Button Blog

This is a music video done for a local musician. It’s not my specialty, but I thought it would be a fun project that changes things up a bit.

Not just another notch on my belt, Ptownhalloween.com is now a living, breathing, website to promote a hunted house attraction in Provincetown. The previous design was too clean and didn’t offer enough creepiness that people might expect from a traditional haunted attraction. The goal of the redesign is to attract thrill seekers of all ages in the local area and of course, to boost ticket sales.

Take a look and comment if you like.

My company has been doing a lot of banner ads lately and it made me think about the competition, all the other companies who are producing banner ads. I pulled out my friend Google and looked up banner ads of the world. First, let me say that I have always underestimated banner ads on the web and think that they exist only to clutter up an already messy world wide web and that they are not something a designer can put in his/her portfolio, until I discovered a pretty interesting one advertising BMW and now I’m rethinking the way I look at them.

Here’s the link http://adsoftheworld.com/media/online/bmw_the_worlds_longest_banner?size=_original

The moral of this story is always stay motivated and just be creative.

I love my MacBook and as a Mac lover, I can’t wait for the new Mac OS Lion. The new Mac OS will be available in July as a download and only costs $29.99 from the AppStore (can it be any easier to take money from me?). According to Apple, it will come bundled with iCloud, a new feature that will allow users to save everything to the clouds. If you are like me, then you share my view on the subject; saving in the clouds is the future of technology. Theoretically, the iCloud will mean automatic syncing of my files across all devices. If I’m working on something on my MacBook and I decide to go to a desktop computer, that computer should open up the same file I was working on and allow me to continue working from there (a lot like Dropbox). The same should happen if I decide to open up said file on my phone and edit my work file while on the train to work. But what does this mean for Mac lovers like myself who is also an Android phone owner? Does this mean I’ll have to go out and get a new iPhone if I want to take advantage of syncing files? One obvious solution is to get an iPad, only problem is, I don’t actually have iPad money. Alternatively, I can trade my Android for an iPhone, but that would mean I have to end my T-Mobile contract early and settle for ATT’s ‘Award Winning’ service. Of course this involves paying an early termination fee for T-Mobile and activation fees on ATT’s side not to mention the cost of the phone itself. I do love Macs but aside from the OS Lion, the only Mac I can afford right now is a Big Mac.

While looking around for inspiration, I landed on a portfolio site of fashion designer Sandra Suy. I saw her stuff and thought they belonged in frames and on somebody’s wall.

Take a look here:

http://www.sandrasuy.com/

Google is pulling all the stops with, not one, but multiple April fool’s pranks. First one can be found via standard link on the Google home page, beneath the search bar for Gmail Motion. The second is targeted towards font nerds and can be found by typing helvetica in the search bar.

Should you decide to click the Gmail Motion link, make sure you watch all three videos. The graphics on the page looks really good, that I was almost fooled until I saw the instructional videos.

What April fool’s prank did you find?

Big Spaceship is my new favorite ad agency based in Brooklyn, NY. I fell in love with this company when I saw the ‘Most Awesomest Thing Ever’ web experience.

Check it out here:
http://mostawesomestthingever.com/

The Dieline is hosting a package design conference that is being held in Chicago, June 22 – 24.

This is a great opportunity to meet, connect, and see works by others in the industry. You can find out more here: http://www.thedieline.com/conference

In Chicago, when riding the Red Line to and from downtown, it is impossible for one to escape the ideas of the marketing geniuses behind the ads that line the interior of the train car. Some are long, and some are short. Some are brilliant, and some are exasperatingly stupid. Some are creepy and sick, but all of them are selling something. Whether it be a night at a casino, or a service that makes it easier to order fast food online from a smart phone while running a marathon and doing long division. Looking at these ads this morning jogged my brain into revisiting an old fantasy I once had about a being old, wealthy and being able to buy as many ad space as I can, and put up images of clouds in every, single car. It doesn’t have to be just images of clouds, it can be anything else that’s neutral. It could be a puppy, a field of grass, a photo of the setting sun, anything but pictures of someone else’s idea of what’s in and now.

