I have no excuses. I should be incorporating blog posts in my week just like I incorporate Tweeting. So I am going to give it a real effort. There have been a lot of resources and other things going on that I want to share with the community and my students.

The abundance of requests for Wallpaper Wednesday’s return has sparked this desire to post more. There has also been a lot of progress on the projects being worked on through IndyHall Labs and it is about time we got some more word out there to the masses.

I am really hoping I can get at least a post here a week in Wallpaper Wednesday. So keep hounding me folks. I hear the squeaky wheel and I am trying to fix it.

So instead of going back out and making sweet love to a few pints of Guinness, I decided to take a little stroll in the Vector Park!

The site is a creative use of various Flash animations and algorithms that create an artistic world of interaction. There are three sections of the park each with its own interactive environments, and quips. The second section kept me occupied for at least 45 minutes!

Although it seems like some of the interactions are over, there is much more to them, so do not be so quick to move on if one of them seems boring.

This one is definitely in the bookmarks and may just become one of my regular walks in the Park!

Vincent:
I’m sorry, but is that Jackie Basgil in that picture with you?

VitaminC29:
Sure is…how do you know Jackie?

Vincent:
We actually went to high school together. I haven’t seen her in quite sometime, but I hear she’s married now.

VitaminC29:
Not yet but close. The wedding is this summer. Who should I say asked about her?

Vincent:
My apologies, my name is Vincent Bilotta III (actually, I was kidding about the III part, it just sounds pretty funny) So yeah, if you can pass along my regards that would be great. I’m sorry for making you a liaison, it was not my intention.

Thanks!

Vincent

P.S. Li-ai-son (noun)
1. a channel for communication between groups.

That was on my word of the day calender 3/13/07, good stuff!

I had not been using the site as a daily part of my routine, this seemed pretty lame considering the amount I write and my abundant use of the internet. I have spent many hours on other designer’s sites and blog’s searching for the reasons why I was not doing the very same thing. The solution was simple, just put my head down and get it done.

Since the first of the year I have been working to get this off the ground. Finally I have the project at a point where I feel confident in the outcome. I have updated with the help of the new version of WordPress, and will be further implementing different functionality in the upcoming weeks to improve the usage of my site as a communication and development tool for my work as a designer.

I hope you enjoy the redesign and would love to see some of you back here again!

For those of you not in the industry this will sound like the rantings of a snotty, high on his horse designer. Most of my fellow designers will agree with me, although I know there are still Quark purists out there that will most certainly take their digs. If you are not in the industry and want to learn more about the battle between Quark and InDesign check out this website for the complete history.

We all know that Quark was the “go to” application for print layout and production for years. It was not until Adobe created InDesign that we graphic designers finally had a choice of professional layout software. This designer was so happy on that day.

Now granted, the agency I was working at did not have the most updated version of Quark but they refused to make the switch to InDesign (although they have it); do to most of their past work being laid out in Quark. That being said I think I was working in Quark 6.1. Now the layout I was doing was by all means simple; 4 images on a gradient background with some type being used as descriptors. The output for these lovely’s was to be 31” by 48” no problem right? Wrong!

Because Quark will not let you make a document larger that 48” it is almost impossible to make a bleed on the output because that would mean you would need at least 49 inches to give a ½ inch bleed. Okay, no problem, just scale everything down a bit and tell the print house to scale it up during output. Next problem.

In order to make these images stand out I wanted to give them simple drop shadows. Oh, wait, Quark cannot do that, not this version. If I used a downloaded XTension for Quark that created drop shadows it would either create 10% black boxes behind my objects, reminiscent of MS Publisher of old, or create Gaussian images that only had one background color which was white. Sorry folks that will not work, because if you have been paying attention, I needed a gradient background. Solution to this problem: copy and paste all the image boxes to another page, line them up and fill them all black, save the page as an EPS and then import that EPS into a large resolution Photoshop file; remember this is 48 inches wide. Once in Photoshop get rid of all the white area, create a background layer with a gradient of your favorite PMS colors, select your black boxes layer and apply a drop shadow and set the fill for that layer to 0%. Save it all as a TIF and place in Quark scaling it up to the size you need and lining the drop shadow areas up with your image boxes. Whew! If you are still reading you are probably saying “What the hell?”

Now, as I understand it Quark 7.0 allows for transparencies and drop shadows. Wow Quark, it only took you 21 years to bring the most overused, basic graphic design, special effect there has ever been into your software. InDesign has been the contemporary of Quark since 1999 and although the first version was not the most desirable, it still allowed you to make simple drop shadows!

Lets move on to more annoying features that make using Quark a pain in the ass. I think we will start with usability. In Quark you can layout type very easily, but once you want to edit that type you cannot just double click the bounding box it is contained in. Oh no, you have to go over to the tool bar select the Type Edit tool, bring your cursor back to the box and THEN you can edit your type. Double clicking any box in Quark brings up the Modify Object dialog box. This is one of the most annoying things in the program, I am not going to get into it but if you have used the software you may know what I am talking about.

Another usability drawback is the Pan tool which is not the same hot key as it is in Illustrator or Photoshop, nope it is something totally different. There is nothing like jumping back and forth from app to app confused about which shortcut keys to use.

