Hey, sorry I don’t have a clever title for this blog post. I just wanted to check in and tell people what’s been going on.

I’m working on finishing 3 CD/DVD projects right now.

The Dovid Gabay 2 CD artwork will be finalized very soon. It has a very “classic” look, it’s awesome. It just oozes class. I’m finishing up the (as they say) long awaited Siman Tov/Mazel Tov CD booklet. That CD was in the works ages ago, but they are finally finishing it. I’ve heard it, it’s got a lot of great wedding songs on there. It’s got a good Sephardic tam to it as well.

I’m also finalizing the OHEL 5767 DVD and CD artwork. This one has been really taking a while. In between taking breaks I’ve also been trying hard for this to be outside the norm of Jewish music art. I hope it comes out nice. I’ve also been redoing a lot of the covers for older CD’s we (sameach) recently bought the rights to. You can check out my website to see if any news ones are there.

What else is happening? Oh, I’ve been expending my freelance work a lot lately. Please consider my services if your in any need of ANY graphic design work, such as a logo, or poster or brochure or any cd/dvd artwork. You can email me at designsbysruly@gmail.com if your looking to hire a graphic artist.

The other, other thing I’m working on now is something I’m VERY excited about. I have the privilege to be working with Avi Newmark and Benny Friedman on Benny’s debut CD. I’m not supposed to say too many details, but it’s going to be super awesome. We make a great trio, we all have very different thoughts on Jewish Music. We’re also all huge fans of classic Jewish music. We’re very nostalgic and we’re determined to make an amazing album. I hope my own personal experiences working for Sameach, seeing what makes something work and what makes something not work, will add to the final product.
We already have a 3 songs in the bank, and the slots are filling up quickly. We’ve started meeting with some big names, including Lipa, who was a blast to discuss Jewish music with. Between the three of us we have been getting songs from every corner of Jewish music. We’ve been listening to so many different styles and blends of Jewish music. Just from what we have now, an already diverse collection.

Benny has an amazing voice and great attitude. He has a pure love for the song of Jewish music. As do Avi and I, and I think this will be an amazing experience, a wonderful journey and in the end – an iconic final product.

That’s it for now, I’ll update when we have more to discuss. When those CD designs are done you’ll see them on the web. I hope you’ll also buy them, because all three (Ohel, Gabay2 & Mazel Tov) are all good collections. I hope to update the blog on what happens with Benny’s CD as well.