shwing

conclusion. media overload me and my brain. how do I feel about that? for now its ok, I am young and hyperactive and like a lot of constantly flowing information that keeps me entertained and learning. But will I always feel this way, will I ever resent it, will I ever wish I did something else? I'm gonna go ahead and say no I won't always feel this way, I see how it consumes lives. It circulates and devours like the fucking plague, never stopping to submerge peoples lives. For this fact and the fact that media is largely created based on the sole purpose of money makes me know I will grow very tired of this endless game. I want to move to Baja Mexico, I know this is random but its my plan if my shit hits the crazy fan and all the pieces get blown away in the wind.

this is not the kingdom

I saw a symbol once, something like a piece of media, and the symbol consisted of an oval (making the base), a triangle (placed upright with its bottom in the middle of the oval), and a diamond (placed at the top of the triangle so they bottom of the diamond over laps the tip of the triangle to make another smaller diamond shape). This is not the kingdom. The overlapped part is filled in black to represent the small elite margin who are in charge and are ranked at the top of the hierarchy. The 1%, or more recently the .1%. This is not the kingdom. This is not what I want, this is not what we need. We need this symbol to be flipped upside down, so that the oval (representing the base or foundation) is at the top along with the vast group that makes of the middle of the hierarchy. You might ask why put the base or the foundation at the top instead of the bottom? because when its physically put at the bottom it gets forgotten because we are above it, not looking at it, but why? Why don't we look at it more often? After all it is what we developed to be the foundation of what we are trying to construct. For this reason we must not forget out home base, our foundation, our original beliefs and they must be placed at the top like a flag on its post waving high in the air representing a core of beliefs. We don't need a tiny rich elite to run our country anymore, if they want to keep their rolls then they go to the bottom of the scale, they do not tell us what is best for us if they are not one of us. bottom line.

little

I have been looking at a lot of typography books lately and I decided to dig up my old Typography projects from sophomore year. Type might be one of the smallest scales of art there is. The entire nature or typography makes my head spin; these letters appear at the press of a button in all different shapes and forms but not many realize the power behind these tiny letters. To harness this power it is in the hands of the designer to select key and meaningful words to express and also compose a balanced composition of type. I won't forget this little crush of mine on typography, I hope we can have a long, joyous, and extremely experimental relationship together always and forever 8]

Big

It's becoming very apparent that shit is changing for me, and I guess for everyone else too. But people Always ask me what I am doing after college. I don't know what most other college seniors think when asked this question, but I never do take it lightly, even if I do respond with an immature kiddish answer. I'm trying to get an internship for a big company called Logitech, and this is the first rude awakening I've had that's really made me realize that this is it, it's fucking coming. Weather I'll admit it or not the time to be somebody is fucking coming, and that's exactly it, I'm not anybody yet.
We've spent this whole time testing things out and taking delicate notes on what we like and don't like to slowly put shape and dimension to the lives that we live. But we haven't really done anything beside school; school is a typical prerequisite to becoming someone usually but I know its not till you make it out there when the real learning takes place. So now I am very conscious of this and I know that I need more dimension, I have the determination, discipline, and right attitude to become someone out there, now I just need to fine-toon my machines and ammunition to get ready for war.

limits

The average cookie cutter American life is no more different then a rat trying to find its way through a maze in a science lab. You can take any avenue you wish, but not all will lead to the end, sometimes you hit a point where you cannot go anymore in that direction, limits. But since our avenues aren't empty and barren as they are in a rat maze, It can get more complex like dealing with Tetris. As we wonder through the maze different shaped 'blocks' or 'opportunities' fall in front of you and you can fit this new 'block' or 'opportunity' into your life and the best way you see fit. Sometimes you get the square block when you need the 'L' shaped block but that's limits.

