SPECIAL ISSUE: April Feature

"Triathlete" has been in the works for a while.  As a study project, it was put on hold as we tended to clients and met other deadlines.  BUSY IS GOOD!  The particulars for this project are interesting from many technical perspectives:  their choice of fonts (they use a lot of different and fairly obvious fonts but alter them all significantly), the use of photography (most of their cover photos are action shots and have several layers with the masthead sandwiched in between), and mixing colours.  "Triathlete" also does not have a single set of fonts they use from issue to issue -- they really change things up from month to month; issues share the masthead (which is very oddly positioned on the page and creeps over both the right and left printed borders) and little else.

We considered a dozen photos and even did a pool photo shoot.  The pool shoot was great fun but the results were disappointing:  the pool chemicals were not cooperating (it was just cloudy enough to make the photos not quite clear) and quite frankly, our underwater camera is not meant for this use and the quality of the photos were disappointing when they were made life-size.

I'll be highlighting some new partner companies (and their services) in the coming weeks as well as catching up on Special Issues for May and June!  Thanks for insisting on finally seeing our SPECIAL ISSUE April Feature. 

SPECIAL ISSUE: March Feature

This is the third installment of our SPECIAL ISSUE project.  As mentioned previously, we hope to carry on with a new magazine cover 'study' each month.  The topic must be timely and unique and of course, it has to be a challenge!  The challenge this month was a mix of planning, logistics and styling.

The options for this cover were limited.  I had decided in advance that I wanted a cake....but it was the cake we were eating, not the cake I was making for a photoshoot.  For this cover-photo, the cake was cut and ready to be served to hungry guests...the lighting was rotten and the cake's middle ice cream layer was threatening to melt. In short, there was not time for styling or planning the 'shot' needed except to make sure there was something that could be used for this purpose. I had about 4 minutes and only one chance and time to dash off a few quick shots of the cake uncut, cut, and some of the slice, the cake and the slice....you get the picture. Photojournalism meets food-styling.

The basic layout was already set (based on the cover studies) and I wanted a quick turnaround and the pressure of a deadline.  The cake was devoured immediately after the photos were taken but for a few chocolately crumbs; the chance to re-shoot has passed.  From a dozen or so images this one worked the best.  Others were better photos but with the layout, this was the most suitable.

For any photoshoot it is so important to have the final product in mind.  If the final product is not yet known, you really have to be sure to cover your bases:  get landscape and portrait shots that you love, pay attention to details, and commit to using photos in their most 'natural' state.  Photoshop can do magic but the best photos are ones that are very carefully composed, where the photographer has done everything with the camera to get it press ready with just a few touchups - or ideally, none at all.

The photographer must pay attention to all the technical details as well as the aesthetic.  They must compose an image that draws attention away from the things they can't change. This is as true for a cake as it is for a person....it's easier to sweep up a stray crumb (for the cake) or brush a few unruly hairs (for the person) than is it so try to 'clean up' a messy photo after the fact.  And truth be told, if I've extensively photoshopped an image of my own, I rarely like the final product.  Technically it could look just fine but as the photographer I'll know the things that were corrected, covered up, wiped away... changed.

I remain committed to the advice given by photographer Michael Wang: take a good photo....don't crop, don't photoshop...just take a good photo.  And in his memory, I carry on.  I also can't leave things well enough alone, so I went back to the remaining slices this morning and put together this 'staged' and  'styled' version of  the same magazine.  Same project but a totally different challenge.

Open Book

A quick project...

SPECIAL ISSUE: February Feature

 Here is the second installment of our SPECAL ISSUE.  For 2013, InHouse plans to put together a new magazine cover each month. The idea behind this project is to set aside some time for study.  The choices for images, font, masthead, colours, layout, formatting, etc are far from arbitrary.  And for a magazine cover -- as opposed to a one-off poster or brochure -- these elements must be consistent from issue to issue, no matter the topic.  As with many design projects, a magazine layout 'works' when the reader recognizes the magazine (and all it's familiar elements) but actually notices the story.  The magazine needs to be familiar enough to keep readers/customers buying every month but also different enough so the reader/customer knows that it's a new, exciting issue sitting on the store shelf for them.

(The first SPECIAL ISSUE)

Oh, Boy. (7) A Portrait Study in B&W

These portraits are far from the traditional portrait style.  So far in fact, that they are more 'studies' than anything.  I'm feeling particularly sentimental about being a parent lately and wanted to capture and share a few moments in my young son's life. He was out playing with a tiny remote control boat he bought himself with his 'christmas money.'

This study shows a style of photography I love to do and recently returned to.  

New Partnership: One Way + InHouse

In order to provide better, more comprehensive service to InHouse clients in Zambia, InHouse Design Studio proudly announces a new business relationship with "One Way Zambia."  Together with Inhouse, One Way can provide clients with high quality corporate branding products (everything from key chains to uniforms) in addition to digital designs, photography and printer-ready advertisements.

One Way is working hard on behalf of it's clients to make sure that 100% of the product they deliver to retail customers (at their Woodlands Shopping Centre shop, the Duty-Free shop at the KK International Airport, and the Mosi Kiosk at the Manda Hill Shopping Centre) and custom-corporate clients is of the highest quality and delivered in a timely manner.

