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Studio Roundup for March 2024

General / 22 April 2024

Creating realistic renders

We love stylised 3D, but when you need an accurate visualisation of a clients product — photorealism is the best way. Fortunately Blender is well equipped to create realistic renders using the Cycles renderer.

This month Garrett has created an example of a realistic render by studying a product photo from esteemed New York furniture designer Christian Miano and recreating that photo using Blender.

Can you tell which is the render and which is the original reference photo?
A wireframe image of this Christian Miano render showing the 3D models without lighting or materials.

Development Operations (DevOps)

This month we journeyed across the massive landscape of server orchestration evaluating options like containerisation, automation, Business as Usual (BAU) planning and continuous integration and testing.

For now, we’ll be implementing a simple Ansible setup, similar to Roots Trellis, in order to manage our servers. Ansible is an old one but offers the largest ecosystem for past implementations and problem solving knowledge. The core modules within Ansible afford us a framework for customisation that can potentially meet all our imaginable use cases.

We are a Git based organisation all the way to our timesheets, notes and server configs being Git managed and Markdown file based.

The company files repo’s main folder structure.

Currently these are all in a “mono repo” setup but we’ll be splitting that out into a business repo and a technical one for servers in the near future.

Having a solid CI/CD process is fundamental to offering web development to multiple clients. Building a scalable hosting solution that doesn’t take engineering time away from development efforts is going to be approached incrementally, allowing us to offer best in class services.

Garrett Ray Jewellery

To celebrate the star sign of Pisces, the zodiac for March, we produced this custom animation to share on our socials.

https://medium.com/media/ca1b434ccec325fa60e9a3e29c22b334/href

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Studio Roundup for February 2024

General / 23 March 2024

Analytics solutions

Last year we switched from Google Analytics to a self hosted solution using Matomo. Using Cloudflare as a fallback, we have been comparing the data and experience. We found that Matomo is better as a marketing and analytics tool for seeing user behaviours while Cloudflare Analytics is a bit simpler and best suited to technical insights like the amount of raw traffic.

Being a system based on PHP and MySQL provides us with a lot of options to customise the web UI and the data reporting side of things. We have been providing advanced Wordpress development since 2020 so it’s a natural fit for our development toolkit and operations. Watch this space!

Garrett Ray Jewellery

Valentine’s Day dominates the retail space for the month of February and it was no different for our marketing efforts at Garrett Ray Jewellery. Offering a number of gift ideas for that special someone, a unique red 3D background was made to set the mood for this Valentine’s Day campaign.

18k white gold petals surrounding a blush pink spinel. Part of the Garrett Ray Blossoms collection.
Solid precious metal tunnels for stretched ears! Available in sizes from 8mm to 25mm in sterling silver, 9k, and 18k gold in the Stretched Ears category.
The tunnels for stretched ears also come with a charm holder variety, featuring a small ring perfect for clipping on Garrett Ray Charms for infinite customizability. Seen here in gold sporting the Vintage Key Charm from the Cottagecore collection.

Featuring a pair of acorns for their beautiful potential. Potential that holds power. Representing the Autumn Equinox, and the harvest to prepare for the coming longest night.

Mighty oaks from little acorns grow. Celebrate the coming harvest in the Autumnal months (beginning in March in Australia) with the Mabon Amulet pendant. Part of the Garrett Ray Solstice collection.

The maiden’s amphora spilling over its bounty of water. A symbol that represents the Aquarian period of the ancients, a time in the old world of floods and rain, followed by the bounty.

Available in multiple formats we’re promoting the amulet charm on the left and stud earrings on the right.

The Pixie Cap is endemic to the Southern Hemisphere. Proof Australia also has fairies.

Add a touch of whimsy to your outfit with the Pixie Cap charm from the Garrett Ray Cottagecore collection. Available in sterling silver, 9k gold, and 18k gold.

