I’ve been working on this for the last few weeks and I just came from the meeting where I presented my ideas. They loved the logo and the site I put together for them. It is always good to walk out of a meeting with positive feedback. Normally I charge $2,000 for a logo, logotype, ID kit. For web pages, depending on the type of site I normally get between $2,500 and $3,000. This was a special situation so I deferred my normal fees (I did not bother to tell them how much I charge.) and sunk myself into the joy of the work. This probably sounds a bit silly, but there is a lot to be said for doing the “work” out of a sense of fun and love and feeling empowered by the ability to call your own shots because of it. I certainly would have made as many changes and alterations as might have been necessary, but they loved what I came up with, no changes, and this by itself is very satisfying.

Here is the link to the site : Bitterroot Mountain, LLC.

Students sometimes fret over the complexity of PhotoShop and how overwhelming the breadth and depth of the program can be. Certainly it is the “Queen Mary” of applications. But the power of the program does not overshadow how useful it can be for very small, in-and-out jobs. In this sense, The Queen Mary becomes a sporty little power boat. For example, I have a client for whom I am building a corporate blog. I use WordPress for blogs 99% of the time because of the widget, plugin, and theme support from a very active open source community. This means I can block out a site quickly using a theme and then leverage PhotoShop and CSSedit to change graphics and styles to match whatever look and feel I am going for.

This particular header piece uses pictures from iStockphoto and combines them into a composite with very little done to them other than some simple masking, and basic changes in layer properties. In and out in 30 minutes, and that includes the time spent looking for photos. I love this program!

Work, work, work. I am currently working on:

• A wholesale/retail website for Cock-a-doodle kids. (finishing up some product shots and data entry. I hope to have both ends “live” by next week. I am using Zen cart for the retail side.
• Final grading for NIC Spring semester. (Finals on Thursday.)
• Customized Forum (vbulletin) Look and feel changes for Center for Excellence
• Changes to the Northwest Territorial Mint medallion sculpt for the Federal Reserve.
• Braided Accents catalog changes.

I am currenty having some fun with:

• Setting up a new sketchbook blog (Gullible’s travels) as a focused outlet for various pictures and writings. I am using a self-hosted WordPress blog this time around. (.org not .com). I am almost done tweaking the CSS for the template and setting up the general look and feel.
• Building in Second Life (although the lag has been sooo bad there lately that it isn’t much fun.
• Research (pointless web surfing)

Today was the last day of class, and like most of my “last days” it was a deadline day. The students hand in their work (or use the last class time to finish up and mat projects) and then go home. Not much for me to do but oversee the class, review sketchbooks, and draw in my own sketchbook a bit. The picture here is the result of my doodles. Oddly enough, the reference shot is a picture from my “Owned” file. This girl has an unusual beauty that inspired me to jump off the deep end and do some steampunk daydreaming. Like most of my jump off points it is not meant to be a portrait, but still … something about her smirky smile that just wants to be empowered as a take-care-of-business heroine.

A note to self: Because I sort of just jumped in without thinking about it, I drew this as a low res file. By the time I realized what I was doing, I was too far in. so this is a web only shot sorry to say. I need to pay more attention to file sizes in my digital drawings.

I am the kind of guy that signs up for things and then looses interest, and then signs up for things again three months later. Thus the experience with my Facebook Account. I come and go with little or no interest and then I will be all hot and bothered with it again and then I will get distracted. It is a pattern that I am entirely comfortable with, and up to now has served me well.

Last week a friend introduced me to “OWNED” a Facebook app that generates points (or what they call “money”) for exchanging pictures. When you buy a picture you OWN that person. One might think this to be a politically incorrect nightmare. However, the amount of traffic and buying and selling and gifting that goes on is pretty high. I listed one of my pictures; most people use photos of themselves; I choose to use doodles. It was bought immediately and has been trading back and forth for days. Complete strangers buying and selling “me” with abandon. I of course join in and buy a few pictures of my own — OWNING their owners, until I am outbid and the picture moves on to the next owner.

It sounds ridiculous. It’s not really a game and yet there is some sort of casual gaming element to it. For the most part I do not know a soul of anybody I have bought (besides this first friend.) I find myself looking at pictures, looking at purchasing history, and making bids based on the likelyhood for the picture to be bought again, thus making me a profit and increasing my money score. At the same time, my own pictures are being bought and sold and their value is increasing. I am sure I will be bored with this in a week or two. But until that time — I doodled this and posted it. Let’s hear it for this weeks web distraction!