Creation of the Week

Creation of the Week #28 Nic Gutierez' Sunday Psalm

Sometimes creations are physical things you can see, but sometimes creations are communities. This is something we know very intimately as part of this community. Communities take cultivating, steering, guiding with an eye to culture, ensuring that value is always being added and doubled upon. Nic Gutierez has been steering the Sunday Psalm community for three years now, and as a liturgical musician, I couldn't be more grateful for it.  

For those of you who are not musicians, you've probably never heard of Sunday Psalm. If you lead music for mass, Sunday Psalm has probably already become dispensable to you, but what is it?

 Sunday Psalm is an experiment in crowdsourcing.

What would it look like if a bunch of liturgical musicians picked a Sunday a year and wrote a free psalm to share with the rest of the community?  

Collaboration is a solution to so many of the problems in our Church today. There are many creators, but not enough platforms to empower them. It takes someone with a real heart for the Lord to shine the limelight on others.

If the psalm wasn't enough, now Sunday Psalm is helping musicians get booked for worship events in their area, leveraging the psalm platform as a way to give musicians exposure. It's awesome, and I hope that one day soon it get's monetized so that Nic can take a larger role in ministering to musicians.

In Sunday Psalm Nic Gutierrez embodies so many of the core values of Catholic Creatives: Collaboration, love for beauty, & creative problem-solving. Good work Nic. We're excited to see where this project goes.

Creation of the Week #27 Steven Lewis' Review of Silence

One of the sizable challenges I have with Creation of the Week is just the multiplicities of genre we get to tackle with it. This week we're entering into the Vblogosphere with Steven Lewis's review of Silence.

I've been following Steve since encountering his awesomeness on the group WAY back in 2016, and y'all, he cracks me up. 

To vlog well, one does not necessarily need to offer high production value with lots of editing and effects. The goal of the vlog is to compress thought provoking messages into a condensed and engaging 4-5 minute short. Come to think of it, I think all priests should have to start a successful vlog before they are allowed to give any homilies, but I digress.

 This community isn't just about promoting good art, but about moving the conversations at large in the Church into new territory of engagement. Steve's thoughts here do just that.

When discussing or reviewing art, our Catholic community has a tendancy to be satisfied simply by answering the question "was its message positive?" In the case of Silence, if you leave off there, the answer is a resounding no. But the best art is often times the art that is difficult to palate, hard to digest. Silence is the type of art that tends to need more chewing before it's lessons can be swallowed, and Steve gets that.

He helped  push me beyond  my initial responses and moved me to ask deeper questions both of the movie and of myself. I for one am grateful for his contribution to the conversation at large about this movie.  And since all I'm doing is reviewing a review of silence, which is itself a review of the reviews,  I will refrain from further commentary on the movie itself.  Keep up the good work, Steve!
 

Creation of the Week #26: Kara Waxman's "In Utero"

Anyone who has been to Galleria dell'Accademia in Florence and seen the David in person knows the difference between photo representations pulled up on a screen and the tangible experience of the art's presence. It is sometimes difficult to feature fine art on Creation of the Week for this reason. The intricate beauty of a piece like Kara's "In Utero" can be lost in translation from thread to pixles. Never the less, even without being able to see this tapestry.

There are many scales by which one can weigh good art. One way to test a piece's merit is by the question "does this piece grow in richness and complexity the deeper the examination?"  "In Utero" is incredibly detailed, and grows more so as one looks on, an accomplishment only achievable through painstaking labor and time. According to Kara, it took a month of work. She wove the navy background fabric and stitched the image by hand.  

The colors are so vibrant, and complement each other so well. The stitching gives motion and passion to the moment it captures. The media chosen so perfectly matches the subject. As Kara told us, it's based on a sonogram of her niece. She contemplated Psalm 139 as she worked.

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
— Psalm 139: 14-15

In her comments Kara wrote: "I wanted to simply reflect the beauty and intricacy of the unborn child growing in the womb."  Kara did that, but so much more. The first time I looked at the piece, I saw the universe, not a cold dead, empty place, but the C.S. Lewisian "Deep Heaven" full of warmth and life and energy. When my eyes took in the shape of the baby, I thought: "all of creation in all it's motion and movement coalesces in this: The creation of a child in the womb.

