CCSLC Apprentice: Blue Team

[GFB]

This is the official thread for the Blue Team

Blue Team:

bruschimania

ColaCock

GINGERBREADMANN

jake_22

lets_go_red

ShinyHubCaps

williamrhys

You may use this thread to communicate, brainstorm, share ideas, and display concepts. Almost all communication between team members should be conducted in this thread (see general info thread for more information).

If you are not a member of the Blue Team, please refrain from posting in this thread unless you are asked to. Thank you.

[lets_go_red]

Well, to me our name needs to convey not only professionalism, but also power. We need to show our intent to be the best and our name should reflect that. Just brainstorming a little here so that we can build. The first thought that jumped in my head was Summit Designs...I think it could easily convey professionalism and power- but it lacks that certain flare, that something to really make it pop. A name like Summit obviously represents the top-the best, but for that matter any of its synonyms do just as well...apex, acme, pinnacle. I want something a little more edgey, whether we create that through a pun...alliteration...anything.

[heernumurr]

Ok, first things first, hello team! Thought it would be good to get everyone's actual names to make communication easier. I'm William, or Will if you're into the whole brevity thing.

Should we decide on a Task Manager before we get into the brainstorming? I know it's early, but it might help to resolve any issues further down the line. I'd be happy to do it, but if anyone else feels strongly about it then come forward!

Also, I think it would be useful if everyone stated exactly what they're capable of producing, and if they feel they're particularly strong in certain areas. For example, if you've only got Paint it might not be wise to say you'll put together the final presentation. I have Photoshop and Illustrator, so can render most ideas and generally make things look clean and professional. Anything anyone comes up with and thinks is a great idea, but isn't confident about the execution, I hope I can help you out.

[lets_go_red]

Well...if you want the first project manager spot- I give you my vote. I'm Troy, I have paint shop pro...not the best for making concepts but it gets the job done. I feel like I will have creative ideas for this team and will draw up original ideas for our concepts- I can make a whole concept start to finish with paint shop pro, but its probably better if someone with photoshop or illustrator finished them out...like William said.

(edit) most my design work has come with jerseys...but I have also created some logos, banners, sigs etc.

[ShinyHubCaps]

Hello team. I'm Jared, and I cast my vote for William to be the Task Manager.

I currently have Serif Photoplus (it's like PhotoStudio, but free) and Macromedia Flash. I do most of my work in Flash, including any vector renderings or whatever else. The problem I might have is filesharing. Flash saves in .fla, which is its own native file extension, but I think it also exports in Illustrator. I'll try posting a file and seeing if it works.

As for the task at hand, I agree with Troy that it should express some sort of climax or something dynamic. Here are some names from "The Apprentice" the TV show:

Protégé

Versacorp

Apex

Mosaic

Magna

Net Worth

Capital Edge

Excel

Gold Rush

Synergy

Kinetic

Arrow

Hydra

Empresario

Primarius

Matchstick

Not that we're going to take any of these names, but it's good to look at what others have done so we can learn from their mistakes. For example, I would never want to be called Matchstick. Also, some of the names like Troy suggested fit along the lines of the example given in the challenge (Apex), so maybe there is something original that expresses being dynamic but does not sound like something done already. Hopefully someone will see this list and think of a really good name from which our brand may be spun.

[ShinyHubCaps]

In fact, can someone with Illustrator try to open this?

http://www.mediafire.com/?gtyt8xbvdvu

It's a test to see if Flash files can be opened in Illustrator. It would help out a lot if it works.

[gingerbreadmann]

Hello team, Aiden here, but you can just call me GBM if you want a shorter name.

From years of watching the Apprentice, I never liked those super-modern metaphorical names, such as "Mosaic," "Apex," "Excel," etc. What I was thinking was to go more in a separate direction and choose something that shows true professionalism. We have to believe that we're already real graphic designers in order to have the right mindset for going forward, IMO. We have to show that we're better than they are, that they're the little noobs and pick something slightly more tried and true, if you catch my drift. Building off what Troy said, we need not to show intent to be the best, but to assume we are the best, at least in our name. A little arrogance goes a long way.

I'm not sure if anyone understands what I'm saying here, but I'll try to go into further detail upon request. Kind of mind jumbles, you know? Basically something that a professional would choose as their studio name, and packaging to reflect that.

I give full support to william if he chooses to accept the job of PM.

Also I have the GIMP and Inkscape. I am quite proficient in GIMP and in Inkscape I can make clean presentations but I don't know all the ins and outs yet, so I don't think I should put together a final presentation. However, I can certainly do many things that are not possible in, say, a Raster program. Also, I should be getting a tablet for my birthday (unfortunately the day this thing is due), so if I make it to Round 2 I may have a great tool for sketching things on the computer.

Well that's about it for now. Looking forward to hearing from everyone here. Go blue!

(Also, GFB, could you de-capitalize my screen name? Thanks )

[mania]

Hey everyone, my name's Michael.

I had surgery this morning (LASIK), and my ability to see things far away has improved tenfold, but my ability to focus on details (such as text on a computer screen) is still coming along. So I might be out of commission, more or less, until tomorrow or Wednesday. But as soon as I'm able, I'll jump in head first in whatever is needed of me.

