Some cool wallpaper

I don't often post about good design nearly enough anymore. However, today, I was cruising through Smashing Magazine and was taken by this post on using desktop images to serve up calendars. It got me to thinking about how some members of an advertising group are preparing to have people skin calendar software to portray their message. Wouldn't a desktop wallpaper be just as useful?



I tend to think if someone is interested enough in your calendar, and you want to use it on a desktop application, why wouldn't you just make it a wallpaper instead of something that needs to integrate with the software.

Thoughts?

Project: Cube redesign

At work, we were recently given new business cards. When my box showed up on my desk I opened them and saw the word "creative" slapped underneath my name.

So, since Campbell-Ewald's new business card policy has lumped me in with creative directors, illustrators and other "artsy" folk because I don't have a VP attached to my title, I'm starting a cube redesign project for my little corner of Warren.

Currently, my cube walls are heavily automotive influenced. I have a LeMans poster, a host of Corvette posters and flyers, NASCAR Chevy propaganda, autographed posters from custom auto builders and a variety of wall calendars, press passes and your generic company info. I also have a cutting board in the shape of a pig outside my office, Eric Cartman on my desk and a host of other junk.

Now, I find myself needing a big change. Aesthetically, I'm bored with my space. I'm redesigning, immediately. More on this later.

On the iPod"Manifest Destiny" - Guster

I haven't written here in a long time. For that I'm very sorry. Somehow I got back on the MySpace kick and neglected my corner of the net. No more of that. I'll be dual posting here and on MySpace. I miss the feeling of looking for comments here and greatly regret that I've been a turd about sharing my new life in Advertising and Marketing. I should really use this space to be more proactive about sharing wedding information, plans and my life. MySpace posts seem a little quiet, reserved.

At any rate. We'll have some big updates here later. I'm putting finishing touches on invitation design, wedding site and working on new stuff for my Rocky.

Flickering along

On the iPod "Coffee" - Copeland

So, things around the mitten have been good for me. I'm now fully into swing at the new gig and am enjoying myself for the most part. I don't miss journalism nearly as much as I expected I would. The deadlines in advertising are still strict enough to keep things interesting and I'm certainly encouraged to use all of my faculties here. Here I've been given a path that I can follow as opposed to someone's perception of where we "could" be going. There were some empty promises made by my last few employers.

In wedding news, the planning has come along slowly but surely. We've identified our photographer, officially put the deposit down on Waldenwoods and are now in the process of setting up invitations, gathering ideas for centerpieces and narrowing guest lists. I'm just hoping things start to run a little more smoothly. It's been tough sledding at times so far.

Finally, for all you Transformers fans, there's an interesting interview with one of the original toy designers over at PingMag.



Click here to go directly to the article.

Happy Fourth.

I'm digging for fire.

On the iPod: "Do You Remember?" - Jack Johnson

A user (a Texas A&M Computer Science major named Cole) instant messaged me last night and conducted an informal interview. One of his questions was as to why my bio page was so thin.

Well, I suppose that's because I've done my best to try and keep this page as business as possible, despite the occasional rambling about my engagement, wedding planning or my thoughts on books and film. While it was something I once enjoyed, I don't really care to be the center of attention too much these days.

But since Cole asked me an interesting mix of computer geek and art/music/culture geek questions, I'll go ahead and make that public. Cole and I conducted this little chat via Google Talk yesterday. Here's the transcript, which he graciously allowed me to repost. Thanks for the interesting conversation Cole. Note: Spelling has been corrected, grammar has not.

Cole: Hi Dan. I'm a computer science major in Texas (Texas A&M actually). We're doing this project on CSS in my Web design class and I came across your page thanks to a template you posted in an open source forum. I'm using your personal site as one of five in my case study.

Me: Hi Cole. That's a pretty big compliment, since design is more of a hobby of mine. My job is really content management and programming related.

Cole: Yeah, I saw that on your bio page. I like the design of your site though because it's simple. I was wondering if you could answer a few questions for me about the site, and some of the things that interest you?

Me: That sort of depends. I'm not big on sharing too much about me.

Cole: Well, I have a theory that a Web designer's personal page is heavily influenced by the media they use and by the Web sites they visit. Would you be willing to answer some questions about that?