You can find more of Kara's work below, or check out her website here.

Creation of the Week #25 Tommy & Joey Marshall's SameTime.co

I know a lot of you are super disciplined and never ever need any help keeping your new years resolutions. I know some of you don't make new years resolutions because you're too cool for that life. 

For all the rest of us that really need some help, accountability is a proven method of making lifestyle changes. Enter: SameTime.co

SameTime.co is a website that lets you create FREE accountability groups that help you do things together. Want to go to the gymn more consistently with your friends? Want to go to daily mass together some time? Want to set apart time to pray the office, write poetry, paint a passion project together? SameTime is here to help. All you do is go to the home page, create a group, set the time you want to get reminders, and everyone in the group gets a text reminder beforehand.

I created a group called "Wake the Hell Up," because I have a nasty habit of working really late at night and sleeping in. Tommy, you are going to single-handedly change my life, brother.

If you have not had the pleasure to meet Tommy Marshall yet, he is a world class developer who works on crazy things like Espn's Anatomy of a Pitch and the award winning game SayViget. Though it would break my mind trying to figure out how to make this site, SameTime.co is the kind of thing Tommy does on Christmas  in between eating Turkey and watching Die Hard because why not?

Tommy and his brother Joe who is also equally as incredible will be leading workshops at the CC Summit in March. As of 1/9, we have 20 tickets left, so if you are planning on coming, get your tickets asap! Follow the broes on twitter here: Tommy & Joey Marshall 

Creation of the Week #24 The Martyrdom of Polycarp

Mike Marshall is an amazing artist and illustrator who sports a fantastic mustache. He's currently working on a project that is mind blowing even in it's infancy: an illustrated series of the Martyrdom of Polycarp. The illustration work is incredible. 

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Mike's style evokes so much emotion and drama. Even  these few early pieces transport me to the space in my imagination that I've always stored the stories of the early Church from when I was young. These images tap into my childlike wonder at the hero figures of the new testament and their willingness to give it all for the faith. I can't wait to see the completed series, and we'll definitely give you an update when it's up.  In the meantime, you can check out his smooth jazz rendition of O Come O Come Emmanuel here because yes, Mike also plays guitar in a band. Some people are just good at everything. 

Creation of the Week #23 Josef Lang the "Stowaway"

You know what's one design challenge that I would never want to take? Reinvent the chair. That is a design challenge for someone special, and that someone is Josef Lang, which I might add, is the perfect name for a person who makes things like this:

That, my friends, is the chair reinvented. Joseph is an engineer, designer, carpenter, and maker in all senses of the word. Just check out this guy's workspace:

After commandeering his local apple store and turning it into his personal workshop, Josef decided to make this folding chair that literally folds into a square. It's as beautiful as it is practical. I've never seen anything like it. According to his website, "Stowaway is a collapsible felt and wood stool that zips into place for easy assembly." So not only did he redesign the chair, he finally gave felt a real purpose. There has been no comment as of yet on whether or not he would be making his next prototype out of the felt banners from my home parish, but we're all crossing our fingers. 

Another thing I love about Josef is how committed he is to beautiful presentation. This is a lesson every artist that's ever seen one of their paintings encased in a faux metal frame: Presentation can make or break your art. From his website to his Mockups, Josef's presentation is spectacular.

Sadly, the product is still in development, but as soon as it is available for purchase, we will let you know. Josef, it is an honor to have you in the community. The only question we have for you, Josef, is:  did you decide to take up making because your name is Joseph or is your name Josef because you were always going to take up making? ...

Creation(s) of the Week #22 Everyone's A Winner

Last Week there was so much amazingness shared I had to at least give you a few highlights. 

1. One Solitary Life

Cory Heimann and the rest of the people at Likeable art produce amazing work with a consistency that is unrivaled. Every piece I see from them is so uniquely thought up and comes from such an individual origin that I haven't been able to identify a "Likeable Art style" other than the fact that I cry every time one of their videos draws me into it's world. That's why I'm so excited to hear from Cory at the Summit in March and learn some of the tools they use for creative brainstorming. 

