.com
Presenting by John LeMasney via lemasney.com

“Making Sense of the Google Chromebook” Free Computer Program September 3

20110805
Color study (Photo credit: lemasney)

Ewing, NJ:   “Why would I want a laptop that only runs a browser?”  This is the critical question New Jersey technology consultant and graphic designer John LeMasney will explore when he presents The Computer Learning Center’s newest, free Computer Tips and Tricks program on Tuesday, September 3.   “Making Sense of the Google Chromebook” will begin at 2 p.m. in the Ewing Senior and Community Center at 999 Lower Ferry Road. It will be preceded at 1:30 p.m. by a question and answer session during which the audience can direct computer questions to the CLC’s all-volunteer faculty.  Both programs are free and no prior registration is required.
            “Come learn why I stopped carrying around my MacBook Pro and exchanged it for a Chromebook, Google’s low-cost laptop that runs just one application,” says LeMasney. “Chrome begins to make a lot of sense when you look at several converging factors, namely, the increasing availability of high-speed connectivity, the emergence of applications and cloud-based services for real-world functionality, and the ability to stay connected in rather light ways.  I plan to look at both why the Chromebook works for me and the incredible power of this platform, but also why keeping a MacBook around still makes sense for some things.”
              John LeMasney describes himself as an artist, designer, technologist, and consultant whose passion is to help people use technology in sensible ways to enhance their work and life.   His career most recently included work as Manager of Technology Training at Rider University where he assisted faculty, staff and students in integrating technology into their work, classroom, and extracurricular activities.  A Fine Arts graduate of the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, he holds a Master of Arts in Organizational Leadership with distinction from Rider University, as well as LPI Level One Certification in Linux Administration.
       The non-profit Computer Learning Center at Ewing, which sponsors the Computer Tips and Tricks programs as a public service, also offers a variety of PC and iPad computer skills courses for adults in central New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania.  For further information about the September 3 program, courses or directions, call 609-882-5086, 609-883-1776, Ext. 6205 or visit the CLC website at www.clcewing.org.

[flexiblemap address=”999 Lower Ferry Road, Ewing, NJ”]

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Technology and the Arts: Open source hardware and technology based creativity

open by John LeMasney via lemasney.com
open by John LeMasney via lemasney.com

This is the 2013 series premiere of Technology and the Arts, a webcast exploring the connections between technology and art. Co-hosts Brian Kelley and John LeMasney discuss Arduino, Raspberry Pi and a study on how technology can be used to teach young people about creating art. For more information, visit http://technologyandthearts.com.

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