Hi all! Well, after an absence of about a year, I'm just about back and just about ready to start with my labelling project, KickTags, again.
I've changed my approach quite drastically over the past year, as my own tastes have changed, and I've started to prefer a more minimalist, functional and clean look to my board. After a lot of trial, error and experimentation, I've settled on a design approach that I really love - I hope you do too. I call them KickTags Pro
(A very minimalist setup in this shot....)
Some key features of, and thinking behind my new labels are:
Everything is ready, I just need to work on the updates to the site, which I’m working on in every spare minute I have. Without putting a time and date on it, it really is going to be literally any day now. Pricing and updates on site opening coming shortly…
There are a few pictures below, but there are a ton on my facebook page, which is generating a lot of interest and chatter. If we're not FB buddies, I'd love to connect, and you can find me at: https://www.facebook.com/kicktags
More info soon, but here are some pictures for now. Cheers! Sukh (- = + KickTags + = -)
My new board - very sleek and compact
Easy recognition of functions as they can be grouped by colour or graphic if required (on my board, pitch effects have a red secondary window, drive effects are green and time-based ones are blue), or left totally minimalist, with JUST the text label and nothing else (as in the GEQ label in the picture) ...
Completely minimalist, totally functional but 'out of the way' Control Labels (the graphic inserts glow)
Phaser, Tuner & Flanger graphics in secondary windows...
Glow labels as standard, nice and clear even in normal lighting (this shot in slightly subdued lighting)
The difference between my old V2 labels (which was a printed surface - you can see it squashed between the Phaser and Flanger labels in the shot above) and the new Pro labels - check out how the new material hardly reflects at all!
Separate self-adhesive looper stickers (above the Kebab and Detune labels), for those that don't want these in secondary windows on the labels themselves. You can also see the cool brushed-black metal texture on the Delay and Detune labels - it's hard to photograph, but they look awesome in the flesh!
And, of course, they glow too
Blanking labels on my board, to tidily hide effects I don't need for a specific gig.
Back soon!
I've changed my approach quite drastically over the past year, as my own tastes have changed, and I've started to prefer a more minimalist, functional and clean look to my board. After a lot of trial, error and experimentation, I've settled on a design approach that I really love - I hope you do too. I call them KickTags Pro
(A very minimalist setup in this shot....)
Some key features of, and thinking behind my new labels are:
- NO FLANNEL: I’ve focused 100% on practicality,usability and sleekness. I’ve gone for zero ‘flannel’, and stripped away any unnecessary design elements to create a look that fits seamlessly with the MFC. I haven’t even included my company logo on them! And I won’t for any future labels either – this is how I make them for myself, so this is what I’ll be making available for others.
- ONE PIECE: The labels are 1-piece, made with strong magnets (1mm thick) so stay put, but are easy to move around and tough wearing.
- NONE MORE BLACK: They feature a very cool Brushed Black Metal-look surface material. This is NOT a printed material, it has a textured finish that looks amazing and is also extremely non-reflective, more so than any printed material I’ve seen – even better than my previous version of labels (KickTags V2) which were, themselves, very non-reflective. Water and UV resistant, totally clean looking, understated, mean…
- GLOW LABELS AS STANDARD: All main text labels are now Glow-In-the-Dark as standard, using the highest quality glow material available on the market today. The labels are clear (even in normal light, they are brighter than non-glow) and use a large and very easy-to-read font.
- CUSTOM TEXTS: All texts are customisable or you can pick from a predefined list (that covers just about everything you could think of)
- REWRITABLE LABELS: You can choose to have your text area blank, enabling you to write your own text on them with dry-erase pens, which you can simply wipe clean and re-write on as many times as you like!
- SECONDARY WINDOWS: A second window, next to the MFC switch, can be added to any label (it’s actually cut into the surface, so the label for this window sits flush with the rest of the label) allowing you to either have a Glow Label in there (for looper symbols, numbers to represent scenes or presets, arrows for up/down or from a generous selection of other options) or can have graphics inserted (non-glow, currently Tuner, Flanger or Phaser) or colour inserts to help you group effect types together (non-glow, from a choice of red, blue, green silver, yellow).
- ANY QUANTITY: You can order 1 or 100 labels – it’s entirely up to you (prices will be per label) – and have any mix of any label type you want (i.e. just a simple label with the main text or a label that includes a secondary window with your choice of what goes in there from a selection, no secondary window, preprinted text from a list or your own custom text, no text so u can write your own..)
- BLANKING LABELS: I’ve been using these myself for some time and they are really handy – essentially an all-black label, no text, no nothing… I use these to hide effects on my MFC that I don’t need for a particular gig. That way, when I look down, all I see are the effects and preset that I need for that gig, minimising mental confusion (it doesn’t take much with me) and making it even easier to stomp on the right switch without having to think.
- MINIMALIST CONTROL SETS: Focusing on practicality rather than crazy graphics – just glow-in-the-dark symbols for Up, Down and Reveal, with the Edit label being completely black (same principle as before to do with no unnecessary design elements. Because you know what the other 3 labels are, there’s no need to have a graphic on this one!). I wanted zero distraction so that the focus is always firmly on the main switch labels, and for the Control labels to just fade out of view unless you need them.
- SEPARATE GLOW-LOOPER STICKERS: If you don’t want to incorporate looper stickers in the label itself, you can buy them separately as self-adhesive, Glow-In-the-Dark stickers that u just peel and stick wherever u want!
Everything is ready, I just need to work on the updates to the site, which I’m working on in every spare minute I have. Without putting a time and date on it, it really is going to be literally any day now. Pricing and updates on site opening coming shortly…
There are a few pictures below, but there are a ton on my facebook page, which is generating a lot of interest and chatter. If we're not FB buddies, I'd love to connect, and you can find me at: https://www.facebook.com/kicktags
More info soon, but here are some pictures for now. Cheers! Sukh (- = + KickTags + = -)
My new board - very sleek and compact
Easy recognition of functions as they can be grouped by colour or graphic if required (on my board, pitch effects have a red secondary window, drive effects are green and time-based ones are blue), or left totally minimalist, with JUST the text label and nothing else (as in the GEQ label in the picture) ...
Completely minimalist, totally functional but 'out of the way' Control Labels (the graphic inserts glow)
Phaser, Tuner & Flanger graphics in secondary windows...
Glow labels as standard, nice and clear even in normal lighting (this shot in slightly subdued lighting)
The difference between my old V2 labels (which was a printed surface - you can see it squashed between the Phaser and Flanger labels in the shot above) and the new Pro labels - check out how the new material hardly reflects at all!
Separate self-adhesive looper stickers (above the Kebab and Detune labels), for those that don't want these in secondary windows on the labels themselves. You can also see the cool brushed-black metal texture on the Delay and Detune labels - it's hard to photograph, but they look awesome in the flesh!
And, of course, they glow too
Blanking labels on my board, to tidily hide effects I don't need for a specific gig.
Back soon!
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