Flush

What Am I Doing? (Apr 2009)

2009-04-10T22:11:00.000-07:00

There’s little to update for this month. It’s what you may say a transition period of things that have happened and of things to come. I’m trying to wrap up the final behind-the-scenes stuff with Portal A before I move into a different stage of this freelance life. But this transition period will be no different from any other time of my life; I will be busy busy busy trying to get through the thousands of next-actions from my 100+ projects list.

Just another plug for my client: if you need some video work done, check them out. They’re also looking for an intern for the summer. No coffee runs; real chance to do actual work.

Quote I Go By Lately

“Don’t Live in a Design Bubble.” —Me, to myself.

Flush.

Don’t Live in a Design Bubble

2009-04-10T12:10:00.000-07:00

Last night, I was going through my Google Reader and came upon Subtraction’s post “Dear Designer: You Suck.” To best honest, I didn’t really read the whole thing. I read the first paragraph and skimmed the rest. From what I assumed I understood, the post was about designers not taking non-designers’ criticisms well. As I skimmed through the rest of the post, one of the headings read, “Living in Bubbles.”

It didn’t really matter what it said (though I’m sure it was very thoughtful and well-written), but I realized that I’ve been living in a design bubble and I really should go out and explore and do something new that is not related to design. I really want to do this on a regularly (e.g. monthly) basis, but I don’t know what. Surf? Travel? Skydive? So if this idea comes to fruition, it would be fun to post it here.

Flush.

Portal A Interactive

2009-03-27T14:57:00.000-07:00

A little more than four months ago, my designer friend Alan Wells recommended me to his friends Kai and Nate for a freelance gig to build a website for their newly founded viral video production company. He sent me the link to their site at the time, which he had quickly put together showcasing their past video projects. I quickly did more research on these guys to get a sense of the type of work they do. (And by research, I meant watching all of their videos in one sitting.)

One of their larger projects was a video blog called Huge in Asia, where they lived in Vietnam and other Asian countries for a couple months documenting their adventures. (I mentioned this in my monthly review last December.) After watching the fifty-episode vlog series, I knew that these guys possessed the potential for excellent content and success, and despite the upcoming busy holiday season at Peet’s, I decided that I would help these guys out and build a site for their company Portal A Interactive.

Pre-work Work

Being a typical recent-graduate designer, I couldn’t help but start coming up with ideas for the site. (I suppose I was still in school mode, where I was compelled to act on any ideas I thought of without considering ownership and compensation.) At the same time, though, having completed a design project for my relatives a few months back without a contract, I definitely learned my lesson and was determined to do everything I was supposed to as a freelancer this time around to protect myself and the client from unnecessary unhappiness.

I looked up tutorials for drafting freelance design contracts, and like the advice that young designers receive from experienced designers for preparing portfolios, there was an unbelievably overwhelming wealth of types of ways that one could go about this. There was so much conflicting advice that I could seriously curl up under my covers and cry. I asked my freelancer friends for advice and tried to write my own contract, but I was still concerned that I might be missing something that would come back and bite me later on.

Fortunately, I remembered that AIGA’s site has a section for business practices. I found the AIGA Standard Form of Agreement for Design Services that designers can use as a template. I adapted the AIGA agreement and took out one or two clauses that didn’t apply at all and had no way of hurting me or the client. I also put together a project-specific proposal, and quickly tried to get all that legal stuff taken care of so I could stop turning off the part of my brain that is responsible for thinking of ideas for the site.

The Logo

After the administrative stuff was taken care of, the first task in the agenda was creating the logo. I enjoy designing logos not because it’s easy (it’s not). I love that good logos look simple, yet are highly complex. Generally, the more different elements there are in a logo, the weaker the logo becomes. So with this project, I tried to keep the logo as simple as I could, sticking to the criteria of using a “one” letterform design and projecting a light-bulb signage mood that the client had envisioned.

Here's the basic concept of the logo:

Here's the final version, lit up and against a dark background:

Since this logo doesn’t include the name of the company, I developed a secondary logo mainly for the website.

Details of the neon:

While the neon isn’t the same type of lighting as the light-bulb logo, incorporating both into the site creates a mood that could not be achieved by using just one. This results in a mix, a melting pot of ideas, something that is not completely established and boring, and something that is flexible and can change as it grows, which is, in a way, what this company is about.

WordPress

Before I took on this project, I had never touched WordPress. I had heard about it, but I always thought it was a paid service, and I just didn’t want to pay to create a blog that I could do the same thing for free somewhere else. But turns out it was free, and it gives you mad power for customization… in PHP. I was new to PHP, so this was both a challenge and an opportunity to learn.

