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catholicartistsnyc · 4 years

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Meet Theresa Ambat

THERESA AMBAT is a music composer, producer, and sound designer based in Seattle, WA. [website]

From Theresa:

I have my own personal music on Spotify and Apple Music and I just started doing freelance music production for film and video games. I also sometimes compose music using a programming language called SuperCollider.

CATHOLIC ARTIST CONNECTION (CAC): Where are you from originally, and what brought you to Seattle?

THERESA AMBAT (TA): I was born in Japan and moved to Washington as a baby (dad was in the Navy). Lived in a small town for most of my life, then moved to Seattle to study Computer Music at the University of Washington. I now work for a parish in the greater-Seattle area!

CAC: How do understand your vocation as a Catholic artist? Do you call yourself a Catholic artist?

TA: I'd say that I'm a Catholic who is an artist. My vocation is to be a follower of Christ, and creating music is a major way for me to do that. I'm not a praise & worship artist and my work isn't always explicitly Christian, but my work is built on the foundation that is my faith and relationship with the Lord. Everything I create is for Jesus.

All I desire is to share truth, beauty, and goodness through my art. If someone can encounter Christ through my work -- whether that be by feelings of peace and solidarity, or something as incredible as conversion of the heart -- that brings me so much joy.

CAC: Where in Seattle do you regularly find spiritual fulfillment?

TA: I was a part of a really wonderful Catholic community called the Prince of Peace Catholic Newman Center when I was in college. If you're a college student or young adult in the Seattle area, I'd highly recommend getting involved there! They've got Dominicans, tons of young people looking to explore their faith, awesome events, just overall an A+++ community. That place played a serious role in my relationship with Christ -- I don't know where I'd be without it.

CAC: What is your daily spiritual practice?

TA: I've been struggling a little bit with daily prayer habits since starting full-time work--I guess I'm still trying to figure out a good routine. But since I work at a church I have the opportunity to do a holy hour and go to mass once a week which is great. Usually when I get home I pray a rosary with my family. I've also been reading "The Mystical Journey to Divine Union" by John Paul Thomas which is about St. John of the Cross.

I found my spiritual director Fr. Marcin during my senior year of college. At the time I was making a pretty big life decision about my future: to accept a position as a FOCUS missionary or stay in Washington to further my music career. Fr. Marcin was actually the person who kept telling me I needed to find a spiritual director, haha. We already had a good friendship by then so I just asked him! In the end, I discerned that the Lord was calling me to stay in Washington to live out mission in my job/music.

CAC: Describe a recent day in which you were most completely living out your vocation as an artist.

TA: When in-person shows were still a thing, I performed for a SoFar Seattle show in January. It was my first paid gig ever and like, 20 of my friends (who are also Catholic) came. I think they filled up almost a third of the venue.

What's cool about SoFar shows is that the audience remains completely silent during your performances. No phones, no talking, people have to stay for the ENTIRE show, giving you the artist full-freedom to share your work without the fear of people not paying attention.

Before performing I talked about how I was Catholic, the ways the Lord was working in my life at the time, and how they related to my music. Being in secular Seattle, it was absolutely terrifying! But wow, I was received so well. After the show people started sharing with me how my story/music resonated with their own stories. If they were Catholic or not, I have no idea!

The Lord was SERIOUSLY present that night. All of my friends who came are incredible witnesses of Christ and it was just so cool to even see them interact with other people at the show and share Christ -- not by bible thumping or swinging around rosaries -- but simply by their presence and the joy that bleeds out of them.

Thinking back, yeah, I really wanted to share Christ with others through my music that night. But I'm now realizing how much of an impact my friends had on the show. Just imagine walking into a venue where THAT many people are striving for sainthood. The environment changes. I really felt like I was a part of the body of Christ that night.

CAC: How do you financially support yourself as an artist?

TA: I currently have a full-time job at a really wonderful parish which is my main source of income. I only started freelancing maybe 2.5 months ago but to my surprise it's been flourishing well! Creating a personal website and demo reel made it really easy to share my work with others and I've found most of my gigs through the Catholic Creatives facebook group as well as Instagram.

The biggest piece of advice I have for finding work is to use social media as a tool. Document your process on instagram, create a demo reel and put it on the front page of your website, post on the Catholic Creatives facebook group!

[Editor’s Note: Remember, you can also post in the Catholic Artist Connection Facebook group and send and find notices in the newsletter!]

I know we all cringe at the idea of "networking" but if you think about it in the lens of evangelization, it's actually quite beautiful. No, I'm not saying that you need to "convert" people in your tweets and insta posts. But just remember that very interaction you have with a person is sacred and is an opportunity to love. Even in the digital world. When people see your joy and desire to serve, they can tell you're serious about your art and will want to work with you.

In the future (maybe 5ish years from now) I'd love to make freelance music production a full-time career. I still have quite a ways to go but I know the Lord is asking me to be patient and invest in the season that I'm in now. Transitioning out of college it's very easy to focus so heavily on the far future that we miss out on what's happening right in front of us. I'm really grateful for the opportunities the Lord has given me to serve now.

CAC: What are your top 3 pieces of advice for Catholic artists post-graduation?

TA: 1. Post-graduation is REALLY hard. Especially during this COVID-19 pandemic. You're going to be told a lot of lies by Satan, but just remember that that's all he is. A liar.

Jesus? He is truth. So in response to each of those lies you might hear, just remember a truth that Jesus is telling you.

2. Invite God into your creative process! Make your work a prayer, write something in the adoration chapel, ask God what he thinks about your work, etc. I recorded my first album in front of the tabernacle and the Lord has blessed that piece of work in so many ways.

3. DO IT! Just do it. That thing you've been wanting to make for 72589247329 years, just start. It's never too late to just start. Stop letting your expectations for yourself get in the way. Stop waiting to get that "one piece of gear" that will make/break your project. God gave you a gift for a reason--to bring glory to his kingdom. Use it!

Let's be saints, together!

#Theresa Ambat #Seattle #japan #catholic #catholic artist #catholic artist connection #west coast #musician #music #sofar #sofar sounds #sofar seattle #catholic music #university of washington #newman center #FOCUS #mystical journey to divine union #st. john of the cross

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aintshitbiz · 4 years

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Jashi Bands Exclusive 1 on 1 w/ BreezySays | @jashitheyetti

Jashi Bands is just your friendly neighborhood Puerto Rican rapper from the Bronx. His music mostly touches on mental health including his own and those around him. He failed out of college senior year and moved back home to find what he wanted to do with his life.

Welcome to Mollie's World (The Breezy Says Hot Seat), Jashi Bands

BS: What’s your name and tell us a little bit about yourself. JB: My name is Joshua Toledo. Just your friendly neighborhood Puerto Rican from Bronx, NY born and raised. I’m a big big nerd when it comes to anime, comics and other cartoons. Raised by my mom, grandmother and step dad. I have two little sisters. BS: Where are you from? And what affect does that have on your music? JB: I’m from NYC which is a huge influence on my writing style, my motivation for the music, the type of sound my music has and the experiences I choose write about. BS: What was highest and lowest point in your career? JB: I don’t have either of those yet since I’m still building the foundation for everything. The journey feels like climbing a mountain at this point. Every new accomplishment, such as a music video, new merch product, and song everyone loves is another ledge for me to grab onto to climb. BS: How do you separate your personal life from your music life and how does how does the music industry affect your personal life? JB: Right now in my career the two go hand in hand. I’m a newer act so it’s my responsibility to create content to engage with fans and make them feel like they’re a part of the process. So they will want to see me in the studio, at the concert, and/or giving my opinion on something. Since I’m an independent and building my fanbase, the only thing I can say about the music industry is that it’s definitely weird for someone like me, whose a private person around strangers, to be sharing all this personal content that isn’t the music. I find trouble crossing the line between keeping things private and putting on IG live for all to see. These are weird times. BS: What project/track means the most to and which project/track are you proudest of? JB: I think it changes with every song I make. Some tracks I really love but I know the public won’t ever hear. So I may love it but it’s not something I can put out and say “Yeah I put my all into that track. I’m proud of the way it came out.” A lot of people like "Smile" off my first mixtape and I have some tracks in the truck for my upcoming album. BS: Let's talk about your latest record/visual " If You Disagree" BLM...what made you take a stand and show your support? JB: The answer is simple, I have empathy for my people. Anyone with any resemblance of empathy and a brain can see the racial tension and injustice built up over YEARS. I was in 2nd grade when Sean Bell was shot 51 one times. The newspaper was taped up to our closets and I remember thinking, “that’s a lot of bullets for someone on his way to his wedding.” I was six. A big problem with today is the numbness we as a collective in this country choose to take part when racial or socioeconomic injustice occurs. Most of us continue with our day with “thoughts and prayers”. We go to work, take care of our kids, hang out with friends etc. We talk about these incidents, debate even, but until recently, not much radical action was being taken and this isn't to put blame on anyone (except capitalism.) I decided to write “If You Disagree” because an anger would build inside of me when I would debate with an ignorant individual about the BLM matters. Because anger built inside of me from seeing the actions of policemen/women against my people. Tear gas, beating people senseless on camera and even the saboteurs who loot to give the protestors a bad name. It also inspired me to see BS: There is a general consensus that Latinos don't support the Black struggle, where do you think that comes from? JB: To be honest, I think it goes both ways. Both the Latino and Black communities seek support from each other because we all have Black blood in our veins and racists see us the same anyway. The disconnect happens when ignorant Latino’s, for lack of a better term, act up. Some Latino’s believe they aren’t black and then carry that ignorance with pride. In my opinion those ignorant Latino’s are few and far between. Every Hispanic friend or family member I know supports the movement and acknowledges the black struggle. However, there Latino’s that feel the Black community doesn’t reciprocate support we give them in times like these. There was no rioting or protestors for the Hispanic kids ICE detention. There’s no protests for the kids that went missing under ICE custody. I’ve had Latino friends and family members express that when something like a George Floyd or Trayvon Martin happens, the Latino community is right there to back them up; however when something tragic is happening/happens to us there's mass tweets about it, but there’s no protests etc. You also have to take into account that the Hispanics who aren’t born here or didn’t go to school in America aren’t taught about the Black plight in their schools, so they might be ignorant to it when they move over here.

