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25 Reasons You Might Be A Hardcore Graphic Designer

1. You’ve almost rear-ended the car in front of you because you were analyzing a font on a billboard.

2. You get pissed when a free Photoshop brush you download is less than 1000px in size.

3. You’d rather study the paisley pattern on your boyfriend/girlfriend/spouses shirt than listen to what they have to say.

4. You can use keyboard shortcuts at light speed, blindfolded, but you can’t type a paragraph of text without staring at the keyboard.

5. You’ve had “Software Nightmares,” when you’ve been working way too much.

6. You consider meals interruptions.

7. You’ve learned your lesson and stopped using the word “final” in any file name when saving.

8. You clean your keyboard more often than you wash your car.

9. You’ve intentionally given up trying to explain your projects to non-designers. Furthermore, even trying to explain what you do to non-designers.

10. You see CMYK and RGB like Neo sees the Matrix.

11. You’d rather organize your desktop than your sock drawer.

12. You can point out what stock photo came from what site in any magazine or newspaper.

13. When you look at Album art all you see are grunge Photoshop Brushes. (Then you see the album art a couple minutes later)

14. You’ve Photoshopped out a watermark for a comp or mock-up.

15. You’ve actually paid for a font.

16. You’ve totally slaughtered a great design concept because the client thinks he/she knows best. (everyone thinks they are a designer)

17. The amount of words you’ve written with a sharpie labeling burned discs total more than the amount of words you’ve read in novels.

18. You’ve had to explain to a client that a layered file wasn’t part of the deal.

19. You’ve kept a ragged concert ticket just so you could scan it.

20. You’ve nicknamed the OSX spinning wheel. (and not affectionately)

21. You bookmark a resource more often than you have a fun night out on the town.

22. You’ve intentionally overbid a project because you can sniff out a bad client from a mile away.

23. You can’t go to a restaurant without secretly critiquing the menu design.

24. You have an amazingly huge font collection, and an amazingly short temper.

25. If you had a penny for every mouse click, you would have been a trillionaire 3 years ago.

(Thanks, Patrick)

"Where the hell have you been?"

Seems to be a common question lately. In a word: working my butt off. Ok...four words. And we just got back from a vacation to the Mexican Riveria. (Pictures to come next)

We've gotten several new clients since February. For a complete list go to www.credocreative.com and click on "about".

One thing I wasn't ready for was not getting paid right away. I'll spend four days on a project, but won't see the fruit of that for five or six weeks. THAT'S hard to get use to. The bank wants the mortgage payment the same time every month, but I don't always get paid the same time every month. So that's been difficult. Also, I had no idea that this was more "crisis management" rather than graphic design. It's pretty hectic when you've got six jobs all going on at once and due within days of each other. We live and die by "to-do lists".

*sigh* so much to talk about, but so little time. I'm paid by the hour so I better get going. I'll be back sooner.

Credo Creative | Open for Business

www.credocreative.com

my new favorite tool | colorblender.com

This is an AWESOME website if you're looking to create color samples. It's at www.colorblender.com Using the RGB sliders at the bottom you can create your own unique palette of color. Below the samples are the formulas for RGB and HTML colors. You can also vary the colors using the "honey comb" tabs to make it more green, or less cyan for subtle changes.

The possibilities are endless.

A New Journey

It's been a long time coming, and it's FINALLY here...Celtic Woman's A New Journey CD and DVD. Already at number one on the iTunes world music chart, their new CD includes all of the new music that was on their tour last year that no one could get a hold of...until now :)

It seems only fitting that it came out the day before my last day at The People's Church...a new journey. Hmm. How ironic. As one chapter ends, another begins...pardon the cliche. As happy as I have been to branch out on my own, there's a part of me that will really miss the people at TPC. This was really my first experience working in such a hardcore team-driven atmosphere. An experience I have learned from and won't forget.

Thank you Stephanie, Kari, Dustin, Mark, Chad for cheering me on. For teaching, mentoring, supporting, listening. It's you that I'll miss the most. To me, you are more than colleagues. You are friends. Until we meet again, may God hold you in the hollow of His hand. And may He never make a fist ;-)

Two Weeks Notice

Well, it's offically out: I'm leaving The People's Church. Effective January 31. Bitter-sweet.

What am I going to do now, you ask? Well...I can't say too much yet. But I will say that it's the age of the Free Agent and time to embrace independence.

*yikes!

gossip at the watering hole

Mark at work showed me this really cool webcam. It's overlooking a water hole in none other than SOUTH AFRICA! Complete with sounds and everything. Last night I was on and could see a lighting storm in the distance. The site tells the local time and temp. I haven't seen any animals yet, but I'm keeping one eye open.

Check it out if you have a chance.

apple-Z! apple-Z!

I can't believe this happened. Blogger sucks. I thought it'd be good to give utobia a face lift with a new look. Well...when I did that I lost ALL the changes that I had made to the previous template. That means links, blogs, the clustermap, the hit counter at the bottom. All gone. And there's no undo.

If you're one of the few that frequents this site, please leave a comment below with your linkage info and I'll build 'er back up. I am so sorry!

...it's coming

Imagine. A design shop that's high-quality, forward-thinking, and concept-driven. It's coming.

Carrying the Banner.