Tech feature

Self reliance is important when you’re a small business — it prevents outside risks from affecting you and helps keep costs down. When cloud companies own all your data and you’re beholden to them to continue a product to run your business — you may be stuck with few options.

In recent years, platforms like Google, Meta, Reddit and X have closed off their old API’s entirely, introduced prohibitive pricing schemes for new API’s and established developer vetting policies that have made it harder than ever for small businesses to build robust solutions. Even if you clear all the hurdles and get an application launched— you could be offline with no warning because of a policy change, a platform error or just an outage. These effects can sometimes become very costly — in one worst case scenario we’ve had to abandon an entire project because a product a client requested to use became unavailable right before their launch.

Free and Open Source Software provides an alternative path to the walled gardens of Silicon Valley but it can seem prohibitive due to a lack of industry sophistication and client’s understanding. Today’s job market caters to the short attentions of hiring managers and recruiters, preferring to focus on the latest buzzwords on job requirements rather than articulating fundamentals they need — a typical job ad will insist you have experience working with a framework that’s meant to make a job easier but skip over the fact that most inductees in a team take weeks to onboard regardless of past experience with a tool. Every business and new hire is different.. The knock on effect is an industry fixated on using the latest frameworks and cloud products rather than looking at the bigger picture.

At Open Studios we are passionate about providing an alternative path to the cloud, using our experience with open source software like Wordpress, Node.js, MediaWiki, Moodle and Matomo to provide an ecosystem that is reliable, that provides value and can be customised as needed for business of all sizes. The cost difference usually working itself out over time — you may be up for a bit more to get things up, but when you own the code and just need to change hosting providers you have a lot more options than when a cloud company disappears or just decides a product you use needs to go. In fact if you really commit to a solution and start to customise it (rather than just try to shoehorn your needs into something else)— that’s when you can really get the most value out of your investment.

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Studio Roundup for January 2024

General / 07 March 2024

Garrett Ray Jewellery

Haute couture is a French term for high dressmaking, which refers to the creation of exclusive fashion items. At Garrett Ray Jewellery, you can find some real treasures within the One of a Kind collection and so this month we promoted this beautiful Toi et moi ring across their socials.

Featuring a pair of baby blue Aquamarine in a tapered baguette and octagon cut for a unique and contrasting pairing. This handmade toi et moi ring is part of the Garrett Ray One of a Kind Collection.

Traditionally used to express family coat of arms, signet rings are a popular choice for anyone wishing to convey their point of view whether it’s a unique design or the statement made by having no design at all.

Garrett Ray’s signet rings are the perfect blank canvas, either to add some flash to your outfit or to feature one of their unique sculptural designs.

Aquarians are clever and innovative, pushing boundaries and solving problems. Fearless and intellectual they are activists for good causes they believe in. The time of Aquarius begins on January 20th and so this month we made this vibrant banner to promote this pendant design.

The Aquarius medallion is available as part of the Garrett Ray Zodiac collection in sterling silver, 9k and 18k gold as a charm, signet ring , pendant or earrings.

Langenium

Within a month of refactoring of the project to make it easier for others to contribute, Langenium saw it’s first pull request — which was promptly merged in. This is a very positive development as it’s our hope that we can scale this project with the combined efforts of the Open Studios team and the global open source community. The Langenium vision is to build a bespoke game engine and an MMORPG — both goals that take a phenomenal amount of time, people and resources to achieve.

Taking a few long nights, we’ve finally restored the server component of the engine — using a mix of old code and new. There’s also been a restoration of some old familiar bugs such as the choppy performance, but given we have the solutions hidden in the original server code it shouldn’t take too long to resolve.

https://medium.com/media/fcc5b48bb6e89967979ff9382d2406c7/href

The next step in the project is to restore other original game elements including firing of rails to cause damage, enemy bots and environment models. We are trying to do things a bit different this time too, the game will be playable without a server allowing simple local arcade play initially but with a goal to allow browser clients to connect to each other directly.