2. Daniela Madriz' Logo Design Skillshare Class

If you have not already seen Daniela's work, she's amazing. I've had the privilege of working with her on multiple projects and she's always done an incredible job from communication to concepting to design. If you have ever had an interest in branding or logo design, take her class. It's one of the best on the topic on skillshare. It's very well done. The videos are high quality, she's a great teacher, and the content is awesome. Within two weeks, she has over 200 people enrolled and paying for her class. 

3. Jacob Machado's  "Questions with Martin."

This is such an incredibly unique take on the usual musty capital campaign video. This is a great example of how a production budget doesn't need to be insane to get a piece that will resonate. 

4. Alexander Johnnides's Crowning of the Bride

Alexander Johnnides won Rangefinder Magazine's photo of the day for this shot and it's not hard to see why. The drama expressed within it is nothing short of mesmerizing. It often occurs to me how difficult it is to capture emotion with photography. You have one image to tell a story. There's no background music, no narration, no context, and yet a good photographer can speak all that is necessary. Well told, Alex.

5. Dan Rogers: "Together, Let us Go Forth"

Everything about this production bleeds excellence. The visuals, the titles, the music, the script... each executed with the attention to detail, the careful mastery, the attention of a seasoned professional. 

6. David Calavitta's Fire Inside

Handlettering is a field that seems to be dominated by flowery script, which while beautiful, is not always what is needed. However, to be able to adopt many alphabets and types of letting is an incredibly difficult feat to accomplish. David is absolutely flexible, always choosing the right letter forms for the setting. Here, for a men's book, blackletter was the right choice. Rough, textured, the letters almost look chard. He integrates his type into his designs with an adeptness that defies description.

4pm Media's St. Michael Catholic

I love how fast the pace is of this video. It get's a LOT done in 60 seconds. According to Jonathon, they only took one day to shoot and one day to edit. It is sometimes a huge pain to force yourself into time constraints, but that's often where the magic happens. Great work, 4pm.

 

Creation of the Week #21 "Pascal Jude" By Max and Audrey Haben

There is something so incredibly powerful about what happens when people share their most vulnerable, human moments. The Haben's shared their experience of bringing Pascal Jude into the world in beautiful honesty. I have not seen a more moving piece piece in a long time. Thank you so much, Max & Aubrey for the witness that you shared with us. You guys are amazing. What a testament to love, marriage, and life.

Creation of the Week #20 Mike Mangione's "Three Days"

"And to surrender is to win, to welcome death is to begin.
To be the words they speak of, to hold my weakness that's the love."

Mike Mangione's music is fantastic. He's a powerful entertainer with a bright mind and an open heart. I had the opportunity to witness him perform recently and it was awesome. He was raw and as authentic of a performer as I've seen. That same authenticity that's a hallmark of his songwriting and performance is very much present in "Three Days." It's a song of expectation, you get the feeling you're exploring some wild landscape as you listen.  The lyrics capture's the hero's journey, from the Call to Crossing the Threshold, to the Ordeal and the Resurrection. If you don't know what I'm talking about, do yourself a favor and read about the Hero's Journey. It'll make all your art better. 

Mike uses Catholic imagery the way that Flannery O'Connor did. It's always unexpected, sometimes shocking. Three Days is deeply Catholic. In a way, you follow Christ through his experience of ministry. The song beings with a young adolescent that must be about his fathers work, eager to begin. It moves to uneasiness, at the poor's "hatred in disguise," and ends with an embrace of death and weakness. In a way, the song put me in touch with the humanity of Christ, especially in the discovery of the crowd's fickle nature. Though I wish more did, not many artists make me feel that side of Christ and the Christian life like Mike does; the dirty, gray, human side that we so often are afraid to hold.  

That's why I'm really excited to get Mike's EP when it comes out. In the meantime, I'll be  listening to  his music here. 

For those of you that haven't listened to Mike's Podcast, "The Time & The Mystery," I'm going to include one of my favorite episodes here. His interview with Bishop Donald Hying is profound. Enjoy!
 

