IUPUI PARKING SUCKS!!!

Why do so many stupid people get put in charge of everything? You know what I am talking about; the government, wall street, and obviously the people handling parking at IUPUI. Everyone who attends classes at the school knows what I am talking about. Paying hundreds of dollars a year for parking only to be made to park down the road and wait outside for a shuttle to arrive. Chugging in a slow moving line up the slope of a parking garage and then back down it watching what would have been early to class turn into late. One of the times I was late waiting for a shuttle that didn't show to move me the approximately 1.5 miles I had to park from class I took the opportunity to talk to some people from parking services, I was told that previously there had been 2 to 3 cars sold parking permits per space and now there were approximately 4 to 5 cars sold permits to space and that was the problem. More cars same number of spaces as if that couldn't have been guessed. What I want to know was why would they oversell the spaces to that degree and if there are more cars to fewer spaces why did the school feel justified raising the parking rates, that's right they are having their cake and screwing it too. All of this was the good news. Now for the bad news the parking gods in all of their infinite wisdom have decided in the middle of the year when people have had to use the grass outside of the library as parking to go ahead with construction of a new parking garage. A new garage? A garage sounds like a good thing except for two things;

1. This is copied directly from the IUPUI Parking and Transportation Services web-page:

"the campus is building a brand new parking garage (California St Garage) just east of Blackford Street, providing 1,300 convenient spots. Construction begins in a few weeks and will be completed in time for the start of classes next fall. Unfortunately, as the new garage goes up, we’ll lose 550 parking spaces. It’s very likely that your favorite spot may be in the construction zone."

2. THIS GARAGE WILL NOT BE DONE BY NEXT SEMESTER!!

When there were already major problems with parking why would construction that will eliminate an additional 550 spots start over a three week break when the ground is frozen solid? It is called summertime people, it' s the 3 month period with few people on campus with the great weather. Collegeprowler.com gave the parking situation a letter grade of D and had this to say:

"Most students get a very sour taste in their mouths when someone mentions anything about parking, especially at the beginning of the semester, during midterms, or during finals. The students that drive to campus (which includes most of the students that attend IUPUI) usually cannot get a parking spot and be on time to class unless they show up at 7 or 8 a.m. This is the best time to try and find parking, and if students can force themselves to get up this early, then it is a perfect opportunity for them to find some quiet time to study before class. In other words, the early bird catches the worm—and the late bird flies into class like a bat out of hell. The decisions IUPUI Parking Services makes are very closely scrutinized by the students. There have been articles in the school newspaper, the Sagamore, about the discrepancy between the amount of parking passes sold versus the amount of spots available. There are many more passes sold than there are spots available."

the collegeprowler.com article also made reference to bumper stickers made by the students in the School of Liberal Arts that said "Food Parking why not both" that was a parody of the IUPUI slogan. Prediction for the following fall? Higher parking prices on the horizon.

James Cameron's Avatar needs new ads.

After James Cameron spent years and over $300 million dollars to create a film that he has thought about for most of his life why would e leave the promotions to just anyone. Cameron, a director that is known to be domineering stopped just shot of the finish line and just totally handed over the reigns of the Avatar marketing blitz. The television trailer spots, even the movie previews trailer are terrible. The scenes were cut badly, the glimpse at the story seems childish, and the clips of trite cliché dialogue I can only pray is not indicative of the entire move. The movie has gotten good reviews though, so what gives? Rottentomatoes.com gave it an 89%. Roger Ebert who let's admit hasn't been on his game since the 1999 death of Gene Siskel the real brains (no pun intended) of the At The Movies duo likened the the experience of seeing Avatar to viewing the original Star Wars release in 1977. High praise, bad marketing. Do I think that Avatar will not make a ton of cash because of the poor marketing? Of course not. Avatar will rake in the cash, it has grown to a spectacle everyone will want to see simply from the hype and budget rumors alone. What is problem with the marketing then? I am just not fond of having a preconceived notion of crapiness pushed on me by the very medium that is supposed to be bolstering opinion. James, next time use just a little more follow through with the portrayal of your content. The trailers were just badly done or else you guys just purposely started the first publicity machine that drums up negative feelings for a movie knowing that with the $300 million budget the only thing that people might hope for more than cinematic perfection might be to get the next Waterworld in which case I owe you an apology.

