5 Coffee Table Books you Must Own

My collection of coffee table books is steadily growing despite the fact I have absolutely zero room for them with the added problem in that I don't actually own a coffee table to proudly display them on. In fact my wife will let out an audible groan when she see's my mouse hovering over the "add to basket" icon when I'm on Amazon. What is a coffee table book? I hear you ask, well read on and I shall inform.

#1 THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK: The Definitive Story behind the Film

My latest and greatest book purchase I've had my eye on for a while but resisted buying it due to the fact its original list price was originally around the fifty pounds mark but some spare cash and a price reduction on Amazon were two forces that combined forces nicely.
If like me you were born in the early 70's chances are you sucumbed to the Star Wars craze and even today can't resist using empty coffee mugs to talk into to perfect your party piece "No Luke I am your Father" phrase to impress the kids (okay so that's just me then). The Making of The Empire Strikes Back: The Definitive Story Behind the Film By J.W Rinzler is by far the most in depth book I've seen on the Star Wars Trilogy, Empire being my favourite of the original trilogy of films this packs a real wallop at 372 pages with some stunning content, the cover even depicts Luke and Vader in the sabre duel and clearly shows both light sabres with no visual effect.
The book is packed with some outstanding Star Wars photography and great insights on filming both on sound stages and on location, in particular are highlights of the perils of shooting in Norway for the Imperial AT AT attack on Echo base sequence (the temperature in Norway was so cold that if crew touched the cameras without wearing gloves bare skin from fingers would stick to the metal parts of frozen cameras and therefore needed to be sliced off with razor blades). The book also touches on the sometimes highly tense relationships between actors and director Irvin Kershner and the constant visits on set by banks and financiers worried about the over budget production and often problematic shoot.
I love the fact you can dive into this book anywhere and on any page find a Star Wars laden treasure trove of stories and behind the scenes images and anecdotes you probably have never seen before. There's a great story of Vaders comical entry to Echo base which didn't quite come off as planned, the ditched Wampa - Stormtrooper attack that never made the cut (with photos!) and its rammed with model makers,set pics and some great candid shots of the stars on set. Empire Strikes Back sealed its fate as probably the darkest and most standout of the 3 films but this book is testament to the raw talent and hard work that went into the film to give us the masterpiece we know and love today. Amazon currently have this listed at twenty Eight pounds, an absolute bargain for a tome as hefty and detailed at this. The Empire Strikes Back: The Definitive Story Behind the Film.

At 272 pages Gil Elvgren: All his Glamorous American Pin-ups (25th Anniversary) this is amazing value for money, I picked up mine about a year ago for just over ten pounds so this really is one of those guilty pleasures you should invest in. American artist Edward Hopper, Pin up posters, Pulp Art from the 50's and the pin up art of Vargas has always appealed to me but its Gil Elvgrens American pin up art that seals the deal for me.
While the art of Vargas is slightly more classy with a delicate and refined touch, Gils 'Technicolor Fantasy' pin up art (to coin a phrase) has always been well rounded and fruity, its naughty stocking clad girls in various states of cheeky predicament add a touch of thrill rather than run any risk of being accused of rude soft porn and it still manages to be completely harmless but with perhaps a large dose of suggestive behaviour. Pin ups have been rooted firmly in Americana, beautiful girls with gravity defying busts, slender legs and racy underwear...and a small dog by their side thrown in for good measure. Elvgrens appreciation of the female form is well catalogued with skin tones like silk and poses that sizzle with cheeky allure right off the page. It was this type of art that was given even more precedence when young World War 2 Bomber Pilots adorned the noses of their B17' Bombers with crude pin up girl murals and decals in order to personalise and humanise their machines of war - and its looking through books on nose art (Gary Valants Vintage Nose Art book is worth checking out) that I was first introduced to this type of art. This book isn't small, its a solid tome packed to the brim of some truly beautiful pin up art and with very little white space, books like this are created by people who truly appreciate this type of art but then most books by Taschen normally are substantial in both quality and content and they do publish some of the best art books. Gil Elvgren: All his Glamorous American Pin-ups (25th Anniversary)

#3 ICONS: The DC Comics and Wildstorm Art of Jim Lee



Icons: The DC Comics and WildStorm Art of Jim Lee runs at 296 pages, this one also packs a heavyweight punch. I've been a fan of Lee's for a long while, I was first introduced to both Carl Potts and Jim Lee's style of artwork when he worked on the Punisher War Journal series for Marvel Comics in 1988. While I tend to like the gritty style of John Romitta Jr with the Punisher, it was Lees work that really popped from the page for me and I've been a fan ever since. Jim Lee's other and probably much overlooked title Deathblow gets a good look in with some great Jim Lee art but its the DC era that really gets the coverage in Icons.

