Legend of Korra Returns with Book 2! Plus, Fire Ferrets Wallpaper!

Legend of Korra returns! Book 2, entitled “Spirits” is coming in 4 days! (That’s September 13 in the US!) Who else is excited? 😀 I’m looking forward to how Mike DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko are going to tidy up the weird ending of Book 1 “Air”. The ending felt too rushed and fell short of the standards set by every other episode of Book 1. But based on the previews and info I’ve found of Book 2, Korra’s airbending miracle is going to have consequences. In the end, though, I feel like the ending to Book 1 is a very minor setback, and I trust Bryke to do better. With their track record (the entire series of Avatar: The Last Airbender and majority of Book 1), trusting them is easy for me. (Still at little mad at/about Mako, though.)

Anyway, here’s some art I’ve done at the height of Book 1, featuring Fire Ferrets version 1 (2? Are we counting the incompetent Hasook?) with members Mako, Korra, and Bolin, out of their Sato Industries uniforms and fighting Equalist crime in plainclothes and stuff. I cleaned it up, and made a little downloadable freebie out of it. Click the button below to get the pack!

mako-01-gm-1280 korra-01-gm-1280 bolin-01-gm-1280 fireferrets-01-gm-1280

The wallpapers are available in these sizes:

  • 1920 x 1080
  • 1366 x 768
  • 1280 x 720

If you want any modifications or have any requests, just leave a comment below, or contact me through my email: hello@gabmadrid.com

Don’t forget to share the love!

Graphika Manila 2013

Events and conferences on creativity are always great to attend. They’re places where creative individuals can seek inspiration and motivation. Graphika Manila is definitely one of the top events on creativity in the country and I’m fortunate to have attended this year (February 9, 2013). Guests from around the globe and from different creative fields were invited to share their thoughts and experiences, and here’s a quick summary of the most important things I’ve learned from them.

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James White, Signalnoise

You really don’t know where your work will end up if you don’t create it and put it out there.

James emphasizes the importance of constantly working on projects. One does not need clients in order to work. Doing what you love to do is also important. Personal passion should never be replaced by monetary goals. Never stop doing the things you love doing. Soon enough, people with start recognizing your work and clients will come.

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Shin Kitai and Koto Nishiyama, Devil Robots

Their presentation was mostly a portfolio showcase plus a short and simple demo on how they do their different studies for their character designs. I’ve also noticed that they’ve collaborated with a ton of other artists and companies, mixing up their character To-Fu (who is made of, you guessed it, tofu) with designs of other characters from companies like Disney. I’ve always wanted to collaborate with different artists myself, but never have really known how to go about it.

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Armand Serrano, Sony Pictures Animation

In a creative project, decisions can be segregated in two levels of importance: Wants and Needs. Prioritize the Needs to fulfill requirements and use Wants to make your project stand out. Understanding that design is primarily a solution to a certain (group of) problems, I think segregating your process that way can definitely help.

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Ryan Honey, Buck

Buck was named after Richard Buckminster “Bucky” Fuller, an American architect, systems theorist, author, designer, inventor, and futurist. Ryan mentioned that he was fond of how Fuller defined a designer:

A designer is an emerging synthesis of artist, inventor, mechanic, objective economist and evolutionary strategist.

Buck’s philosophy was summarized as the combination of Art, Science and the Desire to Innovate. It also seemed like they use a lot of humor in their work. Ryan tells us that innovation is attainable. He tells us to challenge ourselves, to put ideas before techniques, and to take risks.

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Jessica Walsh, Sagmeister & Walsh

Jessica tells us of her origins as a designer, being exposed to web design in her younger years while playing Neopets, an online virtual pet game. From there she discovers that she can “make the greatest Neopets webpage of all”, and make money out of it.

She gave the audience bits of lessons, telling the audience about playing and being a player (nope, not that kind of player). Work should not be the opposite of play. Play, instead, is an integral part of the learning and creative process. Play prepares us, and immerses us in a powerful state of mind.

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Benjamin Seide, Pixomondo

Benjamin’s presentation gave us a sneak peek into their process of creating visual effects for movies and TV series like Scorsese’s Hugo or Game of Thrones. It also had a lot of snippets of knowledge for the audience, especially when working as a team:

  • References 
  • Stay organized, version up, never delete anything
  • Understand skill levels
  • Manage expectations
  • Know your limits
  • Set milestones
  • Have an eye for detail, observe and copy
  • Challenge yourself, never stop improving

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Benja Harney, Paperform

Working with paper, Benja has learned to not be scared of failure, and he encourages us to do the same. He tells us to to purposely make time for artistic endeavor. Being a freelancer, Benja also stresses the importance of honoring deadlines and commitments, and having the drive to be the best in what you do.

In the end, the event was inspiring for me. Although, this year’s event had a few setbacks, (Lining up repeatedly and for long periods of time upset a handful of attendees. If you had a problem with that, you should read this) everything was worth it. Most of the time I was at awe just witnessing their process and their ideas taking shape. Seeing how their minds work, and how their works are pieced together is just priceless learning material. Being a designer, I will forever be a student of the world, and attending events like Graphika Manila take me back to school every time.

Brand New Day

Hello, and welcome to GabMadrid.com! My name is Gab Madrid, and I love to draw. I made this blog so I could have a personal place in the cloud where I can share my thoughts and ideas on various things related to the work I do and love.

I will be writing about (mostly personal) projects that I am working on. I have a lot of ideas lined up in my head just waiting to be created and developed, and I’d like this blog to be a place for that.

I also plan to write about events related to the industry I work in, such as Graphika Manila (happening next Saturday!) or Form, Function & Class by the Philippine Web Designers’ Organization.

There are also a lot of things I’d like to cover, such as other people’s work but I’ll usually focus on:

  • Illustration
  • Graphic Design
  • Branding and Identity Design
  • Comics
  • Animation
  • Concept Art

This blog is still under construction and will be subject to some more changes in the coming weeks, so please bear with me! I’m also open for link and art trades! Just send me an email at hello@gabmadrid.com or tweet me up at @gabmadrid.

Note: The title of this post is a reference to Lie To Me’s opening theme “Brand New Day” by Ryan Star.