Project 365 Week 04

Wow! It's already been a month. I'm not going to act surprised or anything, this has been on my calendar for a while now. Doing these daily photos has really helped me appreciate each day, and each new challenge I am faced with. Usually the weeks just pass me by without warning, but having something I have to do each day really helps me stay focused.

The biggest change this week, which I think we can all agree on, was the loss of my beard. (So long old friend.) But like I said before, a happy wife is a happy life. (Well I didn't say it, but I heard it somewhere.)

Week 04 Roundup

So without further ado, here are my three favorite photos from this past week.

Day 25

Day 28

Day 31

What do you think?

As always I would love to hear your thoughts, comments, critiques and/or questions. I'm open to all. And again, thank you to everyone who continues to show their support by retweeting and commenting. I love you guys. See you next week.

The dribbble jersey collection

What is Dribbble?

Dribbble allows you to share your work in 120,000 pixels or less with other creative people. It poses the question, "What Are You Working On?" without sounding like a douche bag. The fine folks over at SimpleBits handcrafted this little beauty.

Why a Jersey?

Why not a jersey? It seemed appropriate in light of the whole basketball theme. Sure I could've made little basketball icons, but where's the fun in that. I love to compete, and what better to wear when you compete than a team jersey? You may have seen my post on twitter or even on dribbble already showing off my new "Gold Team" jersey. And that's where this whole idea started. I'm not saying let's all divide up in teams to compete to see who's better, no, I just want to have a bit of fun with my fellow designers. Similar to the design-off Chris Wallace and I had.

What Team Color are You?

Pick any color you want. Just know that I'm captain of the Yellow/Gold team. That's right, I appointed myself. And I'm happy to announce that Rogie King and Brad Colbow have suited up to join me.

Download The Goods

The jersey collection comes in the 3 different sizes: 48x48, 32x32 and 16x16. I hope if you're on dribbble already you'll use them, and if you aren't well I hope you will still have fun with them. One last thanks to Dan at SimpleBits for crafting such a wonderful space for us to hang out.

Download the dribbble jersey collection

Project 365 Week 03

It's that time again. Yawn... Stretch... Zzz...

Is anyone else feeling the end of January being a bit sluggish? This past week felt more like a walk to school in the snow (uphill, both ways). And with the daunting feeling that what I'm doing doesn't really matter to anyone else but me, I've had a hard time staying focused. That statement is completely self-involved, I know, so I want to give a huge thanks to all of you who've been following me and leaving your comments, but I'm just being honest.

Flickr's quite a conundrum to me. I can't quite figure it out. There are so many different levels of users on flickr and on each level exists an immense amount of diversity. From top-notch professionals to modern hipsters to complete noobs, it's really quite an interesting mix of people. But the thing that I can't seem to put my finger on is how some people draw in hundreds, even thousands, of view and comments on their photos that to me seem mediocre. My problem is I want to be seen and be heard and be recognized, but that type of success doesn't come overnight.

The misleading part about the internet is that you can stumble on someone's music/photos/blog/whatever and instantly feel like you're a complete failure. The internet lacks all the blood, tears and sweat that goes in to making a name for yourself. So that's why I'm here, putting in day after day to track my life as I make a name for myself. Maybe I'll be something, maybe I'll be nothing. But whatever the outcome I hope it inspires someone.

Week 03 Roundup

So in keeping tradition, here are 3 of my favorite pics from the past week.

Day 19

Day 22

Day 24

What Do You Think?

I'm always eager to hear your thoughts on my photos. Please leave your comments here or over on flickr. Thanks again to everyone who keeps retweeting and commenting, much love.

Regarding Creativity

I'm afraid that the creativity will run out. Just dry up. Like one days it's here and the next it's gone. Of course this is a silly thought. But don't most of us who make a living designing things depend on our creativity? Well, some would disagree. But you see my point? If our creativity were to just dry up where would that leave us?

Then it's a good thing we're not responsible for our creativity. We do not have control over our own creative ingenuity. It comes to us as a gift in many different forms and fashions. And thinking of it in this way helps free us from any guilt or judgements we want to put on ourselves. Like I've said before, let's allow ourselves to have all the stupid ideas we can muster, so when the good ones come along we can make room.

Project 365 Week 02

It seems that every day is another challenge to out perform myself. Meaning that each day I get worried that I won't have any good ideas left by the end of the year. But I'm finding out that once I actually commit to doing a picture the creative process takes over my mind and I no longer worry. Instead I get wrapped up in the moment and let my mind lead me from one shot to the next.

But I can't expect to produce top notch work each and every day (1) because I'm still a photo noob and (2) I won't always have the time. And that's a problem for me, being ok with the mediocre. However, I won't let it distract me from the true purpose of this project which is to learn and grow from my mistakes as well as my successes.

One thing I discovered this week that I see a bunch of other flickr peeps using is the "View on Black" option with their photos. It's nothing really profound, just a link to another website that displays your photo on a black background. It's great for some photos, but not all. So make sure and check out my photostream to see which of my photos you can view on black.

Week 2 Roundup

Here are my favorites from the last 7 days of Project 365.

Day 13

Day 15

Day 16

What do you think?

So what do you think? I'd love to hear your thoughts, critiques, suggestions. Leave me a comment here or preferably on flickr. Thanks.

Project 365

One of my more ambitious goals this year is taking part in Project 365. Where I will be taking one photo of myself each day for the entire year. If that sounds boring, I assure you it's not. I think of it as a daily creative exercise to help me (1) learn more about photography and (2) explore my thoughts and emotions and try to convey those in a photograph.

There's an old saying that goes; "A little effort goes a long way", and so each week I want to look back on the previous week and showcase a few of my personal favorites. I thought about posting each photo everyday here on my blog, but I thought that would get redundant since you can already see my flickr stream on the homepage. And if you're not already, follow me on flickr.

Week 1 Roundup

Here are my favorite from the first 10 days of Project 365.

Day 006

Day 009

Day 010

What do you think?

So what do you think? I'd love to hear your thoughts, critiques, suggestions. Leave me a comment here or preferably on flickr. Thanks.

TOM and the Goldfish Bowl

Illustration and Book cover design

Client: Ben Pasley