Insome Design Blog

daily

2011-01-14T23:46:00.002-08:00

Think like a film maker.

2010-10-04T16:40:00.000-07:00

"I say creative process because I’m not a designer I’m a filmmaker. I think like a filmmaker. It’s been my experience that designers can get caught up in self-indulgent details foregoing larger issues like the piece’s story, how it fundamentally relates to the show,"
- Eric Anderson, former CD of Digital Kitchen in reference to the opening to the show Dexter.

Daily render

2010-09-03T14:59:00.000-07:00

Daily

2010-07-02T17:39:00.001-07:00

Daily

2010-05-26T14:35:00.001-07:00

Soft Dynamics testing

Thoughts on mobile.

2010-05-26T13:11:00.000-07:00

Check out the wired app roll out here

A quick though about mobile computing:

Though I disagree with the sole consumption model that Apple currently employs on it's mobile devices, it is clear that mobile is the future of user to web interaction. That said, creating engaging, push/pull experiences on mobile devices becomes a wild west scenario, and given the aforementioned sole consumption model, you have your users undivided attention, which at least for advertisers and content creators is great.

The micro experiences you can create for mobile: pad/touch, are basically just touch based websites with "next gen" functionality. It's not very far outside our wheelhouse functionally, and as a passive brand experience play, it's right in line with our "next gen technology" perspective. The real boon here though, is that the experience content travels with the user, in app form is SOLE focus material, is dynamic, and ADDS value by user interaction across deployment. There is an important product and services position there I believe.

Captive audience, enhanced features powered by hardware, sole focus as set up by the app model... Seems like a gold rush for new ideas! :)

Alex Roman is the man.

2010-05-25T20:01:00.000-07:00

I never got around to posting this the first time I saw it. However, this gem of a motion piece by the talented Alex Roman is a must see, and thus, is going up!

This is an all CG short done in 3Ds if I remember correctly. Have a look and marvel at this guys chops.

Daily

2010-05-19T16:11:00.000-07:00

Daily C4D texturing

Talent Roudup

2010-05-19T12:19:00.000-07:00

Today's Talent Roundup consist of two hype talented creatives with two very distinctly different voices.

First up is Nikolay Saveliev.
His work is varied, but much of it revolves on around patterned geometry, and spartan, modern era infographics tinged with a cold war aesthetic.

Saveliev was born in Leningrad, Russia and is currently living in New York.
Check out his work here and an interview Shipwreck did with him here.

Next up is Kate MccGwire.
Kates work is etheral, iconic, and very elegant.
She uses uses feathers in abundance to create flowing scultures and installations. It definitely is a sight to see.

She describes her work as such:

I deliberately choose materials that possess a beauty and power when used in abundance and in a context beyond which they can popularly lay claim. The common pigeon is considered a pest, dirty and feral. The dove however, is the symbol of purity, peace and hope. Cherished, they are given their own dovecotes to live in yet they are exactly the same type of bird as the pigeon just with white feathers.

See her work here and read her Juxtapose interview here

Johnny Cupcakes Commercial

2010-05-19T12:17:00.000-07:00

I generally dislike Johnny Cupcakes clothing, design, and positioning.. However, I give props where it's due. This. Is. Great.

Daily

2010-05-17T11:31:00.000-07:00

C4D-SoundEffector

The Great Sports Tie-In

2010-05-17T10:42:00.001-07:00

Here is a great article on the upcoming ad blitz associated with World Cup Soccer.
It's pretty amazing to think that the event is by far the most popular in sports. And that the Cup will be seen by "Half the world's population." Being distinctly American, it's easy to forget the true scope of Soccer's dominance over the sporting landscape, and as such, it's platform for consumer brands to advertise on and through.

This year, big brands such as Coca Cola are not only spending HUGE sums of money to attract eyeballs, but are creating packages that are immersive and truly expansive.

Coke has a 120-country, 17-language deal with YouTube to encourage viewers to film and post their own goal dances, and it even has persuaded FIFA to condone the awarding of a fan-voted trophy for the player with the best goal dance. There's also a celebration-themed anthem from Somali-born artist K'naan that is already charting on iTunes, and celebration-themed packaging and retail work, among other things.

Cross media, cross product ad immersion, here we come.
Read the article and prepare to be inundated with Coke "Open Happiness" tags.

Daily

2010-05-14T17:14:00.000-07:00

So, I think I am going to start doing Dailys as a way to keep growing my 3d and motion stuff. I used to focus much more on personal projects, but found lately I haven't, and subsequently, I've felt a bit stagnant. So, with that in mind, here is a daily from C4D. Word.

