I’ve been trying to keep busy, but not much has been going on lately. I have a few outstanding projects that are very slow on providing feedback. In my spare time, I’ve been reading a huge Dreamweaver CS4 book I bought. I’m about a quarter of the way though and have been learning a few interesting things. I’m finding that it isn’t a complete hassle to use all the Dreamweaver dialog boxes and menus to design a page visually, so I’ll plan on using them more in the future. I also tried my first Spry menu. I like that feature and could see myself utilizing it in the future, even though the styles for it are a pain to edit.
I also ordered business cards on my quest to re-brand myself. I received the email that they shipped yesterday, so hopefully I’ll see those soon. I tried a double sided matte UV finish. For the price, I figured it was worth a shot. Hopefully they turn out nice. I tried to keep the design simple so I won’t get sick of them too fast and can use them for quite awhile.
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Friday, April 30, 2010
Flash vs HTML/CSS
There’s a war going on it seems between Apple and Adobe over web standards. I personally can see advantages to using both technologies, however I’m seeing a need to teach myself HTML5 and CSS3 and partially ditching Flash for many projects.
I become very frustrated when coding Flash. I was updating my portfolio site the other day and kept getting errors. Granted, the error messages are much better using Actionscript 3 than they were with 2, but it’s still frustrating. The really frustrating issue was that my project returned no errors when published in Flash Player 9, but kept getting errors when published to Flash Player 10. After many hours of trying to figure it out I gave up and just published to 9. I researched and understand the error I was getting, but it didn’t make sense in the situation I was in. Just annyoing.
I like that Flash is cross-platform and displays consistently in all web browsers. I value being able to use any font I want and not just Arial or Helvetica. I do think it’s a better user experience to download all of the information on the front end and browse freely, rather than having to load a new page with every link, like a HTML page does. However, the benefits are ending there for me.
I’m all about new software and technologies, but Adobe’s release cycle is getting to be a bit much for me. With how much they charge it seems almost criminal to come out with a new version every 18 months and expect everyone to upgrade. It would be more justifiable if they were major upgrades at least. It seems to me, rather than making as many improvements as they can at once, they opt to stagger them out between versions to have reasons to keep their release cycle. Seriously, are you telling me they didn’t think being able to adjust the opacity of multiple layers at the same time in Photoshop (CS5 new feature) wouldn’t have been helpful 5 versions ago?
I’m thinking I’d rather not be as tied down to upgrading my software as often and use an open technology to start building my webpages. Hard-coding pages isn’t the most fun activity in the world, but at least all I need is a text editor to do so. It also seems like the standards change less-frequently than do versions of Flash Player. Pages I build will be more accessible to more people, so why not?
I become very frustrated when coding Flash. I was updating my portfolio site the other day and kept getting errors. Granted, the error messages are much better using Actionscript 3 than they were with 2, but it’s still frustrating. The really frustrating issue was that my project returned no errors when published in Flash Player 9, but kept getting errors when published to Flash Player 10. After many hours of trying to figure it out I gave up and just published to 9. I researched and understand the error I was getting, but it didn’t make sense in the situation I was in. Just annyoing.
I like that Flash is cross-platform and displays consistently in all web browsers. I value being able to use any font I want and not just Arial or Helvetica. I do think it’s a better user experience to download all of the information on the front end and browse freely, rather than having to load a new page with every link, like a HTML page does. However, the benefits are ending there for me.
I’m all about new software and technologies, but Adobe’s release cycle is getting to be a bit much for me. With how much they charge it seems almost criminal to come out with a new version every 18 months and expect everyone to upgrade. It would be more justifiable if they were major upgrades at least. It seems to me, rather than making as many improvements as they can at once, they opt to stagger them out between versions to have reasons to keep their release cycle. Seriously, are you telling me they didn’t think being able to adjust the opacity of multiple layers at the same time in Photoshop (CS5 new feature) wouldn’t have been helpful 5 versions ago?
I’m thinking I’d rather not be as tied down to upgrading my software as often and use an open technology to start building my webpages. Hard-coding pages isn’t the most fun activity in the world, but at least all I need is a text editor to do so. It also seems like the standards change less-frequently than do versions of Flash Player. Pages I build will be more accessible to more people, so why not?
