Creative Hobbies and PUMPKIN PIE

So what creative hobbies do you have?

I do WOODWORKING, PHOTOGRAPHY,  PAINTING / ILLUSTRATING and COOKING.
I feel it is incredibly important for creatives to have creative hobbies that allow them to express themselves in other ways, without the pressures associated with their career  (or study) pursuits.

Occasionally I'll share a woodworking project, a drawing, or a photo.  I am also a bit of a foodie, and while I eschew the recipe exchange, I am definitely not above it!

With the holidays just around the corner, I recently came across (via CHOW) an incredible recipe for Pumpkin Pie by Boris Portnoy. In his CHOW recipe, Portnoy expresses everything I feel is wrong with Pumpkin Pie. Most pies seem to be about the spices, or “muddy-flavored” canned pumpkin.

I recently made Portnoy's pie, and it was pretty darn good!
I made just a few modifications. Instead of his crust, I used the über-flaky crust obtained by using the AMERICA'S TEST KITCHEN VODKA CRUST RECIPE!

I skipped the cookie cutter toppings (although in principle I have no problem with them) and created a brown-sugar crumble that is often associated more with homemade apple pies (just put it on 10 or 15 minutes before the time is due.

Using fresh pumpkin was incredible easy using Portnoy's method! And the flavor is so much more PUMPKINY.

Watch Portnoy's CHEW video here. (It also links to the recipe).

This is Chris Kimball's/AMERICA'S TEST KITCHEN's vodka crust.

RIGHT BRAINED?

I think most folks who know me know that I am a fairly creative person. I don't think anyone would tell you that I am creative at the sake of being logical though.

Most students arrive at the  idea of studying the possibilities of a career in graphic communications primarily because they loved a high school art class. They figure: “Gosh I loved art in school! Maybe I can get paid a ton while doing art!” (The ‘paid a ton’ part is unrealistic to start with btw… as is the ‘getting paid to play video games.’)

The problem is, in many high schools, art is purely an elective (there is not a stringent level art track). It is also very much about an individual communicating on their own terms, their own message, and in their own way.

When you choose a “creative” corporate career, you will draw upon much of your art training, but the overriding concern (no matter what) is effectively using your visual skills to communicate or reinforce a message … primarily a message that will also draw upon marketing strategy and established goals and objectives! This is all very “LEFT brain” stuff. But you are now the ADVOCATE for someone else's ideas and messages, using your creative and compositional know-how to do good by them or their product.

Creatives are among some of the most talented and clever people I know. They need very much to be multi-dimensional. They often have exhaustive store-houses of knowledge about quite a great number of things, and  (in my opinion) are scintillating dinner-party conversationalists.

Honestly, the most successful folks I know work their asses off. They continually study things, and research is a part of the daily grind on the job.

So please… if a well-meaning counselor says to you, “Oh, you like art and aren't doing great academically? Hmm… maybe you should try graphic design!” Please, please, please reconsider. At the very least, interview someone who has done the job for a while, and see if they'll let you shadow them for a day.

I can pretty much guarantee it isn't about drawing what you want, when you want. Nor is it about getting to have fun all day and get paid.  Just sayin'

A Polarizing Slider...

You either love 'em or hate 'em! In Wisconsin, there seems to be a Mason-Dixon line of sorts... I call it the Webb-Castle line... It runs through parts of Racine and Kenosha. Folks seem to either be Castlers or (George) Webbers (and quite a few are neither).

Having some familial Chicago roots, I am a Castle-fan. I warmly remember my Grandfather eating at one of the city's many locations. There was something neat about downing a sack 'o' sliders while being out on the town. I even vaguely recall the midnight "freakshow" at one of the city locations when I was a little kid with my family.

In all fairness, I also really dig the Steak'n'Shake Burger, as well some of the Culver's butter burgers, and even the Carl Jr.'s/Hardees "boigahs."Sometimes I'll even take in a Webb burger (depending on the location--they h'aint too bad).