Iron Man 2 VFX Breakdown

2010-05-10T09:43:00.001-07:00

Here is a great, and quite thorough breakdown of some of the VFX shots done by Perception for Iron Man 2. It's always great to see people giving the opportunity to make some really fun and unique UI experiences, and in film they always seem to be awesome!

Precious BAFTA's

2010-05-05T13:06:00.001-07:00

Here are some AMAZING illustrations Tavis Coburn did (Via Dutch Oven) for the 2010 BAFTA's. Tavis was tasked with creating an original illustration for each of the Best Picture Categories. For more of his work, and the work of Dutch Oven, click here.

Google's move into Ad creation

2010-05-04T10:41:00.001-07:00

I may be a year behind on this, but considering my current job, I would be remiss not to mention Google DoubleClick Studio. in late 08, online ad company Doubleclick was purchased by Google, much to the behest of Microsoft and others, and now, (well, in 09') the big "G" has launched a suite of tools to let end users create their own online banners and ad products.

From their own press release:
"DoubleClick Studio is a platform for designing rich media ads using Flash and Web technology"

This potentially effectively removes creatives from the process, and lets the brand itself dictate direction. Both good and bad, depending on the brand/person left to fill the void.

It's pretty interesting stuff, but I wonder if this is why I see so much "official" online ad work that looks like hot vomit..

Anyway, check it out. At worst, it's a low-cost way for smaller business to leverage the interactive b2c space.

Dougal Wilson makes me scared

2010-05-04T10:29:00.000-07:00

This is a great, long-shot piece done by Dougal Wilson for John Lewis . Check it out above, and marvel at the time and effort it must have taken. I especially enjoy the apparent mixing of film formats to match time periods. Lastly, this commercial terrifies me, because though I want to get old and live a long life, getting frail is pretty sucky.

Godin on fear

2010-05-04T10:20:00.000-07:00

"Bad behavior and irrational decisions are almost always caused by fear. If you want to change the behavior, address the fear.

And yet we don't.

Instead, we impose an embargo or throw someone in prison. We put a letter in the permanent file or put the employee on a performance improvement plan. We walk away from a prospect or blame a lack of sales on our advertising.

"What are you afraid of?" is not just a great line for a movie trailer. It's a shortcut in understanding what motivates."
-Seth Godin

Frame it up

2010-05-04T10:07:00.000-07:00

>

Smashing Magazine has a great little article on 5 commandments for wire framing that I suggest you read if you don't currently have WF as a part of your project cycle. This article in particular is pretty good because it eschews the typical fundamentalism, and instead points out five simple, informal steps that really make wire framing easy and useful. Check it out!

8 bit html 5

2010-04-23T15:44:00.000-07:00

This is an interesting and pretty enjoyable set of HTML 5 examples in the context of low bit gaming. Give it a go, it's fun!

http://www.kesiev.com/akihabara/

2010-04-12T15:56:00.000-07:00

Here is a great clip of ISO50 speaking at the Art Academy.
He goes into detail on a couple of his pieces, and also touches on something I feel very similarly about, which is the difference between hard work and natural talent.

Check it out.

2010-03-30T16:38:00.000-07:00

SPIN from James on Vimeo.

Here is a little clip I knocked out based on a tutorial I did. I thought I'd take it a little further, but yeah.

UI simplicity

2010-01-22T12:23:00.000-08:00

Here is a great little article on the effect of simplicity in UI design elements. It makes some interesting points on the resonance simplified elements have with the masses versus ultra realistic or detailed elements.. Check it out here.

Boey does the Bucks

2009-11-18T13:06:00.000-08:00

Check out these drawings on coffee cups. Pretty impressive stuff from boey

Case study on Billboard 2009

2009-11-06T15:27:00.000-08:00

I was perusing my reader feed today, and came upon a grids article on the 2009 redesign of billboard.com. Being a reformed band guy and ex follower of hits and billboard, I was curious to see how they went about redesigning the experience and aesthetic, and was happy to see a breakdown of Razorfish's work and ideology on some of the UX elements.

Once I finished reading about Razorfish's process and the clients wants, I took a gander at the new site and was actually surprised at it's depth of content and improvements in many areas, as well as how clunky the experience seemed to be at times. It appeared that even though there had been a lot of progress, much of what Billboard claimed as victory was, to my eye (and mouse) a bit less assured..

