Tech the Halls

Some time earlier this week a project I had been working on last month was launched. It was headed up by Microsoft's Branded Entertainment & Experiences Team over in the South Lake Union 'hood. It's a virtual house decorator/lightshow creator for the holidays.

I created over 30 illustrations for it ranging from MC Snowman to the scrawny Christmas tree. Some illustrations (specifically the animated ones) were provided by a 3D studio. It was a lot of fun to work on and super neat to see it all come together.

Gmail Then & Now

Lots of chatter lately about Google's redesign. As an avid Google user, I first noticed the change on Blogger and most recently made the switch to the new look on Gmail. The changes are similar—cleaner/more simple layout, more icon links, lower contrast, and so on.

I actually really like the new look of Blogger. I adapted quickly to the change and have begun using certain features that I wasn't even aware of before. It's easier to manage posts and navigate blog entries. Overall, I like the change—and that's coming from someone who hates change.

As for Gmail, I have been using the "new look" for at least a week and still hate it. This has gone beyond my usual dislike of change and into the realm of being a disoriented user. There are certain changes that are subtly annoying from a design standpoint, but the ones that really annoy me are the changes that have gotten in my way as a user.

I have pointed out the changes I have beef with in red and will go through them alphabetically. Here it goes...

SIC2011 Recap

I've rounded up all of my notes and am ready to dive into all that I learned this past week at the Seattle Interactive Conference. I liked what @gknutson wrote over on What the Klout about how he used Twitter to take more effective notes.

"[W]hen I sit down to write a recap...there will be no need to sort through pages of hand written, torn, coffee stained notes"

 I was smart enough to ditch paper notes after the first session, switching instead to Macbook Stickies & tweets. Still, all I have are shorthand notes and I really dislike writing. So, what I have decided to do is copy my notes directly onto this blog post.

Lazy? Sure. I'll own up to that. However, I will go an extra step and flesh out the discussion points that are a little vague or could use a bit more meat. Here we go...

AIGA Creative Morning

This past week has been so amazingly hectic. I feel like I've been a sponge for all kinds of educational nuggets. I'm still compiling my notes from SIC2011, so I'm just going to write about the AIGA Seattle Creative Mornings session I attended today.

Matt Shobe (Chief Design Officer at Big Door) discussed the benefits (and trend) of gamification when engaging consumers. It's a topic which I have been aware of, however I have typically been more cognoscente of how social elements are integrated into gaming rather than using gaming elements to enhance social interactions.

It didn't take too long before Shobe brought up the example of Zynga and, more specifically, Farmville. I've never played Farmville, however I did go through a brief period of playing Empires & Allies. The reason why I stopped playing was because I became increasingly frustrated with how easy it was to acquire achievement badges. Not only that, I found it incredibly annoying that I was continually prompted to share my success with my friends via Facebook and Twitter.

Smart gamification, according to Shobe, requires a balance between providing the right amount of challenge and social. To paraphrase, if it takes under half an hour to achieve level 32, then the gamer will lose interest. Similarly, make it too difficult—either by not providing easy acces to sharing your progress online or the game play itself—and the level of engagement suffers.

Now, it was the example of MLB Gameday (one of Shobe's projects) that really got me thinking. He asked the audience (by show of hand) if they enjoyed baseball. Very few hands were raised. He then asked how many of us had ever collected baseball cards. Nearly every hand shot up. The action of collecting/ sharing/ showcasing is what kept us engaged in a sport we didn't even enjoy watching. By including this type of interaction, baseball fans were afforded the opportunity to become engaged with the game in a whole new way.

This is where my imagination stepped in. Music has lost it's way in the digital era. Everyone loves music, everyone collects music, yet music stores are shutting down, record labels are going under, and musicians and consumers alike have no way of navigating this.

I believe I have the best taste in music. My friend, Paul believes he has the best taste in music. Where can we boast about our respective amazing taste in music other than in our living rooms hunched over the record player? And, to take it a step further, when will we be rewarded for our dedication to music listening?

Revvin' Up

I'm starting to get really excited for the Seattle Interactive Conference. I've already decided which presentations I want to sit in on for Wednesday. I don't think I'll be able to catch any on Thursday since I will be volunteering at the conference that day. That's how I was able to get around the $350 price tag.

Here's what I'm thinking in terms of my Wednesday lineup:

  9am: Beauty, Constraint, & the Atari 2600
10am: UX/Design Panel
11am: Meme & Miasma (maybe)
 1pm: Mad Woman Panel
 2pm: Pencils v Pixels
 3pm: Making a mess

Speaking of the Atari 2600, Ed Fries (who will be the speaker for that session) is the creator of Halo 2600, which I'm totally addicted to at the moment. Why am I such a sucker for online games? I think the reason why I'm so drawn to this particular one is because it doesn't include a social component like other online games (Empires & Allies, Puzzle Pirates, etc.). I feel like that usually lowers the quality of my gaming experience because I suddenly have to depend on a stranger to get to level x.

Alright, enough rambling. I'm gonna go play some Halo 2600.

Bad Design always Bad Design?

My last post left me wondering... If something is known for being bad design, can it be/should it be mimicked?

Lost cat/dog posters have always been ugly, but you know that when you see a centered photograph sandwiched between two HUGE sanserif headlines, it's because someone desperately wants their pet back. So, did I execute my Lost Website poster properly? No.

I got the gist of it but failed to take it a step further. Granted, I only spent 5 minutes on it and it was just a joke, but it reminded me of this awesome blog post from a while back. The first three posters are probably the most effective ever. I would totally stop and stare at it stapled on a telephone post if it were in my path. BUT I would have no clue what was being advertised to me.

Lost Website

I am looking to pick up some side work, freelance stuff, so of course it's time to update the resume, portfolio, website...Oh, wait. Where's my website?
Turns out my portfolio website, which I spent a lot of time customizing, is gone. It was through behance...their prosite feature. I took it down once I found work because it was money being spent on something I didn't need.

In any case, this is now a chance for me to play around with Adobe Muse. Sooo cool. It kind of drives like a cross between InDesign and Dreamweaver. I figure I'll use it much like I did Dreamweaver, but have a less clunky result.

Trashy

The office kitchens were in need of some new signage, which I got to take care of...

Thrashin'

Man o man. Been busy busy. I was up until 3am last night doing the new lick poster. I've been playing way too much Skate lately and that totally dictated the direction of the poster. IT RULES!
If I could skateboard, I totally would.

Homework-ish

Had my interview this morning. I feel like it went well...But you never really know. What I do know, is that I was asked to submit an animated gif banner. I just finished mine up and am about to send it, but want to see if it works first.

So here it goes.....

Okay. That was a fail. Let's try this...

Bingo.
Side note: I don't think I've ever been to SIFF. Wanna know why? I aint made of money!

loving you is hard this time around

Shit, HOW. I could have done without finding your ugly ass cover in my mailbox the other night. I love you to death, but this as to be called out. Here we go...

Exhibit A: Full Frontal

Exhibit B & C: Paint Bucket Mishap

Exhibit C: Drop Shadow

I would also like to add that whoever took this photo owns a bit of the blame. Granted, he did do a remarkable job of capturing the look of horror on the dogs face.