Sports Broadcast Graphics

I realize that my recent style of design has a slightly more aggressive, mega alpha male tone than in recent years. And I'm like "Where is all this coming from?" and it hit me...I've been watching lots of sports. Sports broadcst graphics have very strong edges, bold fonts and sharp angles. Everything from show intros to the lower thirds that tell the score...Go Lakers!

Yogurtland

My New vice...multiple yogurt stations...you add your own toppings and then it gets weighed at 30 cents an ounce...and look at its wacky store design! I have to will myself not to come here multiple times a week

Leaf Cuisine

Here's this place down the block from me....Leaf Cuisine, a raw food place. I've never eaten there, I liked cooked food. You can see it from a mile away....its lime greeness against the boring other buildings is gleaming!

Getting Everything to "Work"

OK heres a little technology rant...

For anyone even pondering the possibility, even questioning for a second what kind of computer to buy no matter what the sale or what the special let the answer be perfectly clear:

Get a MAC

Seriously!  A while back I had some web projects and decided that i needed a new laptop to replace my struggling, out of date Powerbook G4, who by the way still works like a champ for my parents in Florida.  So I said "lemme get a cheapy PC" and I did for a little under $600 bucks. And so I had this great new fast duo core laptop ready to eat up the world....

Or not...

If I could add up the hours of troubleshooting vs. production, cursing Vista vs. making art, driver frustation vs creative bliss, it easily adds up to 10 Macbook Pros with real software.  If its not one thing its another...Zone Alarm cutting my internet connection, Nero disabling my DVD, Registry cleaners destroying my system...SO NOT WORTH IT!  Who knows how much art I could have made during that time!

Everything seems to be working now but Im so jaded by the whole experience of my unwanted IT school that I barely want to make anything.  Vista has almost destroyed my faith in all things digital...

Im just glad I gave my parents a MAC to spare them of this misery...

So I emplore you...Get a MAC...you can run Windows on it anyway just for "good times"

Feeling Connected

No man is an island.  And no woman is either...

As a modern day designer of any sort, no matter what your discipline, it is vital to be connected to your peers as well as being aware of what's happening to the design industry on the whole. Being aware of the state of the design world is necessary to be inspired, stay fresh and become aware of trends, styles and standards for what is acceptable as good work.  There are few things worse than producing dated work because you're out of the loop.

Not only that but, who wants to spend there entire life behind a computer screen?  Don't we want to branch out of our homes, take in new forms of art, hear speakers and come face to face with people we may one day work with?  LA is a hotbed of new emerging art, fashion and style. So much goes on in terms of local events that it's  important to include that as part of your design diet.  Take a advantage of the fact that your local scene is vital and fresh and eventually become part of it.

Cheers,

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