Upon first inspection, the site feels much more modern. Adopting a revised blog type layout; the site is teaming with features, functionality and social media inlets we modern users look for. The site is styled in what I like to call an internet white aesthetic. A modular, modern style with splashes of bright color that work as both accents and indicators of hierarchy and at times as infographic elements. The clients goal of using photography in a large, professional manner; separating it from a typical music blog, is evident on the homepage, where it takes up a hefty portion of the above fold real estate. Floating widgets from lala and a custom data visualizer occupy space on the left side in an elastic z space rig.

Speaking of the widgets, this is where I came to one of my first issues with the site overall. While the visualizer was novel and in many ways powerful, it was with the lala widget where what started as a great feature quickly devolved into an annoyance that made me stop using the feature altogether.

from, the Grids article:

"Use of layers: One of the most innovative things I think we did on the site was to make effective use of layers to enhance the experience."

I was happy to read this bit. However, once I arrived at the site, I noticed something right off the bat. after almost every click a page takeover ad disables the player, and once clicked through, the LALA player hasn't cached my stream and thus my experience has been disrupted. Essentially, having a nice integration between lala (which is a great service) and your site is rendered useless for an active user. It seems a pretty odd mishap. (Side note: this Owl City band should have to pay royalties to Ben Gibbard.. For real.. )

I will say that it is great to see this much media leveraged throughout the site. I think they really did succeed in making the site rich without it feeling like a music blog mess. If only it was a bit more seemless, I think they would have a home run.

Some of the "presentation layer" victories seem equally half cocked. The use of JQuery turnstiles for news and features is familiar and clean, but grid subdivisions get trounced on immediately. No this can be argued as a function over form scenario, but I see room for both to have been accommodated here,and I am curious as to why it didn't happen. Also, and this is a nagging peeve of mine; while the site succeeds in removing "dead ends" from the user experience, it, like many sites these days, seems easy to lose your self in. To some that may seem like a success, but I mean it in less of an "I'm so immersed in this rich experience" kind of way, and more of in a "Jesus, where am I and why can't a get back to where I was two clicks ago" kind of way.. I feel like the pendulum has swung a bit too far to the right in favor of open ended user-ways, to the point that suggested or related items are stretched too thin and can water down the experience.. Perhaps that is just me, but I would imagine a passive audience could find some of the usability to be a turn off.

All in all, the site is a great departure from the last edition of Billboard.com, has some great features, succeeds in my opinion as a great use of 114 years of brand integrity, accumulated content and media rights, as well as is a partial success in implementing some great functional technologies. No site is without it's hiccups, and hopefully Billboard will find a way to keep its ad revenue healthy without killing its lala widget.

Check it out at www.billboard.com

TWIITER VISUALIZATION

2009-11-06T10:00:00.000-08:00

This is pretty awesome
The new Assassins Creed 2 website has a really novel twitter visualization of their social assassination experience. Check it out. It looks to be grabbing twitter data in realtime updates to show what each registered member is doing and the relationship between players as they clash. It's a great use of the twitter to flash API. Great job to these guys.

more here

IDEO's Ted Brown

2009-10-26T19:30:00.001-07:00

Here is a great little talk with IDEO's Ted Brown.

IDEO's Ted Brown

2009-10-26T19:30:00.000-07:00

Here is a great little talk with IDEO's Ted Brown.

These arms are Snakes

2009-09-30T11:01:00.000-07:00

Here is a poster I just knocked out for These Arms are Snakes Show in Tucson, Az.
Say word, son.

Noma Bar

2009-09-30T10:57:00.003-07:00

I have a new favorite illustrator, and his name is Noma Bar.

Read an interview with him here.

Getting So Social

2009-09-28T13:13:00.001-07:00

Video from graphichug,

Here is a sweet video with some stats on social media... I would like to refuting information on some of these numbers just to get a balanced perspective, but you can't sneeze at most of it.

All I know is I have been on a social network since 2003, and personally find them to be obnoxious for the most part these days, as they promote social narcissism and clutter the interwebs with trivialities.. But, they definitely also bring a lot of information to the fore that I would never look for.

Check it out!

Video view pilot.

2009-09-07T22:25:00.001-07:00

Here is a nifty little interview with the famed Andrew Kramer of VideocoPilot.
Check it!

Salvation

2009-07-31T21:33:00.000-07:00

This a great interview with one of the lead vfx guys for Termintor:Salvation.
They explain the machine view style, as well as their heavy use of Cinema4D!

It's great to see C4D getting the big boy treatent!

check it.

