Low Hanging Fruit

Free Desktop Calenar for May

2011-05-05T20:46:00.005-05:00

It's been over a year since I last did a desktop calendar design, but was inspired after shooting out in my garden after today's rain showers.

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A college girl's to do list

2010-10-01T16:47:00.002-05:00

SO a friend of mine that lives in Manhattan, KS (home of K-state) found this girl's to-do list crumpled up on the sidewalk in front of her apartment. No more explanation needed.

February Desktop Wallpaper Calendar

2010-02-01T08:30:00.005-06:00

The latest edition of my little hobby.

With February being inudated with hearts & cupids, I wanted to explore a little different. Parks can be a cold, lonely place in February.

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Movies of 2009

2010-01-06T10:00:00.001-06:00

I stared thinking about all the movies I saw over the past year and decided to sit down and make a list of the movies I saw in 2009 and what I thought of them.

This only made me realize that I need to get my ass out and see more movies. I saw 16 movies released in '09, but have a list of 21 that I didn't get to but want to see.

Overall I think it was a great year for comedies with I Love you Man, The Hangover and Couples Retreat. It was also a pretty solid year for Sci-fi with Star Trek, Distric 9 and although I haven't seen it yet Avitar.

Here are the moveies I saw and what I thought:

Taken
5 stars
This movie is the ultimate suspense thriller.

Watchmen
2 Stars
I’m not a big comic book turned movie fan in the first place, but some are done better than others. This one was slow, boring and not fun to watch.

The Haunting in Connecticut
4 Stars
Had me thoroughly creeped out.

I Love you, Man
5 Stars
Great comedy. Paul Rudd does a great job switching to the leading role and Jason Segal is a star on the rise.

The Last House on the Left
4 Stars
This brutal suspense thiller had me white knucked and on the edge of my chair. It also contains probably the most brutal rape scene in the history of movies that will leave you feeling like you got kicked in the gut.

Duplicity
3 1/2 stars
A fun caper movie. How can you go wrong with Clive Owen, Julia Roberts and Paul Giamatti though?

Star Trek
4 Stars
Although I was born in the 70’s, I was never a Trekie. I remember hating having to watch it when my dad and brothers were watching it. That being said, I reluctantly went to this reimagining of the movie and I actually liked it quite a bit. It had a decent plot, not terrible acting and great CGI.

The Proposal
2 Stars
I was forced to watch this by my Girlfriend over Thanksgiving. Not horrible as chick flicks go, but a chick flick nonetheless

Transformers 2
3 1/2 stars
I was not a big fan of the first movie (and even less of a fan of Shia LaBeouf, but somehow – whether is was my low expectations going in or just the trance I was put in by Megan Fox – I actually enjoyed this one. Yeah, the plot wasn’t anything to write home about, but the action was good and there was a chuckle or two.

Ice Age 3
4 stars
I saw the first one, but missed the second. I watched the third over christmas with my nieces and it was great, just like the first one.

The Hangover
5 stars
3 words - Hi Lar Eous. This one has is at - It's quotable and every time you watch it you will find something new that will have you rolling on the ground.

Public Enemies
1 Star
This one gets my award for most disappointing of 2009. It had SO much potential, but was uber slow and did a terrible job of developing the characters. On top of all that, it was nearly impossible to decipher what Johnny Depp was saying half the time.

District 9
5 Stars
This might have been my favorite movie of 2009. It takes you through a wide range of emotions from disgust to sympathy and has great action scenes to boot. I hope a sequel is in the near future.

It Might Get Loud
3 1/2 Stars
I'm not a huge music buff, but this gave me chills at times. Such a cool concept to bring those three legendary guitarists together

Inglorious Bastards
3 Stars
A bit of a disapointment for me the first time I saw it. I was very optimistic through the first scene, where Terintino showcased his wonderful nack for diolougue, but as the movie progressed I felt that it lacked depth of chracters and too many lines went to Brad Pitt instead of the rest of the cast.

Couple's Retreat
3 stars
Not as good as Forgetting Sara Marshall, but in the same vein. As always great dialogue betweet Vince Vaughn and Jon Favreau. And what is up with Jason Batemen? He was in everything this year. Talk about a comeback!

Twilight: New Moon
1 Star
I took my girlfirend to this turd of a movie to earn brownie points. It could have earned me 999 billion brownie points and I still wouldn’t go if I had it to do over again. Unbelievably horrid dialogue and the CGI was amateur.