Next let’s go to Applying Style Sheets. In InDesign all I have to do to apply a style sheet to any text object is select the object and click on which style sheet I want in the Style Sheet Palette. In Quark I have to marquee or select all the text in that box and then choose my style sheet. Not to mention that I have to be using the Text/Item Selection tool. Oh, did I also mention that if I want to change the style sheet I cannot just double click on the style sheet name in the palette, nope I have to go to Edit > Style Sheets and then select which style sheet I want.

More problems: No drag and drop from other programs like Photoshop and Illustrator, hard to use color palette, poor Layer handling, unforgiving Bezier tool, pain in the ass type editing and font selection and most of all shitty UI. Do you want me to go on?

Look this is a rant by a frustrated designer who is also a hardcore computer user and developer. Tools are supposed to be efficient, and evolve to suit the best user environment they possibly can. Quark just has refused to do this with QuarkXpress in a way that I, and I stress that I, meaning ME, MYSELF, finds efficient.

Quark I never liked you, I had to use you because you were the only thing around for years. When your enemy InDesign came waving its flag of seamless Adobe product features, usability, and over all efficiency; I checked it out and found that it did everything I wished you did, and so much more. Now my workflow is quicker and less frustrating and has been since I put you second on my list back in 99. I will still use you sometimes to appease those who want me to; but until you start coming out with some real evolution to your layout capabilities, my shit is InDesign!

Disclaimer: This was written as a complaint to no one in particular about my dislike for a tool reluctantly in my arsenal. Since I have not used the newest release of QuarkXpress my views are a bit biased. Also since I am not a regular user of Quark I am not familiar with all of its shortcuts, hotkeys and secrets. That being said if you read this and want to educate me on some of these issues by all means do so. I am not a stubborn designer; I like to work with tools that work best with me. If you can show me that Quark CAN work with me better I am all ears!

Wawa is a local staple and a popular one at that. G Love sings its praises in the song “I Like Cold Beverages” with the lyric “Wawa’s to the right, they got beverage inside!” Damn right G, a whole lot of beverages including coffee.

Anyway, Wawa is a daily stop during my morning, I walk up from my studio and grab myself one of their 24oz coffees at least twice a day. So the other morning as I was strolling the counter of coffee pots, which are brewed fresh all day, I noticed a pot a little different. It had flowers on it and the label said “Kona”. I stopped and stared in excitement. Could it be true, the marriage of my favorite convenient store and my favorite coffee?

Yes true believers Wawa, had taken a step in the direction of ultimate greatness, and were serving Hawaii’s finest coffee. You have no idea how much this improved my mornings and quite actually my day! I grabbed a 24oz cup and poured myself a tall one. I usually go 3/4 of the way up and top it off with some cream. 6 sugars and I am that much closer to heaven… I mean damn! The first sip brought on feelings of such fulfillment that I literally stood there for a moment, engulfed in bliss, until a woman tapped me on the shoulder and asked if I was in line for the check-out. I looked at her with wide eyed amazement, as if I just awoke from a dream. I know for sure that I said something reminiscent of Will Farrell in “Old Skool” like, “Ohh, when it hits your lips….” She scurried off; quickly realizing she had interrupted a man with a passion.

That’s right lady, run and get yourself one. Only then will you see what I mean.

This is not the easiest task especially for a creative. I adjusted my resume, and began work on a cover letter which frankly, is a very difficult item to write.

So as I went to all of the job related sites, Monster, CareerBuilder, HotJobs, etc. I could not help but wonder how the Creative Job portals were for finding work. The last time I really went looking for a job was years ago, and there was not very much in terms of portals for creatives.

My investigation lead me to a few sites I had used before, the first was Talent Zoo. Mostly an advertising and marketing job portal, that before, only had listings and the small availability to post your resume. Now, Talent Zoo offers the ability to create a profile, post a detailed resume, and even place a small number of samples on their system so that potential clients can review your work. Quite a step in the right direction if you ask me.

The next site was The Creative Group, pretty much one of the countries largest creative staffing agencies. Their website allows you to upload your resume and an almost limitless amount of samples for potential clients to view. I did find their site a bit buggy, although I do suggest you check them out if you are looking for work.

After the going through these agency recruiting portals, I went looking for a more centralized Creative community to promote jobs, and gain some networking opportunities. That search lead me to Coroflot.com.

Coroflot.com has to be one of the best creative networking and job portals on the web. The site itself just screams design. The best part, is that after quickly creating a profile which included the ability to add your own website link; you have the option of uploading an unlimited amount of samples. You can break your samples out into groups like Logo Design, Illustration, Product Design, etc. You get to create the categories and organize your work so that it is easier for viewers to see what you got! You can take a gander at my Coroflot profile here

The networking feature that Coroflot offers is pretty much like creating friends on MySpace. When you choose to network with someone, their profile gets listed under yours allowing them more exposure through you, and you through them. It is truly one of the best creative communities on the web and that is such a relief. Coroflot worked so well for me that after 2 days of having my profile live; I got a call from a major sporting brand asking me if I would like a position with their company. How is that for decent exposure?

For the most part the search is going well. Some interviews have stemmed from the vast scowering I have been doing; in addition I am getting some positive feed back on my work and site. I do not know where I will end up after all of this; I could possibly still be freelancing. As long as I keep working, stay fresh and live happy, success will always be with me.