Me: Doesn't sound like it will be overly painful. Fire away.

Cole: Awesome. It's pretty apparent that you like music. A lot of different music. Can you give me a top five CDs?

Me: That's like asking me which of my children (not that I have any) I would kill first, but I'll make an effort. (1.) "Pet Sounds" – The Beach Boys, (2.) "A Rush of Blood to the Head" – Coldplay, (3.) "The Moon My Saddle" – Chamberlain, (4.) "Jersey's Best Dancers" – Lifetime, (5.) "World Waits" – Jeremy Enigk/"Aja" – Steely Dan.

Cole: Same kind of list, but with movies.

Me: The Big Lebowski, Pulp Fiction, A Waking Life, Tape, Kill Bill Vol. 2, The Good, The Bad and the Ugly, Stagecoach, Melvin Goes to Dinner, The Burbs.

Cole: The Burbs?

Me: Tom Hanks man... his best work ever. Forget Forrest Gump, Philadelphia, Big... The Burbs is fantastic.

Cole: Never heard of it.

Me: That's unfortunate. Go get it.

Cole: Any books stand out?

Me: I read non-fiction mostly. Mostly philosophy books by Immanuel Kant, Aristotle. Lately I've been delving back into medieval philosophy though. My fiance can tell you I have an obsession with Thomas Hobbes at the moment, mostly because I think his argument for the State of Nature has a lot of validity to the present state of our world. She'll also probably tell you that she hates whenever I utter the words state of nature.

Cole: Any fiction?

Me: Vonnegut... Salinger, probably all of those insightful writers that most post graduates read to feel liberated, edgy and angry at the world around them. I wasn't all that different than a lot of other upper middle class suburban kids trying to "find the meaning of it all." I was really big into poetics in high school and my first year of college. Frost, Ginsberg, the beats. I was your typical wannabe trendy, arts guy.

Cole: Does that mean you didn't play a lot of sports?

Me: No, actually, I love sports, both playing and watching. I may have been that guy in the coffee house talking up girls with my guitar, but I was also the guy who played every intramural college sport I could get involved in. I also coached soccer for a while. I believe I was really good at one point. I'm a bit more stationary these days, but I do love sports.

Cole: Are you playing any right now?

Me: Does walking my dog count? Ha, no I'm not at the moment. I've been looking at getting back into drop-in hockey, roller hockey, and I'll do a lot of camping/hiking and paddling this summer if I follow through on my plans.

Cole: Outdoorsy then?

Me: Absolutely, I love being outside. I'm big on camping, paddling rivers, in canoes or kayaks. I spent a lot of my summers in northern Michigan, fishing, hiking and getting into trouble. My brother does extreme outdoor sports. I'm much more laid back about it. I enjoy recreational top-rope climbing, some sport climbing, fishing and paddling.

Cole: What are some web sites you visit a lot?

Me: Pingmag.jp is a big one for me. I also visit designobserver.com, typofile.com and a lot of newspaper web sites.

Cole: Any other media we should know about?

Me: Actually, I dig video games too, though I don't play them nearly as much as I did in high school or college. I haven't gone so far as to get an X-Box 360 or a PS3. But I do play my PS2 from time to time. I also have an old Sega Genesis and an original NES that get dusted off from time to time.

Cole: What games specifically?

Me: I play a lot of sports games. Boxing, Hockey, Football and Track and Field. I also like some war strategy stuff. I'm a big fan of the Metal Gear series. Anything that's semi-tactical, I really enjoy.

Cole: Thanks a lot. I'll send you a copy of my report when I'm done.

Me: My pleasure.

Chinese photography, Ruhe?

On the iPod: "About Her" - Malcolm McLaren

Another night, another waking flood of design ideas and research. I'm now almost convinced that ...hush... needs to go away and I need to come up with a new idea for a design shop. I've only branded two sites under the ...hush... label, and it wouldn't be that difficult to go back in and switch it up.

Right now, I'm very partial to the Ruhe Design Co. concept, but my biggest issue with that is the fact that not everyone can speak, or pronounce German words like I can (Roo – he).

