By Steve Tolleson
In my previous post, I wrote about how our studio arrived at the CS5 imagery by deconstructing the letterforms of the Adobe products. Here’s an “inside look” into the actual creative process.
We face a few interesting challenges with each Creative Suite release. We need to provide a strong conceptual system for the 14 – 20 piece product line and have it be fresh every time. We also need to give a voice to the individual brand identity of each component. The individual brand identities of the components must stand on their own, while also working harmoniously in the context of the larger system.
After the concept for the system was formed, we ran it through our creative lab in order to give it life. Our labs allow for experimentation in audio, video, photography and animation. They are set up for discovery, incubation and results – and many of our favorite ideas are germinated in these labs.
One of our designers on the east coast worked in a studio with a projector, a Canon 5D Mark II digital camera and a whole range of raw materials – plexiglass, foam core, paper, fabric and gels. From these, she built sets and projected the letterforms onto them. The shooting and capturing was very organic; there were thousands of shots and each one was unique.
The raw shots were sent to our San Francisco office, where the team would weigh in with feedback, make refinements and then incorporate them into the layouts for Adobe to review. The final direction was approved out of this process.
The experimental atmosphere of the lab allowed for enough play and variation to really find the balance between the component identities and the larger system. We value the freedom of discovery and feel that it makes our work that much stronger.
Find Steve Tolleson, of Tolleson Design, at www.tolleson.com. See more articles from Steve Tolleson on INSPIRE Magazine.
Adobe Senior Experience Designer, Shawn Cheris and Michael Gough, Vice President, Product Experience along with Steve Tolleson and Jamie Calderon of Tolleson Design, share a behind the scenes look at what went into CS5 – from the packaging to the desktop to the considered experiences of the UI.
About this talk
At the 2007 EG conference, Kevin Kelly shares a fun stat: The World Wide Web, as we know it, is only 5,000 days old. Now, Kelly asks, how can we predict what’s coming in the next 5,000 days?
Who is Kevin Kelly
Kevin Kelly has been publisher of the Whole Earth Review, exec editor at WIRED, founder of visionary nonprofits, and writer on biology and business and “cool tools.” He’s admired for his new perspectives on technology and its relevance to history, biology and religion.
Just Lay it On
Remember back in the days when you would buy this expensive $80-$100 keyboard reavealing the many shortcuts of Apple Pro applications, ie. Final Cut Pro, Logic, etc. Well now those days are gone while also being inexpensive! KB Covers has developed a quality product that lays right over your keyboard! Whether it’s a Macbook, Macbook Pro, Old gens, New gens, All Apple keyboard gens, your covered.
KB Covers is dedicated to providing the finest quality keyboard covers for Apple/Mac desktop and laptop computers. All their covers are ultra-thin and made with the highest quality silicone available. Their keyboard covers are made with stringent Quality Assurance methods, which help to ensure a tight fit, long-lasting durability, no paint cracking/chipping, a soft-feel, and ultimately a happy customer.
KB Covers are designed to fit all Apple/Mac keyboard layouts around the world, including US keyboard, European ISO keyboard, and Japanese JIS keyboard layouts. Since each cover is designed to fit the Mac keyboard you own, they will not slip or move around when typing. They fit like a glove.
Visit them online at http://www.kbcovers.com/
Change of Heart on Laptop Cases
I must say that when it comes to laptop cases, I usually go with the hardest, bullet proof, hit it with a truck laptop case. Quite alarming is’nt it. Currently I use a Storm case. It consit of hard military-grade plastic, with waterproof seals, and a pressure release valve just in case you kick it into your swimming pool.
The Great Surprise
I must honestly say that I actually found a more calm case that I like. Casauri. In 1999 Emily and Helena McHugh, Founders/Designers of Casarui, started a spark with this company when Helena was working on a class project in college. At the time Emily was at Columbia Business School, probally waiting for a fun chapter to begin in her life. Until her sister Helena, graduate of The Fashion Institute of Techonology, surprised her. Emily commented that Helena; “made me a bag that started to attract attention.” After that the rest was history!
The Bag’s
There case’s are quite fashionable. The Lord has truly blessed them with a gift, and I must say that I like these cool cases. They have somewhat of a retro 60′s-70′s look to them that set’s there bags apart. They are durable and made out of top-grade materials, which explains the price. You will notice on there website that the description of there bags begin with; “Why Where Me:” giving them a personal touch. “We bounce around ideas that are based on our own tastes, then make a sample and test it ourselves. Does this compartment need to be bigger? Should we take off that pocket? It’s this back and forth that allows us to make bags that work on every level.” Emily McHugh, Founder/Designer. Check it out! www.casauri.com.
Didn’t wanna say it, but yeah. . .it was all shot on a RED. Ok, im playing. It was all shot on my new iPhone 4 that Im taking back next week. Sorry Apple, this phone was a serious blunder.
Experienced BMX stunt rider, Joshua Reeves, is originally from Massachusetts and plays no games when he is in the air. Biking for over 10 years on street and dirt, he has been able to develop skills and stunts that will place you on the edge of your—well, your seat.
I have finally cleaned my desk. I am working at home to finish up a few projects for the next few weeks and I really miss the office. I’m glad its my computer so I can take it whenever I need. I do miss my laptop, but one day. Maybe a Air will do.
The OWC SSD drive has been dong very well, and it’s very snappy. Almost like working on an iPhone 4. Until next time, not sure when I’ll be back on to blog again, especially about photography, but we’ll see. See ya when I see ya! Be safe and God bless.
p.s. My desk will not be this clean in upcoming days.
I am inspired by Tony Dungy, Head coach of Colts. Here’s why. Tony Dungy is concerned about people. He is concerned about the present needs that his team faces, not only on the field, but also in their personal lives. He is a teacher, a motivator, a mentor, a coach, a leader. When I think about how he relates his work as a head coach to his relationship with God, I can’t help but see that this man see’s who is controlling the end result.
He was fired from his prior job for loosing the Super Bowl, but someone else saw the dream in him. He felt all hope was lost. I experienced that same thing in my career when I lost the job I loved at an award-winning design studio in Washington State. It seemed as if my design career went for a slump, and then soon after loosing my job, I broke my femur in a sports accident–but I strived to come back. You soon realize that the only important thing in life–regardless of what happens, is Christ.
