I’ve been meaning to add some music posts for a while so, here ya go.


I feel a tad old to be listening to Passion Pit’s “The Reeling” but, man it’s really good. I’m a sucker for basically anything with great synths. Metro Area’s “Soft Hoop” is a deep house classic from 2002. I had no idea that the Kelley Polar Quartet played all the strings! It all makes sense now. Nautilis’s track “Why’s It Got to Be So Damn Tough” is off his 2001 album, “Are You An Axolotl”. Nice mellow IDM hip-hop. I actually went snowboarding with Nautilis in South Lake Tahoe a few years ago, he’s a very humble and talented dude.


Enjoy!




Kelley Polar Quartet Live

Passion Pit - The Reeling

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Metro Area - Soft Hoop

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Nautilis - Why’s It Got to Be So Damn Tough

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Nujabes - Aruarian Dance

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I was just featured in New Web Picks latest magazine and they also included a small candid interview of myself. I’ve posted the interview below, but if you are further interested you can buy the e-magazine for $2.50. It’s a really cool issue, ton’s of great stuff including an interview with the badass interactive shop Cartelle. You gotta love them!


Enjoy!

Issue 22: Interview with Jeff Toll

Tell us a little bit about your background?


Before focusing on interaction design I was really into traditional art. Art was something I had been involved in since I was a child. My first real inspiration dates back to the good days of Mark Kisler (https://www.draw3d.com/). From that point I was really hooked on drawing and got more serious about it as I grew older. I studied art in college while at the same tisme perusing a business degree. Water color, sketching and charcoal were my strong suites. I was torn between the thought of making money (business degree) and doing something I loved (art). At around the age of 23 I really got into Dj’ing and started buying Drum n’ Bass albums. The album art work blew me away, I had never really stopped to think about graphic design, so this was my first introduction. From there things instantly clicked. I changed my major and dived head first into design. I then quickly graduated and the rest was history. The core principles of design learned I in college has allowed me to be diverse in all mediums. Interaction design in particular.

Who are your main inspirations? / What are your influences?


My obvious inspiration comes from interactive shops such as Odopod, B Reel and Firstborn just to name a few. All of their work is amazing of course, but I’ve been more so inspired by their devotion for solely creating interactive work. Interactive design is by far my favorite design discipline, so it’s really nice to see these shops focus on interactive and not position themselves as a “Jack of all traits” shop. There’s no room for a business model like this if you want your work to be compared with the Odopods / Firstborns.


My main inspiration comes from my wife and son. They inspire and motivate me more than any shop or designer ever could.


My influences come a vast array of things other than viewing other design work. I’m always aware of my surroundings, for example if I’m out skateboarding I’ll take note of fashion, music and slang etc. The majority of my work is heavily rooted in youth culture so as I get older it’s even more important that I stay relevant with what’s going on in that age demographic, I still feel like I’m 20 years old even though I’m that plus 11. The design industry is amazing in that regard; it forces you stay young!

How do you keep motivated and interested?


I work and live in Sacramento, CA which is located just over an hour from San Francisco, CA . It’s a city very isolated from the design industry. Staying motivated is honestly very difficult because of the lack of designers to progress with. I guess I’m lucky to have a sincere love for design and art. I have a small handful of things I love in life which I’m completely committed to, one being design.

Do you have any new projects coming up that you can tell us about?


I’ve been working on a brand overhaul for a small backpack company called “Gregory” with a handful of people over at BKWLD.com. The rebrand encompassed everything from their brand positioning, message, identity, to producing viral videos and a website overhaul just to name a few. It’s been quite a fun experience. Running around the city filming a professional rock climber act like an ass was totally fun! Look for the overhaul later this fall. The current brand/site is a turd.

What do you know about your country’s design/designers?


We (US) kick ass like the rest of the world! Brazil though has always had a unique flare. I’ve really been influenced by work coming out of Japan lately. Their ideas are always driven first by technology and aesthetic secondary, but because the technology is so damn cool the aesthetics naturally become just as cool. The first Japanese site design that comes to mind is the “Cup of Noodles” site by www.dentsu-razorfish.com . Who knew a site for a foam cup could be so amazing! Oh don’t forget about all the Uniqlo sites, they are all on fire!

Any words you would like to pass it to new comer designers?


Don’t be afraid, and if you are, force that fear to be a positive motivator. We are all thrown into situations that are new and well out of our comfort zone. Use that fear as a motivator and don’t be scared of failure or the word “No”. It will make you stronger. This is easier said than done, but it’s a shame how many new designers call it quits because they are just simply scared.

What is your most favorite commercial design of your own?