2009-07-27T22:05:00.000-07:00

We've seen a good amount of mograph work in this vain recently, but I can't remember seeing a piece this well done on as many levels at it is. The motion, camera work, and aesthetics all line up for a beautiful spot. great job by Blur.

Check it out!

Twits.

2009-07-23T10:39:00.001-07:00

I thought this was a nice little tidbit of information. Any of us out there getting requests to add a twitter page to a clients new site, only to see it sit dormant now has a nice stat to bring up for future clients. Is the social media tool really worth it for your company?

Driving Type

2009-07-19T17:14:00.000-07:00

iQ font - When driving becomes writing / Full making of from wireless on Vimeo.

This is truly great stuff.
Download the font here!

Getting gradient masks to work in AS3

2009-07-18T15:43:00.001-07:00

So in the switch from a muddle as2/as3 blend to pure as3, as well as the jump to Flash cs4, I had run into a pesky problem with creating alpha or gradient masks...

Obvisouly setMask didn't work anymore, but when I googled a possible solution, the answers were all coming back filled with epic FAIL!

I mucked around, and finally (sad it took so long with 2 lines of code) realized I needed to cache BOTH the mask AND the masked graphics using cacheAsBitmap= true;

Hey, I never claimed to be an AS3 guru. One day, maybe. :)

Anyway, hopefully this helps others who trip up!

mask_mc.cacheAsBitmap = true;
circle_mc.cacheAsBitmap = true;
circle_mc.mask = mask_mc;

Boone Oakley

2009-07-02T13:42:00.000-07:00

Check this out

So, this site/mash up is one of the coolest things I've ever seen online. Boone Oakley, you win.
Seriously, you win. What a great idea.. Now I need to research the button functionality for you tube..

Play with it.

2009-07-01T01:44:00.000-07:00

I was updating my site and noticed I hadn't put up some of my newer bid work. This work is stuff that I have done either through work or freelance that doesn't end up seeing the light of day for one reason or another, usually because the client goes in another direction... This was a preliminary Playstation.com redesign I worked up as part of a bid to get a slice of some Sony pie.. It didn't get picked up, but I did enjoy the end product, so take a look.

Macrosystems

2009-06-29T18:06:00.001-07:00

The company I work for as Art Director has launched their new website! Yay us, right?
This design is a play on a much more immersive experience the company is and has been working on for the next iteration of the site. The project was taking entirely too long, and we were a bit short staffed for the AS3 heavy parts, so it was decided we should get an interim site done first.

I chose to focus on a more tactile, warm direction for a couple of reasons; one, all agencies do clean, minimalist, Helvetica, "Swiss modern" experiences, and to be honest, as much as I love the style, I think it's played and it wouldn't help us to stand out. Being a smaller company, I think it's advantageous to position the aesthetic of the company in a more unique place; one that represents us both as a scrappy, boutique firm, and as one that specializes in the hard stuff; heavy analytics, math, logic, etc.

With that in mind, I went with some tried and true elements - grid paper, pencil work, and a focus on the human touch.

I set up a grid system that was modular enough to work against anything the companys content creators and copy writers would throw at it, and started building on this visual language by rendering out some fun, plastic 3d elements, based on our existing brand. Things started to come together, and by the end of the project the company had a new, refined and much more robust aesthetic, a style guide that was consistant and applicable across all mediums, and a decent little website!

On a technical note, the site is standards compliant, and since a great part of our existing and future clientele is based within the federal gvernment, we decided to actively avoid using Flash. At first this was a huge bummer for me, but after looking at some of the big shots out there, I thought it would be a great test to try and make a site that was engaging and tight without the standard sheen of the flash platform. I'd like to think we did just that, but you be the judge.

It's Inside

2009-06-28T21:49:00.001-07:00

I got bored and tried to remake the intel logo from a commercial I saw today.. It came out okay.. I shouldn't have used styles to get the gel bevel, but it was much quicker.. The larger point to all of this, is that its good to try and recreate things, if for no ther reason than to refine your light/shade skills.

Word.

Test it out.

2009-06-28T16:44:00.000-07:00

Here is a great little article on the best ways to cheaply and effectively test your sites for usability. They cite folks such as Jacob Neilsen and more. Get into it and improve those sites!

Here

Ballooooooons..

2009-06-28T13:28:00.000-07:00

Here are some 3d ballooons I made based on yet another gsg tutorial. I think I may start doing five second projects to put the pieces together of all the cool stuff I'm learning. After Effects+C4D is a work stream I'm getting more comfortable with by the day. Good stuff! As good as I feel like I've gotten at rendering in Photoshop, it still pales in comparison to what you can get from a simple 3 light set up in C4D.

