mugwumpian mumbles

The dance continues!

2009-03-03T23:16:00.003-06:00

Phase one of the reorganization is complete. Phase one is an interim phase. Accept no substitute. Supplies are limited. I have unified the design of MyrthCo and laid it onto a 960px 12 column grid, courtesy of the 960 Grid System. It's a lot like Blueprint, but with a lot less (fewer? grammar!) options (i.e. columns).

I say this is interim because while I brought my portfolio pages over the new style, they will eventually be cleaned up even more and moved to tophermcculloch.com. I'm going to move away from the thumbnail/lightbox configuration in favor of straight up large images. More scrolling, less clicking. I'll also have fewer examples but will discuss each more in depth. The new portfolio will be focused more on quality, less on quantity. Retooling my presentation is a big part of the next portfolio phase.

With the portfolioness moving to a new domain, MyrthCo will become more of an experimental playground. It's still going to be my hub, which is why I'm keeping the SweetCron aggregate thing on the front page. I'll start feeding more blog posts into it, and the new portfolio site will also be blog based. Whenever I post a new project, it'll automagically be thumbnailed and tagged into the MyrthCoverse. I'm also going to reformat the blog that is associated with MyrthCo. It's going to pool all my old deajournal and livejournal posts. It's going to be an overly revealing memoir in process. As I work my way through the archives, I'll edit entires and remove the most revealing. It's a race to find the blackmail material!

This was rambly. Anywho, I've not tested the new design across all browsers and the CSS is still in progress. Let me know if you see weirdness. I'll be tweaking as time progresses. Oh! And one of the ideas behind using the grid for the site is to use the same grid for all my sites, but make it modular so things look vaguely related but not the same.

the cyber shuffle

2009-02-17T14:56:00.002-06:00

I've recently (sort of) found myself in the possession of six domain names and a ridiculous amount of blogs. Every day I seem to do a new word press install. For some reason.

Anywho, I intend to shut down this blogger blog and wrap it into a new uniblog wordpress blog, hosted at MyrthCo's homepage. I'll be moving my portfolio to the apparently more professional sounding tophermcculloch.com. I'll make another post when this actually happens to update the one of two of you out there who view this in an RSS reader.

The latest in television and movie technology

2009-02-02T19:24:00.003-06:00

I'm watching Chuck in 3d. The technology is still a bit.. cheesy if you ask me.

blog blog blog

2009-01-20T01:31:00.001-06:00

CKHagen_06421, originally uploaded by CKHagen.

I need to figure out what I'm doing with my multitudes of blogs.

Everything you say is a blatant affront to my existence

2008-12-15T22:36:00.005-06:00

A vague reference to the new Never Sleep Book.

This is a blog post about Bud Rodecker. He works at 3st. I live with him and his knockoff Modernist furniture. I've been going to the office for the past few weeks doing some basic freelance for Thirst. It's been an excellent learning experience. Especially discovering client text edits that reverse previous edits every step of the way. Joy.

In response to some instructions from Bud today, I I came up with an excellent Designism:
Cut wrists, not corners.

Beauty in the absurd

2008-11-10T16:07:00.003-06:00

Okay, maybe not beauty. Absurdity in the minimal?

Chainsaw Suit

I have long been a webcomic nerd, and I've been noticing somewhat of a trend in where my taste for webcomics is leaning. Stick figures. Either in the realm of the philosophical, as is the case of pictures for sad children, or else the absurd, as is the case of Chainsaw Suit above. Maybe with less focus on drawing there's a greater time to focus on the writing? There are lots of very beautifully drawn comics out there with terrible writing.

Some other comics in the stick vein are xkcd and Cyanide and Happiness. I'm consistently impressed with these comics. Are my expectations just lower?

Aggregate!

2008-10-15T02:37:00.003-05:00

So here's the plan. I'm going to figure out how to pull updates from my flickr, twitter, miscellaneous blogs, youtube account, and so forth and have them all show up on MyrthCo's front page when I update. It'll be like Facebook's newsfeed, only all about me and my internet addiction.

It's going to be off the chain. As soon as I work out the details. I hope I can work out the details.

