I’ve got a number of smaller projects to keep me busy over the next few weeks, along with a few offers I’ve yet to fully review. In your opinion is a full year of merch design for a record label worth $500. I suppose it all depends on how much they decide to work me. But on the upside, the money is paid in full up-front, which could come in handy over the next few weeks.

Client: Life.Ended.Abruptly
Published Work: http://myspace.com/lifeendedabruptly
Date Completed: June 15th, 2008
Description: Full MySpace layout, including Masthead for Life.Ended.Abruptly., a Central Florida Death Metal band. Project took about 10 hours, spanning over a week’s time. Minor changes are still being made. The masthead is a series of manipulated photos, the mountain range and explosion being two separate images.

Client: Sparing No Lives
Published Work: http://myspace.com/sparingnolives
Date Completed: June 1st, 2008
Description: Photomanipulation layout for Sparing No Lives, and Orlando based Hardcore bands signed to Statik Factory Records. As a quick side note, the base image for the Life.Ended.Abruptly. layout was used to fill the inside of the main figure’s mouth. Once again, this layout is a photomanipulation, making use of two separate images (the meat racks and the main figure). To accompany the new layout, a new identity, including logotype, was created.

Client: From Ruins Of Treachery
Published Work: http://myspace.com/fromruinsoftreachery
Date Completed: May 29th, 2008
Description: MySpace layout for From Ruins Of Treachery, a lakeland deathcore band. Originally playing under the name All Shall Bow, this layout was created using various lighting techniques and a small collection of stock renders to represent that name. The concept was eventually kept for the new name as well. A new logotype was also created to accompany this layout.

Client: Personal Work
Published Work: http://myspace.com/iamaadesign
Date Completed: May 20th, 2008
Description: Full MySpace layout for promotional use. Simple layout, again playing around with some basic lighting and tiling techniques. The type used is VTKS Bandana. I will most likely revise this layout at a later date.

• Random Header Images in Cutline
  • I’ve had this set up for a quite a while now, due to the simple script packaged with the Cutline theme. But taking a second look at the website, the images, colored, caused too much conflict with the header. So I’ve desaturated and replaced them all.
• install Gravatars
  • Nothing to say really, been planning this one for years, but decided coding wasn’t really my game anymore. After a few minutes of digging through custom styles, Gravatars were up and working.
    
• replace masthead with rebranded logo
  • Personal identity logo modified to fit the look of the blog slightly, with two identical logos desaturated, and move out to the left and right of the original.
• create and implement informational footer
• match colors
• switch over from Georgia to Verdana

It’s been a while since I’ve worked on anything substantial, or even profitable for that matter. The Fall Affair, a Lakeland based Indie Pop-Punk band came to me looking for three things, a simple tee design, a new myspace layout, and a kick-ass sticker.

After multiple revisions and a good amount of time spent in the kitchen, the shirt has finally come together. I worked exclusively with good friend Joel Faviere on this one, taking his home made sketch and transforming it into the final product. The project took a little over two weeks, which wasnt too bad, but the coloring was a real pain. For the majority of the coloring I created a new layer, set to ‘multiply’ over the original sketch drawing, and meticulously colored over the tree and leaves.

If anyone has a simpler method for coloring in Photoshop, please feel free to pass it along, I’d be more than eager to use it in my next project. Anyway, to view the full size design, with watermark of course, head on over to my Flickr account, and look for the print to be available by the summer.

View Full Size

They work, plain and simple. I’ve always had trouble finding the right combinations though. Thank god for Colour Lovers. As for integration, I’ve been working on a few little side projects, mainly redesigning my MySpace portfolio page, as well as throwing something together for my girlfriend’s page.

Finding inspiration is nice. I can only hope it continues.

Left: http://myspace.com/iamaadesign
Right: http://myspace.com/youmeantnothing

Pricing aside, the iPod Touch really is an attractive piece of hardware, and the WiFi enabled web browsing is what I’d really be purchasing it for. But with only 16GB of space, the Touch really isn’t an option if I plan on having all of my music accessible to me on the go. I know I’m not the only one wondering why Apple would roll out two high profile iPods, the Touch and Classic, but miss the bar on both. I suppose in the end I’ll be purchasing an iPod Classic, for the sake of storage, but the design and lack of web browsing capabilities will really make me regret this decision.

Why didn’t Apple combine the best of both into one ultimate iPod?

If I’ve ever established any sort of friendship with you on AIM, you’ve undoubtedly seen various rough drafts for the next version of Textonic. But they’ve always been just that, rough drafts. After months and months of putting it off I’ve finally settled on a simple, clean design for my home.

Free time has been in abundance lately, so I’ve set a few goals for myself over the upcoming weeks, one of those being the completion of version 2. I’ll leave you with a small preview, something to keep you waiting. I’m not going to promise any solid date, but I’m hoping to have this done by Halloween, hopefully even sooner.

I’ve also come to realize how expensive printing is, especially on AA shirts. But the higher quality, the better the response. New work debuting soon, keep your eyes open.

Life’s never been better, and I wouldn’t change it for the world. As for my design life, it’s picking up slowly. I’ve been working on a few new things, including some select musical projects, and even a new MySpace design movement. Yes, i know, cry. But it will all be better soon. I’ll let you know as soon as I have something solid available.

Taco Bell captures this concept well, as their colorful brochure style application is both easy on the eyes and a breeze to fill out. But one application I came across stood far above the rest. Color filled the entire pamphlet, and a consistent design and color scheme brought the entire process together into one stylish package.