As I worked on this project, I became more familiar with the WordPress setup as well as with PHP and MySQL, which I was also new to. But I quickly grew to like it. In fact, I liked it so much, I set up the video thumbnail section in the header that is based on MySQL. Furthermore, when I will be done with this project in a few weeks, I’m going back to my own site and convert it to accommodate the use of MySQL, such as my portfolio and experiments pages, which is currently based on PHP and XML.

Interactivity

This project has also allowed me to experiment with interactivity that I would not have needed with my own site. The video thumbnail section in the header has a slider that shows more thumbnails when you click on the arrows. It’s a simple function, but there’s a lot of planning involved. It’s even Javascript-disabled-safe in that, if you disable Javascript, the arrows disappear so you won’t have non-functioning arrows which would weaken user experience.

Another interactive feature is the Grayout. When you click on a thumbnail video in the header or a Featured video in the sidebar, the whole page darkens and displays the video on that page. The size also adjusts based on your window size (except for IE) up to certain max/min values. Again, it’s Javascript-disabled-safe; if you disable Javascript, the images act as normal links and bring to a different page so you can still watch the videos.

Finally, launched two weeks ago, a video player that plays more than one video in sync. This was something that Kai and Nate had first suggested, way in the beginning, before we even met and agreed to work together. Currently, the controls are basic, but using the YouTube Chromeless Player API, I set up a player that plays two or more videos at the same time, so that one (or more) video(s) can sync with one another. Here’s an example of what they did with this player. I’ve added volume control that Kai and Nate can determine beforehand to maximize viewer’s audio experience.

What I Learned

There’s a lot more to talk about than what I can cover here (or that you’re willing to read), so let me wrap up by briefly going over the many things that I have learned through this project.

Contracts. This once nerve-wracking issue has been resolved thanks to AIGA.
Neon. I never had to draw neon before, but thanks to Bert Monroy, I’m proud to say that I did a pretty good job with the neon I created on the site.
WordPress. Move over Blogger, I’m with WordPress now.
MySQL/PHP. My new best friends whom I still have much yet to learn.
Interactivity. Much love for scripting (and a little bit of hate for troubleshooting).

Flush.

Function is Beauty.

2009-03-21T20:53:00.000-07:00

It just is.

Flush.

Was Math Discovered or Invented?

2009-03-11T23:40:00.000-07:00

I just listened to a podcast episode of the Design Matters with Debbie Millman, with guest Natalia Ilyin. This was a particularly interesting episode for me because of the amount of philosophical questions posed, like the time when Jonah Lehrer of Proust Was a Neuroscientist was the guest.

Mathematics

One of the topics they talked about in the beginning was whether humans discovered mathematics, or did they invent it? While there are arguments for both sides and the discussion would go on forever, they pointed out that humans point out relationships of things (such as seeing one planet next to another planet means that there are two planets, hence mathematics! But if you don’t see the relationships of those objects, no math occurs).

Symbols and Answers

Before they started talking about the mathematics topic, Debbie and Natalia discussed the theory that that are two types of people in the world, the kind that asks for meaning in everything in life through symbols and things, and the kind that are, I guess, more objective and follows a specific path and looks for the correct answer and that’s it.

This to me is sort of a left brain, right brain question, and it got me thinking, where do I fit? For a good chunk of my life, I’ve been dedicated to finding the right answer, because math, a favorite subject of mine, typically has one right answer. But at the same time, I’ve been told by some and have realized myself that I often have so many ideas in my head, and that’s where the creativity portion and the practice of graphic design come in.

So I often see myself as being in the middle: I enjoy the creative arts and graphic design, because of the enormous range of possibilities and opportunities, but I also get excited about math and programming, as I am comforted by the fact that following a particular set of direction gets me a particular answer or outcome.

So in situations where I am undecided, which happens often, I reach for the middle ground and ask, “Can’t I be both?” This is why I’m getting comfortable with where I stand right now: sort of one foot in the graphic arts, and the other in web programming. I’d love to do both at the same time, so let’s see how that works out.

Perfection=Completeness

Another topic that came up during the interview was the idea of perfection. Natalia believed that perfection is about completeness, and design is really good for people with OCD, because designers usually follow a grid created by modernists a hundred years ago dreaming of creating Utopian societies and no one has since figured out a better way to teach design. I just can’t help but agree and put myself within that group.

