Tall Tales & Falsehoods

Periodically I am asked to do lectures or training sessions for higher education faculty members. The topics in which I normally speak on are a wide array of technology based learning objectives on how to connect with students while making teaching a bit more fun.

Tomorrow I will present on a variety of topics all centered around BYOD (Bring your own device). In today’s learning ethos it is common for a student to forget his/her textbook, but will always have his/her lifeline to the outside world (ie. their phone). So if students tend to always have their phone, tablet, laptop or any mobile device handy why not tap into that?

The Learning Curve, not to be confused with The Crying Game

• Getting teachers up to speed
• An app for this, but not that

Text to connect

• www.socrative.com

To be or not to be {social}, that is the question

• Facebook/Twitter/Google+

The power of one, plus many

• Khan Academy: Mobile App, iTunes U Lectures
• TedTalks: Mobile App, Website
• YouTube For Education
• iTunes U

I would love to hear your thoughts and suggestions on how and why you engage your students in the fashion that you do.

Searching for a bit of inspiration? Want to showcase your latest artwork? Trying to find a connection in the art world? The Creative Finder might be the perfect fit for you.

A global search engine for creatives. We connect talent to opportunities, whether it is for collaboration, networking or business.

This is a great place to stop by and see what others are up to and might just spark a new design of your own. The Creative Finder

One of the coolest features is the Past 24hrs of Creativity. It’s basically the past 24 hours of creative content at the The Creative Finder. Gives you a simple overview of it all.

In a piece that is said to be written by British lowbrow street artist Bansky, comments on the role advertising has on society and what role we have as consumers on advertising. While I can see the hypocrisy in Bansky’s words, I still, as both an advertiser and consumer, see value.

“People are taking the piss out of you everyday. They butt into your life, take a cheap shot at you and then disappear. They leer at you from tall buildings and make you feel small. They make flippant comments from buses that imply you’re not sexy enough and that all the fun is happening somewhere else. They are on TV making your girlfriend feel inadequate. They have access to the most sophisticated technology the world has ever seen and they bully you with it. They are ‘The Advertisers’ and they are laughing at you.

You, however, are forbidden to touch them. Trademarks, intellectual property rights and copyright law mean advertisers can say what they like wherever they like with total impunity.

Fuck that. Any advert in a public space that gives you no choice whether you see it or not is yours. It’s yours to take, re-arrange and re-use. You can do whatever you like with it. Asking for permission is like asking to keep a rock someone just threw at your head.

You owe the companies nothing. Less than nothing, you especially don’t owe them any courtesy. They owe you. They have re-arranged the world to put themselves in front of you. They never asked for your permission, don’t even start asking for theirs.”

 

For the longest time I have been contemplating a blog post of what and how I think about photography/photographers. I am very critical about the subject that its hard to hold in my distaste when somebody tell me they are one. However the reason why I haven’t written about it was due to the fact that I couldn’t figure out how to be critical without damaging. I have many students who read this and I don’t want to smash dreams with the punch of keyboard. So instead of me doing it I came across this good article by a photographer that helps put the world of photography into perspective for new budding wannabes.

Its a positive spin on how to become better at what you do. While it is not the post that I feel I want to write, it is a good start to get “photographers” asking the right questions.

Photographers: Chances Are, You Suck

Fotoshop by Adobé from Jesse Rosten on Vimeo.

As a designer I have many opportunities to work on various magazine publications. Each one has thought me something new when it comes to the magazine publishing world.

It has been a little while since I had the chance to work on a new magazine product so I took the downtime to look into how the publishing world has changed.

As an owner of Apple’s iPad 2 I have been accustomed to some of the new user interface elements that are pushing the boundaries of the magazine industry. Pinch, swipe and zooming are all second nature to me so I was thrilled to see how it might be applied to a new hobby magazine of mine BIKE. The downloading experience was seamless and uneventful. BIKE magazine uses a service called PixelMag to do its subscriptions as well as what I can tell it’s overall digital experience. Having an account with PixelMag lets you download your subscriptions on multiple devices regardless of the operating system. My iPhone, iPad and (in the near future) my Motorola Zoom all have access to all the publications bought through PixelMag.

The nature of the publications leans itself to having a better experience using the iPad. Launching the current issue I have instant access to all of the publications content as well as a whole lot more. A quick flip through the pages makes me remember the whole crazy for the Flash stylized Page-Flip feature on publications I have worked on in the past. I was never satisfied with this option because I thought it could have done so much more. Based on my knowledge of the power that could be contained within a PDF, I always thought that Page-Flip was lackluster and very cumbersome. I spent more time trying out how to configure and optimize the Page-Flip side than I ever did with the design of the magazine itself. However with BIKE’s current issue the magazine in digital form has a whole new feel, something that is unique and fitting to the nature of the iPad.

I know this is a direct result of working with Apple’s SDK and building apps naively. While my coding skills are quite up to snuff in this arena I do believe third party companies such as PixelMag take a lot of the guess work out of it. Jumping from one section to the next, looking a full frame full resolution photos and the ability to search for key words gives the digital platform some very notable key points. I do, however believe that digital magazines greatest selling feature is a direct result of a need for both content and advertisers. The use of video within the BIKE publication make it well worth the price of admission. Advertisers can literally take their ads right off the page and showcase their products in action. Stories become alive with video interviews and a more in depth perspective can be had with outtakes and bonus features. Advertisers can also tap into impulse buying habits by providing a link directly to their online shopping cart, making the ability to view products in real time and purchase them without hassle.

While I enjoy all of these bonus features with a digital magazine there is one core thing that I am not hooked on, READING it. The articles themselves are not easy to digest with all of the extras going on. The layout of the magazine is superb, but having to pinch and zoom my way in to get the text legible makes the act of reading hard. I can immediately think of ways of making this better (such as a Reader mode) but I have to think of my interactions with a print publications before I can slam it.

Magazines are not like books. They are bite size chunks of information that is meant to be taken in over multiple readings. Looking at articles on individual basis (no matter digital or print) I see how I interact with a print publication is much in the same way I do with the digital version. Short controlled readings, is one way in which I describe my paper based reading habits. I think the digital version is much in this same manor. When I look at reading a digital magazine in this light I see that it can a the very least be tolerable if not enjoyable.

As I continue with both design and technology I can see a good marriage of my services into the digital magazine realm. I look forward to the future in which I can work on a project such as this especially if I can work on a publication that combines in yet one of my other hobbies.

You have all heard the quote before, but have you ever taken the time to really examine exactly what it means? I for one have not until I read the following post. It was a great eye opener and one worth sharing to my students.

Good artists copy, great artists steal

This Friday (Oct. 28, 2011) from 9-12 there will be a free social media workshop. The idea is to introduce those of you who are not familiar with social media strategies to some of the best practices associated with businesses. Learn how to interact with your customers through an online world. Laptops are encouraged as this is a hands on demo of practices. Sponsored by TheDigitel Myrtle Beach along with HGTC’s Digital Arts department, the intro to social media will be given by Dorien Morin-van Dam from More in Media. A talk on Creative Commons and Flicker will be had, concentrating on tapping into social media as a news source. It’s free and open to the public.

Read TheDigitel’s post here.  

I am a big fan of design. I follow it, interact with it and share it. Recently I have become a big fan of FAB.com The are curators of really cool designed products of the web. One item in particular whose sale is ending soon is Helvetica based playing cards. Beautifully designed and flows along with the type movements that we talk about in class.

Ideas like Fab.com coupled along with a streamline ordering process completely change our buying habits. Impulse buys are now at our fingertips with products that we can truly appreciate.

Take a closer look…