Systematic Productions goes live! (my business and myspace layout)

[nwright]

@nwright: I agree with you. What puzzles me a little is why this type of design has to be confined to a metal audience though. I listen to a lot of electro-ambient and I can see it hitting those genres easily, as well as harder kinds of rock, especially with industrial overtones (as you can hear in the Memnoir clip). Just because something is dark and imposing, it doesn't necessarily have to appeal to a very limited audience.

Of course it doesn't have to, but that's the way it is. IMO, Industrial overtoned rock/metal falls into the demographic this would hit, though. Make the soldiers or armored dudes female robots and there's your electro-ambient crowd...haha.

I love photomanipulation art, though. It's all over the metal scene as most CD artwork these days are photomanips, but I like the stuff in general.

 

[Soundlurker]

Congrats man, it's an important step!

 

[smy1]

Ermz: no axe to grind at all. The "makes him look like a total n00b" is just what I think of someone who uploads an 800k jpg as a website background: he probably doesn't have a lot of experience making websites (aka "n00b").

My personal opinion regarding the designer that you view as "very talented" is that he is doing graphic work at a mediocre 2002/2003 level. It kinda looks like the simpler version of what we did at Raster and Deviantart back in the day. Stuff like:

http://faderhead.deviantart.com/art/Dead-Heart-A-Resurrection-495010 (made in 2002)
http://faderhead.deviantart.com/art/FR-14-74204 (made in 2001)

But that is my personal opinion and really has no bearing on the "n00b"-statement or what I said about the purpose of a design.

006: I am somewhat of an elitist/perfectionist and if Ermz (who I appreciate as being very motivated and striving for highest quality audio production) is asking opinions, I will give him mine because it might give him feedback that he wants to use. Especially if it is within an area that I know a lot about.

It's how I myself work every day: I ask opinions of people and ultimately decide based on different opinions, my own thoughts, the available budget, time frames, etc. - Ermz doesn't have to agree with me, but I know from experience that it always helps to hear a dissenting view. Even if it only prompts you to recheck your own ideas and confirm that you like them the way they are.

From dating a lot of American/British women, I also know that this is a very German way of going about things and that giving open criticim can drive english-speaking folk into rage or depression ... or both

 

[Ermz]

Cool man. I appreciate you calling it as you see it. Just needed some perspective, that's all. I'll bear all that in mind as we proceed, and once again, thanks for taking the time out to have a look.

Just a footnote for everyone else that the sizes of the banner and background images have been shrunk down so far. Should make loading time a bit more manageable.

 

[Glenn Fricker]

Looks sharp, Ermz. BTW, I really dig your new Icon.

 

[NNotN-ENN]

From dating a lot of American/British women, I also know that this is a very German way of going about things and that giving open criticim can drive english-speaking folk into rage or depression ... or both

Dude, I think this more more a women thing than an english-speaking thing. I say this as an Aussie guy who has pissed off more than his fair share of girlfriends by being a little too honest!
Maybe I should put more stock in my 'moving to Germany' plans if the women are more open minded!

Anyways, I'm more of a subtleties and clean lines kinda guy too so this ain't really my cup of tea. However, it certainly does go a long way to creating a brand/identity association and it sounds like you've put some good thought into that so I hope it all works out for you.

 

[Sacha]

Looks awesome to me! Congrats and make sure to keep it updated.

 

[smy1]

Dude, I think this more more a women thing than an english-speaking thing. I say this as an Aussie guy who has pissed off more than his fair share of girlfriends by being a little too honest!
Maybe I should put more stock in my 'moving to Germany' plans if the women are more open minded!

Nah, it's a cultural thing. I've unknowingly pissed off more male Brits and Americans than I can count by simply saying "no, I don't think that's a good idea at all" in front of other people ... the culture of "agree-ism" is very strong there. Don't know about Australia though, since I've never been there and personally don't know any Australians.

But yea, German women will often have a much easier time with honesty than english-speaking females. Not saying it's easy to deal with them, but you'll get the "Oh my god, you like totally hurt my feelings there" a lot less.

Now I'll stop going OT on Ermz' thread

 

[Ermz]

Australia is all about political correctness. About 80% of what I say tends to offend someone here on some level.

The directness was a funny contrast when I went back to Berlin about 2 or 3 years ago. Definitely a different culture about speaking one's mind, organization and efficiency there. When someone here tells you they will arrive at a certain time, or an appointment is set, that's basically an approximation where you give or take an hour. In Berlin we were doing everything on the dot, which was a wonderful change.