There are many other topics that they’ve covered that I do not have time to cover here, such as what “home” really means, and how semiotics affect us. So if you’re a neurotic, and/or math-loving, and/or philosophical type like me, this podcast is worth checking out. The Design Matters podcast is available on iTunes.

Flush.

What Am I Doing? (Mar 2009)

2009-03-11T12:04:00.000-07:00

Freelance

Things are going well with my freelance project. We’re pretty much wrapping up with the foundation of the site, with a few more adjustments and fixes. Hopefully, in the coming weeks, I’ll be able to present it here with some process work.

GTD

I finally had some time to revamp my GTD system, and it seems to be working better than before. I basically digitized my projects list and actions so that they’re easier to look through (and therefore, less intimidating for me to review and organize). There are still parts of the system that I need to streamline, but things are definitely more efficient already.

Twitter

I recently started using a public Twitter account. My username is ivanwlam, and you’re welcome to follow me if you want. So far, some of the “famous” people I’ve followed include David Allen (the GTD Guy), Ze Frank, swissmiss, Armin and Bryony at Under Consideration, and TED.

Cut&Paste

Me. Me. Me. The fact that I forgot to mention that I went to watch my friend Sam Sellers talentedly compete at the SF stop of the Cut&Paste Competition Tour is unacceptable. Long story short, Sam did a great job and was robbed of his first prize. I love the piece he did for the first round, which was (and will be again) my Facebook profile photo.

Motivation

Something happened in the past week that retriggered and intensified my motivation to advance my career and my life as soon as possible. I can’t go into the details, but I now have a stronger desire to be independent and self-sufficient and to take control of my own life. So hopefully, in the coming months, I will have more exciting things to report.

Really Simple Designer Web Comic

Within the past month, I ended one blog and started another. Really Simple Designer Web Comic was an experiment to create a daily web comic starring Point, Line, and Plane. Every start of the day, I take about half an hour coming up with a concept and quickly draw a comic for the next day on my Wacom tablet. The idea of this project was to become more comfortable with my tablet, and I definitely am now. I ended it after two months because it was taking too much time of my day and the creative juices just weren’t flowing as fluidly as I’d like.

One Per Day

One Per Day is a much simpler project. Every day, I post about the day before, using only one word or phrase as the title of the post, and only one sentence describing the day. This keeps my post lengths short and to the point. It’s sort of a practice for me to pack as much content and meaning into one word and one sentence as I could, instead of dragging on and on about an incident (which I tend to do quite often… like right now).

The idea for One Per Day originated from a revisit to Ze Frank’s The Show, which indirectly kept a record of Ze’s personal life and experiences behind the scenes during its running. I have tried to keep a record of my life ever since I could write and had self-awareness. I used to write by hand with special notebooks and special pencils, and then switched to LiveJournals for a while, then to design blogs with monthly reviews (like this one).

But all these posts were taking too much time of my life to sustain, as I write really long posts, usually about now-apparently trivial things, and I wouldn’t want to return to them if I wanted to recall events of my life at the time.

One Per Day reaches a compromise between wanting to document every experience of my life and cutting down the number of words that I would have to read later on. One year from now, the individual events that happen every day will mean very little to me. In the end, a day is just a day, even on special occasions. What’s more important is the overall mood.

I just started blogging on One Per Day on WordPress (my new friend, perhaps my fortune cookie best friend?), and I haven’t gotten to redesigning it. But the presentation is going to be more streamlined and intuitive. Subscribe to the feed, and stay tuned.

Quotes I Go By Lately

“A day is a day. Every event, however trivial, will, by definition, influence and change the rest of my life.”

“Keep it simple (and easy), stupid.”

Flush.

Please Return It

2009-03-06T03:02:00.000-08:00

This isn’t design or creativity related, but I want to use this to ask anyone who’s picked up something of mine to please return it. Thank you.

You may use the form here. http://www.ivanwlam.com

Flush.

Oven’s Preheated...

2009-02-26T11:13:00.000-08:00

...But nothin’s cookin’.

I feel like my mind is all ready to go and be creative, but my tasks are pulling me back.

Flush.

Beautifully Produced Oscars Show

2009-02-22T21:13:00.000-08:00

I just watched the Oscars and I thought it was very beautifully produced, and I’m talking beyond the graphics.

I like how they explicitly grouped the awards by the process of making the film, so they’re not just appearing out of order, and that they used the same people to present each group of awards with their comedy bits and what not.