LET'S PAUSE AND CHECKOUT "If You Disagree" [BLM]

youtube

BACK TO THE HOT SEAT

BS: What type of feedback have you been getting since the release of this project? JB: A lot of people loved it. They loved the message and the visuals from the protests. Several of my friends who went to the protests and dealt with being maced and tear gassed all loved the song. BS: How do you plan to keep supporting the movement? JB: Keep signing petitions and donating to bail out those who’ve been arrested at protests. I would go to the protests myself but if I catch covid and bring it home, my family might NOT be able to fight it and I can’t take that risk. BS: What is the hardest part of the music industry? JB: Getting into it. It’s definitely a grind as an unsigned talent who’s trying to make their own way in the game. You have to find your sound, build your fan base, learn new flows, pay for studio time, pay for videos, and pay for promotion etc. All while trying to live your normal life. As a creative in general it always feels like you’re balancing plates on sticks, like in the cartoons. BS: What are your thoughts on how the rap game has changed? JB: A lot of it has changed for the good because now there's more money in it, it’s easier to put music out, and a lot easier to build your fan base thanks to social media etc. Unfortunately, those same reasons changed the game for the worse. Since it’s so easy to start a music career, there is a plethora of artists who sound the same, and don’t really do it for the love of the process or the game. Since there is more money involved it brings anyone and everyone with a mic and auto tune. The Music Industry is just one of those situations where you have to take the good with the bad. BS: Who or what has the biggest impact on your career? JB: I would say my best friend who I grew up with since Kindergarten and my late grandmother. He’s my biggest supporter and critic. If my music doesn’t impress him then I have to go back to the lab. My grandmother was a such pillar of support, love and strength and when she passed my heart broke in 100 ways. All that pain is channeled into my lyrics. BS: What can we look forward to seeing in the future from you? JB: I am working on an album with no title as of right now. I’m also working on new merchandise ideas and clothing to put out. To stay tuned follow me on all my socials.

Connect with Jashi Bands

Youtube | Instagram | Twitter | Soundcloud | Facebook

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onestowatch · 4 years

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Daren Transforms an Uncomfortable Conversation Into the Infectious “I’m Right You’re Wrong”

A global pandemic. Kanye West running for president. The largest civil rights movement in history. 2020 is nothing if not a year of navigating uncertainty and difficult conversations. It is this sentiment that builds the foundation for Daren’s heartfelt track, “I’m Right You’re Wrong.”

Like most good things to emerge from 2020, from BENEE to political activism, “I’m Right You’re Wrong” was birthed from the endless scroll of TikTok. The original video sees the independent alt-pop artist laying out a makeshift blueprint for how the song came to be.

@darendarendaren

I had a two hour phone call with my white father about black lives matter and it was terrible. But I’m glad I tried. ##fyp ##blacklivesmatter

♬ I'm Right You're Wrong - Daren

Inspired by an uncomfortable and unfruitful two-hour conversation, regarding Black Lives Matter and white privilege, with his absentee Father, Daren found himself transposing the learning experience into song. The result is an instantaneously infectious indie jam that is already becoming a micro hit on the platform.

Built around the simple conceit that while yes, now more than ever, we need to be having difficult conversations, there are times where you simply have to step away from the situation for your own mental health. This takes form in the simple yet poignant hook of “I’m right / You’re Wrong / We don’t have to talk this long.” The lyrics soon take on air of an empowering mantra, serving as a reminder that not all fights are worth seeing through to their bitter end.

The impact of “I’m Right You’re Wrong” reminder is not lost on the creator, Daren, either, who in response to the success of the single had the following to say in a heartfelt Instagram post,

“This has been the craziest month of my life. I’ve found out the true importance of fighting for what’s right. I’ve thrown myself into over ten protest feeling the pain/love in the blm movement. I spoke to my father on the phone trying my best to help him understand his privilege. I made a song about that experience and it got nearly 500k views in just a couple days. With that same song we’ve raised over $800 all of which will go to a charity that supports BLM. And now to top it all off that same song is now on all streaming platforms. I hope it resonates with you. I hope you’re using your voice. I hope you’re fighting for the good. I hope this song eases any discomfort you might be feeling. Thanks for all the love it’s been wild.”

Listen to “I’m Right You’re Wrong” below:

#daren #I'm right you're wrong #pop #indie pop #indie #alternative pop #tiktok

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souldustlover-blog · 5 years

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Maybelline New York Super Stay Full Coverage Foundation Review

You can grab this from the link below,

Nykaa: http://bit.ly/39oAsEN

After using Maybelline Fit Me for a long time, this is my current fav foundation. It truly stands by most of its claims and even comes in an affordable price, suitable for oily skin.

Price: ₹ 750

Quantity: 30 ml

Shelf life: 3 years

Claims

The Superstay Full Coverage Foundation delivers 24-hour wear for concentrated coverage and a flawless finish that doesn't fade or shift all day. Be your own professional makeup artist with Maybelline's full coverage 24H foundation. Saturated color pigments provide an ultra-transforming effect in this long-lasting foundation. The lightweight, yet high-impact coverage formula glides onto the skin for a flawless makeup finish that lasts all day. Oil-free. Doesn't clog pores. Dermatologist tested.

Full coverage foundation.

24-hour wear.

Oil control/ shine-free.

Breathable and comfortable.

Sweat and sebum resistant.

Oil-free/ does not clog pores.

Fade and transfer-resistant.

Ingredients

Cyclopentasiloxane, Aqua / Water, Polypropylsilsesquioxane, Isododecane, Dimethicone, C30-45 Alkyldimethylsilyl Polypropylsilsesquioxane, Peg-10 Dimethicone, Glycerin, Silica, Dimethicone/polyglycerin-3 Crosspolymer, Sodium Chloride, Nylon-12, Phenoxyethanol, Disteardimonium Hectorite, Disodium Stearoyl Glutamate, Cyclomethicone, Chlorphenesin, Ethylparaben, Disodium Edta, Acrylonitrile/Methyl Methacrylate/vinylidene Chloride Copolymer, Aluminum Hydroxide, Dipropylene Glycol, Isobutane, Paraffin, Sodium Citrate, Tocopherol, Isopropyl Alcohol, [+/- May Contain Ci 77891 / Titanium Dioxide, Ci 77491, Ci 77492, Ci 77499 / Iron Oxides ] G854042

Packaging

Coming to the packaging, it is very sleek and minimalistic. The foundation comes in a glass bottle and similar to the packaging of the Fit Me foundation. The cap of the bottle is white which makes it easier to get dirty and not loose and flimsy. Unlike the Fit Me foundation (now the Fit Me foundation has revamped its packaging and it comes with a pump) this does come with a pump which is white in color so sometimes the foundation stains make it dirty, you have to clean it with water and cloth or wipes. The pump is very sturdy and works fine even after 3 months of usage. The whole package is hand-size and very travel-friendly.

How to Apply

Apply to the face and blend with fingertip, sponge or a brush. Although you can apply this and blend it in with your fingers, I prefer to go for a more even and flawless finish with my Puna Stores Kabuki brush.

Shades

It comes in 9 shades, the shade range is not very impressive. My shade is 320 Honey which matches me perfectly after oxidizing.

Shade Reference

▪︎MAYBELLINE Fit Me in 332 Golden Caramel ▪︎Wet n Wild Photo Focus Concealer in med/deep tan ▪︎Loreal Paris True Match In W7 Caramel Beige

Texture and Fragrance

The formula is not lightweight and feels heavy on the skin. It is thick in consistency and gives a matte look with medium to full coverage. Due to heavy texture, I would not recommend this for daytime use or a casual look. It is perfect for night time and glam looks. It has a chemical smell similar to the Fit Me foundation.

My Experience

I have been testing this foundation from the past 3 months and I think I'll be able to give an honest review about it now.

I was looking for a full coverage foundation for oily skin in an affordable price range and this seemed to fit the bill, so got it online from Nykaa by referring from other YouTubers with similar skintone as mine and those who used the same shade of the Fit Me range. You can look for other Youtuber with same skin tone or head on to this website Findation

As far as coverage is concerned, I think that this is a medium to full coverage foundation that can be built up as much as one wants.

I have talked about the formulation in the previous section. it gives a glam, matte look. However, I don’t think I would recommend this if you have dry skin. You would want to apply moisturizer otherwise your dry skin will end up looking flaky. I think that this would suit oily and combination skin the most.

On my oily skin, it resists sweat and sebum the most it can. But after 3-4 hours my skin starts getting oily which is natural as it will produce sebum after a certain time. Now the time period for the skin to become depends on the amount of sebum your face produces. That’s why I like to set it with powder.

Pros

• Gives medium to full coverage.

• It does not feel heavy.

• Thick consistency, unlike Maybelline Fit Me Foundation.

• Lasts for more than 8 hours (That is the maximum time I've kept on).

• Prevents oily skin up to 3 hours.

• It provides a good base for other products to blend.

• It provides a pump for clean use.

• Gives a matte yet healthy look.

• Truly waterproof.

Cons

• Contains paraben.

• Does transfer, unlike its claim.

• Oxidizes to 1-2 shades darker.

• The shade range in India is very constricted, unlike the Fit Me range.

• Not suitable for dry skin type.

• It might be a little extra for everyday use.

Will I Recommend This Product?

If you can overlook the fact that it has paraben in it, then you should definitely get one of these. It comes at quite affordable prices and is available widely online as well as offline. It gives the perfect coverage to hide blemishes and acne. Despite the fact that it oxidizes, it fits my skin perfectly but that could be a little difficult for a lot of people since it doesn't come with a lot of shade options. According to me, it gives a great base to my makeup.

SDL Rating: 8.5 out of 10

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allwaswell16 · 7 years

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~Fan fiction by allwaswell16~

This is the masterpost for my One Direction fan fictions. You can also find and subscribe to my fics here on ao3. My word count so far is: 260,318. Thanks for reading! xx

And I Could Hear the Thunder | mature | 1/? WIP | read here on ao3

Harry prepares to inherit his family's estate, and Louis is the mysterious boy living in the manor to the north.