Jonathan did a great job from concept to shooting to editing. Everything about this video is 100% professional. The music is refreshingly youthful, the cutting is smooth, and it feels like the kind of thing that any modern advocacy organization would produce. I’m proud of everyone involved in this effort for helping to set a new standard for diocesan use of media. The one thing I wish I could ask Jonathan is how he got all 7 bishops in the same place at the same time.

give a solid shout out to MCC as well. Not only did they invest well in the right talent with Jonathan on the video, but they also have a great social media presence and an acceptably designed website by which they can actually get real value out of the video’s reach, which is currently sitting at 54k views. Not bad, MCC, not bad at all.

A lot of organizations look at video as a quick flashy thing that’ll get them donations, attention, or awareness quickly.  I’ve had prospective clients approach me willing to drop 10-20k on a video, but be un-willing to spend anything to update their website and logo that were done in the 90’s.

Media is the same as anything else in life. There’s no quick fix.

You can only get as much milage out of a video as you have the infrastructure to support it, and Minnesota Catholic Conference clearly does. I’d love to see more Catholic organizations invest deep enough in their media that they can invest wide effectively as well.

Great work, Jonathan! 

Creation of the Week #13 Fabi & Marie "Unveil the Wonder"

This week I’m pumped to get to feature two ladies who have been posting incredible work consistently in the group, Fabiola Garza and Marie Heimann. It’s always so encouraging to see collaborations like this happening in the community. Check this OUT:

This will be a cover illustration for Likable Art's upcoming book that we are probably all not going to want to wait for after seeing this cover. 

What is so amazing about this? The illustration is whimsical, nostalgic, playful, capturing our inner child. Everything about this image displays visibly the spirit of “wonder,” a word that reminds me of who I am and what kind of God I fell in love with as a kid.

There is so much to love about this image. These are a few that struck me:

1. The Use of Scale

The subject, a little girl in a pose of pure amazement is tiny in comparison to everything else in the image. The door, the guards and the trees around her are all about 3 times her size. This use of scale immediately returns me to the experiences of wonder I’ve had in my life, of being small before the immensity of a mountain or a massive sky full of stars.

2. The Use of Light.

The contrast between the soft blue night and the vibrant light inside the door is so mystical. It draws the viewer into this deep curiosity. What’s on the other side of the door? I NEED TO KNOW!

But seriously, Fabi, please tell me.

3. The Handlettering

The image is completed by the handlettering. It is often very difficult to add type to an image like this one, but the lettering not only fits, but adds a further whimsical expressive beauty that invites the viewer to a further reminder of the deep yearning that we all had as kids.

A Yearning for Heaven

This image ultimately reminds me of the doorway at the end of The Last Battle in the Chronicles of Narnia, the door from one world to the next. Lewis was the first one to connect my deep yearning for wonder to the desire for heaven. This image does that for me. It tells me that this world is just a shadow of something great and magical that is to come.
 

Keep up the good work Marie, Fabi. You’re amazing.

“These things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ.” Colossians 2:13:

Previous Creations of the Week:

Creation of the Week #12 - "Venerable Fulton Sheen" Cassie Pease

Cassie Pease is an incredible designer. She really knows how to bring a Catholic saint alive with her desktop wallpapers, and this week I really was struck by this image of Venerable Fulton Sheen. 

Cassie has beautifully distinct style. She is obviously informed by pop culture, but departs from it in some very potent ways. She essues minimalism, with the grungy textured background, she uses drop shadow and glow effects on her text which most designers have long since written off, and favors vibrant colors rather than desaturated tones. I don't know whether Cassie is breaking the rules on purpose or if she simply developed her distinctiveness in a more organic way, but it is beautiful. 

She also does an amazing job choosing the right photos and editing them to fit her vision. I did a quick google search on images of Fulton Sheen and found the photo she used. It was the only half descent pic of him I could find, and it was only 480px wide.

With her Walpapers, Cassie often has to work with bad photos or old paintings/statues.  She is masterful at using these less than ideal building blocks and helping us to see these saints in an altogether different light. I'm looking forward to downloading the next wallpaper, Cassie!

