Work
-
Philippines Internship Part II
A recap of input and output from the second month–Part II–of a two-month, two-part design internship in the Philippines. Locations include Baguio City; dates span May 28 (arrive in Baguio) to July 12, 2007.
-
I plug away in Baguio
On prompting, an update of my daily activities. The past two weeks have been pretty much like many other summer spent 18 hours a day on the computer HTMLin’, CSSin’, Flickrin‘, Blogin‘, Surfin‘. Except I’m doing it in an office alone in a small weaving factory in Baguio City, Philippines. My meals are fairly regularly…
-
Ifugao Hunter Backpack
Remember the picture I posted of Aklay (aka Philippe) the French Baker in Sagada wearing one of those water-proofed traditional backpacks? I found it (well, both Aklay and the backpack) interesting and posted a photo of them on my Flickr. I’d actually secured a standard variety model without the covering a week earlier, but when…
-
Philippines General Design Observations B
Part two of two of a collection of general considerations from a design internship in the Philippines. We know packaging can speak to contents, but how do these conventions shift from culture to culture? Generally utilitarian isopropyl alcohol in more ‘designer’ green, contoured bottles; jumbo ‘banana catsup’ bottles. If you could only change one aspect…
-
Philippines General Design Observations A
A two-part collection of general considerations from a design internship in the Philippines. Bridging the gap: traditional basket weaving with contemporary hardware. Souvenier shop, Baguio City. Variety based on geographic, climate, use and/or tradition? Woven pasikings (backpacks) from the Cordillera Mountain Region, for sale in Baguio City. The French baker of Sagada, Aklay, wearing a…
-
Philippines Internship Part I
A recap of input and output from the first month–Part I–of a two-month, two-part design internship in the Philippines. Locations include Manila and Puerto Princesa; dates span April 25 (leave Vancouver, Canada) to May 27, 2007.
-
Tools and Modification
How far can we modify an object before it becomes unrecognizable or permanently altered? How many mistakes must be made to determine that limit? At what point do modifications become useful enough to become adopted as the norm? When a modification doesn’t quite meet needs, how much time and investment and additions must be made…
-
Philippines Nagtabon
Recorded May 13, 2007. 0:25 video created with a Fuji F30, MacBook Pro 2.0 and Final Cut Pro.
-
Philippines Underground River
Recorded May 9, 2007, Sabang, Palawan, Philippines. 2:40 video created with a Fuji F30, MacBook Pro 2.0, Final Cut Pro and QuickTime Pro. Text from the video: The Underground River Palawan, Philippines A protected national park and UNESCO World Heritage Site At 8.2 km under a mountain It’s the second longest in the world Home…
-
Security, Use and Packaging
Security and indications thereof: cashiers bag and then tie your groceries closed before exiting the store. SM Hypermart, Mall of Asia, Manila, Philippines. Security and legitimacy: a cashier rings you through while another employee bags and then seals your purchase shut, then the cashier affixes your receipt before exiting the line. A floor security guard…
-
Philippines Mall
Video from Manila, April 28, 2007. Or download the higher quality QuickTime version, 00:56 sec., 13.5MB. Created with a Fuji F30, MacBook Pro and Final Cut Pro. Text from video: Henry “Retail King” Sy a taipan (tycoon) of Asia richest man in the Philippines and head of SM Prime Holdings, Inc started the Philippine “malling”…
-
Philippines Traffic
Video from Manila, Philippines, April 27, 2007 – or –Download the better quality QuickTime video, 00:39 at 5MB. Created with a Fuji F30 camera, a MacBook Pro 15″ computer and Final Cut Pro video editing software. Incidentally, this was my first time in FCP and it is hella complicated. How do I take two 640×480…
-
Out of / In Place
Why a chair, sideways, at the head of the bed? Answer above: the AC without remote. Accommodating legacy hardware systems. Choice and needs according to environment. Not accommodating legacy hardware systems. Expectation, aesthetics and… Purpose. Observations of a guest room at a family home in Manila, Philippines.
-
Design Barrier: Canadian Tire Website Entry
A self-imposed barrier to success by the web team at Canadian Tire: force customers to input information to access even the first page. If you haven’t been to canadiantire.ca before or recently, you’ll get this off the bat: A friend sent me a link over MSN last night to a crock pot that’s on sale…
-
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…
-
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.
-
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.
-
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…
-
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
-
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…
-
Power Supply
National electricity, privatization and giant moths on this week’s E is for Effort podcast. Download Episode 3 – Power Supply 3.3MB mp3 / 3:29
-
Poster Design Process
Update (Feb. 8): Want your own copy of the Valentine’s Cabaret poster? Download high-res tabloid-size PDF [10.9MB] Download lo-res PDF [165KB] Download jpeg [790KB] Problem Volunteer to design a poster for the Valentine’s Cabaret, a pub night and fundraiser organized by first-year students at the Emily Carr Institute. Timeline was about two weeks, budget around…
-
E is for Effort – Demystifying Technology
This week we explore behind the veil of technology and discover what’s really inside a hard drive. Download Episode 2 – Demystifying Technology 4.8MB mp3 / 5:02
-
E is for Effort Podcast
E is for Effort is the name of the podcast I recently created with Andreas (a podcast is like a self-published radio show that you can download online as an mp3 file). This means we have also launched a new website at http://eisforeffort.ca. Being two young guys attending an art and design school, our motive…
-
Short Films
Messing around with cameras and ideas, some old, some new. A series of still shots arranged. This happens to tie into a current project for Visual Communication, sort of.
-
Popular Entries
A list of some of the more popular entries (past and present) on this website that keep popping up in the comments, stats and searches.
-
Card Size Standards, People!
It’s fun looking for ways to improve existing designs, critique them, look at solutions and drawbacks, etc. Then there’re the designs that warrant an immediate reaction. I want to start cataloguing instances that illicit a teeth grinding “What the Hell People!?”. First up this week: The Vancouver Art Gallery membership card, which I recently purchased…
-
Email Habits
I often wonder what I do all day in front of the computer. For now I’ll just take a quick look at my email habits. I spend a lot time writing them. My sent folder tells me I’ve fired off over 1,000 emails since Jan. 1, 2005, half of which are recreational: planning rides with…
-
Which design school: ECIAD or Cap College?
As of today I’ve been accepted to begin studies at two design schools in Vancouver: Cap College’s three-year Illustration and Design diploma and Emily Carr’s four-year Foundation and Communication Design degree. I’ve got to decide on one and I’m looking for advice from alumni, established designers, anyone. For those not familiar with one or both…
-
IDEA Program Interview
My interview and exam for the IDEA program at Capilano College went as well as I could hope for. I’ll likely know this week if I’m accepted.