Elguida's Blog

EVIL TWIN

elguida — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 16:20:56 +0000

Elguida is going a new direction with my new line of “Evil Twin” graphics. (Fall 09)
For the past 2 years I’ve tried to maintain a line of conservative, purposely off trend graphics. In short, I think I got caught up in the artsy side of it. In the meantime I kept suppressing my strongest artistic talent, cartoons, to
maintain the look of the brand. It was this realization that spawned “Evil Twin”! I’ve built all these rules of what Elguida should be…Evil Twin is my way of breaking my own rules. Its the equivalent of the out of control house party you throw when your parents leave you home alone for the first time. Its gonna be a gritty & fun departure from past graphics. This is my excuse to go nuts & take the Elguida Brand to a new market. Check out our new Evil Twin mascot T at cafepress.com/elguida

elguida.com

Elguida Clothing Video

elguida — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 03:15:45 +0000

Elguida Interview with Starved Magazine

more about “Elguida Clothing Spot“, posted with vodpod

ELGUIDA’s Skull Graphic

elguida — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 19:52:09 +0000

When I started all this, I swore I would never do a skull graphic. Everyone was doing skulls…. & still are doing skulls. Another skull shirt would just be adding to the white noise. Since then, three years had past & I still felt the same, until…..
I accidentally designed a skull that I though was pretty freakin’ sweet! As far as I’ve seen, there are only two kinds of skulls being excessively over used. It’s either a tattoo style of Ed Hardy (or basically a rip off of old school tattoo flash) or the vintage clip art style of Affliction. They, and all the other companies following in their wake, have those styles covered. (Seriously people are we not over this stuff already?)
My inspiration came from a different type of artwork. It was inspired by the album cover artwork of the 60′s & 70′s. It’s a nod back to a time where Art would flow as free as Love. Free-form design in which the parts that make up the whole, are sometimes designs in themselves. Approach this shirt with an open mind & you may just unlock a secret or two in our other designs. (I think I just wrote this t-shirt’s description!)

Aside from that we’re going to be screening our new design on a heather grey & Navy Ringer T. Something a little different for the ELGUIDA site. We’re excited to see how it does.

We’re also going to try out a promotional pre-order link available only to those who follow us on Twitter. So go to twitter & start following us ASAP! If this works out you can expect more exclusives in the near future fo’ sho!

After that we’ll be getting to work on our New Featured Artist!!!

Check back soon!

elguida.com
TWITTER us here!!!

Starved Magazine Photo Shoot 3/22/09

elguida — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 18:31:25 +0000

This was way more fun than the interview portion of the process. I met up with Will Staley, owner of Starved Magazine, and Colin Fowler, Pro Photog, to go over basic shots, poses, what T’s to focus on, etc. Then Joseph Fusco, Videographer joined us & started prepping shots for the documentary shots he was planning to use to splice into the Interview video.

Soon after that while I was unloading the merchandise for the shoot, the models began to arrive one by one. It was great to meet all of them. Everyone did it for free just to help out. Plus it was a Sunday morning and all. It must’ve sucked to have to be there so early, I really appreciated it. They all seemed to have had a good time with the shoot. We kept it very casual & loose. In between shots we’d crack some beers and just chill. And at the end of the shoot, those who wanted merch, got a comp’d T-shirt of their choice as a thanks.

All in all it went great! The weather held out, no one fell off the roof, and I got to meet a lot of great people. I got to see the proofs later that day & they looked great. I’m very excited to to see this all come together.

Thanks again to everyone who came by to help out with the shoot!

Be sure to check out:
ELGUIDA.com
Starved Magazine
FancySexyMe.com

Starved Magazine Interview – 3/20/09

elguida — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 15:12:09 +0000

Last Friday, March 23rd, I did my first taped interview for ELGUIDA Clothing.
The interview was for Starved Magazine, a local NYC magazine that showcases artists working in a variety of fields. From Painters to Musicians to Graphic Clothing Designers.
Will Staley, the owner of Starved Magazine, told me he would be creating an online version of his magazine to go along with his print version, and wanted to know if I’d be interested in being the first video interview on his site. I said I absolutely & we set a date for filming.
I had no idea what I was getting into. Joseph Fusco, Film & Video Producer, showed up about 1pm & we got started.
I quickly learned how my brain & my mouth are on two separate pages once that red light goes on. It wasn’t like I didn’t have the questions prior to the interview or anything. I wrote out answers & prepped, but I still found myself having a tug of war with what I wanted to say & what was being said. But with Joseph’s direction & advice, I think we finally got some good stuff…I hope.
The entire interview, including product shots & such, took about two hours.
I look forward to seeing the miracle of editing in action. All in all this has been a great experience so far & I’m so grateful to have this opportunity with Starved Magazine.