Find more of her work here: http://cassiepeasedesigns.com/

Creation of the Week #11 - 86 Creative - Bible Study Covers

Last week we chose Jacob Michaels submission to highlight as the COW... wow. That is the first time I have realized why we haven't made this into an acronym.

Anyway. Last week's Creation of the Week is Jacob Laskowski's designs for the new Focus bible study covers. You can see them below.

Not only is 86 Creative's agency site super slick (check it out here!) but their design also certainly follows suite. It is not easy to express a consistent brand across fourteen collateral pieces each with their own internal color palettes. In the above bible study designs they have done this incredibly well.

One of the interesting things about design is that usually, when a designer solves the toughest problems, the challenge is simply invisible to the lay man's eyes. This is one such case where the final product simply feels good, but doesn't immediately look particularly elaborate or difficult. It's just some type faces with a header and a square and a picture, right?


WRONG. If an ameture designer had tried to tackle this project, the colors would have fought with each other, creating dissonance, or bled into one another, creating confusion and a lack of distinctness. The fine attention to detail in color palate choice for the set, and then in color palette choice for each individual piece shines through in the final product's cohesive feel. The work in selecting and matching the pictures to those chosen colors reflects the subtle genius behind 86 Creative's design work. 
Keep it up guys, and thanks for helping to make the world more beautiful (and colorful). 

Creation of the Week #10 Ivory Williams "Mr. Money"

This week's Creation of the Week goes to Ivory Williams for her InCrowd song "Mr. Money.


This song is masterfully written and perfectly executed to capture the 60's sound. The band & production team InCrowd works with live tracks their songs on retro equipment. Every song they've done is incredibly true to form, and "Mr. Money" is no different. If, after listening, you looked down and found yourself doing the lindy hop with your chair as a partner, you wouldn't be the only one.

Ok. Maybe Kate Hazen was the only one.

Ok. Maybe Kate Hazen was the only one.


With the emergence of the time piece trend in popular culture, (Gatsby, Stranger Things, The Nice Guys,) this kind of project is in place to catch the culture wave. This is exactly the type of work that I love seeing from the group. Ivory is a girl who is unbelievably talented and is using that to engage the culture as opposed to working inside the "Christian Music" bubble. Because of this, she gets to speak a powerful counter to American materialism that could only hit this hard as a 60's cover. As she sings: "One pound of gold won't fit in your coffin." 

Ivory, keep up the good work. I think I can speak for all of us when I say that I can't wait to hear the rest of the album.

Full Credits (But seriously, Wow. Look at this team:)
"Mr Money" by Ivory Williams

(A Michael and Swilley Production)
InCrowd Songs (BMI)
(C) 2016

Musicians:
Jordan Manley - Drums
Austin Bolen - Upright Bass
Sean Thompson - Guitar
Philip Adair - Piano
William Hollifield - Tenor Sax
Robert Harrington - Trumpet
Danny Wytanis - Trombone

Creation of the Week #9 The Augustine Institute's Parish Catalog

This week the Augustine Institute makes yet again another foray into our Creation of the Week. Its always a special pleasure to see one of the big Catholic organizations really invest in media. While so many groups in the Catholic space are acting like everyone is still fine with papyrus and gratuitous amounts of dropshadow, it's fantastic to see the Augustine institute leading out so intentionally.

The Catalog  isn't super flashy. It is, after all a catalog. Good design, however, doesn't need to be flashy. It needs to display the contents effectively and with grace. This catalog does that so much that I was willing to read through almost all 47 pages. Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever read through even a single page of a catalog. Good job Augustine Institute.

There is a clear color palate and typography system. The stock photos chosen show attractive people under the age of 80 smiling and engaged. The type is all readable, the layouts are clean and organized, and the copy was clearly well edited and minimized. The whole work speaks of restraint, but not so loudly that you notice it.  That is the thing about good design-often times you don't even notice it. It's not flashy, it's not provocative, it just flows easily. It's effortless and easy, like a casual conversation with your best friend.

Good job Augustine Institute. Keep valuing good art and we will keep loving you for it.