Lee's incredible work on Batman:Hush shows sketches, pre inked and post inked and coloured and gives a great insight into the way he works. Superman, Justice league, 100 Bullets as well as Wonder Woman and Lees work on Wildstorm are all covered. Artwork really pops and the colour and quality of the work really cements Lee's place as one of the most important men working in comics today. The book doesn't scrimp when it comes to layout either with content covering full pages and double page layouts it features a nice cross mix of page layout roughs as well as visuals but its the colour work that really jumps out. The only downside to the book is that because its primarily a DC book Lee's Punisher work isn't present, a shame considering it was Lee's bold and highly detailed style that drove the quality of the series after he took over penciller duties from Carl Potts. Superman fans are in for a treat and both the key DC heroes Bruce and Clark get equal billing with some amazing standout artworks and studies. Batman fans will get a massive kick out of this book though and its packed with some great images and even includes the Joker artwork that Jim Lee gave to the late great actor Heath Ledger.

#4 WHISKEY TANGO FOXTROT: A Photographers Chronicle of the Iraq War



I love most types of photography but my interest kind of piques when it comes to photo-journalism, especially combat related photography. Its fair to say that the latest rumbles in the dust in Iraq and Afghanistan have offered up some incredible photo essays and journalism by war photographers both in print and online with images that educate us visually on modern conflict. Many years ago I bought an amazing book called "NAM" by photographer Tim Paige, Paige was a an English photographer embedded with US and Vietnamese troops during the Vietnam conflict and was wounded when he stepped on a landmine. It was his images and ability to overcome his wounds that created a level of respect for this kind of photographer. Combat photos portray the sheer terror and risk involved in capturing images we would otherwise not be exposed to.Whiskey Tango Foxtrot (WTF) is one such  book and is a sometimes moving chronicle of Photographer Ashley Gilbertsons work while embedded with American troops.
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot: A Photographer's Chronicle of the Iraq War is a book that covers both the deadly environment of troops in combat but also cuts deep to the bone by showing some powerful photos of the devastation and pain that armed conflict brings to communities. Content and layout wise its probably one of the better books on the market with a good balance of photography that tells a more involved story.
What I like most is that in his own words the book explains much about the images that Gilbertson was taking at the time of the photo and in some rather tragic cases portrays the last photo ever taken of a particular person while they were alive.The most gripping aspect of the book is Gilbertson's personal account and photos of troops in combat in the brutal fight to take Fallujah, Gilbertson still haunted by the traumatic death of a US Marine which could have well have been his own when a squad escorting him to take a photo of a dead insurgent inside a minaret had deadly consequences. At 260 pages this provides enough content you can dive into, as a book on combat photography it is engrossing, tragic and incredible in equal measure.
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot: A Photographer's Chronicle of the Iraq War

#5 SOLDIER: A Visual History of the Fighting Man



Soldier: A Visual History of the Fighting Man, this is one of those "books for boys"that you can easily lose a few hours on with a cup of coffee in your man cave, all 360 pages of it. Dorling Kindersley have a knack of producing some pretty good in depth visual guides, in this case is backed up by tons of historical fact which makes the read through educating to say the least.You could almost look at these books as the literary version of a history museum since the photographic content is done in such a way that it mirrors how museums would normally display their exhibits.Uniforms, equipment and weapons are given close up focus as the book covers the advances in technology and tools that the fighting soldier has come to rely on.
The thing I find most staggering is how far advanced weaponry has become  in the last 150 years, in the American Civil War men fired single load muskets with ball and wadding, now night vision, scopes and optics and computers are forging the battlefield of today.
Everything from the Medieval Knight at Agincourt, British Red Coats at Waterloo to the more recent conflicts such as WWII featuring the weapons and equipment of the 101st Airborne Paratrooper, US Marine in Vietnam and the SAS trooper and tactics of modern day. Visually it combines illustrations, photographs and plenty of text, in short there is a ton of information here for the military enthusiast.
This is a heavyweight coffee table book packed with images, illustrations and historic information and a perfect addition to any home library.Soldier: A Visual History of the Fighting Man is also available from Amazon.