If you are a Castle fan, you may even pick up a CRAVE CASE (the cardboard suitcase sized box filled with sliders) in the face of shaming crowds of haters. Before their Wisconsin locations, we used to drive across the state line to pick up a cooler load, then drive home and freeze 'em. Whenever you wanted one, pop it into the microwave!

I even make a Castle-slider breakfast sammy: fry or scramble an egg, and top a slider with the egg and some cheese. Goes great with a black coffee!

If you happen to be a slider fan, check out these wild contest-winning recipes using sliders (they actually taste pretty darn good too)!

Something to remember...

"The world is filled with starters...there are literally millions of starters...but there are like 4 finishers!"

—(hyperbole) by Interior Designer Daniel Kucan

---

What Kucan is referring to is the exuberance at the front end of any project that inevitably fades as you go through it. The front end is full of unlimited potential, and energy is high. It may be starting school, a race, a project, or even a new way of life.

The only guarantee is that the the excitement and potential of the start will invariably diminish. The excitement can give way to realizations of shortcomings; things become hard, problems arise, and it becomes far too easy to abandon something (or slap it together to technically finish it half-ass) rather than to see it through to its highest quality conclusion CORRECTLY. 

They begin to view dropping out, quitting, or give up before they complete as easier. It in fact is easier, but not better. Some even do this as a defense mechanism against themselves. It's easier than improving or being critical of yourself. They view "just finishing" as an alternative to truly completing.

If school, races, projects, or life was easy, and it was always sunshine and cheer... with no need to examine your own shortcomings and improve them, everyone would be a graduate, marathon finalist, project-award-winner, and have a dream life.

Fact is life is a struggle. While starting something IS KEY (you can't even have the chance to win unless you start), it is finishing that is the most important.

Flash...Whoahhh oh...

I am not a professional photographer. I am instead a graphic designer with some preparation in photography (my undergrad degree required me to do a minimal amount of coursework in film photography). I know the tasks of photography from the art-direction end.

I do, however,  have many friends and acquaintances who are professionals. Two acquaintances are  our adjunct instructors at Gateway: Michael and Kevin.

We got to talking at a meeting a while back, and one of the topics was the use (or non-use) of the flash in photography by our students. Before we even approach a flash unit or "off-of-the-camera" flash, we were discussing how integral it is for students to know how to control even the "on camera" flash.

You should know how to shut it off, and how to control it when its on (its power, and manipulate the direction). 

Of course, flash is not the only issue. You should walk away from your basic course knowing all your camera's shooting modes, white balance, focus, aperture controls, exposure value settings, shutter speed, iso, and many more items). But in our brief conversation, it became clear that on-camera flash control was one issue that sometimes gets overlooked.

Many of you may also be familiar with Photojojo. It is a "cool things" photo site, with tips, techniques, and a lot of cool doo-dads and gadgets. (Photographers of all stripes seem to be subject to the same  affliction as woodworkers, golfers, and fisherman: gadget-itis)

Photojojo had a cool graphic on their page in the promotion of a flash bounce product. I am not endorsing this necessarily, (it does look neat, but you can get similar effects with a small mirror or a
3x5 index note card) but they have some particularly neat graphics showing the dramatic effects of using a simple flash-modifier. 

(see one of the graphics below, and you can click on the optional link to check out Photojojo)

Photojojo site

Branding Cleverness...

Graphic Designer and Art Director Ben Pieratt has created a brand. That alone isn't news, since visually articulating a brand is at the heart of what most designers working in Marketing Communications (or Advertising, or  Brand cultivation, or whatever pseudonym for Advertising you care to use) do regularly.

More interestingly, Pieratt is exploring the concepts and constructs of branding itself. He has taken the  very definition of brand, and flipped it upside-down. He has worked from the visual end, and created the roots for a brand and put it on the free-market auction block.
To me, this is more of an exercise in brand development—the equivalent of taking the design adage of "form follows function" and turning it on its ear...creating the form first and then finding the function for it.

While the pragmatism of creating and cultivating a visual brand beforehand, then later matching it with a product or service is intriguing and an exercise in "purposeful vagary," it can also be viewed as the equivalent of off-the-rack fashion—something unheard of in the early twentieth century, yet the preferred mode by mid-century.

