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By Sean Adams | Tuesday, October 6, 2015

Greene and Greene: The Arts & Crafts Movement in the Sun

A new artisan butcher shop opened in my neighborhood last week. Further down the block is a bespoke one-of-a-kind gift shop. Clearly, there’s a return to the handmade and authentic over mass-produced goods.

As I show in my new Lynda.com course on the Foundations of Graphic Design, the Arts and Crafts movement grew out of the same sensibilities: the rejection of cheap machine-made products and elevation of craft and design with the handmade, unique materials and pride of workmanship.

Charles Sumner Greene and Henry Mather Greene were two of the most influential adopters of the Arts and Crafts style in the early 20^th century.

I’ll show you how their iconic Greene and Greene California bungalows represent the apex of the nation’s Arts and Crafts movement.

By Julian Velard | Saturday, October 3, 2015

Whatever Happened To Song Form?

I wrote my first song when I was 15 years old. It was an ode to Pee Wee Herman called, “Pee Wee, Why Can’t You See Me?”

Sadly there’s no recorded evidence of my nascent masterpiece, but I remember it being in traditional verse/chorus form with an eight-bar bridge.

As a sophomore in high school, I knew nothing about song form, let alone bars or beats. It was just what sounded right to me. I spent the majority of my teenage years immersed in the music of the ’60s and ’70s; while everyone else was wearing plaid and listening to Pearl Jam, my Discman had Elton John’s Tumbleweed Connection and Stevie Wonder’s Songs in the Key of Life on repeat.

By Starshine Roshell | Thursday, October 1, 2015

Conflict, Control & Commitment: Q&A with Fred Kofman

Leadership coach Fred Kofman has a way of making profound, game-changing concepts sound so simple that you wonder why you didn’t think of them yourself.

“I’m just reminding people of what they already know,” says Kofman, who’s worked with execs from Google to Microsoft to GM. “That’s why they feel at home with the ideas—like with an old friend.”

Author of the book Conscious Business and vice president of LinkedIn, he shares his world-class listening, negotiation and relationship-building tips in the new Lynda.com course Fred Kofman on Managing Conflict.

With a PhD in economics from UC Berkeley and a Teacher of the Year award from MIT, Kofman helps organizations incorporate honesty, integrity and respect into their business decisions and corporate cultures.

Here he tells us about the two biggest mistakes he sees businesspeople make—and the time he struggled to follow his own advice …

By Jeff Carlson | Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Which Do You Need? Photoshop Elements vs. Photoshop CC

How many times have you heard someone say they need Photoshop to edit photos? Perhaps because it was first, or because talented artists have done amazing things with it over the years, Adobe Photoshop has become synonymous in many people’s minds with manipulating digital photos.

And yet, Photoshop is one of the biggest iceberg applications out there: Most people, even many experts, use only a small percentage of what Photoshop CC 2015 (the latest version) is capable of.

That’s why Adobe also sells Photoshop Elements, which has just been updated to version 14. Originally designed as a “Photoshop Lite,” Elements is now nearly as capable as its older sibling, especially for most general-purpose photo editing.

By Lauren Nilsson | Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Flirting with Geometric Genius: Illustrator & Islamic Design

Islamic artwork is often based on complex geometry: shapes and lines that align precisely.

While it’s not strictly representative, this geometry invokes stars, plants, planets, and other elements of the natural world. It’s breathtaking to behold in person at sites like the Alhambra, a Moorish palace—and the imagery inspires designers around the world.

A Tunisian stained glass window inspired the Islamic design featured in this week’s free episode of Deke’s Techniques.

Deke uses a picture of the window as a template in Illustrator, but if you follow along with his instructions, you can re-create the pattern on your own, from scratch.

By Fred Kofman | Tuesday, September 29, 2015

The Secret to Managing Conflict? Listen

It is precisely when listening is most important … that you want to listen the least.

In my brand new Lynda.com course Managing Conflict, I show you how to approach personal and professional conflicts in a way that helps both sides find a satisfying resolution.

But the first step toward resolving any conflict is listening.

By Larry Crane | Friday, September 25, 2015

Mixing Miracles in the Studio—with Tape Op's Larry Crane

From starting my first band 30 years ago to running a professional studio since 1997, I’ve spent a lot of days in recording studios. And I’ve learned that artists in the studio need a lot of support.

A great engineer or producer is always anticipating clients’ needs and helping to keep them productive. Sometimes you even need to think like a detective or archaeologist to find answers to difficult problems.

That’s what I did for one rock group that “lost” an important drum track for the album they’d recorded. With the recording tricks I share in my video series Music Production Secrets, I was able to help them—and produce a great, usable mix.

It just took a little studio magic …

By Robbie Carman | Friday, September 25, 2015

Which Video Monitor Do You Want on Set?

Monitors, monitors, monitors. They help you catch things you might not ordinarily see with the naked eye.

There are a multitude of monitors out there ranging from small field monitors to 4K monitors to computer displays. Which one is right for you?

This week on Video Gear Weekly, Rich and I show you a few of the latest possibilities to help you figure out which monitor could benefit your workflow.