Now here is the list that I still want to see:
Up In the Air
~~Avatar~~
~~Hurt Locker~~
The Blind Side
Pecious
Crazy Heart
Sherlock Holmes
Knowing
Adventureland
State of Play
~~Terminator Salvation~~
Moon
Zombieland
Law Abiding Citizen
2012
Ninja Assasin
Funny People
~~Paranormal Activity~~
The Soloist
The Taking of Pelham 123
Where the Wild Things Are

I better get busy popping the popcorn!

January Desktop Calendar

2010-01-05T10:32:00.004-06:00

So I know I'm a little late with this one, but there are still 26 days left in the month, so here is a desktop wallpaper calender for January. I was so busy traveling over the holidays that I forgot to post it sooner.

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December Wallpaper

2009-11-25T12:28:00.002-06:00

Hey everybody - I had a little free time so decided to throw together a wall paper calendar design for December to enter into Smashing Magazine's monthy competition.
I decided to stay away from the cliche snowflakes and Christmas trees and explore a bit of a grungy urban treatment. I took the original image with my iPhone as a part of my iPhonography series while in NYC and created the custom typography and textures in Photoshop.

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A Case Against Email Marketing

2009-04-02T10:13:00.002-05:00

About 6 months ago someone from the company I work for sold our email list to a marketing rep and since that time me and my fellow creative dept. colleague's inboxes have been getting bombarded with Email marketing from Photographers at the rate of 15 a day (and that's only counting the ones that don't get caught by the firewall).

At first I simply tried to ignore the incessant emails, and delete them as soon as they hit the inbox - but this became a full time job, as they come on average once every half an hour. I actually use photographers for photo shoots for my clients, but seriously there is no way that I would ever even consider using one that sent me one of these emails as they have simply become a nuisance.

The sad thing for them is that they are probably paying a good chunk of change for my email address and those of my colleagues without knowing that they and 2,000 other photographers are being peddled to our inboxes. It has gotten to where I now make it a point to opt out of each and every one of the emails out of spite, even though it takes up my valuable time (and the time that my company is paying me for. Hmmm, maybe they should have thought of that before selling our addresses).

Since I am now opening these emails in order to opt out, I have been exposed to some of the worst photographers I have ever seen in my life and some of the worst design as well. Today one arrived in my inbox that takes the cake and I felt compelled to share it with you. Enjoy....

Take Up Your Sword and Fight

2009-03-26T13:59:00.003-05:00

We produced this video to promote the American Cancer Society and the local Shave to Save benefit. I think it speaks for itself.

Blurring the lines between online and broadcast media

2008-07-14T16:03:00.003-05:00

The challenge was to take technically heavy, somewhat intangible product (IP wireline convergence) and create an emotional response for the audience as a teaser intro into learning more about the product. The video will be used online as well as in sales presentations and trade shows.

We did the shoot in LA at an architecture firm in Santa Monica – it was the perfect location. We had a bit of a hiccup when the writer, Nick Main, and I disagreed a bit with the director on our the vision for the hero. After some healthy debate and give and take we found a middle ground, and the result was better than any of us could have hoped.

(click on image to play)

To buy is the answer

2008-06-10T14:27:00.006-05:00

A short time ago I wrote here about my trials and tribulations of being a renter. I was struggling with the decision of whether to buy a place of my own. Since that time I have looked at probably around 30 houses and done quite a bit of research.
Sunday I stumbled upon the perfect house; the area I wanted, in my price range and immaculate inside and out. The house is 104 years old and the inside looks brand-spankin' new.

I went back for a second look yesterday and immediately put an offer on it (lowballed them of course) and the today they accepted it. So there you go; I'm a home owner!

I close on the house on June 30th and move in right after.

The best part: No more water features in my living room!

Woof Woof - A bit of new work

2008-05-13T10:03:00.005-05:00

Here is a bit of recent work of mine from a freelance client. There are an upstart pet grooming and boarding shop by the name of Woof's Play and Stay.
They were in need of a logo, signage and a website to help get there business off the ground.

Logo

It is always interesting working with owners of small companies, as most often they are very passionate about their business and like to give very specific direction when it comes to designing an identity for it. This was no exception. Before I even began working on the project they had a rough sketch of what they wanted to logo and sign to look like. In some regards this is more difficult to execute as a designer then having no direction at all – especially when you feel that the direction they have chosen isn't necessarily the best. Non-the-less, I took on the project and delivered the client an identity and website that they can be proud of and will establish them a pressence in the marketplace.

