After a very short winter vacation and some much needed R&R, Ian and I are getting back in to the swing of things. We hope everyone had some great holidays and we wish you a happy and healthy new year! It has been decided, 2011 is our year, get ready for SSC to grow in leaps and bounds. We have set some very high goals for ourselves and with some hard work I know we can accomplish all of them. We have some amazing clients coming in and orders being processed so we’re hitting the ground running for the new year.

I personally want to thank everyone for the ongoing support and hope that you will continue to follow us and spread the word!

Futurism was a very avante garde art movement that occurred around the 1900s to the 1940s. The artists of this time basically followed a theme that dealt with illustrating the machine age that was going on throughout the world and also illustrating war, speed, sound, and action while using text and typography through much of the artwork. These artists were the first to use text in such a way and even the idea of rotating a letter or word was extremely abnormal let alone combining so many fonts in to one cohesive composition. While the artwork itself can read as very busy it is important to recognize the organized nature of this work and the method to the madness, these artists knew exactly what they were doing and everything was planned. Before this movement text was strictly limited and basic and nobody thought to change the left-right up-down orientation of letters or words. The reason I wanted to share this was mostly because this movement has been particularly inspirational to me lately and the artists of this time are credited with paving the way for any future designers and giving us the freedom of using type in any way we see fit. Thanks guys!

Ian has been in California for a little while now and I must say that running the business alone is a little harder than I expected. I guess I never really realized how much work Ian and I both get done as a team and now that I don’t have Ian around I have had to adjust a little bit. I’m happy though, Ian is in California now on vacation with his family and I know he is having the time of his life down there which is so awesome and the workload over here is completely manageable (don’t worry Ian!). Well I figured I would break my tumblr dry spell up with a small update and maybe I’ll post something a little more detailed in a day or two. I’m celebrating a little victory right now after designing a small image for an organization called ‘Community Mainstreaming’. This organization ensures that men and women with developmental disabilities can find homes and jobs and gives them an opportunity to be independent and accepted, working members of their communities. I am very happy that I was able to help these people with my craft and I think that what they do is absolutely incredible. It is their 30-Year Anniversary and if you go to their website you can check them out and make a donation or find out how you can help support.

www.communitymainstreaming.org

Well the deadline we set for the completion of our website is officially only five days away! Ian and I have been working tirelessly on our new layout with the help of my brother Bryan Ciminelli. Bryan, I must say, is the best web designer I have ever known and his knowledge of his field is incredible which helps him not only translate mine and Ian’s desires into reality but also allows him to make the website functional no matter what problem may arise. I am happy to say that Bryan is going to be a part of the South Shore Customs staff along with some very, very amazing photographers: Dana Cama, Erica Livoti, and Laura Luengas. With this new crew of members I must say I feel like I am part of an all-star team, everyone that is a part of South Shore Customs is incredible at what they do and it seems like they get better everyday. I must say it also feels good to be broadening our horizons and being able to supply our clients with any forms of design or artwork they need whether it be general graphic design, web design, photography, or even traditional art.

All of that aside I want to give a little recognition again to a friend of the business, James of Island Carousel. This guy is fantastic, he has been keeping our plates full for a while now with a steady need for artwork and designs so I just wanted to say thank you so much for your business, your support, and our business lunches at Johnny Rockets!

Hey, while you’re on tumblr I highly recommend you take a look at Dana, Erica, and Laura’s pages and check out what they’re doing! (They’re all awesome!)

Dana Cama: http://danacama.tumblr.com/
Erica Livoti: http://ericalivoti.tumblr.com/
Laura Luengas: http://wiildthing.tumblr.com/

It’s been a little bit since I’ve gotten around to posting some updates for everyone. Between life in general and making up designs for clients and our website I’ve been pretty busy. There’s a lot to update you all about and I am not sure where to begin! Honestly there has been a lot happening internally as far as South Shore Customs goes as a business; changes in goals, motivations and inspirations. After a lot of consideration and review both Ian and I have decided to slightly alter our direction as a business in a manner that we believe better fits ourselves as people, business partners, and artists. I remind you that this is no big change but it is a change that people should know about!

Ian and I are entering our junior year of college and further pursuing our major, which is Graphic Design. While screen printing has and always will be a great passion of ours, we feel that we both enjoy our work more as artists and designers. This is not to say that we will not be producing our clothing line or that we will not be continuing to screenprint orders for clients and friends. It is more that we are leading our business with the belief that we are artists who can also screenprint rather than screen printers who can also make art. Although you may think that this is such a subtle difference that it’s dismissible, it really does make a world of difference to both Ian and myself. What it all boils down to is that in the end we are a design business and we love making artwork for people. Our updated webpage will be a more defined reflection of who we are including biography pages, pages dedicated to our personal artwork, portfolios of work we’ve done in the past, and places where business can be conducted as far as getting designs made, getting shirts printed, getting paper products printed, etc.

Again, this is not a tremendous change for South Shore Customs, we have and we will continue to design and screenprint and we are very excited to get our decision out in the open after a lot of deliberating. Thanks for listening everyone, and I thank you for continuously supporting the business and myself.