Imagine if there were not limits, nothing holding you back from anything. If you died it didn't matter because someone or something new was waiting to fill your space when you left. No feelings to consequences, you just did 100% what you wanted to do with no regulations. Now stop imagining, and just fucking do it.

belong

Technology is the newest cult. It has followers, believers, enemies, gatherings, and the ability to grow, change, accomplish, and destroy. People like to belong to things, now the easiest and most hip thing to belong to is technology. People don't one Mac product like an iTouch, they also have the iPhone, the Macbook or the iPad. And with all of these they still need an iPod. When people look at these accessories they see comfort, happy times, and a community. I know that when I see someone with a skateboard and I have mine to I feel a little tingle of familiarity like I know that person even though I've never met them. In a sense the ice has already been broken between you two, but what are good cults to belong to and what are bad ones? Who the f is in charge?

Positive

This blog has become my personal venting tool. Krys, I'm sorry about that so if you read this and start hating me I totally understand, just promise to still grade me fairly, which I know that you will.

But because I just realized all the negative juju coming from this blog I want to talk about a book we just read, Convergence Culture by Henry Jenkins. This book brought up a lot of solid points to how these new technologies really do benefit society. If you think about kids being born now or even up to five years ago, the first pieces of technology they are going to become familiar with are iPhones, iPads, and laptops, while we were gently brought into this world as they eventually were put on the market. Children who are being born now have huge parts of their upbringing on these new technologies and making things like a whiteboard for a classroom but in the style of an iPad is genius. It makes learning interactive, fun, and relate able to the younger generations of the world.

Imbecile

People ask me now that I am graduating in May, "What are you going to do after college?" This makes me think what I would like to do and where I would like to go. My last 4 years of life I've spent surrounded by media and the busy culture of a crowded city. College has been an amazing experience, but I'm tired of people telling me what to do. If all of my college teachers were like life coaches pushing me through the projects that I wanted to complete then I would feel differently. But right now Western Civilization has evolved to a society of people just bossing other people around. And I'm over it, I don't want to listen to other people anymore. I have the relentlessness and desire to go forth and produce the projects that I have set for myself in my head. Now I just need to give myself the time, materials, and environment to get these projects done.

Stupid Phones

Smart phones are Stupid phones. I went out to dinner a couple nights ago, and started paying attention to a couple who was dressed up and on a date night. I noticed that when they weren't talking it was almost instinct to pull out their iPhone slide their little finger to unlock to screen only to discover, nothing. They just sat and  clicked around until one of them said something and then when they both acknowledged that they were looking at each other the phones were put away. But when it fell silent again the process repeated.

I don't know what this means but what I see when I look at this is discomfort. People don't just sit while someone else is busy poking around on their phone, even if they have nothing to do they will shut themselves out to appear busy. I guess I'm just old fashioned as fuck, if I go out to dinner I don't even bring my phone and if I need to take a call in a room filled with people I quietly dismiss myself and take the call in a separate room.

Jobs

This time its not jobs as in work, its Jobs as in Steve Jobs. The man. The myth. The genius. I have no clue who this guy is or did I even hear about him until he died, but thinking about what he did made me think a lot. He is a man who went after what he knew he wanted. Bottom line. He wasn't thinking about what everyone else wanted him to do, he just knew what he liked and was interested in. What sets people like him apart from everyone else is the fact that he did it. What ever 'it' is, he did it. People have these ideas and urges to go out and complete and put together this dream that they had. To make whatever they want come true.
As sad as it is to say I am not one of these people. I am scared to finish things, I feel like a maniac on drugs who has started and created ideas for projects but have actually completed so few of them. I hate this about myself, but it gives me a lot more hope to go out and do it when I see lives lived like Steve Job's life.

Guest Speaking

Gautam Rangan came and spoke to our class about some projects that he has worked on over the years. This blew my mind, to me this is like a silent revolution being sparked by these people who are intelligent, artistically inspired, and love science. Artists are becoming engineers and creating projects that require much more then color theory and print on paper. Rangan combined the technicality of computer engineering with the style and grace of a fine artists. This gave me a lot of inspiration to different avenues that I can explore to push my artistic inclinations.

communication

It is amazing how obsessed with communication toward other people I am, but I despise things like cells phones and facebook. Making personal connections with people, physically touching and speaking with people is something that I think about a lot. I know that I have a need to do this because of the value that I put on my relationships in my life, but I find it interesting that no interest in me exists to make me want to have a facebook, which is supposed to be the ultimate social networking tool.

