Hero > Kyle Skinner

Kyle Skinner, A.K.A, Sinestro, A.K.A, Manni Quinn, A.K.A, David E. Allen, and A.B.Original, A.K.A, Kyle 2.0, A.K.A, our featured hero this month. So who is this masked man?

Kyle is one of the most talented people we know, Kyle is a designer, photographer and laser graffiti artist. He plays by his rules and does things his way. Oh sure, we hear that all the time, but who really does it. Actions are stronger than words. Kyle is all about action and new inspiration. Only a couple weeks ago Kyle was the lead designer for the Ottawa Senators Hockey Club for the NHL. Year after year this guys work is amazing and keeps getting better. So, what does he do next? He leaves! Two weeks notice and bang, off he goes to Australia with his camera and laptop with no agenda other than looking for the next creative project or something that inspires him. Okay Kyle, you've got my undivided attention and utmost respect... and you've probably just made about a thousand new groupies because of this blog post.

It isn't everyday someone has the guts to just pick up and leave a great job, great salary with an amazing benefits package with a gym membership and tickets to hockey games/concerts to just go be inspired. Damn, I wish I had your guts. I'm weak, but stronger because of your spirit. Giver Kyle, and send us a post card or tag some laser messages for us in Austrailia.

To all our Australian members who are looking for an Creative or Art director or designer, check out Kyle's amazing work at Sinestro Design Don't worry, I don't think he travels with the Mexican wrestling mask. But it is quite fetching don't you think?

Hero > Madoka Nemoto

A few weeks late on the "Hero" profile but well worth the wait.

We thought we'd slice together a little preview to really give you the feeling and mood of these images. You really need to watch the video to truly appreciate the uncomfortable elegance these amazing images emit. So beautiful yet so edgy and dark. Madoka captures intense energy in her shots and we are still trying to figure out how she does it. Madoka is a very talented photographer that lives in Chiba, Japan. We spotted Madoka at the Algonquin College photography exhibit. While she was leaving back to Japan after school we were lucky that she was interested in coming to visit and shoot with us as part of our internship program. We were fortunate to have her intern with us here in Canada. Madoka is continuing to produce content for Stock-Archive.com from Japan. It is a pleasure to work with this amazing talent. Rock on Madoka!

You can see and access some of the free images in our archive that Madoka shot for www.Stock-Archive.com on pages 94, 99 and some other pages spaced out throughout the free promotional images on the site. Enjoy.

Jennifer Scrivens does N.Y.C. ... again

Back by popular demand.... well, we just posted a version on youtube that was better than the earlier version we posted using the blogger video tool. We figured we'd re-post the video. If you haven't seen this video, It is worth watching. Jennifer Scrivens is a talented photographer from Ottawa that just finished an amazing photo exhibit at the Ottawa Arts Court. If you didn't make it out this time you better hit it up next time. Her work is amazing. She pretty much rocks our world.

Hero > Anton Sop

While you and I sleep at night, Anton Sop begins his work shift. I've known and worked with him for about 10 years now and we figured out early on that this guy does not do a day job. Anton thrives for the dark sky and glowing light to be inspired whether it be coding or taking photos. That is cool with us. We like to work with people who do things in their own way. We knew Anton as a guy who would work with us for code and unique programming skills. Since he was such a master with code, we wondered what he would do with a camera? Other than spilling coffee in it, falling off monuments with it and breaking it, he has taken photos that are absolutely awe-inspiring. With no training Anton takes "Vanessa" (the camera) and has captured hundreds of amazing images for us from a unique perspective that we never would get from anyone else.

In honour of his birthday, we put a video together titled "REMSOP". This montage of his work shows you exactly how these images translate when used in a project. Amazing. you'll watch it over and over. The images we used in the video are also for free on the www.Stock-Archive.com promo site. While the time- lapse video clips and other video clips he produced for us are not on the free site, they will be available when the site launches. We thank him for his amazing work on both the Stock Archive website and the great photos he has taken for us.

Happy Birthday Sir Anton!

See more of Anton's photos on Flickr

Hero > Masayo Shimizu

Arigatou gozaimasu Masayo! Arigatou gozaimasu!

While it has only been a few days since you left on your journey back home to Japan, your presences is already missed here at Stock Archive and Victory Arts.




For those of you who think you don't know Masayo, there is a good chance you know her because of her amazing work. Masayo produced endless amounts of quality illustrations, photos and motion graphics for us here at www.Stock-Archive.com and www.victoryarts.com.

Masayo came to us from Algonquin college where she was graduating from the Graphic Design program. We got a call from the Graphic Design Coordinator one day before co-op started asking if we had room for one more student. We said yes and boy are we glad we did. Masayo proved to be a major asset to our illustration portion of the archive. Masayo has pumped out hundreds if not thousands of amazing illustrations for the archive, illustrations you for you to take advantage of each week on our free promotional site and our later once we launch. Each conference we've attended people would always stop and comment that the illustration was amazing! We agree it is amazing because Masayo is amazing! While we could ramble on all day about how amazing she is you should just visit her website at www.masayoshimizu.net,

As a thanks, we put a tribute video together for her. Stay gold Masayo! Magi Kakkoii!