Visit the One Way shop in Woodlands (upstairs from the Blue Moon Cafe) to see their products first hand.

Happy Holidays from InHouse Design Studio

HIGHLIGHT: Documentary and Narrative Photography

One of the core photography activities of InHouse Design Studio is documentary photography.  In Zambia this means working in two very different arenas: Non-Governmental Organisations/Civil Service Organisations (NGO/CSOs) (in co-operation with government) and local businesses.  

Private Companies

For local businesses, having an image library can mean better advertising and better relationship with customers and investors.  For example, an international bank hired InHouse Design to take client portraits.  The photos showed small business owners at work with their small-business loan projects:  a hairdresser, charcol seller, a vegetable stall, etc.  The bank used the portraits to decorate their offices but also to celebrate and ‘show off’ the success of the business owners...success facilitated by them.  

Alternatively, an image library can tell the story of their product, as with the case of “Alive and Kicking” where a factory visit showed off just what goes into turning a cow-hide into a football.  While their doors are open for the general public to schedule a tour, few people actually have the time and energy to get down there during business hours and see for themselves.  

The collection of photos from “Alive and Kicking” can be accessed night and day from any desk around the world.  A client sitting in their cabin on Kodiak Island can see and learn just as easily as someone in an Adelaide high-rise.  It’s the smell-vision they’re missing out on....but maybe missing the odour of the tannery where the football workshop is co-located with in the heat of summer isn’t such a bad thing!

(Links for Alive and Kicking:
The Making of a Football
The Alive and Kicking Prequel)

Alternatively, InHouse takes assignments to organise for advertisements and promotional materials -- more commercial photography than narrative portraiture than documentary photography.  I'll make an argument another day for "Lunch Portraiture."  Until then....

If you weren't hungry before...you are halfway out the door to the Blue Moon Cafe, right?

NGOs/CSOs  

InHouse has worked with a number of international and local health-sector NGOs (e.g. Malaria Consortium, PATH/MACEPA, Broadreach Health Care, Roll Back Malaria Health Communications Partnership (HCP) and most recently Akros Research) to create image libraries and record field work activities. It’s part of our mission to “communicate science to the public.” With a background in arts, science and education I feel uniquely qualified for this mission. Each assignment is different but the general idea is to collect a library of images either for a specific project (e.g. photos that will be used directly or used for creating artwork for a specific project -- a flip chart, poster, brochure or presentation) or to build a collection of photos that can be used for future projects.   These might be more generic images, i.e., photos of where the field work generally takes place (e.g. rural villages in Eastern Province, urban clinics in the Livingstone community, or the hospitals right in Lusaka.) They could be images of specific events (e.g. a community health fair, a meeting of chiefs, a concert or (for malaria) a bednet distribution.  When an NGO hires InHouse Design Studio for such work, the NGO ‘owns’ the photos and can use when and how they see fit.  

Community Health worker field training for Malaria Control/Test and Treat

Using quality images to tell your “story” can really serve you well by highlighting the work you do and to better advertise yourself to your donors and to the community.  A deep image reference library can make executing communications campaigns that much easier and more efficient.  Instead of spending two hours Googling “Images: Southern Province, Zambia, village, water supply”  when you are on a deadline and coming up empty-handed, you can refer back to your organisation’s own image library and be certain of not only being able to find the ‘right’ image from your own project, but also bypass any possible copyright infringement issues.

Now open in Woodlands....ONE WAY!

* Men's Women's & Children's Apparel * 

* Exclusive Mosi Gear * Perfect for Gifts * 

* Custom Embroidery & Screen Printing * 

* Corporate Branding *

100% Made in Africa Using Biodegradable Inks

ONE WAY Zambia has been open at the Kenneth Kaunda International Airport for a while now, selling high quality and super cool T-shirts, caps and all kinds of fun stuff.  They recently launched a line of exclusive MOSI gear and customers have demanded better access to these great, fun products.  Lots of folks were crying to get their hands on these designs, claiming they were for 'gifts' but I've spotted more than a few new Mosi shirts and cool beaded caps around town ... maybe they are just testing them out until they decide to give them away?  

Great for yourself and great for gifts, the line of products at the ONE WAY shops is now available in TWO new retail outlets (in addition to the airport.)  You can find them at the new Mosi Kiosk at the Manda Hill shopping centre and you'll also find a brand-new, fully-stocked retail shop at the Woodlands Mall -- just head up the stairs by the Blue Moon Cafe and once you're up, hang a left and get your pocketbook ready. You won't be disappointed.

Back to School. Back to Work

An example of the 'in-camera' potential with the new photography equipment.
Behind every good photo is a good photographer, but having new equipment sure makes it fun!

As we turn the calendar pages, September jumps out as a month of new beginnings, most notably the return to the classroom for all our favourite young people.  At InHouse Design Studio, September is the time for exploring new opportunities, starting new projects and also...heading back to the classroom.  Armed with a spectacular new camera kit, I'll be participating in a number of different photography workshops, technical skills instructional classes, and some exciting professional projects.

On the design side, our studio is on the verge of offereing new services.  The program that I have been putting off mastering (for no good reason) is Dreamweaver.  Diving into Dreamweaver -- a visual design-driven and code-supported program -- will enable InHouse to add website design to our client portfolio.  In the coming weeks, look for our own new website and be ready to sign up for your own!