life

the onset of winter playlist

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The Onset of Winter Playlist

the songs that make you flip your collar up and watch your breath, like smoke, escape your lungs.

blindness

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Is there a certain point we reach in this technological era where we become so over-saturated with information that we become "blinded" to what's really important? And by "really important" I mean living our lives. Sure, I love coding for hours on end or posting tweets till my fingers go numb, but at the end of the day, or our lives for that matter, will we be pleased with what we've accomplished? Maybe I'm thinking too far ahead here. Maybe the work we're doing now in the age of the internet will reap great rewards in the future. I don't know. But one thing that scares me is the amount of information we're expected to keep up with. Sure things like RSS readers and Twitter are helpful. But when is it all too much? At what point do we overload? I know lately I've felt burdened by this thought. Feeling like I have to keep up with this rat race of information only makes me feel less and less apart of reality.

When I go home at night and spend time with my wife and two dogs, this is what reality looks like.

But I understand why some people build their whole lives online. Look at me for example. If it weren't for the internet I would not have met my wife. And I would not be celebrating three wonderful years of marriage this year. But I also currently socialize online at more than ten different locations and spend all day on twitter talking to friends both far and near. Not to mention the amount of time I spend working on this website. Then factor in all the incalculable hours I spend thinking about new ideas for my blog, or new designs for work. Sharing our lives online has become the new standard. If you don't have a myspace or facebook or your own blog then you're considered out of touch with reality. Am I missing something?

I saw a movie a couple of weeks ago where people all of a sudden went blind, not in the Ray Charles sort of way, but they could only see bright white (a mixture of all colors in the light spectrum). The movie is based off the novel "Ensaio Sobre a Cegueira" (literally "Essay About Blindness") by Portuguese author José Saramago. It had really beautiful cinematography, but that's not the point. Throughout the movie I asked myself, "what would I do if I suddenly went blind?" I mean with so much of my life dependent on a computer, it was semi-frightening to think about. How would I go on? (And please don't say screen readers.) But thinking like that is silly right? I mean it's pretty unrealistic to think I'll wake up one day and be blind. However, examining our lives and the value of what we do and whether or not it's relevant to reality I think IS a valid question to ask ourselves.

Please don't mistake me here though, I love what I do. Being able to create an image or a brand for someone that represents who they are in colors and shapes is what gets my heart pumping. My desire though is to see the design community, as a whole, think for themselves and not just follow "blindly" those who are already well established. We each have a voice/design of our own and that's what the world needs. Not just more cookie-cutter/assembly-line design. So how do we do this? I'm not exactly sure. But I think stepping outside our comfort zones and unplugging from the overload of information once in a while is a great place to start.

We need to be a part of reality in order to put something real back in our designs.

I'd love to hear what you think about the information overload in today's world or how you think we as designers can break away from the cookie-cutter way of life.

one year blogiversary

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In light of my upcoming one-year anniversary for my blog, October 13, I am offering up the chance to win the wonderful FIELD NOTES THREE-PACK for free to one lucky person. No shipping and handling, no call now and get two for the price of one gimmicks. Just a simple, straight-talkin' free gift to give back to this community that I've been a part of for the past year.

Why, you may ask, am I offering just three plain notebooks? That's a valid question. And to answer your question, upon verification from a google search about "one-year anniversaries" I found that the traditional gift has something to do with paper. Whether that be in the form of a notebook, a love letter, stationary, you get the idea. So I thought, perfect, since I'm a designer and most people who visit my site would be more apt to be a designer, or at least interested in design. This would be the perfect gift to keep your ideas close at hand in a stylish way.

The contest will run until next Friday, October 17. All you need to do to be eligible to win is leave a comment below with the best reason you can muster on why you'd like these notebooks. Note: spam and ad links do not count. Also, don’t forget to provide a valid email address in the input field, otherwise I won’t be able to notify you.

Thanks and good luck.

33 reasons to follow me on twitter

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33 reason to follow Kyle Steed on Twitter