How Could I Ever Forget | explicit | 14k | read here on ao3

After his boyfriend leaves him for a job in New York, Harry vows to move on with his life. A year later when their best friends announce their engagement, Harry knows he'll be forced to see Louis again and face the truth he's been trying his best to hide--even from himself.

Or a Vegas AU where Ziam's bachelor party turns into drunken karaoke, winning thousands at slots, washing your clothes at the laundromat in your underwear, and making life altering decisions that you can't remember in the morning.

Looking Through You (series) | explicit | 49k | read here on ao3

Just as Louis and Liam were starting out in the music industry, writing and producing for up and coming artists, a fateful meeting with new pop singer Harry Styles changes everything. Four years later, just as Harry is set to embark on his next world tour, a drunken confession causes a rift between once inseparable friends. As Harry tries to make sense of his feelings for Louis, he begins writing his next album to express them as it may be the only way to break through the walls that Louis has built between them. (Written for Big Bang Round 5)

Just Hear This (series) | explicit | 46k | read here on ao3

Former boy band member Louis Tomlinson can’t stand pompous indie artist Harry Styles, but with a new record label to launch he is going to have to endure his pretensions to snag up and coming new artist Liam Payne, who happens to be Harry’s oldest friend. Luckily, Liam seems to be very interested in 78 Records and maybe a little more than interested in Louis’ best friend. Too bad Harry won’t be making this easy on any of them.

Or a modern day Pride and Prejudice--Louis is Elizabeth, Harry is Mr. Darcy, Zayn is Jane, and Liam is Mr. Bingley. Oh, and Niall is Mrs. Bennett. Obviously. (Header edit credit to @larryfanficcovers that I further sized to fit)

You’re the Light (series) | explicit | 39k | read here on ao3

Before beginning a new graduate school in the fall, Louis Tomlinson decides to spend the summer working in Chicago as an editor’s assistant for the Chicago Tribune newspaper and staying with his old college roommate. What he finds on his first day of work is a tall, gorgeous editor named Harry who has the most beautiful green eyes he’s ever seen—and who also happens to be his new boss.

I’ll Be There | explicit | 5k | read here on ao3

Louis is less than thrilled to find out his roommate has coerced his nemesis to check on him whilst he's sick in bed. However, Harry seems to take great pleasure in taking care of Louis. Maybe this green smoothie drinking, hot yoga instructing, hair in a bun wearing, pretentious art history studying wanker isn’t so bad after all.

On Monday, Louis thinks Harry's a twat. By Friday, he's thinking of reasons for him to stay.

You Really Got Me Now | explicit | 6k | read here on ao3

Louis is the best older brother anyone could ask for. He knows this because he's agreed to help chaperone his younger sister's school trip to Rome. As it turns out, Italy is full of surprises. Fizzy's Italian teacher is surprisingly hot, Rome is surprisingly interesting, and Louis is surprisingly falling in love with more than just the city.

You & Me | general | 3k | read here on ao3

Louis Tomlinson doesn't have much faith in fate. Unfortunately, his mother does. She thinks he's destined to be with her best friend's son. Louis hasn't had much luck in love, so he decides to finally meet this boy his mother thinks is his match. As fate would have it, he encounters an intriguing stranger to confide in before he meets with destiny.

Or a modern adaptation of "An Unconventional Confidence."

haven’t you heard | mature| 8k | read here on ao3

Harry Styles has been in love with Louis Tomlinson since they were eighteen. After six years together, Harry is ready to propose to the love of his life. The holidays strike him as the perfect time for a romantic proposal, but his well-meaning friends and family (including his self-appointed best friend, Niall) seem to thwart him at every turn.

Or the four times Harry tries to propose, and the one time he gets it right.

1D Very Silly Chat/Email Chain (series) | (im)mature| 7k+ | read here on ao3

(1) Danger in the Produce Aisle, (2) Caramel Apple Peeps, (3)The OT4 Email Chain, (4) Email Chain OT4, (5) Screaming, (6)The Brits & Always You, (7) Is Neil Available?

Read emails sent from : [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], and [email protected]

Important topics including: frightening fruits, no milk for Louis’ tea, hacking, being jealous of Steve Aoki, way too many poo jokes, Niall screaming, dogs Liam doesn’t Instagram, Harry’s floofy hair, Liam’s chains, Instagram aesthetics, and much more!

Now That I’ve Found You | mature | 6k+ | read here on ao3

Harry Styles has a great job working for his brother-in-law’s construction company. He has just one small problem. His concrete sub-contractor just quit, and he needs a foundation built as soon as possible. One fateful turn brings him exactly what he’s been looking for—an experienced concrete construction company that happens to be owned by the most beautiful man he’s ever laid eyes upon.

Or Louis is a long haired, sweaty construction worker. Does anyone really need to know more than that? Harry doesn’t think so.

For You I’d Bleed Myself Dry | explicit | 3k+ | read here on ao3

After a public and humiliating breakup, Louis Tomlinson finds himself on his would-be honeymoon with his best friend, Niall. However, this St. Lucian paradise is not all that it seems. Louis may be particularly vulnerable to an unusually handsome predator.

On a Day Like This You Know It’s Meant To Be | t&up | 2k+ | read here on ao3

One year ago Harry Styles met Louis Tomlinson, the man of his dreams. Harry is certain he’ll never see him again, even if they did make a pact to reunite should the Chicago Cubs win the World Series. Harry has one small flicker of hope left when it appears the Cubs might actually win it all. But will Louis fulfill his end of this fateful bargain?

Won’t You Please Come Around | mature | 5k+ | read here on ao3

Harry has lived in London for a month, and so far the only friend he’s made is his sister’s cat, Mr. Whiskers. When the lock on the window breaks, Mr. Whiskers begins exploring his new neighbourhood a bit too thoroughly and brings back mementos of his escapes.

Or a Valentine’s Day story where Harry has a really fit neighbour, and his cat is a thief.

Let Me Kiss You | mature | 3k+ | read here on ao3

Harry Styles is on top of the world. He's moving to Chicago to live in a kick ass apartment that he's sharing with his old college friend, Niall. When their old college crew makes plans to hang out, Harry realizes he will be coming face to face with his unrequited crush, Louis.

but tonight (you’re on my mind) | explicit | 36k | read here on ao3

Pairing: Nick Grimshaw/Louis Tomlinson (Tomlinshaw)

Nick's friendship with the lead singer of Seventy Eight has come with a new circle of people including an entrancing, blue eyed drummer. But what brings them together can also tear them apart.

#my fics!#fic masterpost #allwaswell16 fics #thanks for reading and reblogging!

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theparaminds · 6 years

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There’s an unprecedented happiness and magic that comes from sharing passion. Wassup Rocker knows this as well as he does the back of his own hand. It’s become his calling card, his mantra, his goal and mission. Whether it be the music of others, or his own, he’s built a status as a tastemaker above others, sharing the sounds he finds inspiration and energy within.

Beginning with Soundcloud mixes and now moving into original work, Wassup Rocker has established himself a growing movement of youth music. His sounds are emotional in nature, yet, relatable in their ideology. Sonic memories understood by all.

As he continues to hone his craft and build upon his foundation of success, Wassup Rocker is set to continue rocking the music boat, influencing the sounds everybody hears, and inspiring them with brand new ones.

First question as always, how’s your day going and how have you been?

My day is awesome, it’s so sunny and yellow outside, I might go roller skating later with my friends, so that’ll be highlight.

To begin, what is your greatest childhood memory and why do you believe it sticks out amongst others?

Ugh, the childhood memory that sticks out is kinda cool, I don’t know, I was in my prime in middle school when we used to light fireworks on the bus and throw shit out the window to cars, that was really fun.

What did your environment look like growing up and did that lend itself to you moving into your creative fields?

Basically, my entire life I’ve been living in Texas my whole life, more specifically this country town where all the kids do meth ‘cause there’s nothing to do. This place just inspires me because everyday I see people half way in life working, doing shit they don’t wanna do, just to pay their bills. I take notes to not end up like that.

Who were the early artists you found yourself latching onto? Do you still find their early influence resonating?

Hmmm early influences, I found Odd Future and the A$AP Mob right before middle school, and that basically formed me and opened the doors for my brain to splurge out with ideas and creative juices. I have some songs I wrote down that I still use to this day, man, like this song I have “Skin Tone Brown”, you can hear my Tyler influenced rap style, it’s awesome.

How did you come the idea to create the mixes you do, and how did you deal with the added pressure once they were beginning to take off and have a fanbase?

The mixes were all for fun, I saw a few people had posted but I knew I could make them better with the titles and no filler songs. I noticed their mixes would have like 10k plays and I used to think that was so many, which it is, but I knew something was up when I would get 100k plays. there’s no pressure at this point ‘cause my supporters are fucking awesome, man like, I can be myself around them and they love it. It pushes me to be out there more and interact with them, but yeah, that’s an excuse for me to just put out bullshit and be like “well whatever, they’ll eat it up anyway” it’s all about quality over quantity for me.

What are the keys to a great playlist everyone should know?

My method to making a mix is to make sure the songs just bleed into each other nicely. Also, make sure the songs have the same central theme, dipple and dab into different genres In a playlist and it’s know that its OKAY to have multiple songs by the same artist in there too.

As well, you’ve begun to make your own music, where did push come from and how have you dealt with the new creative pursuit?

Man, I used to be known only for the mixes, and now, it’s like my music is the main thing. The push came from all the D.I.Y artists coming out and like people like LilBootyCall and Steve Lacy making music out of their iPhones, it’s so gnarly. I love how far I’ve gotten with it, it hasn’t been a year yet and I’ve gotten ups from people I listened to before the music. It’s been people from Sara King, Astruss, VICTOR!, all the way to my favorite trap artists like Flexin Fab and Tay Money.

What are your biggest goals and aspirations going forward with your own music? What is your artistic vision and what do you hope to accomplish?

My ambition with my music is just to make a living out of doing what I love, I don’t wanna die in debt and working my whole life in a cubicle for 8 hours a day. That would suck.

Do you have any upcoming work fans should look out for? If so, how does it build upon past releases and work?

The art I’m pushing this year is more rap and indie rock shit, I found this small band in my area called HOUSECALL. It’s these two hispanic kids I wanna work with them so bad and take them under my wing. And LESS LOVE SONGS!