Man, that’s really difficult to answer being that I have many favorites all for different reasons, but since you’re asking me to choose, I’d say https://worsethanafairytale.com. That being because I was given the freedom to explore my personal design style. The site became a turning point in my artistic ability to create surreal landscapes. It’s now a preferred style and another “go to” tool in my design belt.

Name 8 designers you like it most?


The first few that come to mind are…


Scott Hansen - Iso50.com
- I had the honor in working with him for 1-2 years or so. Learned a lot, amazing designer and musician.
Chuck Anderson - https://www.nopattern.com
Nigel over at - https://www.electricheat.org
Steve Rura - https://www.letters-numbers.com
Demtre Arges - https://www.practiveworkplay.com
Nicolas Will - https://www.nicolaswill.com
Sarah Calvillo - https://www.amongmadpeople.com/motion.html

Any final comments?


Thank you for the interview of course and for those reading please feel free to say hello. I’m always down to meet new design buds. Take care.

To be given a design job one day for Omni Trio, the next day EZ Rollers, the next Technical Itch, I guess I’m just lucky!”


- Knowledge Magazine

I’ve been meaning to post this small interview I did of Gary Haslam a few months ago. Gary is currently Head of Design over at the “Massive” agency Syzygy. Gary has also worked for industry greats such as AKQA, Holler!, and Eject Limited, but also has a huge history in pioneering the design aesthetic for the king of all Dn’B labels: Moving Shadow.


Drum n’ Bass album art is what first introduced me to graphic design so I have real soft spot for it. That being said I wanted to ask Gary just a few simple questions about his time working with the label and it’s artists. Gary pretty much lead the way for all things design within the dn’b scene. Take a peek at his entire collection of designs, or a trip down memory lane. If you ever owned a Moving Shadow record, odd’s are Gary designed it.


Don’t miss this!
Gary Haslam - A history of Drum & Bass 1995 -2009




Enjoy!

9 Questions with Moving Shadows - Gary Haslam

1. How did you first get hooked up with Moving Shadow?


I studied design in college and met Sean O’Keeffe, the man behind 2 Bad Mice. I had no D&B knowledge up till then, he introduced me to the “Helicopter Tune” and 2 bad mice’s “Underworld” and that was it! He produced the design for Moving Shadow then and asked if I wanted to do a few sleeves as he was concentrating more on the music (Deep Blue). First sleve was for “Cloud Nine” and the first LP was the “Jungle Renegades compilation”.





2 Bad Mice’s 3rd release Sean-Okeefee

2. What’s the story behind the original Moving Shadow logo? Can you share who was a part of that and how it came about?


That was already in use when I started designing for them and I believe was drawn by Rob Playford, the Boss! I took on the logo 2 after a few years and modelled it for a 3D feel and updated it a few years back, when he became more iconic and sleek.

The original iconic Moving Shadow logo
was designed in 1990 by Rob Playford himself.

3. Was there a standard design process for each artist? Did some artists contribute more than others?


I used to be supplied the artist name and track name and would go from there. Some tracks had cool names that you’d work with such as the classic LP “Professor Tsungs Art Of Sciencefunktion” for example. Others designs I’d be allowed to be as creative as I wanted to, so the freedom was great for experimenting with styles,type and layouts etc. Dom & Roland, Adam F, Hoax, EZ-Rollers and Omni Trio all used to be heavily involved with ideas and concepts for their releases.

4. What artists did you enjoy working with the most?


Dom & Roland, Adam F, Hoax, EZ-Rollers, Omni Trio and Rob Playford. I also really enjoyed working with Sean O’Keeffe “the man behind 2 Bad Mice” on the Moving Shadow identity and releases for the “10.0 series” of 12″s as well as “The Rob & Goldie” gold discs, “99p series” posters and the tour designs.

5. What was your most challenging design and or artist to work with?


Killabite, for me was a nice challenge. There wasn’t a brief and I really wanted to do a completely typographic approach. Omni Trio’s “Even Angels Cast Shadows” was also a tough one as it had to be as good as the title. Initially I had a vision in my head and was just a case of executing the design in an illustrate manner and making it simply work.

“Killa Bites” was released in 2000

6. There’s a lot of photography used in your more recent work. How much of it is yours?


A mix of both photography, friends, photoshop generated/3d stuff (a lot for Charge Recordings, Rise Of the Machines and Transformers etc) and stock image libraries when needed.

7. The first dnb record I ever bought was the “Drumfunk Hooliganz 2″
single. The illustrations from that series were sick. Are those all your original illustrations?


Yep, drawn by my better half Louise. She has produced a few for me “Professor Tsungs Art Of Sciencefunktion” with the sleeve and inner bag illustrations of the “Guardians…”, Drumfunks 1 and 2 and the angel from Omni’s “Even Angels…”.