I think it speaks to my design style. Very simple, calm and quiet. I don't get really crazy, I loathe using flash for anything other than video or slideshow presentations. Not to mention, it rolls off the tongue nicely if you ask me.

On a completely unrelated note, I was surfing PingMag last night and came across this interesting interview with a Chinese photoblogger.

He had a lot of interesting things to say about the evolution of the relatively tiny art scene in Shanghai and a country as large as China. As you'll see in the interview, some of the photography is quite incredible and a lot of the concepts are unique and deep.

Best part of the interview is that it seems to really focus on the fact that most Chinese artists are really trying to break the mold and not just rely on using the Maoist pop-art that dominates their culture. Many of these artists are relying on a punk mentality, pushing the edges and boundaries of traditional Chinese ideas and ideals.

It's worth the read.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have a wiki to develop. Also, I spelled Ruhe wrong originally in the post below. Thank you anonymous for pointing it out.

I guess we're really doing it.

On the iPod: "Black and White Town" - The Doves

So. I suppose that I know have to get married for sure. The wife-to-be created a wedding page on theknot.com. It's officially, official now.

The templates the knot offers seem to be heavily bride-focused, catering to the pastel pinks, oranges and greens that dominate the MySpace set. I haven't seen all of the templates just yet, but I think the finance picked a decent template, even if I'm not a huge fan of vertical stripes.

We also put the deposit down on our wedding site and are fairly confident that we have a few other pieces decided. Thankfully, we get to be a little dormant for a while in regard to the planning, allowing her to focus on her studies and finish up her last three months of medical school before she returns home to the Mitten for rotations.

I'm not sure if I ever mentioned that my fiancé is in medical school. I'd have to look back through previous posts.

At any rate, here's what's been determined for sure:

• The Date: June 1, 2008


• The Location: Waldenwoods (Heartland, MI)


• The Format: Non-religious and outdoors

Anyway, I have more rants to talk about. For my fellow wine fans, I have three new wines I reviewed over the weekend. See the wine journal to your right.

Quick post, site reviews

On the iPod: "Cartwheeels" - The Reindeer Selection

PingMag did a really nice piece on the beauty of infosthetics, earlier this week. It sort of gets you thinking about how even hard data can be made beautiful if you do it right.

In net applications, I'm testing a few of Google's new personal web home themes. I guess i never expected Google to jump on the cutesy theme bandwagon that Yahoo! has been doing for years and years.

The one I'm testing at the moment is below.



This one is called starry night and it changes throughout the day with the change in the weather and time. You enter your Zip code when you add the widget so that it can monitor sunup and sundown.

More later.

On Wedding Designs.

On the iPod: "So Lonely" - The Police

My wife to be and I went with our mothers to a bridal show at Waldenwoods in Hartland, MI yesterday. Aside from being the only person with a penis in the room that wasn't attached to a wedding-related booth, it was somewhat educational. It also confirmed my belief that this whole wedding thing is quite the racket.

While there, we saw about 17 different options for a table setting, hundreds of different color pallets and wedding photos of all kinds. What I did like was getting a good look at the various ways you can design a tablescape, decorate a room or create an invitation. Admittedly, I'm not as interested in what will be happening at the ceremony as I am in some of the things that precede it. I'm talking font choices for invitations, web sites favors. This stuff is what has been keeping me interested in this thing, as I'm generally of the opinion that this entire event will continue to be stressful and financially taxing up until the day I wait for that beautiful finance of mine to walk down the aisle and instantly make me a better person through association.

So, we're fairly confident that Waldenwoods will be the site. I'll keep you posted on the rest of the journey.

On men's fashion

On the iPod: "White Trash Period of My Life" - Josh Rouse

Apparently, handbags have become all the rage in Tokyo according to PingMag.

This particular article addresses what you possibly might carry in these bags and addresses the overcrowding problem and largely commuter population in Asia. I just wonder if it would really, really catch on in a city like Detroit.



Now, I've been rocking messenger bags for quite a while now. Old friends often called it my man purse. Now my regular bag that I carry almost everywhere I go is my Firefox messenger/laptop bag made by Ogio. It's fantastic and I like to think I'm helping further the cause for Firefox by wearing it.