I'm sitting here watching Newsies for the first time in a long time, and man does it bring back memories. It came out in 1992. I was 10 and wanted to be Jack Kelly when I grew up. I had the soundtrack on cassette and wore it out. It was my dream to dance in the streets and do those cool side kicks in the air (of which I've since mastered). haha

I don't know what it is about it. Sitting here watching it just takes me back. And I remember every word to every song.

The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness in the Fair that Changed America

Wow! I just finished this AMAZING book by Erik Larson titled, "The Devil in the White City."

"Bringing Chicago circa 1893 to vivid life, Erik Larson's spellbinding bestseller intertwines the true tale of two men--the brilliant architect behind the legendary 1893 World's Fair, striving to secure America's place in the world; and the cunning serial killer who used the fair to lure his victims to their death. Combining meticulous research with nail-biting storytelling, Erik Larson has crafted a narrative with all the wonder of newly discovered history and the thrills of the best fiction."

I could write for days about this book and all that it intrests me, but I'll spare you. I'm not a big reader so when a book comes along that I rave about...then it HAS to be good. And it is.

blogging from the airport

So I've got some time to kill and I've already paid to use the wi-fi...here's how I'm spening my time:


How'd they do that?!


Rockn'roll!


I'm interested to know what makes this so viral. It's had over 8 million views on youtube, I mean...I get it, but it's not THAT witty or funny or unexpected. Maybe it's NOT viral. MAYbe it's just a fun and light-hearted commercial. But what's so tempting about putting foil and bowls from Chipotle on your wall? Do these two characters know each other? I guess I don't get the tag, "tempting" within the contecxt of the entire commercial. The music, too, make it a very distinctive feel...it's fun and quirky, but I don't feel it's quirky enough to pull it off well. What are your thoughts?


A throw-back to the 80s. As soon as you hear the song the words just come right back...now THAT'S effective advertising.


haha...this is good. Notice how simple it is...there's no music. No voice over. There's only two words and it's as plain as day. A good example of "Keep It Simple, Stupid."


hmmm...there seems to be a trend here. Again, no soundtrack and just a simple tag at the end. I thought the concept was a little predictable. I had a feeling she was going to wish something against her family...I just didn't know what. But I admit, it made me smile. Clever.

Borat makes Jackass looks like a children's movie.

I've been on the blogosphere looking for other's reviews of the film "Borat", but none of the blogs I frequent have done so. I'm assuming it's one of two reasons: 1.) they haven't seen the film, or 2.) they HAVE seen it and are too ashamed to post anything about it...Am I right?

Well as ashamed as I am to have seen it, I'm not ashamed to post about it.

We all went into the theater excited and ready for a good hearty laugh. The trailer looked pretty funny, but it only showed the innocent stuff...The premise of the movie was this: a man named Borat has been commissioned by his country of Kazakhstan to make a documentary (a movie-film) about the United States of America (the US&A). Being an experienced journalists over in Kazakhstan he's ready for the challenge and brings with him a camera crew and a rather heavy-set friend who is the films producer/assistant. By the end of the film, you've seen WAY too much of these guys.

Almost right from the beginning the vulgarity begins. He plays it off as a "cultural difference", but what comes out is just down-right wrong. He pushes the envelope at every turn and holds nothing back. No one is safe from being made fun of. The kicker is he gets other people to agree with him! There's one scene where he's at a rodeo and talks with an older man about gays and how they should be destroyed...and then there are the Jew jokes.

Only AFTER I saw the movie did I see the tiny type that read, "Rate R: Pervasive, Strong Crude & Sexual Content. Including Graphic (male) Nudity and Language." Hmmm, THAT would have been nice to know before I saw it.

So, the reason for this post: not to say you shouldn't see it...you can make your own decisions, but to make you more informed about just how crude this film was. Yes, it had its funny moments, but if it makes a group of guys blush and uncomfortable, then well...it was taken a little too far.

Where in the Country is Toby Sturgill??

So, I'm out of town...yet again, but I'm with the band this time. We've been asked to lead worship at a YWAM (Youth With A Mission) base in...MONTANA!

Yeah. Never been to Montana before. It's very cold. 29 degrees, BUT...it's a dry cold.

I haven't seen any of the scenery because I got in at mid-night and it's still dark at 7:30 mst. But I hear it's fantastic, but very cold.

There's a slight possibility that we'll be able to go skiing, but I doubt it because the slopes open AFTER Thanksgiving. But that would nice...

Welp, better get a move on. I'm starting to see the mountains outside

"Fun With Photo Booth" 4 of 4

4 of 4 in the series by Toby Sturgill titled, "Fun With Photo Booth". Medium: digital photography. Software: Photo Booth for Mac OS X, Mac Book Pro.

"Fun With Photo Booth" 3 of 4

3 of 4 in the series by Toby Sturgill titled, "Fun With Photo Booth". Medium: digital photography. Software: Photo Booth for Mac OS X, Mac Book Pro.

"Fun With Photo Booth" 2 of 4

2 of 4 in the series by Toby Sturgill titled, "Fun With Photo Booth". Medium: digital photography. Software: Photo Booth for Mac OS X, Mac Book Pro.

"Fun With Photo Booth" 1 of 4

1 of 4 in the series by Toby Sturgill titled, "Fun With Photo Booth". Medium: digital photography. Software: Photo Booth for Mac OS X, Mac Book Pro.

when your dad is a graphic designer...

now, now...this in not MY child, but I'm not above doing this...
The orginal photo:


The rest are the product of having too much time on his hands: