I think he understood the idea well enough to send himself a present — into the future! (That's him opening it, between "Christmas" and what I'm sure is supposed to be "Hanukkah.")
28 October 2011
They Say Travel Broadens The Mind
I think he understood the idea well enough to send himself a present — into the future! (That's him opening it, between "Christmas" and what I'm sure is supposed to be "Hanukkah.")
26 October 2011
Not Yet
I'm not reading Walter Isaacson's biography of Steve Jobs. Not yet anyway. I'm interested, certainly, and I know I'll find it fascinating, but reading the various anecdotes and excerpts that have been released in advance to promote the book, that just left me with an unsettled sense of, I don't know, picking over the bones of the carcass. It just seems too soon.
25 October 2011
Getting To Know You
I find Siri quite useful. It's not without it's faults, and there's still a degree to which I have to bend my way of thinking around it's way of working, but the friction has been minimal.
What I've found much more difficult to get used to is dictation. Not that it doesn't work well — I'd say it works surprisingly well, in fact — it's just that I'm just so accustomed to be able to use the time spent typing to, I suppose, put my thoughts into a more useful form, and I don't always seem to have that while speaking. At least, not while speaking to a device that's going to transcribe what I'm saying.
What I've found much more difficult to get used to is dictation. Not that it doesn't work well — I'd say it works surprisingly well, in fact — it's just that I'm just so accustomed to be able to use the time spent typing to, I suppose, put my thoughts into a more useful form, and I don't always seem to have that while speaking. At least, not while speaking to a device that's going to transcribe what I'm saying.
19 October 2011
Mr. Dodd Takes The Air
I watched Mr. Dodd Takes The Air last night, and I had this unsettled feeling that I was watching an enjoyable, if not-entirely-memorable Warner Bros. film from the mid-to-late 1930s — but from a parallel universe!
A small town electrician becomes a hit singer in New York and gets involved with a gold digger, a thief, an opera singer and the woman he loves (played by Jane Wyman, who I didn't recognize). But where we might have had, say, Dick Powell, Joan Blondell and Guy Kibbee, instead we have Kenny Baker, Gertrude Michael, and Ferris Taylor, playing not just those same roles, but those same characters, just as they might have been performed by their better-known counterparts.
Granted, Dick Powell probably couldn't have pulled off the naive, small-town character (had he started wearing that dopey mustache by 1937?), but I got through most of the film before I discovered that wasn't Guy Kibbee, after all (and I had to watch it again to be certain).
At least we have reliable Frank McHugh as the constant, bridging all possible worlds.
A small town electrician becomes a hit singer in New York and gets involved with a gold digger, a thief, an opera singer and the woman he loves (played by Jane Wyman, who I didn't recognize). But where we might have had, say, Dick Powell, Joan Blondell and Guy Kibbee, instead we have Kenny Baker, Gertrude Michael, and Ferris Taylor, playing not just those same roles, but those same characters, just as they might have been performed by their better-known counterparts.
Granted, Dick Powell probably couldn't have pulled off the naive, small-town character (had he started wearing that dopey mustache by 1937?), but I got through most of the film before I discovered that wasn't Guy Kibbee, after all (and I had to watch it again to be certain).
At least we have reliable Frank McHugh as the constant, bridging all possible worlds.
13 October 2011
Unit Buttons and Segment Controls
My first iOS app, PlanetPop, created during a brief burst of unusually concerted effort, went on sale at the end of August. After that, I got distracted by several other projects, and now I'm struggling to get myself back into development — this should be easier, much easier, having completed a project and come so far, but it isn't. I feel as though I've forgotten almost everything I'd learned. It's discouraging.
I was looking through a folder just now, with two different builds-in-progress of the project, two phases of the project where I was testing two different approaches. And the names are obvious, too — "PlanetPop with Segment Control" and "PlanetPop With Unit Buttons," but I cannot recall what they're all about.
I was looking through a folder just now, with two different builds-in-progress of the project, two phases of the project where I was testing two different approaches. And the names are obvious, too — "PlanetPop with Segment Control" and "PlanetPop With Unit Buttons," but I cannot recall what they're all about.
