We are Scientists

The website we designed for We Are Scientists on MTV's Engine Room is now online!!! I'm a little bummed that they didn't use the original paper napkin background, but it all still looks good. Remember, we dropped a few easter eggs throughout the site (animations courtesy of Max), so try to find them. Look for a unicorn, a dog, and a cat. I'm really happy to see it live, and that I can link to it as a portfolio piece. There were so many things I would have done differently about the look and overall design of the site, but mind you we only had 2 1/2 days to complete this, and the WAS boys were looking for something SUPER simple to begin with.. So with that said:

Enjoy.

http://www.wearescientists.com

Merry Christmas from me :D

Laser tag

Here is a small preview of the project that I've got in the works... All the elements are finally coming together, including our laser-cut hang tags we just received in the mail yesterday morning! I couldn't stop looking at them. The material makes me excited. :D The design is cut into double corrugated cardboard, so the cross section looks very delicate, forming its own sort of architecture on the inside.

Pages from my sketchbook

From my trusty Moleskin: Gnarled blobs and girl-on-girl embraces.

CircleDot Creative -- new site!

The sliding flashy elements on my old CircleDot site used to seem really cool to me, and then I began to realize that it's just ridiculously unnecessary. If someone is visiting your site for the sole purpose of viewing your work, the last thing they want is to be bombarded by flash motion. It extends the time it takes to access your work, and instead of being impressive, it's really more of a turn off. I also have noticed with a lot of creative sites, the designer gets so creative with the layout that it becomes a game just finding the content. Some people like games. But with the attention span that most people of our generation have, you don't want to drive a person away before they even get locked in. So I'd like to introduce CircleDot Creative's brand new look. Simple enough, methinks. I'll probably be adding a tiny bit of flash in the near future, just to spice it up. Don't click on the Motion link yet, it won't work until next week (hah).

Coming in the next few days: VIDEO BLOG! A friend of mine told me it would be a good idea to start video blogging. I was given a webcam recently and now I have a use for it. Till next time.

CircleDot Creative - new logo

Damn. It's been crazy busy lately!! And I feel like I say that or something like it every time I blog. But I'm serious. I just started up another project with some buddies, which I can't talk too much about, but it shall soon be revealed in the months to come.. *evil laugh* Last month I brought on 3 ridiculously amazing assistants to help us out (Brianna, Ian, and Brittany), so with just a little bit less weight off my shoulders, I have a tiny second to blog. :) Oh! I should probably explain the image up there, right? ^^ 8 months ago when I graduated, I decided to make CircleDot a full-time endeavor. I used my Creative Internet class at UCLA as a way to work on my company's website and identity. But because it was initially done for a class, I didn't really have time to give the designs much thought. So now I'm working on a website re-design (the new site should launch in the next few days or so), and last night I just finished reworking my logo, even though the original logo wasn't even a year old. I feel like this one represents more of my style.

The old logo. Get outta here!

President Obama 2008

WE DID IT.

Oh. Wow. Excuse my language, but FUCK YEAH!!! Words cannot express how proud I am of my country at this moment, for electing Barack Obama into office. I really wish him the best of luck, it's not going to be an easy job taking on Bush's legacy, but someone's got to do it. I'm just glad it's him. I'm really, really sad that Prop 8 passed though. As your quintessential f*g hag (haha, just kidding), I have tons of very close gay friends whose rights are still limited, like second-class citizens. It's only a matter of time though.

Finding out that Obama won was pretty anti-climactic for me. I was at the mall (a place that I rarely even visit) and wasn't keeping track of the time. I wish I was at home to see it on my tv screen. Or at a bar clinking beer glasses and cheering my ass off. My stomach hurts from the free Krispy Kreme donut and Starbucks coffee. I claimed my free coffee twice today. Once would've probably sufficed but I'm a dumbass and got one more cup later in the day just because I knew I could.

Since June I've been working with ProjectHope 08 for the Obama Campaign, designing their website/e-commerce store. We just put out a 14-month collector's calendar that I designed to commemorate the glorious event (and thank god he was elected, or else we would have looked stupid for making it). It's not exactly my usual style, but it tells you which day of the week/month it is, which is pretty essential to any calendar.

Tonight: Gallery1988 LA's "Cover Band"

Just a reminder, tonight is Gallery1988 LA's opening reception for Cover Band, where over 50 artists take classic album covers and go nuts to create new pieces of art.

Here's the info you need:
Gallery1988 LA
7020 Melrose Ave.
7-10pm

Here's my entry for the show in all its gory guts and glory:


See you tonight!

Episode 4: Website Challenge!

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max laughs his head off in this bonus scene:
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You NEED to check out WeAreScientists.com, Max had every reason to cry from laughter. Their essays on there are f*cking hilarious!!!!