Olivia Munn Maxim Magazine January 2010 Issue

As a big fan of tech shows and hot girls that have interest in geeky and guyish hobbies I am happy to say that G4's Olivia Munn has a article and picture layout in the January 2010 issue of Maxim magazine. While other G4 girls like Morgan Webb have been featured in Maxim and she is certainly the better gamer I personally have always been bothered (only slightly) by her total lack of lips. Here is an excerpt from the Q&A portion of the article:

When did you first realize you were…well, kind of a nerd.

"I think it was eighth grade. I was in a military family, so by the time I was 13 I’d lived in six different places. I remember looking around that year and realizing that the one group that always takes you in is the geeks."

Did you have a geek idol growing up?

"Punky Brewster. At the time I found her I was living in Utah—Mormon central, all these blond-haired, blue-eyed, all-American people. Then there was me, a complete tomboy with natty hair and polyester pants. I saw this girl on TV who looked and talked just like me and played with boys and didn’t care about getting dirty."

You’re in The Slammin’ Salmon, and soon we’ll see you in Iron Man 2. Has the jump to film been intimidating?

"I was a big fan of Super Troopers, so working with the Broken Lizard guys was so much fun. For Iron Man I had to improv with Robert Downey Jr., which is like going up against LeBron in basketball. At one point he stopped and said, “Can we give a round of applause to Olivia, because she’s rocking it right now.” I was so happy I went through a McDonald’s drive-through on my way home and ordered two cheeseburgers and some fries."

We have to ask: Are you dating anyone—or is there hope for us?

"I just broke up with my boyfriend, so I’m officially single. But one thing I find unbelievably annoying is all these guys in my life who want to save me. They’re like, “Do you feel alone?” Everyone’s turned into Oprah!"

Olivia Munn also did a covered up shoot for Playboy that will be out soon making people wonder why they would ever even bother reading that magazine, because it's not for the articles. Well thanks for the article maxim and maybe next time you'll do one on Alison Haislip.

Merry Christmas France

France has a reason to celebrate this holiday season, the recovery of French performer Hallyday. Johnny Hallyday who is apparently the biggest musical performer that no American has ever heard of recovered this december after an operation in Los Angeles where he was placed into a medical coma. Johnny has been performing for a half century, sold over 100 million records and is called the French Elvis. Apparently, the news of Johnny Hallyday's hospitalization overran the French press as the largest story in the country. So Merry Christmas France and maybe some of America will hear of this performer in the new year.

IU good student discount.

There has been a lot of talk over the last semester that IU is going to be offering a good student discounts. I have even heard it first hand that there was talk of this on the news. Some of the rumored details of the discount were that it would be $300 off the semester following a semester where the student attained a 3.0 or better and that it would possibly be starting as early as the Spring 2010 semester. While most of these points are not confirmed or denied there is one that is definitely false and that is there will be no discount during the upcoming spring semester. I spoke with a IUPUI financial aid office worker today 12/16/2010 and she said that although the discount will come at some point there is no specific date as of yet, the school's administration has no idea how to implement the discount, and there will most likely be no word as to decisions on the discount until June 2010. For all you students that were hoping for a bonus for your good grades sit tight, it sounds like it will be awhile.

Kids dart. Drive Smart.

These are signs that you can see throughout the Indianapolis area posted in yards The "Kids Dart. Drive Smart" initiative started by Riley Children's Hospital in 2007 provides the signs free of charge at the expense of the Hospital (occasionally with the addition of a corporate sponsor). Here is the Hospital's official statements on the program from 05/15/2008 that can be found at http://www.rileydocs.com/news050508.html .

"Indianapolis - Due to the overwhelming success of last year's Kids dart. Drive smart. child safety campaign, Riley Hospital for Children is taking the campaign statewide and partnering with the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, hospitals across the state and the local community in a concentrated effort to reduce driving speeds during the summer and back-to-school months - a time of year when more children are injured while playing and bicycling.

"Kids dart. Drive smart. is a unique grassroots effort to protect child pedestrians who frequently are injured by motorists and is designed to remind adults that children are at play and to slow down to help keep them safe," said Dr. Tres Scherer, medical director of Riley's Pediatric Trauma Center. "This year's campaign will extend beyond the Indianapolis metro area and engage statewide partners, coalitions and referring physicians in which more than 20,000 yard signs are expected to be distributed."

The Kids dart. Drive smart. campaign will engage neighborhoods, schools, churches, businesses and individuals to raise awareness and significantly reduce injuries.

"As we patrol the streets of Marion County, we see just how many children are out in the neighborhoods and streets during the summer months," said Chief Michael Spears, of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department. "It is important for IMPD to partner with Riley in this important public safety campaign to encourage motorists to drive safely and pay attention to their surroundings."

