Melody of SexiDesign.com

Why hello to all you sexy readers out there, my name is Melody Nieves (nee evv ess) and I’m originally from Long Island, NY. I am the flirty and eccentric author to two design and marketing sites, MelodyNieves.com–my personal blog, and SexiDesign, which covers the influence of sex in marketing and design. I consider myself an artist first and foremost, but it was when I joined a financial services company at 18 that I developed my second love for marketing.  I majored in architecture for a year in Philadelphia but moved onto opportunities with that company. From there I would experience really unpredictable and diverse experiences as a young business person.
What made you decide to be a designer and how did you get into this field?

[Forgive me for my long story LOL] Well I started learning about design back when I was 12 years old. There were early blog-like sites back then that teens designed with Photoshop and Paint Shop Pro that I had a fascination for. Since I was always into art I started to learn about web design, but lost computer access about 2 years after. It wouldn’t be until I got to college in 06 that I started messing with PS again. I’ve really just gotten back into design because of my diverse experiences from the last couple of years and decided in the past year that I would take a break and try to pursue life as a digital artist and design blogger.

Tell us about the blog “A Walk In My Shoes” and how that got started?

AWalkInMyShoes.com was the journey of my crazy business life as well as my advice with a real personal touch. Here’s how it really started: When I left college I landed an opportunity to work for a startup financial services company via a video resume I sent to its CEO. I would go on to work as a marketing trainee/coordinator/designer/everything you could possibly think of for that company. Because of my initial interest in the company’s investment products as well as my hard work, I moved on to create my own subsidiary company in partnership with my former boss. Incentivest, Inc. launched in early June 08′ when I was only 19 years old, in pursuit of “Financial Therapy.” AWIMS was originally my blog for Incentivest, in recognition of my “confessions as a young entrepreneur.” However, 6 months after it’s launch, I decided to dissolve Incentivest. I maintained AWIMS as a look into my journey, but now as a digital artist and marketing enthusiast. Most recently I’ve sold the domain for AWIMS, and transferred the site to my new domain of MelodyNieves.com.

You’ve mentioned that you are an entrepreneur, can you tell us about some the success you’ve had, and how you went about it?

I owned my first company at 18 (Incentivest, Inc.) as mentioned previously. Prior to that, my work led to little personal successes like having articles written about the company I worked for as well as my own. When I got into digital art, soon after I won a trip to the Playboy Mansion via a tshirt design contest. I also have a print & tshirt line through zazzle.com. Also, the recent sale of my AWIMS domain is by far the biggest business deal I’ve encountered so far online. But I must say that my biggest success is that I continue to learn from all the good times, battles, and mistakes I’ve made.

Tell us what’s so sexy about SexiDesign.com?

SexiDesign is so (damn) sexy because it is unlike any other design and marketing site around. Here, I have a no holds barred approach to the wide array of topics that I write about. The purpose of the site is to educate its readers on how prevalent sex is in design, and specifically which marketing techniques are utilized to learn from. The site has also become an outlet for beautiful sexy artwork and I can’t wait to really get into the discussion I have in store for it.

It’s funny, SD is actually spawn from originally wanting to write about porn site designs, but thinking how it would be so randomly racy for the AWIMS blog. =P

What would you say has been the greatest difficulty you’ve encountered as a designer?

Dealing with clients can irk me like the next designer. The lack of appreciation for a designer’s work is probably what will make me crossover more into a design blogger and less of a designer.

Can you tell us about any special skills you’ve had to develop outside of design?

Well I love to write so blogging has helped that tons. I have really strong interests in body language, NLP, and anything related. I do believe though that marketing is my calling and I find myself becoming more intuitive to campaigns each day.

What is your favorite piece of artwork that you’ve produced?

My favorite piece is Clouded Vision–the revised digital version. I originally painted it when I was 15, but when I got back into PS I fell in love with digital painting. The revised version was a personal breakthrough of finally beginning to understand all my years of training and trial and error as an artist. I think many artists overly critique their own works like myself, so it was nice to step back and actually admire my own work.

Who are some of your favorite Designers and Artist, and some of your favorite work from them?