Listening to his story, you will notice where that drive comes from. When you feel all hope is lost. When those who trusted you, now doubt you. You see where the fire comes from to keep going. It’s only, and ever will be–in Jesus. Check out this video, very inspiring. Very good videography as well.
This is the new, on the way www.amananderson.com. It should be done next year, still in Photoshop. I chose not to use InDesign for mocking. Really tied up with projects at work, but It will be done!! I can’t wait! be If your on facebook you can join the collab on the new site!
The Classic
Graphic artist will always tell you that they wan’t to feel as natural as possible when painting or sketching. Then here comes the Wacom. I have been using Wacom for over 3 years and will say that I miss my old Graphire3 pen. But when I got the Intuos3 the pen looked as if it was shootin’ up on steroids. Then when I upgraded to the Intuos4 it toned up. But I still miss the old slimmer profile. Behold the Intuos4 Classic Pen. The Intuos4 Classic Pen has the same feature set as the standard Intuos4 Grip Pen but with a slimmer profile. With its optimum weight and balance it fits perfectly in your hand.
The Grip Pen
I must honestly say that it’s nice. It’s slimmer, lighter than the old Intuos3. But It’s not a classic. I just don’t feel right when im painting or doing some heavy brushing. And since I have trashed my Intuos4 mouse all together, I use my pen every day, 8 hours a day. I think im developing a callus on my wrist—I will soon fix that. SmudgeGuard has a great solution to that problem. I remember when I use to use the old Intuos2 it had the clear classic pen. I really liked that one. But I think it’s time to invest in a classic. Here are some good reviews you can read about the classic pen. Click here
Applied to SCAD
I believe SCAD is the only university that has what im looking for that will make me a better creative. You may ask; “Well what about Full Sail?” Hmm. . . What about Full Sail? I think SCAD has the best program to offer those who are seeking to be successful in the creative industry in all aspects of creativity. I enrolled to the e-Learning since I would like to continue Pulchry on the side and still commit to that while learning. I am seeking a BFA in graphic design with an emphasis on web, with a minor in fine art painting.
SCAD Vision
The Savannah College of Art and Design, an institution with distinctive yet complementary locations, will be recognized as a leader in defining art and design education. By employing innovation in all areas, SCAD will provide a superior education through talented and dedicated faculty and staff, leading-edge technology, advanced learning resources and comprehensive support services.
SCAD History
The Savannah College of Art and Design was founded in 1978 by Richard G. Rowan, Paula S. Wallace, May L. Poetter and Paul E. Poetter to provide college degree programs not previously available in southeast Georgia and to create a specialized professional art college to attract students from throughout the United States and abroad. The curriculum was established with dual goals of excellent arts education and effective career preparation for students. Today, with multiple locations and online distance education offerings, SCAD continues to assiduously adhere to these goals.
Got ten invites to Rdio, Tweet me your email to @amananderson if you would like in :). They go quick! @adellecharles Was kind enough to send me an invite. http://www.rdio.com
My Experience so far
It’s like a well seasoned Pandora. It even allows you to sync your selected playlist with your iPhone. Unlike Pandora, you can pick your own songs and it categorizes them in these bubbles that shows your liking to a particular artist with small bubbles and big bubbles.
On the iPhone
All I can say is that it’s flawless. So cool, and it’s compatible with the iOS 4. Way to go to the developers of Rdio. Radio for iPhone includes all your favorite MP3 iTunes stations, plus 25,000 stations from the SHOUTcast™ Radio Directory, all Icecast MP3 stations, over 2,400 RadioReference emergency scanner streams, NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards, Public Radio streams and over 2,300 MP3 stations from Europe, Australia and Canada. Dynamic directory provides for adding new directories and stations from our servers with no need for an application update.
Radio for iPhone supports MP3 and AAC stream formats and PLS, M3U and XSPF playlists. Radio for iPhone is compatible with iPhone, iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPod Touch and of course the iPad. Find more info about the iPhone usability by clicking here.
There have been some major updates! I have been a bit bothered by the fact that my iPhone version of my site was not compatible with the iPad. So I made some updates. Some are unnoticeable, but things have been tweaked a little to make things look nice :). Oooooh Retina. For more information about Retina click here.
Details
One of the major updates is the automatic resizing when you flip the iPhone or iPad from vertical to horizontal. Because the screen size of the iPad is larger, it now fits! The iPad when flipped vertically or horizontally will always be 768px. So the fading images that fade at the top have all been resized. Another fix was the Facebook like button bug. It was making the iPhone scroll horizontally—which is not good. So that was fixed.
User Agent and PHP Errors
A few images where updated, and I also made it compatible with PHP5 and the new WordPress 3.0. I was getting tons of PHP errors—but now their worked out. The nice cool feature about the new Safari 5 is the ability to change the user agent (web browser mode) to iPad or iPhone. That helps since the new iOS 4 is so slow on my 3G. So refreshing and checking for errors was much faster on the computer since it renders exactly as the iPhone/iPad browser. Read more about Safari’s new developer features by clicking here.
Aman L. Anderson
Ridge SDA Church, under the leadership of Pastor Dion Henry came to Pulchry for a re-design, and they have been really pleased with the design. As a team we came together very well with TeamBox. It allowed us to collaborate very well with the client to provide their needs. While also communicating with the designer. I ended up working on the development side of this site while Dean worked on the design.
At the studio we welcome Nedley Health Solutions as one of the feature clients. They have done such a great work in the education of health all over the world. They, with their founder Dr. Neil Nedley, MD have made a difference not only in the Adventist community but on a greater spectrum. The new website we’re re-designing for them is going to replace their now www.drnedley.com.
At this stage we are still in development. Im working on the design, and since it will have extensive programming, I might be helping a little in that arena—not something I enjoy unless im in. . .the zone. You know that “zone” feeling? It’s between 10:30pm at night till about 4:00am in the morning. So that’s why I think I’ll stick to design instead of development. Expression Engine will be our CMS of choice, unlike what we’ve done in the past. So Im really excited about this project.