You’re also starting to get into the live show game with an upcoming tour with Temporex and Aolani, what is it that a live performance can do for a song that you think a recording can’t?

The tour with Temporex and Aolani is crazy man, we almost sold out San Antonio, I went from listening to Temporex before I made music to being on the same stage with him and I said that at every stop, the point is anything is possible man. That’s the beauty of the live show is that you can be intimate with your crowd and inspire them, because, without them none of this is possible.

On the topic of concerts, what’s the best you’ve ever been to and how did it personally affect you?

The LilBootyCall show in LA was awesome because it was my first time in Cali and there was so many people there that were my friends off instagram on top of that Michael sold out the Roxy! I’m proud of him and one day I wanna do something like sell out a legendary venue as he did.

What would be your single greatest piece of advice to those starting artistic journeys? What is it that you’ve learned so far you feel is important for everyone to hear?

Again, I can’t stress this enough, quality over quantity. Don’t just say fuck it and release crap into the world and push it. Also, you don’t need to spend a thousand bucks on equipment, do the bare maximum. Let your equipment grow with your music.

Do you have anyone or anything to shout out or promote? The floor is yours!

I wanna thank everyone who read to the end of this, I love my fans but you guys aren't really my FANS, you guys are my friends and I wake up and thank God for you everyday. All of you are special, shout out to Lillian, Karen, Maria, and Jill.

Listen to Wassup Rocker on Soundcloud and Spotify

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mastcomm · 5 years

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Songs? Nah. 10k.Caash Is Making Whatever Comes Next.

DALLAS — On the January day that 10k.Caash released his latest mixtape, “Planet Swajjur,” he skipped throwing a big party and instead holed up at Legacy Music Group, a recording studio in Dallas’s Deep Ellum neighborhood.

His hair, styled in the mullet-adjacent local style known as the shag, was two tones of green — aquarium-chemical aqua at the top, nuclear neon at the tail — and he wore a Kanye West “Jesus Is King” sweatshirt.

In between snacking on Sour Patch Kids and Fritos Flavor Twists, he repeatedly headed into the recording booth and asked his small circle of producers to run through an increasingly odd collection of plinks and bloops. When he heard one he liked, 10k.Caash, 18, began spitting out loose splurts of words — “Pixie sticks!” “Move your muscles!” “Everything geeked up, I’m saying Urkel!” He hurled words against the beat, rapping as if he was learning to rap without knowing that rap music already existed.

After one particularly squelchy number, his friend and mentor, the rapper G.U.N., shouted, “This beat making me want to slam my head into the wall. It’s a 10k beat for sure!”

What 10k.Caash was working toward making wasn’t quite a song, at least not as they’ve been made for dozens of years. It was a pastiche — part rap song, part sound effect, part comic sketch. It felt like an evolutionary step forward: the post-song.

“Every song should have its own twist, every song should be different,” he said the following afternoon at Geekletes, an e-sports facility in DeSoto, about a half-hour south of Dallas, where he’d come to play Fortnite. On the wild, 16-minute roller coaster that is “Planet Swajjur,” his inputs are video-game circus chirps, vertiginous alarm peals, flatulent bass slaps that sound like they’re stuck to the ground and so on. It’s a more polished take on the slapstick demolition-derby energy of his debut, “The Creator,” one of last year’s most preposterously engaging albums, full of quasi-nonsensical, punk space-rap redolent of the early, rowdy Beastie Boys.

This is the sound of modern virality — the soundtrack to it, really. 10k.Caash’s music exists somewhere near the intersection of songcraft, dance clips, buzzy video and Foley art. The results are, technically speaking, songs, but they don’t function like songs typically do. They’re exceedingly short, jolting, humorous and designed for interaction: The perfect set of noises to accompany a video of someone who looks like they’re trying to dance their way out of a box. Which is to say, viral videos on apps like TikTok and Triller (also Instagram and, to a lesser degree, YouTube), where his music is most at home.

Rapping isn’t his motivation; dance is. When 10k.Caash is in the booth listening to sounds and barking out words, “I think about how I would dance to it,” he said. “What dance I would do to this, what dance I would do to this lyric?”

The rapper Rico Nasty, one of 10k.Caash’s close friends, said she sees him as a multifaceted performer. “I never look at him as just an artist. He does so much,” she said. “He can come up with a different dance every month if he wants.”

These days on the global viral song charts, you’ll find conventionally successful hip-hop and pop songs, and also obscurities and spoken sketches. But the social internet is like one long interwoven dance challenge. It is its own medium, and the music being made specifically for it is becoming its own style, breaking down the traditional song format into components and amplifying the loudest and stickiest parts.

G.U.N. is frequently in the studio with 10k.Caash, and said he initially found his approach confounding. “I’d be like, ‘Yo, you got to make it more like a song.’ He’d be like, ‘Nah G.U.N., watch this.’ And at the end product, I’m just like, damnnnnnn — he taught me something new: Everything doesn’t have to make sense for it to be good.”

10k.Caash, born Treyvon Britt, said he doesn’t listen to much contemporary hip-hop (“I don’t even listen to Drake”) but is drawn to distinctive voices, citing Little Richard and Sir Mix-A-Lot, and distinctive sounds: “cartoons, gaming sounds, anything that sounds out of the ordinary” or just “Instagram snippets people send me.”

The optimal sound of TikTok or Triller is also shaped by the strictures of the medium — it requires immediate shock, catchiness and lighthearted inclusivity. “Think of the deliberateness behind a video that would be played on MTV in the beginning of MTV,” said Justin Duran, Def Jam’s senior director of marketing and 10k.Caash’s project manager. 10k.Caash and his peers are “consciously making music that’s built for a platform,” he said. “They know what the sensibility is for that — it’s deliberate but almost intuitive.”

Viral hip-hop dance videos are what catapulted 10k.Caash from a teenage time-killer into a formidable member of hip-hop’s rookie class. Built like a stack of gumdrops, he dances in concise, herky-jerk movements, slithering and then stopping as if he suddenly had his plug pulled. A couple of years ago, he honed a dance that had been circulating around Dallas and added a hard locking motion. It became the Woah, one of the most widespread and easiest-to-emulate viral dances of recent years. (As with most viral phenomena, the exact origin point is contested.)

But even before that, 10k.Caash, who hails from the Oak Cliff neighborhood, had been a dancer in a city that had always found overlap between dance and hip-hop — the Dougie, the Ricky Bobby, the Stanky Legg. A few years ago, however, when he and his friends were making dance videos, “Nobody thought it was cool to be a dancer,” he said. “Everybody stopped, everybody felt like we should be hood.”

Still, he danced, and people began to take note. He was one of the dancers in the viral video that catapulted Ugly God’s “I Beat My Meat” to broad attention. And he and his friends steadily made Woah videos, dancing along to local rap hits. Through dancing, he met Lil Uzi Vert — now an idiosyncratic Garbo-like superstar, but then a more accessible aspirant. Uzi appeared in some Woah videos with 10k.Caash, and eventually suggested that 10k.Caash try rapping, making songs of his own rather than, in essence, using his popularity to promote other people’s music.

10k.Caash released his first song, “Dip Swag Dip,” in the summer of 2018. That November, he self-released “The Creator.” Soon after, he signed to Def Jam, the foundational hip-hop label, which rereleased “The Creator” last May. (“He’s an overall internet sensation who just happens to make music,” Duran said.)

Many of his early stage performances were at festivals, coming out for a song during other people’s sets. His ubiquity online also created opportunities to film dance videos with more established artists like Trippie Redd or Chance the Rapper who, Duran said, treated 10k.Caash like a kind of muse: “He was bull-horning his music through 10k.” A hallmark of those clips is their evident joy, as if 10k.Caash had allowed those performers to reach something childlike inside themselves.

“A lot of people hit me up when they’re going through things,” 10k.Caash said. “I naturally make people happy.”

Rico Nasty said his open-hearted disposition is a rarity: “He genuinely wants to build friendship. Most people in the industry just do that when they need you for something.”

For an artist from Dallas, a city with a long hip-hop history but not many breakthrough successes, 10k.Caash has had a rapid, unlikely ascent, bypassing the local rap hierarchy. But he still has a devoted following in the city’s underground scene, which was clear the night after the studio session, when he appeared at a hybrid rap/wrestling event at a dingy banquet space in an industrial strip mall on the city’s northwest side.

It was a loosely hinged scene, a gathering of the subcultures. A disco ball dangled over the squared circle as 10k.Caash rapped and danced his way through an abbreviated set. When he was done, he didn’t speed off, but stuck around, sitting on the top turnbuckle to watch his friends perform.

“I really don’t care for music at all,” he’d said earlier that day. “I kind of got drained from caring. In the beginning I actually cared, but once you actually see what actually goes on, it’s like OK, it’s no reason for me to actually care.”

His earliest engagement with music was through promoting parties and dancing with friends, but the music business is less communal than that. Artists have invited him to collaborate, and then removed him from songs, he said. He’s released snippets on Instagram, only to have the sound or words copied by others.

“A lot of people that make songs like me, they don’t even have the confidence to put me on the song,” he said. “I outrap them.” Though he’s recorded approximately 500 songs, and hopes to release a third project in April, “I might be done after that,” he said.

So he has backup plans. He’s a freshman at Texas A&M University-Commerce, majoring in accounting. He knows how to code in Python. He’s made friends in FaZe Clan, the powerhouse e-sports collective. “Sometimes his heart’s not in the music,” G.U.N. said. “He’s happiest when he’s playing a game.”

Which is maybe where 10k.Caash will end up, after moving on from the way station of the record business. Now, he’s a successful rapper, dancer and social media savant. Tomorrow — who can say? “I hope it all transfers,” he said, “and I just can play games all day.”

from WordPress https://mastcomm.com/songs-nah-10k-caash-is-making-whatever-comes-next/

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slrlounge1 · 6 years

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6 Tips On How To Shoot A Fashion Campaign

As a fashion photographer who’s helped create a number.of lookbooks and campaigns for my clients over the years, I learned a thing or two about putting together a successful photoshoot.