Now, handbags are a different story. What could you possibly need to keep in a handbag? In my messenger, I carry a book I'm reading, my laptop, my iPod, my cell phone and usually a mishmash of pens, pencils, a reporter's notebook and usually some sort of food in case my blood sugar crashes.


Purses for guys. I'm not so sure. The article is a good read though.

Design is everywhere

On iTunes - "Swell" - Thomas Cunningham and the Locofocos

I'm in the midst of creating a car design for the Indy Racing League. The league has opened up a design competition for their opening race this season at the Miami Homestead race. I've been very much enjoying it.

If you have any interest in marketing and branding issues via race marketing, check out the templates. I'll post mine when I'm done.

On packaging.

On the iPod - "Summer Skin" - Death Cab For Cutie

It's snowing in the city. And as beautiful as I think a snow covered Detroit can be, I hate driving downtown in the stuff. The drive to work was particularly hectic today, and my only saving grace was some fun things to design at the office and some interesting posts on the news wires and on my favorite daily stops.

One of those stops led me to an interesting article on the often linked by yours truly PingMag.

The article covered packaging practices in Japan and other Asian countries. Anyone who knows me even reasonably well knows that I'm fascinated by Eastern art, philosophy, marketing and advertising practices and culture.

What I find most interesting about the marketing and advertising campaigns (and the design of packaging for that matter) in this region is the dedication to some wild color palettes. Asians seem to have affections for the brighter colors, are more accepting of cartoon mascots for everyday products and seem more adept at handling numerous stimuli attacking the rods and cones in the eyes.

I'm actually longing for a trip to Japan, if nothing else than to people watch. Sure, I'd love some real sushi, would jump at the chance to take in a Dharma talk at a real Zen temple and would be giddy at the different technology, but just taking it all in and immersing myself in a visual playground is very appealing.

I know a lot of this packaging would never make it stateside, but it's still fascinating, as someone who appreciates interesting design.

On Jackson Pollock, Art.

On the iPod - Little Red Rooster - Sam Cooke

A fellow developer and old friend recently referred me to Very Short List a nice little page dedicated to high and low culture and Web gems. They were the ones who provided yesterday's link to The Go! Team's video for "Junior Kickstart." Well, I've got something from the same page for today as well.

They linked to a Jackson Pollock related site. At Jacksonpollock.org you can create your own Pollockesqe work thanks to the wonders of Flash and the inspiration of an Etch-A-Sketch.

It's a nice little site if you're looking to kill of time while waiting for a finance who swears she wants you to wake her up at 8 a.m. but then fails to wake up despite repeated phone calls to Missouri. But it also got me thinking about "Art," more specifically, the "art" of Jackson Pollock. Personally, I don't see what Pollock did as being particularly brilliant. Full of torment? A little bit off? Yes. Full of artistic vision? Not in my opinion. Is it art? I would say so.

While many in the art world believe his work is "brilliant" and "beautiful." I experience crap on canvas. But that goes to show how subjective "experiencing" art can be to the appreciator. I love the work of Joel-Peter Witkin, who can be considered off in his own right. The photographer uses the remains of human corpses to recreate baroque scenes, wildly distorts his negatives and then prints.



I love the work of Witkin and certainly see it as art, but is "Art" itself inherently subjective? I would argue that no, it isn't. Of course we experience art in a direct and tangible way that can be expressed in specific emotions. But that isn't any different from how we experience everyday life.

Our emotional reaction to an artist's work has nothing to do with whether it is art or not. It is quite possible to set aside our personal prejudices and evaluate art for its qualities rather than merely how we react to them at a personal or emotional level. That's how I feel about Pollock. I personally think his work is crap and that it doesn't do anything for me aesthetically, but his technique, vision and methods can very much be considered as artistic.

On Wedding Web sites.

On iTunes - "In the Sun" - Michael Stipe

I've been subjected to a lot of "wedding" stuff lately. My best friend is getting married here in Detroit at the end of March, and I'll be in the wedding party. I suppose this is also just as good a forum as any to let any of the rest of you who don't already know - I will be getting married in 2008. I proposed to my wife to be on the 20th of January. If you feel offended for not knowing sooner, don't. I'm just keeping a low profile these days and am trying to stay focused on other things.