Let me show you what I'm working with

2008-10-07T00:41:00.003-05:00

The past few weeks have seen me working on a few different web projects. I am putting the final touches on an artist portfolio site for my old painter professor Jen Dietrich. She does really amazing, textural paintings dealing with the themes of Americana seen through the lens of barns, baseball, and Kennedy. Her "Earthly Flesh" series is especially inspiring to me.

When not painting or teaching, Jen is also a filmmaker. I've been helping do a special site/blog for her documentary on Philip Pearlstein, entitled Not Made in Heaven, which is a reference to an article Philip wrote for ArtNews on figure painting in the age of Abstract Expressionism. I really like the simplicity of the film site I'm doing for them. The content is still being shuffled around somewhat.

The joy of social networking

2008-10-05T18:39:00.002-05:00

After reading the New York Times's article Job Hunting Is, and Isn’t, What It Used to Be last week, I first felt extremely discouraged that a majority of my job hunting has been done through Careerbuilder and Craigslist, which due to the high volume of unqualified applicants, are mostly useless. Then I decided it was time to plunge into the world of adult social networking (no, I don't mean xtube). So... yes. I am now hoping to become linked in. On LinkedIn. Here's to another great social experiment.

A newfound love of gifs

2008-10-03T14:03:00.004-05:00

Would it be amiss for me to say I miss animated gifs? The internet of my youth was littered with them. I suppose I should be looking in the darker halls of MySpace to find them again. Our dear once-clean Facebook won't animate them.

The reason I bring this up is that I was without internet at the laundromat yesterday and decided to investigate whether Photoshop could make gifs. I was pleased to learn it can.

Naturally, this lead to a few quick experiments.

The first two feature my sister and the last two are from childhood home movies. The last one is my father in boxers and monster mask. More on those home movies in the future.

In order to feed my new old obsession, I stumbled across Loopable, which is a blog devoted to gifs. Sadly it hasn't updated since July.

The archives, however, yield amazing results:

The joy of leading

2008-09-28T01:00:00.002-05:00

Kerning inaction, originally uploaded by tofu mugwump.

An entire day spent Googling™

2008-09-22T12:52:00.004-05:00

That subject line could imply some extreme narcissism with ™ being my initials and all, but that's not what I was doing today. For once. I instead have been streamlining my life and entering all relevant marketing information into the Google Cloud. I think I read putting all my cyber eggs into one basket was an excellent idea.

I could claim by consolidating I am becoming more efficient, but all that I've really accomplished is making my procrastination more efficient. All of my design blogs are now in one place! Wowee. I am one of the many people with multiple Google accounts, which is annoying since there is no way to currently merge said accounts. There are ways around thankfully, so now I am redirecting, forwarding, or associating my Google and other e-mail accounts into one consolidated, folder-less lump. Yeah, labels. Thanks for the future on that one.

Speaking of the future (and websites I can consolidate under the Google Cloud...)

Content Aware Image Resizing (Seam Carving if you're nasty). This is practically the rotational/enhancement that is featured so prominently in Bladerunner and CSI. Not quite, but having never heard of it before today and then discovering it might be an included feature in Adobe Creative Suite 4.

I think my awe over this new technology and the ability to post on blogger from my other gmail account have overridden my usual eloquence. Yes. I am very eloquent.

Oh, and I Twitter now. I'm not really sure why, other than it is a good way to feed my internet and social network addictions.

Christ through JavaScripture

2008-09-20T00:36:00.001-05:00

Description
Are you interested in using your talents in web design for a Christian ministry? Bible League, a Christian ministry located in the south Chicago suburbs, has provided Bibles for more than 70 years to people in need around the world. Bible League partners with local churches worldwide, training and equipping Christians to use the Bible to make disciples and establish new churches. We are currently seeking a Webmaster in our international headquarters office.

The Webmaster will be responsible for management of the website which will include implementing web pages and managing content assuring quality and clarity of Bible League’s mission. This person will design, develop, and execute site architecture and navigation including redesigns and upgrades and help determine needs, strategies and goals for the web ensuring site is optimized. Will also collaborate with creative staff on design and layout to facilitate multi channel marketing.

Requirements
Qualifications include being a Christian and agreeing with the Bible League’s Statement of Faith. Candidates will possess strong web design skills including the ability to edit using HTML and JavaScript skills.