Role Playing

It’s not always a given for the photographer to take on a role of a creative director. Often, the clients themselves or a separate creative they outsourced (such as a stylist) will take on that role. However, in my personal experience working on smaller productions for local designers and brands, I’ve found one does have to multitask from time to time because of budget restrictions. The level of creative direction you can contribute usually depends on how open the brand/client is to your input. I usually find the more laid back they are and the more creative freedom they give me, the better the shoot turns out.

All of those thoughts came to mind during my recent lookbook photoshoot with one of my longest standing clients. I’ve been working with Niamh O’Neill for over 6 years now (which is basically the majority of my professional career) and I can call myself extremely lucky to have built so much trust between both of our brands. We produce about two lookbooks per year, so we have close to twelve photoshoots under our belts. Because of that longstanding relationship, we are able to create shoots where Niamh might not be present, like last year in Cape Town, or this year in Bali.

It takes a lot for a designer to just let you run with your ideas. In a way, you are taking their baby, something they’ve invested so much time and money into creating before turning it over to your vision. Usually, the images you produce will be the selling point for the brand, so it’s understandable that they want it to look the best it possibly can. In this article, I would like to share some of my key pointers on how to put on a creative director’s hat, organize, and run a successful campaign without the client being present.

1. Create A Strong Moodboard

I feel like a strong moodboard should be the foundation of every photoshoot. I always try to gather as much information about the collection I’m going to shoot as possible. I always ask the designer about the colours, patterns, and possible visual references. This way, I can establish what kind of location and mood would be the most suitable for the campaign. On top of that, I put together a list of possible model and hair and makeup looks for the designer to look over to make sure we are on the same page in regards to the overall concept. I always try to show as many references to the designer as possible, to make sure they have a clear idea of my vision so that they can adjust it if needed.

2. Choose The Right Team

Once I have my mood and location established, I can move on to picking my team. I usually secure a model first, as she is the most important visual component of my shoot. Most of the time, I will contact model agencies, but if I’ve worked with a girl before, I will occasionally contact her directly. Once I have the model booked for a particular date, I can try and organize hair and makeup teams that are also available on my dates. In general, when organizing client shoots, I always go with creatives I’ve worked with before as I know what their work ethic is like. I know what I can expect from them. It usually makes the whole planning process much smoother and less stressful.

3. Get The Clothes

Getting the clothes can be tricky if the client is sending them from abroad. I find what usually works best for me is either bringing the clothing with me if I’m flying to the location for the photoshoot, or just using a courier like DHL to send the stuff over. You just need to make sure you allow extra time for customs checks, etc., as it can usually take a few days. There’s nothing worse than having the whole shoot set up with no outfits to shoot.

4. Scout The Location For Visual Reference

When shooting in natural light or on location in general, I find It crucial to location scout the place beforehand. I usually try to check out the location in advance and take photos of possible shoot spots on my phone. Once I have that done, I usually pair the locations with different outfits to figure out which colors and patterns work best together. Having your shots mapped out like that will always make the photoshoot go much quicker on the day as you won’t have to scramble and search for locations.

5. Pick the Time Of Day/Conditions Wisely

Always be aware of the time of the year and the weather situation. Bali gets extremely hot and humid during the day, so I knew I would have to set up my photoshoot quite early. Ideally, it’s best to start just after sunrise and finish up by 10:00am. After that, it becomes really difficult to shoot: everyone gets sweaty, the makeup runs, and the light becomes harsher. My makeup artists always carry blotting papers and powder with them to keep the model looking dewy, instead of sweaty (#goodsweat).

From photography perspective, I always try to shoot the direct sunlight looks first and then move into the shade once the light gets to be too much.

6. Dial In Your Camera Settings & Determine Focal Lengths

When shooting my fashion campaigns, I personally love using a wider angle lens, something like my trusty 24-70mm, and I keep the shots in the 24-35mm range. I tend to shoot from down on the ground facing up to even further elongate the model. I also usually shoot at higher aperture so I can incorporate a bit more of the background into my shoots. I feel like bokeh has its time and place in photos, but when I’m working in a gorgeous location, I feel like shooting at f/1.4 would just be wasteful. Incorporating the surroundings creates a better visual story and adds to the narrative.

Conclusion

Those are my top tips for shooting a fashion Campaign. Having as many visual references as possible and keeping good communication between you, your team, and your client is key. The more prepared you are, the bigger chance you’ll have of achieving success. Make sure to also check out my most recent video for more handy campaign tips, which you can see below:

youtube

To recap, the six tips for shooting a fashion campaign include the following:

Create a strong moodboard

Choose the right team

Get the clothes

Scout the location for visual reference

Pick the time of day/conditions wisely

Dial in your camera settings and determine focal lengths

Team Credits:

Photography – Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/sadowskaphoto Photography – Website: https://anitasadowska.eu Model: https://www.instagram.com/melnikovakristina Makeup: http://www.instagram.com/mirkina Clothing: http://www.instagram.com/niamh_o_neill

Camera Gear:

Sony A7Riii (B&H | Amazon | Adorama) Sony G-Master 24-70 f2.8 (B&H | Amazon | Adorama)

from SLR Lounge https://www.slrlounge.com/6-tips-on-how-to-shoot-a-fashion-campaign/ via IFTTT

#IFTTT #SLR Lounge

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michaelfallcon · 6 years

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The 2019 Sprudge Guide To Teamakers and Ceramics

I hesitated in writing this guide. The world of teaware is vast and intimidating, and can be a money pit of fakes and forgeries. It is also where so much of the joy in loving tea can be derived. Ultimately our team felt Tea Week would be incomplete without some sort of feature on teaware. My very best attempt at this here in 2019 is what follows.

For coffee lovers, you might think of teaware as like the espresso machine of the tea world. To casual drinkers or the untrained eye, it just looks like a nice object that makes the thing you drink—and nothing more. But for those who obsess it can become an endless quest of sourcing and seeking, of pride and cost. A life’s pursuit, even. There is no small amount of money to be spent at the top end of teaware buying—may I call your attention to the infamous Chengua-era “chicken cup,” which sold for $35 million at Sotheby’s in 2014. For our purposes this guide caps objects at the $500 range, with prices average considerably less for most of the offerings.

Photo by Anthony Jordan III.

Note that this guide only barely touches on the world of Yixing, the traditional tea pottery of Jiangsu, made using porous clay in a style dating back to the 10th century. This is its own whole world, a vast guide I don’t feel prepared to lead at this time—perhaps in a few more years.

For now, these wholesalers and makers are more than enough to get you started and find new favorites. The guide below is hopelessly biased towards my own personal taste but hey—teaware is supposed to be personal. That’s part of the fun, and it’s something I hope you are inspired to explore further with support from this guide

A Solid Foundation

Photo courtesy of Rishi Tea.

Rishi Tea

Rishi is a truly solid place to get started with home teawares, offering for example this workhorse starter gaiwan for $12, and this cute little basic tea tray for $25. They’ve also got a lovely collection of flex items, like this stunning blue studio-made celadon “fairness pitcher” from Taiwan, or this rustic clay and mineral cup. Rishi ships free domestic at $25, which is plenty to get started making gong fu cha—pair that $12 gaiwan with, say, a couple of oolong samples (we like Rishi’s Iron Goddess of Mercy and Phoenix Dancong) and you are off to the races.

Photo by Anthony Jordan III.

Breville

Breville is the presenting sponsor of Tea Week on Sprudge—for which we thank them!—but they also produce a range of tea-focused hot water boilers and teamakers we have no lie legit been happily using in Sprudge Studios for the last few years, long before this content package was a twinkle in the editorial eye. The Breville Tea Maker Compact‘s tech allows you to set up brew parameters for whatever kind of tea you’re into; the machine’s automated basket then plunges your brew into water heated to your temp of choice. When the cycle is done, the basket lifts out of the water, ensuring you won’t oversteep. I’d liken this machine to something like a nice home batch brewer, a simplifier that’s perfect for tea making on a busy morning or for large groups (for which the classic Tea Maker is a bigger, better fit).

Another option is the Breville Smart Tea Infuser, which we especially dig these Tea Makers for their handiness with single-steep tisanes, like those from Smith Tea, Song Tea, and Tea Dealers featured in our tisane spotlight. We also really like their IQ Kettle Pure (pictured above) for heating water consistently and at scale—you can transfer from there into a ceramic kettle for service, or pour directly from the Breville IQ.

If you are looking for a fusion of tea, taste and tech, this is the gear for you.

Photo courtesy of Manual.

Manual Tea Maker No1

Chicago tinkerer Creighton Barman puts out new stuff each year, typically pre-funded on Kickstarter, but we’re still in love with this 2016 release, the Tea Maker No1, a modernist reinterpretation of the gaiwan built for ease of brewing. Double-walled glass is the hook here, which keeps the Tea Maker cool to the touch throughout the brewing process, and also gives you peek-a-boo viewing at all that beautiful steeping action. I think these gaiwans offer a rare degree of utility no matter where you are in terms of tea knowledge and experience—they are rad and very forgiving for beginners who are still mastering the whole gaiwan thing, but also fun for experts who want to incorporate western and modern influences into their teaware collection.

Let’s Geek Out

Photo by Anthony Jordan III.

Bitterleaf

With full respect to Bitterleaf’s collection of teas for drinking (featured in our buying guide), the site’s assortment of teawares, tea tools, tea pets, and assorted Chinese tea ephemera is truly deep and excellent.

From beautiful little studio tea cups (starting around $8) to Chaozhou teapots in a range of classic styles (more like $80) to really cute hand-painted animal vessels ($35) to all manner of entry-level trays and supports (prices vary) and much more, there are hundreds of pieces of tea kit to shop from and swoon over at Bitterleaf. I especially like their selection of “tea pets,” little clay figurines typically depicting children or animals, incorporated into tea service as a symbol of good luck. You “feed” the tea pet with excess water or tea throughout the teamaking process, with the clay left to develop a lovely luster over repeat feedings. (It’s fun. Don’t @ me.)

Photo by Anthony Jordan III.