While I thought that bringing past winners of the supporting and leading roles to present the nominees was very meaningful and exclusive in a way, sort of like initiating someone into a sorority or fraternity (although I have absolutely no clue to the actual process), it must be even more disappointing for the losing nominees to be brought up to the stars before being dropped off falling to the ground.

When I first heard that Hugh Jackman was hosting, I didn’t think it would be a good show. But the fact the he did at least two musical numbers made me realized why they picked an actor instead of a comedian to host. There is just something that Jon Stewart or Ellen Degeneres could not have pulled off had they hosted tonight.

With the graphics, they used a very elegant approach and kept it simple. They used the Oscar statue to be the “1” in the 81^st Annual Academy Awards logo, which normally would seem like the obvious answer to a design student’s project. But this was done very effectively and carefully to make the Oscar statue look like a 1 next to the wide 8 yet also the statue itself.

What stood out for me was the way they presented the nominees, in those little collages before they announce the winners. With the screenplay awards, they zoomed to a scene in the script, with a typewriter face, and played the typing against the actual scene in the films. With the documentary awards, they interviewed the directors and crew of those films. It’s all very thought-out.

Watching the Oscars makes me want to watch more movies. There are so many films out there that tell really compelling stories that it’s a shame not to view them.

And finally, a nice touch to pair the credits with this year’s upcoming films. I think Meryl Streep as Julia Child would be fun to watch.

Flush.

Useless Palindrome

2009-02-21T00:12:00.000-08:00

Useless palindrome: “Golb’s Blog”.

Flush.

Best Friend

2009-02-20T11:47:00.000-08:00

About two months ago, I got this fortune from a fortune cookie, “Soon someone new coming into your life will be a best friend.” I thought, how cool. I’m going to get a best friend.

Two months later, I don’t have anyone new coming into my life that could be my best friend. All I’ve done in the past two months is work on this website for my client. Then I realized, that a month ago, I started learning MySQL and MySQL-related PHP scripting. I found it so useful that I wanted to make over my site with MySQL wherever possible. No more annoying XML that takes double the PHP scripting to do what I want.

So it seems that MySQL will be my best friend. As of now, there is still a love-hate relationship. But I think once I get to know it better, I won’t be able to live without it. I still wish I had an actual human being to be a new best friend.

If I really do believe in fortune cookies, that is.

Flush.

What Am I Doing? (Feb 2009)

2009-02-11T23:41:00.000-08:00

What am I doing? Not blogging here, obviously. Not a single blog since my last update. As I’m writing this, I am in the middle of a semi-deadline to get my client’s site up and ready to go because they’re going to a convention in a few days and passing out business cards that I designed, and leading them to the site that I also designed. (I just realized how I don’t like saying that I designed these things because it really was more of a collaboration, and I just happened to be the one who knows how to use the tools the most.)

It’s been almost three months since I’ve learned about this project and met these awesome people that are my client. And mostly it’s been an exciting and a great learning experience for me. I sort of wish I will always have clients like these in the future. And every day, I become more comfortable and have a better idea with what I want to do, at least for the next few years. I enjoy waking up every day, looking forward to do something that I love.

Post-Peet’s

Since my last monthly update, I had left my job at Peet’s. It was probably a good time to have done so, both in the short term and long term. Because soon after my last shift, I put this freelance project into full gear and started working on it almost every day, putting in more hours than at Peet’s. As I had said before, some things took longer than I expected. Had I kept working both “jobs,” I’d still be sketching the layout for the site or, perhaps more likely, I would have been fired by my client!

I probably went through a week or two of old job withdrawal. I liked my job at Peet’s; I really enjoyed working with the people and seeing the regulars. It was a real bittersweet moment to have left that job. Only a few days ago did I notice how I don’t really remember how it feels to steam milk or pull shots. Ever since I left Peet’s, I had devoted my life into this freelance project; I literally couldn’t imagine working at the bar. I still love the people, no doubt, and I wish I could see them more often (if I could get over the awkwardness of going back to my old workplace).

The Future (Always Thinking About the Future)

As I’ve learned to enjoy my new “job,” my mind became more free to think about the possibilities of where I could go. It’s probably okay to say it here since my family doesn’t read this, but I’ve been thinking about moving south. And by “south,” the range spans from the South Bay, near the San Jose area, to SoCal, around L.A. and San Diego. I want to do it mainly for independence, and also for the weather. But what’s as important, if not more, is my career. If there’s a job that’s fit for me all the way in the East Coast, I wouldn’t mind giving that a try. My family’s probably not so keen of that idea, but it wouldn’t be the end of the world for them.