I’m looking forward to Part 2 of this experience much more. On the 22, we have a rooftop photo shoot scheduled just a few blocks up, in Hell’s kitchen. It should be a good time. It’s always great working with new models & photographers & getting they’re personalities & style infused with the ELGUIDA product.
But more about that in the next blog.

Be sure to check us out at elguida.com & sign up on our email list!
Also look for us on Facebook & Twitter!

The Dumbing Down of Commercial Graphics

elguida — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 14:20:57 +0000

In my last blog I mentioned how every graphic created gets sanded down more & more into a watered down version of the original. The most frustrating part of this process, of course, is that most likely the person making these changes never picked up a pencil a day in their life. They have no artistic background what so ever. I’ve actually been told not to put teeth in skull graphics, because they’re too scary. Really? The “skull” in general hasn’t been associated with “danger” or “horror” forever? But that’s the gig & you chalk it up to a challenge.
I understand commercial artist means I’m a hired gun, and for the most part just a pair of hands. That’s the trade off for getting a steady check. I get it. But shouldn’t we get the benefit of the doubt that we know what we’re doing? We do this everyday, we study graphic trends, learn of new techniques daily…It’s in our blood. So why wouldn’t you want our advice? (Of course this would be based on experience.)
We’re all designing for Mass market. Trying to please everyone. When has that ever worked? It’s the equivalent of airplane TV. I feel we need to push better designs. Why are we afraid to offer better? Better graphics & designs cost the same as crappy ones. It’s like having the choice between drinking from a paper cup or a frosted mug. They both work, but what would you prefer?

This, of course, is a huge part of why I felt I needed to start ELGUIDA. I don’t expect to start a revolution (yet), but I know there are people out there looking for something better than what gets pushed in their face everyday. They’ll find us.

But hey what do i know,
“I’m just an artist”

Be sure to check us out at elguida.com
and join our email list for upcoming releases!

Elguida Blog Overview

elguida — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 18:17:51 +0000

Welcome to the official ELGUIDA CLOTHING Blog!

What the hell could this blog be about? Lets start from the beginning. I’m Brett Guida, Creator of ELGUIDA. “I’m just an artist” that got fed up creating kick ass designs, & then having them dumbed down by “Suits” ! (But that’s for another blog entry…)

Where did we come from? Well Our tagline says it all: Conceived in LA Born in New York. I was living in LA working for a high end fashion company when I realized, “I can do this.” I started day dreaming about a place where inspired artist created deigns based on personal experience, issues, concerns & NOT trend. Very blue sky. From that point the artists would critique the works to reach the final design. Shortly after I moved back to NYC & began to incorperate & bring ELGUIDA the company to life. And the rest is history.

What is ELGUIDA?

ELGUIDA is an experiment. Instead of the aforementioned suits whipping artists to create more of the same crap flooding the industry, we put the artists in charge. We start with design & then choose a garment that would work best for it. That said we’re very new & the best solution as of now is the almighty T-shirt. We play around with long sleeves, tanks & hats, but we’re primarily pimpin’ T’s. That said, what could I possibly fill a blog with? I’ve decided to chronicle the goals & achievements of an artists journey to create a business doing what he loves. I wish I could say its all been a blast! Incorperating, trademarking, misprinted inventory. The beginning, as with anything was tough, but we worked out most of the kinks.

I’ll also talk about how we self promote ourselves & our kick ass fashion show in Chicago. But as with the company, my main focus will be about the art. I’ll blog about the stories that go along with each piece. Inspirations. I’ll post original sketches & show the gradual evolutions of each design. There are no rash decisions in our creative process & everything has a meaning , a story or at least a memory attached. So check back often & let us know what you think.

…And of course be sure to check out elguida.com

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