Each year I seem to come up with a learn list. For 2010 it seems my 2009 list has spilled over into it. The design field is a rapid field since it is still somewhat new.
With the field being less than 20 or so years old the curriculum for graphic design constantly changes. Paul Rand was actually considered the starter for the graphic design field. That was not to long ago. So one could have went to school for design 4 years ago, and now in 2010 their is a lot to learn. But my learn list is pretty small. I went to school for desktop publishing. A web course wasn’t offered in my time. Now their is one.
Learn PHP
Learn XCODE for iPhone/iPad
Learn Java/JQuery
Learn Droid App Dev
Learn Database Integ for Mobile computing
Learn EE CMS
Learn OS Commerce
Learn Business Management
Learn how to get/turn house into Business workplace
Learn Taxes
Learn Pay Roll
Learn corporate bank accounts
Learn how to franchise or branch
It’s been a while since I’ve updated. We’ve been swarmed at the studio with web design, site launches and promo materials—but we’re keeping our head up. I got a little sick this week. But it almost seems as if im more productive when im sick? Programming seems that much more fun.
Just to give a little update. There are some cool blogazines on the way for the Pulchryzine at Pulchry. One is called the 7 Days of Design—which is really cool. But hey! Stay tuned, i’ll be back. Hopefully shortly.
Sincerely,
Aman L. Anderson
Today I was having a little fun with a sketch I worked on sometime back, and decided to make iPhone Wallpapers! Well, here it is again! For Free!
To download click here
Instructions: Just click download, and then e-mail them as attachements to your iPhone. All rights reserved.
This was all done in Photoshop CS1 on a Macbook Pro. Took about 4 hours maybe? The actual document is 10″ x 10″ at 600dpi. It was done with my Intuos3. See more of my paintings by clicking here.
Click Image to Enlarge
I have been given the opportunity from the nice people at Smith Micro to test out Manga Studio Debut. Now this program is awesome–especially if you have a Wacom tablet. If your an artist, you can really take advantage of there awesome features, especially when you take it into Photoshop. The slam dunker above is an example of what you can do, I started off with the little stick guy, and it just blossomed into something lively! All drawings above were done in Manga Studio, while the coloring and textures was done in Photoshop. No pencil or paper involved. Check out Manga Studio from Smith Micro at my.smithmicro.com/mac/manga/index.html
I have been using 28mm Nikon f/2.8D lens for well over a year now. I would call it my work horse lens. It’s a f/2.8D, Standard 74° picture angle, with great colour and bokeh. I have taken this lens to the streets. I have been in situations where rain was falling in great amounts, and it survived. I have dropped my camera with this lens attached—the filter broke, but the lens pristine. It has a 52mm filter diameter, and it does great for wide angle shots.
I use this lens when I know that I am going to be in unpredictable surroundings or where I need options. I used this lens actually for my poverty collection. In the photography world you will meet photographers who prefer primes, then you’ll meet some who prefer zoom lenses with multiple focal lengths. I myself have greater comfort with prime lenses. It brings out the creative side of me. You have one focal length, and that is 28mm. You can either step forward or step backward—take your shot. You can increase your f/stop or lower it for your depth of field, or for a beautiful bokeh.
One hard decision to make was whether to get the 24mm, or the 20mm Nikkor. I personally believe that it doesn’t make to much of a difference. I have taken photos with a 24mm, and don’t feel as if im missing the 4mm focal length difference. As far as buying after-market lenses, I only buy Nikon lenses. I came to this conclusion after seeing the differences in chromatic aberration in after-market lenses like Sigma, and the others and then comparing them to Nikon prime lenses. The only brand that seems comparable is the Tokina glass. I won’t even buy cheap Nikon lenses. From what I know and have tested, if you buy a prime lens or a “gold-tip” your sure to get crisp images.
Bokeh is the only type of blur that I really accept. It is so aesthetic and inspiring. Some bokeh can be distracting, and some can be good. I believe that the 28mm generates a good amount of bokeh. The shape of the 28mm’s aperture is one of the great influences to the bokeh generation in this lens. Bokeh is generated from the out-of-focus points in the background.
When this lens is stopped down to the smallest aperture it would generate disc similar to the shape of the circular or polygonal aperture. Bokeh is also gracefully evident in the 50mm f/1.8D Nikkor in which the disc seem to be a bit larger. I have heard that some have been able to change the shape of there bokeh into a star, or heart, or any shape imagined. Pretty creative stuff.
I have been using the Fujinon S2 Pro for about 2.5 years now, and must say that even though it’s an old camera, it’s a work horse. My first SLR was a Nikon N8008s, which was Nikons first AF camera with a built in AF motor. The nice thing about the Fuji cameras is they make the trade off with Nikon’s old film bodies and make stellar Digital SLR’s with amazing CCD’s, in Fuji’s terms Super CCD.
Fuji is famous for there hexagonal pattern CCD which has received great reviews from people like me, and wedding photographers for it’s dynamic range in comparison to conventional SLR CCD’s. Now that most newer cameras are walking in the pathway of CMOS, I still like my Super CCD camera. In my experience I have taken photos with this camera that I though were horrible, and started tweaking the RAW in Adobe, and it’s amazing how much detail this CCD can capture! Things that I thought were destroyed from the over exposure, were brought back with a few tweaks. Concerning resolution I think the JPEG qualtiy is pretty bad. If you ever use this camera your best bet is to just shoot RAW. I did a quality test with my 80-200mm/2.8 rocket, shooting at full focal length and compared a 12 mp JPEG to a 6 mp RAW image, and the 6 mp won by a long run. This camera has produced some razor sharp images. All the pictures in my photo gallery were taken with this camera with the exception of a few with my iPhone. See if you can tell which ones were taken with the iPhone!
As far as durability is concerned, this camera is superb. I have dropped it twice on aluminum in a trolly, and a brick road, and it rolled like a brick. The only major causality I had was the destruction of a filter on my 50mm that cracked, but other than that the camera and of course all Nikkor lenses just live on. My most vigorous test was when I was using it for wildlife photography up in the mountains of Tennessee. It was raining very consistently, and the rain had touched every button on my S2. That convinced me that my next camera will either be a Fuji S6 Pro, S7 Pro, or a Nikon body of some sort. I really like the Nikon D3s. That might be my next camera since I’m so used to large SLR bodies now.