I don’t think I have a favorite designer. However, my favorite artist is Frida Kahlo. I grew up learning about her life and artwork, and finally saw her exhibit in Philly. My favorite piece of hers is “Unos Cuantos Piquetitos” (A Few Small Nips). You might think I’m crazy when you see it (lol) but I view it as a look into her disturbed character and a reflection of the hardships she endured throughout her life. Plus she gave meaning and purpose to every component of her art, so I find that fascinating.

How do you feel about the current state of the Design Industry?

I think there is a difference between the design industry as a whole and the online design industry. The online design industry is currently unable to branch off from design unrelated to graphics design, web design, etc. Aside from the list posts many have grown to despise, there aren’t really sites out there to explore the other design industries in depth such as architecture, interior design, product design etc. Eventually those voids will be filled, but it’s a perspective that is lacking, and that’s probably do to the fact that no one can just become a freelance architect overnight via online tutorials. As a result, I think the online design industry is a little stagnant at times.

Have you been effective by the recession at all?

Absolutely. I lost my original business mostly due to my concerns with the recession. I’ve also had to downsize and really take a look into my goals for the future. It’s not so much a big deal to live without some luxuries or gadgets, I just want to make sure that I’m confident in my future decisions.

What advice would you give to designers starting out this year?

If design is what you want to do for your career, don’t start off designing. Seriously. Make an effort to develop your craft and technique first. Design is easy for people to turn to because they think it’s easy–just pick up PS and mess with it a bit. No. It would seriously help yourself, your future clients, as well as the design industry to go out and learn something about it first.

What would you say are the most important skills for a designer to have?

My biggest pet peeve is when people have a poor foundation in the principles of design. You’ll probably see me pointing it out on many tutorial sites, but I know from experience how  enlightening it is to just begin to understand and properly utilize a design principle. So it’s important to get out, off your computer, and take a class. Again, in reference to advice for designers, if it’s something you really want to do you’re going to have to invest some real time and money into understanding design.

How has twitter changed your life?

Twitter has definitely made my site(s) more accessible to different readers. It’s also given me a wonderful avenue to get great feedback from people. Sometimes I wonder if people are nervous to comment on SexiDesign, but I get awesome feedback that helps me understand my potential impact on the blog world. On a side note, I met my boyfriend through twitter as well as some new friends. So it has made even an impact on my personal life.

If you had to do something else with your life, what would it be and why?

Eventually I will be doing something different. Design and art in general will always be a part of my life, but I choose not to remain a designer for long. I grew up introverted so I always wanted a career that would force me to persevere beyond that, and being in the cut throat financial industry helped a lot.  In many ways, I feel like if I stay a designer then I will stay indoors, very introverted. So I want a career in marketing, PR, or some form of motivational speaking.

What are some of your plans for the future?

I definitely plan on embodying the lessons of SexiDesign. I know its potential and I think it’s important for fellow designers to hear a new, even sexy, perspective towards design. I’m sure I’ll own marketing related businesses in the future but as unpredictable as my life has been–I’m just taking it one day at a time. I’m 21 now, so I want to get back to living life and enjoying the little things that really matter.

I’m really excited to have come across some influential people and opportunities, so I can only say for now to follow my journey. And perhaps with my journey I can reward my readers with some guidance and understanding. Thanks bunches for the interview Roberto!

Roberto Blake Herald of Creation

Herald of Creation, was inspired by somethings I’ve seen around the web lately, I go the idea to work with this stock from Rob Shields. He did a piece that I found really interesting and inspiring. I actually feel I may do a series of “Heralds”, I’ve always liked the concept because I’m a fan of the Silver Surfer and Galactus comics that Marvel puts out and draw some inspiration from that. This image got some great feed back on both the Advanced Photoshop and Photoshop Creative website, as well as Deviant Art. My ideas for additional Heralds are:

Herald of Destruction
Herald of Emotion
Herald of Change

Model stock: http://dyingbeautystock.deviantart.com/

Original Interview transcript from: http://graphicesense.com/?p=63

Graphic-Essense Inteviews Graphic Designer Roberto Blake

I interviewed Roberto Blake, he is one of the many graphic designers in the industry and he is a friend that I meet on DeviantArt.com.

1. What got you into the industry?

I chose Graphic Design because I’ve always felt that my strongest skill set was my ability to communicate my thoughts and ideas to others. Ultimately that is what a Graphic Designer does, mostly visually, but you also have to be able to communicate well verbally and on paper when working with a team, marketing departments, and clients. Graphic Design and Advertising is also utilized to some degree by everyone who operates or hopes to operate a business, promote a product, or event, so the job market is not only stable but growing.

