International Association of Women Honours Debra Parks as a 2018-2019 Influencer of the Year

Debra Parks, Owner of Deb's Art Designs Photography, is selected for her outstanding leadership and commitment within her profession.

The International Association of Women (IAW) honors Debra Parks as a 2018-2019 Influencer of the Year. She is recognized with this prestigious distinction for leadership in entrepreneurship. The International Association of Women (IAW) is a global in-person and online networking platform with nearly one million members, 1000+ in person and virtual events, over 100 Local US based Chapters and International Chapters in several cities in China.

“I’m pleased to welcome Debra into this exceptional group of professional women,” said IPDN President and IAW Spokesperson Star Jones. “Her knowledge and experience in her industry are valuable assets to her company and community.”

Ever since she was a young girl, Debra Parks has always loved creating art, from drawing to painting to photography. Although she chose to enter the field of nursing and worked as a labor and delivery nurse for many years, Ms. Parks eventually chose to follow her passion.

It is my desire that anyone who views my work, to feel emotion, and that is what I strive to achieve with all my photos.

DEBRA PARKS

OWNER, DEB'S ART DESIGNS PHOTOGRAPHY

It was after moving to Maryland to start a new life that Ms. Parks began to seriously study photography. She attended workshops, honed her craft and started a small photography business from her home in 2012. Four years later she opened her own studio and has not looked back since. Ms. Parks’ photography recently earned two bronze awards in an international competition — it was the first competition she ever entered.

As the Owner of Deb’s Art Designs Photography, Ms. Parks uses her talent and skill as a photographer to provide an array of services, including contemporary portraits, children and family, maternity, boudoir and themed photography, professional head shots, branding and more. “My photography style concentrates on lighting,” Ms. Parks says on her website. “After all, a photograph is all about the light and shadows. It is my desire that anyone who views my work, to feel emotion, and that is what I strive to achieve with all my photos.”


Innovative Art School Opens in Evanston

One River School of Art + Design Announces June 2 and 3 Grand Opening Weekend Event

With a mission to develop what the New York Times called “the next generation of Basquiats and Warhols,” the innovative One River School of Art + Design is hosting its Grand Opening weekend event on Saturday and Sunday, June 2 and 3, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., at 1033 Davis St. in Evanston. Kids, teens and adults can participate in free art and design workshops, tour the studios and art gallery, as well as meet the instructors and other prospective students. Refreshments and registration discounts will be available throughout the grand opening weekend.

“One River School is transforming art education across America,” said the director of One River School in Evanston, Cristina Willard. “We are delighted to bring our unique membership-based concept to this central location in Evanston. One River School, with our two hands-on art-making studios and a state-of-the-art digital studio, looks forward to soon be buzzing with students of all ages and experience levels making and creating together.”

We want to provide kids with the best local place where they can express their creativity, stretch their pure potential and have fun. At the same time, One River is a destination for adults looking for new opportunities for personal growth.

MATT ROSS

FOUNDER AND CEO, ONE RIVER SCHOOL

Established in 2012 in Englewood, New Jersey, One River School of Art + Design provides communities with creative, project-based learning experiences that are typically only available within major cities. The curriculum was created by One River’s team of experienced art educators who have developed an expanding program of teaching modules based on art practices of the best contemporary artists working today. The result is revolutionizing the teaching, learning and practice of art. Also in our beautiful gallery space, One River School Evanston will present exhibitions of emerging and established artists who make work that’s current, relevant and inspiring to our students.

“We want to provide kids with the best local place where they can express their creativity, stretch their pure potential and have fun,” explains One River School founder Matt Ross. “At the same time, One River is a destination for adults looking for new opportunities for personal growth. We serve those who seek the return to an activity they loved as a kid, as well as those who want to realize their dream of learning to draw, paint or design using the newest digital techniques.”

One River School celebrates its Grand Opening weekend on June 2 and 3, 2018 featuring free art classes, enrollment discounts, refreshments and a gallery exhibition.

Jason Thomas Crocker Photography Moves Headquarters to New York City

Jason Thomas Crocker Photography Makes the Big Move from Cleveland to NYC

Award-winning photographer, Jason Thomas Crocker, has made the leap to being in NYC full time by moving the Jason Thomas Crocker Photography headquarters from Cleveland, Ohio to New York City. The global photographer has shot weddings all around the world including France, Maui, Bainbridge Island, Cleveland, Denver, and Chicago and is ready to light up New York City.Jason Thomas Crocker believes in creating an experience for his clients and making their wedding day special and a day they can look back on for the rest of their lives through photos.