Platform building

As part of our commitment to openness, we have setup our own Wikimedia knowledgebase in order to share our curated knowledge and insights with the world. Focusing on creative and technical matters as they relate to freelancers but also including sections for family recipes for cheap eats and others life stuff. The newly launched Open Studios Wiki is still being populated with content from our initial content plan, but once that process is complete we will be opening things up so others can contribute too.

The first major article we’ve got is about Self Hosted Applications. Be sure to check it out if you’re interested in experimenting with open source software and/or want some industry insight to self hosting.

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Studio Roundup for December 2023

General / 04 February 2024

3D Music Videos

This month we decided to work on some music videos to develop our skills and learn some of the additional features within Blender.

Paul worked on a Geometry Node based video for Daft Punk’s Digital Love moving elements of a normally static scene dance along to the beat.

https://medium.com/media/c00528d8850e51f1bfb11ea95989e61b/href

Garrett is working on a cartoon version of Lady Gaga’s Applause music video, recreating the fashionable costumes and sets as close as possible.

Some of the T posed cartoon models developed by Garrett.

Want to see more 3D renders and animations?

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Garrett Ray Jewellery

With Christmas at the centre of global marketing efforts this month, we decided to start December 2023 with something a bit different. This short 3D animation was made in Blender to promote the Key shaped charm from the Cottagecore collection. Check it out below!

https://medium.com/media/119a442be9af1f8af071c930f3756ea7/href

The water goat Capricornus oversees those born in the month of December. Celebrating these patient and reserved individuals, we promoted our Capricornus charm with this banner.

Part of the Garrett Ray Zodiac Collection. Available made to order in sterling silver, 9k and 18k gold.

The Blossom collection is inspired by the Sakura, or cherry blossom, trees of Japan. Featuring a stunning pink spinel set on a beautiful custom design. This is a limited run product that we decided to celebrate with a bouquet of flowers growing on a tree branch.

Check out the Blossoms collection. Made with 18k White Gold and 0.4 carat pink spinel.

To celebrate the Christmas holidays, we promoted this gorgeous Yule ring set on an inviting backdrop featuring all those classic winter icons.

This render of the Yule ring was made for this promotion, requiring additional work to place reflections and shadows as well as some finishing touches. The Yule design is available on a number of products.

Langenium

Having a clear schedule this month, a lot of work went into reintegrating the Open Studios websites code back into the Langenium client code that has been in place since 2015 (dubbed “v5"). The v5 codebase was written to be serverless and work using free Github Pages hosting, v6 will be a hybrid that will allow standalone or multiplayer modes of operation.

Using SVG based flight instruments from WikiCommons, we have synced the needle on the airspeed but the calculation isn’t accurate yet. More work will go into fixing accuracy once we start to put the server together next month. The shared codebase means time has to be spent strategically as some elements, if overdeveloped, may not be useful in the next sprint.

Networking and community

This month was Freo Startup Fest, part of the West Tech Fest event promoting tech startups. We made some new friends, had some great laughs — would definitely go again next year!

Starting our commitment to being a hub for others to practise their craft and collaborate — we now have a private Slack channel for digital technical and creative people. Next month we’ll be looking to setup a learning resource as well, most likely using something like MediaWiki.

Get in touch if you’d like to join our studio community.

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Studio Roundup for November 2023

General / 21 December 2023

Demonology

Preproduction of our first ever animated series continues, we’re hard at work rigging up models and preparing them for their debut. Set design and construction will follow soon after. We’re expecting the first test animations to be ready in early 2024.

Meet Nerv, a young demon who lives in hell. Demonology is coming in 2024!

Garrett Ray Jewellery

This month we introduced the Zodiac and Solstice charms, extending both collections with the new form factor. Check out the short video commercial we produced as part of this exciting new product option!

https://medium.com/media/7eac9453b738411916246c37289ca0b0/href

Garrett Ray Jewellery specialises in handmade chains, each link is made from scratch in the workshop. We wanted to celebrate the craftsmanship that goes into these pieces, focusing on the Foxtail chain.