This could be an amazing social experiment. Just imagine if there were ads like these that ran for a month or so. Train riders would have to generate their own thoughts instead of internally playing back what they see above their heads for a whole month! In addition, these ads could include messages that said, “Do what you love” instead of “The hottest line of skinny jeans are available at Kmart” in big, white, Helvetica font.

I love typography and I love design, whether they are in an ad for skinny jeans and movie posters, but sometimes, I could use a break. My eyes are not naturally designed for oversized, four-color prints, they are designed for a bright, sun lit environment that tell me nothing about trends and nothing about how to successfully get rid of my debt in minutes. My brain is designed to be left alone to make its own decisions and not be persuaded by printed text.

Look, I’m not a doctor or an expert on brains and I’m not rich. In actuality, I may never be wealthy enough to fulfill this fantasy, but I hope someday someone who is will. Until then, the only thing this graphic designer can do is avoid direct eye contact with ads on trains and streets of Chicago and to continue doing what I love – design. Who knows, maybe someday I will be the one who designs those ads.

I’m finding myself working as a freelancer more and more and as such, I work mainly at home on my own desktop computer. I’m also finding out that various widgets and apps are valuable tools that have practical uses. More importantly, because of my tendency to be frugal, I tend to look for a cheaper alternative. Luckily, there are lots of useful, free widgets and apps out there, just ready to be downloaded. It took a few years for me to find some really useful ones and I thought I might list them here for anyone else who might like their own widget/app cocktail.

I hope this collection proves useful. I found widgets and apps for time tracking, communicating/socializing, and even sharing snapshots of your work online. Enjoy!

Skitch

This one is the newest addition to my ever expanding list of apps, it captures a screenshot of anything on the user’s screen and provides the option to save it anywhere on the computer, upload it to a personal space online, and even lets the user decide whether to share it or keep it private.

When saving a file to the computer, it has multiple file type options. It allows the user to save as either .eps, PDF, .tiff, .GIF, .png, .svg, .bmp, or .JPG. Also, it lets has the option to add comments right on the image itself. It has a pen tool for drawing on the screenshots, sports commentary style.

Skitch makes it easy to talk to clients about changes and updates that have to be made. It also helps keep track of the progression of the project without having to save a copy of the actual document, which can take up a lot of drive space.

Freshbooks

This widget is a lifesaver. Freshbooks gives any freelancer the power to track their time spent on a project with a click of a mouse. This widget can be installed and linked into an already existing Freshbooks account. If you’re not familiar with Freshbooks, their website allows you to create and send out invoices, add clients, add team members should you need to, and lets you keep track of which invoices have been paid.

Want more? Freshbooks works with Basecamp, a web-based project management application that really makes use of your Freshbooks account.

TimeDroid

Freshbooks is cool and all, but what if I can clock in from anywhere I need to go? If you have an Android phone, download the TimeDroid app. It will free you from your desktop and work from anywhere, assuming you don’t necessarily have to be in front of the computer all that much.

Meebo

Connecting with clients or customers is important. That’s why if you have an Android phone, Meebo is definitely a must have. With Meebo, signing onto different instant messaging accounts and having all your “buddies” in one list is easy as 1-2-3. Just enter your user name, password, and pick whether the account you want to use is AIM, google talk, Facebook chat, yahoo instant messager, hotmail, and etc.

EyeConnect

Everyone needs a break now and again, that’s why I have EyeConnect. This program in combination with a PS3 system and a Mac is the perfect thing when you just want to sit down and enjoy an episode of True Blood, which has been downloaded on your Mac and is now streaming onto your PS3. EyeConnect allows the host computer act as a server and stream music, movies, and even photos to any designated PS3 system.