by Matt | Mar 17, 2009 | Personal
I’ve always had a theory that if you’re trying really really hard to design something, and you’re getting “artist block” and can’t think of any good angles to come at the problem from, that you need to simply walk away from it and do something else for a little bit until you can come back to it. Talking it out with others of an artistic persuasion also helps, as does surfing for inspiring images or websites in hopes of sparking your creativity. Giving your brain a minute to cool down though, at least in my opinion, wins out above all the rest.
I’m trying to design a “tribute” ad for a guy at NASA. He’s leaving and an ad is going to get run in various aerospace publications thanking him for his great work and years of service.
I’m a total complete blank.
The first version I did looked like an obituary with dates that he served from and a nice portrait in the corner. The guy isn’t dead, he’s retiring. That simply wouldn’t do.
It’s really not that involved, or interesting, or needing to be anything special. Just a simple one pager about this guy. I just can’t seem to gear all the gears engaged in my brain today. I think a fresh start on it tomorrow might help, which is why I writing this post now. I’m killing time. That and the fact that writing always helps me think. If I can string together sentences on a page, the words come out of my brain in a more organized fashion.
There are some days where I can’t speak to save my life. I dribble words all over the place like I’m a dyslexic 6 year old. But sitting in front of a keyboard and writing my thoughts down, that I can always do. I’m not sure what it is about the medium. Maybe I was born to be a writer of some sort. Maybe that’s just the way my brain works.
I dunno. I’m just killing time until the proverbial whistle blows at the end of the day.
I’ve been considering, as I always have, actually writing something in a more formal fashion. I’ve got a few ideas for books and/or movies that I think with the right treatement, could be interesting. Some day I’d actually like to get those out and onto a page where others could see them. Of course, I say I’d like to do a lot of things that are never going to happen, but that’s a topic for another day.
by Matt | Mar 6, 2009 | Personal, Web
As you may have already figured, I’ll be installing a new WP install and new spiffy theme for LiquidIllusions this weekend. The theme is actually pretty cool. I think it’ll serve as a perfect blend of portfolio and infomative website that I can use to drum up some business. I’m downloading all my old files and backing them up since doing this will pretty much require a wipe of what’s there now. I’ll let everyone know when it’s up and running and if you have a second, I’d appreciate some feedback once it happens. I hate use the phrase but, “in these tough economic times”, it’ll be good to have a little side business to bring in a little extra money. I’ve already done an engagement portrait and I have a highschool senior portrait “on the books” for the near future. I’m not charging much for either shoot, but they’re good starting places for building my portfolio. If it all works out, this kind of thing can be the begining of my own studio.
Anyway, just wanted to spread the word that the “reboot” of sorts will be happening shortly. Stay tuned.
by Matt | Mar 5, 2009 | Personal, Web
Hey gang, I’ve got a quick opinion question for you. Due to a recent (and welcome) increase in the amount of freelance work I’ve been getting, I feel it’s probably time to update my portfolio (on LI dot net). So, my question is this.
Should it remain as Mackenzie Photography, even though it’s under the LI domain name? Or, should it be rebranded? If it’s not rebranded, does one name under a different domain name confuse anyone?
Also, given my love for WordPress, should I try and create a WordPress photo portfolio using an available theme (althought there aren’t too many that are any good) OR should I create a static web page that might be more aethestically pleasing, but be harder to maintain and update in the long run? Is there an alternative option I haven’t considered? Anyone know of any really good photo gallery software that would work well AND look professional? Or should I just stick with a regular old web page?
Thoughts?
by Matt | Feb 27, 2009 | Personal, Web
Along with my upgrades to php and mysql, I’m now able to run a few of the more recent wordpress plugins which had required the latest versions. I’ve replaced the MyGamerCard picture with a much more flexible and customizable version from Ardamis. It’s all CSS, links to the correct pages on xbox.com instead of mygamercard.com, and it’s a callable function that I can use elsewhere (like in a post for example) if I wanted to.
Also, I’m toying with LifeStream at the moment as something else to possibly add. My main issues are that I don’t “tweet” so any updates would be things like digging a story on digg, adding a photo to flickr, that sort of thing. That’s all great and wonderful but anything other than pure text (such as a tweet) adds a thumbnail to it. So, instead of:
“Matt dugg [insert story name here]”
it’s: “Matt dugg a story on Digg: [story thumbnail]”
and I think that’s kind of silly. It’s the same for Amazon, Flickr, etc. If I added an item to my Amazon Wish list it comes out as “Matt added an item at Amazon: [large photo]”. I’m trying to find a way to make it just text or just text with links. If it works I’ll let you know.
Matt out.
by Matt | Feb 27, 2009 | Web
And we’re back… or at least we should be. If you’re reading this, the site is up and active again.
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