Masayo thank you so much for everything! We hope you enjoy your video.

Free Images: Something fishy going on.

Wow thanks for the amazing feedback on the vector aquatic illustrations (Illustrated by our very own Masayo Shimizu who just sadly moved back to Japan. We miss her already! She will be featured as our next Hero so check her out).

Some of you were asking for a photo with goldfish and water bubbles.... yes, we do have blue water also. But who says that water always has to be blue? Blue is so 1989. We are 2009 and we are red hot right now we added some red water and orange gold fish to the bowl. Take a chance and see what happens. Pretty cool if you ask me. These amazing photos were done for us by an intern who Masayo introduced to us. Madoka Nemoto came all the way from Japan a year ago today to intern with us for a month. She did some amazing and unique photos. We'll feature Madoka in the up coming weeks. For now enjoy the images.

The images should be up over the weekend or early next week.

We now have over 2000 free promotional images available to pre-registered users. Once we launch we will have over 60,000 images, illustrations, motion, audio and flash elements to choose from. Our loyal pre-registered users will get amazing promotional offers once the site launches. To pre-register, go to www.Stock-Archive.com

Hero > Garry Tutte

When Stock-Archive.com was at FITC in Toronto we bumped into our friend Garry that we worked with a few years back. After speaking with him he told us he was now directing and also doing motion graphics. So, meet Sir Garry Tutte! This guy is an amazing director / motion graphics expert. We love this guy and everything he does. From the last time we talked with him he said he prefers to work as an independent and collaborate with studios and other talented people. Garry is based out of Toronto (Since we last spoke). So, if you are looking to hire someone to come up with a unique angle on a project, direct it and even wrap it up with motion graphics then this is the guy you should to be talking with. Check out his reel/portfolio at his website www.garrytutte.com.

Big fans of... Netdiver.net

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netdiver.net
You LUV everything design? So do we! Welcome home!

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Finally an online magazine for the creative mind. netdiver.net has amazing content published everyday thanks to an amazing researcher/editor that has sourced and filtered the best of the best in design, illustration, photography and other creative mediums. This online magazine is the best we've ever seen. We are "big fans..." actually, the word "big" is too small a word, so, for this entry we need to change it to say that we are "Huge fans..." of this online design magazine. We suggest you take a look. You'll be hooked on this inspirational candy covered website. Be prepared to be inspired like never before. Go check it out.

netdiver.net You LUV everything design? So do we! Welcome home!

Hero > Quy Luong

Meet Quy! One of our creative heroes for www.Stock-Archive.com! We've known Quy since 1992 and he has been whipping up amazing creative concoctions for us over the past few years. Quy is Multi-talented and super-creative. He illustrates in traditional pen and ink, on the computer and is now messing around with some 3D. While this guy's fulltime gig is a Gov-Job, he still finds time to work with us to produce amazing content and is also working on our monthly comic strip that will launch along with the site. If you are looking for a freelance designer/illustrator, talk to this guy. He is your man!

Visit his site at www.graphicq.com

Hey Quy.... where is my Christmas card from last year? Still waiting!

Hero > Jamie Muntean

You like motion graphics? We do too! We also are big fans of our next featured Hero. If there is ever a need for quality and speed, this guy has it all. Meet Jamie Muntean, this guy is a magician when it comes to motion graphics and animation. Trained in Animation, Jamie quickly picked up on After Effects and became an amazing motion graphic designer and has been working in the UK, Ottawa, Montreal and with clients all around the world. We've had the pleasure of working with Jamie and he seriously had to be one of the nicest... and most creative guys we've ever worked with. Passionate and dedicated, this is a guy you want working on your next project. For sure check out his reel here or on his site : www.thesideproject.ca

Free Images: Anime Illustrations... aged to perfection!

F.Y.I. > The free images will be up around Wednesday.... but this is what will be up. Check back soon.

This week, we've got an amazing set of illustrations for everyday use. Cool, clever and stylish. Why use a photo when you can just go with some wild anime style illustrations for your typical business or lifestyle shots. One of "Our Heroes", Quy Luong (Featured in the next week or two...produced these fine illustrations for www.Stock-Archive.com about 4 years ago. It is amazing how long we've been building content and just starting to get it out there. Hey if you love what you do... do it. We know these illustrations will be super useful. Enjoy!

