11.12.09
Stuck Between an App and a Website
I’m a Star Wars kid. No doubt about it. I’m not as fanatical about the franchise as some are but the films left a huge impact on me (ask me some other time about my application essay to NYU about Star Wars — ahem). Subsequent science fiction films did the same thing — the Alien films left a mightier impact aesthetically and to a lesser degree, the Star Trek franchise and once I worked my way up to it, 2001. Science fiction since then has been about trying to imagine what the future would be like and as technology starts to catch up with the flights of imagination of those early auteurs (and now, multi-millionaires), we’re embracing existing technology with the high-tech look that these films, book, radio shows and comics that looked to the future presented.
08.17.09
Higher Learning
Regularly over the past three years, I’ve worked with mStoner, a higher education and non-profit interactive studio, as a visual designer for many projects. We have a great partnering work relationship and we’ve produced many a successful project — some award-winning — in the higher education realm. Some of these are solutions for Ball State University, Kellogg School of Management, William & Mary, Boston College and quite a few more.
08.04.09
A Round Robin Approach
Many moons ago, when I was in my early stages of becoming a designer, three friends and I sat down and came together to be a design company or collective or group of some kind. This is that period in your life that aside from the rare real paying job, you mostly do dirt cheap or pro bono jobs for your friends — who are in bands or artists or involved in some sort of subculture group that needs a website, logo, poster, flyer or some some of thing needing to be designed.
04.20.09
gReader: iPhone vs. Regular
A while ago I stumbled upon the regular, non-iPhone version of Google Reader, while using my iPhone. If you don’t use an iPhone, you’ll see it here. If you do, you’ll see this version (both browser loadable).
04.15.09
The Flaws of a Fatboy and Its Fixes
Well over a year ago, we purchased a dog bed from Fatboy. We scoured the internets for a bed that was made from nylon/ripstop or some other similar material. Despite the fact that most cloth dog bed covers can be removed for cleaning, they still capture smells, hair and dirt that can be unbecoming. Fatboy seemed like the perfect solution with its tough removable exterior (the Styrofoam beads are contained in a separate liner), cool colors and a general pleasing aesthetic. It has been a great product, though, admittedly it’s a bit small for Shaun’s (the dog™) liking, so we’re more apt to see the cats lounging on it. C’est la vie. At least it’s seeing use.
04.08.09
Amateurs vs. Professionals
The above occurred to me the other day as I was trying to distill what makes or elevates a professional above an amateur. I was considering photography and how Flickr members and other similar photo sharing sites have found their members being approached to contribute their work to stock photography sites. What elevated these photographers from being hobbyists or prosumers into becoming “legitimate” photographers?
I answered my question with the above which I’ll reiterate here: Amateurs wait for the moment or serendipity to strike. Professionals know what they’re looking for and how to make it happen.
04.07.09
Cross-Popllination
If you put on the excellent Feed the Animals by Girl Talk, you’re presented with a staggering musical opus of songs made up of a large range of other songs. It’s truly a remarkable feat — picking out bits and pieces of other songs and seeing how music intertwines and fits into itself in different contexts. One of the remarkable details of the album comes on the opening track, Play Your Part (Pt. I) at 3:01-3:15 seconds where for those 14 seconds, the solo cowbell notes from Rage Against the Machine’s “Freedom” are sampled. That level of detail and minutiae to pick out a small piece of music that most were unlikely to know impressed me. Feed the Animals is a great album. And yet, it’s not original but at the same time, it completely is. It’s a new context.