Now concerning the battle between Nikon and Canon, I like Nikon since I started with Nikon. Hence the reason I ventured to Fujinon since it works with Nikon lenses. I did this just in case I switch back to Nikon. I like the ergonomic feel of the Nikon which was designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro. So it has the Euro-simplistic touch. Each button feels as if it was placed for a purpose for efficiency, speed, and comfort. I have held a Canon, and since im so used to Nikon, my hands feel a little weird turning the large dial on the back of the Canon body. I will say that Canon makes a good camera, and in some cases it all depends on where you first started. I know of some who switched from Nikon to Canon, which is great! Canon takes superb pictures. In some photos with a trained eye you can almost tell whether a photo was taken with Canon or Nikon. I do like Canon’s glass and speed, but I probably will not switch to Canon anytime soon. I will recommend a Canon, just as well as I would Nikon.
As far as accessories currently I have 3 lenses with a nice wish list. I have a 80-200mm/2.8, a 50mm/1.8, and a 28mm/2.8. I have made an oath to only buy Nikkor lenses, that are either prime or have a diameter of 72mm or more. I call it the “gold tip” lenses. Anything below that in Nikons line in my experience doesn’t do to well, even there most talked about 18-2000mm/3.5-5.6 I believe is bad on chromatic aberration. A good rule of thumb to follow is the aperture. If the smallest aperture is more than 2.8 it’s probably not there best glass unless it’s a 400mm or 600mm Nikkor, or there other rocket lenses. I also have a SB-600, a Stroboframe, with a SB-16 flash chord, and a im2600 Storm Case to house everything. Not to many bell’s and whistle’s. Just the basics will even do. If all you have is a Nikon D60 with a 50mm/1.8 or 1.4 you can make some awesome pictures that will sell. A key that I always follow is “fill the frame.” That rule won’t apply for everything, but when starting out I followed that principle. As you grow in your photo profession you will see the beauty of simplicity, open space and composition. Try looking into the golden ratio. Your sure to be inspired. Keep it up and don’t get discouraged!
Resources for Fujinon S2 Pro
1. DP Review – Fujifilm FinePix S2 Pro Review
2. Google Product Review – Fujifilm S2 Pro
3. Wikipedia – Fujifilm S2 Pro
Aman L. Anderson
Dockers recently has been looked down upon by many at large. Honestly I like the design. Im still trying to figure out what font they used. But the ad you see above is a new campaign for the end of 2009 and the beginning of 2010 to show that men need to step to the plate, having no turkey uncarved. They have recently been attacked by the gay communities. And amazingly the V.P. of Global Marketing for Dockers, Jennifer Sey, believes the world needs this type of advertising. The weird thing is she’s a woman, and the media is claiming that the ad’s are sexist. Interesting. Heres what it says;
“Once upon a time, men wore the pants, and wore them well. Women rarely had to open doors and little old ladies never crossed the street alone. Men took charge because that’s what they did. But somewhere along the way, the world decided it no longer needed men. Disco by disco, latte by foamy non-fat latte, men were stripped of their khakis and left stranded on the road between boyhood and androgyny. But today, there are questions our genderless society has no answers for. The world sits idly by as cities crumble, children misbehave and those little old ladies remain on one side of the street. For the first time since bad guys, we need heroes. We need grown-ups. We need men to put down the plastic fork, step away from the salad bar and untie the world from the tracks of complacency. It’s time to get your hands dirty. It’s time to answer the call of manhood. It’s time to wear the pants.”
-Dockers www.dockers.com
Read more from the New York Times about the Dockers Ad: New Dockers Ad Campaign for Soft Khakis brings Charges of Sexism
While I was walking the other day I saw this crane and took a picture with my iPhone. Dropped it into illustrator and got to work. It’s pretty cool!
Download EPS File
This is the latest fun project! Amansters! When I was living in Walla Walla, WA my friends gave me this name “Amanster.” Pretty funny huh, lol. So now! Without further adieu. . . Amansters! They are created in illustrator, and the first one you can download is the one featured above who’s name is Moe.
Download EPS File
It was a nice sunny day, Molly had just got onto the bus and was on her way home from school. At home her father was preparing a nice dinner that Molly always loves to eat. as the bus approached the stop Molly had a big smile on her face knowing that daddy had a wonderful dinner prepared. She hopped off the bus and was on her way. As she walked up the stairs of the two story apartment and approached the door way, daddy had already opened the door. “Molly!” he exclaimed, “daddy!” she threw herself right into his arms, and with the wonderful fragrance of the food, she was filled with gladness.
“Mommy will he home soon.” her father said; “come and help me finish lunch before mommy gets home!” so she dropped her back pack at the door way and took off her shoes as quickly as she could and joltted to the kitchen. “I’m coming!” her father said. So she washed her hands, took of her coat and droped it on the kitchen floor. “You can soak the noodles.” her father said. “Ok” molly exclaimed. As she began soaking the knoodles a few minutes went by and they were almost done. “Were almost done Molly!” daddy exlaimed. So a big smile came to her face and she was so happy. When they had finished Molly and her father sat on the couch to wait for mommy. “I got an A on my math test daddy!” Molly said. “Wow, that’s wonderful Molly!” Her father replied, before her father could say another word his face changed. “What’s wrong daddy?” Molly said. “I smell smoke.” Her father replied. Quickly her father got up. “Wait right here; ok?” Father said. “Ok daddy.” Her father went to the window and looked below and there was fire all around. So he quickly called Molly. “Molly come near me, there’s a fire.” So Molly clutched to her father. She said not one word. So he went to the entrance and opened the door and fire had filled the path way in scorching heats. He quickly closed the door and ran to the back door to see if they could climb down, but fire had filled the ground floor. They were trapped.
