Middle J Studios

Our Friends at The LA Urinal posted about us

admin — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 22:25:17 +0000

Some friends of ours in LA posted about our campaign in the blog The LA Urinal!

Thanks guys!

Logo redesign

admin — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 20:42:14 +0000

Soon Middle J Studios will be changing a lot, and so to will this website. To celebrate these changes we are looking to replace the current logo and colors. I was thinking of using a design contest website like logo design guru because most of them have great examples, and include full ownership rights. We are still not set on that as the solution though, so If you have great ideas at modest prices get at us.

Both of our previous logos were designed in house, and had some good and bad qualities. We keep returning to the designs we have drawn in the past because there are elements we love in them. I am sure that we need a fresh outside concept this time around. I started making a list of elements as I brainstorm.

The shouldn’t list
shouldn’t be cliché
shouldn’t have gradients
shouldn’t be a word-mark
shouldn’t have more than 3 colors

The Should List
should fit in a square
should have harmony with word-mark
should be easily trademarked
should be easily displayed in all media types ( Print Digital Sticker Shirt etc. )

I don’t want to put everyone to sleep talking about the details, so if your a designer that loves the details and has some great ideas. we can talk in private.

A new Video post about our plan to help Give back.

admin — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 04:17:53 +0000

Please Check out the IndidGOGO widget in the sidebar to go to the campaign, and Please Share it! thanks,

January 2012 Press Release

admin — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 05:19:21 +0000

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

CONTACT:

Kevin Ophoven

Middle J Studios, inc.

http://middlejstudios.com

ELECTRIFY MY OBSESSION

Bringing Local Vision To New Heights

Minneapolis, MN 31 January, 2012 – Electrify MY Obsession is a campaign launched by Kevin Ophoven. It is designed to both revive his photography business, Middle J Studios, and to showcase the creative culture thriving in Minnesota.

The campaign aims to showcase local talent and bring the creative community together, while working on making a stronger name for the studio. The campaign involves crowd sourcing and offers some cool perks to those who contribute.

The crowd sourcing campaign ends Sunday March 4, and can be found at

http://www.indiegogo.com/Electrify-My-Obsession

When possible, MJS will be sourcing local models, hair and makeup artists and clothing designers. On top of that, MJS will be featuring a local creative on its upcoming new website on a regular basis. MJS really believes in this market and wants to showcase the talent and locations here, as much as possible.

The company plans to purchase needed equipment and increase marketing efforts to attract more of the desired advertising clientele needed to ensure success. For MJS, this is a great opportunity to give back. Not only would we be supporting what we love, but also helping support others work on their dreams as well.

Middle J Studios, inc is a commercial, editorial, lifestyle,and pop-culture photography studio founded in June of 2005 by Kevin and Lisa Ophoven. For more information, contact: Kevin Ophoven.

IndieGOGO update 2

admin — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 23:39:02 +0000

I have been working hard to get the word out, and am grateful to everyone that helps by sharing links to this campaign! There are 33 days left to keep the love going!

I am demoing a few web hosts for the new website and have it narrowed down to the top 3 that meet our needs. Portfolios, bolgs, podcasting, super reliability , and speed are just a few things on our list of musts.

We are planing an Opt-in newsletter, and thats a huge bag of snakes to sort out. Luckily there are plenty of awesome resources out there to help with that.

We are pushing many boulders up the hill behind the curtains and have a very positive outlook on this campaign! Thanks for you support and remember to Share! http://igg.me/p/64109?a=392812

Kevin

Non Commercial

admin — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 00:05:52 +0000

A Q&A about indieGOGO

admin — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 21:29:03 +0000

What’s the big idea?

The big idea is to bring exposure to the creative culture that is thriving here in Minnesota.

Where did this idea come from?

I had been struggling to establish myself in this market for many years. I was always questioning if it was being in MN that was the issue. I was ready to up and leave when a prominent Seattle photographer told me “ MSP is a great market, tough to crack, but solid “ so I persevered a few more years. Then in 2011, we just up and moved to LA because LA is where everything happens. Well even though there is a lot to love about LA, I felt like like I had to give Minnesota another shot.

In August 2011, I started brainstorming and writing notes to myself that lead to this idea.

What’s the overall goal?

There are so many talented people here that just don’t get the exposure they deserve, and that’s what I am hoping to help change. This is a great opportunity to give back. Not only would we be supporting what we love, but also helping support others work on their dreams as well. Its really a chance for the creative community to come together.

How are you going to do that?

We will be using as much Minnesota talent as we can for our client work, as well as in self directed projects.

We are also planning a regular section on the new website where we talk with local creatives about their passions, so we can really get a feel for the creative culture thriving here. As Middle J Studios grows we want to help grow the awareness that Minnesota is a great place, full of talent and creativity.

MJS Revival

admin — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 04:57:01 +0000

We are so excited to be announcing a major revival of Middle J Studios, inc!

Middle J Studios, inc. was founded by my wife and I in mid 2005. It was a tough go for sure but we have persevered. After moving MJS to a ~~custom built office~~ fancy shed in the woods of central Minnesota, for several years it was clear that was not an ideal location. We spent most of 2011 in Los Angeles, and now we are back in the Minneapolis area and are set on a MJS revival!

We are going to rewrite our branding plan create a new logo and adopt new corporate colors. We will also be launching a new robust website and a spam free blogging platform. We want to serve the commercial, lifestyle, editorial, and pop-culture markets. It is my intention to highlight as much of the creative culture that thrives in Minneapolis.

Here is where you guy come in. We are running a IndieGoGo campaign to help us revive our Minneapolis presents. The more buzz we can generate the higher we can rank on IndieGoGo and the better our chances of reaching our goals.

To learn more Please go to www.indiegogo.com/electrify-my-obsession