JeremiahTolbert.com: SF Writer Web Designer Photographer

Massive Costuming Score

Filed Under: Costuming

The Roundbottom project is in full swing around here, with large chunks of my profits from web design going into expenses.  This weekend, I miraculously somehow stumbled upon a going out of business sale at a costume store in Denver.  I was trying to find replica revolvers, and this came up.  Today was the last day, and everything was 70% off.  Needless to say, Sarah and I went hog wild.  I’ll be uploading some photos of what we scored later on, but here’s a list:

  • One men’s frock coat (black)
  • two pairs suspenders
  • white cravat
  • one set of kid gloves (red)
  • one set of spurs
  • Asian-styled parasol
  • gray derby hat
  • black Bowler hat (vintage)
  • civil war cap
  • one cross between a cowboy hat and a top hat (don’t know what the actual name is)
  • two pairs men’s Victorian pinstripe slacks (one size for me, one smaller)
  • three men’s tuxedo shirts, varying sizes
  • Renaissance bodice (red)
  • Men’s vest (silver)
  • 18th century men’s shirt
  • three vintage turn of the century women’s blouses
  • three blouses that are period, but not vintage
  • five skirts of varying sizes, peticoat styles, etc
  • one set of military goggles (at military surplus store later)

All this was acquired for $250.  Which seems like a lot, but we’ll get dozens of shoots out of this stuff. Woohoo!

So a note to you steampunkers–keep your eyes open for costume shops going out of business in your areas.  Great deals can be had at these closures.

An (Incomplete) Survey of Current Genre Magazine Covers

Filed Under: Graphic Design, SF Business, Uncategorized

Paul Raven made a comment today on his blog comparing the artwork on a couple of different magazine covers. Warren Ellis has recently been on about cover design as well. So I thought today, I’d look at the latest batch of covers for every magazine I could remember, and write some generalized thoughts on the design. I’m a self-taught designer, so take my comments and criticisms with a grain of salt.

Read the rest of this entry »

Daily Photo: Goslings

Filed Under: Photography

More of the goose family. I took a lot of shots of these guys. Fort Collins has a real problem with them though. They were introduced to the area in the 1950s, and ever since then, the population has climbed steadily. Very few animals here prey on them. Humans don’t hunt them much because apparently they taste like goose shit or something equally foul (pun intended). Show this picture to anyone who has lived here for a while, long enough to have to go through the back entrance of a store because a pair of geese have nested in the entry way of the front and attack anyone who gets within 20 feet–they’re going to just see four more annoyances.

Still, so cute!

Daily Photo: Goslings

On The Popularity of Steampunk

Filed Under: Graphic Design, Speculative Fiction, Top Post

New generation iPodsImage via Wikipedia

Does the New York Times article on Steampunk mean the genre/fashion craze has made the high water mark and will begin to recede from here? What is the shelf-life of an aesthetic movement, and for that matter, what is the sociological force behind this particular movement?

It’s a Stylistic Rebellion

Particularly as an aesthetic movement, steampunk is popular primarily with an under 30 set. This is a generation that has rarely owned hand-crafted objects. Our consumer goods have been mass manufactured, extruded plastic blocks. Aesthetic appeal was rarely a consideration, and even if it was, each product was exactly identical to the other. You could try and stand out through your particular fashion sense and consumer good choices, but more often than not, you ended up looking like a thousand others.

Steampunk is a middle finger to the iPod, but it’s also a blown kiss. This movement says, “yes” to technology and science, but also “does it have to look so antiseptic?” The design aesthetic of Apple appeals to many, as evidenced by their stock prices, but it’s somewhat repulsive to others. And for a generation who has rarely owned hand-crafted objects, the attraction of taking something and modifying it, crafting it, until it is yours and unique–is very strong. The Victorian period was not the last time things were made by hand, but it’s an aesthetic distantly enough removed from the modern that it feels different, more so than the 40s, 50s, 60s, etc. Steampunk is brown and brass, in contrast to the whites and blacks of modern design. It’s metal and wood, not plastic. It’s lace, not lycra.

It is also a callback to a period when objects looked exactly as if they were capable of what they could do. A square block of plastic does not convey its ability to communicate over vast distances. There’s nothing inherently communicative about it’s shape. A steampunk ray gun, on the other hand, cannot be confused for much of anything else. Technology then was cruder, but you could tell what something did by looking at it. You could see the inner workings, and those inner workings were much easier to understand. I think most people feel they could learn to put watch pieces together. Not very many believe they could learn to manufacture circuit boards.

Has it peaked?

Unless you’re invested semi-professionally in the popularity of the genre as I am, then this question doesn’t probably matter to you. Having spent most of my spring preparing a series of images and storylines that draw heavily from this aesthetic, I am a little concerned that the popularity of steampunk is about to peak, if it hasn’t already. If the activity on the steamfashion group on Livejournal is any indication, popularity has already begun to wane. I recently rejoined this group, and I have found that posts to it are increasingly infrequent. Now it may just be that everyone is too busy making things, but I suspect some have already moved on to other fixations. After all, you could make a strong case that the fashion-aspect of steampunk evolved out of Goth culture, and so it’s not unreasonable to believe that it will continue to evolve and fracture off into other sub-cultures. We already have terms like clockpunk and dieselpunk, even if these terms don’t have the same traction in the zeitgeist that steampunk has right now.