A “Historic Moment”

I’ve been so engulfed by this project that I haven’t really had the time to digest the fact that we’ve just witnessed what so many people apparently without a thesaurus have described as a “historic moment” in the country. It still hasn’t fully hit me yet, just as it hadn’t hit me eight years ago with the previous administration change. There are moments, though, where I realize that this man is our president.
Right now though, it seems that none of that matters. It must be a sobering feeling for him and everyone that the world and its problems don’t stop for this “historic moment.” (Maybe for a day, but that day has passed.) It’s time to get to work, employed or unemployed.

Flush.

What Am I Doing? (Jan 2009)

2009-01-11T14:50:00.000-08:00

Happy new year, all. The holiday season is behind us, and as much as I had enjoyed it, I’m glad to be at the start of the new year with a few optimistic things to look forward to.

Freelance Client

The project with the freelance client is still in progress and is still very exciting. One thing I learned from being a freelancer is that it’s almost an art to have to know how much time tasks actually need to get done. I haven’t done enough freelancing at this point to provide a more accurate estimate of time required to do a project, and it’s easy to imagine an overall picture of the steps in my head, but it’s something else to actually do them. That’s why I feel bad sometimes (or often) because my current client needs the project completed ASAP, but it’s taking longer than I expect to churn out results. But one of the things that are motivating me to continue is my vision of how it’s going to look and function when it’s up and running.

Last Week of Peet’s

Next week will be my last week at Peet’s. It’s almost a bittersweet departure. Half of me knows I’m going to miss it, and the other half is glad to be moving on. The past few weeks, I feel that I’ve dramatically improved at the bar, and all I wanted to do my whole shift is to make drinks for customers. It’s like I’ve finally gotten used to how things work there and I’m just working like a well-oiled machine. But, I don’t want to get too comfortable to the point where the quality of my service and product goes down and I get stuck, which is why I needed to leave.

This job has not been all for nothing, though, and I never thought it was. This has been an excellent environment to learn about teamwork, customer service, multi-role relationships, and immediate problem solving. I would not learn anything like this or to this extent in an office environment. Of course, the office environment has another set of valuable skills that one would learn. So when you think about it, in a way, I’m glad that I took this chance to work in a fast-pace, high-volume, not always predictable retail environment before I presumably move to a more “corporate” or business-oriented world for the rest of my career.

Outlook

2009 seems like a great chance for improvement, in all fronts, no matter what the news says. As usual, I always see the future as a positive time to spend the rest of our lives.

Quote of the Moment

“The world is not waiting for you.”

Flush.

Design Matters Season 5 Returns

2009-01-06T10:40:00.001-08:00

So Design Matters with Debbie Millman returns with the second half of season five. I honestly don’t know how these “seasons” work, but shouldn’t it be season six? Anywho, there’s talk of a television version. I wonder how that’s going to turn out.

Source: http://www.mediabistro.com/unbeige/people/season_five_of_design_matters_begins_with_allstar_lineup_big_developments_104873.asp

Flush.

GTD Inbox — Lots to Do

2009-01-02T20:51:00.000-08:00

I guess it’s that time of the year where all my routine tasks line up and require my attention at the same time. Looks like I have a lot of things that needs to get done.

Flush.

Bumper Sticker Idea

2008-12-26T01:20:00.000-08:00

“I ruined my car with this bumper sticker.”

Flush.

Punished with the Persistent Pusuit of Perfection

2008-12-18T12:08:00.000-08:00

I thought of this last night while falling asleep after an all-nighter from my freelance gig: My life is pretty much a punishment of the persistent pursuit of perfection. I’m not necessarily unhappy with that, but there are times when I wish I weren’t being punished. Haha.

(I only mentioned this for the alliteration.)

Flush.

What Am I Doing? (Dec 2008)

2008-12-11T21:57:00.000-08:00

I’ve done enough anniversary/milestone posts for the time being, so I’m not going to dwell on the anniversary of the “What Am I Doing?” series. Besides, I have something interesting/productive to talk about this month.

Freelance Gig

Mid-last month, a college friend of mine contacted me about a freelance gig that I might be interested in. His friends from high school have created a startup, doing viral videos for clients, and they need a designer doing the site and create a logo and all that jazz.

I don’t know how much liberty I have with talking about this gig, since it’s still in progress, so I’m going to be conservative in the details. But what I would like to say is that I am excited for this project, and I am excited to see this company grow and succeed. I see real potential with the guys who created this company, and it’ll be interesting to see where it will stand six months or one year from now.

