Okay, I've finally moved out.
Thanks to all of you who have followed me on Tumblr. I have finally switched to a new blog. While it is not finished, you guys can come on over. Introducing, the new Dark Collar Blog.
You've reached the temporary blog site of Dark Collar, the Art and Design operation of Brandon Rike. I hope to post a few projects here and there, until I get my new full site up and running.
Drop me a line.
September 12 2008
September 09 2008
My Top Ten Albums
Although it’s very unrelated to most of the posts I’ve added thus far, I gave my wife my top ten albums list the other day. Now, these are not necessarily what I choose to call the “best albums of all time,” but rather the 10 albums I would take with me if I could only choose 10. These albums are more of a narration of my life, as opposed to what I consider greatness. In no particular order, here goes…
There’s actually 11, but Top Ten sounds better.
Weezer - Blue Album
Fiona Apple - When The Pawn
Silverchair - Diorama
Green Day - Dookie
Pearl Jam - Ten
Glassjaw - Worship & Tribute
A Perfect Circle - Mer De Noms
Jack Johnson - Brushfire Fairytales
Counting Crows - August & Everything After
Rage Against The Machine - Evil Empire
Third Eye Blind - Third Eye Blind
September 05 2008
I just got this piece approved this week. It’s nice, every now and then, when you do a design that you KNOW is exactly what the band is looking for… and it is.
If you’re planning on attending the Weezer / Angels & Airwaves tour, then pick one of these up.
September 02 2008
Getting Very Close
I’ve been frustratingly working on my new blog site, as well as my new portfolio site. I’m getting very close to getting it looking right, but I still have a load of work to add to the portfolio site. I’ll let you know when it’s ready. We got about two weeks, I’m guessing.
August 19 2008
Very very sorry for the down-time. I thank you all for visiting this site, hoping to see something new, and I apologize that I have not delivered. I am currently building a whole new blog, via Wordpress (I’ll explain later), and have been adding new stuff to that blog while I continue tweaking it. It should go live pretty soon.
To give you something new, I decided to post the project that I am working on right now. These are a few pieces for High On Fire that I’ve done today, and I think I’m gonna work up one more. These haven’t even been submitted yet, so I’ve probably made someone mad at me by posting these in my blog. Anyway, it’s just a peak.
Thanks for stopping by. Stay tuned for the new blog.
July 21 2008
Back In The Saddle
For some odd, workaholic-like reason, I told myself that I wouldn’t take any breaks this year. After spending 2006 recording an album, getting married, and moving to a new city, then spending 2007 buying and renovating a house, I figured 2008 should be my year to buckle down, and see how much work I could actually do.
I’ve taken in a ton of work this year, and couldn’t be happier about it. It’s interesting to analyze what has happened to my brain throughout it all. On average, I would say that I do work for 1.5 bands a day. Sometimes more, sometimes less, but I would imagine the average would be about 1.5 a day. While this has been fantastic, it has disintegrated my brain into mush a time or two. I can usually stay strong, creative, and fluid for about 4-5 weeks, but then something happens, and my brain melts. I stare blankly at my thumbnail sheets, with zero ideas, and zero motivation.
My only remedy is to take a break. Maybe a day-off, or a morning outside — either riding my bike or working on my house. It’s like I’m letting my brain refill and recharge itself. The problem with this, is that I cannot help but feel guilty for not getting the jobs done that are sitting in front of me. Of course, my imagination is shot, the imagination that would fuel the completion of the jobs. But that doesn’t take the guilt away.
But, that’s the thinking that creates workaholics. I vow to never become a workaholic.
I love what I do. I truly believe I have the best job in the world - for a number of reasons. (I could create a post about why, but that would come off as arrogant, and I don’t want to do that.) I still feel odd calling it work, because it’s still the thing that I love to do more than anything else. But, I’m realizing that it’s not good for a brain to stay in one place all of the time. So, it’s not that I have to ‘take a break’ from work, it’s more like “I need to give my brain some other stuff to do.”
So, two weeks ago, I took a break. My wife and I went down to Nashville to visit our very good friends, and then to a Lake House near Rockwood, TN. My friend knew a family from his church that allowed us to stay in their house. Hopefully Jet Skis, Kneeboarding, and my first encounter with Guitar Hero was what my brain needed to refuel.
This past week was a process of easing back into work. Today, I have a few production schedule, and I’m ready to get on with the second half of 2008. Maybe for the rest of this year, however, I’ll make sure my brain gets a little more variety.
July 08 2008
Glory. Glory. Hallelujah.
About four years ago, I purchased a 20” iMac. I fell in love with it’s all-in-one, simple design. A few less cords, a little more simplicity, all makes for a calmer, more efficient designer. I was not, however, too impressed with the speed of the G5 processor. That dismay grew into sheer frustration in the four years that followed.
Yesterday, I unpacked my new 24” Intel Core 2 Duo iMac. I went to the Apple Store site, and maxed one of these puppies out, and a week later it was on my doorstep. (Actually, I was so excited that I met the FedEx driver at the door, so the box never actually sat anywhere near my doorstep.)
For any of you graphic designers (not video people) who are using a Power Mac, or a tower in any fashion, you are over-doing it. This iMac is a beast. I had a days worth of work to finish by this evening, and I’ve finished it before 1:00. I click, and it goes - no waiting.
I am a much happier and calmer designer today. Maybe you may see a little more flowers and buddhas in my art. I may even take up the sitar.
