I recently joined Society 6 as it features a variety of great inspirational artwork and enable you to easily setup your online store.

We’ve all seen what brilliant marketing power social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook possess to get the word out about what we are doing, what we are inspired by or just what we are thinking. The additional element to all this is who you follow and the followers you accumulate. If you are using Twitter correctly then you’d more than likely be following (or be followed by) like-minded individuals who share the same interests.

The beauty of this is that you’ve already found your market. You’ve been sharing your work, your inspirations and all the while talking about how or why you’ve been doing it. The people who have been following you now have a vested interest in what you are doing and get to see the end result. Through word of mouth you’ll be doing so much more than just selling a product online, you’ll be selling yourself to your customers and connecting with them.

I really enjoy this type of interaction and I’m certainly noticing more of it as Twitter’s popularity has soared. A great example of this would be Last Exit to Nowhere an internet shop that sells unique t-shirts from “the most memorable places, companies and corporations in cinema history.”

Last Exit to Nowhere's t-shirt site.

It fits what selling socially online is so perfect about. A niche idea that captures the attention of like-minded Twitter users and treats them as one of their own. They don’t pander or have to give you long drawn out advertising campaigns to encourage you to buy their products. Simply follow them and you’ll see a variety of competitions to win t-shirts and discussions about popular films. Of course they’ll let you know when there are offers or deals on shirts but it never comes across as intrusive.

What is so inspiring is that anyone can set this up and give it a go. Whether it be your photography, paintings or design prints your followers can be a great indicator of the audience/market that you may be trying to reach.

Here’s a couple of other artists that I’ve noticed selling their work online through Twitter:

Simon C Page is an amazing graphic designer who’s work rate is second to none. His work has been featured in a variety of design magazines and his online shop has a plethora of work for you to purchase. Find Simon on Twitter @simoncpage

Renato Pequito is a designer/photographer who’s just started to sell his work here but has some more amazing work on his flickr page. Find Renato on Twitter @Kyanos

Scott Johnson is an established illustrator/comic artist who produces prints of his illustrations and sells to people all over the world. Find Scott on Twitter @extralife

So here’s the result of my first effort creating a Na’vi version in Photoshop from one of my photos.

My Avatar – By Jason W Stanley

I started by getting a few tips from some video tutorials online and a couple of DeviantArt tutorials I found and then trying to learn how to adapt a style that would suit me. Using multiple layers and the burn/dodge tool I was able to create a colour I was happy with and start with the finer details. The skin texture is actually leather and I drew the rest of the patterns directly onto the face. At this stage I hadn’t gotten the hang of the Na’vi nose so I kinda smudged it around a bit.

Once I became confident that I could get the colours and the overall look right I needed more ‘subjects’ to experiment on:

These three were a lot more fun to work on as I’d already I’d established a quick and easy method to transform each person. This meant I could now focus on adding the ‘little’ touches and details or trying to create a Na’vi from a different perspective rather than just a profile shot. I used various animal textures such as a Zebra, Tiger or an average tomcat to give me striped effects on both the skin and the hair. The third image here (Avatar Jess) was the most enjoyable to do as I found the better the quality of image (also black and white) created a decent canvas for me to work on.

Inspiration

The film wasn’t the only source of inspiration what with the web (Flickr in particular) springing up hundreds of Na’vi Photoshop manipulations. So in keeping with the apparent Avatar addiction I have, I thought I’d share a few of the other Na’vi manipulations I managed to find while looking for inspiration and tips online.

Ich als Na'vi, tags – by Dorothee Rieß

avatar – by Yana =)

Sophia Na'vi caffeineandpixels

My Avatar – By nevnarien

Conan and Andy Avatar – By the_keiser

AVATAR… – By Fahadi

Avatar – By Junior Codi

angelina-AVATAR – comparacion – By benjja1

My na'vi avatar – By elenaledesma

Transforming Into a Na'vi – By Gerass

Avatarified! – By Brady~

For Frédéric – By juliempg

AVATAR… – By Fahadi

Myself as an Na'vi (Avatar) – By Danny.Boy_88

A while back I read about James Goodridge, an illustrator who actually designed a poster for the film but was eventually rejected. His style of artwork for film posters is quite iconic and provides a very unique alternate look for the film.

On the left, James Goodridge’s verison and on the right the official Inglourious Basterds poster.

What fascinates me are the different ideas and interpretations artists can get from films and use in their poster designs. Unfortunately to hire many different artists to design the poster of just one film would be a costly project and honestly wouldn’t be that necessary as its the job of the designer to capture exactly what the director/producers want in the first place.

Luckily, Quentin Tarantino, Upper Playground and The Weinstein Company have teamed up to present, The Lost Art of Inglourious Basterds — This creative team has assembled the following select group of accomplished artists, David Choe, Sam Flores, Estevan Oriol, Grotesk, Jeremy Fish, Patrick Martinez, Alex Pardee, Dora Drimalas, Munk One, N8 Van Dyke, Rene Alamanza, Morning Breath and Skinner Davis, to create their own poster art based off their interpretation of the Oscar Nominated film, “Inglourious Basterds” artwork.

