Arg, Christmas!
Just kidding, I had a pretty good time. I was tired because I had insomnia (and I never get insomnia) and cranky because my mom and sister have turned into dog people. Not normal dog people, those little yapping rats that pass themselves off as dogs, people. Whose little hearts beat just fast enough for them to pee when they wag their tail, but not fast enough to explode out of their chests.
I'm a little irritated because I'm out of work and I've hit a bit of a dead-end. Design studios have this stuck up thing where they only want to hire people with studio experience. 'Course the only way to do that is intern or know somebody and I can't really afford to work for free. It's the oddest thing. When I art directed, I couldn't have cared less what the artist education or experience was. Can you paint? Can you hit deadlines? Done and done. Maybe my work sucks, that's fair. But I'm a creative guy, with a lot of work and life experience, laid back, never sick, never late, no drama, and very willing and able to pick up new skills. Having to jump a hurdle that feels insular and elitist makes me cranky and is stupid, talent wasting policy.
Not everyone does it. Some people want someone who can do design, programming, customer service, project management, art direction, and copywriting, all in the same day (which I can) at $15 an hour (which I can't). The web design thing is especially guilty of that. You want to know why so many website suck? Because people hire programmers to design websites. Which, as I've stated before, is like hiring your carpenter to design your blueprints. Your author to illustrate your book. Or, the next most common after the web thing, an artist to do graphic design.
Are there exceptions? Sure, when isn't there? But they are rare, and less than are working. Every artist I know has designed their own business card and pretty much all of them aren't good. Luckily for them, design is one of the least appreciated, commonly known disciplines. Speaking of sounding elitist.
No, copperplate gothic isn't good design. It was free with your software suite, though, so good for you.
No, having a painting on your business card isn't a good idea. That's what your website is for. A 1" painting on a piece of Kinko card stock, surrounded by the most italic, unreadable font you could find doesn't flatter anyone and looks like your target market is a 300 pound mouth breathing cheetoh eater with the world's largest collection of winged cat paintings.
No, the more things on a homepage does not make it better. You know why google is kicking everyone's ass? I'm not taking about business practices or whatever Roswell inspired conspiracy theory you think the CEO is up to. I'm talking about why Joe Lunchpail or Lucy Wingedcatlady go to google first.
Simple, elegant interface.
You know why I've never had a MySpace accout? I'm not talking about feeling like a common tool, the unappealing idea of making "friends" with girls that collect unicorn knick-nacks, or that I'm not so lazy that I can't pick up the phone or email directly people I want to be in contact with.
Shitty, unappealing interface.
I have yet to allow a MySpace page to fully open. I don't have five minutes to listen to Nickelback while watching internet wallpaper fill in so many html boxes that it looks like a web banner version of Tetris.
By the way, I'm designing a clickless website, the idea of which is cool. All rollovers. It requires good planning, clean interfaces and an awareness of how people are going to use it. All the things lost on most web programmers/designers.
You know what's way up on the list of cheesy truisms (the truest of which is that which doesn't kill you, makes you stronger)? You get what you pay for.
Gosh, I'm starting to feel better.
My birthday is coming up. Fried chicken and waffles, sweet potato pie and LAN party, bitches!
Just kidding, I had a pretty good time. I was tired because I had insomnia (and I never get insomnia) and cranky because my mom and sister have turned into dog people. Not normal dog people, those little yapping rats that pass themselves off as dogs, people. Whose little hearts beat just fast enough for them to pee when they wag their tail, but not fast enough to explode out of their chests.
I'm a little irritated because I'm out of work and I've hit a bit of a dead-end. Design studios have this stuck up thing where they only want to hire people with studio experience. 'Course the only way to do that is intern or know somebody and I can't really afford to work for free. It's the oddest thing. When I art directed, I couldn't have cared less what the artist education or experience was. Can you paint? Can you hit deadlines? Done and done. Maybe my work sucks, that's fair. But I'm a creative guy, with a lot of work and life experience, laid back, never sick, never late, no drama, and very willing and able to pick up new skills. Having to jump a hurdle that feels insular and elitist makes me cranky and is stupid, talent wasting policy.
Not everyone does it. Some people want someone who can do design, programming, customer service, project management, art direction, and copywriting, all in the same day (which I can) at $15 an hour (which I can't). The web design thing is especially guilty of that. You want to know why so many website suck? Because people hire programmers to design websites. Which, as I've stated before, is like hiring your carpenter to design your blueprints. Your author to illustrate your book. Or, the next most common after the web thing, an artist to do graphic design.
Are there exceptions? Sure, when isn't there? But they are rare, and less than are working. Every artist I know has designed their own business card and pretty much all of them aren't good. Luckily for them, design is one of the least appreciated, commonly known disciplines. Speaking of sounding elitist.
No, copperplate gothic isn't good design. It was free with your software suite, though, so good for you.
No, having a painting on your business card isn't a good idea. That's what your website is for. A 1" painting on a piece of Kinko card stock, surrounded by the most italic, unreadable font you could find doesn't flatter anyone and looks like your target market is a 300 pound mouth breathing cheetoh eater with the world's largest collection of winged cat paintings.
No, the more things on a homepage does not make it better. You know why google is kicking everyone's ass? I'm not taking about business practices or whatever Roswell inspired conspiracy theory you think the CEO is up to. I'm talking about why Joe Lunchpail or Lucy Wingedcatlady go to google first.
Simple, elegant interface.
You know why I've never had a MySpace accout? I'm not talking about feeling like a common tool, the unappealing idea of making "friends" with girls that collect unicorn knick-nacks, or that I'm not so lazy that I can't pick up the phone or email directly people I want to be in contact with.
Shitty, unappealing interface.
I have yet to allow a MySpace page to fully open. I don't have five minutes to listen to Nickelback while watching internet wallpaper fill in so many html boxes that it looks like a web banner version of Tetris.
By the way, I'm designing a clickless website, the idea of which is cool. All rollovers. It requires good planning, clean interfaces and an awareness of how people are going to use it. All the things lost on most web programmers/designers.
You know what's way up on the list of cheesy truisms (the truest of which is that which doesn't kill you, makes you stronger)? You get what you pay for.
Gosh, I'm starting to feel better.
My birthday is coming up. Fried chicken and waffles, sweet potato pie and LAN party, bitches!
I actually didn't know that I was quoting Fight Club, even though I've read it. It was actually supposed to be a reference to Citizen Toxie.