Last night, I spent two or three hours watching all the videos that these guys have created for their old project, Huge In Asia. You might have heard of it, and I think I have, too, back when I was still in college two years ago. To be honest, back then, I probably thought it was really cheesy and silly. But it’s so cheesy and silly, that it’s also entertaining and good! These guys seem free to let their creativity lead their journey, something I wish I have a lot more often.

Luckily, I am now a teeny part of their next project, and I am not going to screw up, not that that happens often anyway. I just have to balance this with my job at Peet’s. So whenever I’m not making lattes, I’m working on this project. Sorry to those who tried to contact me and I haven’t responded. It’s going to be pretty crazy for the next few weeks, especially when you add on the holiday season madness.

Last Month at Peet’s

Speaking of Peet’s, I will be leaving this job sometime next month, after the holiday rush. It really hasn’t hit me yet. But no matter how I feel, I think this needs to happen. The time for change has come.

Flush.

2009 AIGA Design Conf. Discount

2008-12-10T20:37:00.001-08:00

Registration for the 2009 AIGA Design Conference in Memphis, TN, is $500 before the end of the year. After that, it will probably cost more. Anyone going?

Link: http://www.aiga.org/content.cfm/design-conference-2009

Flush.

Testing MS Word Blog Post Feature

2008-12-10T10:49:00.001-08:00

Does this work with the correct formatting?

Second paragraph is here.

Here's a list.

List item 1
List item 2.
Boy, this is so exciting to read.

Here's a numbered list.

Today is December 10^th.
Tomorrow is December 11^th.
Here goes another awesome list!

The numbers in the numbered list seem to be off-margin. What about "smart quotes"?

Smart quotes don't work, nor do apostrophes. Slightly disappointed.

Flush.

100th Post; Wish-to-Do List

2008-12-05T13:25:00.000-08:00

Every night, as I lay in bed waiting to fall asleep, a million things speed through my mind. I think about what I’ve completed that day and what I have yet to accomplish the next. It never stops until I am asleep. When I wake up, I already feel behind.

This is a problem. Even though I take pride in being someone who is constantly generating ideas, I inevitably have more ideas than I can execute. Yes, a lot of those ideas are probably not that good and practically trivial, but ideas are ideas, and until they are executed, they all weigh relatively equally as valid solutions.

So, to ease the pressure off my brain just a little bit, and to celebrate the 100^th post of Flush, I would like to share 100 things I have brewing in my head. (I have a lot more, as I’m sure you do as well.) Some are very realistic and executable, while others are more ideal and fantastic.