June 26 2008
A quick spin of my home office. The iMac 24” is on it’s way. The Intel should save me a bit of time.
Client List
I find myself getting asked “So, what bands have you worked on?” alot. Usually, the best I can do is name four or five of the recent jobs I did, as my brain has a way of blacking out when asked that question. So, being curious myself, I just put together a list of nearly all of the bands, labels, and organizations that I have done work for over the past seven years.
| 38 Special A Change Of Pace A Day Of Reckoning A Dozen Furies AC/DC Acceptance Access Lakeland Adelynne Drive Advent Aerosmith AFI AJ McLean Alan Jackson Alice Cooper All-American Rejects American Dance Party American Hi-Fi Anberlin Arise & Ruin Arlington Armor For Sleep Article One As Cities Burn As I Lay Dying Aslyn Atreyu August Burns Red Augustana Avenged Sevenfold BEC Recordings Becoming The Archetype Beloved Ben Folds Ben Lee Billy Joel Blindside Bow Wow Brothers In Arms Band Burning Daylight Butch Walker Carrie Underwood Chasing Victory Chimaira Cinderella City Calvary Chapel Classic Case Clemmer Coheed & Cambria Coldplay Counting Crows Crash Romeo Dashboard Confessional Daughtry Dav Julca Dead Poetic Def Leppard Demon Hunter Die Mannequin Disturbed DJ Shadow Dopamine Dredg Drive By Embodyment Emery Endurance Skateboards Envy On The Coast Escape The Fate Evanstar Evelynn Everytime I Die Fair Fall Out Boy Falling Cycle Falling Up Family Values Tour Farewell to Fashion Fear Before The March Of Flames Filter Five Minute Ride Fletch Clothing |
Flexcore Fitness Flyleaf For Evangelene Forever The Sickest Kids From Autumn To Ashes From First To Last Genesis Gipsy Kings Good Charlotte Gym Class Heroes Haste The Day He Is Legend Hiatus Clothing HIM Hinder Hoobastank Immortal Records In Reverent Fear Inhale Exhale Instruction Interpol Jack’s Mannequin Jamie Kennedy & Stu Stone Jamie Randolph Jennifer Lopez John Mellencamp Josh Groban Josh Moore Keyshia Cole Killswitch Engage Knapsackheroes Korn Kutless Lamb Of God Last Tuesday Led Zeppelin Leslie Life In The Fall Lifehouse Linkin Park Lions Living Sacrifice Lucerin Blue Lynyrd Skynyrd Madina Lake Mae Man Alive Manna Skateboards Marauder Records Marc Anthony Mastodon Matchbook Romance Matisyahu Maylene & The Sons Of Distaster Megadeth Metallica MeWithoutYou Monsterus MuteMath My Chemical Romance My Existence Negative Nancy Nine Inch Nails Nodes of Ranvier Norma Jean Number One Fan One Day Savior Records Ortega Outlet Pale Skeeter Panic! At The Disco Papa Roach Pemberton Festival Pennyroyal Silver Perfection Is A Myth Pillar Plain White T’s Plus 44 PrayDreamGo Priestess Project 86 |
Quitter Rage Against The Machine Ramones Red Hot Chili Peppers Red Jumpsuit Apparatus Rock Kills Kid Rokk Clothing Rolling Stones Sarah Kelly Say Anything Scars On Broadway Sex Pistols Shinedown Sinai Beach Skillet Slow Coming Day Smilin Liar Snuggle B’s Solid State Records Stavesacre Stilllife Projector Stone Sour Stone Temple Pilots Straylight Run Taking Back Sunday Team Sleep The Academy Is The Afters The Almost The Berkshire Alliance The Black Maria The Chariot The Classic Crime The Cool Kids The Distance The Fold The Killers The Offspring The Pits The Showdown The Spill Canvas The Starting Line The Underwater The Uriah Omen The Used The Wreckers The Young Theory Of A Deadman Thoughts On Vinyl Mgmt Thousand Foot Krutch Three Days Grace Three Doors Down Throwdown To Write Love On Her Arms Too Late The Hero Tooth & Nail Records Underoath Versus The Mirror Wallflowers Walls Of Jericho7 We The Kings Welton WhatToDoAbout Winter Solstice Yosemite Mudflap Young & Useless Young Love Zen Rizing |
My hope is that the new site will show all of this work. This also explains why it will take a while.
June 16 2008
Muchas Gracias.
I want to thank all of you who keep checking this blog. I definately am more motivated to post stuff, because I’m getting feedback, so thank you.
I’m still in the planning stages of the new site. I won’t have anything new until I feel like I’ve created the exact type of site that I want.
If there’s any web people out there who are skilled with TextPattern, please drop me a line. I could use all the help I can get.
Linkin Park
I did these earlier this year for Linkin Park. I saw a girl in the grocery store the other day with one of them on. Weird.
June 03 2008
June 02 2008
Norma Jean
I enjoyed doing these little diddies for my dudes in Norma Jean. Look for the new goods this summer.
May 21 2008
Commentary
I’ve added comments to this blog, which may have been one of the main reasons I didn’t use it. Without comments, you can’t really tell if anyone is listening. I’m still tweaking this blog a bit, not everything is exactly how I want it. But it’ll do. Maybe.
Dark Collar is the graphic design operation of Brandon Rike. Brandon is a full-time designer, and a proud resident of progressive Columbus, Ohio. While he used to rock the mic full-time, he now enjoys working out of his home studio, riding his bicycle, renovating his house, staying healthy, and loving his wife. Life is good.