Website Homepage (test site)

As a side-note - one of the things that you tend to miss out on as a designer working mostly in the digital space is being able to touch, feel and smell the fruits of your labor, such as you can working in the print world. This project allowed me to play in that 'real world' space a bit, which is a nice change of pace. It is good feeling to look up as you drive down I-35 and see something standing 30 feet in the air that you created.

Outdoor Signage

Located at 1-35 and Shawnee Mission Parkway (where the old Chevy's restaurant once was)

To buy or not to buy, that is the question...

2008-05-07T10:08:00.000-05:00

As a former home owner, it can be a tough pill to swallow going back to renting. Pride of ownership and accomplishment becomes replaced with disdain for landlords and a feeling of 'permanent temporariness' (yes, I just made that up - but I think it works).

For me, it has been two years since I have owned and am attempting to get settled into my third dwelling in that timespan. My first two stops eased the sting of non-ownership a bit by being urban, trendy places to live. The loft I had in the River Market had the best view of the Kansas City skyline you could ask for and my last apartment was brand-spanking new and had so many people my age as residents that it took on a 'Melrose Place-esq' quality.

My new pad, however, is letting that sting back in like a blind goalie. At first glance it doesn't seem bad; magnificent Westwood location, quite quant from the outside, and while a bit dated, a lot of character on the inside.

I had resigned myself to the fact that this was going to be my pad for, at least, the next 6 months. Then, one disaster after another.

Disaster #1
First off, when you look at an apt., you don't usually stick around to see if you can hear the neighbors or not. I assumed that by asking this of the landlord and him assuring me you couldn't, all would be good. Then ten minutes after I get everything moved in I hear, 'THUMP, THUMP, THUMP' across the floor above me – which, to my shocked amazement, was followed by me being able to hear every single word of their conversation. F-U-D-G-E.

Disaster #2
After a fun night of partying it up last weekend, I had just put the perfect punctuaction on the evening with two Baja Chicken Chalupas, and went to bleed the dragon before heading off to bed. I go to flush the toilet and proceed to watch my bathroom flood like the ninth ward. After some quick on-my-feet thinking I turned the water valve off and then decided it would be a great idea to punch the wall in frustration. I spent the next morning fixing the toilet and the hole in the wall above the toilet.

Disaster #3
36 hours after the mini hurricane Katrina in my bathroom, I am sitting in my living room finishing up some late-night free-lance work. It is 1AM and normally I would be in bed. I hear my upstairs neighbor walk from his living room to his bathroom and turn on his shower (he took 11 steps and was humming the theme to Family Guy - once again, I know beacuase I can hear EVERYTHING).

After a few minutes I hear a distinct dripping sound – look up at my wall and it looks like a water feature you could by in the garden section at Home Depot. Yep. The upstairs shower sprung a leak and now is flowing down my wall, on my painting and on my love seat.

That was the last straw.

Now I am faced with a decision. See, I haven't signed a lease yet at this new place (which is a pretty good gauge of how organized this landlord is). Which means I could just bolt and find a new place – but I am really getting that itch to buy and this place is allowing me to do a six month lease. Pretty much nowhere else will allow a six month lease and, let's just face it, moving is expensive and a pain in the ass.

So I guess for now, I am just going to suck it up, pull up the boot straps and take it in corn hole for a while. That is until another pipe breaks or Hurricane Katrina hits - at which point I will most likely go on a violent rampage that will end in a pile of ash and embers at 4810 Holly St.

Varsity Letterman

2008-05-06T16:56:00.000-05:00

Not since my glory days of high school has so much of my free time been taken up by competing in various sports. Looking ahead at my calender I now am committed three nights a week to three different 'sports' activities.

Mondays: Corporate challenge Softball
Wednesdays: Corporate Challenge Basketball
Thursdays: Leasure League (aka - Beer League) Kickball

This being said, I feel very good about my chances to be a letterman this year. I have already ordered the jacket (Chartreuse with Magenta sleeves). Hopefully this time around my mom wont sew my Letter on backwards!

Our Kickball team logo

Here we go...

2008-05-06T14:50:00.000-05:00

Well, I never thought I'd do it, but I have finally caved to the peer pressure and decided to join the world of blogging. I'm not really sure I am really interesting or witty enough to write a blog, but maybe that will be my niche. The worlds dryiest & dullest blog. People will log on everyday from the far reaches of civilization, just to see how much more interesting they are than me.

...Or... I could share some random thoughts about whats going on around me and also share some work and thought about design. Yeah, I think I'll go with that one.

Ladies and gentleman: Please buckle your seat belts and keep all hands and feet inside the car.