This is one of my latest and first font designs called Amsighruven. It’s still in development but it has come a long way from my Moleskine to the computer. My favorite letter is the “x” as shown in the preview. I hope to develop the letters more, but right now im just going to get them from the sketch pad to the computer. And be patient. I have heard that some font’s take up to 4 years to develop. Amazing. Real technical :)
This is the latest project that has been a wonderful experience. Lay Institute for Evangelism (LIFE) is a four month lay evangelism school. They seek to help church members to become more effective in their purposeful witnessing for Christ. There courses are really good, I haven’t taken any of the courses but as I read the content while im uploading content, the courses are really appealing.
It features extensive JQuery, and flash was just used for the videos. That’s where the JW FLV Player came in handy from LongTail Video. It will also have a full fledge streaming part of the website that will be a lot of thinking and developing. So I picked up a 500gb hard drive today, since im running low on storage space. So that will come in very handy. Can’t wait for the finish product, it’s really coming along nice, Praise the Lord. But hey! Check it out. It’s www.comeexperiencelife.com.
Dieter Rams (born May 20, 1932 in Wiesbaden) is a German industrial designer closely associated with the consumer products company Braun and the Functionalist school of industrial design. He is also know for his “Ten Commandments of Design.”
Rams studied architecture at the Werkkunstschule Wiesbaden as well as learning carpentry from 1943 to 1957. After working for the architect Otto Apel between 1953 and 1955 he joined the electronic devices manufacturer Braun where he became chief of design in 1961, a position he kept until 1995. Rams once explained his design approach in the phrase “Weniger, aber besser” which freely translates as “Less, but better.” Rams and his staff designed many memorable products for Braun including the famous SK-4 record player and the high-quality ‘D’-series (D45, D46) of 35 mm film slide projectors. He is also known for designing the 606 Universal Shelving System by Vitsœ in 1960.
Many of his designs — coffee makers, calculators, radios, audio/visual equipment, consumer appliances and office products — have found a permanent home at many museums over the world, including MoMA in New York. For nearly 30 years Dieter Rams served as head of design for Braun A.G. until his retirement in 1998. He continues to be a legend in design circles and most recently designed a cover for Wallpaper magazine. (Wikipedia 2009)
Here it is! I have officially finished coding today! Now if you have an iPhone it makes it a little easier to see the site, it really helps me a lot, especially commenting back, and seeing the gallery. The cool thing about the iPhone browser is that it works with a different random colour PHP generator, and the JQuery fading effect as on the real site. But if you have an iPhone, check it out! Take care!
Just to add a little colour, hehe. I have here a cross-processed train. It was originally taken in black and white, and then cross-processed in photoshop. To watch my tutorial on cross-processing, click this link http://amananderson.com/?p=211. It was a fascinating train. But I was stumped, lol. What do you do with a underexposed, blurry image? Cross-process it! You know Im really glad how it turned out. God is good. So try it out! If your shooting film you might have to cross-process it manually following the E4 Process in C22 I guess. That’s how they did it in the olden days. Or if you shoot film, you can get it developed by a film developer (most pharmacies). Then ask for a digital CD with your images. Then your ready to go!
Since my job is by the train track, in downtown, poverty, with brick streets I feel like im in the depression era. Not for the way things were then, but for the historical feeling everyday. The freight train trucks by at least 2 times a day with noise as loud as a tornado. And with all this around I have become to appreciate old buildings, and trains. This train wood struck me. It appears that it’s falling apart and has not been replaced for a while. But I love the creativity behind it.
As the rocks hold this little thing in place they seem to be peeping through the wood in the middle now, for the age of the wood has determined it’s weakness, but yet that over weight train still trucks by. Safety concern? Not sure, but it really looks cool!
I know that this is a common thing especially in America, but um… this really struck me. I walk by it every day actually at work. It is a very old building, and it’s actually all painted the same colour. The cables, box, window class, meter, and that just seemed odd to me. And I usually taking pictures of odd things that look old or vintage. I shot in 800 ISO. I don’t know, but it seems to me that the Fujifilm S2 Pro renders film so well! I used to shoot film, the old Nikon N8008 AF, and the grain in the Fuji just seems on point! It was shot with my Nikkor 50mm prime.
You hardly ever see windows like that anymore and it just seems to have history written all over it. It has a few modern adjustments like the cables and the actual meter is digital, but other than that it still maintains it’s historical look.
Cross processing is the process of intentionally processing photographic film in a chemical solution intended for a different type of film. It was mostly done with C-22 and E-4 solution. In today’s digital age, we have to use a digital solution, hehe. This tutorial goes into cross processing your photos in Photoshop. Try it out!
I tell ya, there comes a time when you just have to do it, lol. I have finally decided to clean my desktop. But it seems that when your really crunching and trying to hit those deadlines, it’s more efficient to just drop it on the desktop. I have’nt found a better solution? If anyone has found a better solution, please feel free to let me know, haha!
This has got to be one of my favorite effects. I love the simple effect that Apple uses in the iPhone, and there interface design that is so simple and clean. This tutorial explains there little secret which is a favorite among web designers. Enjoy! The power of 1px.
I love lake pictures with clouds. I think I’ve been looking at too many Ansel Adams pictures. But it sure does show that black and white can be simply colorful. I’ve come to appreciate black and white images for there simplicity and there undistracted appeal. This was taken off of Lee Road I believe in Orlando, Florida. A lot of neighborhoods have lakes, and where I was there where boat docks owned by the people who live in the neighborhood. So I didn’t want to get to close to there dock, it also said Private Property on the picture above :).
I love the old look that this image portrays, almost seems like the place where the elderly would get together to talk and fish. The chair is broken and the It looks very run down, but it has so much character. There also seems to be a little table on the left edge of the dock, standing alone. The paint is chipping off, and it seems as if the door hinges are there but no door. It’s calm and serene, yet old. I love old pictures.
When looking for a place to start getting poverty shots I ended up in Downtown. Downtown Orlando is a buzzing place at 11:00 at night. Music blasting, clubs packed, bars full, and streets filled with people in there early to late 20′s. But as I was looking for a place to park I saw a huge sign saying “REPENT” and “JESUS IS COMING” and street evangelist with shirts saying; “TRUST JESUS”.