 Got a favourite coffee table book you keep going back to?, I'd love to hear about it in the comments section below so don't be shy, jump in and get the conversation started.

Aurora Seen from the ISS in Orbit

I took a trip to Iceland in December to do some marketing work on a videogame I'm working on. I did get to sample the Icelandic attractions of things like the Geo Thermal delights of the Blue Lagoon, this was at night after a 3 hour flight from the UK and in freezing sideways rain, I never knew rain could fall sideways but the -2 windchill factor contrasted weirdly with the hot spa was an experience I'll never forget.
Of course the other thing that took some getting used to was the 5 hours of daylight. My biggest regret though is that while I was there for the entire week I never did get a glimpse of the Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis). This simply stunning phenomena is caused by the collision of energetic charged particles with atoms in the high altitude atmosphere. The green hue is caused by oxygen emissions but can also be a brown-red colour depending on the amount of energy absorbed.Nitrogen emissions give off blue or red. Auroras are associated with the solar wind, a flow of ions continuously flowing outward from the Sun. The Earth's magnetic field traps these particles, many of which travel toward the poles where they are accelerated toward Earth.

Missing this amazing light show was a huge disappointment for me as its one of those things you add to your bucket list, still, there's always things like this stunning footage taken from the ISS in orbit to keep that dream going.

Candy Colored Nightmares

Allow me to introduce you to the work of artist Dave MacDowell, a self taught artist from Virginia, satrical 'candy coloured nightmares' and paintings with an edge.Movies, Politics, Music..no media gets out alive! Judging by the 83,000 views of his Flickr paintings page he's a popular guy.

Check out his blog here
Check out his Flickr paintings page here

"Who Ya' Gunna Call?"

Battlefield 3 and 3.9 Million Grenades

The Battlefield 3 FPS launched more than 12 months ago, and its through its popularity as one of the leading military shooters on the market that it still generates more than 1 terabyte of data a day.
Publisher Electronic Arts tracks more than 50 different telemetry events associated with multiplayer combat for each player in a game pulling in some truly staggering data.
For example, the data reveals that every 15 minutes, Battlefield 3 players throw 3.9 million grenades, destroy 648,000 vehicles, and create 24 million explosions.
EA has 275 million registered users, it captures 50TBs of data per day, and it monitors 2 billion monthly game sessions. You sir, are being watched.

Iron Man 3 poster

IRON MAN 3 Poster

Loving the look and feel of the latest posters for Iron Man 3, the latest features our Iron Clad protagonist Tony Stark stripped of his lethal Ion charged gauntlets and mean looking helmet and I've got to say the Iron Patriot Armour that Commander Rhodes will be flying looks absolutely stunning.

Iron Man 3 is directed by Shane Black (Kiss Kiss Bang Bang) working from a script that he co-wrote with Drew Pearce.
The posters have a "reveal" aspect to them that not only strips away some of the mystery and secrecy of the characters but proves that these characters are now firmly established within the Trilogy of films. Iron Man 3 opens on May 3rd.

Never Dilute Your Brand

Video-game behemoth Electronic Arts finally woke up and smelt the coffee recently when it announced that it is to mothball its Medal of Honor franchise. On a recent investor call EA's COO Peter Moore confirmed that the Medal of Honor series will not be returning in the near future.
In the call Moore said, "We struggled with two challenges: the slowdown that impacted the entire sector and poor critical and commercial reception for Medal of Honor Warfighter.
"Medal of Honor was an obvious miss. The game was solid, but the focus on combat authenticity did not resonate with consumers.
"Critics were polarized and gave the game scores which were, frankly, lower than it deserved. This one is behind us now. We are taking Medal of Honor out of the rotation, and have a plan to bring year-over-year continuity to our shooter offerings."
One of the biggest challenges EA faced with rebooting MOH was that it already had one of the best shooters on the market in the form of its Battlefield franchise. Rebooting a modern Afghansitan themed MOH and following that up with its lacklustre MOH Warfighter sequel last year did nothing but cannibalise its own brand and alienate MOH and BF3 fans.