Professor Tsungs Art Of Sciencefunktion LP released in 1999





Drumfunk Hooliganz II- Single released in 2000





Omni Trio - Even Angels Cast Shadows released in 2001


Omni Trio - First Contact

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8. Out of the 500+ albums you designed which designs are you most proud of?


Hard to say as most of my work was done with a reason or purpose which was appropriate to each job. I’ve mentioned a few, but some of my favorite 12″’s were designed for Universal Project, Dom & Roland, Tech Itch, Dieselboy (with We Work for Them’s original artwork).

9. What was your final Moving Shadow design and how did your relationship with Moving Shadow end.


Final sleeve was “05.2″, but have worked on a few projects with Dom and the EZ-Rollers or their Intercom label. Still feels like Shadow. Haven’t designed much recently, the last projects were for DJ Marky on Innerground and Dom’s “Through he Looking Glass”, but still designing none the less, but different industries, more corporate, (automotive, fashion, mobile, sports, pharmaceutical) but theres always that style that is great to bring to other clients where you can such as car configurators and microsites, where the look and feel is a bit more edgy than say pure corporate design.

I grew up in the suburbs. In a cultasac that was filled with 80’s skate rats whom aspired to be in the “Bones Brigade”. We rocked the rat tails, Vision Street Wear, launch ramps and ghetto blasters. I still vividly remember my dad buying me my first legit complete at age 8 or so. It was a Lance Mountain Mini with white Cross Bone wheels, black/green Tracker trucks, clear grip tape and blue rails.


I still skate every chance I get and hope to continue as long as my body can take it, or at the very least till my 2 year old son catches on. He’s getting there…


It’s always fun to look back at all the ground breaking skate vid’s of the 80’s that really summed up what skateboarding was all about: your friends, vibes, music, expression and just simply having fun exploring the streets. Here’s a few of my old decks and some of my most memorable skate vid’s. I’m sure you’ll be taken back in time as well.


Enjoy!




Just a few of my old decks.

As of lately I’ve really been meaning to explore Photoshop CS4’s 3D tools. After researching the programs new native 3D tools, they seem to be much more powerful than I had initial imagined. I also was really impressed with Adobe’s latest promotional site where artists Genevieve Gauckler and Erick Natzke created a beautiful creature using the suites new tools. The site features a brief breakdown on all the tools and techinques used such as the new native 3D tool, adjustments, 3D layers and also a bunch of new flash tools and techinques. I love it all!


https://adobeartists.com/dweezlbug/index.html


Enjoy!

Lusine can easily be thought of one of Ghostly International’s premiere artists backed with an amazing discography. Moderat consists of 3 electronica artists (the name should give you a hint), anyways it’s a huge soundtrack. The track “3 Minutes Of” is my “jock rock“, at 1:48 I’m ready to go! Breakbot remixes Data’s “Aerius Light” with his distinctive slappy basslines and trademark warm synth sound. Modeselektor’s ” Vote or Die” comes off their 2005 album “Hello Mom!”. Classic IDM sound.




Enjoy!

Moderat - Intro







Lusine - Two Dots

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Data - Aerius Light (Breakbot Remix)

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Modeselektor - Vote or Die

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Moderat - 3 Minutes Of

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When I was first introduced to Jensen Sportag by my buddy Demetre Argus I instantly fell in love with them and honestly can’t stop playing them. I’m really into the modern day “Hall & Oats” flare these guys have while at the same time sharing similarities with recent artists such as Breakbot, Junior Boys and Kelly Polar.


The song “Summer Love” by Uncle Skeleton is definitely the stand out track off of the album “Pancho Chumley”. I love conflict the of mood which occurs with the distressed synth effect on the strings.


Santo & Johnny’s instrumental cover of Al Wilson’s classic soul jam “Show & Tell” will get anyone inspired to take a nice stroll to their neighborhood grocery store to pick up a refreshing summer treat. Seriously, I want to throw on my flip flops and walk down the street to grab an ice old orange popsicle!




Enjoy!

Jensen Sportag- Power Sergio

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Jensen Sportag - Power Sergio (Justin Kase Remix)

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Jensen Sportag - Jackie

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Jensen Sportag - Jackie (Justin Kase Remix)

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Uncle Skeleton - Summer Love

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Santo & Johnny - Kiss & Tell

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I’m currently striving to live my dream and start a children’s art and clothing business so I was browsing through Lilla Rogers for more inspiration and was led to Jenn Ski’s tactile mid century art. Not only is her art work amazing but, the interior of her house is nearly equally as cool! Esty has a great selection of her work for sale, check it out and buy some!


Enjoy!