Bannon Productions

Iron Girl 2009 Atlanta Women’s Triathlon – Sponsored by Aflac

bannonproductions — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 15:04:01 +0000

In early 2009 Iron Girl asked us to design their 09 Atlanta cover. Bannon Productions does the Ironman covers every year so this was a nice change of pace from the masculine Ironman to the all feminine Iron Girl. The review process was one of the longest we have had, but the results were worth it. Nice, clean, flowing and yet bold cover.

Custom Design Video for OurChuch.Com

bannonproductions — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 14:51:20 +0000

This is a video that OurChurch.Com wanted to promote their custom design services. They wanted something simple, easy, straight to the point, and not full of gimicky fillers. Viewers can see all the cool features on their site, so they wanted something that would explain their service. Apple Motion was used to complete the majority of this project.

VIP Karate Black Belt Extravaganza DVD Cover

bannonproductions — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 20:58:18 +0000

The Black Belt Extravaganza is Complete! The video has been edited and mastered and the artwork is all done. The final product was given to VIP Karate in early December and they have almost sold out! For the DVD cover we wanted to go with something that was aggressive, edgy, and had a high impact grungy look. The response from the students and families at VIP Karate was “WOW, that’s Awesome!” Mission Accomplished! To see the artwork for the cover click the read more link. –>

VIP Karate Black Belt Extravaganza Promo

bannonproductions — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 14:23:42 +0000

VIP Karate held it’s first ever Black Belt Extravaganza in Florida and we were contracted to film the event, create a promotional video, edit the Black Belt Extravaganza for DVD retail, as well as create the cover art for the DVD. Stay tuned for the DVD artwork, but in the mean time enjoy the promo.

Scales for Tails Fishing Tournament – Website Design

bannonproductions — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 18:27:04 +0000

We were contacted by major supporters of the SPCA Suncoast about developing a website for a fishing tournament that they were planning and using to raise funding and support for the SPCA of Suncoast. During our creative meeting, they told us that they have seen many fishing tournament site sand in their opinion they all looked sterile and boring. They want the Scales for Tails to look fun and drive viewers to join the tournament. A feature that they had to have was a way to display the sponsors for the site as they are the either helping to fund the fishing tournament or providing the prizes. They also express viewers having the option to register online or by mail. We decided to go with a blue and white theme that symbolized water and waves, as well as a 2 column CSS layout. The main column has all the content and the 2nd column has all the sponsor logos, the Scales for Tails contact info, and other important info. A bonus feature is an ad spot in the header for the main sponsor, this can easily be changed yearly via the CSS.

Being avid supporters of animal rights we enjoyed donating our time for this project and its cause. We encourage anyone in the local area to join the tournament and support the cause. The Scales for Tails fishing tournament is October 3rd and anyone who registers for the tournament get a free pass to the “Catches for Critters Benefit Event & Captain’s Party” on October 1st, 7pm – 9pm. Free food and drinks will be provided, and it’s $10 for anyone not registered.

“The website design, timeliness and professionalism of Bannon Productions is “heads and tails” above the rest. We were extremely impressed with their responsiveness to our ongoing changes to the site. The professional and creative design of our website gave our charity event instant credibility with potential donors and participants as well as with the media.”

Traci Theis
SPCA Suncoast Board Consultant
Scales for Tails Chairperson

VIP Karate Demo Team Video

bannonproductions — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 16:13:39 +0000

VIP Karate asked us to do a quick promo video on their demo team for the website and other promotions. This took a couple hours and has a number of shots from different angles. It was a learning process for the VIP Karate Demo Team, because they didn’t understand why we would have them do the moves over and over…once they saw the video they finally understood. The music was picked by Shidoshi Hurtado, and is used for demo purposes only.