Rather than focus its entire energy in strengthening its BF brand it decided instead to take on Activision's Call of Duty franchise with two different products, the problem was both products were fighting for exactly the same consumer dollar.
Why anyone in their right mind at EA thought that offering two modern day military shooters to exactly the same buyer in the same year from the same publisher was a sound idea I have absolutely no idea.
Medal of Honor made its gaming return in 2011 after a three-year hiatus with an agressively cool marketing campaign ("Experts in the Application of Violence) which based its dark and moody brand message on a Tier 1 Special Forces character called "Cowboy" who just so happens to be a real Tier 1 operator. The game, developed by both Danger Close and DICE, received a lukewarm critical reception but fared reasonably well commercially. Last year’s MOH: Warfighter, fared far worse and sold just over 300,000 units in its first week in the US, significantly below analyst expectations. By contrast MOH sold 2 million copies in its first two weeks on the market.

"Critics were polarized and gave the game scores which were, frankly, lower than it deserved," EA COO Peter Moore told investors. "This one is behind us now. We are taking Medal of Honor out of the rotation and have a plan to bring year-over-year continuity to our shooter offerings."
The question remains why EA even attempted  to cannabalize its own brand by diluting it against a far superior and better performing product, Battlefield’s stock has never been higher, with EA revealing that the Premium subscription service for Battlefield 3 has attracted 2.9m subscribers and generated sales of over $108m.
The fact is EA wasted a ton of money and time by diverting attention into a lesser performing brand when it could have created a significant war chest to formulate a killer strategy to catch up to Activision. As a brand things have never looked so positive for Battlefield 3, the game has sold 10 million copies worldwide, across all platforms. What’s even more important to know, the sales numbers only include until December 31, 2011.

Coca Cola only have one Cola, there are different versions of it sure, Diet, Vanilla,Cherry but it focuses on delivering a strong brand message on that one brand. Coca Cola, Santa drinks it, Polar Bears drink it and those young trendy 20 somethings frolicking in the park on a summers day drink it. The fact is there isn't another similar Cola product closely similar to Coca Cola that Coca Cola promote, and why should it?, its not necessary, it doesn't need to deliver another closely matching product to dilute its own brand to the same consumer which is exactly what EA did when it launched two closely matching genre titles together.
If you have a strong brand but an equally more powerful competitor in the same market space you have to focus all your energy into reinforcing what you have, not weakening its brand message by adding another "me too" entity into the same space when the market doesn't require it.  




 

KICKSTARTER: How To Sell Your Project Successfully

Know What You're Getting Into Before You Start
It's important to have a goal before embarking on a fund raising drive of any kind and its no different with Kickstarter. On the one hand it provides you with an incredible opportunity to realize a project you've always wanted to do but on the other hand also heaps a ton of responsibility on you to make good what you'll deliver your legions of backers or "pledgers" when they invest in your concept. Planning is absolutely essential, ramping up an appeal is in effect a business plan that total strangers are going to invest in and they're only going to invest in something that they have absolute faith or respect for. Cost your project out down to the penny and know what your break even point is, consider the resources and time you'll need to invest and above all network with people who may have the skills you'll need to rely on. People don't part with money easily these days and in order to get commitment from them you're going to have show some commitment yourself which is why coming up with a watertight plan is important. Be sure to explain clearly what the project is you are seeking pledges for, why you are seeking funding and the efforts you'll be making to ensure the project comes together.
Backers are ultimately looking for cool projects to be a part of, to be inspired and to be able to say "I helped fund that" empowering people to act and make a difference gives them an amazing feeling. Indie projects are always held in high regard, ones not hindered by executive chains of command preaching down through the ranks of Monday morning board meetings and corporate greed. Backers are looking for trend setters, for projects that appeal to them because it's something they've not seen before or that innovate in some way. Above all though backers are looking for a decent ROI (Return On Investment), there has to be a decent incentive to offer your backers to become involved in funding your project. A favourable mention in the back of your book for $5 pledged might be fine but don't expect that to have the same appeal at $10 Pledged. What you offer in return will ultimately dictate if your project gets off the ground.
Above all remember that you're also going to have consider what resources you have available in order to fulfil all your pledgers incentives, the logistics and all "the smaller nitty gritty stuff" are going to take up time and man power to honour so make sure you plan for it.