I'm what I'd consider proficient in Photoshop and Beginner-Intermediate in Illustrator. Some stuff I do I feel really proud of in AI, but I also can feel my limitations at times.

So as I said, whatever I'm asked to do, as soon as I'm able to do it, I'll be all over it.

[heernumurr]

For a potential name, I agree with GBM. I think complete arrogance is a good thing. It says we're in this to win it, but also acknowledge the fact that the competition is for fun. So I reckon the more outlandish the better. The ideas so far are good but we should think bigger and more pretentious! What about some Latin?

ps. Jared, that file opened with no problems in Illustrator.

[ShinyHubCaps]

Another language might work, though I'm a little bit rusty in my Latin.

I also thought of precision, like On the Mark, On the Money, etc. Keep in mind that the name is the biggest thing, but we could also tie it in with our concept sheet, so think about it like having our logo on the bottom of some stationery. I thought a color would be good, but it should probably be blue. It would follow, though, that all of our marks are done in the same color.

Edit: I started looking up random things about Latin on Wikipedia, and "silvaticus" means "savage," like the savage pounding we're going to give that red team! Another cool one, ē- + levāre is "elevate," but Elevate Designs is the name of AAO's design site. By the way, I thought he signed up for the contest...

[jake22]

ok lets do this!

[heernumurr]

Due to time zone differences, I'm probably going to be posting at strange times compared to the rest of the team. I think the deadline is coming up for the project manager, so if I don't get to post again and nobody else feels strongly about doing it, just name me for the job (I'm not sure if we need to officially post it anywhere, but it couldn't hurt.)

Had an idea for the name, but I warn you, it's pretty cheesy...

>u

(greater than u)

i>u

(i is greater than you)

It's pompous, says we're better than the other team, it's a bad pun and sounds quite 1337 (we are on a forum after all, WTF OMG ROFL!) I did a quick google and the only place I could find it was on a t-shirt somewhere, so I think we could use it without much bother. Thoughts?

[Cola]

hey team!

okay, i've never really been a big fan of The Apprentice on TV so I never have really watched it (Trump's hair kind of does it for me among a list of other things).

i have illustrator and photoshop and can use them pretty well. i usually sketch most of my designs on paper then vector them a time or two to really clean them up. i don't get many opportunities to do sports-related stuff anymore, most of it is business design and what not so hopefully i can contribute to the team.

as far as will's suggestion above, i'm kind of iffy on it. it has a nice ring to it and it is certainly unique, but i don't think it conveys professionalism. it also may be hard for the average person to quickly pick up on. those were just my first reactions to it.

I do think I like the idea of finding a strong word in another language and maybe playing off of that. Only bad thing about it is that it won't be recognized by the general American population. Then AGAIN, that can be cool because it is mysterious and makes people wonder...

[lets_go_red]

I think I might have come up with something. I was just piggy-backing off of the foreign language idea, and decided Latin is probably the best bet as it was the launching point for the rest of the Romantic Languages. I went to an English<->Latin translator and started out simple "the best". The direct translation was OPTIMUS. I tried a few others but none of them turned out as well because although optimus is Latin...I think most of the American, English, Canadian etc. public could make the connection of what it means (optimal is after all an english word) yet it still has a bit of an edge to it while the very meaning of it is "the best" and you can't be better than the best. I think it could be a very dyniamic, strong team name. What do you guys think?

[heernumurr]

I think OPTIMUS is a great name, and can imagine some really strong imagery to go along with it. Only problem I can see is the whole Transformers connection, not sure how open to ridicule it is.

Since nobody else has come forward, will I assume I'm task manager? If this is the case, I'd like to set a deadline for the naming of the team. So when you next post on this thread, give three suggestions for the team name. I don't think we should vote or anything yet, but it should tell us what everyone is thinking. The sooner we lock the team name, the sooner we can all get some concepts on the go!

[mania]

I was thinking very much one word that would define us as a unit.

So my suggestions would be:

Domination

Intimidation

Perfection

They fit the "we're better than the other side" idea, and I think you could really do some cool stuff with all of them.

[ShinyHubCaps]

OPTIMUS (I love how you both wrote it in all caps.)

On-the-Money

AMPlitude (quirky spelling like this, or straight spelling)

[gingerbreadmann]

I do like OPTIMUS or Optimus, though it did make me think of Prime.

But I'd just like to chime in with three per will's request.

Win.

Plus One, Plus1, or +1

Patriarch (meaning father/head of family .... it's the closest thing to "the best" I could think of from my 3 years of Latin, and I didn't feel like looking something else up, plus I like the ring to it and it conveys our type of arrogance thing)

So far my favorites are Patriarch, Optimus, and Plus1.

[ShinyHubCaps]

William, the next time you check up here, could you maybe set a timeline so we know what's coming? I'm not sure when the presentation is due, either. Still, we can only talk about the name for so long, and I imagine that the rest of the things (including the logo) warrant more time than just the name.

[gingerbreadmann]

It's due the 18th at 12 AM.