Jason walks clients through the entire process from engagement sessions to what to expect on your actual wedding day. Throughout the whole experience, Jason put the emphasis on clients and how they would like everything. From the exchange of heartfelt wedding vows to breaking it down on the dance floor, Jason captures every timeless moment that makes the client’s wedding day special.

New York City wedding photographer | Jason Thomas Crocker

While working out of Cleveland Jason built up his New York City wedding portfolio and has become a go-to in the area for the best wedding portraits. Having shot over 200 couples on their special day, many in NYC, Jason made the decision to make the big move to be more accessible to his NYC clientele. Jason truly blends his eye for epic compositions with his photojournalistic style of photography to capture the true essence of who you are as a newly married couple.

“I have so many couples reaching out to me from NYC, it just made sense to make the move,” says Jason. “NYC is a pinnacle for weddings and I have found myself being called to shoot weddings there more and more.”

About Jason Thomas Crocker Photography

Jason Crocker is a New York City Wedding Photographer who loves capturing candid wedding day photos as much as traveling around the globe to photograph destination weddings.

After documenting 200+ couples, Jason can honestly say that no two weddings are the same, which makes every wedding story that he captures unique and special. Jason blends his eye for epic compositions with his photojournalistic style of photography to capture the true essence of who you are as a newly married couple.

Along with his award-winning photography, he has also built his wedding photography process to infuse more fun and less stress into your wedding day. Leave the photography planning, organizing, and wrangling of aunts and uncles to him so you can relax and enjoy the celebration.


Capture Life, Not A Picture: The Resurgence In Candid Photography

Candid photography is growing more and more popular. It is not hard to see why candid photography is making such a prominent comeback, the natural behaviour in a natural setting creates a timeless photograph.

The fact that you are capturing subjects when they are unaware helps the picture to build a snapshot of life, not a forced scene with a fixed image in mind. The rise of social media and photo sharing platforms has widened the hobby to new audiences which has led to an increase in candid photography. As candid photography requires little preparation, it is perfect for amateurs to try as well as experienced and professional photographers to perfect. While social media has given photography an increase in popularity, coupled with the growing camera technology available on smartphone, it has led confusion as to what is branded as candid.

Candid and street photography are two photographic genres that are increasing in popularity as a way of capturing real-life rather than a prepared scene and commonly confused and misrepresented on social media. Street photography focuses on the public spaces more than the unaware subject that candid gets success from.

Candid wedding photography is another field that is growing as it helps images to retain their freshness and spontaneity, rather than a fixed portrait that can become a tired, generic and ultimately boring. If you want to try out candid photography for yourself, here are five top tips:

• Take your camera everywhere, so you feel more comfortable
• Don’t use flash, instead raise your ISO for low light conditions and remaining unseen
• Be patient to capture the best moment or facial expression
• Shoot in burst mode to increase your chances of the perfect shot
• Blend in so that the crowd isn’t aware of you and will act naturally.


Typography & Truth

The New York Times ran an experiment which concluded that typography can influence our perception of the truth. For instance, if we read a fact that was written out in the dreaded Comic Sans, we'd perhaps view that fact differently than if it were written in a more aesthetically pleasing font like Helvetica.

For the uninitiated among you, a font is an assortment of type that shares a style and size and a typeface is the style or design of the font (i.e. bold, italic etc). Serif fonts such as Times New Roman and Garamond have small lines at the ends of character strokes. They're commonly used in books and newspapers, due to their high readability on paper.

Sans serif fonts are a category of typefaces that do not use serifs. Various studies have come to the conclusion that sans serif fonts are more difficult to read on paper. That's why in print they are seen more often as headlines and captions.

Looking past the physical properties of these typefaces, there is also the cultural significance. What does the font you choose say about you or your business, and what impact might it have? Serif fonts are associated with academia and authority, which may be important to you if you're looking to instil feelings of trust in your reader. Or, if you want to align yourself or your brand with youth and modernity, a sans serif font would be the way to go.

In the New York Times experiment, readers were shown a statement written in one of five fonts: Georgia, Helvetica, Trebuchet, Comic Sans and Baskerville. Interestingly, more people believed the statement when it was written in Baskerville – a serif font – than the other four typefaces.

So, does the font you use really matter? If the New York Times is to be believed, then the answer is yes.

Your font choice could really affect people's perception of you and your services - it may hold the power to make people choose your service over the competition, upgrade to a higher ticket product or even pay the premium rates you've always wanted to charge...