Density

2009-06-16T23:04:00.000-07:00

Here is a new piece I made. I call it density.

the death of email?

2009-05-30T08:15:00.001-07:00

Just when I thought Google was starting to go all Microsoft and start producing half baked ideas that do well basedon brand alone, I stumble upon the IO keynote for google wave.

WOW.

Are we seeing the next step in online communcation technology? Maybe so. Needless to say, I am eager to get my hands on Wave, and see for myself. If this app works as shown, it could very well take over Email and IM. To be frank, why wouldn't it?
This is pretty amazing, and is a testament to HTML 5/CSS3 and other newer web technologies.

See for yourself!

wufoo

2009-05-27T15:01:00.000-07:00

Here are some great things I am loving on lately.

http://wufoo.com/
http://www.fontexplorerx.com
http://www.my-debugbar.com/wiki/IETester/HomePage

C4D's

2009-05-10T23:27:00.000-07:00

Here is my stab at one of the GSG tutorials for C4D. It came out nice, I suppose. One thing I will say is that I'm glad I know how to fix u a photo in PS, because the stock render from C4D leave A LOT to be desired. wooord.

Oh, and the Hypa.tv layout mod for C4D is great stuff!

Typonets

2009-05-03T22:43:00.001-07:00

If you don't already use this or have at least checked it out, get on it! It's great for quickly theorizing body copy styles, etc. Holla.

http://www.typetester.org/

A gentleman's Guide to Sartorial Sin

2009-05-02T14:26:00.000-07:00

Here is a piece I am just wrapping up for the digital release of The Signal Fire's new release..

More to come, fo sho.

2009-04-29T23:43:00.000-07:00

Here's a great post on PSDtuts filled with quotes on design by famous designers. I personally love Glaser and Frutigers' comments...

check it

2009-04-23T15:09:00.001-07:00

Fresh off the heels of the Philip Lee post, here is another piece of work that makes most designers and motionagraphers quiver in our collective boots. Created to push the new 21:9 Phillips TV, Carousel is a feast for the eyes. Click here to watch the clip and make sure to stop at the hotspots for behind the scenes goodies to explain how they attained the glorious imagery in the end.

I'm locking myself in a hole with my computer now.
-James

This is depressing. :)

2009-04-22T10:40:00.000-07:00

Sometimes you find a designer whos work just makes you want to quit altogether. They have a style that is not only fully realized but unique. I feel two things whenever I find someone like this -and it happens VERY rarely - I first want to throw my computer in the trash and become a surf instructor, then, I want to get back to work and get THAT good.

Meet Paul Lee. Paul is an AMAZING designer who has a unique style that uses alot of of abstract,sharp shapes and has a great sense of color. Check out his work and prepare to be crushed.

http://www.paulleedesign.com/

illustrative photos.

2009-04-14T11:45:00.000-07:00

http://abduzeedo.com/bizarre-photo-treatment-photoshop

TYpos

2009-04-05T23:52:00.001-07:00

As of late, I have been on a mission to tighten up my typography. Though, I feel that I am knowledgeable and comfortable with typographic systems, it is very much an aspect of graphic design that is looked over by many designers, and can kill a project faster than just about anything anything.

Many books cover the subject well, but there are always little trinkets and tricks you find randomly. Here are a couple web posts worth looking at for those very gems.

HEre

Here

Here

And here

nite time is the right time.

2009-04-02T02:09:00.000-07:00

my hero

2009-04-01T23:43:00.000-07:00

If you can, hop onto lynda.com and watch the new lesson on advanced interaction and emerging tech, hosted by the great Dale Herigstad. He is executive CD of Schematic, and breaks down some Amazing stuff.

2009-04-01T19:06:00.001-07:00

So, I'm working on a new mograph project, and have once again learned some great hotkey combos for After Effects that really speed up work.

My new favorites are "0" on the number pad to RAM preview, and Cntrl+alt+"/" to replace footage. Select one piece of footage in your layers and then select any footage in your library and do that hot key combo and it will auto replace your footage and keep all effects attached. awesome..

2009-03-25T21:49:00.000-07:00

Here is a great video of JEllePelle doing one of hs illustrations. Check it.

Illustrating a Cowboy in Photoshop and Illustrator from Jelle Gijsberts on Vimeo.

Stack bundles.

