Category Archives: Websites

I shot this Sunday.

Written by Michael Clinard. Posted on October 14, 2009. No comments.

. . . among other things with a local rock trio by the name of Happy Birthday Secret Weapon.

Saw the gents play at the Sunset Tavern in Ballard a few months back in support of Levi Fuller’s ‘Ball of Wax’ project and was blown away by their performance.

We got to talking about influences, and two came up: 1) Hella and 2) The F*cking Champs.

The image above had us laughing on account of it’s remarkably sublime homage to the snarky, self-mythologizing album covers the Champs were known for.

With titles such as ‘Nebula Ball Rests in a Fantasy Claw’ and ‘Thor is Like Immortal’ or ‘I am the Album Cover,’ the Champs had a pretty good sense of humor much like the gentlemen of Happy Birthday Secret Weapon.

In addition to our image above, the guys helped me with a triptych concept that I’m still working hard to complete, so that I may get it up on the blog and soon-to-launch website.

In the meantime, you should go out and give their music a listen.

More always,

Mike

Collateral: First Press Check

Written by Michael Clinard. Posted on October 9, 2009. 1 Comment.

This post serves as what I expect to be a multi-installment blog segment regarding the upcoming collateral materials that I’m having done at a local letterpress studio here in Seattle.

That said, I was rang up by my guys to swing by the studio this past Wednesday to see the trademark plate on the press and to get an idea on how our color treatment was interpreting.

Decided to go with Pantone 426U which is about a 90% black to help support the direction I’m going toward on the website and other supporting collateral materials. When our color choice interpreted a little differently on our ‘thick-as-a-brick’ Cranes Lettra 220lb. stock, I wasn’t surprised.

In addition to the color issues, we’d developed some ghosting around the trademark, so we decided to turn the plate in an attempt to reduce this effect.

After getting that bad boy turned 90 degrees and getting it back on the presses, we inked up the rollers, and BAM! We achieved our desired result: nicely punched, boldly printed head trademarks that will serve as the foundation for the beautifully designed business card that I can’t wait to showcase.

You’ll have to stay tuned for further updates as we continue hammering things out. Some point soon, I suspect I’ll have a sneak peek of the completed business card and those other pieces of collateral. Outside of this, continue tuning in for exciting new updates regarding the website and current projects I’m tackling.

More always,

Mike

It’s about to get more interesting’er up in here

Written by Michael Clinard. Posted on October 5, 2009. 1 Comment.

When I hear so Mike, are you ever going to blog again, in my buddy Bill’s upper Michigan accent, then I know I’ve been neglecting my duties at the International Outpost for Consistent and Sustainable Blog Entry. Or there could have been the subtle cue, when on my Facebook page, I recently got this message from a ‘friend’* regarding my lack of posts. It went something like this:

‘Hey Man, what with not posting to your blog in over a month and a half. . . I beseech you. . . Kindly, ‘Friend.”

On the serious tip, I’ve been quite busy, and that’s a very good thing. But it sure doesn’t mean that the Office of Michael Clinard, General Photography Train hasn’t left the station. In fact, it’s well on it’s way to making it’s final stop. If it were a ship: coming to port. A loaf of bread: baked. Humans: evolved. . .

So what’s new: I’ve been flexing the creative membrane. In fact just this week, I jumped into the studio with Amanda Johnson to hammer out some ideas: One concept is still being finessed, but I finally did get around to shooting that glass of water that’s been sitting around for a couple of months.

Outside of this, there’s the website which is ever-so close to completion that I can hardly wait. Of course, I still need to get a host of images sized/res’ed to spec and up on the servers. In fact, was up until 5am pulling images in anticipation, but I thought I’d give you a taste of the home page, oh loyal readership.

Here’s a look at an individual image as seen through one of the galleries, in this case: Portraiture.

There are other exciting features that will soon be live. When the site launches, I’ll be sure to make a note of it here on ye olde blog. Then, when you catch a moment, you’ll have to visit, give it a looksy and tell me what you think.

In other news, I’ve created my first new video piece in over four years. What with all the updates today–and as a thank you to my readership–I cut this together in celebration of the Brand Identity and to mark what feels like coming out of a near four year hibernation.

Interesting’er from Michael Clinard on Vimeo.

I could tell you what’s going on here, but it’d ruin the ambiguity.

Feeling very cicada-like,
Mike

*that ‘friend,’ I’m speaking of is one, Lucien Knuteson. You’ll have to go and check out his new blog when you’ve had all you can handle here.