When I finally parked and began to walk the rain came down very heavily. So I tucked my camera in my bag brought it behind my coat and walked in the direction of the big sign. When I finaly reached there it was by a building, with a roof to protect from the rain. Under there was poor men and women on the floor, torn jackets, no food and depressed. The people going to clubs actually passed underneath to keep from the rain, so it was busy under there as well. But one thing that struck me was this man. Andrew Mckenzie, who is 49. As I spoke with him he told me he has been on the streets for some time. He got in trouble and decided to turn his life over to the Lord; and would come to this location to hear the street preachers. Before I left he asked me to pray with him. So I did.
I held his hand and called over the street preachers and began to pray. As I began praying I noticed he started saying words very softly, I brought my ear closer to him and realized that he was repeating the words of the prayer. That touched me. It almost seemed as if he desired to pray, but felt the need of someone elses prayer, and he would repeat it as if he himself was speaking to the Lord. This man really warmed my heart, and just loved getting pictures taken of him. Very funny too.
Latter on he shared his testimony and told some things of how he made some wrong decisions, and his desire to live for the Lord. He actually kept asking me to buy him a hot dog too, hehe. So I gave him a new bottle of water. I saw him pop the top, when I turned and looked again it was gone, empty. I know God will bless Andrew Mckenzie. I showed him the picture on my camera and he was real happy. When I first offered to take his picture he said he’ll brake dance and I’d have to pay him. But I didn’t have any money, so he said to pray for him, smiles.
I grew up drawing action figures. Stuff like Spider Man, Batman, Dare Devil. I was hooked on Marvel Comics. As I got older I stared drawing more mature things like settings or environments. Children, people helping people, things like that. I guess being in photography helped with that, since photos tell stories, then drawings should to, instead of action figures hoping off buildings, or holding on for dear life to a spider web.
This photo is a care giver, possibly could be a nursing home shot. I actually pretty much grew up around a lot of nursing homes, it was kind of my daycare when I would get off from school since my mother worked as a social worker for nursing homes, hospitals. I really love old people. I think I got the inspiration for this photo from iStock, just browsing around. I think I’ll try and draw settings of people in different arenas, like work, home, stuff like that. It’s really fun though!
This photo means a lot to me. There was something about these roots when I first saw them at Lotus Park. As I hiked down the trail with my camera I noticed a something special. On my left and my right were roots, not ordinary roots, but coming up out of the ground, actually in this photo these are much lower; but the others on the left appeared as a power plant, these roots were from anywhere between 3-4 inches round.
What inspired me the most was how it was all laid out. So intrecately as if it was laboriously placed one on top of the other. As the dark shadows showed from above it almost gave it a fairy tell enviornment. This photo was taken by getting on my knees, with the camera nearly touching the ground.
It just amazes me how God develops the seed from death to life to mature growth as this tree. It started at some point in time as a plant no larger than a blade of grass, to a tree so vast that the roots are protruding from the ground 4 inches thick. Amazing. And even so with the Bible, as you become more and more aquainted with the Bible, we shall be rooted and grounded as this tree.
Now I know this photo is a bit abstract, but it really said something to me as I saw all the different shapes, curves, and perpendicular lines. It almost expresses a bit of confusion. All twisted up, crossed up, and edgy as the vine.
It almost has a bit of a Italian feel, you might see something like this at an entrance to an Italian pizza restaurant. A tad of elegance you might say? I guess it all depends on who is vewing it. But I do love the serenity of this enviornment.
Now this photo is exciting! It’s a rainbow! I know it’s hard to tell but this is the same area were I took the night shot a few nights before, it’s a whole different story in the day time. Especially with the context of the rainbow.
Now I know you probally noticed it already, but the compositon is so that the city is not the focus all the way at the bottom, but because it’s sticking it’s little head out it gives a feeling of power. Like “here I am!” even though it’s peeking in, it allows the imagination to run wild imagining how big the city is, while revealing the curviture of the rainbow and the big storm clouds in the background.
This is my first. Time a taking a rainbow in black and white, it almost seems surreal knowing that a rainbow is vibrantly colored; but in black and white it’s just a curvy line. It removes the distraction from the photo allowing for much more appreaciation of that which is beautiful by coloring the black and white photo with our minds.
This photo seems very asymmetrical, but what gives it character and contrast is this big tree branch swooping over it. As I was walking on the pathway I had to stop. I said to myself; “this is wired” but very cool!
It also gives an enviornment of serinity. It’s very calm and to itself. You walk under the branch, and it will be there next week. It dosent change. When I look at it now I feel like I’m there and just wanting to walk under that branch. I don’t know if branches make choices on a daily basis or if the pruners made it grow this way, but God chose the right distance to be away from the ground really wrapping things up in this photo. Very cool Mr. Branch.
This photo is a bit eerie in a way. A walkway that looks like your walking into a black whole. To capture this picture in this way I had to spot meeter on the branches so it would underexpose the dark things, and it sure did! It was indeed intentional, because I liked how it appeared.
When I look at the photo now im not sure if this represents calm serenity. But it all depends on who’s looking at it.
I pass by this place a lot per month. And whenever I see this place wether in the daytime or at night it always catches my attention. I don’t know if it’s my desire for pre-modernism going back to the 70-80′s with it’s font styling and painted-on-the-wall sign or what actually. This is it. The store is the sign, all in one. You pass by it and it’s right on the road.
What adds the character to this photo is the park bench, and the numerous newspaper stands. It almost reminds me of some shots by Dorothea Lange.
I’m trying to keep myself from shooting things that people will easily recognize as modern or post-American living. But that they represent a time that was past. Historical if you might say with a photojournalistic touch. I love photographing things other than modern creations; even though modern creations are cool, there is something about the success of the “old stuff”, as Paul Rand would say.
Now this was exciting, it was actually my first time doing some long-exposure shots here in Orlando, FL. It wa a task to get these sence you pretty much have to walk inthe street to get to this side of the overpass. It’s not made for a sidewalk, but on the opposite side is a sidewalk bit there is a fence about 8′ feet tall. I’m glad thy didn’t donut in both sides.