Riley Hospital for Children is making Kids dart. Drive smart. yard signs available at no cost, as supplies allow, for neighborhoods and homes in an effort to reinforce the message of child pedestrian safety and engage the community.

The yard signs feature children running and playing underscored with the phrase "Kids dart. Drive smart." They serve as a reminder that it is difficult for children to accurately judge the distance of an approaching vehicle and often will dart from between parked cars while playing.

In addition to yard signs that will be on display throughout the state of Indiana, radio spots, billboards and viral web videos will also reinforce the importance of watching out for kids at play.

Research has shown that, while children may be keenly aware of the danger automobiles present, younger children have not fully developed their depth perception. That can lead to kids running out into the street and in front of vehicles with little time for the drivers to react.

More than 44,000 child pedestrians were injured in the U.S. during 2006, the most recent year for which figures are available. From 1999-2005, the nation saw 7,299 pedestrian fatalities among children 17 years of age and younger. Indiana children accounted for 128 of those deaths.

From 1999-2006, Clarian Health, including Riley Hospital for Children, treated 1,127 children younger than 18 years of age after being struck by a motor vehicle while walking or riding a bike. Eight resulted in fatalities. As was the case nationally, more males, 67 percent, were treated for pedestrian injuries than females at Clarian. The following age groups represent the percentage of injuries:

• Ages 0 -1: 12.8 percent
• Ages 5-9: 32 percent
• Ages 10-14: 37 percent
• Ages 15-17: 17.8 percent "

The information they have posted seems pretty factual, but the source of statistics they use are not given which is strange. This is a great program that the Riley Children's Hospital has started, now let's discuss the signs themselves. The signs are affective, attention grabbing, and don't give too much information which is good for anything that is to be seen while driving. The I feel the sign could be approved on with the addition of reflective imaging. Kids in the roadway are a problem that often doesn't stop at sundown. With the low cost addition of reflective material on the sign drivers would be reminded of children present in residential areas after dark. Keeping the reflective pattern in the shape of the child in the image's outline would allow the reminder to be quickly transmitted even after dark.

Evan Williams Ad

I was looking at this ad in a magazine, and although I have felt that other ads in the Extra Aged Evan Williams series have been alright this one just doesn't do it. The add shown here shows a car split by periods of time the older side saying "the longer you wait" and the right, modern side, saying "...the better it gets"' While in the previous ads (one shown here) have used the same past/present split in the ads they have been much more clear in presenting there position. The older ad with the woman shows an obvious improvement during the time passage. The car add shows the same car, the house isn't clearly larger due to the angle viewed, and the price tag has gone up not down. While the car in the ad is for sale meaning if the house was portrayed to be the viewers they would receive more money from the sale they are still selling. Not a good ad.

Teleportation

While this new breakthrough in the field of quantum information processing can't really be considered teleportation, at the time there is really no better term for it. The information from one atom was instantaneously transmitted over a contained distance of one meter to another atom, transforming the receiving atom into one that acts exactly like the first. Future applications for data transference and computing speeds are huge.

handyman's x-rays

A new device that is expected out in mid-2010 will allow the contractor and even the home handyman to literally see into walls to see if there are pipes, wires,etc. by using microwaves. The device will way less than 3lbs and emits less radiation than a cellphone. Not much else to say, it is great and speaks for itself. If you do the work to need it, get it

Portable Ultrasound

This hand held and self contained device is as powerful as a standard ultrasound machine, but is the size of a cellphone. The manufacturing cost will be greatly reduced to the old units as well. The device will save critical time in medical diagnoses of many kinds and is a new avenue of hope for village medical diagnosis.

Vertical Farming

With less space and growing needs today's population is working on solutions, vertical farming is one of the more promising. The mechanized towers rotate the plants so they receive the necessary light and nutrients. It is always good to think that with factors that societies are unable (or unwilling) to do anything about creating ever greater strain on the world that innovation can help relieve some of the burden.

Solar Shingles

While solar panels have been available commercially for years and solar panels that resemble metal roofing have been installed for a bit now the next in the home solar revolution is the solar shingle. The solar shingle looks and installs like a normal roof shingle. The solar shingle can be mixed in with the normal shingles as well, other added bonuses are that the solar shingle is easier to install than other panels and will cost 10-15% less. Available now.

