The reason

A recent project was to be based on something I was passionate about. My little brother is back from his fourth tour in Iraq, and will soon be leaving for his second tour in Afghanistan. For this reason I wanted to focus on support for our troops. I had envisioned a mellow poster to highlight the sacrifice our soldiers make. In preparation of this project, I asked my brother to send me some pictures that meant a lot to him. Once I received these, my whole design changed. These were not images of weary soldiers, harsh conditions, or sacrifice. These were images of the troops and villagers happy about what was being accomplished. While the main stream news groups will focus on our “occupying military”, and the conflict that continues with a few extremist groups, these pictures show who we are fighting for.

I'm still a rookie

It's apparent that I'm still a rookie, because I made a rookie mistake. A friend I hadn't seen in about 12 years emailed me about working on his logo. He is getting married and wanted a couple swing dancing. I asked all the typical questions, and received vague or no answers. Instead of pushing for better answers, I figured I know what he'll like. I came up with a design I thought was perfect. Instead of sending him a copy of the sketch, I just ran with it and did a final version. I sent the finished file to him, a got the reply "It's a great start, but...". After 4 or 5 hours of work, he wanted me to enlarge the hat, add a suit jacket, and completely redesign the pose to have the male throwing the female into the air. I've learned my reason. This time he's getting a pencil sketch.

Passion vs obsession

When does passion become obsession? I've always been interested in art. I used to envision working for Disney. I used to strive towards becoming a cartoonist, but I never had the overwhelming desire to excel at anything until I found computer graphics. The more I learn, the more I develop my skills, the stronger my desire to learn and develop becomes. This may be passion, this may be on the brink of obsession. But last night I was dreaming Of a current project, and actually made progress in my dream that I used in the waking world. Now I don't know if this qualifies as obsession, but I do know I need to lay of the pepperoni and swiss before bed.

Voices

The David Sedaris essay is a great demonstration in the variance between the written word and the spoken word. Not that I feel my comedic timing is any better, but the voice in my head reading the essay was more humorous then that of David himself. I felt almost let down by the video after having read the essay. I believe this is the same feeling most people get after their favorite book becomes a movie. The special effects found in Peter Jackson's movies were amazing. His ability to make the books come to life were greater than I could have thought possible. Regardless of his achievements, the images in my mind, the way I imagined the voices of each character, can never be fully realized by anyone else. This is the power of the written word. The ability to let every story become the reader's own.

sound portraits

A sound clip or video added to a blog can be a useful tool to convey a message especially if you truly wish to convey an emotion. In my opinion, the reading of the blog or transcript requires more of the reader, and is a better way to engage the end user. The problem with written word is that it relies on the interpretation of the reader. By this, the message can by skewed, and or missed all together.

Something Different

I found myself faced with a serious delima while trying to complete a recent project. The project was to create web navigation buttons... A completely unique assignment. So almost to spite the instructor, I decided to try something different. I was tired of the Sci-fi and futuristic looks. I was sick of the grunge and elegent designs. Only something new would satisfy me. My nav bar was a version of hillbilly meets redneck with a splash of Bob Vila. So my delima centered around the question of ''is different for the sake of different ok"? While I would never want my name associated with a design like it, I can't say I was completely dissappointed with it. I could see a certain segment of the population wanting this style. So I say yes, different for the sake of different is ok. For no other reason then pesonal growth. So go out, and try mixing Martha Stewart with Jeff Foxworthy. Nascar and Tiffany's can be combined to make great design... Even if only in your own mind.