There is a current crisis going on in the blogosphere right now where we have a lot of quality blogs that are going unnoticed due to the massive amount of junk that is out there. (sort of reminds me of the Christian music scene.) In order to find something of quality you either have to [A] already be connected with other bloggers or [B] you have to spend a lot of time searching the vast internets. Seriously, if you don’t update your blog but once every two or three months then what’s the point?
the songs that make you flip your collar up and watch your breath, like smoke, escape your lungs.
As a part of this new redesign I ran across what seems to be a very common, yet seemingly frustrating problem with setting your sidebar to the full height of a page (not just the screen). It made sense in my mind to simply set the height of the sidebar div to 100%. But oh no, all that gets you is a headache and a pocket full of lint. I tried everything from setting the body and html tag height to 100% to using a min-height of 100% on the sidebar as well, but no luck. I’m still not sure whether this is a browser problem or a CSS problem. In either case I knew I was going to have to do my homework.
If you’re not already familiar with creative commons then I recommend you check them out. I first learned about them last year in a web design class when my teacher referred them as the best source for using photography in your projects without infringing on anyone’s personal copyright. I use Creative Commons all the time on my flickr account. It’s wonderful too because it opens the door to the whole creative community to take what another person has done, whether it be a photograph or a movie, and build upon it and transform it into something else. And it is this focus on community that really draws me in to help support them.
Communities that develop around content and the sharing enable these communities to come together.
Is there a certain point we reach in this technological era where we become so over-saturated with information that we become “blinded” to what’s really important? And by “really important” I mean living our lives. Sure, I love coding for hours on end or posting tweets till my fingers go numb, but at the end of the day, or our lives for that matter, will we be pleased with what we’ve accomplished? Maybe I’m thinking too far ahead here. Maybe the work we’re doing now in the age of the internet will reap great rewards in the future. I don’t know. But one thing that scares me is the amount of information we’re expected to keep up with. Sure things like RSS readers and Twitter are helpful. But when is it all too much? At what point do we overload? I know lately I’ve felt burdened by this thought. Feeling like I have to keep up with this rat race of information only makes me feel less and less apart of reality.
In light of my recent contest to win a set of FIELD NOTES notebooks, see here, I’ve been inspired to pick up my journal once again and keep daily notes. Everything from simple to-do lists about work that needs to get done, to doodling, all the way to my next great idea that will change the world forever. So when I got word this morning from friend and fellow twitterer, Aaron Irizarry, about the “Design and designers you love” writing contest going on over at Designer-Daily I thought I’d show you my list of the top three sexiest journals you need to own.
In light of my upcoming one-year anniversary for my blog, October 13, I am offering up the chance to win the wonderful FIELD NOTES THREE-PACK for free to one lucky person. No shipping and handling, no call now and get two for the price of one gimmicks. Just a simple, straight-talkin’ free gift to give back to this community that I’ve been a part of for the past year.
Why, you may ask, am I offering just three plain notebooks? That’s a valid question. And to answer your question, upon verification from a google search about “one-year anniversaries” I found that the traditional gift has something to do with paper. Whether that be in the form of a notebook, a love letter, stationary, you get the idea. So I thought, perfect, since I’m a designer and most people who visit my site would be more apt to be a designer, or at least interested in design. This would be the perfect gift to keep your ideas close at hand in a stylish way.
The contest will run until next Friday, October 17. All you need to do to be eligible to win is leave a comment below with the best reason you can muster on why you’d like these notebooks. Note: spam and ad links do not count. Also, don’t forget to provide a valid email address in the input field, otherwise I won’t be able to notify you.
Thanks and good luck.
The following contains a story of hope and brutal honesty that is not popular to talk about amongst most Christians.
For as long as I can remember the grip of lust has followed me around like a lost puppy that I just couldn’t say no to. Growing up in the “free world” has it’s many advantages, free water, free speech, free education to name just a few, but to every coin there are two sides. The flip side of the “free world” is the glamorous, dirty exploitation of a woman’s body to help sell a product. You don’t have to be a Christian either to see this truth, just flip through the pages of any popular magazine or better yet, take a trip to your local mall. These images plastered on buildings, magazines, websites with seductive women staring back at us exploit the weakness in men’s hearts everywhere and weaken our defenses to keep our minds pure.
Shannon Rankin is an artist based out of Rangeley, Maine. Her work is composed of collages, drawings, paintings, installations, and even a few experimental videos. I first came across the work of Shannon back in May of this year. Her pieces with vintage maps and anatomical silhouette’s all being connected with thread really appealed to me. The simple manner in which she constructs her work is what sets her apart from so many other artist. I am really excited to be able to bring the work of Shannon Rankin to your attention and I hope you all enjoy.
1. First off, I love the simplicity of your work. Can you tell me how you first become interested in art?
Thanks Kyle. I was a creative kid growing up with an artistic mother who always encouraged the creativity in me, but it never really occurred to me that I could be an artist until much later in life. In High School, I took one art class that lasted for a quarter of a semester, which was a lot of fun, but not at all serious. Once I got out into the “real” world, I would repeatedly meet artists and designers who became my friends and would inspire and encourage me. One day, it suddenly dawned on me that I could also do this, be this! So, I’ve had a lot of catching up to do…
I went to art school, and it was an amazing experience for me. Everything seemed to really make sense for me there, and I suddenly realized I was in the right place, at the right time.