When got to the other side I felt like I could touch the big semi trucks, it was to cool, cars swooshing by over 80mph, it was amazig. When I was finally set up I had my ISO set at 100, and the shutter speed at 30 seconds.
As I was on the non-people side of the road I was hoping an officer didn’t come by and have me relocate my camera. But it sure was nice. I have color at mh finger tips, but j want to miss colour for a while as I appreciate more and more black and white.
The photographers like Robert Frank, Dorothea Lange, Ansel Adams only had black and white. And I could just imagine them taking a picture of a red fire truck knowing that there photos would never produce the vibrant colour ad seen in real life. So I want to feel the same way, because there photos were awsome! So try it out, as one photographer put it; “in photos the colour can be distracting, that’s why black and white photos seem surreal for they require more attention to the subject rather than the distracting colours.”
Author Unknown / January 10, 2002 / DigitalSurvivors
Please design and build me a house. I am not quite sure of what I need, so you should use your discretion. My house should have somewhere between two and forty-five bedrooms. Just make sure the plans are such that the bedrooms can be easily added or deleted. When you bring the blueprints to me, I will make the final decision of what I want. Also, bring me the cost breakdown for each configuration so that I can arbitrarily pick one.
Keep in mind that the house I ultimately choose must cost less than the one I am currently living in. Make sure, however, that you correct all the deficiencies that exist in my current house (the floor of my kitchen vibrates when I walk across it, and the walls don’t have nearly enough insulation in them).
As you design, also keep in mind that I want to keep yearly maintenance costs as low as possible. This should mean the incorporation of extra-cost features like aluminum, vinyl, or composite siding. (If you choose not to specify aluminum, be prepared to explain your decision in detail.)
Please take care that modern design practices and the latest materials are used in construction of the house, as I want it to be a showplace for the most up-to-date ideas and methods. Be alerted, however, that kitchen should be designed to accommodate, among other things, my 1952 Gibson refrigerator.
To insure that you are building the correct house for our entire family, make certain that you contact each of our children, and also our in-laws. My mother-in-law will have very strong feelings about how the house should be designed, since she visits us at least once a year.
Make sure that you weigh all of these options carefully and come to the right decision. I, however, retain the right to overrule any choices that you make.
Please don’t bother me with small details right now. Your job is to develop the overall plans for the house: Get the big picture. At this time, for example, it is not appropriate to be choosing the color of the carpet. However, keep in mind that my wife likes blue.
Also, do not worry at this time about acquiring the resources to build the house itself. Your first priority is to develop detailed plans and specifications. Once I approve these plans, however, I would expect the house to be under roof within 48 hours.
While you are designing this house specifically for me, keep in mind that sooner or later I will have to sell it to someone else. It therefore should have appeal to a wide variety of potential buyers.
Please make sure before you finalize the plans that there is a consensus of the population in my area that they like the features this house has. I advise you to run up and look at my neighbor’s house that he constructed last year. We like it a great deal. It has many features that we would also like in our new home, particularly the 75-foot swimming pool. With careful engineering, I believe that you can design this into our new house without impacting the final cost.
Please prepare a complete set of blueprints. It is not necessary at this time to do the real design, since they will be used only for construction bids. Be advised, however, that you will be held accountable for any increase of construction costs as a result of later design changes.
You must be thrilled to be working on as an interesting project as this! =) To be able to use the latest techniques and materials and to be given such freedom in your designs is something that can’t happen very often. ;-)
Contact me as soon as possible with your complete ideas and plans. =)
PS: My wife has just told me that she disagrees with many of the instructions I’ve given you in this letter. As architect, it is your responsibility to resolve these differences. I have tried in the past and have been unable to accomplish this. If you can’t handle this responsibility, I will have to find another architect. Take care! =)
PPS: Perhaps what I need is not a house at all, but a travel trailer. Please advise me as soon as possible if this is the case.
I would see this view occasionally when I would leave work, and I just wanted to have a picture of it at night. So I went to Walmart, purchsed a $25.00 tripod for my Fujinon S2 Pro, and went on my way. When I got there it was amazing! I parked my car at a parking spot and walked up to the overpass and shot. It was almost overwhelming with all the big buildings around, plus being on top of one of th busiest highways in Florida, Interstate 4.
It almost felt like a Batman scene. Dark ay night, but in the buildings lights were still on so they were just lit up. The shutter was open for 30 seconds, which is always needed for night shots as these. It was set to 100 ISO so that the images wouldn’t have that long exposure grain, and indeed it came out really sharp with hardly any grain, plus it’s black and white so grain is almost unnoticed.
This cloud is actually the same cloud that’s taken on the lake sunset in a previous post. It was huge! Large storm clouds, though it didn’t rain. But it was beautiful. I have started to take an interest in clouds because of the amazing pictures of Ansel Adams. The clouds in his pictures look amazing! I think in this picture I was crossing an intersection. Lately I have been keeping my camera with me at all times since I never know when there will be another picture with a story.
This picture almost has a harsh edgy appeal. Deep contrast, sharp edges, and deep grungy tones. It can appear nice and calm to some but for some reason it looks a bit scary especially to someone from Texas where it’s clouds like these that make those dangerous storms. I’ll keep on the look out for nice pretty clouds, a little less harsh.
I have started to experiment with macro sketching, lol. Basically focusing on one thing and developing that area. I really like this picture because it really taxes my hands. I have always had an issue drawing feet and hands. When I used to draw feet and hands it would look more like monster hands or feet, probably because of the minute details in hands and feet to make it look like it’s the real thing.
As one doctor put it, “proper footwear is essential.” Though this is sandals, sandals are very comfortable shoes. The oldest known sandals (indeed, the oldest known footwear) were discovered in Fort Rock Cave in the U.S. state of Oregon. The ancient Egyptians wore sandals made of palm-leaves and papyrus.[3] They are sometimes observable on the feet of Egyptian statues. According to Herodotus, sandals of papyrus were a part of the required and characteristic dress of the Egyptian priests.1
Till this day Sandals have taken a large turn, incorporating technology and intellectual design. As a designer, I really like the designs that many companies are coming up with. That was one of the things that held me back from wearing sandals before, but now. . .sandals look cool!