Fujifilm FinePix REAL 3D W1

Some of the stuff that I have posted on is in progress, this is some future now. This camera is the next step in photography, a step that should have been thought of before now. The camera utilizes two lenses working in unison and separated by about the same approximate distance as the human eyes to add depth and the 3rd dimension to your pics. I little pricey right now at about $600 retail I'd wait a bit and this price will drop.

Philips LED 60 watt light bulb

Philips Electronics designed this light bulb in a response to the Energy Department's $10 million competition to create a superior 60 watt bulb, a competition that also includes lucrative federal purchasing agreements for the winner. The bulb emits the same amount of light on only 10 watts of power and lasts 25 times longer than halogen (about 25 years!). The expected price tag is $40, which will be totally worth it for a money saving light bulb that lasts 25 years.

Floor

This installment at the IMA titled simply "Floor" is one of my favorite pieces in the Indianapolis Museum. Found in the contemporary art gallery this work by Korean born Do-Ho Suh is a large 32 panel installation that is, as the name suggests, a floor. The floor when standing on it looks like it has vibrantly colored speckles, with closer inspection the colored dots are seen to be tiny hands with the panels of the floor held up by a small plastic people of many varieties all working in unison to support the weight. It is awesome and took from 1997-2000 to create, go check it out.

Sacred Spain at the IMA

The Indianapolis Museum of Art is hosting a painting retrospective called "Sacred Spain" that is based on the religious iconography of 17th century Spain. Many of the pieces in the collection have never been scene in the US before. The Clowes Charitable Foundation helped fund the project, which to those who have it available an iPhone or ipod touch app. is available called tap that give the user an interactive multimedia interaction with the collection. For someone who doesn't have access to these devices ipod touches are available to rent. I didn't use the multimedia portion, mainly because I am not really interested in any religious interpretation (especially one that mostly pictorials suffering). The app is a cool idea however. If you want to check it out the exhibit is running until January 3, 2010.

"The four best days in gaming"

GenCon 2010 is happening in Indianapolis, In. from August 5th through the 8th. It has almost everything gaming related and hundreds of exhibitors. The event (website aside) is great. Info can be found at gencon.com and a mobile iphone app is available from itunes. Approximately 30,000 will be attending. If you like gaming and gaming culture check it out.

Royal Enfield

I have always loved the design of classic Triumph style motorcycles and the more retro of the Harley lines, but the price is crazy. Looking at bike designs I came across a brand that to me was surprisingly the oldest motorcycle company still in production, Royal Enfield. The lines on the bike are classic, and my favorite is the oldest running model the bullet which has a very reasonable price of $4500 base and a reasonable mileage at 70+mpg highway.

Candy and other obvious products.

Snickers has been around since 1930 and 72 years later they get the idea to try a second kind of nut, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups took about the same amount of time before they came up with a spin off product. These are not giant innovative leaps by any means, especially when you take into account that these are companies that pretty much exclusively make candy. Maybe it is just that people in the past didn't care about options, but that clearly isn't the case now with every kind of candy having a white chocolate version, a crunchy version, and dark chocolate version. There are even candies that Frankenstein 5 kinds of candy to quench those that can't even commit to a candy bar. When I see these candies stacked in the checkout lane I always think back to a trip I took the the GM car design studio that I went to when I was a little kid. They had cars designed out to 20+ years into the future. I looked at these cars that were meant for decades out and I thought those are the cars I want now, comparatively the lame little changes they had for the next year sucked. Even as a kid I thought that though the future design was great they were designing like cowards, acting like they would run out of ideas if they just through them out now. You can always think of something new. I know that there aren't a lot of ways you can configure nougat, carmel, chocolate, and nuts but 70 years is a bit to long to start to innovate.

Texting when driving

I think that the last non tech portion of our society must have finally caught on to texting because the myriad of already bad drivers has really kicked up a notch in the last few months. The number of people I see texting while driving is terrible. These people are bad at driving already and then you add typing, a small screen, and word selection. While there is a current ban in Indiana on kids younger than 18 using cells while driving there is no such law for any other part of the population. While I personally feel that there is no need to go as far as a total cell ban, I do think that texting is going too far. There is going to be a proposal for 2010 in the Indiana legislature on a texting initiative, let's hope something gets done.

Scribblenauts

I don't play the Nintendo DS often, in fact my iphone sees more game action. A game that has increased the portable system's usefulness is Scribblenauts, a game released in September of 2009 that was designed by 5th Cell. In the game you solve short puzzles by typing the names of props in the form of non vulgar nouns. The nouns appear in the game and interact with you character, the environment, and other characters. The game has a deceptively simple appearance, but the library of words that the game hold is enormous. Simple word can be combined to make items like "spring shoes". It is a fun, clean game that is addictive.