The Upper Playground Art Gallery in Los Angeles will be previewing this artwork on February 18th 2010 from 6pm – 9pm as a fundraiser for The American Red Cross to help the victims of the Haiti Earthquake. You can purchase prints of these posters (apparently only six of each will be made) for $300 which will be signed and numbered by Quentin Tarantino.

Few shout outs to /Film, Unreality Magazine and FirstShowing.net for some of the info.

- Jason

It’s been a very clever campaign so far, great soundtracks with a nice sense of freedom and this advert looks to continue that trend.

Also wanted to post a couple of the other Visa adverts from this campaign.

- Jason

Flickr was a site that I’d always heard about, sort of tried but never really used. I’d upload a few ‘test’ pieces, found that it connected well to my social media and mobile devices but really had no great use for it. I then stumbled upon the Thingaweek group.

Thingaweek which is now running into its 34th week (join the fun now!) is inspired by an annual photographic event in Cardiff, UK called the Photomarathon:

A Photomarathon is a photograph competition with a twist: You receive a 12 picture film. Over 12 hours you have to take pictures on 12 given topics. It’s not your physical condition, but your sense of improvisation, fun and creativity that is stressed throughout the Photomarathon.

Thingaweek was created by a few members that took part in the Photomarathon using a similar concept and started a group on Flickr of which there are currently over 140 members. The rules are fairly simple:

One theme. One week. One photo. (Repeat)

There are a few other details that should be followed as in no digital manipulation and a deadline of midnight on a Sunday each week but other than that it’s wherever your imagination can lead you!

What brings this all together for me and what makes Flickr such an ideal platform is the community that has been created and the work that is inspired by that same group of people. The strength comes from the group itself as it boasts photographers of all skills; anyone is invited to join in no matter how much practice you’ve had behind a camera. The task set each week creates a challenge to be creative, it keeps your mind working and in my case breaks me away from my usual work within the design field. The photographs that come through each week are always inspiring, always come with discussion and always vary. A range of ideas and concepts come through that not only inspire but provide the other members with new and exciting ways to look at a particular theme.

My own Thingaweek collection

I feel obliged to get my next shot up for the week and to also see what others have contributed. I enjoy discussing the photographs and always appreciate any feedback that I receive (good or bad) about my work. If you’re the type that strive for awards then Thingaweek also gives out ‘Badges‘ to those photographs that really inspire. Anyone can create a badge and are encouraged to do so to show recognition for a great shot.

A few Thingaweek Badges

It’s an environment that’s built to grow. Foomandoonian (the ring leader as I’d like to dub him) has been at the forefront when it comes to getting Thingaweek running like a well-oiled machine. Twitter enables the group to stay connected instantly while users are invited to contribute ideas for upcoming themes using Flickr’s discussion posts. A tumblelog has also been setup creating a live feed and countdown of all things ‘thingaweek’ and even an arranged meet-up is planned for the near future.

Join in the fun and get you’re next Thingaweek submitted today!

If you’re still a little curious as to what its all about I’ve decided to include some of my favorite shots over the last 30 weeks:

Flipped – By Thiefree

#thingaweek 25 – Word Art – By pjmowbs

Windy Woo – By Kathryn Parker

Gabalfa / A48 – mark.stevenson1983

Park Leaf – By Foomandoonian

Fly big can! Fly! – By Renato Pequito

And one of my shots that I had the most fun trying to figure out without completely embarrassing myself!

A Tragic Discovery- By Jason W Stanley

- Jason

Also if you’re interested all the logos here were found at logopond.

Out of all these logos, which was your favourite? Are there any other animal logos you can think of that you find inspiring? Feel free add your feedback below!

- Jason

Star Wars never gets old for me as I grew up watching all the originals many many times and a new advertising campaign by adidas is making sure that Star Wars will be around for a while longer with a new collection of shoes and apparel completely inspired by the films. The advert is brilliantly made and with the obvious inclusion of many of adidas’ celebrity stars it brings a contemporary feel to the Star Wars image. An awesome remixed song to boot!

Also posted up a selected few items that I’d have on my wishlist:

adidas X-Wing

adidas Luke

adida atat

adidas saga

The pieces begin to hit all adidas Originals stores and other select retailers in January 2010 while a closer look into the lineup will soon be made available.

I have to say this advert completely had me, I got totally sucked in. The only thing I’d add is a quick cut to a cat watching the whole thing.

- Jason

- Jason

From Brand Republic:

LONDON – Danny Kleinman has directed a hard-hitting new cinema ad for the anti-aviation expansion group Plane Stupid, featuring dead polar bears falling from the sky past high-rise buildings.

The spot, created by Mother, aims to raise awareness of the carbon emissions associated with short-haul flights.

Opening on what at first appear to be unidentified objects descending from the heavens, the shot zooms in to reveal that the objects are in fact dead polar bears plummeting to the ground as a plane is heard overhead.

The 50-second ad ends by equating the 400kg of greenhouse gases produced per passenger on the average European flight to the weight of an adult polar bear.

Adverts like these are becoming more common which leads me to wonder if we are not actually shocking an audience anymore but desensitizing.

- Jason