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- November 11, 2006
Quickie Business Card Design IV
November 11, 2006Read more
When I last visited my business card design, I was having trouble resolving the whole “dot story / text” thing. Plenty of people weighed in with excellent comments. The conclusion: well, you can’t please everyone.
Still, in the back of my mind, I thought there was something that could be improved, but I just couldn’t quite see it. That was a good sign that I should step way back and not think about the design for a while. That was back in August. Curiously, I haven’t had to hand out any cards during that time. However, SXSW is coming up, and I might need cards for Barcamp Manchester, so I spent an hour or so working on them.
- November 10, 2006
Daily Continuity
November 10, 2006Read moreDad went home yesterday, and the house has been feeling pretty empty without him here. Since he was visiting for six weeks, I got used to him behind around the house even if we weren’t talking. It was a nice feeling.
Today has been a day of solitude, focused on the work that had magically queued up practically overnight. I’ve also been reflecting on yesterday’s insight about how things I’ve tagged “important” but left undefined were causing some of the anxiety that I associate with procrastination. The little trick of defining something on the spot has been very helpful today; I think it’s the key to something bigger that will probably come to me next time I’m in the shower.
At the moment, though, I’m struck by the need to write. I hadn’t been feeling it so much when Dad was visiting. Yesterday, after Dad had left, I was feeling a little antsy so I called up a friend to see what was going on. Though we couldn’t synch up our schedules, even that brief interaction was enough to lift my spirits. The simple act of sharing what I was thinking in the context of someone nearby, though inconsequential in its scope and detail, was itself an outlet. As a result I felt a little more connected with the world. While I talk to at least 3 or 4 people every day via the phone, IM, or email, it’s just not the same. There’s something about trying to arrange to meet at the same restaurant at the same time to share the same air that’s much more interesting. I’m not sure what it is. Since I’ve been living the hermit lifestyle for quite some time, I didn’t really notice the difference until Dad left for Taiwan, and I felt the emptiness in the space that had been pushed back by his noises and expressions. They’d added a subtle background track to the house that is vast in its silence.
It’s good to have people you’re comfortable with nearby; without this people would probably go insane. Continuity of contact may be its own reward, which is something I had never considered.
- November 9, 2006
Productivity and Newton’s Laws of Motion
November 9, 2006Read moreAs you may have noticed, my blogging output has dropped dramatically over the past few weeks. I could attribute this sad state of affairs to many things related to work and life, sapping the bandwidth that ordinarily goes into blogging. However, the most interesting I’m not blogging is that I’ve been trying to muster up the energy to write articles for various online magazines, and I have been procrastinating on this for months. My latest brainstorm, born a few weeks ago, was to repurpose new blog posts into article submissions. It seemed a brilliant idea: I seem to have no problem writing reams of stuff, so why not just make blogging part of the writing pipeline? I patted myself on the back, confident I had solved the motivation problem.
It’s a few weeks later now, and (perhaps predictably) my sudden drop in posting is suspiciously coincident with my attempt to kill two birds with one stone. I’ve since caught myself starting several articles, only to reflect how I probably should save that one for an editorial submission, and then I’d invariably move on to something else “more pressing”. By converting my blog posting activity from “fun diversion” to “work”, I’d inadvertently killed my entire blogging process; writing an article now competes with “making a living”, and there are other activities that always seem to require more immediate attention.
- November 6, 2006
Six Word Stories
November 6, 2006Read moreThis month’s Wired Magazine has a number of very concise six word stories. It’s amazing what drama a few carefully-chosen words can bring to the stage of our imagination. Some of my favorites:
Computer, did we bring batteries? Computer? — Eileen Gunn Machine. Unexpectedly, I’d invented a time — Alan Moore It cost too much, staying human. — Bruce Sterling I’m your future, child. Don’t cry. — Stephen Baxter
The printed edition of the magazine spread shows all the stories as interpreted by five great graphic designers. This is quite a design challenge in itself; how to visually portray the words and the craft of concise storytelling.
When Words Collide
One problem I had was that the layouts themselves were visually interesting to the point that the words were diminished. My attention, normally quite attuned to words, had to fight the attraction of interesting colors, shapes, textures, and lines of graphic energy meticulously set into each well-composed page. The experience reminded me of the problem I have with hearing lyrics in popular music: I tend to hear the words as sounds within an arrangement, because I’m swept away by the sound. As a result, I have no idea what the song is about most of the time. In musicals, however, I don’t seem to have the same problem. Perhaps musicals are arranged to put the words more squarely on the stage as part of the story, as a collaboration between writer and composer.
There is something very graphic about these six word stories. Any graphic designer would do well to study each one and relate it to his/her own work. Meaning, sequence, and association—the elements of storytelling—trump trendy shapes and color every time.
- November 2, 2006
Barcamp Manchester (New Hampshire, USA) is Coming!
November 2, 2006Read more
Ian Muir has been busy organizing the first BarCamp Manchester for November 18, right here in Southern New Hampshire. It looks like people are starting to register, so that rocks!
Spread the word! Ian is also looking for corporate sponsors to cover the cost of food and other sundries like shwag.
The poster is comprised of photos I took of stuff lying around my house, composited together quickly (and rather sloppily) in Photoshop before being dumped into Illustrator. The cool windows in the background were created by Joan, which helped get the whole poster rolling when I was stuck…thanks Joan! This part of New Hampshire is known for the old textile mills that still line the river. They have windows that are rather distinctive and tall, and most of the buildings have been converted into high tech office space.