DaFont.com

Another great website is DaFont.com. A good number of fonts and access designs are available on the site for free and the rest are free for personal use only. I used the site making a mock game design logo a while back and the download was usable in illustrator, photoshop, and loaded directly into word. There are a lot of places to find fonts, but this is a great start.

Grandma's Boy

Video Game design, karate monkeys, the old lady from Everybody Loves Raymond. If you are looking for a geeky and underappreciated movie try this one on. Steady pot referrences aside most could find humor with this movie. Make sure to get the 2006 movie, not the 1922 movie of the same title (Doris Roberts might have been in that one too). Critically panned on release the movie went on to make more than 4 times its box office on dvd sales. It is up for rent, or purchase for around $10.

ThinkGeek.com

From the last two entries you knew it was coming. ThinkGeek.com is great online store. The Microbe Plushies and the NES/SNES duo system are but two of hundreds of products on this site. Survelance cameras, science tech, movie props are all just some of the many things available. Ever want your own phaser? Laser Keyboard? Check out this site. Products are available for any event. There is gonna be something you want.

Dual NES/SNES Gamesystem

This is a break for me, as someone who has gone through many gaming system over the years. The line had to be drawn somewhere, systems were piling up, although each one had some fond memories you didn't visit them much. With this duo system two of them can be reclaimed. Available on thinkgeek.com the NES/SNES system is smaller than either one of the original systems. Also available in an NES/Genesis configuration this system runs $50 for either.

Unusual Plushies

Giant microbe plushies, anime plush toys, video game dolls. The standard in America was always the teddy bear in plush toys, but the increasing influence of Japanese culture on the United States has given rise to more unique and dynamic plush toys. What began at amusement parks and carnivals with a Mario or Sonic seen here or there has become a online influx carried on by the special cultural interest groups. Above is a picture of plush microbes in a special petri dish container that is sold by thinkgeek.com. Other online vendors include yukariskawaiishop.com (kawaii being the japanese equivalent to cuteness) and gambattletoys.multiply.com.

Free Images Online

Free image sites. While MorgueFile.com is a well-known site for free high-resolution photos that is perhaps the best known there are a few other sites that are worth checking out. A couple of other sites are Stockvault.net and FreeFoto.com. FreeFoto.com seemed at a glance to have the greatest number of regulations regarding the photo ownership. I put the three photo sites through a quick test asking them all for images of a “nightclub.” In the test MorgueFile.com returned the most results that I would consider relevant to the request, Stockvault.net returned slightly fewer images (some of which what I would consider a greater degree of relevancy, and FreeFoto.com which ironically makes the boast of having the largest collection anywhere of free photos had zero search results. Stockvault.net had good results, but some when clicked on were redirected to pick up the photo out of sight. Due to Stockvault.net’s redirect and fewer results coupled with FreeFoto.com’s total lack of a search result my snap decision would be that MorgueFile.com is still king. There are some things out there worth taking a look at.

Intuos Tablets

Intuos tablets by Wacom are great and I recommend them to anyone interested in New Media or even traditional art. Wacom has three lines of digital drawing tablets, but having only used an Intuos it is the only one that I feel comfortable in reviewing. While there have been a few generational models of the Intuos tablets the current is the Intuos 4, with the resolution and pen pressure sensitivity roughly doubling every generation. The price for the small Intuos 4 (4*6) is about $200 and the next size up is about $430. With the thousands of levels of pressure sensitivity and per inch resolution on even the previous model I was able to find a perfectly adequate Intuos 3 for a little over $100 with some searching. The feel of the tablet is great write out of the box and the driver is a breeze to install. The movement of a pen is so much more natural than a mouse. Even though I just got the tablet and have only played on it for a total of about 15 minutes I was able to draw decently and navigate it in Photoshop. I have posted that sketch here.

Rethinking the bad website.

Changes to the Bad

If something is considered bad then maybe it deserves some rethinking. This is a retool of the NBS (National Broadcasting Society) website. I highlighted the logo as the main point of the sight and made it a pivot point for the two existing borders to make the line feel more like a joint with movement and not half a picture frame.

I moved the balance further to the left by adding weight to the logo and darkening the left border for the necessity of creating greater contrast between the links. I offset the shift in balance by adding lettering to the right, above the header, shifting the slogan to the right in the header, and shifting the text blocks further to the right, adding weight to the right and negative space to the left.