An Interview with Angela Mariano

We recently spoke with 19-year-old up and coming model Angela Mariano. She told us her unique story of how she went from taking care of turtles in Costa Rica to appearing on the cover of DEZINE and all the bits in between and beyond!

Tell us a bit about yourself and how you got into modelling?
So I’m from Upstate New York and I always knew that I wanted to model. I’ve always been into art and fashion my entire life. My parents were both accountants and had desk jobs and were very much like ‘Oh you need to go to college and get a real job’ and that never really interested me ever from day one, I always knew that’s never been what I wanted.

After High School I kinda had a freak out and really didn’t want to go to school so I, I wanted to help people so I volunteered in Costa Rica. I was working with kids and teaching them English, helping them with homework and things like that. Then I also was volunteering with sea turtles (laughs) taking data and also working with monkeys a little bit. Yeah, it’s so random!

When I came back, I really liked Costa Rica and the weather so I applied to the University of Hawaii, got in and was all set to go. And then, had kind of another freak out like “I don’t wanna go to school, I don’t wanna do this I really really wanna be in New York City – I wanna try modelling” and I like moved here with no plan I didn’t know anyone, I was by myself. I’d just turned 19. From there I just kinda met a bunch of photographers and small brands through Instagram and that’s how I got started.

"I was by myself. I’d just turned 19. From there I just kinda met a bunch of photographers and small brands through instagram."

I suppose that’s like the American Dream isn’t it? To just go away and try something?
Yeah, literally when I moved all my friends were like so concerned ‘Is Ange OK?’ “Ange is gonna be homeless’ but it’s working out! I never had a plan B. I don’t believe in those - plan A needs to work out. I want to earn my success, I don’t want anyone to just hand it to me.

Is it something you’re doing full time?
Yeah, currently full time. I’ve been struggling with money a little bit because I didn’t realise ‘oh groceries and laundry and the subway’ that’s a big expense! I mean I knew it was going to be expensive, especially being in the city, it’s like you breathe and they take ten dollars right there. Everything is so much money, everything. I go to the grocery store and I see like three cantaloupes for two dollars, “OK I guess I’m having cantaloupe!”

My boyfriend always is like aggravated with it a little bit, my parents – not to say that they’re not supportive – because I’m not in college or anything they’re kind of like “figure it out on your own”. Which in a way I kind of like because I’ve always been an independent person.

But when I’m struggling with money a little bit it’s kind of frustrating for them to be like “Well, figure it out!” But then I got a cheque from a really big job and I had like $2,000 in my account and I’m like “Whoa, I’m ballin’ I could go to Mexico right now, I’ve never had this much money” It works out, and now that I’m being signed I’ll have consistent work all the time, which is nice.

Read the full interview with Angela Mariano in Issue 04 of DEZINE


Are you Mac or PC?

Since the dawn of civilisation, humans have spent endless amounts of time pondering some of the most important debates in history: Did Han shoot first? Or was it Greedo?, Were Ross and Rachel on a break?, Do you prefer Pepsi or Coke? Now, we all know that Han did, in fact, shoot first (regardless of what George Lucas would have you believe) but what about Macs and PCs, which of these titanic machines really does reign supreme?

It may seem pretty obvious that for designers, it’s got to be a Mac. And many would agree. But they can be pretty expensive – for the money you’d spend on an iMac, you could potentially build a PC from scratch to the same specifications and also save yourself some cash.

Macs do tend to be the best platform for design and creativity, that’s mainly down to the strength of its applications and the fact that Macs are usually top quality machines.

Not to say there aren’t PCs that could do the job just as well. Considering you can build a PC, it can basically be anything you want it to be (You could even install a Mac OS on to it if you were so inclined). The only real issue is that there are applications that only run on Macs, and sometimes their PC counterparts can be bug-ridden after-thoughts.

Until I started my first ‘proper’ job in design, I was a champion of the PC (mainly because I couldn’t afford a Mac) and it was fine. It had enough RAM and good enough hardware to cope with the Adobe applications I needed it to run.

Macs always frightened me with their lack of buttons and simple app icons, but by the end of my first week working on my Power Mac G5 (old school, I know) I had fallen in love with the fluidity and simple elegance of the machine. And I firmly believe that once you’ve had Mac, you can never go back!

But that’s just me! What’s your preference? And more importantly, why?


Crowdsourcing and the Designer: Is It Worth It?

Crowdsourcing is a very big thing nowadays. Whether you're crowdsourcing funds on Kickstarter or you're farming out creative work - it's everywhere.

In some cases, this can be a very good thing. In 2014 the cult TV show Veronica Mars got the big screen treatment and this was all down to crowdsourced funds from fans of the original show.