Candidates should also have 2 yrs experience with web design and programming languages such as HTML, CSS, ASP, ASP.Net, JavaScript, PHP, XML and SQL and experience with development tools such as Visual Studio, Dreamweaver, Photoshop, and Flash for website development. Will also have experience with relational databases such as MS-SQL Server along with a thorough knowledge of SEO techniques.

In addition, candidates should have experience running and evaluating online marketing campaigns along with excellent communication and interpersonal skills, strong analytical and problem solving skills, and be team oriented.

HIPHOP? HIPSTER?

2008-09-14T15:54:00.001-05:00

0914081508.jpg, originally uploaded by tofu mugwump.

I really question the target market of this ad. Maybe it's because I'm not it. Still a pretty great poster for the Logan Square...

Surrealism in advertising

2008-09-06T14:53:00.001-05:00

Surrealism in advertising, originally uploaded by tofu mugwump.

There's something very Magritte about the illustration in this. What are these types of ads even called? It's not a billboard, and it's almost a mural.

Visible Means opens in Duluth

2008-08-29T19:10:00.002-05:00

Visible Means Exhibition Announcement Back, originally uploaded by tofu mugwump.

This is so awesome to be featured in an exhibition with David Wojnarowicz, who is one of my favorite artists and inspirations. The show is at the Duluth Art Institute in Duluth, MN and runs August 28, 2008 – November 16, 2008. I missed the opening since I am in Chicago, but it looks like a great show by all accounts. The show is curated by my former print and drawing professor, Robert Repinski, who is an amazing artist himself.

Here's some random press.

"Check inside machine for children, pets, and foreign objects before loading and starting."

2008-07-23T21:39:00.001-05:00

"Check inside machine for children, pets, and foreign objects before loading and starting.", originally uploaded by tofu mugwump.

Clarity of design and content is important in preventing disasters.

things not okay by me

2008-06-20T17:44:00.002-05:00

Papyrus. On my trip back to Minnesota last weekend it felt like half of the billboards used Papyrus. Why is one typeface used to represent ancient egypt (ha), greece, the southwest, organic elegance, woodsy downhomeness, and trendy alternativeness? Why do people think papyrus lasercut into brushed aluminum is classy?

I'd include images, but that would require putting Papyrus on my blog.

As a sidenote, in Egypt, most of the cheap "papyrus" you buy from street vendors and tourist shops is actually banana paper. The skins/leaves of a banana are much cheaper to process than real papyrus. The end product is also a lot more brittle. And cheap. Let's rename Papyrus to Banana Paper Sans.

things ok by me

2008-06-20T17:02:00.001-05:00

$2 PBRs, free wireless at the Charleston, Bud and him doing all my design for me. Such a good night.

New website design and a blog template to match!

2008-06-17T15:39:00.005-05:00

I've also got a fancy new portfolio section and a profile at aiga design jobs. I'm still doing tweaks to the site, which will probably include some new portfolio images. I am also on the hunt for a job in Chitown.

view my portfolio:
aigadesignjobs.org/topher

Tokyo

2008-04-13T20:59:00.001-05:00

The Tweed sent me to Tokyo for a very short trip in March. Here's a video I cobbled together from my footage.

leaving home... again

2008-02-21T15:22:00.001-06:00

basement, originally uploaded by tofu mugwump.

Now that I've graduated college, I feel once again in a very transitional state. The photo is from Thanksgiving 2005 when I had to help my mother pack up my childhood home. She was leaving South Dakota for a more lucrative job in Minnesota. I'll soon be leaving Duluth, which has come to feel more like home than anywhere else, to hopefully find a job in Chicago.

This is not art. It's a pipe.

2008-02-21T15:15:00.001-06:00

artangst44, originally uploaded by tofu mugwump.

Cheerful

2007-12-22T02:38:00.001-06:00

Cheerful
Originally uploaded by tofu mugwump

I've finished my undergraduate career, assuming they don't find something else and withhold my diploma. Now it is time to make good art. And organize my flickr!

2007-12-17T20:27:00.001-06:00

"Mythology is one step beyond nostalgia."