2009-03-20T00:00:00.000-07:00

I've been A LOT of freshening up on my typography, both in teh interactive space and for general design work. And while the general applications are much further reaching and storied, I do think one of the greatest weaknesses in web design, and consequently in my own work at times, is type. So, I thought I would post about a method of buttoning down typeface viewing on the web that I've been really enjoying; "type stacks." (Note: I refuse to call them "fonts" since I am trying to reteach myself to properly signify the difference. :) )

This is teh application of using the font-family style in CSS to create a hierarchy of typefaces in the order of what you'd like the user to see down to the most likely similar font they WILL have.

Have a read and start employing this in your work if you aren't already. It's great stuff.

(edit:) Also, check this out. pretty great stuff!

Bourne to flash

2009-03-18T22:01:00.000-07:00

Here;s a great, fast tutorial on making flashback effect in AE. Hope you like it!
http://library.creativecow.net/articles/rabinowitz_aharon/CC_Flashback/video-tutorial.php

The art of story telling

2009-03-18T21:22:00.000-07:00

Here is a brief article on a subject near and dear to me; comics! More clearly, it's about the art of telling a story through sequential art So i also helps r anyoe who has to do storyboarding. Like.ahem...Ar directors.. ;)

CHeck it.

Is happiness important in design?

2009-03-16T16:16:00.001-07:00

Going Green.

2009-03-10T23:22:00.001-07:00

Here is web design I did for TrueGreen; a lawn keepers service. It's nice to get back to simple, no frills website design sometimes, and this was a great opportunity for me to try out some things I haven't done in a while, or just plain have never done. Hope you like.

Benjamin Buttton.

2009-03-06T20:51:00.000-08:00

Must watch.

2009-03-05T19:54:00.000-08:00

His name is Sheldon.

2009-03-05T19:47:00.000-08:00

Holla at some new work I've done. This one was entered into the Comm arts Annual.

The long wow.

2009-02-18T21:54:00.000-08:00

Here is an interesting speech given by Brandon Schauer on IA and UX principles. In a nut shell, h talks about creating unique and immersive experiences repeatedly over time to keep customers engaged. He dubs it the "long wow" and explains in detail some ideas and examples of this process. Have a listen, and behold the riches of UX and brand management knowledge you will now control.

As tall as ISD

2009-02-18T00:17:00.000-08:00

messing around with after effects. Check it.

Insome Design Audio waves from James on Vimeo.

Love day.

2009-02-15T11:59:00.001-08:00

Here's a Valenines day poster I did.
Happy love day kids.

Little big foot.

2009-02-01T19:15:00.001-08:00

Here's another poster I did. This one will be screen printed (3 color), which is cool because it's my first screened poster. I can't wait to get a copy!

Worm in the apple.

2009-01-28T01:18:00.000-08:00

here's a quick poster I did for Juarez and The Appleseed Cast.
Holla bread.

2009-01-25T16:19:00.000-08:00

Here is somwthing i was messing with last night.. Really just a sketch, but I thought I'd put it up anyway..

gridsalot

2009-01-07T16:39:00.001-08:00

I just came a cross an interesting new resource for setting up and disseminating grids. check it.

http://www.thegridsystem.org/

Indeed.

2009-01-06T16:11:00.000-08:00

A cowoker of mine just sent me a link to the site checkland kindleysides, Its a great lil slice of flash goodness, and really illustrates how well the flash engine can work for animation. I could have swore this was video the first time I watched it.

Take a look here

WFL

2008-12-15T14:09:00.000-08:00

here is a motiom graphics piece I eently did on suicide prevention as a part of the Wingman For Life project. It's a depressing topic, but was a great chance to use seom After Effects wizardry.

HOT KEY O THE DAY

2008-12-08T11:10:00.000-08:00

I thought I'd offer my current favorite hot keys. These two have been saving me countless minutes of mouse time in AE, and if you don't use em now, I would suggest you start!

Both instantiate when a layer in your comp is selected. The first is "E" which when pressed on a layer containing effects, will bring up only the effect parameters of the layer selected. This allows you to quickly see the placement of keyframes for the effects, and make changes on the fly without cluttering view. The other is "U", which when a layer is selected, will bring up only keyframed properties..

Dig in.

You gotta let it flow

2008-12-03T12:01:00.000-08:00

A common issue around the office these days is one variation or another on the question "How should we lay this out?"

Every designer runs into this issue. Usually, every PROJECT has this problem. So, I thought it would be good to bring back a favorite topic, UX/UI Design.

