I had to install the latest version of Shockwave player, but the effect was worth it. This is a straight screenshot (click for larger), no photoshop work, and the character rotates and tilts in real time as you move the paper. Nice!

One of those was a Wacom “Bamboo” drawing tablet. This is the  amateur user version of Wacom’s Intuos line. It has fewer pressure sensitivity levels and doesn’t detect the tilt of your pen like the more expensive tablets, but it’s a great little tool to play with. Besides, I generally draw in pen & ink and color on the computer, and for that it’s perfect.

It installed without a hitch on my macbook pro. I did have a little trouble in photoshop after the initial install. There was a long delay between my mark on the tablet and the mark appearing on the image. Then it would cut out entirely after a couple marks, and I’d  have to switch to another application and then back to PS. I restarted my mac and haven’t had a problem since.

The image here was drawn entirely with the tablet, directly over a photo of my friend, Evan.

I found this in a shoebox this weekend. It’s a collage/drawing I kept from my sketchbook that semester.

House Party!

The first sketch is of the butterfly gardens and free flight aviary, the second from the reptile house. I felt surprisingly comfortable drawing at the zoo — I rarely draw in public. It reminded me how much I enjoy drawing from life, taking what I see and translating it onto the paper.

Check out the other results (from literally all over the world) in the Sketchcrawl forum.

Macintosh 700 MHz G4 Emac (upgraded optical drive)
Macintosh 1Gb G4 Powerbook Aluminum (replaced/upgraded optical drive)
Macintosh 4th Gen U2 Edition Ipod (replaced battery)

Notable items I do not “own”:
1998 Chrysler Town & Country (unless you count opening the door)

Naturally I searched for maps online, and there are plenty. But I was disappointed — the first map I saw had every secret, every level, every door… OK, I know that’s what a map is for, but I immediately realized it took the fun out of the game. The process is half the fun – more than half. Add my natural fascination with maps, diagrams and information design, and you get this. I realize it grades me as a Class A nerd, but I don’t care.

No one I’ve shown it to has been particularly interested (not good criteria for a blog post, right?), but then I ask, “Did you play Zelda much?” The answer is inevitably “no”.

I’m pretty sure as a kid I had a map some friend tore out of Nintendo Power. I didn’t know what I was missing.

Again, creative aside I like a few things here:

1. It’s current (i.e. shows Dentyne is paying attention to the world around it)
2. The imagery is emotional
3. There is no URL on the ad.  That’s right, no URL.  Think about the call-to-action … “Make Face Time.”  A URL would be a conflicting message.  Glad to see this execution won out in what I can only imagine was a rigorous debate.”

I think this ad campaign is brilliant, and I would add a fourth note to Ian’s commentary: It’s an effective marketing message specifically for chewing gum. Gum is as “offline” a commodity as I can think of. Not only isn’t it bought online. All of it’s social impact is strictly face to face. Whether positive (flavored kisses, fresh breath) or negative (incessant popping, loud chewing), none of chewing gum’s effects translate over the web.

I also resonate personally with the message. My workdays are spent almost entirely online, and I love the web. Still, my most meaningful friendships are offline, only augmented by e-contact when nothing else will work. My brother and I work together, he in Chicago and me here in Detroit. We talk “face to face” over skype nearly every day. Yet, when we meet in person I inevitably comment, “In the flesh!” and give him a big hug as if I haven’t seen him in months. I haven’t.

I’m looking to repeat an activity I brought a couple years ago: readymechs. They’re an ongoing project by the design firm FWIS. They’re small, robot-like throw-away toys you make yourself. The beautiful little creatures come to life by printing out the 8.5×11 design sheet, cutting out the design, and following the assembly instructions.

Last time I printed and brought a bunch of them the whole family (adults included) had a blast constructing the various designs. By the end of the week they were pretty much destroyed by the kids playing with them, but that’s kind of the point. I even imported the PDFs into illustrator and deleted the color, so some of them were a coloring/constructing combo. I don’t have time for that this year, but they’ve added a whole new series of mechs since we did it last — I don’t think we’ll get bored.

So, I wrote my first RSS feed*. It’s a testament to how well I like iTunes that I’m willing to manually update the RSS feed weekly in order to listen to the sermons in my favorite format. Of course, I love a project that requires research and problem solving — that played more than a small part.

I found a great guide on how to create your own rss feed, and I wrote and uploaded my own feed:

http://www.sethkimball.com/ROVCpodcast/feed.xml

It basically tells iTunes where to find the mp3 file of each sermon. Updating the feed manually is a little labor intensive, but it was a fun project.

Now don’t anyone go submitting this to the iTunes store. I don’t know if I’ll keep updating it. But if you want to podcast the Royal Oak Vineyard Sermons, open itunes and choose Advanced >> Subscribe to Podcast. Copy the above url (..feed.xml) and paste it into the box that pops up. I’ll try to keep it up to date!

*Check out this video if you’re thinking “What’s an RSS feed?”

I see Moustache May and (from the same creators/organizers) Whiskerino as a space for daily creative outlet, and this year I started making merit badges to go with my photos, as if MM were some kind of scout troop. You can see some of my favorites at left and my full MM profile with pics here.

I didn’t keep it up the whole month – just not enough time in the day. But it was a great exercise to be drawing daily. I wish Sketchcrawl weren’t 45 days away – I’d love to dive in already warmed up.