The links, logo, and main text all receive a boost in contrast. Shapes (other than the logo) and information all remained basically static to the original as I wanted it to convey the same original intent.

The hierarch had slight changes made. The address and contact info was brought from the very last thing on the page to the very first. Under the main heading, I reversed the order to put the organization’s description before the mission statement. I left out some of the text bodies, not due to choice, but omitted simply because no adjustments were further made in the text to the original.

Although the original had unity for the most part in both color and font, I made changes in both areas. The color blue used in multiple shades is hard to read and has the feel of out of date 90’s PC apps. I took it mostly to a grey scale with pops of color for a more graphic look.

I used various fonts, but kept them unified with the commonality of strong, straight forward lettering. Most importantly, the font in the group’s slogan was adjusted so it didn’t have such an identity crisis with itself and the font, a straight clean design font was used for the characterization of the words “future” and “electronic media”. So half it’s phrase and history weren’t left out, I used the periods in the slogan “the future of electronic media… since 1943” as a point to change fonts to an older looking style that was still clean. Bolding the font “since 1943” also further helped to differentiate the clashing phrases that suggest future and distant past is a medium that wasn’t even invented at the time of the society’s inception.

Bad Website Design: A Case Study

This bad design is the NBS honor society website. I choose this site because the class TA brought in folders for this organization which I thought looked terrible, forcing me to ask the question what their website must look like.

Line

The lines are very grid like, cold with no creativity. The site seems more like a spreadsheet than a website.

Balance

The site is balance to itself, but not the page, as the link size is expanded it doesn’t adjust to the changes. The main way it tries to balance is by use of a colored left side border to offset the centered text that runs to the right.

Contrast

Contrast is the main area that the site really fails. While the lettering in the text’s main bodies is overly stark, the links running down the left side border have so little contrast with the border itself that they become almost non-functioning, not to mention that it is blue on blue, a color that older people would have trouble distinguishing.

Shape

There are almost no shapes on the site, the geometric lines and texts are the entire substance.

Information

As to be expected of the spreadsheet like layout, the page does convey the necessary information. Although, what is needed to be conveyed, is occasionally not done so in the best possible way. The header that was at the top is redundant mentioning that it is a website. Directly under the header the mission statement is for some reason put before the description of the company.

Hierarchy

The website is mostly well sectioned into hierarchies, but again, the lack of contrast between the links and border is noticeable as it makes the links feel as if they are even less than a side note.

Harmony/Unity

One thing this site does do is hold a feel of unity. The same three colors permeate the page, and the same dry font is used throughout, except on the header where the group’s slogan “the future of electronic media…. since 1943” sits almost as an oxymoron. The strangeness of the NHS slogan is compounded by the overly scrolling and the antique looking font.

Ben Hulse Design Website

Line

The line is geometric with organic added in edges, with a softly curve font.

Balance

The balance is good with the perfect rectangle that has color offsetting balance to the right, offset by the heavier name lettering on the upper left, similarly the smaller lighter lettering of the portfolio links in the upper right and the years in the bottom right are balanced by the site links in the bottom left. The image to window stays balanced and center no matter how the window is expanded.

Contrast

The white lettering is in contrast to the grey background. The stroke on the name Ben Hulse is thicker than the rest of the lettering. Even the word “design” that is in the title causes contrast, and therefore the name to stick. In the right of the picture itself, the color is in stark contrast to the grayscale in the rest of the image, as is the man’s legs in the picture’s left. The man’s shoes are in contrast to the image even though they are in the same color scale. The shoes are contrasted by the starkness of the pure black that is found almost nowhere else on the image, and the tightness of the checks even though it is echoed throughout the rest of the image with the tiles.

Shape

The images prevalent shape is a rectangle. The outer rectangle is echoed with the rectangular shapes in the image, and the tiles in the image.

Information

The site clearly but in a subdued way states that this is a designer that des: print, web, photography, makes apparel, and video.

Hierarchy

Since the designer’s name has the larges and boldest font, it is clear what he wants to convey the most. The striking image speaks passively about his work. Smaller are the links to hip types of work, allowing you to select and find out more after the image itself has sold you on it.