Site

Get all areas of the experiments section opened and working.
Have a creative About section.
Redesign Flush to fit with transparency theme.
Have the entire site be mobile and screen-reader friendly (in other words, accessible).
Have the site completely done by sometime next year, before I realize I need a redesign.
Career
Continue with learning ActionScript 3.0.
Learn MySQL.
Learn Processing, whatever benefit I may get from it.
Learn AfterEffects.
Learn podcasting.
Learn a printing press.
Learn to hand-assemble a book.
Learn to use a type design program.
Learn to write a form that will update an XML file.
Finish my print portfolio.
Create a multi-functional business card.
Design a body font family, including ligatures and special characters.
Attend AIGA Design Conference 2009 in Memphis, TN.
Be a part of the Olympic branding committee of a Summer Games.
Buy a copy of CS4 (unless I wait too long and CS5 comes out).
Meet well-known design figures with mutual respect.
Design a self-promotional holiday souvenir.
Be part of an “awesome” project.
Own a copy of Sagmeister’s “Things I Have Learned From My Life So Far”.
Volunteer with whatever AIGA SF needs volunteers for.
Start a career portfolio archive.
Experiments
Design and screen print shirt graphics with geeky design-related topics.
Make a poster/series with writing with light.
Make an info-graphic poster of the bodies of the solar system.
Print an image on the same sheet multiple times.
Print an image on separate transparency sheets and align the images in the light, then photograph it.
Create a poster series of the sun’s actual visible electromagnetic spectrum.
Design a reusable calendar.
Do a time lapse series of one location at the same time each day for a long period of time (e.g. a year).
Invert night sky photographs.
Overlay a high-resolution photo onto a low resolution version of the same photo.
Align panoramic Photomerge photos but don’t blend the edges.
Put supposedly-panoramic Photomerge photos in a grid in relation to one another.
Create a new typeface by overlapping two typefaces, then take the overlapping areas or dissimilar areas.
Use enlarged small type on screen as regular type.
Use Flash/ActionScript to write a visualization of two bodies orbiting.
Create a motion graphic piece that will show a writing with light, but the light moves with time, so the writing cannot be seen at any one time, but collectively.
Life
Continue with learning either/both French or/and Japanese.
Learn Morse code, just because.
Learn Braille, just because.
Learn American Sign Language, just because.
Learn more about astronomy.
Learn more about physics.
Learn to surf.
Learn to ski and/or snowboard.
Learn to ballroom dance, for whatever future occasion.
Start life blogging again.
Get my life completely GTD’d.
Pay off my student loans and start being in the black.
Get a green job.
Live in a studio apartment.
Have a road trip of some sort across the country.
Go to an amusement park one of these days. It’s been too long.
Go mini-golf with friends.
Go on a road trip with friends.
Go on a cruise with friends.
Go to a beach where the water and the weather is not cold.
Be part of the excitement in Washington D.C. on January 20, 2009.
Attend an American/Western wedding. (I’ve only been to Chinese style weddings).
Attend a baseball game.
Attend an indoor concert with die-hard fans who sing along to all the songs.
Play more Wii.
Become a space tourist.
Experience Zero G in one of those planes.
Fly first class.
Ride in a Rock-Star-Style Tour Bus.
Spend a week in a cabin with friends.
Get into a habit of exercising and eating right (for the most part) for the rest of my life.
Return to a routine of swimming.
Get shampoo/body wash that takes out the smell of chlorine.
Have a crazy adventure night like in the movies, but with no one dying.
Buy myself things for the holidays that I’ve been longing for all year but have been really conservative with money. Or when I get a full-time design job.
Go on a “vision quest,” whatever that is.
Re-watch the Matrix Trilogy.
Watch something in IMAX.
Re-watch Motorcycle Diaries.
Re-watch the Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony.
Have a movie marathon of Planet Earth.
Be an awesome and cool uncle when my niece or nephew is born.
Help build houses for families who need and deserve it.
Volunteer at a soup kitchen or something similar during Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Convince my friends that it’s “should have” and not “should of”, among other things.
Build something useful with wood.
World
Visit New York City and live there for a month.
Visit Japan and live there for a month.
Visit Beijing and the Olympic area.
Visit Vancouver during the Olympics in 2010.
Visit London during the Olympics in 2012.
Volunteer to do something in Africa.
Visit Australia.
Visit Machu Picchu.
Visit France and try to live there for a month.
Visit Italy.
Visit Dubai and sight-see all the cool architecture.
Learn to live, and live to learn.

Let’s see how many of these I can accomplish by the 200^th post. I know I won’t be able to do all of it, but it’s still good to try.

Flush.

Portfolio Page Linked

2008-11-25T02:04:00.000-08:00

It’s sort of a milestone. For more than two months, I’ve been working on my portfolio page whenever I could find the time. Design, code, and test. There’s still a lot of testing to do… and coding… and designing. It’s not 100% done and not 100% good yet, but I have enough good stuff to show you what I have so far.

This page may not look that complicated or that impressive (even to designers), but there’s more than enough happening in the backend that I am proud to have come so far in the past two months. In the process, I’ve learned a new programming language that is very powerful and opened a lot of doors for my creative outlet. I look forward to learning more PHP as well as the next step up, whatever that is.

Next entry will be very special. Another milestone. I haven’t decided what to do yet.

Flush.

What Am I Doing? (Nov 2008)

2008-11-11T21:00:00.000-08:00

End of the Year, End of an Experience

In the past month, Peet’s had been getting ready for the holiday season with special blends of coffees, teas, candies, chocolates, drinks, promotions, etc. And that has gotten me into the holiday spirit earlier than usual. But it also serves as a daily reminder that this is the grand finale of my employment at Peet’s, after which I will hopefully be working somewhere that has more relevance with design and/or environmental issues.

Having said that, I’m beginning to make some progress with my portfolio site. The structure of the site is pretty much set; I just needed to fine-tune the content. Once that is done, I could move on to other areas of the site, including this blog.

Good Will Hunting

A few nights ago, I caught the latter two-thirds of the 1997 movie Good Will Hunting. I probably haven’t seen it for seven or eight years, and I noticed a few new things that I hadn’t before. (One would be the frequent use of the late Elliott Smith’s music throughout the film.) I also couldn’t believe how young and thin Matt Damon and Ben Affleck looked. It’s one of those things where you can’t believe how fast ten years go by, yet so much had happened.

I find this movie more relevant to me now than seven or eight years ago because of where Matt Damon’s character, Will, was in his life. While I can’t say that I am just like Will, we both have something that we’re good at and we both have the potential to succeed.