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
A Turning Point
I’ve been reflecting on my career plenty lately. I’ve come to one conclusion. I need to make changes and make them soon. I’ve been working professionally since 2004 and now have reached a point where I feel stuck. I’m in a junior role, which relegates me to mostly production-type work, with an occasional chance to show an ounce or two of creativity once a month, if that. I’m feeling more and more each day that I need to move forward now. The longer I wait to make a name for myself, the more likely it seems I’ll be doomed to doing my superiors’ dirty work forever. I feel I have a voice and would like more control over my day-to-day projects.
Part of my goal over the next year will be to find my true identity. I’ve made myself very versatile, which more than likely has prevented me from being laid off in the bad economy of the last two years, but has prevented me from being very good at any one discipline. I’m very well versed in print layout and identity work. I know basic Flash, but am not a very good programmer at all. The same goes for HTML coding. I end up taking four times as long to code a project than it would take a knowledgeable person that does that every day. I taught myself After Effects and have created some video projects, yet I’m not super skilled in that regard either. I drew a lot in college, but am surely not a good illustrator. Where does that leave me? My largest interest up to this point has been branding/identity work, but I’m looking to explore other disciplines as well.
To start off my new approach, I redesigned my logo and website. In the past, I’ve limited the amount of pieces I’ve shown to only include my best work. I decided to show more work this time to show some more range to hopefully attract more freelance work. My goal is to use as many avenues as possible to gain more experience. That means doing as much freelance work as I can in addition to the 9 to 5 without burning my retinas in the process.
Secondly, I’ve decided once I have a few extra dollars around I’m going to rejoin my local AIGA chapter. I feel I should start attending some of their events and start networking more. I’d like to also listen to some of their speakers and see if there’s any insight I can gain from them as well.
In addition, I’m going to try to teach myself HTML 5 and CSS3 this summer. I think it’ll be beneficial to learn the latest non-Flash web technologies and try to keep up on them so I don’t feel so overwhelmed when trying to program a simple HTML landing page. That should open up some more freelance opportunities as well with that knowledge. I don’t ever do any freelance programming at the moment because it’d take me way too long to be worth it, so it’s been limiting me somewhat.
To close, I’m going to try to keep focused and have a better attitude in the process. Lots of things have made me bitter and resentful in the past and I’m going to do my best to move forward and work toward the goals I’ve set out for myself. Wish me luck.
Part of my goal over the next year will be to find my true identity. I’ve made myself very versatile, which more than likely has prevented me from being laid off in the bad economy of the last two years, but has prevented me from being very good at any one discipline. I’m very well versed in print layout and identity work. I know basic Flash, but am not a very good programmer at all. The same goes for HTML coding. I end up taking four times as long to code a project than it would take a knowledgeable person that does that every day. I taught myself After Effects and have created some video projects, yet I’m not super skilled in that regard either. I drew a lot in college, but am surely not a good illustrator. Where does that leave me? My largest interest up to this point has been branding/identity work, but I’m looking to explore other disciplines as well.
To start off my new approach, I redesigned my logo and website. In the past, I’ve limited the amount of pieces I’ve shown to only include my best work. I decided to show more work this time to show some more range to hopefully attract more freelance work. My goal is to use as many avenues as possible to gain more experience. That means doing as much freelance work as I can in addition to the 9 to 5 without burning my retinas in the process.
Secondly, I’ve decided once I have a few extra dollars around I’m going to rejoin my local AIGA chapter. I feel I should start attending some of their events and start networking more. I’d like to also listen to some of their speakers and see if there’s any insight I can gain from them as well.
In addition, I’m going to try to teach myself HTML 5 and CSS3 this summer. I think it’ll be beneficial to learn the latest non-Flash web technologies and try to keep up on them so I don’t feel so overwhelmed when trying to program a simple HTML landing page. That should open up some more freelance opportunities as well with that knowledge. I don’t ever do any freelance programming at the moment because it’d take me way too long to be worth it, so it’s been limiting me somewhat.
To close, I’m going to try to keep focused and have a better attitude in the process. Lots of things have made me bitter and resentful in the past and I’m going to do my best to move forward and work toward the goals I’ve set out for myself. Wish me luck.
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