Chains like this Foxtail chain are handmade from a spool of wire, where each link is individually rounded, fused, shaped and then finally woven together using a technique that dates back over 5000 years.

Connect with Garrett Ray Jewellery,

Langenium

When the Langenium project first began, most mobile devices were barely able to draw basic 3D shapes like spheres without crashing. Today the Open Studios virtual office website has the graphics of a 2010-ish AAA title which can be rendered on any mainstream phone, like an iPhone 15, at 60FPS.

The studio website is built on a fork of Langenium v5, and now v6 is being built around that application and its architecture. The goal of v6 is to make it easier for external contributors to participate in the project and to refresh the project with the latest in open source technology. The project README has been re-written from scratch and there’s now more structure in the folders so that their purpose is as self evident as possible.

Separate folders for the game client, shared code and server make it much easier to understand how this incredibly complex project fits together.

Our aim is to have an offline and online game that anyone can access via QR code, or website link. The offline game would allow anyone to play without connecting to the internet, as long as they have a copy of the game client on their device. When connected to the internet, they would be able to connect to the free test server to join other players in PvE and PvP.

https://medium.com/media/ad868da3a424bd83a6db07f6b10dd241/href

Website updates

We’ve recently updated the services page on our website. Open Studios offers a range of services and packages that can be scaled to meet the needs and budgets of clients of all sizes.

  • Animation
  • Commercial video production
  • Game development
  • Modelling and product renders
  • 3D Web Experiences
  • Full Stack Web Development

Get in touch to find out more about how we can help you stand out from the crowd and delight your customers.

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Studio Roundup for October 2023

General / 22 November 2023

Computer Desktop R&D

As a creative and technical production studio, we rely on certain tools to get our work done. Unfortunately a lot of those tools are only available on Windows and MacOS. This prevents us from moving to a Linux desktop, even though they have been superior for a while now.

Looking at how to solve this problem from multiple angles, Paul Brzeski has put together a report on a possible new Linux and desktop launcher.

Check out Creating The Next Generation Desktop Environment

Garrett Ray Jewellery

We’re thrilled to announce the launch of the Garrett Ray Cottagecore Collection. A collection of whimsical charms found around your idyllic cottage home with a white picket fence and beautiful gardens.

The Cottagecore Collection celebrates nature and the simpler things in life. Available in sterling silver, 9k and 18k gold.

The development of the Cottagecore products took a bit longer than expected — mostly due to issues with sizing. The different shapes of each charm in the collection look and feel different size even when they’re the same dimensions. We ended up using a 3D resin printer to produce samples, allowing a more hands on approach to testing.

These are a few of the samples we printed in order to test sizing, it was imperative that each charm looked perfect as an actual charm when worn. A few percent change in a dense product like the Frog charm results in a very different feeling product — not to mention a vastly different material cost.

We have started to produce a series of video ads for the Cottagecore Collection, looking to boost the level of engagement with our followers and to elevate both the jewellery brand and the studios capabilities. Promoting on TikTok has been a particularly fruitful venture, the platform seems to have a much better amount of organic traffic than its western cousins.

https://medium.com/media/de4e25af8ac5b90da42d715e3f504ad1/href

The star sign Scorpio runs from the 24th of October to the 21st of November. Ambitious and enigmatic, Scopios knows what they want and how to get it. They are known to be fierce and single minded. Get on their good side and you will have earned a loyal and strong friend.

Part of the Garrett Ray Zodiac Collection. Available made to order in sterling silver, 9k and 18k gold.

Opening the virtual door

Since its creation, we wanted Open Studios to be a place where others could learn, collaborate and create. In an effort to finally start doing that, we now have an Open Studios Github and Slack for local industry to congregate and help each other on their journeys.

