The Last Logo

2023 has been a big year for Weaverwerx; a resurrection of sorts after years of little to no activity. I have taken a workspace in the old Kino Studios in Riga, Latvia and have begun to pursue comix, drawings and film projects again. As part of this new era, I have revamped the Weaverwerx website, which was the perfect opportunity design a new logo. Now embarking on a new logo design may seem like a simple process, but even the "richest" and "smartest" person in the world can fuck it up, resulting in losing years of positive branding, good will and billions of dollars. Luckily I don't have those kinds of pressures on me. I'm just this guy trying to carve out my own tiny niche in the real and virtual world. The only person I need to please is myself, but that is easier said than done. I'm a fickle, difficult to please customer when it comes to my own work and have a special mutant power for overthinking that would give Professor X a headache. Somehow I managed to find my way, creating and discarding a dozen different concepts before landing on one that feels right, so right in fact that it will likely (always leave yourself an out) be the LAST WEAVERWERX LOGO. So, without further ado, let me introduce you to the new look.

Yes, it is a critter, animal, creature of some type and needs a nickname, which I am puzzling out. Any suggestions? I think of artistic ideas as being like creatures roaming around looking for a worthy person to be their portal into our world. These ideas animals can be enormously powerful and lucrative and creative people bring them forth with nothing more than a pencil and blank sheet of paper. This critter here is hungry and lustful and curious. It wants your attention. I wanted this logo to be part watchdog, part chupacabra, part feral cat, and part alien from another world. I want it to guard my back, but also push me when I need it, like everyday. From a design point-of-view, I wanted an image that would stay in folks' minds and not be confused with another thing; not too complex, but not too simple. Maybe even something that will provoke some affection. I also think it'll look damn fine on a t-shirt!

Time to show how the sausage was made. Here are my raw, rough brainstorming sketches as I worked through various possibilities, including some boring, too generic non-character options.

Some of those "shrunken head" and Tiki God-ish designs could wind up making cameo appearances in some future comix stories, so keep your eyes peeled.

The previous Weaverwerx logo was a simple hand-drawn W with scribbly circle around it, which I call the "Hairball Logo". I'm ditching it because it is too generic. It could be used for a hair salon or a bar or sock company, whatever. I like the hand-drawn quality, but that's about it. I only used this one for a couple of years, so it was really just a placeholder.

Before that one, I had been using this dapper chap with the square head and formal suit. This design originated in the late 1990s and was fun, but it looked too much of it's time. I do like the "round peg in the square hole" head and the "W" suit collar. It was also a load of fun to animate, but times have changed, so time to say adieu.

Now that the Logo saga has been been settled, time to get on with creating some actual content or something...

Keep smiling,

OK HW

Taking Your Ears on a Little Trip Around the World

photo credit Ieva Weaver

Whoops, I did it again, well in this case, it was no accident but another happy opportunity to play a radio DJ once more. This was my second turn at the web-powered microphone for the Latvian online radio station tirkultura. My first time was back in February of this year, which I related on my other, comix-related blog, The Reluctant Sadist and Other Wanderings in the Comix Underground. Yes, I have two neglected blogs. Always the overachieving underachiever. 

Michael Holland (check out his show on OnoTesla - NTS) once more was my producer and studio engineer as he was for kuš! radio. This was a good thing as I needed his technical expertise and moral support to try and pull off my ambitious upgrade to my first outing. I wanted to go beyond just working through a playlist with a bit of yammer in between the tunes. I wanted to take my listeners for a trip around the world with me on a show that I called, "Wherever You Go, Well That's Where You Are". With that plan in mind, I set to harvesting golden moments I had captured on my various travels and intended to weave those found sounds together with appropriately themed songs. With Micheal in my corner, I knew all I had to do was show up with the bits and pieces and he would put the cables into the right sockets and we'd be off. Now, I did not map out each and every clip as I wanted to build the story on the fly and let our conversation lead us where it may. This loose approach did result in a few technical hiccups, which felt jarring to the point of disaster in the live moment, but on later listens actually adds to the charm and authenticity of the show I think. You be the judge, here's the show:

Tīrkultūra · 030 _ Hal Weaver _ at the Summer Gallery

It was an exhilarating process stitching this crazy, patchwork sonic quilt together in the moment. I was playing mp4 video of travel clips so Micheal and I could watch them together and comment. We agreed ahead of time to let the clips, music and talking overlap to build unexpected sounds and make room for happy accidents and I think that works as much as it doesn't. All that overlapping though meant that the source materials were consumed much more quickly than I expected, so we had to do a little scrambling at the end to fill time. Here's the playlist -

01 - India_Varansai_Religious_Procession (Travel clip)

02 - On the Road Again (Willie Nelson)

03 - Morroco_Desert_Dancing (Travel clip)

04 -  Spread Your Wings (QUEEN)

05 - Bali_Ubud_Furneal_Procession_01 (Travel clip)

06 - I'm a Ramblin' Man (Waylon Jennings)

07 - Japan_Tokyo_Folk_Dancing (Travel clip)

08 - Japan_Yokohoma_Dragon_Dance (Travel clip)

09 - Niamey Jam (Nomad- Bombino)

10 - Vietnam_Ho_Chi_Mihn_Broom_Machine (Travel clip)

11 - Vietnam_Hanoi_Street_Karaoke (Travel clip)

12 - High Plains Drifter (Beastie Boys)

13 - Thailand_Bangkok_Thai_Boxing (Travel clip)

14 - Thailand_Chiangmai_Pop_Singing (Travel clip)

15 - Singapore (Tom Waits)

16 - Hong_Kong_Slyvester - (Sonny Rollins - St. Thomas) (Travel clip)

17 - Bali_Ubud_Shadow_Puppets_02 (Travel clip)

18 - The Crystal Ship (The Doors)

19 - Nepal_Gandaki_Mule_Train_on_the mountain (Travel clip)

20 - Myanmar_Bagan_Ice_Cream_Man_Rap (Travel clip)

21 - Road Trippin' (Red Hot Chili Peppers)

22 - Morroco_Marrakech_Night_Music (Travel clip)

23 - Cambodia_Siem_Reap_BATS (Travel clip)

24 - Somewhere Over the Rainbow (Judy Garland)
25 - India_Varansai_Ganga_River_Night_Ceremony

26 - Lawrence of Arabia (Movie Soundtrack)

27 - Bali_Gainyar_Ceremony (Travel clip)

28 - King of the Road (Roger Miller)
29 - Here At The End of The World (Alex McMurray)

30 - City of New Orleans (Johnny "Doc" Criner)

What do you think? Should I do some more radio shows? 

Keep smiling,

OK HW

A Face Found in Darkness and Space

I found a face on a winter day. It was there, somewhere in the frozen mist. Someone I had known, or maybe would know one day? 

This is the latest collaboration with my friend Neil Bruce; his music and my visuals. Neil and I have been making movies together for twenty years now.  Neil sent me a music track (an earlier version of what is presented here) and suggested I create "...something strange and experimental, around darkness and space." No problem! I can do that! Through the years I have been gathering random footage of scenes and textures that I save just for Neil projects, so I was ready. His track inspired me to create two different versions; one based on organic, natured-based images and the other industrial and human-made. Neil liked both versions so much, that we decided to create two music videos. This is the organic visuals version and the industrial one with new music will be following soon.

The visuals were influenced by dreams, both my own, but also the dream sequences from David Lynch movies. A face half forgotten drifting in the fog or smoke. A friend? A foe? Maybe both.

OK HW