TNA = Team North America!

So the third episode of the Engine Room has aired, and I hope you're enjoying it so far, if you've been watching at all. For those of you that haven't caught it yet-- the episodes are only 8-9 minutes long, and you can watch them all following this post.

Sucks that the episodes are so short. I love watching it though, observing from both a production and a regular viewer's perspective. Out of all the footage (hours upon hours of footage!), it's pretty funny seeing which clips they actually decide to put on the air. Sigh. I really miss everyone from the cast. Everyone was so goofy and fun and talented and really good looking.

On MTVEngineRoom.com, you can watch bonus scenes, view portfolios, and check out each team's challenge entries on their respective team pages.



EPISODE 1 - WORLD PREMIERE:
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EPISODE 2 - ALL HANDS ON DECK
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EPISODE 3 - MIX & MASH
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BRAND NEW WEBSITE DESIGN!

yowwwwzaaa... AllisonTorneros.com v.4! I hope you like the new layout, I tried to make it flashy yet simple, and easy to navigate, keeping the entire site to only 3 pages. I still might be making a few small changes here and there, maybe change up the background color and lighten it a little, I don't know...

Visit allisontorneros.com!



First episode is up on the MTV Engine Room website. (I swear I'm not a bimbo that runs around in her underwear all the time, haha)

Engine Room premieres TOMORROW on MTVu!

I never imagined myself participating in a reality tv show... Until this one came along! MTV and HP teamed up to create a show a show about creativity + computers. 16 digital artists were chosen from around the world to compete on teams of 4 in creative challenges. I'm one of only 4 girls on the show, and one fourth of Team North America.

This premieres TOMORROW on MTVu, and on different MTV channels in Asia. If you don't live in Asia or you have no access to MTVu, you can catch the full episodes ONLINE at http://www.mtvengineroom.com.

Watch the 3 minute teaser clip here:


Online Videos by Veoh.com

Happy Birthday Mikey!! + two paintings..

My crazy ass obsession (ass obsession?!) with Michael Jackson still holds strong even 16 years after first discovering him on TV as a 6 year-old kid. Today he turns 50, which is about 12 years old in MJ years..

This year was also the 25th anniversary of his famous Thriller album, and I have the great liberty of using the album artwork to create some MJ-inspired art for Gallery1988 LA's show, Cover Band, which opens October 7th. Artists in the show choose an album from Rolling Stone's Top 500 Albums of All Time, and create artwork using the album itself as a canvas, kind of like a collaboration between the artist and the record.

hi!

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In other news, there are so many things I've been wanting to post but haven't because 1.) I've been in NY with limited access to the outside world 2.) I've been too busy or 3.) I'm lazy. So I'm going to start as far back as possible..

In June I was part of Gallery1988 SF's show, Everyone In Together. Both pieces sold before the show's opening (yay!). Here are a couple pictures of the process, sorry for the low quality pics these were all taken on my camera phone:

Base layers are put down

Getting the background texture just right

Then the people start to emerge! The girl on the right is based off of a picture of my girl Misa

When I started painting, the girl looked like Britney Spears. I tried to change up her face as best I could, and she ended up looking like Tila Tequila, or something.

Up on the gallery wall

I love red dots!!! :)


That Is Not Okay
12 x 12 inches
acrylic on wood



You Can't Game Tracy
12 x 12 inches
acrylic on wood



And... here's a pup that I saw in a pet store window. Seriously.

Looks like a freakin gremlin right? A cute one...

*heart melts*

Back from NY, and back into the groove =)

I just got back from filming a show in NY for MTV called The Engine Room http://www.mtvengineroom.com I was one of 16 digital artists from around the world chosen to compete in creative challenges.

Watch it when it premieres on Sept 15 :) . It premieres on MTVu, so if you can't watch it there, you'll be able to catch the episodes on the website.


In the meantime, I'm getting back into some web work, back into art making, and of course back into the PaintByWord groove. If you're bored or have time at all, send me some words that start with the letters M and N; email them to me at atorneros@gmail.com.

Thanks!!!!!

Art + Party = ARTillery, this Saturday in SF

I am PUMPED about this show this weekend!!! If you are in the area please come out and party with us-- and I do mean party as the gallery has a bar and all the body bumping baby making music to move the masses. And most importantly, lots and lots and lots of amazing art.

What you need to know:
ARTillery - Presented by Assembly Line Artists
@ The Space Gallery SF
www.spacegallerysf.com
1141 Polk St. (@ Sutter)
7pm - 11pm - art exhibit
11pm - 2am - party time!
Get there early and get a free gift bag!

Refer to the flyer below: