One of my goals this semester was to survive my senior project: Complete success! Hopefully I will have more time to post things from now on (and I say hopefully very lightly).
My senior exit project was to create a design campaign that encouraged parents to become more actively involved in their children’s online lives and offering them all the quality free resources a parent ought to be able to get their hands on all in one website. However, since the project is only a prototype and I do not have the funds to keep the project running, I figured I would take all of my knowledge and offer it to you, my faithful readers (again I use the word faithful lightly).
One of the challenges I faced with this project was finding online family friendly gaming that…well…wasn’t a complete waste of time. Some games are neat, but overly violent, and other games were…well…they really sucked and were poorly designed…it was a nightmare.
One of the unique things about this generation is that we have an increase in parents who are gamers. Sure we all love Halo and Catherine just as much as the next guy, but are those games really appropriate for children to play 9or even be present while playing)? Then we run into the problem of how to choose what kinds of games kids like before we go out and find games to buy them? What do they even like out of a game?
I offer you a solution of various safe online games to help get parents in the right direction and help them give their gaming children a taste of variety.
Safe-game.com: Okay, so the site it’s self is pretty lame looking, but it’s got gold…trust me. You’ve got you classic games many of us grew up with like Donkey Kong, Tetris, and Pac Man. In addition to that you’ve got a variety of gaming genres to get the kids started on and help them figure out what games they’re good at and what interests them. Great for ages 8+…and possibly a few parents looking for a taste of the old arcade.
Gamehouse.com: An awesome mixture of classic and contemporary games with varying game styles. You can also purchase games for both Mac and PC here and they also offer reviews and top picks. Better for older kids…I’d say for ages 10+ maybe 13+ depending on the game. Parent discretion advised.
Bigfishgames.com: Not entirely family friendly. These games are catered to a much older audience and parents are cautioned to review games thoroughly before game-play begins (or are encouraged to test run the game to see if they think their child can handle some of the content). However, there are some pretty cool graphics in a bunch of the games and most of them are pretty mild. I’d say for ages 13 and older (some of them I’d play myself ).
Kabam.com: I play on here all the time. Great free online strategy games with awesome graphics. They have a freaking Hobbit (yes as in LOTR) game on here. What’s not to love? Some mild violence (let’s be honest… it’s war strategy games). Best for ages 13 to 15+ …and mom and dad. It’s a bit more mature.
It is becoming more and more common for young professionals to interact with potential employers via social network. Though, how often do you think about what you posy and how much you post in a day? While trekking across Pinterest one day (a site I encourage all designers to use to collect design ideas), I discovered this awesome infographic to help recent graduates towards being better professional social networkers . Though this infographic is targeted for Facebook users it still remains helpful to consider some of the suggestions for Twitter or Pheed (all the cool kids are doing Pheed now apparently), such as having a separate professional page to post on, or only posing between 3-5 times a day.
One thing I think more Graphic Designers need to understand is the need for social network. Social network isn’t just about keeping up with old friends, but also a great tool that is useful to build professional relationships and get potential employers interested in what you do and who you are. It is a first introduction before there is ever face to face contact, and if you think no employer really wants to Google you before meeting you face to face… you may want to think again.
So here are the “Facebook Dirty Dozen” to help you get on the right track with how to appropriately social network.
An article on just that…the emotional effect of electronic communication.
Most of us are well aware of the convenience that instant electronic access provides. Less has been said about the costs. Research that my colleagues and I have just completed, to be published in a forthcoming issue of Psychological Science, suggests that one measurable toll may be on our biological capacity to connect with other people. - BARBARA L. FREDRICKSON
May people ask me as a designer if I ever think print will die. First I respond with laughter, because I often think it a rather stupid question. Then I proceed to say “I certainly hope not…”
Paperless has become quite a trend. People often think that we’ll be entirely paperless by some distant point in the future in order to save millions of trees and deforestation of rain forests etc. Their biggest advocate? The eBook. Why? Because there isn’t any paper pages, and often they’re cheaper to purchase. A pretty solid argument right? Perhaps… if you don’t live in a third world country.
There has been a big push for literacy in the world as a step towards solving poverty. It’s a great start I think, and a very noble task. People need to learn how to read as a means of making it through this life and becoming a “successful and functional member of society” (I’d love to hear someone tell an African Tribe leader that, they’d probably end up disgraced and kicked out of the village, or even worse in some cultures). Written language certainly can open many doors, but if we’re making the striving to build up the economic world using literature, we’d have to make it accessible to everyone. Now tell me, how many isolated tribes in the rainforest have pluming and electricity? Probably none of them huh?
What I’m getting at is this: eBooks are not all accessible. Not everyone in the world has internet. Not everyone in the world even has basic necessities for that matter. So why are we so convinced that going paperless is a real option for the whole world? Perhaps for more developed nations it can be a reality, but that would also cause the problem of increasing the poverty gap, and perhaps even possibly make poverty a bigger problem…or worse…cause us to take extreme measures destroying cultures by bringing in a very western and commercial line of thinking.
