Advance Preview of the Dick Kaufmann Live DVD

watch the below intro clip to the forthcoming dick kaufmann live DVD, co-produced by splashkit experts eric s. townsend and greg berger. conceptually, we were going after the type of lead-in you’d expect before an hbo comedy special. in addition to providing some roving camera work and art direction, i designed the packaging for the CD that’s featured in one of the scenes. the concert celebrated dick’s 70th birthday and took place at the historic atlas performing arts center in washington dc. it was the culmination of a lifelong dream for kaufmann to perform his favorite 20th century classics with the backing of a professional big band like chaise lounge. i like how the intro ends — with dick waiting backstage before the first note. watch carefully and you’ll catch a glimpse of his smile. i imagine it’s quite difficult to contain one’s excitement just before fulfilling a half century-held desire.

“Deep in December, It’s Nice to Remember…”

when i look back on a year that’s nearly complete, my mind continues to recall one experience before all others. in september, my client dick kaufmann achieved his lifelong dream of headlining a big band concert. what’s remarkable is that he held out for more than half a century before taking to the spotlight at 70 years young. i can’t point to a single client over the years who displayed more class, passion, intelligence, charm and charisma than dick did throughout the process. for that alone, i am grateful to have been there with him. dick’s concert is being readied for packaging this weekend as dick kaufmann live. listen below to a selection from the companion studio record, try to remember. the lyric “deep in december, it’s nice to remember…” seems perfect for tonight’s coming snow. kaufmann collaborated on this song and others with grammy award-winning musical director lee musiker, the man behind the music for tony bennett and barbara cook. impressive.

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Dick Kaufmann’s Try to Remember

“This Bloke from America, Brad Doggett”

watch the below video. what a piss. this woman from the uk produces a vlog that raves about brad doggett, who’s one of four acts in my “meet the doggetts” show at jammin’ java on jan 6. this week, two of my posts talked about lightning rods and how lucky i am to be surrounded by so much serious talent. well, this one video below underlines the kind of nutty stuff in my circle right now. brad has 1,000,000 views on youtube through a prolific gallery of music videos. when i tried to add him as a friend on facebook, he messaged me saying that facebook won’t allow him to add any more and so he just uses his profile as a fan page. 2010 is going to be big — maybe even my biggest year yet. i cannot wait.

What Website Shoppers Don’t Know Hurts Them!

are you or someone you know shopping to have a website developed? i had an interesting chat today with a partner about a proposal that went south. while you can’t win them all, it looks like there were a few simple misunderstandings that may have led the end client to pass. what they don’t know could end up hurting them! 1 — website design doesn’t usually include search engine optimization (seo). the former is creative, the latter is marketing/sales. 2 — search engine friendly doesn’t mean search engine optimized. it means the website is ready for a real investment, which is what what the seo represents. 3 — a one-time seo investment doesn’t keep you at the top of rankings. google “robots” regularly track what your website is doing (or not doing) and your rankings move accordingly. sounds sci-fi but it’s true. 4 — a “no hostages” approach to website design means a client can muck up a project that launched beautifully using the content management tools they were provided. there’s nothing the designer can do about that! look to the screenshot from launch and converse with the designer about concerns.