Perth has a thriving meetup scene with groups covering subjects like Mobile App development to Machine Learning as well as many non technical subjects and groups. There’s a lot of potential to do something together if the right people were brought together.

The future

Opening the door to our virtual studio is going to take more than just meeting people and creating a chat space. We have the beginning of a FOSS lab on Slack with the Langenium MMORPG being run as an open project, sharing regular progress updates and inviting feedback from the group.

The next step will be to further value add to the Open Studios platform by adding a wiki style knowledgebase and promoting the works and achievements of local industry partners. This blog will serve as a spot to do that second part, so watch this space in the future!

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Studio Roundup for September 2023

General / 29 October 2023

Art feature

This month we relaunched our brand with a new logo, website and supporting artwork. In order to have a fully rounded package of graphics to use for our new branding we also produced a relaunch trailer, featuring a futuristic car zooming towards a cyberpunk remix version of Perth. Elements of this animation are reused on the new Open Studios website as backgrounds and social media accounts as banners.

Modelled and rendered in Blender and then finished with DaVinci Resolve, this was a lot of fun to make and set the tone for our new branding. We’re working on an extended version which will feature clips of our other work.

Check out the To Another World video:

https://medium.com/media/effdff4fb028f832ceeeaf3f743aa671/href

Garrett Ray Jewellery

Demarking the changing of the seasons, The first of September is the beginning of Autumn in the Northern dome and the start of Spring in the South. September is also the month for the Astrological sign Libra, symbolised by a pair of scales.

The scales represent balance and harmony, two important aspects of a Libra’s personality. Charming and peaceful, Libra’s value balance in all things. Governing from September 23 to October 23.

The Garrett Ray Libra set features the scales of the Goddess of Justice, Astraea. Available in sterling silver, 9k and 18k gold and a variety of styles.

Jewellery isn’t just something pretty to wear out, it can tell the world a bit about who you are and what you value. The right piece can also be empowering, even protective. In that spirit we promoted the sunstone shield pendant necklace, symbolising the protection of ones happiness.

https://medium.com/media/ff041e6b97d83771923eec8d69f2aa62/href

Tech insight

When Three.JS hit the scene over a decade ago, it made waves in web development unlocking a whole new realm for developers who could write Javascript to begin making their own 3D applications. The adoption of Three.JS has been steady, but slow going in our view. In an effort to popularise current WebGL technology and show our ability to use Three.JS, we made our entire website a high end experience that you’d normally only see in an AAA video game.

https://medium.com/media/6571d219c1dda3cf687752fe5d6a657d/href

If you’d like to know more about that and how we built it, check out the retrospective by Paul Brzeski.

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Studio Roundup for August 2023

General / 28 September 2023

Creative insights

There’s a lot of options to choose from when it comes to 3D files however when it comes to distributing assets for the web like a Three.JS scene then GLB is a clear winner. In our most recent Three.JS project we had a lot of problems trying to compress FBX and OBJ down to acceptabe sizes for an online scene. FBX and OBJ are established formats that are common in online marketplaces for 3D assets but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re fit for purpose when it comes to 3D on the web.

Switching to GLB helped yield a significant file size drop while maintaining the essence of the geometry when imported and rendered in Three.JS.

Garrett Ray Jewellery

August represents the zenith of summer, a month filled with warmth, leisure, and an air of relaxation. It embodies a unique blend of characteristics and themes. Virgo oversees from August 23–September 22. Demeter, the Goddess of the Harvest. Humble, artistic and in tune with nature, Virgos are a peaceful, quiet comfort and a steady friend to have.

The Virgo Pendant features the Maiden’s hand holding a sheaf of wheat, with the Virgo constellation on the reverse side. Available in 18k gold, 9k gold, and sterling silver.