2. How do you deal with bad/blacklist clients?

Thankful I haven’t had to deal with this issue much yet, but I would try to come to some type of mutual understanding.

3. What where you doing before you got into this line of work?

I’ve always been involved in artwork and media to some degree, even in grade school I was writing and illustrating my own comics and selling artwork to anyone who was interested.

4. Do you see this as a career or a job?

I would have to say a career, but its is also more than that. Art is so much a part of me that I can’t remember a time in my life where it wasn’t something I was actively pursuing. I’m fortunate that I have been able to mold and market that talent in away that allows me to do the things I love while making a living.

5. Who some of your inspirations?

I would have say some of my largest inspirations are Rob Shields, David and Sarah Cousens, Kyle Lambert, Karen McDade, Alena Lazareva, Adam Smith, and Christopher Ang.

6. What talents do you have other then graphic design?

Aside from graphic design I’ve always been an illustrator. My art style in that regard has always been cartoonish or following the trend of comic book art as that was my main inspiration and aspiration as a child. As I got older I became very interested in photography as well as video production and editing and even worked as a photographer for a time, both freelance as well as with a studio. Video production and editing is a hobby that I’ve used a job skill from time to time since I have nearly a decade of experience with it now.

7. Which do you like the best digital art or traditional art?

I would have to say digital at this point, though I try to incorporate both. Digital save a tremendous amount of time and allows you to preserve your artwork a lot more easily than you could through traditional media. Additionally my own personal range of skills with digital far surpasses my abilities in traditional media.

8. Where do you see this taking you in about 5 years?

I’d like to be with a very established Advertising firm at that point. If not then I would love to start my own creative studio producing work for various agencies while working with a team.

9. What is some advise that you could pass to young and old designers that would help them become better at what it is they do?

Always look for the next step in journey and find inspiration in the world around you. Aside from that, you can never do too much self promotion.

10. What are some of your favorite free tools that you use in your designs and other projects?

I would have to say that the free images from http://sxc.hu are a very large part of what I do.
11. What is your favorite piece of art and why does it represent you?

I would have to say that “Blazing Blue” is my favorite as it incorporates many various elements and it uses my own personal favorite color combination. I also love the energy of the piece and was able to communicate it better because I was the actual model for the image, which also makes the piece more of my own than it would be with a stock image.

12. Name Five things you love about your career.

Graphic Design and Digital Arts allow you to creative and expressive.
The industry is getting a lot more attention and Graphic Designers are being recognized for their talent.
The online Design community is a much friendlier and collaborative environment than it is in more cutthroat traditional professions.
There is always something new and exciting to learn about the craft.
It suits my interest and personality perfectly!

I actually hope to be able to interview him in the near future. Zach’s work is just amazing and he is diverse in his abilities, showcasing talent in photo manipulation, digital painting, and typography. His level of ability is certainly something to aspire to.

Skin Deep by Zach Bush

Skin Deep was featured on the cover of Advanced Photoshop 67, the issue in which I am featured in the readers gallery. Zach also demonstrates a tutorial that allows you to recreate this cover.

The Second Coming by Zach Bush

The Second Coming, was a piece Zach did for a deviantart contest sponsored by the game Darksiders, called “End of Days”. The general idea is to create an image depicting some aspect of the Apocalypse. I really like the direction Zach took as it was dramatically different from the other entries which mostly featured the four horsemen.

The Mad Hatter by Zach Bush

I honestly would love to see a movie or read an Alice in Wonderland story featuring this version of the Mad Hatter. Zach took this already piece of dark fiction to another level with his work. I believe this was featured on DEPTHCORE.

A Soul's Silhouette by Zach Bush

This was a creative piece of photo manipulation where Zach demonstrates his ability to effectively combine several techniques and distinct elements. This is probably my favorite piece from him.

The Return by Zach Bush

Eden by Zach Bush

Morning Mist by Zach Bush

Show your support by posting this article wherever you can, tweeting it and of course commenting!

You can view more of the work of Zach Bush at:
http://zachbush.com
http://zbush.deviantart.com/
http://www.behance.net/zbush

Roberto Blake | Typography Poster | Typo

Some of you may remember this image was one that I gave away as a Free Wallpaper a while back.