We now have over 2000 free promotional images available to pre-registered users. Once we launch we will have over 60,000 images, illustrations, motion, audio and flash elements to choose from. Our loyal pre-registered users will get amazing promotional offers once the site launches. To pre-register, go to www.Stock-Archive.com

Hero > Kenn Taylor

Who is this guy? ...Kenn Taylor. Don't forget it. We've had the honour of watching this guy grow from an intern with whacky ideas into an amazing professional photographer with stunning concepts and serious attention to detail. www.Stock-Archive.com had the pleasure of working with Kenn for about 3 years now. He is an amazing photographer and we support him, his vision and his ability to capture great photos. Any production could greatly benefit from this guy and his talents. Hire the guy for a gig if you get the chance. Check him out at www.kenntaylorphotography.com

More human spirit. Thank you Jen!

Talking about "Human Spirit".... One of our good friends and amazing photographer Jennifer Scrivens ( See Our heroes ) went back to NYC for her holiday and just sent us an image because she said she was thinking of us. I support it, support the image and support her for being awesome. Thanks Jen. Love the shot. You just inspired me to take some cool shots today on urban letters and numbers.

Dig it.

We are fine with Feiner

From the jumbo super empires like Fuel Industries to the independent creative superstars like David Feiner, we will profile these heroes from time to time. We just want to share the love and to pass on info and links of who and what's hot in the industry. Hopefully we can get some cool collaboration going or maybe just get people inspired enough to push their own creative limits. Hence David Feiner! This guy doesn't seem to have any limits. "Our hero" this month, David keeps impressing us with each new project he works on. With some great work from brands such as GM, Oh Henry, HBO and Toyota... and not to mention his own, David is setting the bar for independent freelancers proving that it is possible to stay single and be happy. Armed with an arsenal of creative juice, multiple Flash flavours and a vault load of passion it is no wonder why he chooses to stay as an independent. This guy works better with you than for you. Nice to see people stick to their guns for what they like to do and stay grounded at the same time. David is a super nice guy, with amazing ideas and he will for sure be one to watch as we expect amazing things from him in the next few years.

Do yourself a favour and go check out his site... better yet hire him for a project (or more). We are fine with feiner... you will be just fine too.

www.iamfeiner.com

Big fans of... Hank and Mike

So if you are looking for some great Easter Entertainment (Maybe not for the kids) we are "Big fans..." of this Easter Holiday movie "Hank and Mike". We encourage you to go visit their site and watch the trailer. Hank and Mike are in theaters now. So go check it out.

Here is a little info about Hank and Mike. They are two pink, pissed and unemployed easter Bunnies that have some pretty big chips on their shoulders. An "off-side" movie with some good old fashioned humour.... well maybe not so old fashioned. More like modern, edgy and sharp humour.

The film is directed by Matthiew Klink from Ottawa. Matthiew is an up and coming Director with a great vision and lots of passion. We've had the pleasure of working with Matthiew Klink back when he was producing and directing Y.B.Normal?. A sketch comedy series that aired on the Comedy Network. We are quite proud of his focus and dedication to get this movie made. He has been talking about it for quite sometime and we congratulate him on getting it to the big screen. Some of us only dream of making a movie. Matthiew did it and I bet will do it again and again. For sure one of our heroes. Good on ya Matthiew. See the trailer and more on Hank and Mike here. www.hankandmike.com

February 9th's free images: Stick it to the man

OK, when did the cute little icon man get such a bad rap.... maybe it was the anger issues, booze, drugs and 9mm beretta... I don't know... just thinking out loud here. In any case if these guys are too much for you there are also some soft sweet and innocent stick men and women feeling happy just waiting for you on the site this week for free.We must say to Masayo our next featured Hero (who created these morbid stick men for us). "Nanisama-no-tsumori". Good on ya.

We have over 1500 free promotional images available to preregistered users. To register, go to www.Stock-Archive.com.

Our Hero > Jennifer Scrivens

First... Happy Birthday Jen! 

Yup, Jennifer Scrivens is one cool cat and our hero. This girl came to us as a volunteer intern helping scout locations, props and talent. She has since picked up the camera and been taking shots for Stock-Archive.com and for that we are forever grateful. It has been a sincere pleasure having you work with us and look forward to more of your amazing photos and creative ideas. Check out some of her shots she took in NYC for us. If you are looking for some amazing talent, you just found it here. Jennifer pretty much rocks our world and her neighbors hen house (Whatever that means).  In other words, thanks for being you and doing what you do!

Some of these images are part of the free images (On page 30)....So go get em and see what solid gold tastes like.

Check out the video preview:

Our Hero > Andrew Robb

WOW! Speechless and want to see more!  Andrew Robb is pretty much our Hero for 2009 and will be yours also very soon.

We are starting to feature inspirational designers, photographers and other creative nut-jobs members or not. We want to share what we think is worth sharing and this guy is "Topshelf" in our bookmarks.  Having Andrew Robb as our first featured creative is fitting as he started his quest for slick and saucy motion graphics at his College coop with Stock-Archive.com and then moved on to greener pastures with his amazing talents. We are very proud and pleased to say we knew him when and can't wait to see what else he does in the future. This guy is too big for this small city. Andrew if you are reading... great work.

Everyone else....please check out his amazing motion graphics demo at www.andrewrobb.tv. 

Enjoy.