There is this great documentary on PBS about the development of nations based on the question “Why are some countries more developed than others?” It’s called Guns, Germs, and Steel based on a book by William McNeill and if you’re interested in the subject I recommend you find it or perhaps download it somewhere and watch it. It’s quite fascinating if you’re a history buff. It’s good stuff and talks about some of the issues of poverty and resources in certain nations, and how they developed into power houses and third worlds.
I do not think print will ever die. Printed books are easier to get to the masses that digital ones for the reasons I said above, and so many others as well. Paper is used in so much more than printed work, poster, fliers and pamphlets. It’s a practical resource.
If you need more convincing…then watch the video below.
A great blog post on the ever hilarious McSweeney’s Internet Tendency. I find it extremely relatable since I began my 20 credit hours of death in college and an extra design internship (because using a gun to off myself would just be too easy). The title of this blog post is: The Tortured Artists Grant. I hope you at least feel understood…if not laugh to yourself nervously about how clearly you wish you could get a grant for being this kind of person because it’s your reality. I know I do.
Medical technology has made leaps and bounds for people who suffer from hearing loss. This particular story touched me so much I had to share it with all of you. For many years Dawn Keim had been dealing with sever hearing loss issues causing her to be unable to hear at all. She was offered to be a candidate for a cochlear implant, but the decision to have the surgery was difficult, not because of any complications, but rather because she had grown so accustom to being unable to hear she was afraid of the unfamiliarity. She had never been able to hear her 8-year-old son speak…until now.
Having been through a few interview processes and read quite a bit of information (aka case study upon case study) about Portfolios. Because I’m a designer, and a starving artists (much like yourselves), I’ve decided to be nice and tell you my findings from my reasearch. There are 11 things I learned about job/ internship seeking:
The process of applying: e-mail first, call second, and wait for final contact last. Case studies show that potential employers expect and are more comfortable with this process. Also, never send an empty e-mail…links to online work or a PDF of a teaser portfolio should be included.
Most people don’t use print versions of portfolios unless getting face time with the potential employer. However, it is important you have a printed version that varies slightly from any digital or online portfolio.
Make portfolios, short, sweet, simple and flexible (adaptable). Nothing worse than a long winded, crazy unorganized, hard to change/update portfolio.
Let the work speak, not the cover or your mouth (too much). Show THEN tell.
Articulate concisely and well. Also known as: Learn when to shut up. Say only what you need to.
Keep the work current. Don’t have ancient projects in you portfolio. Remember, a portfolio is never perfect or complete.
3 portfolio types: PDF, Online, and Printed. Have each with the same style, but slightly different content.
Don’t send files over 10MB to potential employers. Annoying.
Portfolio’s should be personal, but not too personal. Don’t tell your life story, and don’t over decorate. It’s not a scrap book of your life. It’s the content of your career.
Keep things organized. Loose leaf portfolio papers or bound books doesn’t matter, as long as it’s neat.
8-10 is a solid number of projects to show. Usually keep 8 in online and digital, and 10 (certainly no more than 12 projects) in printed versions.
For more information and resources check out underconsideration.com for more case studies and insights.
I don’t know about any of you, but I saw this on one of my dear friends facebook statuses today and it caused me to get a little nervous:
In response to the new Facebook guidelines I hereby declare that my copyright is attached to all of my personal details, illustrations, comics, paintings, professional photos and videos, etc. (as a result of the Berner Convention).
For commercial use of the above my written consent is needed at all times!
(Anyone reading this can copy this text and paste it on their Facebook Wall. This will place
them under protection of copyright laws.
By the present communiqué, I notify Facebook that it is strictly forbidden to disclose, copy, distribute, disseminate, or take any other action against me on the basis of this profile and/or its contents. The aforementioned prohibited actions also apply to employees, students, agents and/or any staff under Facebook’s direction or control. The content of this profile is private and confidential information. The violation of my privacy is punished by law (UCC 1 1-308-308 1-103 and the Rome Statute).
Facebook is now an open capital entity. All members are recommended to publish a notice like this, or if you prefer, you may copy and paste this version. If you do not publish a statement at least once, you will be tacitly allowing the use of elements such as your photos as well as the information contained in your profile status updates.
Being an artists, graphic designer, and photographer, I know better than to post any of my most personal info and artistic content on Facebook. Having a healthy caution of putting things on the internet is the first step to being a responsible patron of the online community (and respect of yourself). However, whenever I heard of things like this I always tend to get a little paranoid. So, I do what I do best, and take a little peek at the online news to see if I can find enough reliable resources to validate or refute the statements. Turns out this whole thing is a hoax and honestly, you cannot refute the contract via facebook status. That’s not how the law and copyright works friends (and if anyone seriously thought that it did then you’ve been seriously uneducated). Also how can you refute facebook’s ownership with a status when they own the statuses you put up?
If you are interested in legally putting your work under Copyright then please visit the U.S. Copyright Office website for more information on going through the proper channels. For more info on the Hoax and facebook policies read your Facebook Terms of Agreement, and view these helpful articles:
