So, it’s Labor Day. A day where the fine people of America take a day off to… well, the fine people of America take a day off. I’m not sure exactly why. I’m sure I could Google it or something, but whats the fun in that? Anyway, the reason I mention it is because I’m taking more than a day off… I got laid off from my job on Thursday morning. In fact, the whole office did. The worst part is, most of us saw the writing on the wall, and there was an incident that night when I went into work that basically set off my alarm. I should have listened to my gut instinct, but I didn’t. I knew this was coming, but I chose to ignore it. So, now, I’m on unemployment, and I need to toss a portfolio together so I can try and kick start my career in graphic arts. This should be interesting. I’ve promised to have my portfolio completed by November 1st. I need to sketch, then design, then print, and then mount the thing. I also need to get current with certain things. I’m thinking about putting myself out there as a freelancer on craigslist for a while, just to see what kind of offers I get. It could get interesting. Anyway, I’m still at ISU with Lisa until 8:30 tonight, so I’ll see everyone when I get back around 11pm or so.
Looking for Work
September 7th, 2009Disappearing Acts
August 24th, 2009I have been known to pull the occasional disappearing act. Every once in a while, I just fall off the face of the earth and keep to myself. To be honest, it’s not like me. At my base, I am a social creature. I truly, honestly enjoy the company of those people I call my friends (and even my relatives). However, sometimes, you just need to be left to your own devices to get some shit done.
This is one of those times. Sort of.
With the exception of a select handful (give or take) of people, I will be disappearing for a while. I’ll still be online, of course, updating this blog, so all of you fantastic people know that I’m still alive. I got a chance to do some thinking this weekend, and I really want to work towards different career goals. I’ve reset my sites on being a designer. I’m not sure if I’m ready to take on the highly competitive world of graphic arts, but dammit, I’m sure as hell ready to make an attempt. I’m going to seclude myself and begin working on cramming my portfolio full of pieces that are worthy of trying to find a job. I will be coming to some of you for inspiration, and to run certain pieces by you (you should know who you are–if you don’t, you will soon). I’ll be keeping my weekends as open as possible so that I can still retain some of my social life, but I make no guarantees as to what my availability will be, from a social standpoint, during the week.
To be honest, this is really phase 2 of this website. I’ve been updating semi-regularly (daily would be ridiculous; I just don’t have the creative mind to write something new everyday, and I hate filler). I’ll be posting sketches of my work as it comes along, and finished projects as they come about. I want input. I want criticism. I want to use this whole blog thing to my advantage, and get some critique on my work. I guess that means its time to advertise this damn thing and to really put my money where my mouth is concerning my art. I have to stop fucking around at some point, don’t I? In the words of Zack de la Rocha, “What better place than here, what better time than now?”
The Guild: Date My Avatar
August 19th, 2009Just woke up and got linked a really awesome video, done by The Guild. Check it out, it’s called “Do You Wanna Date My Avatar”
How Awesome is Brütal Legend Going to be?
August 19th, 2009Let me answer that for you: totally fucking awesome. Don’t even try to argue it. Every little piece of info that gets leaked about this game just gets me more and more excited for its release on October 15th. Let’s list the facts, shall we?
- It’s made by Tim Schafer, the mad genius behind Psychonauts
- Jack Black is voicing the main character.
- It has a better soundtrack than all of the Guitar Hero games.
- The multiplayer is going to be RTS style
- It looks gorgeous:
You can almost hear Halford wailing...
Oh, and in case static pictures don’t cut it, here’s some video via GameTrailers:
Ok, I’ll be honest, I had no ideas for a post today and really wanted to nerd out about Brütal Legend. I even learned the alt code for the ü (its alt+0252).
So metal.
Keeping up the Flow
August 18th, 2009So, I think I’m beginning to step out of my creative slump a little more. I’ve been picking up my guitar and really fleshing out some riffs, and recording some of the more solid ones. A lot of it has been really heavy, and I’ve been trying to lay some lead parts on top of it. Some of it has been re-imaginings of past riffs. I really think I need to work with a metronome a bit more, especially while recording; it just makes multitracking easier. I should probably look into some better recording software, too. I’ve been using Audacity, and it’s great for simple shit, but I want to be able to put together a song, including some simple drums. I’ll be practicing with my band, Floorbound, on Thursday, which will hopefully be fun. Me and Centoni will finally be able to rock the fuck out with our drummer, Cook, also know as the Santa Claus of Beats (because his drumming is a fucking gift). Hopefully we’ll be able to lay some drums on to the 2 tracks we have fleshed out.
I’ve also been busting out Photoshop a bit more and doing some work in there, just to keep myself sharp with it. I stumble on this tutorail and decided to do my own version:
I mean, really, what else do you say about your favorite whiskey?
I also designed a background for my Twitter page (you should request to follow me, if you’re intersted) that I’m quite proud of:
Tweeting in style.