Song Tea

Song Tea are also featured in our tea buying guide for their literally life-changing (as in it changed my life) compendium of meticulously curated tea offerings. But the ceramics offered by Song are on another level. Founder Peter Luong has an eye for relatively young and emerging artists, making commissions across his travels to Taiwan. Works by artists like Zhang Yun Chen (Nantou), Qiu Qing Yun (Meinong), and Hu Tie Ha (Jiefen) evoke what’s possible at the blurred edge of collectible art and practical working pottery. I cannot realistically see myself being someone who collects art to hang on the wall, but the idea of owning this Husk #2 tea bowl by Zhang Yun Chen gives me heart palpitations. If you are, say, truly enjoying tea week and would like to, you know, say thank you as a grateful reader or whatever, please buy this for me. DMs are open.

Photo courtesy of Pu.Erh.Sk

Pu-Erh.Sk

Based in Slovakia, Pu-Erh.sk is an online webshop shipping worldwide, focused on sheng and shou Pu’er teas from Yunnan. Their tea sourcing is concise and well-considered—the gushu heads love ‘em—but for me the site’s focus on Eastern European ceramicists and teaware artisans has been a revelation. Czech artists like Jiří Duchek and Jura Lang are building truly compelling, one-of-a-kind teawares that fuse traditional regional clays with far-flung design influences from the east and west. Pieces like this gorgeous Jura Lang shiboridashi (a kind of Japanese easy gaiwan) are handmade, wood-fired, visually stunning, and sure to grow in beauty over repeated use. For beginning collectors and enthusiasts to be able to get in the door with an artist-specific work like this at just €65 is really special. Elsewhere on the site, Swedish artist Stefan Andersson makes a range of gorgeous wares, while Norwegian brand Ad.Infinitum offers bespoke and vintage tea ceremony linens. All of these makers are brands with followings in their own right, collected by Pu-Erh.sk for easy ordering and global shipping.

Everybody’s taste is different, and a lot of tea ceramics collections start and end in Asia, with no deviation. But I really grok the vibe of this stuff coming out of Eastern Europe. To get in at the cutting edge of small maker European ceramics artistry, go here.

Ceramicists To Watch—And Collect

*A note: While I am personally passionate about ceramics and hopelessly biased towards its validity and urgency as an art form, I also think you—whomever you are reading this—might really dig works from the artists below. The idea of placing a commission with an individual artist might seem intimidating or overly expensive, but we’re not talking George Ohr here; works from these artists don’t typically cost more than $100 for a single piece of teaware, and more like $30-$50 for a handmade cup or set of cups. For less cost than a single dinner at a fancy restaurant you can own and put into daily use your own personal work from a talented artist. It will make your tea taste better, your kitchen look cuter, and who knows—in 50 years you might get a segment on the Antiques Roadshow.

Here are a few talented and emerging ceramicists to follow.

Photo via Song Tea.

Lilith Rockett

Portland ceramicist Lilith Rockett works across a range of expressions for home pottery, including plates, lighting, vases, and abstract decorative objects. Her style—lustrous soft milky white porcelain, entirely handmade—translates well into tea, especially the stunning wheel-thrown porcelain gaiwan. A significant amount of tea consumed for the purposes of Tea Week on Sprudge was steeped in just such a piece. Rockett has a webshop, and also accepts limited commissions. You can find her work at some of the best restaurants in the United States, including The French Laundry (Napa), Smyth (Chicago), Saison (San Francisco), and Nodoguro (Portland).

Follow Lilith Rockett on Instagram.

Photo via Carole Neilson.

Carole Neilson

Buzzy San Francisco-based artist Carole Neilson fuses the rural pottery traditions of her native Alsace with an irresistible contemporary immediacy. Her eye-catching signature glazes evoke smoke fumes and clouds of dust, making for pottery with an earth-dappled glow. Neilson’s range of works include original sculpture pieces and stunning bowl and plate sets, but for tea (and coffee!) drinkers her small cups and pitchers make a lively addition to any collection. Neilson’s work is blowing up, with a growing list of stockists, gallery exhibitions at spaces like Hugomento, pop-up dinners around the country (including a recent dinner at Omaha’s Archetype Coffee), and a successful recent series of artist grants. She is truly an artist to watch. Neilson has a webshop and accepts limited commissions.

Follow Carole Neilson Ceramics on Instagram.

Photo by Anthony Jordan III.

Qi Pottery

Kim Whyee Kee of Qi Pottery first learned his art behind bars. After serving time in the Singaporean corrections system for gang-related crimes, Kee graduated from an arts college, helped co-found a variety of initiatives working with at-risk youth, and launched Qi Pottery in 2016. His style echoes ancient tea traditions, but does so through a burst of heart-stopping colors that demand attention. Vivid pinks, deep blues, mesmerizing blacks, coral reds—Easter egg pastels that fuse the practical nature of teaware with the elegance of a home statement piece. But this is no gimmick maker—Qi Pottery’s mastery extends to more simple forms, like these beautiful rusted large format cups.

Photo by Anthony Jordan III.

It’s simply some of the most beautiful ceramics work I’ve ever seen, and for an artist with just a few public showings so far, you can certainly expect these pieces to become more and more sought after and valuable over the years. Qi Pottery has a website, but no webstore. If you’re interested in purchasing an existing piece or making a commission, please contact the artist directly via email or Instagram.

Follow Kim Whye Kee of Qi Pottery on Instagram.

Photo by Anthony Jordan III.

Arturo Alvarez

A full-time artist dedicated to original teawares, Arturo Alvarez is based in Olympia, Washington, and crafts art in a range of styles and expressions. We commissioned Alvarez for our office tea set at Sprudge Studios (we’ll be serving tea there this week as part of the Tea Week fun), and follow his regular updates on Instagram, where his account @your_pencil is part of a thriving Instagram ceramics community. Perhaps his most distinctive pieces involve incorporating found materials, including driftwood handles made from wood found across Puget Sound beaches, but this is an artist growing and advancing his craft before our very eyes, letting it all play out online. Follow him and watch along—it feels like he’s debuting new pieces almost every day.

Photo by Anthony Jordan III.

Arturo Alvarez sells a limited number of teawares online via Etsy. Contact the artist directly via Instagram for commissions or to purchase pieces featured on his account.

Follow Arturo Alvarez on Instagram.

Photo by Anthony Jordan III.

Andrzej Bero

A teaware potter out of Warsaw, Andrzej Bero specializes in the shiboridashi—a gaiwan variant that’s easy to use and, in the right hands, a piece of working art. Bero’s shibos are made from clay that feels coarse and tactile to the touch, in a range of dark reds, greens, and blues. This style translates especially well to larger pieces, like his 300ml teapots, which are hotly in demand for tea services around the world. Andrzej Bero has a website but no webstore; a limited number of his works are available for purchase via the aforementioned Pu-Erh.sk. Contact the artist directly for commissions and availability.

Follow Andrzej Bero on Instagram.

Jordan Michelman is a co-founder and editor at Sprudge Media Network. Read more Jordan Michelman on Sprudge.

Editor: Scott Norton.

Top photo by Anthony Jordan III (@ace_lace).

Sprudge Tea Week is presented by Breville USA.

The post The 2019 Sprudge Guide To Teamakers and Ceramics appeared first on Sprudge.

The 2019 Sprudge Guide To Teamakers and Ceramics published first on https://medium.com/@LinLinCoffee

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epchapman89 · 6 years

Text

The 2019 Sprudge Guide To Teamakers and Ceramics

Photo by Anthony Jordan III.

A Solid Foundation

Photo courtesy of Rishi Tea.

Rishi Tea

Photo by Anthony Jordan III.

Breville

If you are looking for a fusion of tea, taste and tech, this is the gear for you.

Photo courtesy of Manual.

Manual Tea Maker No1

Let’s Geek Out

Photo by Anthony Jordan III.

Bitterleaf

Photo by Anthony Jordan III.

Song Tea

Photo courtesy of Pu.Erh.Sk

Pu-Erh.Sk

Ceramicists To Watch—And Collect

Here are a few talented and emerging ceramicists to follow.

Photo via Song Tea.

Lilith Rockett

Follow Lilith Rockett on Instagram.

Photo via Carole Neilson.

Carole Neilson

Follow Carole Neilson Ceramics on Instagram.

Photo by Anthony Jordan III.

Qi Pottery

Photo by Anthony Jordan III.

Follow Kim Whye Kee of Qi Pottery on Instagram.

Photo by Anthony Jordan III.

Arturo Alvarez

Photo by Anthony Jordan III.

Arturo Alvarez sells a limited number of teawares online via Etsy. Contact the artist directly via Instagram for commissions or to purchase pieces featured on his account.

Follow Arturo Alvarez on Instagram.

Photo by Anthony Jordan III.

Andrzej Bero

Follow Andrzej Bero on Instagram.

Jordan Michelman is a co-founder and editor at Sprudge Media Network. Read more Jordan Michelman on Sprudge.

Editor: Scott Norton.

Top photo by Anthony Jordan III (@ace_lace).

Sprudge Tea Week is presented by Breville USA.

The post The 2019 Sprudge Guide To Teamakers and Ceramics appeared first on Sprudge.

seen 1st on http://sprudge.com

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mrwilliamcharley · 6 years

Text

The 2019 Sprudge Guide To Teamakers and Ceramics

Photo by Anthony Jordan III.

A Solid Foundation

Photo courtesy of Rishi Tea.

Rishi Tea

Photo by Anthony Jordan III.

Breville

If you are looking for a fusion of tea, taste and tech, this is the gear for you.

Photo courtesy of Manual.

Manual Tea Maker No1

Let’s Geek Out

Photo by Anthony Jordan III.

Bitterleaf

Photo by Anthony Jordan III.

Song Tea

Photo courtesy of Pu.Erh.Sk

Pu-Erh.Sk

Ceramicists To Watch—And Collect

Here are a few talented and emerging ceramicists to follow.

Photo via Song Tea.

Lilith Rockett

Follow Lilith Rockett on Instagram.

Photo via Carole Neilson.

Carole Neilson

Follow Carole Neilson Ceramics on Instagram.

Photo by Anthony Jordan III.

Qi Pottery

Photo by Anthony Jordan III.

Follow Kim Whye Kee of Qi Pottery on Instagram.

Photo by Anthony Jordan III.

Arturo Alvarez

Photo by Anthony Jordan III.

