Blog
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Crunchy or Smooth?
I just answered an Unknown Caller phone call from a man I don’t know and he immediately asks me: “Crunchy or smooth, Rob?” Because my name is Jeff and I do not recognize the voice I reply, “Beg your pardon?” He repeats the question. “Crunchy or smooth peanut butter?” “Erm, crunchy.” Which is an outright…
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Physical Backup Policy
In addition to monthly backups to my external 250GB drive, I’ve decided–as a worst-case-scenario kind of pre-emptive backup–to buy a second MacBook Pro 15″ laptop. Just in case my first laptop gets stolen. Like, just in case I leave my laptop in my backpack somewhere and it gets swiped. Just in case I leave my…
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You Comfy? Interview at the Gallery
Thinking about my presentation a couple hours later, I’m not surprised to realize I was definitely the gushing fool in a few too many areas. I mean, lying on the floor with one elbow propping me up and saying “come hither”* in front of all-educated, all-female audience (one half my peers, the other half evaluating…
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Lachine Machines
Lachine is a suburb on the island of Montreal and also the largest weekly bicycle club race I’ve ever seen. But I should watch my terminology while I’m here. As a number of participants adamantly impressed upon me, Tuesday night Lachine is NOT a club race. It’s a full-blown, no-holds-bar, anaerobic pain-fest of the highest…
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Muppets, Halifax
Like synchronized conmen two good friends of mine–who have never met yet both live in Halifax–have MSN’d me at the same time two Saturdays in a row now. At midnight. Drunk. I’m guessing, taking into account the East Coast time difference, that drinking establishments close around 3am there. And tonight, in-between the usual conversation (women,…
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RCMP Alarm
I wake up around noon or one o’clock these days so answering the phone in bed isn’t unusual. I mean, the world works away while I’m resting off the grid, right, so it comes with the territory, these interruptions. So during a recent 8:30am the ringer’s brrrringing and the call display is glowing a 604…
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Chocolate
People are jiving me lately for what they perceive as a blatantly steep new curve in the graph of my weekly chocolate consumption rate.
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House Search
HOUSE SEARCH 4 PEOPLE! $2400! CLEAN! We are four designers (guys and gal) We have no pets, automobiles or cigarettes We’re clean, highly organized, mature individuals looking to create a convenient and creative work, study and living environment Best regards, Amanda, Robin, Tobias, Jeff More explanation: The four of us are looking for a house/apartment/live-in…
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Shigeru Ban
Shigeru Ban presented an overview of his work to an auditorium of Canadian graduate, accomplished and student architects yesterday evening at the RAIC College of Fellows Convocation in Vancouver. The most compelling areas of Ban’s work were his criticisms of monumental structures, visual and physical transparency, respect for existing land use, notions of inside/outside, modular…
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In The Works
I haven’t been getting out much lately. There are rumours brewing. So a sampling of some ongoing and near-completed projects (some pay me, some vice-versa) I’ve been working on.
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Use a Favicon
Favicons are important because they give a more immediate indication of what website an address or bookmark is associated with. They reinforce a visual identity with a site. Pictures speak faster than words.
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Recent Ideas, Thoughts, Observations
Correlate iTunes track ratings with play counts, play count acceleration, and time. As in, for ex. as a song’s play count increases, and the durations between play cycles decreases, over time a predication could be made by the software as to that track’s star rating, for ex. A rapidly-increasing play count may indicate I like…
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The GDC Coudal Lock
Jim Coudal spoke at the GDC/BC Salazar Student Awards on June 1. It was pretty good. His design firm, Coudal Partners, has this new philosophy: to do less work-for-hire and more work for themselves. An example of work-for-hire is creating a brand identity for a major corporation. You get paid for the work—once–and you’re not…
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T-shirt Designs
A variety of t-shirt design ideas I mocked up last night for the NoArt Collective t-shirt design competition. Mock-ups created in Photoshop and Illustrator. Model images stolen from American Apparel
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Web Service Accounts
An ongoing list (with favicons) of every web service I have an account with. Some are used hourly, others once, and some aren’t even ready yet.