Sweetbay Supermarket, a relatively new chain formerly known as Kash N’ Karry, employs every aspect of good design for their hiring application. Each section of the application is noted by a unique number marking each step, subtly faded into the background. Not onlyis this a subtle reminder of step by step procedures, it’s also a visually appealing navigational style used by many popular published magazines, but by many popular websites as well.

On the reverse side a completely green page adds contrast to the booklet, with the important material printed in  beautifully kerned white text. Unfrotunately my cameraphone shots could not capture the full detail, but the picture above gives a general idea of the final page. My favorite feature though has to be the enlarged signature boxes, leaving plenty of room for those who like to get creative with their John Hancock. Can anyone say user oriented design?

Finally, a clean header design ties the entire form together, with a solid repeating pattern covering the entire top portion of the application, and then the Sweetbay logo embedded on every page. My pictures can’t accurately display the aesthetic appeal of this design, but if there’s a Sweetbay Supermarket iny our area I highly suggest picking up an application, if not for the job, then at least for the  elegant design.

As for Random Shapes, I’m happy to be back in. After leaving the network I felt a sense of loneliness. The people I used to talk to were no longer reachable, and when I could converse with them I felt like an outsider, but that’s all better now that I am mode +v.

My design career is slowly starting to pick up. As ridiculous as it sounds, MySpace really is a great networking tool. It’s a great way to find people with the same interests as you, and people who may need your services. I’ve had a few offers for work, but nothing serious or high profile. As well as my MySpace initiative I’ve also made a significant network to align myself with a few great designers, hoping for a couple great jobs out of the deal. But in the meantime I need to find another job, I’m thinking in retail this time. The food service industry just isn’t for me.

Music has always been a major part of my life, and judging by the thousands of social media sites focused on this medium, the same holds true for millions of other listeners. Bands use sites like MySpace to promote their music, iTunes and iMeem to distribute their content, and PureVolume to network and be discovered. On the other side of the spectrum, many web workers use music as an environment enhancer, allowing them to set their own mood for design, development, or whatever the task at hand may be.

In my area of design I use music as an everyday tool for inspiration. Heavy hitting songs like This Calling by All That Remains and Say Goodbye by I Killed The Prom Queen bring out the grunge artist in me, while lighter, more experimental tunes like FCPREMIX by The Fall Of Troy have my mind spinning in new directions, allowing for mass creative growth. Most of the time I’ll simply set iTunes to shuffle and let the music flow in, but other times a certain sounds is needed to create the type of finished product both the client and myself will love. At these times I’ll narrow down my collection by excluding certain genres or albums, and even at times individual songs.

As a part of my own independent study I surveyed a few faithful Random Shapes IRC browsers about their own musical preferences in a working environment.

It depends on the work that I’m doing; if programming, then an upbeat sort of music works, but for academic studying, non-lyric and flowy (such as soundscapes) works well. Some music is distracting – but by experimenting one can find the best music combination. – Steven Bao of Auxiom.com

Some songs inspire me to continue working and produce wonderful things; others distract me and I start pretending I actually know how to play guitar and totally jam out. – Ranjani of Biscuitrat’s Grotto

I prefer music without lyrics when I’m doing work… so it’s usually soundtracks – Kamigoroshi of Kamigoroshi.net

It really depends on the music and my mood. Same thing goes for working out. – Anthony Cole of DeusExcelsior.com

I can’t focus without my music. It reduces my attention to other peoples conversations and sounds. – Bryan Culver of DarkRockstr.com

Overall the opinion is generally the same. Music is used as a creative stimulant for many, while others simply can’t work with any type of distractions. While the interests may change, the love of music remains the same. Music for work, music for sleep, music for life. I couldn’t imagine a lifetime without it.

I’ve been sitting here, thinking. Not about anything in particular, but rather everything as a whole. Relationships, design, work, life, the whole shebang. It’s really not all worth the bother. I try to keep things alive, but in one way or another everything fizzles out. My plans fall through, my relationships crumble, and I’ve reduced myself to a sort of socially inept fool. Don’t take this as a plea for help, some type of open suicide letter to the world. Because if there’s one thing on my mind, it’s definitely life, not death.

It’s time for a fresh start. Again. The friends bring problems, and problems bring drama. Drama I don’t need at this point in my life. I’m holding down a steady job, working steady hours, with a steady paycheck. The people come and go, and they all seem to be stuck in the same pattern. The pattern of redundancy that has attracted so many in the past. The same jobs, the same people, the same life. Over and over again. As for everything else, it all seems like a big laugh at this point. I push myself to work harder as a designer, but to no winning effort. Laziness takes over and I end up lounging around for hours on end, when I could be using my time to create something. Something that the whole world can see. What kind of idiot wastes such a beautiful canvas?

Dating is another problem. It’s always the same girl. They tease you, test you, and then treat you like another snack. I’d honestly love to have some sort of lasting relationship, the kind that can make me completely happy, inside and out. The kind that brings people together.

I suppose these are just the thoughts of some insomniac crying to an open audience for attention, but these are my thoughts, and I’ll stand by them, no matter how ridiculous they sound at 2:00 in the morning. According to my computer, it’s January 23rd, 2002, which translates into a nice long nap. Why oh why couldn’t I have been born Rip Van Winkle? Life would be so much easier if the years could pass like minutes.