I was very happy with the work of our printer (The Dot Printer in Irvine, CA); they worked hard to capture my intent with each picture.

When I get a minute (kinda busy right now), a few people have asked for a “before/after” comparison: what we did in the redesign to give the magazine a new identity. I would like to do that, although I must say that the design firm who did the magazine before HCS did a tremendous job for decades, so any “improvements” that I made truly attempted to take what had worked for years in the old magazine and bring it up to date.

But that will have to be in another blog post. For now, check out these beautiful spreads…

Join the Planetary Society today and get this magazine in your mailbox four times a year, and know that your donation goes towards space research, education, and advocating space within the governments of the world!

I have only been back from my trip a few weeks, but I’m missing Japan already. So I broke out some Matcha Green Tea-flavored Kit Kat candies to take me back.

Candy is all over the place in Japan. Perhaps that is because omiyage are available in shops in every train station. Omiyage is a type of gift that you give someone — a souvenir from far-away lands — that you bring after you have been traveling. Omiyage oftentimes (I believe) has the connotation of being bought at the last minute, or even once you got home. But the sentiment is important, so they are bought often. And candy from different regions of the world is a popular gift. The variety of candy in Japan is much greater than that in the States — lots of different flavors, and some more (or much less) sweet than candy that I am used to. Really fun.

I really enjoyed visiting with pastors, missionaries, and community leaders who are working hard to bring hope and healing to some pretty devastated communities.

Late last week we had our first translating session — it’s going to take a while to translate all of the interviews. I’ll post links as they go live.

I am always inspired and intrigued by what modern science has to say about our brains. And this week, a bunch of new studies shed new light on how our creativity is affected by what we do to our brains. On CrazyTown, I wrote up my three favorite new science-and-creativity-related news stories from the past week. Hope you enjoy.

Building a new community center in Sendai

I just returned from a week-long trip filming relief and re-building work on the eastern coast of Japan. We traveled well over a thousand miles to capture stories of churches working amongst those who have been displaced by the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami. This trip was part of an ongoing video project for longtime client Asian Access. Previous trips with them have taken me to Sri Lanka (after the 2004 tsunami), Mongolia, Cambodia, and other countries throughout Asia.

Interviewing a pastor surrounded by donations for tsunami victims

Here’s a breakdown of our gear:

• Sony Handycam
• Canon EOS-7D with 4 batteries and 3 lenses (18-55mm, 55-200mm, and a 50mm fast lens)
• Zoom H4N for audio recording
• Sennheiser G2 wireless microphone
• Audio-Technica AT897 shotgun microphone
• Manfrotto tripods
• Kessler-Crane Philip Bloom Pocket Dolly (4-ft. slider)
• Lots of Compact Flash and SDHC cards
• MacBookPro laptop
• G-Raid Mini 750gb hard drive

Plots still being cleared right next to brand-new houses

I could have used more than one G-Raid. As it was, I had one set of captures on the laptop and one set on the G-Raid. I think I should have had both on separate external drives (I started to run out of space on the laptop’s internal drive).

The Kessler-Crane slider was great for getting really smooth motion for b-roll, and even during some of the interviews. I was worried that it was going to be a pain to carry around and get through security at airports, but it wasn’t (and it’s still under the weight restrictions, so bringing it along didn’t cost me any extra).

The water in some places has not sunk back to pre-tsunami levels

The rest of the team was Joshua Clayton, Jeff Johnston (of Asian Access), and Takeshi Takazawa (also of Asian Access). We were a good team — we have all worked together before — so we got a lot of footage and some great interviews.

One issue that came up very quickly was the challenge of language. I felt that we would honor the interview subjects best by conducting the entire interview in Japanese, and then figure out what they discussed later. I don’t understand Japanese, so I had to get a synopsis of the interview from Takeshi before determining what b-roll would be needed to tell the story for each interview. We’ll see how well that went as I cut the pieces together over the next week or so.

Joshua capturing a small shrine to honor those who died in the tsunami

But all in all a very productive trip. I was happy with the portability of my kit (both audio and video) and how well everything worked. Can’t wait to show you all the footage as it gets finished…

(photos by Joshua Clayton & Loren A. Roberts)

We have actually done an update on this one, changing the typography to reflect the new organization. But the logomark still works wonderfully.

Included in the American Corporate Identity line of books.

These are just a few of the many successful logo design and re-design projects that we have worked on over the years. We have a long and successful track record of working with clients to

• determine need
• assess the values and strategies of the organization that should help shape the logo design process
• work with owners, management, and employees to come to consensus on marketing values
• present useful logo design strategies and work through the revision process, on time and on budget
• complete fulfilment of digital and physical artwork for use by other design firms as well as internal staff

We would love to work with you on your next logo design project.

My friend and collaborator Craig Detweiler was profiled in Image magazine this past month. His work ethic and attention to the craft of filmmaking has taught me a whole bunch about filmmaking.

Check out his essay for Image detailing how his most recent documentary, Purple State of Mind, came into being. I helped out on that film by providing some of the camera work from our time together in Japan in 2004. Craig also shows up in my reel [below], as the narrator for Asian Access’ documentary Missions: Redefined that I produced and edited.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Last summer I helped produce a reunion for the West Covina High School Chamber Singers. We had a wonderful time, and [finally] I was able to get the time to do an edit of all the footage that was shot at the event.

Purchasing the DVD via PayPal can be done on the WCHS Chamber Singers site.

This was a fun side project. No money was charged for my time; I hired a videographer to be at the event, so that I could participate in the event myself.

The whole process was a good learning experience, and another chance to bring a project from conception to completion.

Back before Fuller Theological Seminary had even hired any staff for this new venture, the Lloyd Ogilivie Institute of Preaching needed a multichannel piece that would bring in relevant candidates for the new chair of the program. So it needed to be high-end, concise, fast, and under-budget. We designed three pieces: a magazine ad, a direct-mail piece, and a (mini) website. In addition, we filmed several people on campus, all talking about what the Institute was going to do.

All design and filming (and subsequent printing and DVD replication) was turned around within one month, and perfectly on budget. The campaign was successful: Mark Labberton is now the chair of the academic program, and has successfully moved it from infancy to relevancy across the campus.

Click here to view the embedded video.

If you know me, you know I grew up during the original Star Wars trilogy releases in the late ’70s and early ’80s. I lived and breathed Star Wars when I was a kid. So it struck me in a deep emotional place when Drew McWeeny from Hitfix.com detailed his kids’ experiences as he introduced them to the world of Star Wars (all six movies plus the animated stuff).

I talk briefly about it on this week’s post over at CrazytownBlog.com