Taking inspiration from Pantone’s Color of The Year, Viva Magenta 18–750, a shade that pulses with vitality and vigor, we embarked on an exciting journey with Garrett Ray Jewellery’s “Viva Magenta” campaign. Drawing from nature’s rich palette and conveying a fresh signal of strength, Viva Magenta embodies bravery and fearlessness. This dynamic color ignites a sense of exuberance that evokes joy and optimism.

Celebrate Viva Magenta with these one of a kind 18k Gold Morganite Earrings!

Tech insights

In the ever-evolving landscape of software development, crafting code that transcends mere functionality is an art form that demands finesse and innovation. In this article by Paul Brzeski, delve into the intricacies of software craftsmanship, embracing a unique philosophy that fuels architectural innovation.

Speaking of evolving landscapes, here’s two interesting new Javascript frameworks that are changing the game in 2023:

  • ESBuild, a blazing fast new alternative to Webpack and Rollup
  • Vite, a smart modern builder with good defaults

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Beyond Function: Understanding the Art of Software Craftsmanship

Article / 31 August 2023

Photo by Robynne Hu on Unsplash

In the world of software development, crafting code that transcends the realm of functionality to achieve excellence has become a true art form. It goes beyond creating applications, satisfying clients, and meeting deadlines. Funnily enough, even with all these boxes checked, the potential to churn out subpar software still lingers. How is this possible? The answer lies in understanding that software quality extends deep into the processes of your team. Let’s delve into the heart of code craftsmanship — the importance of clear communication, architectural finesse, and the personal touch that distinguishes true masters of the craft.

The journey towards better software begins with realizing that proficiency isn’t just about having a system that functions flawlessly. While this is undoubtedly a vital element, true software craftsmanship also entails an intricate web of comprehensibility, collaboration, and communication within your development team. The ability to decipher and appreciate each other’s contributions becomes pivotal, transcending mere functionality to craft a symphony of well-orchestrated code.

At the heart of code craftsmanship lies a rare breed of programmers who not only write code but ingeniously employ programming structures as a medium to convey the intricate workings of the system. A code maestro possesses the uncanny knack of translating abstract concepts into tangible code structures, enabling their fellow developers to fathom the system’s essence. This form of architectural storytelling is where the magic happens — where a series of lines and characters metamorphose into a narrative that beautifully describes the software’s core.

In a world inundated with technological conformity, embracing one’s own uniqueness and distinct style emerges as a beacon of authenticity. Just as artisans leave their unique signature on their creations, software developers can infuse their projects with personal flair. This isn’t a call for chaotic coding, but rather a celebration of the fact that no one-size-fits-all formula exists in software development. Our collective strength lies in our individuality, as we contribute to a vibrant tapestry of innovation.

In my fifteen-year career as a professional developer, I’ve traversed diverse landscapes, collaborating with teams spanning a spectrum of experience and ability. It’s a captivating revelation that those who rigidly adhere to the dogmas and viewpoints of others often find themselves trailing behind in this ever-evolving realm. In stark contrast, mavericks who dare to exercise independent thought and carve their paths grounded in their unique convictions tend to emerge as the true luminaries of software engineering. The capacity to discern, innovate, and confidently traverse uncharted territories is a hallmark of these exceptional minds, propelling them toward unparalleled success. Sometimes admiration from past critics!

My journey into the realm of software development commenced when I first learned Visual Basic and Pascal at the age of 12. Over the years, I’ve refined a unique approach that contrasts with mainstream paradigms like MVC. My philosophy is simple: I name elements after their abstract counterparts, encapsulating related components within subfolders that mirror the naming conventions. This elemental approach, seemingly minimalistic, has stood the test of time for over two decades.

Larger organizations tend to be a little messy, which is inherent to their nature. Smaller organizations have to be way smarter with their resources as a mistake could end their operation, as such I believe that small businesses often lead in innovation, especially when it comes to the practical implementation of that. Larger businesses seem stifled now trying to meet market demands like releasing on time for stock prices, rather than actually inventing things. We need to stop looking at what larger companies and groups are doing and look at the smaller guys who are not just surviving but thriving from doing their own thing.