The problem is that we don’t know what we should do for the rest of our lives, or that we’re afraid to figure that out. And as Robin Williams’s character pointed out after Will’s monologue of all the bad things that would happen if he had taken a government job cracking some enemy code, Will is so bright that he thinks ten or twenty steps ahead and would envision a bad outcome, resulting him to not act, to stand still, and to not go anywhere in life, something that I can relate ever since I became self-conscious.

Current Plan

This movie made me realize that while I cannot confidently decide right now which of the two or three of my desired paths would be best for me in life, I should start at one of them. If I end up not liking it, or that I get bored with it, I can move on, while I’m still young and unattached. One thing I like about being me is that I have so many ideas about the things that I’m passionate about, but at the same time I don’t like that part of me who doesn’t have time to pursue all of them. If I explore one idea, ten more will emerge, but I become frustrated and I wouldn’t be able to get to them in a timely fashion.

With that in mind, I have more or less an idea of what I want to be doing in the coming year. If that doesn’t work out, I would have a few back-up plans, and that should probably last for two, three good years.

Flush.

Vote

2008-11-04T00:01:00.000-08:00

1 > 0

Flush.

What Have I Done? (Anniversary Review 2008)

2008-10-23T23:59:00.000-07:00

Today marks the first anniversary of Flush. A year ago, I “soft opened” this blog, and believe it or not, I still haven’t “grand opened” it, although I’m not sure if I really need to anyway.

Flash Review

The past year has been a bumpy ride. I finished my last undergrad class, got sucked into the world of Sim City 3000 and Sims 2 as I prepped for my job search, started my beta site, got a job at Peet’s, went to see Sagmeister speak, skipped out on Alumni Day (I’m sorry!), worked on a freelance project for my aunt’s business, bought a new printer, watched the impressive production of the Beijing Olympics, resumed working on my portfolio and site, and rekindled my passion for web developing.

My attitude on design has changed, and that has helped me narrow down the types of careers that I would like to pursue. And every day, I’m getting closer to that job and that career. Working on my site almost every day excites me and motivates me because 1) I’ve grown to enjoy coding and designing, and 2) I can’t wait to share with the world what I’ve done.

Prediction for the Next Twelve Months

I don’t know.

Nobody does, and I’ve been wrong enough times about where I would be right now to not make any more general predictions. But I will always have hope, I will always have my expectations, and I will always believe in the future.

A year from now, I may or may not be a designer, and I may or may not enjoy coding still/anymore, and I may completely change my mind about this site and start a brand new one, or career. And that’s perfectly okay, as long as I am okay with it and it’s for the better. I may not reach my current desired destination, but that may or may not be as important as the journey to get there. I mean, I totally wish I were rich already and not have to work but become a philanthropist and help starving children in Africa or save the rain forest in South America, but it would probably mean more to me if I actually pay my dues, work my way up, meet interesting people, and learn about the issues to get there.

Flush.

Flush

What Am I Doing? (Apr 2009)

Quote I Go By Lately

Don’t Live in a Design Bubble

Portal A Interactive

Pre-work Work

The Logo

WordPress

Interactivity

What I Learned

Function is Beauty.

Was Math Discovered or Invented?

Mathematics

Symbols and Answers

Perfection=Completeness

What Am I Doing? (Mar 2009)

Freelance

GTD

Twitter

Cut&Paste

Motivation

Really Simple Designer Web Comic

One Per Day

Quotes I Go By Lately

Please Return It

Oven’s Preheated...

Beautifully Produced Oscars Show

Useless Palindrome

Best Friend

What Am I Doing? (Feb 2009)

Post-Peet’s

The Future (Always Thinking About the Future)

A “Historic Moment”

What Am I Doing? (Jan 2009)

Freelance Client

Last Week of Peet’s

Outlook

Quote of the Moment

Design Matters Season 5 Returns

GTD Inbox — Lots to Do

Bumper Sticker Idea

Punished with the Persistent Pusuit of Perfection

What Am I Doing? (Dec 2008)

Freelance Gig

Last Month at Peet’s

2009 AIGA Design Conf. Discount

Testing MS Word Blog Post Feature

100th Post; Wish-to-Do List

Site

Career

Experiments

Life

World

Portfolio Page Linked

What Am I Doing? (Nov 2008)

End of the Year, End of an Experience

Good Will Hunting

Current Plan

Vote

What Have I Done? (Anniversary Review 2008)

Flash Review

Prediction for the Next Twelve Months