Both content and user paths should be thoroughly deliberated upon BEFORE design begins. This is the utmost reason for the wireframe phase. I have been known to wireframe a project 4 or 5 different ways before finding what I believe will be the optimal way to guide a user through a site or RIA AND how the content will be best displayed -usually in order of user importance-. And even then changes are usually made once the site is deployed for user testing and or once live for a month or so.

Here is a great article that will sharpen your skills in this arena. For those of us that already know about this subject, I highly suggest reading this article anyway; if for no other reason than to reinforce good habits and perhaps pick up a missing nugget of information.

Check it.

Bullet train!

2008-11-24T11:50:00.000-08:00

Don't you love when you pick up a new workaround for something you have done the long way a million times before? I do, which is why I thought I'd let those of you in on a trick you may not have known. And if you did, well, I'm jealous..

To add a bullet to a line of text on a mac, you use 'alt - 8'.. for a pc it's alt-0149.
I can't tell you how often I have made little circles and copied them to each line.

Anyway, there you go!

VIdeo client madness

2008-11-12T14:19:00.000-08:00

Here is a great video (coming in at about 30 minutes) about teaching the client to say yes. It's of a FRwd NY conference session Paul Boag did. If you are a PM, AD or freelance designer, I suggest you check it out. wooord.

View video here

DOn't be so negative

2008-11-09T22:13:00.000-08:00

In high school commercial art class and drawing classes prior, one if my favorite topics of study was negative space. It always intrigued my young mind how what you COULD'NT see affected your perception of what you could. I Remember being drawn to the old Sin CIty and Deathblow comics for similar reasons, and some of my favorite design pieces both personal and external make heavy use of the technique.

I just stumbled upon a great little blog posting about maximizing Negative space within your own works. I highly suggest a fresher on a topic that can add so much drama to design work and layout.

MORE ON THAT HERE

vids

2008-11-09T21:14:00.000-08:00

Here is an interesting video on design by Paola Antonelli; curator of design at MOMA in NYC. Check it.

We work for Tipsssss

2008-11-09T20:53:00.001-08:00

Here is a nice little article on the fundementals of interactive design planning. It's a nice synopsis. Even though these stpes are common sense and in most professional settings are carried out it in one form or another, it's easy to forget the Minutia of the first step of a project. This post is nice because its all wrapped in one place, and thus easy to refer back to until it's burned into our internal process.

Hope you gain something from it!

CIT it out.

2008-11-06T14:02:00.000-08:00

Here is short explanation of CIT or Consumer Involvement Theory. This is the process of understanding consumer tendencies; why the buy what the buy.

Take a read through and pack the knowledge and process into your art director/designer toolkit.

here

Logo madness

2008-11-02T00:51:00.000-07:00

I stumbled across a great little article on logo design and branding. Some very prominant brand developers and logo designers write about their processes and ideologies on the topic, including reps fron Turner Duckworth, who recently has been in the press for redesigning the Metallica logo for their new record "Death Magnetic".

CHeck it out here.

Also, here are some ancillory articles as well:
Logo Design Processes

More goodness

Flicks.

2008-10-02T10:09:00.000-07:00

Here is another great little clip. This time it's a house industries trailer of a film they did about Ed Rondthaler. Here's a snippet:

"‘We had the privilege to spend a day filming Ed Rondthaler, living legend, founder of Photo-Lettering, Inc., former president of the American Literacy Council and author of The Dictionary of Simplified American Spelling’."

check it out here.

a thought.

2008-10-01T17:29:00.000-07:00

Just some musings;

when building a grid, which should be done post wireframe, understand it is the invisible undermost layer of the design.
also, think of subsequent interior levels of design as having a rhythmn, flow or pulse. you want to sequentially breakdown the composition in a way that is fluid and intuitive to the user that they are occupying a certain "level" of the site.

lastly, when attemptng different layouts, it pays to focus on one being more open, where the grid is less apparent, and also one where the layout is designed to act like a editorial spread; two pages. from there you can try Perhaps using a cool navigational structure to move through the two page process.

Either way, focusing on negative space between layout comps is a sure fire way to have distinctly different presentations for the client.

Gotta have that Bass

2008-09-05T14:01:00.000-07:00

Here is a nice video interview from the olden days with Legendary designer Saul Bass. Good stuff!

Better late than never...

2008-08-18T21:07:00.000-07:00

I guess it's a bit late, but I wanted to pass along that I have relaunched www.insomedesign.com

Check it out! I hope you like it.

-James

help is on the way

2008-07-27T12:51:00.000-07:00

Here is a great article about effective ways to cimmunicate design changes o your client. It's something that can negatively effect any designer, creative team or company, so check er out!

jump!