That right there is one of the biggest loads of bologna and i hate bologna. I don't believe that connecting with people over a screen can be in anyway considered the ultimate social networking tool. Its called being 'social' for God's sake, how can you consider something that requires you shut the rest of the world out while you use this tool by yourself, social? I'm not claiming myself to be the most social person because sometimes I often shut myself off from the rest of the world, but when I do interact with others and am social I spend much time getting to know the people I am talking with. 

Version 1.0

Sometimes I get caught in vicious cycles in life where daily patterns become permanent numbing fixtures, and in my eyes all I see is the brick wall separating me from the rest of the world being stacked higher and higher. I don't understand why companies, like Apple and the Mac laptops, come out with 2 new versions of the same product every year. I realize that this is to make the most profit, but why doesn't everyone else see this problem, and more importantly why can't the people in charge realize this? Have they been prematurely blinded by dollar bill signs and luxury resorts? Why can't we work to produce something that wont need to be replaced instead of making things that are meant to break and be replaced?

This is a vicious cycle I am talking about. Everyone else seems to be fine, or ignore this fact, but I see the dilemma. Most of my life I always felt like I took care of myself, even in high school I had a well paying job and the money I was spending was the money I was making. Fortunately, I have usually managed to always have work and money coming in, but this economy has stripped that comfort for many people. I am one of them. Mom and Dad don't give me money every month for anything, they never have. No I find myself, a talented, hard working and good person who can't get a job anywhere. I am perfectly capable of doing most things, but the fact that I can't make this advancement for myself means while the rest of the world is upgrading, I'm still running version 1.0. 

Application

For the first time in my life I have actually been warming up to 21st century technology. This year all of my classes deal with design and mostly design on screens. In order to be able to design something on a screen your going to need to know the code to write for the design. With all of the web building I am doing and creating apps for Andriod phones I am being drawn toward the power of this type of design. Being able to create these types of interfaces that can be accessed by the masses is a rewarding feeling after you have created something you are proud of. In a way I look at it like the graffiti of the internet. Graffiti is put up all over cities so anyone passing by that site will be able to see it, and the same concept can be used for websites. You can create anything you want and make something that is conceptually powerful and put it on a server and your work is done.

Shits changing

When I first got into art all I could think about was drawing, printing, stenciling, collaging, and mixed media kinda stuff. Nothing had to do with computers or using any of these Adobe programs I've been learning at USF. I thought (and still think) that if I were to do anything in design it would never be web or super crazy computer graphic design.
Leaving high school I had no idea what I wanted or was I ever thinking about where the future was going with the field I want to study in college. All I knew is I wanted to create, so I decided to test this Design program out at USF. It has taken me so far and dragged me out of the small view of art that I was open to before and let me get my hands on some real technical stuff. 
It still makes me sad that the art that I was so drawn to my whole life, print, is dying and surmising to the enormous path of the digital world. But I am adapting swimmingly by crossing boundaries I never thought I would by building websites. Using my Photoshop and drawing skills to make my websites unique and different then the average build website. All in all, in the end for me I want to be able to get up and back down in every different kinda of media I can weather its on the web or with a stick of lead in my hand.

Signs

When I see signs for stores I always take note to the display and structure of the sign. Big chain stores or buildings will have the same big bright neon sign that lights up at nights. But the stores that are one of a kind, the smaller less known personal shops will have a hand painted sign. It shows the flaws and the develops a character that sign tries to portray. For whatever reason that is something I acknowledge and like when I'm walking into a store. The sign is supposed to be the first thing you see down the street before entering a store and its got to present a certain aura to attract visitors.

