An Obsession with Perfection
October 21, 2006
I noted this in my links section of the homepage, but this video (it really isn’t fair to call it an advertisement) made by Dove is worth posting here. As someone fairly proficient in Photoshop, I can attest that the image editing towards the end is not only possible but probably routine in the advertising world. What a powerful look inside our society’s obsession with bodily perfection.
In the Works: Greek Latin Audio
June 20, 2006
I recently started work on a pro bono project that I’m particularly excited about. Greek Latin Audio is a website that serves as an aid to students of the New Testament by offering free audio downloads of the New Testament read in both Greek and Latin. As I know first hand, listening to the New Testament rather than simply reading it helps one become immersed in the thought of the language not just the wording and structure. Of course, hearing the New Testament will lead to better proficiency in reading too, but becoming familiar with how the language sounds brings a new level of depth and understanding not found through reading alone. In the words of J. Gresham Machen:
A language cannot easily be learned by the eye alone. The sound as well as the sense of familiar passages should be impressed upon the mind, until sound and sense are connected without the medium of translation. [From The Minister and His Greek Testament.]
This project is still in its infancy and there’s much work to be done, but I thought a sneak peak was in order now that the initial design phase is done.
The Power of the Cross
April, 15, 2006
At our Good Friday service last night I heard a wonderful new hymn about the death of our Savior. Variously titled The Power of the Cross and Oh to See the Dawn, The words are worth printing here. In fact, I liked the words so much I combined them with Diego Velázquez’s painting “Christ Crucified” to create a desktop background. You can view a 1024×768 version for your computer, or if you like, download the original Photoshop file (3.3 MB).
To set the picture as your desktop background, click the picture above to view a big version. Then right-click the big version of the image and select Set as Background.
Oh to see the dawn of the darkest day;
Christ on the road to Calvary.
Tried by sinful men, torn and beaten, then,
Nailed to a cross of wood.
This the power of the cross: Christ became sin for us,
Took the blame, bore the wrath—We stand forgiven at the cross.
Oh to see the pain written on Your face,
Bearing the awesome weight of sin.
Every bitter thought, every evil deed
Crowning Your bloodstained brow.
Now the daylight flees, now the ground beneath
Quakes as it's Maker bows His head.
Curtain torn in two; Dead are raised to life;
Finished! the victory cry.
Oh to see my name written in the wounds,
For through Your suffering I am free.
Death is crushed to death; life is mine to live,
This the power of the cross: Son of God, slain for us.
What a love! What a cost! We stand forgiven at the cross.
Merry Christmas
December 7, 2005
Why I Love Amazon.com
November 8, 2005
Here’s just one more reason why I am a loyal Amazon customer.
When buying a book last night I noticed this message next to one of the credit cards I have on file with Amazon.
And no, it’s not even an Amazon credit card.
Keeping Busy with Busy Forms
July 30, 2005
I finally got around to figuring out Blake Scarbrough’s Busy Forms, and it took me quite a while. Once I started getting into the code, I decided I wanted to implent his form checker script too. Of course I couldn’t leave well enough alone, so I worked long into the early morning to get it just right.
First I wanted to change a few things with the code. Then I decided I should combine all the javascript into one file which meant combining bits and pieces of code and getting them to play well with eachother. Since I am just learning the basics of javascript, this took some time, but I finally got it.
All my time was not spent working with code, however. After finishing my own contact form, I decided to spruce up the form at Awaken America too. I took me a good chunk of time to design and animate this loader graphic and even more time to figure out that a lone anchor tag was tripping up Internet Explorer.
You can see the fruit of my labors on my own contact page, and the contact page over at Awaken America.
June 23, 2005
Every single day, 30,000 children die, needlessly, of extreme poverty.
On July 6th, we finally have the opportunity to stop that shameful statistic.
Eight world leaders, gathered in Scotland for the G8 summit, will be presented with a workable plan to double aid, drop the debt and make the trade laws fair. If these eight men agree, then we may become the generation that made poverty history.
But they’ll only do it if enough people tell them to.
We don’t want your money — we want you!
Visit these sites to find out more:
Amazon.com Redesigns
April 30, 2005
I went to Amazon.com tonight and noticed a rather significant redesign. Here’s a list of some of the bigger changes.
- The product search and A9 web search are now placed much more prominently in the masthead.
- Navigation tabs have been enlarged.
- The six category tabs have been replaced with a single tab marked “See All 31 Product Categories” which pops open a window listing all 31 categories when rolled over. Amazon’s main product pages are now a click away on every single page.
- The Gold Box and the advertisement in the top left corner are both gone (good riddance).
- The “Your Account,” “Wish List,” “View Cart,” and “Help” buttons have been changed to plain text and “View Cart” has been shortened to “Cart.”
- The Amazon.com logo has become a tab replacing the former “Welcome” tab.
It looks like this redesign is only being tested with frequent customers because when I visit the site in IE (which I rarely use anymore) I get the old version of the site.
Something else worth noting is the change in the way product category tabs are used. It used to be that each product tab, with its own color, was added on to the right of the six permanent tabs. Now these tabs all have the same color and are placed between the personalized store tab and the 31 categories tab.
So, the question is, could this be the culmination of what we saw last October when Amazon was tweaking their masthead? If so, will they stick with this version? And when will it be used for all customers?
Here’s a nice before-and-after:
My First Print Piece
March 1, 2005
Awaken America (whose web site I recently redesigned) needed a poster for their upcoming Church Leaders Conference. Volunteering for the task, I made a quick sketch of what I was looking for then moved straight Illustrator. But after about an hour’s worth of work I realized I was getting nowhere. So at this point I went back to my sketch, made some revisions, and then began scouring the internet for inspiration and slowly my ideas began to come together. I knew I wanted something elegant but attention-grabbing. For color, I went with blue because this is the color of the organization’s web site. The white steeple and sharp Futura font kept the poster looking neat and clean. Speaker’s names were highlighted in bold as were several other important points. The Church steeple came from iStockPhoto and was just what I was looking for. All in all, this was a lot of fun to make and I think I learned some good lessons about designing for print. View bigger version.
Awaken America Site Goes Live
February 3, 2005
The Awaken America web site I’ve been working on for so long is finally up and running. I made a couple small graphic changes in the last few days and added all the updated content they had. I do need to confess, however, that there is one small design element that I tried in vain to keep from going on the final site. I won’t tell you what it is, but I think it will be pretty obvious. In any case, it’s done and it looks pretty good. See it here: AwakenAmerica.org.
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