Avoid Talking Negatively - Remember your ABC (Always Be Confident)
No one wants to hear how your other attempts at funding have failed or how the bank manager broke his promise to lend you cash or how previous business partners let you down. Talking negatively or including any other type of sob story is just burning up crucial air time on how awesome you can make your project sound. Have something to say that keeps the tone positive and on the up, inspire people to believe in your project as well as yourself so be sure to present the product in a positive but relaxed tone and absolutely do not beg.
People are a lot more receptive to an idea if you can sell it with confidence, that means being able to make them just as enthusiastic about the project as you are. A well edited video of you talking about your project edited in with the ideas, sketches,prototype,blueprint,script,story or whatever it is you have will help sell your concept for someone to pledge in.You are the storyteller, tell a story that people cannot afford to ignore.Do your homework and check out other Kickstarter videos to get an idea of the sort of content people are including but more importantly how they are connecting with potential Pledgers.
How you inspire people with your concept is entirely up to you but remember you are selling the idea as well as yourself to people you'll probably never meet.
A positive attitude sprinkled with some insightful information or humour will pay off massively.
Two fantastic examples of this are Jeff McComseys Kickstarter  project, a Zombie Graphic Novel FUBAR:Empire of the Rising Dead and Tim Schafers super slick and humour filled pitch for his Kickstarter funded Adventure game which reached a staggering $3.3 Million in funding to the tune of some 87,000 backers and achieved 100% funding in just over 8 hours.
While both projects are vastly different they both give the reasons they are seeking Kickstarter funding and are openly honest about the whole process and this really helps the projects connect with potential backers.

Deliver What You Promise
If you're going to offer to deliver a signed lithographic print, guess what - you're actually going to have to deliver a signed lithographic print, once you've made that offer there's no turning back so carefully configure your backer incentives as being ones you can comfortably deliver. Resources are important, not only from a fulfilment perspective but also from a time perspective. You want to be able to dedicate as much time and manpower to your project as possible rather than have key personnel or team members running around trying to process the Kickstarter fulfilment of wrapping mugs, mousemats or leather bound art books or whatever gifts you are using for incentives for posting to pledgers. If you can't deliver it, don't promise it.

Be Clear On What You Are Offering
Keep things clear and simple, don't stuff your offerings with paragraph after paragraph of text, a snapshot or a brief overview of what you are offering backers per amount pledged is easy enough to advertise with a simple graphic, photo or image. These are sometimes labelled as "packages", a package is the deal you are offering your backers and will be broken down by monetary pledge. For example for $65 you might offer a Premium package which contains whatever it is you're going to offer, for $90 or more though they'll get the Collectors package which is made up of the same content as the Premium package but perhaps with something extra thrown in as a bonus.
An amazing example of beautifully realised packages is shown on  the Creatue Box Kickstarter page here.


Don't Get Sunk by Hidden Costs
There are some fantastic success stories on Kickstarter of late, there are literally hundreds of creative projects that have seen the light of day because they got the funding they deserved and became a reality.However, there are also some Kickstarter projects that became a reality but at a much larger cost than anticipated like the guys at War Balloon Games who detailed their painful expenditure here. The Hidden costs of Kickstarter can literally make or break your project, Kickstarter themselves take a 5% cut of your fees when the project reaches its funded target, Amazon takes between a 3-5% fee for credit card processing. Other cost you need to consider are things like manufacturing and delivery charges for backers incentives which can all quickly add up if you've failed to cost things out beforehand. Those t-shirts you're thinking about offering, have you costed the design, t-shirt stock, printing and delivery outside of the US?
What about third party fulfilment houses, if you haven't got the manpower to pick,pack and ship 3000 t-shirts you're going to need to pay someone who can.
Offering up posters, folded flat? because if you're using cardboard tubes those aren't cheap to post.
The best example I've seen on Kickstarter of calculating postage costs is the global map by the guys at Creature Box on their Kickstarter page, a colour coded map and Fed Ex costs are added per colour zone, these guys have clearly done their homework.
Another fee to consider is the legal fees for sorting out the necessary trademarks,copyrights and other protective measures to your I.P. This may be the digital age but your project is going to need some form of protection when it makes it to the big bad world.

Good Luck!