Harmony/Unity

The colors all work perfectly in sync with each other. The clean and clear fonts compliment the Spartan page and contrast well with the picture’s geometry. The subdued lettering that makes little pretension pairs perfectly with the clean text-less image as if everything should speak for itself. Everything fits with the page.

http://www.benhulse.com/

The Pilot Precise V5/7 Rolling Ball Pen

The Pilot Precise V5/7 Rolling Ball Pen has always been one of my favorite writing instruments. V5 and V7 designations are the designations for “fine” or “extra fine” both models have a good weight in the stroke and flow smoothly. There are seven available colors and the pen actually holds patented components. One of the best things about the pen is that it is widely found in most stores unlike most other decent pens. The pen uses water based ink which is in a visible reservoir that allows you to see the amount that is left. It is a great pen that is easy to find and well priced. As a long time user of this writing instrument I recommend it.

Here is a little bit about the company that makes the products as listed on their website (http://www.pilotpen.us/about/corpfacts/);

“Corporate Facts 
Pilot Corporation of America prides itself on being a leading manufacturer and marketer of quality writing instruments in the United States. Our sales continue to grow year after year because of the quality of our products, and the innovation of our Research and Development teams. Our spirit of innovation has always focused on serving consumer's writing needs.Our state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities in the United States and Japan operate under strict quality control standards, ensuring the superior quality of all Pilot products. Dr. Grip, G2, Precise V5/V7 and EasyTouch are among our top selling brands.In addition to the American subsidiary, the parent company has subsidiaries in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Italy, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, Brazil and Russia.Quick Facts about Pilot Pen Corporation of America 
Pilot Pen is the third largest writing instrument company in the United States. Established in the U.S. in 1970, Pilot is the fastest-growing writing instrument company in the country. The parent company, Pilot Corporation in Tokyo, was founded in 1918. It is the oldest and largest writing instrument manufacturer in Japan.”

Digital Candy on Photoshop by Melissa Clifton

Melissaclifton.com is a small site set up by Melissa Anne Clifton a New Zealand Graphic Artist. This particular tutorial shows a simple 6-step process to making a digital swirled peppermint using Adobe Photoshop. The tutorial is designed for beginner to intermediate level Photoshop users. This tutorial is straight forward, simple, and easy to follow. Actual toolbar screenshots are utilized to show how to operate in the program. The instructions are complete to the level where even save points are described. Above is the finished version. The tutorial is great for the shear simplicity and ease of use, the site’s only downfall is its visual presentation with the rather old style layout, low resolution, and poor color scheme all of which don’t really reflect the knowledge contained by its author.

The Green Mill is located at 4802 N. Broadway Ave. in Chicago Illinois. I love it as a bar and place in and of itself, but the original attraction to the place was sparked by the classic bar sign in the front of the bar itself. I love saloon signs from the era as they harken back to a rugged time, bringing nostalgia to those who never even witnessed the era. The lights dazzle in a way that hint to excitement and a seedy sense of class. This bar was once associated with Al Capone and has been visited by Frank Sinatra. I lived down the street from this bar for some time and on a random Thursday entered to witness and unannounced free set by Harry Conick Jr. If it wasn't for the great classic feel of this icon bar, which is in no small part supported by the classic sign above the entryway, people would not still keep this place relevant over one hundred years after its inception.

Grand Theft Auto 4

Although already somewhat old in the scheme of the fast-paced environment that is digital storytelling Grand Theft Auto 4 (released in 2nd quarter of 2008) to me is still a definitive example of digital storytelling. I can still remember the first time I played the title how it seemed fresh, vibrant, and incredibly detailed. The depth is huge with side missions, radio stations to suit almost any taste, and fake television that can just be watched. All of these elements are joking impersonations of their real life counterparts, which add interest that is relatable while at the same time reinvigorated. Personally I am a fan of the nonlinear sandbox style game play that can be found in GTA4 and sadly there are still at this point not that many open play titles, while a few handfuls can be named it is still a small proportion of the market.