Arturo Alvarez sells a limited number of teawares online via Etsy. Contact the artist directly via Instagram for commissions or to purchase pieces featured on his account.

Follow Arturo Alvarez on Instagram.

Photo by Anthony Jordan III.

Andrzej Bero

Follow Andrzej Bero on Instagram.

Jordan Michelman is a co-founder and editor at Sprudge Media Network. Read more Jordan Michelman on Sprudge.

Editor: Scott Norton.

Top photo by Anthony Jordan III (@ace_lace).

Sprudge Tea Week is presented by Breville USA.

The post The 2019 Sprudge Guide To Teamakers and Ceramics appeared first on Sprudge.

from Sprudge https://ift.tt/2TkAiuQ

0 notes

dorothydelgadillo · 6 years

Text

“Creative” Design vs. Functional Design: Why a Sexy Website Isn’t Always the Answer

I have always been an artist… but I have also always been a realist.

I never wanted to pursue the life of a struggling artist, nor did I want to be a teacher.

This left little in the way of a career path for me as an artist. Enter graphic design.

Graphic design is a perfect marriage of art and creativity with function and purpose.

This remains one of the big reasons I am in love with designing websites.

I get to create something that people enjoy looking at AND interacting with. Cool, right?

A big part of my job is research and browsing sites all across the world wide web and let me tell you, the things people are doing with web design is WILD.

Myself and the rest of our creative team (developers included) are always thinking of ways that we can push our own limitations and incorporate new things we see crop up in the web design community.

However, the conversation always comes back to one question: What value does that provide?

It’s Not All About Looking Pretty

Some things look pretty or work super cool, but wouldn’t provide our clients any value.

A site can be super “sexy” and not yield any value at all (I’ve recently rambled about this in length on Creator’s Block), but for us, as an agency built on turning results, it's important to build a site that lives at the intersection of beautiful design AND peak performance.

Here’s a great analogy from MentorMate that might help you wrap your head around that.

“Have you ever gone to a restaurant expecting big things? You’d walked by a million times and liked each and every new dish posted on Instagram. Rough-hewn walnut floors. Colorful entrées that seem to sing in their variety. Breathtaking. Then you get there. And — it takes 20 minutes to be seated. Not that there was a wait. The host was simply nowhere to be found. You order, and the first bites are…mediocre. Sure, they were plated nicely, but that’s about it. All-in-all the experience was lackluster, and chances are you won’t be going back.”

As designers, it’s not that we don’t want to design the heck out of your website (trust me, we’d love to), but like any good partner, we care about you so much, we put your needs first, even if you don’t realize it’s what you really need.

The good news is you can still have a really, really nice looking website, that looks and functions great.

The key is knowing what will truly add value versus what is just a fancy, unnecessary add on.

Function Comes First

When we start any website project we always think about function first.

What problems does the website have to solve for? What functionality do we need to make the website serve its purpose?

Ultimately, if you have a page that looks beautiful, but it confuses your users and they leave after 10 seconds without filling out a form or buying something (whatever your goal may be), that page is a failure.

This is why we wireframe first.

You don’t start decorating a house until the foundation is set and stable, right?

When we wireframe, we account for the basic form and function of a page. This is to ensure that it’s all working the way we want it to before we even start thinking about how the design will look.

I’m going to say it again because this is super important: Web design isn’t just about looking sexy.

A well-thought-out design should be results driven and solve challenges.

Often my challenge as a designer is knowing that something that doesn’t look good works well and figuring out how to take those parts and make them look sexy as hell.

Here are some sites I think are doing a great job at this.

Curology

The overall design of this page is very clean and modern. Where I think they really win is in the animation of the hero value prop and the micro-interactions in the testimonial sections. This helps guide the user’s focus to the value prop (that, bonus: helps the user solve for their problems) and the user testimonial photos which show how the product really works.

Kontainer

What struck me most about Kontainer’s site is that every section has animations and interactions, each one purposeful in guiding the user and supporting the content. Most noticeable are the arrows coming from the left or right margin of the page.

Notice how they move slightly as you scroll down the page and “magically” line up with strategic CTAs.

The parallax of the images also helps move the user through the page as they push the images into focus and pull them out of focus so the user focuses on the next block of content quicker.

Lobster

This is another page that is chock-full of animations, but each one is purposeful, supports the content, and gently nudges the user down the page. You can’t help but follow the whimsical lines down the page to see what happens next.

Each section has a line or highlight that pulls the user down through the section, emphasizes a key bit of information, and then leads the user to the next section.

It also uses the line animation to highlight the pricing plans, one by one, so the user focuses on each individually.

Factors That Should Influence Your Design Choices

Okay, so I’ve been harping on “purpose” like a broken record. Now let’s take a look at some of the influences that really determine the purpose and direction of our page design.

The User

You’ve heard “the customer is always right” before. Well, when it comes to web design, it’s “the user is always right.”

Your website isn’t for you; it’s for your audience/user.

So, the user should influence EVERYTHING. Tone, color palette, font choices, image choices, placement, spacing, white space, page length, I could go on forever.

Think of it this way, if your user doesn’t understand (or LIKE it) and it deters them from your site, then it doesn’t work for you either.

Budget

What you are actually paying for when you hire a team to design and develop your site, is the time it takes for that team to create everything from strategies, wireframes, mockups, and finally functional pages, right?

Well, things like custom illustrations or custom functionality easily add more time to a project and quickly inflate the scope of a project.

Consider whether the price you will pay for additional “sexiness” will return as much value in results from your site.

Devices or Browsers

Okay, so this really ties in with the user as well, but it’s so important, we’re going to treat it as its own point.

Before considering adding any sort of wild new design elements to your site, you should know where/how the bulk of your users are viewing your site.

If the majority of your users are using IE or Internet Explorer (don’t get me started) or are strictly mobile, this should limit the bounds of what can and should be done.

Some functionality breaks, when run through IE or site elements, will shift dramatically when viewed on a mobile device.

So, you typically should focus on the medium (and that medium’s limitation) that the majority of your visitors are using.

This is really important because you need to focus on your user’s experience in whatever medium they are most likely using.

Creating a beautiful desktop site that barely functions on mobile, when most of your users are visiting your site via mobile is not only wasted effort but also will leave your users not wanting to return to your site.

Competitors

Sometimes, it’s important to incorporate a user experience similar to your competitors to make it easiest for your target audience.

Often, users flip back and forth between similar sites when looking for solutions to their problems.

If your direct competitors are doing something, it’s likely your audience is familiar with the experience, creating less friction when it comes to understanding and navigating your website.

So, if your competitors are all using similar functionality that seems to be working well and makes sense, don’t feel obligated to do something different.

Doing something different may actually DETER users because they have to learn something new on top of the issue they are trying to solve for.

Users often come to your site with assumptions. Work with them, not against them.

Brand/Brand Recognition

After your user, you must remember your brand.

Everything you add to your website is a reflection of your established brand.

Consider whether that watercolor illustration or page transition animation speaks to your brand’s tone and style.

If it doesn’t fit than its existence is more confusing to your audience and a detriment to your brand awareness.

Page Load Speed

Intense animations and functionality can bog down your page load speed, plain and simple. While it may look cool, if it takes a dramatic toll on your site speed (and ultimately its rank), it’s not worth it.

Common "Sexy" Elements That Undermine A Website's Effectiveness

I often have to be the bearer of bad news with clients who have come across something that looks new and interesting they want to implement on their site but isn’t the best move functionally.

Here are some common elements that usually do more harm than good, and some better alternatives.

Buzy Heroes or Hero Videos

Unless a hero video is showing and explaining a product, these are mostly a distraction that adds little value and can really slow down the load time of your page.

What are alternatives? Instead of a soundless video playing without much explanation in the background, have your hero’s call-to-action be to play the full video to give the user the most value from it.

If you still are looking to add a little fun to your hero image consider a well-planned cinemagraph.

Lots of (Purposeless) Animations

Animation can be both costly to create and slow down the speed of your site a heck-of-a-lot.

What are alternatives? Micro-interactions like small animations on icons or buttons can help confirm actions and guide the user through the user journey.

Lots of (Purposeless) Illustration

Custom illustration isn’t cheap. This can suck your budget very quickly.

What are alternatives? Sites like Shutterstock offer tons of premade illustrations and illustration packs that can be modified to give you a custom feel without breaking the bank. Confusing User Interactions and Hover Effects

These can not only can confuse the user but can become un-usable across mobile devices or older browsers.

What are alternatives? Don’t reinvent the wheel. Only push for a new way of doing things if you think it will truly benefit your users. Keep the interactions simple and familiar, but change small things like the button animations I mentioned above to keep things looking fresh and modern.

When You SHOULD Choose Artistry Over Functionality

Like with any rule, there are some exceptions to putting functionality first.

Up to this point, I’ve pled my case as to why you basically should steer clear of unnecessary design elements, but I’m not a tyrant and I do think there are some practical use cases for getting a bit more fancy with things.

You should consider extra flourishment for:

Stand-Alone Pages

If you are designing a stand-alone page that is simply a “delight” factor for your audience, you can consider adding some sexy elements.

Check out the Spotify Wrapped page for a great example. The page only exists to please pre-existing customers and for shareability and includes a lot of impressive animations and custom elements.

It’s a Set Standard

You should invest in design if your audience is already used to a certain standard of artistry and is already up-to-speed with interacting with sites that use unique functionality.

It’s also important to consider the level of artistry that’s associated with your brand.

Take, for example, Apple. They could put out a simple specs page for their new products, but they have become known for their clean, modern, and cutting-edge approach to showcasing their new products.

Look at their iPhone XR page and you’ll see what I mean.

This page is very different from the majority of their pages which include less intricate coding and unique layouts, but this really helps to highlight their new product and its many awesome features.

You’re Not Concerned About Lead Generation

Last, but not least, if you are not worried about leads, revenue, or some other kind of result coming from your website, you can consider more extensive design.

When you're trying to get people to fill out a form on your website, this should be the focus and extravagant design can distract from it. However, if this is not the goal of your website, you can feel freer to experiment.

Thank you for coming to my TED Talk.

Just kidding.