Robots

After reading "Why the Future Doesn't Need Us" I know why I don't like using fancy complex machines like computers. If man kind really does go to the length this article talks about, which is a stretch but also a strong possibility, and I see it in my life I will have no more hope. I cannot live a life like that, I believe that the world started and built naturally and it thrived. Then humans came and created mass quantities of unnatural things that has made the earth suffer and robbed it of it natural resources that balance it out. Thinking this makes me sad, that our planet had a microscopic chance to create a perfect atmosphere near a star with sufficient heat to power a natural living growing planet with life, and we messed it up. I know and I feel that humans are getting very wrapped up in technology and there is only a bigger demand for more.
I think things can quickly get out of hand, and the quote that I like best from that article was when he references a grand mother that never used antibiotics unless she absolutely had to. This is something I try to implement in my life with things that I don't think are 'natural' in essence, limit the use of unnecessary things.

no matter how much

No matter how much I try I can't use the computer as much as other people do. I'm not immediately drawn to the instant gratification the internet has to provide, or posting my thoughts about things in blogs. When I'm typing on this screen for anyone to see I feel odd, I like the security of scribbling my thoughts down in a blank pocket book that follows only me everywhere. That isn't because I'm shy I simply like to share my story with people who want to talk about it not read it in cliff note form on a web page. This is a big reason why I feel like the internet has no purpose and so I find little use for it.

However, now many of my classes are requiring me to have better internet skills by using blogs and sites to get loads of inspiration from for graphical work. Also by paying close attention to the actual layout of websites so I can create intriguing and interactive websites. So I feel like I'm crawling out of a vague cave and trying my best to immerse myself in the internet world. I'm trying to use design blogs and sites as tools of inspiration and look at their tools of navigation and see what works for the site and things that could be fixed. So if anyone ever does read this stuff post a comment of websites you like to look at so I can find more stuff I like.

internet zero

I've never been forced to ask myself the question of how much I really use the internet. The biggest thing I've learned about myself since last class in thinking about the world of media around me is that almost none of it comes from the computer. There was a statistic we read about how much information was on the computer and how it rapidly increased with the availability of the internet, and now its somewhere close to 100%. For me, the last time I used the internet was Monday for the Dig. Lit. quiz and using google for a helping hand. When I think about where my inspiration comes from and the images I see that I put in my design, it all comes from the environment that immediately surrounds me.

I have seen the direction where the world is going with technology and for better or worse I know that personally I do not fit there. As the world has grown more complex in technology and average life I think I push farther away from that world. I need something more simple, something that gives my senses a tingle and lets them know that they are still my first line of response to how I interpret the world.

#2 Ola

The sport I watch most is surfing. The professional tour pretty much goes year around and they travel to different spots all around the world to get all kinds of waves from huge thick meaty slabs to long point breaks. When swells line up perfectly for these contests it makes for some spectacular performances. Now the tour is in Tahiti at place called Teahupoo; this is one of the biggest stops on the tour, literally. The wave is easily one of the gnarliest in the world and the footage captured at this spot is some of the most seen in surfing history. The add for this contest is simple in design and almost lets the picture do all the talking with small print on the top and bottom for essential information (where, dates, sponsors, etc.). For people who surf and like the ocean a wave is a very mysterious thing, pure energy trapped but constantly moving within the ocean. When it comes together as it does here in Tahiti creating waves 20 feet tall and 20 feet thick throwing over a dangerous reef only a couple feet below the surface it can put your mind into a divine trance. The add displays a side shot from the channel of an absolutely massive wave relinquishing raw power. To me the image was almost exploding off the screen and if this is what is to be expected in seeing the contest, I'm sold.

#1 Gone Fishin'

Today as I was walking back from a huge pancake breakfast at Stacks in Hayes Valley, I saw a familiar man in the same spot that made me feel at home. He is a homeless man that has sat next to the same vacant lot on the corner of Hayes and Octavia for as long as I've lived here. I have never seen him ask anyone directly for money, but he has an interesting advertising technique that lours people in throw a visual appeal. Hooked to the fence he leans against as he reads, is his fishing pole, and tied to the end of the string instead of fish bate, is a cup that has the words "Gone Fishin'" on it. For someone how has little to work with I thought this was about as clever as he could get, and combined with his strategy in location to set up shop in the well off highly popular shopping area of Hayes Valley. For most by-passers walking along I could only imagine this catching the eye of every single one, and most tourists more then willing to throw the man some spare change for the clever gimmick and visual appeal.