V.I.P. Karate – VIP Black Belt Champions – website and t-shirt design

bannonproductions — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 19:05:54 +0000

Here at Bannon Productions some of us are really into the Martial Arts, and use it as a form of exercise, stress relief, and protection. In our area we found a wonderful school to train at, VIP Black Belt Champions (VIP Karate) of Tampa FL. VIP Karate teaches a mix of Shorin-ryu Karate, Taekwondo, Filipino Arnis, USA Goju, Muay Thai and Jiu Jitsu! You could say they are a Mixed Martial Arts or MMA school. Shidoshi Hurtado, a certified 6th Degree Black Belt and school owner, asked us about redesigning the VIP Karate website, because he wanted to create a better web presence, as well as have a site the students could go to for updates and important news. Shidoshi Hurtado also wanted us to design their new T-shirts with a more up-to-date aggressive feel. Something the young adults and kids would enjoy waring, yet was not inappropriate.

The website needed to be user friendly and carry the colors and theme of the VIP Karate school. It also need to b easily updated with monthly specials, events, the VIP Karate calender, and the VIP Karate schedule. Click here to view the VIP Karate – VIP Black Belt Champions website.

The new VIP Karate shirt needed to be aggressive, yet child friendly. It need to draw the eye and peoples attention, and be able to print on black and white shirts. It also needed to show that VIP Black Belt Champions teaches mixed martial arts.

We created a strong like winged tribal like design for the back and as an icon for the front. Within the center of the image the VIP Karate logo is prominent. On the back the design would span the length of the back, from shoulder blade to shoulder blade. The phone number was also placed below this. On the arms a design wove around either Muay Thai or Jiu Jitsu.

We just recently receive word from Shidoshi Hurtado that the first order of the black VIP Karate t-shirts have completely sold out, and that they are ordering them in white and expect that they will do just as well.

Photoshop Cropping, the Non-Destructive Way

bannonproductions — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 15:57:59 +0000

In this tutorial you will learn how to crop an object out of its surroundings in a non-destructive way. Non- destructive means without damaging the original picture by using the erase tool or having to duplicate the original picture a bunch of times. The pictures I am using is a hot air balloon, because it has both straight and curved lines, and the standard picture that comes with every PC within the “My Pictures” folder. Click here and here to download these pictures. (Picture can only be used in conjunction with this free tutorial anything else is a copyright violation.)

Step 1

1. First open the picture and select the pen tool, select a color that is different than your picture. I usually like to use blue. Then right click on the balloon layer and select “Duplicate Layer” and delete the original Background layer. When a picture is brought into Photoshop it is brought in as a background layer and you can’t manipulate a BG layer

2. With the pen tool selected, start at the top and place a point where there seems to be the start of a main angle or a new line, try not to go crazy, we’ll add more points in a bit. (For example, if you had a square every corner would be the beginning of a new line/angle.

Step 2

After you have about 3 points, go over to your layers palate and change the Opacity for the shape layer to about 25 percent. This way you can see what you’re doing. When you get back to where you started click on the very first point you made. A small circle will appear when your pen hovers over the first point before you click on it.

3. Now, zoom in to any part of the picture. Select the pen tool and find a spot that needs to have an arch or needs more points. Hold down the “ctrl” button and click on the line. All the points that you have put in already should appear, if not “ctrl click” it again. Holding the “ctrl” button is a short cut for the “Direct Selection tool” You can also get to this in the tools palate or by pressing A.

Step 3

4. Now, with just the pen tool click on the line where you want to add the point. Once you do that, 3 other dots will appear. The one in the middle is the main anchor. The 2 to the sides are the arms that allow you to change the shape of the line,. Hold down “ctrl” (or press A) and drag the anchor to the edge of the picture. If it does not fit properly play around with the arms until it does. Drag the arms up or down to change the arch and drag them in or out to change the length of the arch. (Note: you have to use the Direct Selection Tool to move points)

Step 4

5. Do this with the rest of the balloon until you have all of the points outlining the balloon. Don’t worry about the inside of the basket where the arms are. You will see how to fix those later. Your outline should now look like this.

Step 5

6. Now, select the Move tool (keyboard shortcut V). Hold down the “ctrl” key and click on the outline layer of the balloon within the palate window. In previous versions of Photoshop you could control click anywhere on the desired layer within the layers palate, but in PS2 and higher you must control click on the picture or shape within the layers palate. (You will know you are doing it correctly when the white hand turns into a white hand with a dotted square box.) Once you click on the layer your outline will become a dotted outline just like when you use the marquee tool, commonly know as marching ants.

