Dependence on technology

I am feeling very frustrated today. There is so much to be done and not nearly enough hours in the day as it would seem. Just yesterday, my laptop decided to shut itself off, unexpectedly. I was not happy with this and right now as I am writing this, it is at the computer store being diagnosed. This blog is more or less about the dependence we have on technology and how it tends to fail us at the most inconvenient time possible.

Tomorrow I have an online portfolio (website) due for class, and unfortunately, my laptop has all of the programs and art work on it. Of course, if my hard drive needs replace, I will lose all of that. Temporarily, I have downloaded a trial version of what programs I need. To top that off, I am heading out of town very very early Saturday morning, and the computer place may not have my laptop fixed. (sigh) I am just waiting for something else to go wrong. I guess it's like when you are running behind, trying to make it some where on time, and you get stopped at every red light, get behind slow vehicles, have to wait on a train, drive up on an accident, and/or have to follow a detour among unknown territory.

Sadly, I must suggest that we have all become too dependent on technology. For the most part, technology makes our lives twenty times easier, which is a plus. The bad part comes when something happens, like a laptop shuts itself off and won't come on without some sort of error, it leads to a lot of stress.

Portfolio

          I am torn between which is my best option for a portfolio. In class, a former student came in to talk to everyone about what she does now and how she got her current job. While I was extremely impressed by her hardback, small, well designed, professional portfolio, I am  still questioning if something like that would be my best option. I currently own a very large, black "leather" portfolio with plastic inserts. It is a nice portfolio but feels almost too large and bulky. The student had a very nice, consistent design to her portfolio, which is great but some of the cons include: not being able to update it, trying to find the hardback book, the time that goes into making it look pretty, restricting the size of the artwork, etc. She had a true purpose for her portfolio, it was focused on her best photography and photoshop work for a certain job. 

          At this point, I could really use some input or suggestions, so please feel free to comment. Thanks!

Relay For Life

EVERYONE and I do mean EVERYONE needs to head over to Lakeland High School this Friday evening and walk a few laps around the track. Support the cause, RELAY FOR LIFE. 
You are even welcome to donate large amounts of cash. We will take any sum of money. If we collect over $500 dollars, my instructor has volunteered to shave his head and beard.​.​.​and.​.​.​designate FIVE areas of his head and face to the top five contributors for them to decorate. If we can collect $1000 dollars he will wax his legs, and for $2000 he will wax his chest. 
I hope you'll come out on Friday night, donate, and have fun. We'll be there all night.

Chalk Art

When it comes to art and design, there are truly no limits. A friend of mine, just told me today about an event that was held at Treasure Island during last weekend. The event displayed a type of art I had never seen before...3D Chalk Art. To me, this sounded extremely interesting so I went online to Google.com and searched chalk art. The first site I came to was really neat. I wanted to share that with everyone. Here's the site http://www.impactlab.com/2006/03/09/amazing-3d-sidewalk-art-photos/
The site above is not the event that was held at Treasure Island, but the art style is the same. There is a lot of time and effort put into each piece. It's pretty wild how those drawings are so different depending on their angle. I hope everyone enjoys this as much as I did. This is definitely an event I would like to attend sometime.

Brain block

Yesterday was just one of "those" days...ever have one? Happened to me.

It seemed like I couldn't keep my eyes open or focus on anything. I tried to concentrate on getting my project done for class and it hurt my brain. I got to the point where I didn't want to do much of anything and I had absolutely zero percent of creative inspiration.

For some reason, later that day, I was reminded of a journal I had put together a couple classes previous to this one. It was a collection of designs from magazines, sketches, etc. that inspired us. I took that out, blew off the cover of dust, and opened it up. It really helps to refer back to old projects, and to keep a collection of things that are inspiring for when you have one of "those days" aka a brain block.

Also, it is important that you reevaluate old projects in order to grow as a designer. Something that might have looked really good three months ago, doesn't always seem its best as we progress in our attempt to become professional designers.