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Blue Screen Consumer Electronics
In promoting consumer electronics it is currently popular to display the colour blue on a device’s screen.
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Staying Mobile: Desktop vs. Laptop Volume
My ongoing efforts to Stay Mobile include liquidating as many possessions as possible. There are certain asymptotes on the road to Nomad Nirvana that I’ll likely not touch, however; i.e. things I can’t live, work or study without, the most obvious as a web designer and student being a computer. Like spending money to make…
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Shake it Middle Class 14!
First class for Design History 1, a required second-year course for all design majors at the Emily Carr Institute. I’ll go over the major points our instructor covered during the three hour session and highlight those that caught my attention.
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The Wedding Invite Network
So I move around a lot and to keep things simple I get much of my mail sent to Tyler’s on West 7th Ave. And I’m expecting this wedding invite to arrive from Alistair any day now, All-Star being one of my closest friends, he’s getting married in August and I even seen the envelopes…
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Keeping it Put to Stay Mobile
What I’m talking about is using web-based instead of home computer-based software as much as possible. I’m keeping my life centralized online so that I can access it from anywhere, anytime. The following is a summary of what I’m currently using, how I use it, what it’s replaced, and how much further I’d like to…
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Since U Been Gone
The catchy classic by Kelly Clarkson, performed beat-poet-freestyle-jazz-piano by Andreas and myself, April 20, 2006 (video, 4:09).
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Live Preview
I am going to write down ideas/things to do in real time here, as they come to me: Video: two people, interesting-looking, hand and body gestures, actions, obvious performing in front of camera. Slow mo for contemplative effect. Influences: new Cat Power video, Tokyo Olympiad, Aaron’s man in the bush video, Stan B. masterpiece man…
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Case of the Missing Toaster
Specifically, the Black & Decker TRO200 Toaster Oven, a classic of the genre. (Toaster not exactly as shown). The Crime Roughly 50 days ago I donated the above-mentioned toaster oven (in well-used condition, a personal family heirloom) to the Emily Carr Institute student body. I did this unannounced and of my own accord by placing…
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Resume
Intention Over the past four years I have become increasingly in love with all things design. I seek a compatible group of people (both within and outside my design classes) to offer my creative and technical services to—and who I can learn all I can from. Qualifications XHTML, CSS Photoshop, Fireworks Dreamweaver QuickTime video editing…
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Captain Canada
Origin: Daniel Eaton is selected by Captain Newfoundland (a.k.a. Captain Atlantis and Samadhi) to become Canada’s national superhero, Captain Canada. Eaton is given a powerful costume and is then, through encounters with various superheroes and goddesses, taught about the many levels of consciousness and sources of mental power. – From the Library of Canada website…
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Timeline (process)
Self-directed project in progress, inspired/spurred by a friend who made a similar timeline of her life for my clarity and memory (sick of repeating herself). Interesting exercise in info-design, self-centredness and figuring out just what’s been important over the past 26 years. Notes on a piece of scrap paper of significant events. Simple linear timeline…
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Hand Gestures (Review)
A required three-page report on the process and post-class critique of Hand Gestures, a short film I made for Interdisciplinary Media.
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Repetition Volume (Process)
3D Design assignment: gather a single, repeated object and configure it into units to create a three dimensional volume. The extra challenge is to try and diminish recognition of the original unit and not create a predictable form. For example, glue a bunch of styrofoam cups together in such a way that you don’t immediately…
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Hand Gestures
A short video (3:24) with subtitles demonstrating various hand gestures, many with multiple meanings. For an Interdiscplinary Media video assignment.
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Island Introduction
(or) How to Show a Norwegian a Good Ol’ West Coast Canadian Time. Since moving here in September Andreas hasn’t left downtown Vancouver. For our week-long reading break I showed him around Victoria and Vancouver Island.