If your well contains creative inspiration. I’ve written tons about this, but it’s always fresh, because there is always new inspiration to be found. Yesterday I read Brendan Dawes book, Analog In, Digital Out. Brendan is a fantastic DIY based interactive artist. He does website work, interactive installations, and tons of other stuff… The book is a montage of influences, project descriptions and personal creative philosophy.

The last page caps it for me… Really sums up how I feel:

“Creativity is not about playing safe, and it should never be. It should scare the hell out of you at times. It should put you in uncomfortable places that challenge you at every step.”

Remember that the next time you make a ‘judicious’ cut, or use that easy sleazy stock that comes with the server (that’s been used a 1000 times before you did). Don’t create like everybody else. Challenge yourself.

If I had my way, media servers would come with nothing but what YOU put on them.

I’m gonna go sailing now, and shut up…

Bob Bonniol

I just saw a cryptic thing: Goldman Sacs gave over 350 Million dollars to back about 600 Million dollars to allow another group to buy “back” PRG… SO is that Jeri ? One hopes…

Speaking of acquisitions, Color Kinetics completed it’s mission and got itself acquired by Philips. With a valuable portfolio of patents like that, generated through many years of litigation, negotiation, and persuasion, it was bound to attract a major buyout… Perhaps the fact that all the patents relate to a major widespread technological shift in lighting everywhere played a part. In any case congratulations Color Kinetics. And congratulations all of us. Philips has already expressed it’s desire to license and share the IP gained in this transaction. We can look forward to a further proliferation of mixed video/lighting LED products now…

I enjoyed the warmth and intimacy of how small theatre and the entertainment industry seemed, even five years ago. Moore’s law, it would seem, applies not only to computer processing, but also to the velocity of change in our industry. But as a designer, it’s an amazing time to be alive. Artistic toolsets we couldn’t have even imagined fifty years ago now enable whole new forms and disciplines.

Happy Tuesday everybody…
Bob Bonniol

Been doing a bunch this summer, most of it with LED. I saw one show I had out, which had been utilizing SMD based High Res LED go to a different, multiple bulb type after a layoff… And I was disappointed. Blacks got crushed, banding was evident, and color reproduction suffered. It WAS cheaper. Ah the constant battle between what we want, and what we can get by with.

Flipside, working on a new show with a low res display. This was an SMD based pixel though, and despite the pitch distribution, rezzy looked great, color reproduction was awesome. Nothing looked posterized. And man was it bright. Led me to really weigh in my mind whether pixel pitch is primary, or quality of LED ?

Random musings this rainy summer day.

Designing a festival of eight plays can be a daunting task; eight directors, eight design teams, and eight independent stories that need to be told. Couple that challenge with breaking the plays up with a series of short films, finishing the show every night with a different musical act , and adding an environmental design for a space that is at once elegant and technically complex, and you have the Crown Point Festival. The result is the kind of design project most LD’s would love to take on.

I’m thrilled to be sharing my design experience as it happens with the Live Design community. In the coming weeks and months you can expect entries chronicling the collaborations, design decisions, and gear selection as I work my way to opening night.

I hope you’ll check in often and I’d love to hear your thoughts along the way.

Welcome to Bob Bonniol’s blog, On Display. Bob is a partner and creative director with Mode Studios, a collective of lighting designers, multimedia designers, project managers, and FX artists specializing in the application of multimedia as scenic environment and in the integration of advanced lighting design.