07 October 2011
Stuff of The Future
Yeah, I pre-ordered an iPhone 4S.
I kinda feel like I go into these product introductions each year resolved not to buy the new iPhone, for entirely sensible reasons. Do I need a new phone? Do I really want to renew my contract for another two years? (By now, I think mine must run through 2015.) When life seems so uncertain? It would have to be a significant improvement over the device I have (and love) now to make it worthwhile.
And then all of that reason will be completely discarded in the days after the new iPhone is introduced, as I'm dazzled — or blinded — by some amazing and exciting new feature that promises to change the way I use the device, just as the device has changed the way I live.
In is case, it was Siri, and the promise of natural voice interaction with a computer. For me, that's the stuff of the future. (It's the same stuff that enticed me to the iPhone 3GS — that pulsing blue dot of the GPS, the phone in my hand directly connected with a satellite. A satellite!)
But what made my mind up for me this time — again — was the surprising ease with which I could resell my current iPhone. I'd done that before, once or twice, usually via eBay. But that was real work, and no guarantees. A few months ago, though, we sold my wife's iPhone 3GS via Gazelle, and it more than covered the costs of the iPhone 4 that replaced it. And it couldn't have been easier.
Gazelle was offering to purchase my iPhone 4 for more than it would cost to purchase the new model. (There was an offer from eBay for a bit more, but I don't have all that much confidence in eBay, and part of it would have been reclaimed by PayPal, anyway.) To be honest, I don't know how this all works (what do they do with all of these phones?), and I couldn't tell you why it works. But it works for me, thanks.
Now comes the hardest part, the week of increasing anticipation. (I also have to be really, really careful not to drop my iPhone.)
I kinda feel like I go into these product introductions each year resolved not to buy the new iPhone, for entirely sensible reasons. Do I need a new phone? Do I really want to renew my contract for another two years? (By now, I think mine must run through 2015.) When life seems so uncertain? It would have to be a significant improvement over the device I have (and love) now to make it worthwhile.
And then all of that reason will be completely discarded in the days after the new iPhone is introduced, as I'm dazzled — or blinded — by some amazing and exciting new feature that promises to change the way I use the device, just as the device has changed the way I live.
In is case, it was Siri, and the promise of natural voice interaction with a computer. For me, that's the stuff of the future. (It's the same stuff that enticed me to the iPhone 3GS — that pulsing blue dot of the GPS, the phone in my hand directly connected with a satellite. A satellite!)
But what made my mind up for me this time — again — was the surprising ease with which I could resell my current iPhone. I'd done that before, once or twice, usually via eBay. But that was real work, and no guarantees. A few months ago, though, we sold my wife's iPhone 3GS via Gazelle, and it more than covered the costs of the iPhone 4 that replaced it. And it couldn't have been easier.
Gazelle was offering to purchase my iPhone 4 for more than it would cost to purchase the new model. (There was an offer from eBay for a bit more, but I don't have all that much confidence in eBay, and part of it would have been reclaimed by PayPal, anyway.) To be honest, I don't know how this all works (what do they do with all of these phones?), and I couldn't tell you why it works. But it works for me, thanks.
Now comes the hardest part, the week of increasing anticipation. (I also have to be really, really careful not to drop my iPhone.)
05 October 2011
Steve Jobs
There's not much I could say on the passing of Steve Jobs that isn't being said somewhere else. And I'm uncomfortable remarking on the loss of someone I did not know.
But I admire Steve Jobs for having found his passion in life, and having the determination to pursue that passion. We should all be so fortunate.
But I admire Steve Jobs for having found his passion in life, and having the determination to pursue that passion. We should all be so fortunate.
02 October 2011
Pace
I think I need to learn to pace myself better. I'll work very, very hard for a few days, and get a great deal accomplished — and yeah, I know, the work I do might not seem much like "work" to some (I'm not always certain my wife and nine-year-old make this distinction), but it does involve a concentrated effort and a creative spirit, and quantities of both are not limitless. So I'll have full, rich days, and then — I'll be kinda burned out, and I won't want to do much of anything.