  1. I won't over load your feed with nonsense
  2. Because twittering lowers your cholesterol
  3. My middle name is Andrew
  4. Two words, Twitter Tools
  5. I like to DIGG
  6. I know how to FLOAT
  7. Like Adelle says, Just Tweet It
  8. Or like Dwight says, "Don't think about it, just do it, 5 - 4 - 3 - 2 -1"
  9. I prefer quality over quantity
  10. BEER ME
  11. I'm extremely organized
  12. I'd like to use one of my life-lines
  13. My breath doesn't stink in the morning
  14. I'll be gentle ... promise
  15. You WON'T shoot your eye out
  16. Are you from Tennessee? Because you're the only ten I see!
  17. I always wear my seatbelt
  18. I think "going green" refers to sexual relatioins with the Jolly Green Giant
  19. I won't play games with your heart
  20. I'm a good listener
  21. I found Carmen Sandiego ... but still looking for Waldo
  22. Part of the DFW WordPress meetup
  23. I would rather vote for Ron Paul
  24. I know THIS GUY
  25. Because words like death don't scare me
  26. Willing to share my knowledge about the BARF diet with you
  27. Can offer advice to your intermediate WordPress questions
  28. Enjoys my morning cup of tea
  29. I love to meet new people
  30. I know who killed the electric car
  31. Because you can never have to many friends
  32. It's WAY faster than email
  33. To sum it up, I'm pretty much awesome

follow me

workiversary

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Today I am celebrating the one-year anniversary at my job, aka my workiversary. Looking back on this past year I must admit I've reached a level of success that I didn't think possible. You see, when I left the military and my wife and I moved back home I had no clue as to what lie ahead. My only direction was the way that God was moving in my life. And when He said "yes" to me getting out of the military I didn't waste one second. Of course we had made preparations for our move back home, such as saving $10,000 and making plans to stay with friends until we found an apartment, but there was no job waiting for me. If there's one thing God has taught me though, it's that making preparation is just as important, if not more than, the actual manifestation of his promises.

So it was no surprise when the first job I took was working in the photo lab at Walgreens. That lasted mmm... less than a week, and with the famous last words "Thanks, but no thanks" coming from the manager, I gladly removed my vest and walked home. That was on a Friday, and I started at Half Price Books the following Monday. My month long stint at Half Price was enjoyable, I met some cool people and fulfilled one of my desires to always work at a bookstore. (FYI - it's just another job) But I knew something better still awaited me. And around the middle of September I got a call from a recruiter who knew of a company that was looking for a web designer. Let me back up and say that if it weren't for my friend and resume writing ninja, Sydney Smith, I would've never got that call. Thanks.

I think there are few times in life when you know, without a doubt, that The Lord has directed your steps and you are exactly where you need to be. My interview at WaveTwo was one of these moments. When talking casually with my future boss, John Arnott Sr., after my interview I came to find out that we did the exact same job in the military. Only his service preceded mine by a good thirty years. And that may not seem like much to the natural eye, but after I heard that something inside of me knew this was a perfect fit. Now a year later my knowledge of web design and development have far exceeded my expectations. Even having to work with Microsoft products has taught me to humble myself and my attitude towards those who aren't fortunate enough to know the joys of owning a mac.

So it's been a good great year for me. My only hope is that this next year is even better.

community

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I know I've always valued the importance of community but today really hit home.

Saturdays are usually a difficult day for me, one because I have nothing to do and two because I can think of a million things to do. (Note: When you own a home your "to-do" list never seems to end.) So I usually try to take it easy and have no plans made. That way I'm not committed to anyone or anything, making it easier to enjoy my weekend and be spontaneous.

However, within the past few months I've started to take a more active role in becoming involved in the design community in the greater Dallas area. I started with the Refresh Dallas monthly meetings, which are a great way to learn about new and interesting technologies. And just today I attended my first WordPress meetup group. I was nervous thinking about who I would meet and what kind of people actually attend these things. Not to mention that it started to feel like more of a burden the more I debated going. My thought pattern went something like this:

  • Will there be anyone I can relate too?
  • Am I going to show up and everyone just ignores me?
  • Did I put on too much cologne?
  • Am I overdressed?
  • Thanks TomTom for directions, now where is the damn deli?

My nerves were put to rest the moment I walked in the door of the restaurant, P.D. Johnson's, as I was waved over to the table and began to make my introductions. The next two hours were spent chatting about WordPress (obviously), twitter, dogs, Plurk, servers, Ping.fm, our failing economy, the new homeless, as well as enjoying what everyone else was talking about. The range of experience from everyone brought about a nice balance to the conversations. There are those who run multiple sites on multiple servers to those who are just learning about websites. It was great to see how everyone was treated with the same respect and no one was left out.

Now I just have to be patient for WordCamp Dallas 2009.

smashing magazine anniversary poster

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At 9:33 AM I received an email from an unusual name, a Mr. Sven Lennartz, who just so happens to be one of the guys behind my favorite online design magazine, Smashing Magazine. Then I burst with excitement when I read:

congratulations, you won the exclusive Smashing Magazine 2nd Anniversary Poster, designed by James White.

Thanks again Smashing Magazine for randomly choosing me, and I will have to send you guys a picture when I get it framed and displayed proudly at home.