But seriously, I cannot stress enough the importance of a strong marriage between making a site that looks beautiful AND works beautifully. In order to have a truly great website, both things have to be in play.

You’re probably tired of my ramblings at this point. So, I’ll leave you with the three most important questions you should ask yourself when you are considering pushing a “creative” design:

Does it add value?

Does it serve a purpose?

Will it serve my audience?

from Web Developers World https://www.impactbnd.com/blog/creative-design-vs-functional-design

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myyenlee · 6 years

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Welcome Atavist! A Groundbreaking Publishing Platform Joins the WordPress.com Family

Today we’re announcing that Atavist, a multimedia publishing platform and award-winning magazine, will be joining WordPress.com parent company Automattic.

This news is exciting to me on a few levels — eight years ago I had my first introduction to Atavist when I met a journalist named Evan Ratliff for coffee at Housing Works in New York. He showed me the first pieces of what became a bold new platform for long-form storytelling, which he created with co-founders Jefferson Rabb and Nicholas Thompson. At the time I had just started Longreads, so we shared an interest in seeing a revival for long-form journalism on the open web.

Fast-forward to today and we’re thrilled to have the Atavist and Longreads teams now together under the WordPress.com banner. Atavist’s publishing platform will be moving over to WordPress, and its award-winning magazine The Atavist will continue to serve up outstanding in-depth storytelling with a new feature each month, under the editorship of Seyward Darby. Also joining the team is Atavist CEO Rabb and head of product communications Kathleen Ross.

I chatted with Rabb, Darby, and Ross about what’s next.

Jeff, Seyward, Kathleen, we’re excited you’re here! You’ve had a terrific run over the past eight years — leading innovation around the design and process of multimedia storytelling, winning many awards along the way — what are your hopes and priorities for Atavist moving forward?

RABB: Thank you, I’m thrilled to be here! My number one hope in joining [WordPress.com parent company] Automattic is to bring everything we have built and learned to an audience that is orders of magnitude larger. I’ve spent the past eight years honing a toolset and sensibility for digital journalism, and now I’m excited to put this to use for a mass audience. When these are integrated into WordPress, I am hoping we will have an unbeatable product for storytelling and journalism. There are many fascinating challenges and problems in journalism today, and now more than ever I want to be part of the solution.

DARBY: I’m also excited to be here! I’ve been at The Atavist Magazine for the last 15 months, and it’s the best job I’ve ever had. The list of things I love about our publication is too long to include in full, but some highlights are the intimate collaborations with creators, the anchoring belief in the timeless power of cinematic storytelling, and the commitment to nurturing the next generation of long-form writers. Certainly, we work with big-name journalists, but we’re also a magazine that supports up-and-coming narrative writers who want to take a swing at a really, really big story. I love nothing more than helping someone crack the code on a 15,000-word feature’s complex structure. (I’m a big fan of Post-It notes and story trees, and of fist-pumping to no one in particular when an article section falls into place.)

Moving forward, the magazine’s foundational priorities will remain the same: We’ll tell great stories, design them beautifully, treat our collaborators well, and have a lot of fun in the process. My hope is that, by combining forces with WordPress.com, we’ll get to push the boundaries of our projects: dive into more multi-part narrative investigations, produce more original video or audio where it makes good sense, improve the diversity of our roster of writers and artists, and provide journalists with the resources and time they need to report the hell out of topics they’re passionate about.

Winning awards and getting our stories optioned for film/TV, which we also have a strong track record of doing, will be goals, absolutely, but never at the expense of providing a quality experience to every person who contributes to or reads The Atavist.

Tell us about some of your favorite stories you’ve hosted.

DARBY: I’m proud of every story I’ve shepherded as the executive editor, so it’s hard for me to pick favorites. The most successful Atavist stories share the same key ingredients: a propulsive, satisfying narrative, rich characters, and scenes that make readers feel immersed in the world the writer is describing. At first blush, Kenneth R. Rosen’s story “The Devil’s Henchmen,” about what is being done with the bodies of the ISIS dead in Mosul, doesn’t seem to have much in common with Amitha Kalaichandran’s “Losing Conner’s Mind,” about a family’s quest to save a child from a rare, fatal disease; Allyn Gaestel’s “Things Fall Apart,” about an over-hyped art installation in Nigeria; Mike Mariani’s “Promethea Unbound,” about the tortured life of a child genius; or David Mark Simpson’s “Not Fuzz,” about a millionaire hotelier who moonlights as a serial police impersonator. Yet these stories all have compelling plots about everyday people whose lives are shaped by sheer will and unpredictable circumstance. You can’t put them down because you want to know what’s going to happen.

As for Atavist stories that predate my time at the magazine, I’ll award a few superlatives. Quirkiest goes to Jon Mooallem’s “American Hippopotamus,” about a bizarre plan to alter the national diet. Most Lyrical goes to Leslie Jamison’s “52 Blue,” about the world’s loneliest whale. Most Ambitious goes to Evan Ratliff’s epic “The Mastermind,” about a crime lord whose empire spanned pretty much the whole world. (It’s soon to be a book and TV show.) And Couldn’t Get It Out of My Head goes to Will Hunt and Matt Wolfe’s “The Ghosts of Pickering Trail,” about a family living in a haunted house. I’ll stop there, but I really could go on and on.

ROSS: Before I worked for Atavist, I actually worked right down the hall, so I have been reading the magazine for a long time. To me, the best Atavist Magazine stories are transporting: in “Welcome to Dog World,” Blair Braverman shows us Alaska; socialites head to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, for an early feminist victory in “The Divorce Colony” by April White; and James Verini’s “Love and Ruin” (the title story of our 2016 collection) is a romance and historical epic all in one, and I think about Nancy Hatch Dupree’s library in Afghanistan often. “A Family Matter” may be one of the most important stories we’ve done. Finally, I love stories about spectacular failures, so I have to mention Mitch Moxley’s article “Sunk,” which is about a disastrous attempt to make an epic movie about mermaids; plus, the piece has some excellent moments of maximalist design, including pixelated fish that bob across the page.

RABB: I have a soft spot for the very first stories such as “Lifted,” “Piano Demon,” and “My Mother’s Lover.” In addition to being great pieces of writing, they were the petri dishes in which our experimental approach to storytelling was born. They included ideas such as pop-up annotations, maps, and immersive sound elements. Even though the way we distribute our articles has changed dramatically since those stories were published—back then, they were exclusively on the Atavist mobile app and Kindle—many of the concepts and approaches in them formed the DNA of our company’s product. Developing those first few stories was an exciting and vital time for me.

Finally, I’m wondering what you think about the state of storytelling on the open web today. Where do you think things are headed?

DARBY: There are so many stories being told in the digital space right now, in so many ways, and to so many different audiences. Take SKAM Austin, which D.T. Max recently wrote about for The New Yorker. It’s a teen drama told entirely through Facebook posts, Instagram stories, texts, and other digital scraps and marginalia—a story crafted for its young target audience, based on the way they consume information and communicate with one another. That project is fictional, but there’s similar experimentation happening in the non-fiction space. Certainly, publications are pushing the envelope on transmedia (multi-platform storytelling) and rethinking story structure based on how events now unfold in real time in the palm of your hand. I’m thinking of projects like WIRED‘s story on police brutality, “How Social Media Shaped the Three Days That Shook America,” and National Geographic‘s partnership with ProPublica, “How the U.S. Triggered a Massacre in Mexico.” Recently, I was a fellow at the Sundance Institute’s New Frontier Lab, an incubator for storytellers who work with emerging technologies like VR, AR, and AI. It was incredible to hear the ways that this diverse group is reimagining how to create and deliver narratives. I can’t wait for all of the projects they were workshopping to be out in the world, and I hope to bring what I learned there to bear on my work at Automattic.

That said, I’m a journalist first, and when it comes to technology, I always have this nagging fear that form might compromise substance. No one should tell a story entirely via social media or VR or video just because they can; they should do so because there’s actual benefit—to the story itself, to the audience reached, and so on. I’m reminded of my very first job out of college, back in the aughts. I was a journalist in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, and I also conducted research on media training needs in the region. I met lots of aspiring journalists who said, “This international NGO helped me set up a blog, but I don’t even really know how to conduct an interview or fact-check. Can someone help me with that?” The experience has always stuck with me as a reminder that the basics of great journalism should apply no matter the platform. At The Atavist, we like to say that story comes first, and by that we mean plot and accuracy, then form and reach.

from Blogging Tips https://en.blog.wordpress.com/2018/06/21/atavist-joins-wordpress-dot-com/ via http://www.rssmix.com/

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dailynynews-blog · 7 years

Text

Things to Do in Downtown Los Angeles

New Post has been published on https://www.usatelegraph.com/2018/things-downtown-los-angeles/

Things to Do in Downtown Los Angeles

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Downtown Los Angeles Photo Tour

Unlike other large cities, many people visit Los Angeles without ever setting foot Downtown. That’s a shame, since Downtown LA is rich with historic architecture and cultural attractions, not to mention sports and entertainment complexes. This slide show gives you a preview of some of the cool things to do in Downtown Los Angeles that are worth a visit.

For the rest of Los Angeles, check out our guide to Things to Do in LA.

Find a hotel in Downtown LA

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Visit El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historical Monument at Olvera Street

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El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historical Monument, also known simply as Olvera Street, is the location of the oldest remaining structure in Los Angeles, the Avila Adobe. The building itself is often overlooked, since people are primarily drawn to Olvera Street for its Mexican Marketplace that offers a cleaned-up taste of old Mexico. It is the home of the LA Plaza de Cultural y Artes museum of Los Angeles history and The Chinese American Museum.

Olvera Street is a one-block pedestrian zone across from Union Station, which is served by the Red and Gold Lines of the Metro.

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Visit OUE Skyspace LA for the Skyslide or Just the View

•••

Most major cities have an observation deck on top of a skyscraper. Los Angeles finally has one too. OUE Skyspace LA is a pair of observation decks on the 69th floor of the tallest building in LA, the US Bank Tower in the Downtown LA Financial District.

To go beyond the typical observation deck experience, OUE installed a glass sliding board from the 70th to the 69th floor. It’s only a 2 to 3-second slide, but you can’t beat the view.