And I can't help but feel bad about that (I always feel bad when I'm not doing much of anything, when there's always so much to be done), but when I get like this, I just don't have it in me. I have to pause, while my mind works itself back into a state where it wants to create (and work) again.
And I can't help but feel bad about that (I always feel bad when I'm not doing much of anything, when there's always so much to be done), but when I get like this, I just don't have it in me. I have to pause, while my mind works itself back into a state where it wants to create (and work) again.
Sketches: Stop The World!
Part of my work as a designer is to try to talk people out of a bad idea. Some ideas are poorly-thought-out, or they're unworkable, for whatever reason, or they're just — bad. Bad in that they'll work against the best interests of the project. In this case, a cover that will work against the book it's supposed to help promote.
For this book, I was given a (reasonably) catchy title and a cover concept — but a really bad photo. I think it must have been shot out-of-focus, printed on an inkjet printer (to screw up the color), and then scanned (to add more dust). I tried gently to suggest that that photo just wasn't going to work (as much for technical as aesthetic reasons) and instead I offered to create some concepts working off of the title.
I did about a zillion thumbnail sketches...
...and refined a handful that I liked, which I tightened up a bit for presentation.
The Author, however, was stubbornly insistent on her original concept — and that photo — so I'd have to find a way to work with it. I thought the best way to do that would be to put more of the burden on the type and design elements, thus, making the photo smaller (which might help to disguise some of the problems). Several sketches later...
I liked B. (in the center on top), and in fact, that was really the direction I wanted to go in -- the rest were only meant to offer a few more options for the sake of, well, offering options. Everyone ultimately agreed on a slight variation, D. (on the bottom), and that was probably all for the better, as it eliminates dead space at the top. (That little figure in the center holding the globe represents the photo.)
The final cover (on the left) worked out better than I thought it might. That photo — well, that photo still looks terrible, even after I did what I could to clean it up, improve the detail and adjust the color, but maybe it looks less terrible. Given the choice, I'd have probably done something similar to what I chose to do with the Title Page (on the right), with a slight adjustment to the word balloon. (I might have used the globe, too.)
By the way, if the type on the top of the cover looks kinda familiar, that's only because I swiped it from an earlier design. I had made a note to use that typeface (Bovine Poster) when I was doing the thumbnails, and once I started working on the cover I remembered having used it before, for more or less the same purpose. (It only ended up the same color further along in the process, though.)
For this book, I was given a (reasonably) catchy title and a cover concept — but a really bad photo. I think it must have been shot out-of-focus, printed on an inkjet printer (to screw up the color), and then scanned (to add more dust). I tried gently to suggest that that photo just wasn't going to work (as much for technical as aesthetic reasons) and instead I offered to create some concepts working off of the title.
I did about a zillion thumbnail sketches...
...and refined a handful that I liked, which I tightened up a bit for presentation.
The Author, however, was stubbornly insistent on her original concept — and that photo — so I'd have to find a way to work with it. I thought the best way to do that would be to put more of the burden on the type and design elements, thus, making the photo smaller (which might help to disguise some of the problems). Several sketches later...
I liked B. (in the center on top), and in fact, that was really the direction I wanted to go in -- the rest were only meant to offer a few more options for the sake of, well, offering options. Everyone ultimately agreed on a slight variation, D. (on the bottom), and that was probably all for the better, as it eliminates dead space at the top. (That little figure in the center holding the globe represents the photo.)
The final cover (on the left) worked out better than I thought it might. That photo — well, that photo still looks terrible, even after I did what I could to clean it up, improve the detail and adjust the color, but maybe it looks less terrible. Given the choice, I'd have probably done something similar to what I chose to do with the Title Page (on the right), with a slight adjustment to the word balloon. (I might have used the globe, too.)
By the way, if the type on the top of the cover looks kinda familiar, that's only because I swiped it from an earlier design. I had made a note to use that typeface (Bovine Poster) when I was doing the thumbnails, and once I started working on the cover I remembered having used it before, for more or less the same purpose. (It only ended up the same color further along in the process, though.)