In the pursuit of efficiency and standardization, there exists a lurking danger — that of over-conformity and thoughtless implementation. This path, though paved with a sense of security, often leads to unforeseen pitfalls that can adversely affect the quality of software and the overall development process. When developers are restricted to predefined patterns, they may miss out on opportunities to devise novel solutions that could revolutionize a project. Embracing flexibility allows space for unconventional ideas that can drive true progress.

While standardization has its benefits, it’s important to recognize that flexibility and adaptability are equally crucial in the ever-evolving landscape of software development. Striking a balance between established practices and innovation can lead to more efficient and effective solutions. Stepping out of the established norms — even one’s comfort zone — and embracing novel methods can lead to new levels of creativity and efficiency. The wider software development community can greatly benefit from open-mindedness and a willingness to explore unconventional yet effective strategies. This balance between structure and innovation can help foster a culture of continuous improvement and excellence.

The realm of quality in software development extends beyond the obvious. While functional applications and client satisfaction are fundamental, they’re but the visible tip of a monumental iceberg. True code artisans comprehend that software quality thrives on the scaffolding of teamwork, transparency, and the ability to translate abstract concepts into tangible structures. As we navigate the complex terrain of software engineering and architecture, let’s not shy away from our distinctive approaches, for it is in this diversity that the true spirit of innovation resides. So, let us forge ahead, not seeking a mythical perfection, but striving to weave our personal styles into the ever-evolving tapestry of software excellence.

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Studio Roundup for July 2023

General / 29 August 2023

Business profile

As a business based out of our own home and that primarily deals with its clients via the internet, we didn’t want to list our address online. Thankfully we were still able to get listed on Google Business!

There were some issues with uploading images at first, but the friendly team at Google Support swiftly resolved the issue. It was just a hiccup with automation thinking my aesthetic for the office was “irrelevant” to the business listing…

With all the quality and customer service problems with large companies these days, this was a refreshing outcome.

Garrett Ray Jewellery

The month of July has a number of celebrations for freedom, independence and country. Among the best known are Independence Day in the United States and International Nelson Mandela Day. It’s fitting then that July is also the month of the star sign Leo.

Leo the proud lion, sculpted in precious metals with his majestically windswept mane.

Viva Magenta is the Pantone Colour of the Year for 2023. If you’re looking for a statement with a bit of class and sophistication, then check out this pink kunzite gold pendant. Handmade with love in our Perth workshop.

Celebrate Viva Magenta with this Pink Kunzite and 18k Gold Pendant Necklace

The Ancient Greeks believed opals granted the gift of prophecy and warded from disease. To the Australian Indigenous people — the opal is called the fire of the desert. World renowned for their brilliant colours, these exhilarating gemstones have many uses. These opal studs feature two genuine Coober Pedy opals set in sterling silver, also available in gold.

Studs earrings with solid white crystal opals from Coober Pedy in South Australia.

Portfolio ( progress update )

Building a company portfolio that showcases what you can do is a daunting challenge, more so when a good deal of your output is confidential, or owned by someone else, so you can never use it for your own marketing. In this frustrating position, we turn to Open Studios internal projects and brands for pieces of work that we can actually share with the public.

Not understanding how others used Artstation, we initially created a larger “Project” listing for each item in our portfolio. With just a dozen projects we can show, the page was looking a little bit empty. Upon reviewing what others were doing it was clear that our approach was in error — everyone is doing the typical social media thing of regularly posting to stay relevant — so we realised those twelve or so projects posts should have been broken up into their own portfolio entries — i.e. one for character art, another one for vehicles, another one for landscapes, etc.

The portfolio now stands at approximately twenty six projects, we are looking to get it up to thirty using just our back catalogue. It’s been nice walking down memory lane and revisiting past projects, we hope you enjoy perusing them as much as we did when putting this together!

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