Interactivity is great in GTA4, you are in complete control of the character. If you want to bowl, play darts, shoot pool just do it. If you want to play any one of several styles of online play with people all over the globe, it is easy as making a selection on the character's cell phone. The IA in the game allows a decent level of interaction with all the characters in the game itself from friendly characters and the police to the drivers of random cars and people on the street. Some abilities in the game are even based on your relations with characters in the game.
Hypermedia is something that is not largely presented in the game and is one of the only things that I could see some improvement in, not to say the game is terrible at it. The depth of this skewed look at life even goes to the point of having its own version of the Internet. While the games comical look at the Internet in and of itself has a surprising amount of detail given the consoles ability to web browse the sites or at least an area of the interpretation should be able to connect directly to the web. The game does come close in this with some actual links and urls found in the game actually correlate to actual sites when taken online, the crutch being that you are not going online through the game. The presentation and story build up on all of the game’s web based advertisement is great. The linking for multiplayer online is seamless.
Immersion is something that that this game doesn’t lack. From the story to the free range of choices the detailed world is yours. Immersion to me is huge in a movie, something about not having to interact and be able to put deep focus on watching the story unfold with a video game it is nearly opposite the control is given to me, so I want free ranged control. The sandbox play of GTA4 is so far removed from the strict path and non-cerebral thrills of a rail shooter. While the borders of GTA’s world and detail can be found, you actually have to look for it or at least nit pick to such a degree that you are going to be happy with nothing that is presently available. Natural Motion’s Euphoria engine integrates AI, physics, and biomechanics into the game making the people and environment of the game intuitive and adaptive. The game is transportive and helped raise the bar, at least for me, of what a great game requires.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Theft_Auto_IV

http://www.rockstargames.com/IV/

Aoxomoxoa

Here is another of my favorite album covers. This is the cover from The Grateful Dead's 1969 album Aoxomoxoa. The cover was designed by Rick Griffin who was a graphic artist and a surfer. I have loved this cover since I was a child and I saw this in my parent's record collection. It was one of the first albums I got myself, although I didn't even bother to listen to it until much later. My interest in this cover certainly stems from the graphic style which influenced me, a style that also closely relates to graffiti. The symmetry is also great and it shows a hand drawn style that could be related and as good as what people produce on illustrator today. This pic certainly doesn't do it justice.

Sex Pistols Album Cover.

This is the cover of the 1977 album Never Mind the Bollock's here's the Sex Pistols. I like this cover because is was a breakout from traditional album art in its lack of imagery. This graphic shows the power of color and even more so text. I personally have a deeper affinity for graphics that stand regardless of text so it is great to have a reminder text's powerful properties and creative use. The colors are so vivid on the piece that in a pile of covers from many eras it still stands out at a huge level. I like this album to the point that this is a photo of my framed original copy that I keep on a living room wall, one that I keep there in a much higher degree for the visuals than actual fan-ship of the band.

IT152 Stairs.

One thing that I see badly designed time and time again are stairs. people taking liberty with the dimension of the steps until they are at the point of the most annoying they can possibly be, the steps too small for a single step (you would be traveling in slow motion) and too big for a double step. These particular stairs are in the IT152 auditorium and they piss me off every day. Make them taller (less steps/broader surface), put more (shorter/two at a time possible), just do something. Nothing can be done about them now, but whoever designed them needs to apply things to usable applications.

Barcelona Chair

I have always liked this classically modernist chair by the 1930's architect Mies van der Rhoe (1886-1969). Even to this day I will spot this chair often in office buildings and expensive condo lobbies in chicago. I think the clean lines are timeless, I liked it even as a child. The picture here may be hard to fully appreciate without a cleanly designed setting around it, the chair is meant to be a component to a room. The fact that nearly eighty years after it's inception the chair is still being manufactured and selling in the 4000-7000 dollar range is a testament to its long lasting design appeal.

Jim Lee X men

This fold out comic cover from 1991 is one of my favorites. Jim Lee was my favorite comic artist while growing up and this cover doesn't have a border and the image is colorful making it feel open and like it has a lot of movement. Jim Lee's forms and lines are always great, as well as completely hand drawn. The cover is one of the most dynamic ever, which is proven by this being the highest selling comic book ever even to this day.

Graffiti

Graffiti as a word should be broken off from vandalism into it's own term. Graffiti should remain as a word for an art form, not the crude script in bathrooms or marring public property. Although the word graffiti has its root from the italian word graffiato and it could be easily argued that the vandalism aspect should retain the name and the art form be re-branded I don't think this is the case as graffiti is already a widely excepted art form and the younger generations feel an easy connection with the word as art. The older members of society are the last vestiges that connote the word with destruction. The piece above is one that I saw at Bonnaroo summer 09 that was a beautiful piece of art that was covering a cheap plywood wall. The characters, colors, and clean lines were all great and made the environment even brighter. The second picture is a piece that I (on left) did at the same festival on a free art wall. Be forgiving of my work as unlike the other was not pre-designed, didn't use stencils or phat caps (for cleaner direction of paint flow) , and of course took much less time (about 20 minutes). The first piece I spoke about was definitely a reason I felt compelled to do one of my own, that motivation is a true hallmark of something that speaks as a art form. My friend from New York (right of the second picture) provided the paint and did the fill on the character.