When I was contacted to design and assemble a website for Northland design, a landscape architecture firm, it was clear that there was one primary purpose for the site – to promote the quality of their portfolio of work. The design of this site is oriented to helping the viewer experience the quality of the work they produce. The cleanliness and hints of texture also reflect their own design sensitivities.

Antelope Ridge is a residential community development in rural Wyoming. The intended outcome of this website was to reflect the nature of the area itself. The color pallet was kept warm and the layout suggested wide open space.

I am an iPhone junkie. I really love my iPhone and I have had the opportunity to help develop and design a few apps for it. I was particularly taken with this app as it brought science and real world application to a new place. The app is called “dB“. The concept is to take a sound level meter everywhere you go and “tag” the event, location or memory in an interesting new way. Then you can share the Tag via email or Twitter This is the best deal on the app store right now. Certainly the best UI

BREAK OUT

Take a risk. Try something new. Don’t be afraid to make a fool of yourself. Take a class in something you have never done – paint, sculpt, mythology (one of my favorite classes that I took a chance on). Branch out and invest in yourself and the world around you.

“Paint your own colors. Make your life your masterpiece”

Why is this such a problem you may say. There are those very handy USB ports sitting there. Let me briefly describe why USB 1.0-2.x is not an equal to Firewire:

• Hardware acceleration:
  USB is CPU dependent for it’s transfers. It will utilize CPU cycles to help especially when the connection is not direct from host to peripheral. You can daisy-chain FW all day and no performance is lost.
• Better physical connections:
  The USB connection design is generally pretty poor. However, the real devil here is the “mini-usb” connection. It easily detaches from it’s host with even the slightest movement. As a mobile user, this is very vexing to me and has caused me data loss. The Firewire connection is solid. I would have to pull rather deliberately to disconnect it to the point that I lose connection with my notebook.
• Power:
  Firewire can direct power and data from the same connection much more reliably than USB. There have been times when I have managed to get a USB 2.5″ drive to power up from a single connection but, I had to align elements just right and not try to do anything very difficult on the computer or it would lose it’s connectivity. Firewire is a dream to use in terms of portability. I can connect a 2.5″ drive with no issue or performance hit. You can even connect multiple drives as there are FW enclosures that have two raided 2.5″ drives that power up from the single connection.

My petition to Apple is to stop and desist this pattern and move forward with Firewire that has been your steady companion through the good and bad. There are so many reason to continue with it despite the plaguing adoption of USB. The advancments in FW development have a great potential – can you say firewire via rj45? How about the slick new SMDI connection?. Legacy support is also an issue but, that is not the real loss when all is weighed. The great emptyness will be in what we are left with – a terrible excuse for real connectivity.

I love skiing and I love film. I have always wanted to merge these loves so, clearly the solution is to…make a skiing film? Nah…everyone does that. So, I designed a ski. This is a ski design that is a clash of drama of skiing and film for me. I took the opportunity to choose the Bluehouse Ski company as a model to work off of. I have some other ideas I am working as well that I will post at some point.

The process of getting a play ready for the opening night was in itself a fascinating journey. I grew as an actor and an artist quite a  lot however, the most amazing experience was the opening night. Up to that point, I had reached a place where I thought I felt comfortable with the role and the story but, what I had not understood was the impact a live audience has on the presentation. I walked off the stage in a trance. I was able to see the character I *thought* I knew in a different light because of the way the audience saw him. They laughed at places I had not considered. I felt the palpable shock when my character was murdered by a drunken mexican. I was just unexpected but, delicious. However, I was in for another shock. The next night was totally different. The audience felt the play in a different way. Same actors. Same stage direction. Different show. I am just amazed at the organic element of art that an artist isn’t always able to see. The person experiencing the art brings a whole lifetime of information to the work that informs them in a very different way. I am finding myself more sensitized to this reality and it does affect the projects I work on – even *which* projects I work on.

I am forever changed by the experience. One because I LOVE acting now but, also because I am much more appreciative of the incredible organic nature of art and how it affects us individually and collectively.

I have a similar experience with my s/w and h/w tools (eg. cameras, NLE, etc).  I have definite preferences and workflows with my process. This has mainly developed over time due to deadlines, client’s asking for ridiculous ideas, and fellow artists. Once in awhile though, I find myself having to stretch myself and add a tool tp te arsonal for the same reasons.

However, what I find the most amazing aspect this our nature as humans is how violently we will defend our chosen toolbox. I have seen “discussions” over things like FCP -vs- Avid go into a terrorfying intrusion of personal space. I love my tools (when they work the way I want them to) but, I just can’t see how I would get to the point that I would put my sanity or my good name on the line for them (…for clients I appear to be willing to do both however).

It’s all about perspective I suppose. For my reality, I like what I like and it works. I know there are others who DO look at my workflow and shake their heads. Viva la Difference!