This is the last post here!
I’ve built a new blog that coincides with my new portfolio site. For any of you who have been following me, I am very much thankful, and if you wish to continue here is the new feed url:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/thinkmakestudioblog
This blog, and my online portfolio 2twentysix, will be coming to an end this year. For the better part of 2009, life has given me the opportunity to work as a freelance designer, and move from Michigan to San Francisco. For the first time, I feel both confident and optimistic about what lies ahead for the next year. I am currently wrapping up a new portfolio site which I hope to have up very soon. I do also plan on setting up a new blog, but that will come later (there is only so much Wordpress one can learn in such a short time). In the meantime, ryanhasabeard.com is a site I built to aggregate a few accounts (Twitter, Last.fm, Google Reader) that I frequently update in lieu of blogging. Check it out to see what I’ve been sharing. Happy new year everyone.
I don’t really have any design blogs in my Google Reader anymore, but the bookmarks remain on my computer. When typing in an address in Firefox, I’m presented with a list of sites that I used to check several times a day, one being The Serif (now Fleuron?). After rapidly scrolling down the page, I noticed a post for a blog dedicated to Information Graphics (Infographics, Data Visualization, etc). It was there that I discovered the work of Michael Paukner, who does some really great visualizations. The image above shows several wonders of the world sharing the same latitude (or is it longitude?). Check out his Flickr page
Kudos Michael
Pretty sweet little tone sequencer here. I’ve been looping this pattern for several minutes now. A minimal pattern like this somehow provides some nice background sound for working, kinda reminds me of Plaid or Autechre (even more so when you grab the scrollbar and drag it kinda fast, or load other pages, you’ll know what I mean).
The League of Moveable Type offers some great free fonts. I found this site when I was looking for a good alternative to Hoefler’s Knockout. Their League Gothic (shown above) looks really solid, but I haven’t had a chance to put it to good use. Also shown above is Chunk, a nice variation of Clarendon.
For a better summary, go to their Manifesto.
P.S. – Blackout is looking sweet too
The above images are from an audio portrait series from New York Times called “One in 8 Million“. Each profile is an audio interview with the individual, paired with some amazing photos. Yet another fantastic piece from NYTimes. Enjoy.
It’s really late here in MI (3:45 am). I can’t sleep, so I decided to peruse Flickr and stumbled upon a great collection of vintage (some dilapidated/not in use) signage.
Double bonus: the same user also has a fantastic collection of WPA works ( as I’m shaking my head in disbelief at how beautiful some of this stuff is).
Pictured above is the Chameleon Guitar from MIT. It’s basically a body with interchangeable “resonators”, that are wired with computers, to offer distinct sounds for each resonator. The computers in these resonators can manipulate different variables to alter sound and tone, to result in an almost limitless palette of sound.
You can check out a video of it here.
Within the realm of guitar players, there is a popular division of preference between players of Fender and Gibson guitars. I started on a Fender Squire Stratocaster (maybe because I recognized it from being a Hendrix fan, I don’t know really), and have stuck with them since. I’ve been using my 2001 Nashville Deluxe Tele as my main guitar now for 5-6 years, and since then, have had a growing admiration for Fender in general, but with Telecasters specifically. I’m really digging the new Classic Player Telecasters from Fender. Love that tobacco sunburst, not really liking the Strat bridge/tremolo setup, I’d prefer my current ashtray style bridge, or a Bigsby personally.
At 99%, Behance’s think tank, we focus on what happens after inspiration — researching the forces that truly push ideas to fruition. Our profiles of proven idea makers, action-oriented tips, best-practices sessions, and annual conference are all designed to help you transform ideas from vision to reality.
P.S. – If you check out the video of Scott Thomas’s lecture, you’ll catch a pic of yours truly, dutifully cutting out some arrows for some signage.