Ecuador is Over Here

Written by Michael Clinard. Posted on July 26, 2009. No comments.

Hi all,

It’s been a busy month for me: the website look is finally being hashed out and collateral material printing for the Office of Michael Clinard, General Photography is gearing up.

Outside of the recent happenings, I found some time to steal away and edit through the 1600 or so photos from the recent trip to Ecuador. I’ve gone ahead and put them up on Picasa here.

When you arrive, I encourage you to click the slideshow option to see them larger; from there, you can pause it to click through at your own pace or turn off the captions if you’d prefer.

Above is an image shot inside the monument La Virgin del Panecillo which overlooks Quito–Ecuador’s capital. It’s a large monument of the Virgin Mary constructed of large steel plates, each one welded and screwed together as seen above.

When I finally stopped to appreciate it’s inner construction, I found myself standing in front of plate 79. Specifically important to me given that it was the year of my birth: 1979.

More soon,

Mike

The Cyber Office of Michael Clinard is just around the corner now.

Written by Michael Clinard. Posted on June 26, 2009. No comments.

That’s right. We’re moving the furniture around over at The Office of Michael Clinard website.

For the next few weeks, the website will be offline. In the meantime, I’ll do my best to update the blog with images from the Ecuador sojourn along with a host of exciting new projects I’ve been undertaking.

If you need to get ahold of me, don’t hesitate to do so.

More always,

Mike

MC Virus and Promo Sneak Peak

Written by Michael Clinard. Posted on June 16, 2009. No comments.

I’m slowly adjusting to life back in the states after getting back last weekend from Ecuador.

Above and below are a couple of the many notes I wrote to myself as reminders on the days leading up to our Exodus from the Emerald City.

The more I think about the ‘Dor, I always find myself humming Palace Brothers’ ‘West Palm Beach’ track. Oh, sigh. . .

Anyhow, while looking through the images from the sojourn, I remembered I’d shot this interesting chap named Dan who goes under the moniker of MC Virus here in Seattle.

A super nice guy, his beats are unlike anything I’ve heard before. He played me a few tracks from an upcoming album he’s releasing on the label called Rarefied Heir. Go check him out!

In other news, I had a few of the upcoming promo pieces accepted onto Heather Morton’s Art Buyer Blog. Check it out here (scroll down to #4).

More always,

Mike

North American again

Written by Michael Clinard. Posted on June 14, 2009. No comments.

I’m back from Ecuador after almost two weeks in that gorgeous country. It is so incredibly rich: cities, mountains, jungle and a beautiful coast!

Over the next few weeks, I’ll be posting pictures, stories and reflections to ye’ olde blog. For now, I present a couple pieces of art from my 100% adorable, 6 year old cousin, Paola.

Literally everything she did was cute, and I found myself just smiling every time she was around. Paola made these for us on the night of our departure, and they read something equivalent to Mike + Jenna = Paola.

So now you want to see her, right? Alright, I just can’t resist. . . here she is enjoying Parque Historico seven feet off the ground with Jenna.

More always,

Mike

Screenprinting Party and My New Brand Identity: The Office of Michael Clinard

Written by Michael Clinard. Posted on May 12, 2009. 2 Comments.

Had a little screen printing party at the studio over the weekend.

Jenna, aka ‘The Boss’ (pictured above), made it happen. She engineered a low-cost, very effective way of making prints from a short list of supplies found at any Value Village, Goodwill or retail store. The list goes a little something like this:

1) Obtain a few frames from said store. These can be picture frames or those wooden frames that pre-stretched canvas comes on. You know, the canvases that you used to paint your high school masterpieces on. . . exactly, the ones that now reside at above-noted Goodwill store.

2) Find some very sheer curtain tulle that someone has discarded. Probably on the back wall, wedged between the quilts with the stains on them and the Saved by the Bell sweatshirts.

3) Rolls of Contact Paper. It’s probably the case the ones you find at Value Village are still tacky enough to affix to your tulle, but if concerned, feel free to go out and pick up a new roll.

Basically, you staple your tulle very taut to your frame as if making a drum. Affix your contact paper with design cut out and you’re good to go. I found a couple nice tutorials on the process here and here that pretty much break things down.

Above is my contribution. It’s the new brand identity I’ve been bringing into existence with the aid of a fantastic designer in NYC named Tim Lahan. I’m super excited to start the process of spreading the word and getting it out on market.