1. Wikepedia – http://en.wikipedia.org/
Now this little code is so helpful. It basically generates random code for your background like here on my website. It’s nice because other JavaScript generators select hard to read colours, but with this you can select your own HEX colors. Pretty sweet, heres the code:
<?php
$c1 = "#ffcc00";
$c2 = "#ffff99";
$c3 = "#cfeef6";
$c4 = "#b2ebc5";
$c5 = "#ffffff";
$c6 = "#d7ebff";
$c7 = "#dfceb9";
$c8 = "#b3ccc5";
$number = rand(1,8);
$bgcolour = ${"c$number"};
echo ("<BODY BGCOLOR=\"$bgcolour\">");
?>
Then if I could choose on which day I would fall
I pick late October when winds came to call.
I’d choose Sunday morning so bright and sunny, As sun through the leaves flowed golden as honey.
This was poem was writen by Sharon P. Pinnick. I know it’s a bit hard to tell what color this leaf is, but this poem best describes that Sunday I was out shooting. The sun was soon to set and it was a bit of an overcast, and here this lonely leaf lay on the pier.
What appeals to me most is that even the tone of colour of the leaf and wood is the same, there’s what appears to be a thick black line straight through the picture separating the two pices of wood, and here is this leaf in the middle. It’s simple but yet interesting how there’s an elemet of symetry on this photo.
It appears to be a calm photo that I would love to have printed and put in an IKEA frame to hang on my wall, just because it’s so simple and peaceful. It is dead but there are strong spiritual connections to pull from this leaf.
When the leaf is disconected from the tree it is going to die sooner or latter, but who can tell? It’s so lusciouslly green with oozing juice coming out of the stem, this leaf appears to be alive! But it’s not. It is no longer pulling rich nutrients and water from the tree. Even though it appears to be alive, it’s growth has now been eternally cut off and stunted. It’s unfortunately going to die.
The same for a Christian. When connected to Christ they are flourishing with righteousness. But once they have disconnected from Christ, who can tell? As the leaf maintained it’s greenery disconnected from the tree, so the one who is disconected from Christ. The hope with the Christian is that there is still opportunity to reconnect. The leaf is done. Unless a farmer grafts it in to some plant somewhere. Nature teaches so many lessons on life and spirituality. God intended it to be that way, that nature becomes the hands-on text book. A photographers play ground.
This photo was hard to catch. I saw the sunrise as I was driving to an appointment. And my fingers were antsy to take the photo, but there were trees, buildings, and signs blocking the view. It was on a lake as well so the image in real life was very compelling. The sun was so beautiful as it burst behind the clouds expressing it’s glory, I just knew I had to take this picture.
So I took a back road hoping to find some area that had a shore by the lake, as I was driving I realized I couldn’t park my car on the side of the road and then walk through the someone’s back yard, all the houses were actually on the lake shore. So I kept driving till I came to a private park that was fenced in. I went to the manager and got permission and he gave me access to the shore, and wow! It blew me away. No cars blocking the view, no houses in the way, nothing blocking the view, this was it.
I walked out on the pier and my heart just sank and I praised the Lord. I almost forgot about the picture. It was a spot meeter on the clouds so that the detail of the clouds could be seen, and 400 ISO to give it a little grain so it won’t look like it was taken with a digital SLR, smiles. But this scene amazed me to the utmost.
The ol’ faithful crossing guard. Although this picture was taken in the 21st century, it was taken in downtown Orlando. And if you have been to any downtown in a city it usually has the same buidings and elements there for over 60 years. But this photo has a lot of things that can appeal to different people. Some may see the highway in the background, some may see the railroad tracks disappearing in the distance, some may see the power lines, or the brick building on the right.
I’m not to sure how to apply the golden ratio to this one, but uh… I guess I could start with the crossing guard? Emotionally this photo seems warm. Something from the great depression, but yet strong with deep highlighting contrast. It was taken as I was driving so I didn’t really get to plan the shot and only had one chance to capture a story.
Depending on the time frame and the area one may grow up in, can strike a different tone in each person. To someone who grew up 50 years ago from 2009, there will be almost a silent appreciation. A trip back down memory lane playing on the railroad tracks with friends. My great grand father worked on a railroad, and they will respond very emotionally to a picture as this. But to me a young guy it responds to that desire in me to see history and learn of the post-American enviornment.
This photo tells a lot of stories. A cat enthusiast/lover may be able to appreciate it more so. I have always appealed to dogs but living around cats in Tennessee helped me to appreciate the beauty and uniqeness of cats.
In this photo there are three elements. The ligt from the sky, the cat and the wood. with the wood there is a bit of asymmetric tone, the perpendicular wood on the right and the wood on the floor. Even the shadow adds character from the right wood planks. The disappering perspective and tilt adds a lot of character, but can also complicate the simplicity and minimalistic tone. The contrast of the cat and the wood almost makes the cat pop out being black. If the cat was any lighter or a light tan it would be lost in the photo without a definite point of interest.
This picture also gives a feeling of calmness. Almost like looking at a lake with ducks floating around. I almost begin to feel like the cat, just lay down and relax for just a second. It gives a message of rest and relaxation. And I guess laziness too. But cats sure do make laziness look good! Shooting at a nice mid grain ISO gives it tone and age as in age of the photo. But I have a lot of cat pictures in my collection, this one just applead to me more.
This photo is gives a feeling of solemnity. Plus being in black and white almost any leaf would look dead since the vibrant tones and hues of green are unseen. But even though it is absent of colour I testifies of an enviornment that is easily imaginable. One can almost see the brown dirt, and imagine the colour of the leaf. But without colour there are less distractions to appreciate the elements in the photo.
The the tone of the photo is almost imperceptible. It could mean death, and also life. It could represent peace and then a casualtie. But to me it reveals a calm tone. The placement and wide focal length give this leaf enough open space to almost miss the leaf but know it’s there. Placing it in the top quadrant of the frame makes it lonely but focused. There are only two major elements in this photo, and that is the leaf and the ground. But yet many stories can be told depending on who’s looking at it and what time in there life there looking at it.
For photo specs, it was a spot meeter on the leaf.