This is Royse. I had the pleasure to photograph this talented artist in the recording studio while recording her newest single “Ride The Bull”. She, her song, and my photo are featured in American Songwriter Magazine. Check it out here. ASM describes her single as like the edgier, older, doo-wop-less version of Meghan Trainor’s “All That Bass”. Go listen/download/add to your playlists.
Check out Royse’s instagram here
I’ve had the joy of many collaborations while in the process of creating new portfolios in photography. Primarily collaborations with models and musicians who are in the process of crafting their own personas and careers.
One such collaboration was with songwriter, musician, producer Aaron Ficchi. I photographed him for the cover of his single Beverly Drive (below). The song has a very moody/sexy vibe, not unlike himself. So, the focus really only needed to be on his persona with few, if any distractions.
No accessories, no props, and well …no clothes. The simplicity allowed some key attributes to shine through; a sense of vulnerability, a timelessness (sans fashion) that not only worked with the slightly retro quality of the song but, hopefully, make it a lasting image.
RM.
Check out the single on Spotify.
In other news, check out…
Rolling Stones Cover that never was by Man Ray
this article by Sean O’Hagan on The Photographers Who Revolutionized Album Art.
Photography by George Holz 1983
and this account of creating Madonna’s debut album cover from Carin Goldberg you might enjoy… The Making of Madonna’s First Album Cover
The world of design somehow manages to remain somewhat elusive to many. Both omnipresent and invisible. It is even scary if you find yourself having to need to hire a designer/firm to help define your brand. Where do you start?
This Forbes article is a helpful start.
forbes.com/how-much-does-branding-cost
Photography has been becoming more of a focus for me recently. One of my favorite pastimes as a student at Parsons was spending hours looking at bound volumes of Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar magazines from the 40’s, 50’s, and 60’s. I developed a great affection for the aesthetic of the magazine cover. Something about the combination of my favorite things…fashion, art, photography, typography, and logo design… all together in one image just feels right. Unlike many photographers, as a designer and creative director, it’s impossible not to see a photograph in a context of some kind that includes typography.
When considering presentation of my own photography, I couldn’t resist showing it in the format I love. A magazine cover. My “magazine”, “M” (initial for Manville, of course), is in the form of a large card. Each image will make an appearance via social media with related content and/or delivered by good ol’ mail …like real magazines.
Photography: Richard Manville
I scheduled a session with raven-haired artist/model Simone Miller to do a photoshoot and as we began discussing the details of the shoot (concept, scheduling, etc) she mentioned …btw “my hair is blue now.” My original concept was to shoot in a graphic black and white style, so needless to say, I wasn’t planning on blue hair. However, like most inspired creative projects, the unexpected can be a great gift. Given the opportunity of blue hair, I added a few sessions that would feature or highlight the blue.
We’ve designed and consulted for many clients on rebrands large and small.
One of our more advanced brand reconstruction projects in the luxury sector was for Agraria San Francisco including branding, product, print and web/digital. See what we did here.
Other brand exploration you may like was for Pleiades House in NYC. You can see that here.
Also, check out one of our more web-focused rebrands for Evite.
Accents of France’s website was redesigned using our elements but, although not designed by us, Accents of France does such amazing work it is worth checking out.
Being based in Hollywood has its advantages.
This town is filled with beautiful people and if you’re lucky you get to work with people as lovely inside as out. Among the lovely ones, Katy Erin is a young actress and model that I had the opportunity to photograph in studio.
I asked Katy to sit for me to experiment with a series of images that would play with gender style featuring R.B.Manville silk pocket squares. Katy’s naturally impish androgynous qualities were perfect for the range of looks I was going for.
We had limited time (just a few hours) to attempt as many looks as we could squeeze in. So we started with the more boyish looks first and then makeup artist Perla Lizarraga progressively added shades of femininity with makeup and hair along the way; from School boy style to Jazz-age androgyny to a new wave-ish pompadour.
So, the reason for this shoot was to experiment with imagery for R.B.Manville.
R.B.Manville is a collection of silk squares primarily marketed as men’s pocket squares. The creation of R.B.Manville as a concept, was intended to be a collection of gift-able art/fashion pieces featuring original print designs created by the studio.
The brand was launched during the height of a bespoke dandy movement in men’s fashion. The collection was intended to fit into a very select niche of the fashion/design connoisseur. Although primarily marketed as a men’s accessory, the brand’s venturesome style had received more attention and appreciation from not only a sophisticated male buyer, but a fashion forward female audience. We believe it has been mostly women buying for men. However another relevant trend of menswear for women was emerging at the same time.
The imagery for the brand, at its inception, was more neutrally product focused. As I began to think of the next phase, taking a more fashionable approach to the photography was a natural progression but felt that featuring men in pocket squares was a bit too “on-the-nose”. Social media has also created a big demand for more brand imagery and has forced many brands to be more visually prolific. So experimenting was well worth the time and lots of fun. I was really happy with the result and grateful to Katy and Perla’s contributions and beautiful collaboration.
Shuffling through the archive, I came across this shot from an article in Veranda magazine a couple of years ago. Because I don’t really have a “press page” or show promotional tear sheets of any kind, this seems the right venue to share the photo above. The featured room was designed by Charlotte Moss and in the center of the photograph is the potpourri box I designed for Agraria. See the full series of boxes here.
This image is the first of a series called Ensemble Chemistry I created for the R.B.MANVILLE blog. These style boards were intended to put the product in an editorial context that might inspire a customer to incorporate the product into their own wardrobe. It’s always important to show how to wear certain products. Especially an item like a pocket square who’s soul purpose is to mix with other pieces in exciting ways. Mixing prints can be a terrifying act for many people. These style boards hopefully provide some fashionable peace of mind!
The following copy is as it appears on the blog:
No matter how much of a “star” a pocket square can be, (…and we are understandably a bit biased on this point) we have to admit a square is most often playing a supporting role in an ensemble cast of equally talented and extraordinary pieces. Finding the right balance of strengths is completely worth the effort when your result is a classic sartorial blockbuster.
We decided to put a few ensembles together, in the form of style boards for some visual reference. Our mission: see how some of our favorite squares perform in a group. We also wanted to give an idea of how well our squares might integrate into a wardrobe.
Most of our squares feature a variety of colors. This can make it easier to find visual relationships with other pieces or inspire combinations. Classic pieces, dressy, casual, modern, vintage… its all good. It is all about the mix.
So, mix it up. With multiple folding possibilities, colors and prints we’re sure our squares will bring enough “it factor” to create perfect fashion chemistry!
Check out the blog here.