On a personal note, Pieratt's brand reminds me of the bright, geometric design of the mid-eighties (as used by brands like Letraset at the time). I love the retro, yet very hip'n'cool feel.

Check out Pieratt's HESSIAN brand!
(link image below)

COMPOSITION FROM A MASTER

There's a lot of chatter about the difference of things, but not so much about the commonalities.

"The discipline of design is basically about solving a problem within the construct of a field...that field may be the blank canvas of a space (product design), an entire environment (architecture), or a flat page (graphic design.)"1

I find a lot of students groaning/musing on our college's facebook group about "photography" versus "illustration," or even "page layout." While it is certainly valid to group items by their media for mass assessment  or comparative evaluation, you can easily loose fact that they share the common thread of VISUALLY COMMUNICATING ( a term that has gone out of vogue, and seems to be making a comeback).

The goal for both is to communicate something VISUALLY on the plane of 2d. The other commonality that they share is the fact that the message communicated needs to have a hierarchy... the thread that binds all of the 2d disciplines is composition.

That's why this article on COMPOSITION by the  great HENRI CARTIER-BRESSON is such a good (and IMHO essential) read! Click on the link below (photo) to go to PETA-PIXEL for an amazing compositional lesson–whether your medium is Photography or Gouache – it's worth the time.

photo © magnum

1 P. Pham 2005

Tiny 3D Sculptures from a Japanese Camera...Coming to America Soon?

The 3D Graphics classes at GTC are doing some neat stuff with the stereo-lithography and the 3D printers at the iMET center. Those tools are pretty slick... but this neat new Japanese Camera is  way cool!
Imagine taking a "photo" that winds up being a  tiny 3D figure! Click the link to check it out.
Similar companies have since popped up in the US promising a similar product.

RICE COOKER MAGIC

Someone told me that the late, great Roger Ebert was working on a cookbook of "things you can make in a rice cooker." Buzzfeed recently featured  a great collection of recipes towards that end.

Back in the 80's, the "hotpot" was standard-issue among the student body at Madison, and it was the only legal appliance students could have in the dormitories. Mac 'n' Cheese and Ramen were standard supplemental faire.

The Asian students also had the rice-cooker stowed away—and during any inspections it often passed for the aforementioned "hotpot." Most any asian family has (at least) one of these. I think since age 18, I have always had one. While I made primarily rice, on occasion I would cook meats in it. Little did I know the complete range of delectables that can be made in the humble rice cooker.

Click the link below for a world of deliciousness for rice cooker owners everywhere!

MORE FREE PICS...

well...sorta. Be sure to read the fine print. This can still be a great resource for any lawbreaking students out there.

(click photo above to go to site)

GREATEST SITE FOR DESIGNERS (REDUX)?

This is one of my favorites. It has expanded since its last mention on the blog, but is still a wonderful resource for graphic design students. This specific link has some really great photoshop tips, but if you are into anything in the world of visual communications...this has to be a 'go to' site.

Color Psychology in Mark Creation

courtesy the Visual.ly website: a basic primer on color psychology in the design of Marks (yep...the mo' better and proper name for what most folks will call logo). The psychology bit  is contestable, as it complies to a western cultural norm...but none-the-less worth studying, understanding, and then exploring.

Color Psychology in Logo Design infographic

Cupcake Crazy

Those that know me know in addition to being a graphic designer, I am also an amateur who dabbles in carpentry and cooking. In fact, I am the "main cook" in our family, and I love preparing (and as my girth attests to) and eating good food. Of late, I've also been indulging in baked goods...and yeah, the cupcake craze has most certainly bitten me back.

A while back, I came across this baking site, and this particular post of cupcake recipes.  Tasty stuff!
(link by clicking on the image)

Neat Private Workspace

I love the idea of well-designed things.
That transcends the design of print and web, into the realm of the incredibly simple and straightforward. Check out this  great design for a pretty slick portable workspace that is small enough to be moved, yet large enough to grant you the escape and privacy you need while working...and it can be given your own personal touch as well!

(click image to link)