It's finally here!!!

2008-07-20T04:00:00.000-07:00

From Lee Brimelow:
"Basically we have created some new technology that we are providing to leading search engines like Google and Yahoo! which allow them to fully parse and index Flash files. Google is already using this new technology and Yahoo! is will be coming onboard shortly. This will greatly improve how your Flash sites will show up in search engines."

Head to the link below for more info on the searchabilty features for Flash Player!
Finally, SEO will be able to DRASTICALLY improve spiderability of flash-based websites.

Read this

update

2008-07-10T00:31:00.001-07:00

I ran across two very important items on the interwebs tonight, and wanted to pass them along to whomever reads this here blog. :)

First up is an interview with one of my absolute favorite typographers; Alex Trochut.

Alex's work is thoughtful, well executed, and above all, unique. check out the interview here. One portion of this interview I found particularly elucidating was this:

AV: "One of the things that struck me about your work was your ability to use existing typefaces and manipulate them in a way that makes them feel unique, fresh and spontaneous. What do you look for in typefaces that you want to customize? Do you see something and instantly know what to do to it?"

AT: "When I look for a display type I like to see in it some kind of density, and a solid and connected structure from letter to letter. I really love all kind of 70s display fonts, I think that period was very free and complex in the creation of type. Once I have chosen the typeface, I type the text I need to design and try to look for relationships between the letters that compose it, and work again of this sense of denseness in the text block. I think this is the only thing that probably repeats in the choosing process, the rest is always changing, the way you add personality to the text, always balancing between being expressive and crazy and readable, form and content, is always changing, and trying to adapt as much as you can to visualize the content of the text through the visual level, and not only the meaning of the text itself."

Secondly, Leo Burnett has done it again, (see their award winning web site.) this time for work on these chinese athletics posters. Amazing work!

2008-07-08T09:58:00.003-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmR0V6s3NKk

Creatives

2008-06-25T22:54:00.000-07:00

Here is a great short essay on creativity and ways to harness it within you!
Quite interesting!

It's a small world.

2008-06-22T11:42:00.000-07:00

Here is a fun tutorial on how to make photos look like miniatures. It's pretty amazing how so little can create such a big effect.. no pun intended. :)

Check it.

Quote me baby.

2008-06-15T12:19:00.000-07:00

A great article on the proper use of quotation, the different types of quotation and ways to style quotes better, is linked below. I highly suggest this quick read!
QUOTE ME ON THAT.

Funtorial

2008-06-12T09:41:00.000-07:00

Here is a great tutorial I found that really helps to unlock the potential within illustrators 3d effects. With a little imagination, one could do all sorts of things with this feature. Including creating realstic objects from scratch with little effort for comping purposes. get into it!

CHECK er out here!

a decent read.

2008-06-09T10:22:00.000-07:00

This is a good read for any designer that would like to improve his or her decision maiking and hunches. Check it out.

The productization of Communication mediums

2008-06-07T01:07:00.000-07:00

Here is a great article on using brand communication as a product and the benefits (in this case with regards to TV/ratings) of strengthening these communications. Not to mention, as a case study it shows a great live commercial for Honda.

CHECK IT

Guernica

2008-05-17T13:35:00.000-07:00

A 3d model of Picass's Guernica? Wow.
http://www.lena-gieseke.com/guernica/movie.html

"Guernica is a painting by Pablo Picasso, depicting the Nazi German bombing of Guernica, Spain, by twenty-eight bombers, on April 26, 1937 during the Spanish Civil War. The attack killed between 250 and 1,600 people, and many more were injured.

The Spanish government commissioned Pablo Picasso to paint a large mural for the Spanish display at the Paris International Exposition (the 1937 World's Fair in Paris). The Guernica bombing inspired Picasso. Within 15 days of the attack, Pablo Picasso began painting this mural. On completion Guernica was displayed around the world in a brief tour, becoming famous and widely acclaimed. This tour brought the Spanish civil war to the world's attention. Guernica epitomizes the tragedies of war and the suffering war inflicts upon individuals. This monumental work has eclipsed the bounds of a single time and place, becoming a perpetual reminder of the tragedies of war, an anti-war symbol, and an embodiment of peace.

Guernica presents a scene of death, violence, brutality, suffering, and helplessness without portraying their immediate causes. The choice to paint in black and white conveys the chronological nearness of a newspaper photograph and the lifelessness war affords."

Quake

2008-05-16T12:28:00.001-07:00

Here is a simple, fun little page design for the upcoming Quake Wars game. Wooord.