Cam for iPod Touch
Okay! Photogs unite
Cam for the iPod Touch
We won't take no for an
answer. Mr. Jobs has taught
us to be unrelenting in our
pursuits. ;-)
We always create on the frontier, never in the factory.
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I provide design solutions, critical thinking and observations to solve problems for businesses and individuals. Contact me for a full outline of services.
Okay! Photogs unite
Cam for the iPod Touch
We won't take no for an
answer. Mr. Jobs has taught
us to be unrelenting in our
pursuits. ;-)
If I had to pick one plugin for photoshop, it would have to be Topaz Adjust. Check it out and see what I mean. Alert: If you are on a Mac you will need the intel chip.
In preparation for a record breaking non stop round the world solo sailing adventure; Team Abby has acquired this zero category Open 40 class sailboat [ pictured above ] for the attempt. If successful the 16 year old teen from Thousand Oaks California will be the youngest person to sail solo non stop around the world. Jessica Watson, also 16 from Australia is also attempting to do the same but is about 4 months older than Abby.
Zac Sunderland, Abby's older brother completed his solo circumnavigation [ with stops ] earlier this year and became the youngest person to do so.
We wish these young mariners the very best and pray for their safety as they embark as pioneers in this ever shrinking world.
I will take this opportunity to correct a view that comes from thirty years of thinking and looking. Creating something that is bizarre, irreverent, macabre, supposedly consciousness raising, in your face disturbing does not validate the art or the artist. To display some mutilated sound or vision may accost the senses but the "shape" of that content is not one that a person will want to return to again and again. Hence the patron runs away from the message. You can of course, create whatever you want and take your chances.
How then can we define this container we call art? You can't. I like to put it this way "art is not so much defined but observed". Sometimes it's accidental or comes by inspiration and sometimes even comes from careful planning but no one can say for sure this is the way and the only way to do it. A real conundrum isn't it? What we can do is to look backward and see what is contained in "art". There are three components that turn up over and over: Design, Craft and Soul. Design is the foundation and can be applied either consciously or unconsciously. The design is simply the relationship between elements in the piece: distance, shape, color etc. Craft is the execution of the piece —how well is it made in every detail that can be observed. Soul is the hardest thing to define but it's the component which communicates something to the viewer or listener as the case may be. I think soul was the thing Mr. Shahn was getting at in the education of an artist; without it you're in a pretty narrow groove. Knowledge with Experience is the currency that really counts when it comes to creating, and that comes through living and understanding what you see.
If you're creative and especially if you do it for a living you will find this a most useful and interesting read.
To walk into my visual world please click on the "flickr river" button for a quick tour.
The garbage truck is a perfect metaphor for the reuse or invention captured here. The point, which trumps all criticisms is the innovation that is used to show us there is always another way. Please click through to the orginal article to sell all the photos. [ the link right under the photo ]
This has been an interesting week and lots of confirmation of my feelings about the blogosphere. There seems to be a lot of baiting the hook and throwing into the crowded internet waters. This is only valid if there is a brand or perceived brand; read this as credibility. If you have this credibility THEN all the other SEO, adword, blog posting, twitter tweeting etc. Will make a difference. If other "people" are speaking for you then you get traction. There is also a fair amount of "sales technique" going on which involve mostly using psychological keywords and other stuff. Some of it works, some of it is even legitimate. If you have a stomach for that sort of thing it can work but if not, you probably have to find some other line of work. [ and these 136 words didn't cost you 97 dollars ]
What most people want today is a simple, easy to use little pod that works. Apple Inc. has exploited that concept pretty well. Although preferences abound what most people want is a package, something that meets a certain set of needs or wants that they can walk out the door with. Thirty years of designing "one off" custom designs for clients has confirmed that most of the time they want the same thing. About all that changes is the "decoration" color, texture, shape etc. On the surface there is a custom market for certain things based on style but the essence of what makes anything useful remans the same. Those who have figured out how to make those kinds of things seem to do pretty well and if they are packaged the right way they will attract a large number of buyers.
I once saw a movie that illustrates what I mean, sorry I can't remember the name or who was in it. The scene goes something like this. A guy goes into an athletics store to buy some running gear. He sees a box in the window that has everything, shoes, shirt, sweats etc. It's like a hundred bucks. When he gets in the store the clerk tries to sell him a more tailored, more expensive set up, to which he replies, yeah but I saw this box and it's only a hundred bucks. The clerk, a bit frustrated says "well what are you going to do if your running suit is dirty". And the reply comes back, "oh well I just wouldn't run that day". Reply, "just get the box" There are a few serious buyers who really want custom but there are a lot more people who just want the box. They want to walk into the store find something that meets a need, get it and walk out the door. It's just the way our consumer society has evolved. The consumer learns to live with the limitations of this practice and is to some degree satisfied with the connivence. The trade off is that a lot of decisions have been made for the consumer which enable the manufacturer to supply the product at a given price point. This is both good and bad. It's good because the manufacturer assumes a great deal of responsibility for making sure the product is viable and bad because the consumer loses the chance to customize and add or subtract features. In some cases it doesn't matter that much but suppose we designed all automobiles using the custom model. I can easily see someone wanting to omit the safety engineering just to keep the cost down. So in some cases, design standards and manufacturing guidelines are a real benefit. There's a time to go custom and a time to buy off the shelf. Understanding this can improve the collaboration between consumers, designers, and manufacturers. There is one more option that applies to certain products and that is "semi custom" This allows the consumer to have some input and control of the outcome without forgoing the essential engineering required to make the product work well while addressing things such as safety and cost control.