But when it comes to design, many believe that crowdsourcing is doing more harm than good, with many agencies and designers finding it hard to compete with the rock-bottom prices and volume of options these crowdsourcing sites can offer. The sad fact being that quality is pushed aside in favour of quantity and value for money.

More often than not, crowdsourcing design is presented to the designer as a competition. A group of around 30 designers will produce designs based on a brief from a business or individual, where the prize is essentially to get paid for their work.

From a business point of view, if you can get 30+ people to design your logo for you, then you pick the best one and get it for a fraction of what you'd pay an agency, or even a freelancer in some cases, then it's a serious win.

But what about those other designers? And even the profession as a whole? Surely by participating in crowdsourcing of design, you're devaluing yourself and your services as a designer? Assuming you're not the one who wins the work, as with Highlander "there can be only one", you've potentially wasted hours of your time for free. And for those lucky few who do achieve victory, is the prize really worth it?

Sure, if you look at 99designs as an example, their lowest competition prize is $299 - but when your chances of winning are only 3.33% why waste your time?


An Interview with Julia Trotti

We hear from Sydney-based fashion photographer, Julia Trotti, as she tells us all about her career.

Tell us a bit about yourself and how you first got into photography?
I’m Julia Trotti, a fashion photographer based in Sydney, Australia. My work consists of fashion campaigns, lookbooks, editorials, portrait work as well as travel photography. I have been creative for as long as I can remember. At first I dabbled in creating work out of traditional mediums, then moved on to creating photo manipulations in Photoshop with stock images I found on the Internet. I truly loved editing and retouching, and slowly wanted to start taking more control over the images I created. That’s when I picked up a camera to start shooting and fell in love with the art of photography. I started photographing more and manipulating in Photoshop less until photography became my full time profession.

Image Credit: Julia Trotti – Model: Ivy Matheson

“Go out and shoot! You can read about photography, spend time organising and planning but the best practice and the fastest way to learn is to get out there and start doing.”

Who or what are your main sources of inspiration?
While I love awing at the beautiful work Tim Walker creates (one of my favourite photographers who inspired me to get into photography), I tend to find my inspiration in other places. I am inspired by locations - more often than not I will come across somewhere beautiful that will spark ideas for an editorial. I am also inspired by emotions, colours, lighting and new faces.

Click here to read the full interview with Julia Trotti in Issue 03 of DEZINE


Featured Photographer: Chris Devour

We hear from 25-year-old Oradea-based photographer, Chris Devour who tells us about his passions and inspirations.

All photography featured is from Chris’s “Indoor Stories” series, featuring Alice Peneaca with make-up by Ana Medinschi.

I am 25 years old, currently based in Oradea, but travelling a lot to Bucharest. I was born in Oradea, and lived there for about 13 years, then moved to Budapest for 4 years, and afterwards to Bucharest for 2 years for my MA studies. I have always been fascinated with art related stuff, collecting things I found interesting, drawing, photography, history and cultural studies. I played drums for 3 years in a punk-rock band when I was younger and living in Budapest, so music is really important to me. One of my favourite projects in 2016 was going on tour around Europe, with Golan (band) opening for Parov Stelar. I had to document their tour. It was an amazing experience. I had the opportunity to work with great people from models to artists, friends and people I love. Everyone I’ve worked with was and is a great inspiration for my photos.

"While my studies focus mainly on political science diplomacy & security, Marxism and anarcho-communism, my passion for photography comes from my childhood."

While my studies focus mainly on political science diplomacy & security, Marxism and anarcho-communism, my passion for photography comes from my childhood. As I mentioned before, I was always fascinated with collecting photos or illustrations of the things I liked from cartoons, books, magazines. Making collages was part of this process. Growing up I loved to draw, so combining photography with drawing and collages somehow ended up into what I love doing today.

One of the main concepts reappearing in my work was the covering of the face/identity/self. A mixture of futuristic virtual reality where we will hardly know our actual features, instead we will only settle for the virtual ones, thus covering our true identity, while this is already beginning to take shape, it is quite haunting if we think about it, but like everything it does have beauty and it can inspire. What if this becomes norm in the future.

I like ordered chaos, so I usually take something and try to make it simple, I believe it comes naturally, but inspiration is always present so I admit that I was influenced by many foreign artists. However, I’m constantly trying to apply my own style to the photo.

My favourite place to shoot would be a minimal white room with little or no furniture, wooden floors and big windows.

Click here to see more of "Indoor Stories" in Issue 02 of DEZINE