I’m pretty sure this is the most design-esque work I’ve done in a while, which, frankly, is just sad. I really need to put my portfolio back together. I should probably research what my graphic arts portfolio should have in it… maybe, you know, actually get rolling on it instead of just talking about it constantly. Especially now I need to get my ass rolling on it. Can’t really talk about why, but as it stands, I’m not sure how stable my job is currently. Which is no fault of my own, but a scary prospect in any case. Once I get a portfolio back together, I can shop around for a design job/freelance jobs, which will further my goal of getting a new car before Christmas. I’m getting rather tired of having to beg for rides and rely on my parents for vehicular transportation. Nothing says lame like picking up your girlfriend in mom’s minivan when you’re 23 >.<
I guess I’ll end on a good note: the website I’ve been so secretly hinting at should be getting off the ground this week, content-wise. I’ll be posting here when it is.
[Insert Title Here]
August 12th, 2009So, here I sit at work, repeating the same mindless task I was working on last night. Only this time, the phones were quiet, the chats were empty, and I actually made some decent progress on said task. Yesterday, before I left work, I learned something new with Wordpress. If you use suPHP on your server to handle PHP5, you don’t have to deal with the hassle of entering in your FTP login details everytime you want to update your Wordpress install or one of your plugins. So I learned how to recompile Apache to include the suPHP module, and now all my Wordpress installs are working nice and smooth. I’ll have to take advantage of this later when I install a bunch of new plugins on an unspecified new site that I’m rather excited about.
I’m really excited about the new site I’m working on. I just have to get the people that are assisting me with content to get me the content. Got a Twitter account set up for it and everything. It’s got the potential to be huge, if I can keep a steady stream of content coming to it. Well, I’m keeping my hopes high for it at the moment. I’ll post more later. Unfortunately, duty calls, and I need to get back to work.
Monotony in the Modern Workplace
August 11th, 2009Sounds like it could be an album title or something, right? Sadly enough, it’s currently what I’m doing. Repetitive task garbage that, while making the time fly tonight, is going to drive me batshit by morning. Luckily, I have something to look forward to as I just got an e-mail from the Woot! order tracking bot telling me my shirt from http://shirt.woot.com is on it’s way. I’ve been ordering tons of shit off http://woot.com lately. I hope I have some spending money when the next woot-off rolls around…
Anyway, I got distracted there. I think monotony is going to be the real killer for me in the long run for my job. It’s a good place to work at, don’t get me wrong. The people I work with are very cool, the pay is good, and dealing with customers has become a second nature for me. However, not having something new to do is what I think has caused my stagnation in the first place. I worked in video game retail on and off for about 5 years. I was really excited every time I came back to it, but that excitement never lasted. The same thing occurred with my current job. I was really excited about everything, but after a few months, things have become stagnant. I need a change of pace. I need to stir things up. I need to make a steady income doing something different every day. I still think my best bet is to build up my portfolio once again and put myself out there as a designer. There is a lot of work that goes into that, however. Getting a portfolio together is a huge pain in the ass. However, I do have quite a bit of time coming up, with my girlfriend going back to school soon. I should probably take advantage of that time and get a portfolio back together. I could very easily offer my services to people; business card design, logo design, quick and simple Wordpress themes. Speaking of which, I need to get this one fully functioning, seeing as how it’s actually being used again. Gonna file that under “shit that needs to get done”.
So what else is there to say? I need to bug a couple of people about a project that I want to get off the ground. I need to keep this up (2 days in a row; I’m quite proud of myself here). Well, I should probably return to the monotony. Somebody has to get all this done, and seeing as how I’m the only one on this shift, it should probably be me, huh?
Beginning a Ritual
August 10th, 2009I don’t know how many times I’ve started a blog and promised to update it a certain amount. No more of that. Today begins a ritual.
I’ve been thinking a lot about my life lately and what I want to do with it. I have a plan; some of you know it, some of you don’t. I’ll spare you the details. Suffice it to say that I plan to incorporate my 3 passions: art, music, and design into a career. I want to get to a point in my life where I am utilizing my skills in these areas to make a living. This probably comes across as some sort of pipe dream, but I really don’t think I’ll ever be happy in a normal office job. I’ve found myself in a bit of a creative slump, and I’m slowly dragging my way out of it, starting here.
I hope that by writing a little something here every day, I will be able to get my mind working and work on some new projects. I want to get the ball rolling on a few different things. If I get my ideas out of my head as words on the screen, then maybe, just maybe, I’ll be able to steamroll that into something else. If I can keep up with this ritual of posting at least a little something everyday, I will begin to add things in, like a weekly sketch blog, and post previews of new designs and sites that I’m working on. I’ve always been scared to share my art with the world, but I’m going to need to change that if I want to do what I want and be happy with my life.
So, feel free to subscribe, or whatever you do with one of these blog-a-ma-jiggers. I’ll be posting again tomorrow with more details on things that I am working on.