The nice thing about a genre and an aesthetic that is based heavily on a historical period is, it probably never really goes out of fashion. There will always be some small subset of fans interested in the time period. Let’s face it: steampunk is freaking cool, and it’s going to take something pretty drastic to change that. Even if that does change, it’s not like being uncool has ever stopped fans from liking something.

About Me

Hi! My name is Jeremiah Tolbert, but you can call me Jeremy. I am a fantasy and science fiction writer, photographer, and web designer living in Northern Colorado. By day, I work as a designer for a background screening firm. I am currently available for freelance design work. Drop me a line if you have any questions or comments. I love hearing from new people.

My Best Content

  • On The Popularity of Steampunk 11:07 am May 8, 2008
    Filed Under: Graphic Design, Speculative Fiction, Top Post

    Image via Wikipedia

    Does the New York Times article on Steampunk mean the genre/fashion craze has made the high water mark and will begin to recede from here? What is the shelf-life of an aesthetic movement, and for that matter, what is the sociological force behind this particular movement?
    It’s a Stylistic Rebellion
    Particularly as an aesthetic [...]

    Read More >>

  • Anatomy of a Steampunk Photoshoot 11:20 am May 1, 2008
    Filed Under: Featured Resource, Photography, Top Post, Tutorial

    This was my first serious shoot with logistics involving a model, costuming, and a shoot location. To spend an hour and a half behind the camera, I spent probably 4 hours doing the various administrative tasks to set up. Here’s an overview of the process we went through to get the pictures I wanted.
    The [...]

    Read More >>

  • Clay Shirky and The Cognitive Surplus 2:02 pm April 29, 2008
    Filed Under: Speculative Fiction/SF Business, Science, Top Post

    Continuing on the thoughts of yesterday’s post, I’ve recently read Clay Shirky’s speech, “Gin, Television, and Social Surplus.” You can read a transcript of it, or watch a video. I highly recommend checking out one or the other and coming back here. I’ll wait. For the lazy, here’’s a choice bit [...]

    Read More >>

  • Making FlickrRSS Work for Me 10:48 pm April 10, 2008
    Filed Under: Web Design/Javascript, Top Post

    My goal with this new site is to not only to design a very clean, beautiful site, but to also showcase some of the nice effects that are possible with javascript libraries like jQuery (and teach myself how to effectively use them in the process). Last night, I worked for over 6 hours simply [...]

    Read More >>

  • Why Giant Mecha Robots Are Totally Awesome 10:00 am February 7, 2008
    Filed Under: Speculative Fiction, Top Post

    Sci-fi rant: Why giant mecha robots are stupid | Geekend | TechRepublic.com
    Jay Garmon has written a very well thought-out article on why giant mecha robots are stupid and will never work. I am afraid I must provide a counter to this article. Giant mecha robots are also totally awesome, and I think he’s wrong. [...]

    Read More >>

Previous Photos at Flickr

Buzzard

Buzzard

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More tree mycoids

More tree mycoids

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Tree mycoid

Tree mycoid

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Pelican?

Pelican?

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Another hatch

Another hatch

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Stacked mushrooms

Stacked mushrooms

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Blackbird Portrait

Blackbird Portrait

A redwing blackbird at the ponds area. This is another test of the new lens, and for once, this is a full frame image.

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The rare female

The rare female

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I see you

I see you

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Garter Snake

Garter Snake

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Through the branches

Through the branches

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Redwing Sits Proud

Redwing Sits Proud

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See More Photos at Flickr

Hot Links

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  1. SketchBlog Friday, 9 May 2008, 10:24 am
    Super Clever design
  2. inputEx - a field framework for web applications Friday, 9 May 2008, 9:55 am
  3. Secret Societies - Introduction Thursday, 8 May 2008, 9:48 am
  4. Create A Brushed Metal Texture In Illustrator | Vectips Thursday, 8 May 2008, 9:41 am
    so 2001
  5. Quality Brushes for Photoshop Wednesday, 7 May 2008, 11:15 am
    Who knows what the rights on these will be like. But might be useful.
  6. » Toolbox CSS Wednesday, 7 May 2008, 10:42 am
    I don' use toolbox CSS,, but perhaps I will begin to do so in the future. I really want to add link-type icons to my links as this does in the styling extras area.
  7. Perfect Sunset Composition - How I Did It Wednesday, 7 May 2008, 10:38 am
    A great article about the lengths a La Jolla photographer went to get the shot he wanted. Very inspirational.
  8. Photoshop Tutorial: Realistic Decorated Wine Bottle Illustration Wednesday, 7 May 2008, 9:10 am
  9. Unobtrusive JavaScript with jQuery Tuesday, 6 May 2008, 3:55 pm
  10. Photoshop Tutorials - Age Progression Tuesday, 6 May 2008, 10:01 am
  11. PSDTUTS - Photoshop Tutorials and Links - Mix Cool Retro Curves Into Your Photographs Tuesday, 6 May 2008, 9:53 am
    excellent use of a custom brush
  12. Long-awaited electric sports car rolls out - CNN.com Tuesday, 6 May 2008, 9:46 am
    Tesla Roadster. Cool name. Cooler car. I want one.
  13. Olympus Zoom - Fubiz™ Monday, 5 May 2008, 10:26 am
    very cute ad campaign for olympus binoculars
  14. NETTUTS - Web development tutorials and links - 7 Crucial Tips for Designing and Maintaining a Large Site Friday, 2 May 2008, 11:48 am
    I don't generally do large sites, but I hope to have a day job working on one some day.
  15. Vitamin Features » Subversion for Designers Friday, 2 May 2008, 11:47 am
    Something I need to look into more.