FourBux

Demotivational posters

I just came across these…I used to have to make my own. These are terrific!

And there’s a ton more here…check them out.

Maybe I can get my title changed on my business cards

Sometimes this seems like a more accurate job description than the one I have:

Ironically, this design also just ended up on Zazzle’s Today’s Best list. Funny thing is, I was only trying it out to see what I thought of the Zazzle interface. Check it out.

It’s all relative

We’ve all heard it, the little saying “it’s all relative.” Is it just me, or does that seem to be the mantra du jour anymore?

I’m sure that police officers enjoy it when people whine “I wasn’t going that fast!”, or priests in confessionals hear “I did such and such, but it wasn’t that bad.” How about “I wasn’t that late” to the boss who meets you at the door. This list could go on and on. It seems like there are no real absolutes any more.

To put an even finer point on it, albeit much less important in the grand scheme of things, is how do we interpret the things we see, specifically for this post, color. Have you ever thought about how other people might see color? Is that stop sign the exact same shade of red in your eyes as it is in someone else’s eyes? What about the fact that someone may have learned a specific shade of red as something else? For example, where you see dark red, they may see the color brown? Are your eyes actually registering the same color, or is your brain telling you that the color you see there should be called red?

Artists and designers live in this world of subtle nuances between colors, flirting with the delineation between light and dark, hues and tints, values and shades. Forgetting about the differences in computer monitors and calibrations for a moment (that’s an entirely different post), we all see color with some degree of distortion. That isn’t to say that what others see is wrong, but just different from that of ourselves.
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Tagged, graphic design style

So, Tara over at Graphic Design Blog tagged me into revealing five design-related things about myself. Since I am a designer by day, and write just as a hobby, this may seem a bit disjointed. So what else is new, right?
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OMG, 2 LOUD 2 TLK - F’N TRAIN

Okay, I know I shouldn’t laugh when another human being is injured or killed. Most of the time it’s no laughing matter. However, there are times that you really have to wonder how we, as a species, have collectively occupied the planet for so long. Not that I subscribe to all things Darwinian, but seriously, get this man an award.

How in the world are you so involved in sending a text message that you get hit by train? I mean, short of an aircraft carrier or oil tanker, there aren’t many other mobile objects larger or louder, for that matter, than a freight train. That’s like a rolling jumbo jet sneaking up on you.

Although I can just see the new iPhone ads now…

Pros and Cons of Corporate America

As some of you know, I divide my time between two jobs: one is my freelance graphic design company, which I’ve run with moderate success for a decade now, and then my corporate gig, which is pretty much there solely for the benefits. Those of you who are self-employed can really appreciate that piece of the puzzle, as health and life insurance payments, when made out of your own pocket, are a huge pill to swallow, to say the least.

Life, especially in a creative field like design, in corporate America is everything you’ve every heard it was: a giant hamster wheel of frustration, endless approvals, and at best, conservative results. More »