OT or not, I don't mind, as long as the thread keeps going . Actually got about 700 views or so in the last 2 days, which is a nice step up from the original page. Might as well keep it going while it's still 'hot'.

 

[>>>GENZ<<<]

Did some google hunting, and found this page: http://www.myspace.com/engagedaudio

Gives a way a good semi-pro feeling methinks.

That page is horrible.it doesn't fit in 1024x768.you can't even read the name of the studio....next,what is equiPTment?
Text formatting is awful,player is somewhere in the ass,generally,page layout is illogical.uke:
I would never hire this AE.

Ermz page 's waaaaaaaaaaay better.

 

[DaveBlack]

Actually got about 700 views or so in the last 2 days.

In that case, everyone check out my website at........jk

I love the color scheme man. I've always been sucker for that icey blue metallic thing. I don't think there's anything wrong with the image that you're conveying. The best example I can give is when a new movie has Trailer A on Channel A and Trailer B on channel B. They edit the trailer in two completely different ways to make it seem more appealing to the demographic of the particular channel that it's being aired on.

With that being said, I highly doubt that the majority your older generation is scouting for new recording studios on myspace. I'm not saying it's impossible but I really think they would find some other avenue of locating your facility. So in turn, your ad (let's say - in the phone book) could be tailored to a more clean cut look. Im sure you smell what I'm stepping by now.

As far as the graphics go, I dabble in graphic arts. Even done small stuff for companies and the whole "too deviant art/raster images" thing never crossed my mind at all. Kinda just sounds like theyre looking for any reason to make a negative comment.

 

[Mago]

Nah, it's a cultural thing. I've unknowingly pissed off more male Brits and Americans than I can count by simply saying "no, I don't think that's a good idea at all" in front of other people ... the culture of "agree-ism" is very strong there. Don't know about Australia though, since I've never been there and personally don't know any Australians.

But yea, German women will often have a much easier time with honesty than english-speaking females. Not saying it's easy to deal with them, but you'll get the "Oh my god, you like totally hurt my feelings there" a lot less.

Now I'll stop going OT on Ermz' thread

Maybe you're just not a diplomatic person

 

[smy1]

Maybe you're just not a diplomatic person

No, the opposite actually. Working in jobs with customer/client relations for 11 years makes you very diplomatic and accomodating.

I just don't see the point in not telling it like I see it. If people can't handle that, that's their problem.



DaveBlack: Maybe your standards/expectations regarding graphic work are just lower than mine? Nothing wrong with that, but maybe that's why it didn't cross your mind?

 

[Mago]

No, the opposite actually. Working in jobs with customer/client relations for 11 years makes you very diplomatic and accomodating.

I just don't see the point in not telling it like I see it. If people can't handle that, that's their problem.

Yeah I know what you mean with customer/client relation, been there too...
It's always better to say it like you mean it, but sometimes you have to take care of which words you use (without changing your opinion of course), ESPECIALLY with women hahaha

 

[DaveBlack]

DaveBlack: Maybe your standards/expectations regarding graphic work are just lower than mine? Nothing wrong with that, but maybe that's why it didn't cross your mind?

Nope, my standards/expectations are on the same level as yours. Maybe you're just desensitized to certain aspects of the trade. Put that in your pipe and smoke it

 

[Ermz]

Haha, take it easy guys, it's okay to have dissenting opinions. It doesn't bother me.

 

[drew_drummer]

It puts me off because it just has this eco-warrior vibe to it.

 

[arv_foh]

006: I am somewhat of an elitist/perfectionist and if Ermz (who I appreciate as being very motivated and striving for highest quality audio production) is asking opinions, I will give him mine because it might give him feedback that he wants to use. Especially if it is within an area that I know a lot about.

This coming from the guy that called me a "hack" because I take 2 months to get wedding photos to my clients because I care about my product and am dealing with a giant workload, instead of halfassing them through a batch process. How hypocritical.

Ermz: your page looks awesome and the design is great. Fuck all these haters, if it's what you wanted and it fits how you see your business and the clientele you want to attract, then that is all that matters.

 

[StefTD]

I like it, but I think the pic on the top is just a bit to much, the part with the people is just
to much in my opinion, it looks more like a band profile than a studio site in my opinion.
It's not that I dislike the picture, but it looks more like a album cover to me.

 

[Skinny Viking]

thats a badass page you have their sir. I wouldn't change a thing