Archive for December, 2008

Packaging design engagement for a Rice brand

This is the latest sketch [ design and layout before the photography shoot ] that I emailed to the client a couple of hours back.

Image without notes.
riceSketchWithoutNotes Packaging design engagement for a Rice brand asidebrands Brand naming & Logo design by Naina

Image with notes.
riceSketchWithNotes Packaging design engagement for a Rice brand asidebrands Brand naming & Logo design by Naina

I can’t divulge more than this – can’t share the name of the company, name of the brand or any other images yet. It is an Indian client. Would have been easier to explain the concept with more information – but no can do for now! Once the rough layout and general design are approved by the client, I will turn into cook, food stylist and food photographer for one day [ hopefully just one day ]!

Popularity: 1% [?]

Post-processing of photographs

Jaideep sent me some vacation photographs to post-process and edit – more as an experiment to see what I could do with them. There was no ‘brief’ per se, but he had mentioned that he liked the tinted look. Edited in Adobe Photoshop. The original images belong to Jaideep – and the edited ones belong to me. Hah. Ok, jokes apart, here are the before and after photographs.

Photograph #1
beachBefore Post processing of photographs asidebrands Brand naming & Logo design by Naina
beachAfter Post processing of photographs asidebrands Brand naming & Logo design by Naina

Photograph #2
benchBefore Post processing of photographs asidebrands Brand naming & Logo design by Naina
benchAfter Post processing of photographs asidebrands Brand naming & Logo design by Naina

Photograph #3
boatBefore Post processing of photographs asidebrands Brand naming & Logo design by Naina
boatAfter Post processing of photographs asidebrands Brand naming & Logo design by Naina

Photograph #4
grillBefore Post processing of photographs asidebrands Brand naming & Logo design by Naina
grillAfter Post processing of photographs asidebrands Brand naming & Logo design by Naina

Photograph #5
jaideepBefore Post processing of photographs asidebrands Brand naming & Logo design by Naina
jaideepAfter Post processing of photographs asidebrands Brand naming & Logo design by Naina

Photograph #6
pierBefore Post processing of photographs asidebrands Brand naming & Logo design by Naina
pierAfter Post processing of photographs asidebrands Brand naming & Logo design by Naina

Photograph #7
planeBefore Post processing of photographs asidebrands Brand naming & Logo design by Naina
planeAfter Post processing of photographs asidebrands Brand naming & Logo design by Naina

Photograph #8
riverBefore Post processing of photographs asidebrands Brand naming & Logo design by Naina
riverAfter Post processing of photographs asidebrands Brand naming & Logo design by Naina

Photograph #9
windowBefore Post processing of photographs asidebrands Brand naming & Logo design by Naina
windowAfter Post processing of photographs asidebrands Brand naming & Logo design by Naina

Popularity: 1% [?]

aside has a new phone number

After almost three months of a new phone number, it has finally been updated on the website and the blog.
The new geographic details and the new number are as follows :

Naina Redhu
aside
105, Professor’s Enclave,
Plot 57, Sector 56,
Gurgaon – 122 011
Haryana, India

Mobile number : +91 99100 22104

Yes! aside has moved office from Bombay to Gurgaon [ which is near New Delhi, the capital city-state of India ].

Popularity: unranked [?]

More than 3 years for the aside blog

I was scanning through my RSS Feeds on Google Reader and was reading someone who was celebrating the completion of one year of blogging. While uploading the Christmas 2008 Wallpaper blog post, I glanced at the Archives list on the right sidebar on my blog and realized that this blog has been in existence since September 2005. Whoa! That is more than three years of blogging for aside.

In these three years I have written 196 blog posts on this blog [ including this post ]. Which makes it roughly 65 blog posts per year or about 5 blog posts in one month. I always considered myself as a voracious reader and a similar-adjective writer – but the statistics say something else. In the recent past, my blogging frequency has been exceptionally low due to various reasons.

Business has been slow – sometimes as a conscious choice and sometimes due to general economic conditions across the world. I have been spending more time with friends and family than with clients. For example, currently, I am working on only two projects – my average, otherwise, is about eight to ten projects at a time.

On the work front, I have become more focused on the types of projects I want to work on. When I started and picked up steam, I was taking on almost whatever came my way – web design, photography, print design, brand design, web banners, packaging design, etc. The last six months have led me to focus on design engagements that I truly enjoy – branding design, web design for small businesses, photography and Photoshop re-touching and editing as well as packaging. I am also focusing on clients – whether local or international – typically manufacturing units or businesses who have been around for a long time, who are realizing the value of an image/brand overhaul and want a ‘makeover’ as well as local Indian clients who need a photographer without having to spend a bomb on professional photography.

A narrower focus, thus, means a lesser number of engagements.

Since I have been online for more than three years, I also feel the need to consolidate my web presence. I have a number of domains that are currently not being utilized to their full potential. Changes are under way for my personal domain www.nainaredhu.com, which will be like a catch-all of me on the web and will point to all other domains and links; the aside website, which will focus on brand design and website design and packaging and print will be pushed down to lower priorities; the www.studioaside.com website will cater to my photography portfolio and I will eventually move away from my Flickr account where I currently have a paid PRO account till 2010; the www.emotionvoid.com website, which will take care of my paintings and hand-drawn artwork; www.protoface.com, which is a platform for aspiring models and TV actors to have an online presence without the expense of an individual full-fledged website.

I am also more involved on two platforms that I had not explored earlier : Twitter and Facebook. I am still figuring out the best way to use Twitter – balance – so that I don’t end up being a Twitter-addict, at the same time I want to ensure I generate relevant updates. LinkedIn still remains the online business network that RULES!

I am looking forward to 2009 as the year that defines a turning point in my professional as well as personal life. Like the surfer Steve Addington, from the movie Surfer, Dude who spends almost two months waiting for waves in the ocean so he can get back to his passion of surfing, I’ve waited long enough for the waves to appear. Unfortunately, like the ocean, even in life, waves can’t be created – they either appear or they don’t. The best I am doing is to be prepared to catch the best of them when they do appear.

Bash on regardless.

Popularity: 1% [?]