Obama

“I believe that America's free market has been the engine of America's great progress. It's created a prosperity that is the envy of the world. It's led to a standard of living unmatched in history. And it has provided great rewards to the innovators and risk-takers who have made America a beacon for science, and technology, and discovery…We are all in this together. From CEOs to shareholders, from financiers to factory workers, we all have a stake in each other's success because the more Americans prosper, the more America prospers.”
— Barack Obama, New York, NY, September 17, 2007

I am so excited about this election. Being a part of the current generation and trying to break through vocationally has been a struggle. Every American has their own trials in our current economy. Whether it be trying to maintain a current lifestyle, attempting to create a life or losing everything all together; we are all suffering together. Something needs to give. I was raised to believe that I could accomplish anything if I worked hard enough. My parents never put restraints on me, they supported whatever I wanted to do. When I wanted to take piano lessons they bought me a piano, when I played in a band they put up with hearing drums in their basement, when I worked on my art they dealt with the mess. Now a mother, I instill those same ideals into my son. I want him to pursue anything he finds an interest in. I will never tell him that after working hard through college he will have to settle for whatever job he can get. That is not the America I love. If someone has the skills and the drive, they should be able to get to that place where they can benefit the community and themselves the best they can. I refuse to lose hope and I am thoroughly excited to be a part of the up and coming era of change.

Illustration vs Graphic Design

There was a time when students went to school for either Illustration or Graphic Design. Illustration is "a visualization such as a drawing, painting, photograph or other work of art that stresses subject more than form" (wikipedia). Graphic Design "can refer to a number of artistic and professional disciplines which focus on visual communication and presentation. Various methods are used to create and combine symbols, images and/or words to create a visual representation of ideas and messages. A graphic designer may utilize typography, visual arts and page layout techniques in varying degrees to produce the final result of the project" (wikipedia).

So what is the difference? Well, generally Illustrators do not perform Graphic Design and Graphic Designers do not create Illustrations. That statement is beginning to faulter, however. Everything and everyone is becoming global. Designers and Illustrators must function across all platforms, although the two are very different. Illustrators create visual depictions of concepts. Whether it be via cartoons, actual drawings, digital renditions - Illustrators construct the beautiful eyecandy that goes into the layout.

The Graphic Designer is the collage artist, in layman's terms. He/she gathers the illustrations, photos, type, copy, paper, color and all other odds and ends that come together to create an entire communcative piece. The Graphic Designer finds a way to juggle all the elements effectively to ultimatley deliver the end result - the message.

Design at its Best

I stumbled upon Phire Branding while researching design in my area. There is not a day where I am not researching design and absorbing all I can. By saying that I research on a daily basis, when I take the time to focus in on a particular designer or firm, it certainly means that I have found something valuable. Phire Branding's web-site makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. It is so intuitive, as I feel completely in tuned while it displays its contents. It moves from left to right, from top to bottom, supporting my natural instinct to absorb information.

Phire Branding is Flash at its best. Their usage of the program is exactly why I am learning it. The site is so organic and seems to have a life all its own. With every click there is something new and compelling, while maintaining the consistency that is so essential in design. This site is fantastic, so much so that it must be shared. Here is an article about the firm if you would like to know a little more about them.

Time for Flash

I have been struggling to catch up with the web world lately. I made it my goal to learn Dreamweaver, but all along I kept hearing that I really needed to know HTML and CSS. I wanted to learn correctly, and work correctly, so I strove to learn. I have been dabbling with code even though the designer in me wants to just work away in Dreamweaver, referring to the code only when there is trouble. Even though I thought I had come so far, I kept feeling as if I was still behind because I had not learned Flash.

Well, this is going to change. I finished my last Dreamweaver/CSS course and now I looking to Lynda.com for lessons in Flash. As of right now I am learning the drawing tools, which are already really cool. Flash is like Illustrator with some extra gadgets. Not to mention the way Lynda offers the information is extremely effective. The courses are ideal for a designer since they are all video, therefore visual. So here I go..