I’ve been competing and submitting to various contest and gallery competitions heavily for the past year or so, and many times I’ve come close to winning, so to actually have an award under my belt is very encouraging, and for those of you in the same boat of having “never won anything” I would say based on this experience that you should certainly keep trying!

Oddly enough I had submitted this image quite a while back and it did gain some apparently popularity (a high number of views). It finally caught the eye of someone who thought it was “worthy” to win something!

ILoveDesign Design of the Week Winner Roberto Blake

Anyway thanks everyone who helped make this happen. I’m really excited to add this to my list of achievements this year, and thanks a lot to ILoveDesign.com for doing what they do!

Time: 14 HRS
Tools: Photoshop, Wacom Intuos3 4×6

Roberto Blake Photo Manipulation Touched

Touched was one of my images to be featured in Advanced Photoshop Magazine 67. It has always been a goal of mine to have my work featured in this publication so I was really happy about this.

You can view this artist complete gallery at Deviantart: http://alexiuss.deviantart.com/

Neurotic Indisposition by Alexiuss

Feral Nova by Alexiuss

Death by Stress by Alexiuss

Antoymic Cyclone by Alexiuss

Insidious Discrepancy by Alexiuss

Absense of Vision by Alexiuss

Machinery of the Stars by Alexiusss

Antecedet Terminus by Alexiuss

Fate by Alexiuss

Praetorian by Alexiuss

Gabriel by Alexiuss

Chronoscape Thundersnow by Alexiuss

photoshop-creative-feature-issue54

Aside from the sense of pride and accomplishment in seeing my work printed in one of my favorite publications it also made me take myself a lot more seriously. As creatives we all try to keep in mind that others are viewing our work, our development and our growth, but once your work reaches a such a broad audience it really bring this home for you.

I received a lot of positive response from this and some new interest from this feature, and it has definitely been encouraging. I would say to any other digital artist reading this to always keep striving to achieve goals and produce the best work that you can, and submit to as many venues as possible, you never know how these things will turn out or where they will lead.

Roberto Blake- Photo Manipulation Energetic

Inspiration- As you know the title and inspiration for this photo manipulation was the song “Energetic” by BOA and international pop artist. Her music is newer here in the states but those of you familiar with JPop probably have heard her before.
This photo manipulation was a chance to do some more work with lighting effects. I particularly like working with lighting effects because they are able to convey high energy, motion,  and magic, and sometimes all at once.

In this image I tried to create the effect of the female model almost giving off a nuclear or atomic effect, and a level of energy that almost can’t be contained. I chose the colors based mostly on the model’s outfit but also because they would stand out against the light background well.

Effects- The lighting effects were done utilizing the pen tool in combination with the direct selection tool. By slightly adjusting the path made by the pen tool before creating a new stroke, I was able to make streaks of light with various brush widths at similar or intersecting angles.

I also put the strokes on different layers using different outer glow colors and settings. I made a custom particle brush for this, which I used on the different lighting effect layers. I purposely set them up to look like atomic particles.

Retouching- The retouch work was actually kind of extensive. In addition to the regular airbrush work I’ve been doing some new techniques I picked up from a Rob Shields tutorial to do better sharpening, adjusting levels, curves and other things to give the image a much crisper feel and more depth. The extraction of the model was done using the pen tool in combination with masking, which in most cases it the way I prefer to extract the models.

Print- I actually plan of featuring this image in my self published book coming out first quarter of next year, “ARTFUL MANIPULATIONS“, which will showcase the best digital artwork I’ve done over the past year. I most definitely believe that this is one of the best pieces I’ve done yet, and the response to this image in the online community has been great. If you can actually view a full size version of  Energetic on Deviantart and favorite it!

Promote Yourself As A Graphic Designer

I recently decided to shoot a series of videos giving advice and discussing various topics for Designers and Digital Artist. One thing that stood out is the importance of self promotion and branding. Though this was addressed in my design education years ago, I don’t feel that enough emphasis was placed on how important it was. Self promotion, time management, and a good portfolio will make or break your career in this industry, more so than anything else from what I’ve seen.

In this video I cover a lot of questions that new/young Designers and Digital Artist have asked me, but also address things that are relevant to any designer or artist looking to get more work or recognition.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O02iGAzqflw