Step 6

7. Next select the layer that has the actual picture you want to crop so that it’s highlighted in the layers palate. In this tutorial it’s the “Background copy” layer. Then, at the top menu, go to “Layer” – “Layer Mask” – and select “Reveal Selection”. Or you can just click the “Layer Mask” icon at the bottom of the layers palate. Your image should now be cropped and look like this.

Step 7

8. You can now turn off your “Shape” or the outline you made of the balloon. Now if you remember the basket had arms that came up and attached to the balloon and you could see the sky in between those arms. We are now going to fix that. Select the mask of your balloon layer, which is the black/white outline next to your balloon image. Then select the brush tool (keyboard shortcut B). Your colors turn to 100% black and white. If not you do not have the masked selected. Now, with the black selected use your brush to and draw over the area you want to disappear. It will work like an eraser.

Step 8

9. Using the color white will add the image back. Experiment, select the white color and drag your brush across the picture and watch how the image reappears. Or do it with the black color selected and scribble over the picture. This really helps when you are cropping out hard object like people and hair. Best of all it saves the picture and keeps you from having to duplicate the image a bunch of times, or make a bunch of layer and so on. For more control you could create another outline with the pin, make it a selection and fill it with black.

Step 9

10. Now you can add any background you want to your balloon image. I hope this tutorial was fun and informative.

Final Step

Kelly’s K-9 Quest

bannonproductions — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 20:57:46 +0000

A good friend of mine contacted me about creating a website for her Dog Training Service. Kelly and I go back to the days when we worked for Animal Planet | Discovery Communications. She was the resident certified animal trainer and I was the senior designer.

After Kelly left Animal Planet she took some time off to spend with her daughter, but recently has decided to start training again. Kelly said she was looking for a fun, professional and simplistic simplistic website, that would showcase that her training techniques are gentle, humane, effective and solidly based on proven scientific principles of behavior learning, while still showing that this process can be an exciting and fun process for both the parent and the dog. The Kelly’s K-9 Quest website is still in progress and can be view by clicking here

N and N Massage Website

bannonproductions — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 12:46:25 +0000

Nancy at N and N Massage (www.nandnmassage.com) contacted me because she was unhappy about the maintenance on her site. A previous designer had designed her site and had not completed it to her liking, plus there were a number of updates that she needed completed and they were not getting done. She had moved her business and needed to update the address and contact info on the site – pretty major considering it’s a Massage business and you want your customers showing up at the correct location. She had heard from a friend (a past client) that we do website design as well as website maintenance, and here we are.

Unfortunately, this is an all to common situation that I run into. A designer is hired to designer a website for a client. They get most of it completed and it’s almost done when they receive that wonderful check paying them for their services. At this time, they have already been paid, so they move the almost completed website to the back burner. This is frustrating to me because it puts a sour taste in the clients mouth.

After reviewing Nancy’s N and N Massage site I informed her the the site was created with a template and was not a custom site, which is what she paid for, and that the entire site was built with tables. The way the tables were created they inhibited me from adding additional content and made the updating process much more in-depth. Also, most of the headings and titles were made out of graphics and not styled using CSS, thus not very helpful with search engines. After informing Nancy of these issues she opted to do a redesign of the site without tables using CSS. She like the design of the header and the color scheme, so we kept that and moved on from there.

In creating the redesign, we wanted to make sure that updates were easy to accomplish, a current special could be added and updated, the contact info was on every page, and because a number of her customers come from web searches, it was search engine friendly. We added a couple of other elements like a rotating image gallery, new pictures, and a testimonial page. The final product was exactly what Nancy wanted and she was very pleased with her new site: Click here to view the N and N Massage Site

“My web-site was completed 8 months ago by someone else… I wanted some changes and decided to go with someone else.. My friend gave me the contact info for Bannon Productions, and from there they just took over. Having my own business, you don’t have time for that kind of stuff.. This is the best that my web-site has ever looked.. I would recommend Bannon Productions to friends and family anytime… Great JOB!!!! Thanks for all your hard work…”

Nancy Raimo,LMT
www.nandnmassage.com
727-247-4031
N AND N MASSAGE,LLC
RELAX-THINK MASSAGE!