But back to the topic at hand.

I should first point out that I think weddings are a racket. But despite my thoughts on this, I've been subjected to viewing many of the "popular" online wedding destinations.

First up: theknot.com.



Yes, I know every woman loves this Web site for "how easy" it makes planning the big day. Still, let's take a good hard look at this design and what it is attempting to convey.

The problem with the Knot is that it's trying to cram way too much information into one space. It's sensory overload. Newspaper sites like The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal have similar problems. The "My Knot Tools" area along the left hand navigational bar should really be moved to the top. I always praise top navigation sites, but if the site's designers are insistent on using the left navigation, they should move those to the upper left. The current navigation on the top is more for bridal searches. If you need a gown, place etc. That is the stuff that should really be in the left.

I come to this conclusion because most users are using theknot.com for building a wedding web page. Yes, it's used for planning, shopping, etc. but the overwhelming use seems to be for building individual pages like the one belonging to the aforementioned best friend.

I like some of the features, but am of the opinion that the knot's design sort of sucks. Solution: I will build my own wedding announcement Web site via danieleizans.com.

Next: brides.com



Now this site is more of what I think a well designed, thought out Web site should be. Brides.com has a nice, eye-catching graphic in the upper left landing space that immediately grabs the attention of the user. They have navigation running not only across the top, but across that attention grabbing image. There are numerous ways to get to the key areas of the site and the information is organized into logical dhtml tabs that expand upon mouseover. It also has planning functionality and numerous tools for the busy bride to be.

So far, I prefer the look and feel of brides.com. But thankfully, I don't have to do too much of that upkeep. I'll write more about these wedding sites in the coming months and as I become exposed to them. I'll also provide a sneak peak to my own wedding page when I get closer on the color palette and font choices.

That's all for now.

On Video.

On the iPod - "Never Meant" - Owen

Lately, I've been learning a lot more about online video and video production. This recent venture into this recent venture into yet another new Web-oriented medium was born out of necessity to learn Brightcove's user interface. I've basically been learning how to convert QuickTime (.mov) and .avi files into Flash Video format (.flv). Brightcove has the capabilities of doing this for you, but I've been learning how to compress raw digital video files through Sony Vegas 7 Platinum Edition.

What I've come to find out is that Sony Vegas Platinum Edition is about as crappy as Sony's products. In retrospect, I wish I had Adobe's Premire or Final Cut Pro to work with. At any rate, all this focus on new video got me in the mood for checking out more video online.

Yesterday, I stumbled across a Bright Eyes video done by Cat Solen. I fell in love with its simplicity and its beauty. I'm not particularly a huge Bright Eyes fan, but it even made me like the song. Click on the image above to launch a clip.

More on video later tonight.

Holiday designs, reading

On the iPod: "Talk About The Passion" - R.E.M.

With the holidays upon us, we're seeing no shortage of the cookie cutter advertising, images and decorations. But believe you me, there is some interesting stuff out there if you take a little time to look for it. Over the last two years, I've taken a closer look at how holiday ads are designed - from the color schemes to the imagery used.

Editor&Publisher did a nice little piece on the Holiday advertising forecast, but I'd like to focus more on holiday print campaigns. AdCritic, has a host of interesting print campaigns (some holiday, some not) featured on their site at the moment.

A holiday design reading list

I've been doing quite a bit of holiday reading this year as well, here's two books I'd recommend in the design arena.

1. Kurt Andersen, Graydon Carter & George Kalogerakis
Spy, The Funny Years
Miramax, 2006
Part nostalgia, part history lesson, all interesting, "Spy, The Funny Years," explores the famous New York magazine's history, culture and influence on a generation that grew up in the 1980s. Not only is it interesting, it's beautifully designed to boot.

2.Philip Hoare & Chris Heath, editors
Pet Shop Boys Catalogue
Thames & Hudson, 2006
Even if you aren't a fan of the Pet Shop Boys, there is a lot to take in here. It's visually stunning at 336 pages, filled with great photography, anecdotes and the musings of one of pop music's most influential songwriting duos. It would serve as a great coffee table book for any pop music fan this holiday season.

Sorry for the lack of updates. I'm really trying to be better. Really.