Caught In The Whirlwind
Posts tagged graphic design
Ants. I Hate Ants (And Some Other Stuff)
01035 days
by Jason
in Uncategorized
So in the apartment recently, we've been working on battling one of the scourges of summer: Ants. I know why they decided to visit us (we haven't been as good about cleaning up the kitchen as we really should be…but we're getting better on that now) but these things are like mutant ants.
We finally figured out where they were coming in yesterday when, due to the accidental spillage of some sugar on the counter they had formed a decent line going to and from the spill, feasting mightily. So we've repositioned the ant traps and we're hoping that they show some interest in them some day. I tossed some new traps out on our balcony as well since they've been out there as well.
We will defeat the ant incursion or die trying. Or something like that.
Lets see, other stuff that has happened…
I can't believe it's less than 2 weeks to go to see Dream Theater on the Progressive Nation tour in Albany. I'm extremely excited about this show considering the new album was pretty darn awesome. Looking forward to seeing them live again. it's been quite a long time since the last concert I've been to.
Also I can't believe that I'm actually going to be going back to school for something starting pretty soon too. My course in digital typography starts pretty soon (end of august) and I'm going to be actually paying them shortly for it. Just feels kinda surreal. I'm pretty excited about exploring this direction right now, so I'm hoping something good comes out of it. Doesn't hurt to try in any case.
I've been working on designing a personal portfolio type site as an exercise first and I really would like to have just a place on the internet that's a hub of stuff I'm doing and where to find me elsewhere. Not that many people really care, exactly, but it's something to do. My mom also wants to set up a website for her crafting stuff so I'll be going over there next week to talk details.
Doesn't seem like I'm running short on projects that I can tackle to help develop my skills.
The Amazon Lottery
01086 days
by Jason
in Uncategorized
After messing around with Photoshop, as per my previous posting on the subject, working on a layout for my personal site nopurpose.org (the work in progress bit on that layout is here if you're interested in it) it became apparent that having a graphics tablet would be a prudent thing to do. After doing some research, I settled on a Wacom Bamboo Fun.
I made extra sure I had room in the budget for it and bought it off amazon.com (they were selling it for $15 under it's suggested price). But then I had a conundrum. Did I want to send it to the apartment where it will sit in the hallway waiting for somebody to get home (or if the carrier was UPS and they required a signature for some reason…have it bounce) Send it to work and risk it arriving on a Saturday if they picked the US mail option? Send it to my parents and have it arrive after I go home so I have to wait a day to get it?
I decided it was big enough where they'd probably use UPS, so I sent it to work. Unfortunately, I lost. It's coming by US Mail. Daaaah. Freaking amazon. I wish they were able to tell you what shipment option they were using for orders.
Layout
01091 days
by Jason
in Uncategorized
Well, I said I'd post this yesterday, but I ended up being extremely busy so you're getting it today.
Like I mentioned on monday, I've decided that I finally want to get around to working on my graphic design/layout skills a bit more. Ever since I started doing website work, I've really enjoyed creating a good, clean site layout but I've been lacking the necessary graphics skills to really get that stuff done. I've always wanted to get around to learning more about photoshop and some of the techniques used in graphic design so I can broaden my skills out a little bit and not get stuck on the graphics side of the site design.
Well, this came up at the end of last week when I was searching for a photoshop tutorial to help Wassy out with something. I came across a cool site that had a tutorial for a technique that was really cool and I could have used in the past. Which eventually got me to thinking that I should actually get around to learning how to do this stuff.
I took a graphic design course when I was in college as one of my open electives and aside from the fact that the instructor wasn't really a good instructor (he was in the business and had a lot of good information to share, he just didn't know how to share it) it was a good experience. I've been told that I seem to have a knack for this stuff, I just need to explore it further. I can't really draw in the traditional sense, but this area of it is focused on some different skills…so it could work out.
So, with now being a time where I'm sorta in a long period of transition in my life, it seems like it might be something to look into. At worst, I'll find out I don't like it or can't do it…no big deal. But if it's something that works out it makes me more of a complete package as far as web design and development is concerned. I know I need to be careful because I tend to get all excited about learning new things and then 1-2 weeks in lose interest. But this feels kinda like the right step for me to take at this point so we'll see how it goes…
I've been looking across the internet for some technique tutorials to give me a starting point and I'm also considering possibly taking a few courses at the local community college, but that depends on a lot of factors, most of them financial. I'd need to wander down there and talk to some people to gather information about that before jumping in further.
Graphic Design In The Freezing Cold
01943 days
by Jason
in Uncategorized
I had my desktop publishing class last night. It was my first time in the school’s Mac Lab, which consists of about 20 or so G5 iMacs. The smaller LCD size.
I’m trying to figure out if it’s worth it for me to aquire a copy of QuarkXpress (the progam we’re using in the class) for my own MacBook Pro, so I don’t have to drive all the way out there to use the lab computers for assignments.
The class itself seems interesting. We’re going to be doing some work with local non profit organizations for our final project, doing some advertising work for them by making a brochure, a poster and a newspaper ad by the end of the semester. I need to find a non-profit to contact now I guess. It seems to be less work than my constitutional law class at any rate.
Unfortunetly, as mentioned in the subject, I’m missing Grey’s Anatomy to go to this class. So bah! I guess I have to catch the re-runs on Friday for now.
As an aside, it’s freaking COLD out. My hair was still a little wet from my shower this morning when I went out to start my car and by the time I got back in I had a sheet of ice on my head.
No Plan Survives Contact With The Enemy
01950 days
by Jason
in Uncategorized
If you’ve stumbled upon my previous post about getting everything straightened out with my schoolwork and having a plan for continuing, it’s time for a little update.
I had my Constitutional Law class last night and…I’m opting to drop it. The professor is an assistant district attorney for the state and he’s teaching the course like law school basically. It’s going to be way too time intensive for me to work full time as well as take that course.
So I’m now going to be taking a desktop publishing type course Thursday nights. Probably a bit more manageable as far as time goes.
Now I’m just waiting for the billing department there to mess up because I dropped a course and added a new one. I figure they’ll be sending me a refund and then sending me to collections because I didn’t pay for the course I added. This is based on my experience from last semester about them losing the payment.
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