Augmented Reality

Ever heard of it? Of course you have. But if you haven’t, here is the quick Wikipedia summary:

Augmented reality (AR) is a field of computer research which deals with the combination of real-world and computer-generated data (virtual reality), where computer graphics objects are blended into real footage in real time.

The most identifiable example is in football where the line of scrimmage and the first down line are projected onto the field. Viewers are watching the football game in real time, and computer graphics are blended onto the field as if it were actually there. Got it? Continue reading “Augmented Reality”

The Objectivist Designer

I recently finished reading “The Fountainhead” by Ayn Rand. I enjoy reading some philosophy now and then so I knew plenty about Rand and her ideas of objectivism before reading the novel.

Objectivism, put bluntly, is the idea that the proper way for one to live is to be selfish and egotistical. To live any other way is immoral. Continue reading “The Objectivist Designer”

Firefox 3

Download it.

I’m the kind of person that thinks going around and forcing people to upgrade there browser makes the world a better place. It does! Really. I strongly suggest that anyone who sees someone using Firefox 2 immediately update their browser to Firefox 3. And if you see anyone using any version of Internet Explorer, quickly get them using Firefox 3 before something bad happens. What bad could happen? I don’t think you want to know. Continue reading “Firefox 3”

Design “Just for Fun”

Just for Fun is a a section I just began that will consist of self initiated work rather than work I have done for clients.

It’s important for designer to design for themselves sometimes and not for clients. It helps to keep ones skills fresh–especially between jobs or during times when you might be doing the same task over and over again.

Currently the section only consist of wallpapers, but there will definitely be more in the future.

How to design/code

The best way to learn to design and code is through rap. I have no doubts.

Design for fun

I have to admit, I didn’t design for fun as much as I would have like during my college career. Sure, designing is always fun, but it’s important to design for oneself rather than always for clients and classes. When you can’t find time to, the second best thing is to make sure you are exercising your creative muscle whenever you design.

When it comes to homework, often the assignments are pretty basic and require little thought depending on your school. For example, an assignment for a web class might be to use CSS to develop a drop-down menu. It may be easy for you to do, but it’s vital that you have fun. Consider trying to do the drop down menu in a different way than you normally do. Heard of some new technique where you use CSS to style unordered list? Try it out. Maybe make up a color scheme and imagine its for an actual business. You may get an A on the assignment regardless of whether you try out something new or not. Maybe you’ll screw it up and get a B instead. But, you would have learned the beginning of something new.

Leaving your mark at school pt. 1

“Don’t you want to leave your mark at school?” the president of La Salle’s Student Government Association (SGA) once asked me in an attempt to get me to join. I did want leave my mark at school, but not with the SGA, so I responded “In a bathroom.” I thought that was pretty clever.

That idea of leaving my mark at my school has stuck with me since then. Everywhere I work, everywhere I go, I want to leave my mark. I want to create new ideas and ways of thinking in places so that when I am gone, a piece of me remains. I feel everyone, student or not, should strive for this as well.

And no, I don’t have some complex where I feel I need to leave my mark on the world before I die in order to feel like my life was worth something, not that there is anything wrong with that. I just like giving whatever I do 110% of my effort, because I believe the more I put into my work, the more I get out of it.

School Newspaper

I was hired to be the Graphic Designer for my schools newspaper in 2005. As Graphic Designer, I create and edit ads for advertisers. In addition, I create graphics for sections editors as needed.

At the time, my school’s paper did not have a web site. The web was beginning to grow dramatically and I knew that my school paper not having a web site was a handicap to La Salle, La Salle’s community, and the newspaper and all of the people who are involved with it. I asked the Editor-in-Chief if I could make a web site and she said “Go ahead.”

I spent a few months researching other school web sites, prototyping, designing, and presenting to, among other people, the Dean of Students and the Editor-in-Chief. I found the entire process exciting and it paved the way for my future jobs since before that point I did not really have any portfolio pieces.

I helped everyone realize how important having a web site was. The entire editing process of the paper has changed party because of what I created. My school’s paper now has a web presence–a site people can go to if they miss an issue of the paper. Prospective students who are into journalism look at the web site and may attend La Salle because of what I created.

Currently, I am trying to migrate the site to an online application called College Publisher, which would allow the paper to more efficiently update the web site, and will help the future web editor better manage the site and ensure that the site does not die when I graduate. College Publisher will only further leave my mark at my school.