An unstructured list of experiences, pet peeves, and advice surrounding interactive design and development.
Let’s make something clear right now: I’m not a trained web developer.
Nor am I any sort of interactive expert in my opinion. But I have been involved in the design and production of websites for clients for many years. So, I was [...]
Just today I was trying to decide whether to bother entering a few of our recent web projects into the W3 Awards and was in a bit of a fence-sitting position about it.
Over the course of a year we are becoming bombarded by more and more award show calls-for-entries. This wasn’t a bad thing when [...]
After leaving my house in Vancouver at 5AM, flying all day to finally check into our hotel in Boston at 6PM, Mark and I were exhausted. Time to check in, take a nap and then find a good meal. Not only did we arrive at a super swank boutique hotel called The Liberty Hotel, but [...]
If I was asked who Stefan Sagmeister was a week ago, I could’ve given a handful of knee-jerk descriptions; he’s a designer, he’s provocative, he’s influential. I could’ve said many things to describe the icon he has become, but I would have failed to mention that he’s human.
“Everybody who is honest is interesting.”
On Friday afternoon, [...]
The drive to improve and succeed has increasingly lead to professionals in all trades to specify down to minute processes in projects. A photoshop artist will focus entirely on fashion retouching, or an interactive designer will draw boxes and arrows all day long. Along with this professional focus, influences and inspiration can also become focused. [...]
As featured on Design Taxi
Macro or Micro?
The new Vancouver International Film Centre seems like the perfect venue for something called VIDFEST, a five day “festival” put on by New Media BC and meant to connect and promote the digital media sector. That said, the location is much smaller than the Granville Island facilities used [...]
London was buzzing for the last two weeks of September. Everywhere you looked, on every street corner there seemed to be something about design. The city was filled with museum exhibits, public art and storefronts with interactive installations. I took in what I could in a week before heading to the south of France for [...]
During the iDesign conference in London I heard Bill Thompson talk about design’s role in the world of technology and he mentioned the locking down of Apple’s newest portable products. I did some reading and found quite a lot under the surface. I was very close to buying an iPod Touch but now I’m reconsidering.
Apple [...]
In the UK, where I’ve been for the past couple of weeks, pay rates for design freelancers are up in many cases, particularly when it comes to digital disciplines, according to DesignWeek’s second annual survey.
Overall, pay increases have been extremely healthy over the last twelve months, with increases of 13% cited, and a further 9% [...]
I was somewhere over Northern California headed south when the fear started to take hold. I remember wondering about what lay ahead thinking something to the effect of ‘what am I doing here?’ As a graphic designer only peripherally interested in animation, 3D rendering, motion capture, or gaming, I was afraid that I might not [...]
This blog was started years ago in part as a repository for our inspirations, yet I think we often drift away from that purpose a bit, so I want to share something that inspired me this weekend: discovering new music.
Obviously music plays a big part in most of our lives. It’s always stated as a [...]
June 4th marked the launch of the new London 2012 Olympic logo and it didn’t take long for the controversy to begin. I’d already fielded a number calls and emails before lunch from friends, designers and even the media. My inbox is filled with emails about the subject from various GDC designers across the country—some [...]
Mark just asked me to take ten minutes and jot down my opinions about what a student (or anyone I guess) should do/include/avoid when putting together and presenting a portfolio. A couple years ago I actually did a post on the topic on this blog.
Since then I have been on the receiving end of hundreds [...]
Well, we did it, again. The Industrial Brand/Legends Memorabilia “PicniCANtics” took top honours in this year’s Canstruction Vancouver for the third, THIRD, year in a row (2005 Award, 2006 Award). For those not in the know, Canstruction is an international design/build competition that benefits local food banks, brings together teams of architects, engineers, graphic artists [...]
The longer I stay in this industry, the more I realize the difference between producing graphically appealing (pretty) solutions and creating strategic communication designs that produce results.
Though I use my training in Graphic Design daily and often find much of what I do professionally to be based on visual language and aesthetics, it is only [...]
Bliss Prema claims her Indian head massage will relieve stress, but it can also inspire.
One of the original reasons this blog was started was so a group of creative professionals had a place to record and share thoughts and ideas on the topic of inspiration. Our hope was that the site itself could and would eventually serve as inspiration to its readers and for the most part it has, and I’m grateful for that. But I think recently we’ve drifted a little from the central idea of inspiration, so I’d like to share some personal thoughts that have nothing whatsoever to do with branding, communication design, advertising or any of the other topics often touched on here.
Personal inspiration is often a challenging subject to address because it is just that: personal. As I get older and, hopefully, wiser I realize more and more the importance of balance and health - mentally, physically and spiritually. Filling our minds with great learning on subjects that help us excel in our professions is a wonderful thing to do. But sometimes just taking a time out to focus on yourself and where your head’s at can be one of the most inspiring experiences you can have. And an Indian head massage can be just the ticket.
My friend Bliss Prema is an in-home massage therapist who practices both Reiki and Indian Head Massage. Recently interviewed by Yvonne Zacharias for a feature article in a Vancouver Sun article [pg. D16, Westcoast Life, Thursday, October 19, 2006], Bliss is in high demand these days indeed. And her treatments are worth every penny. I’ll tell you why.
A convenient and custom-tailored experience, Bliss comes to your work or home and treats you in a familiar and comfortable environment. From the moment you meet the soft-spoken Bliss, who is strikingly beautiful, you’ll realize you are in the hands of someone special. I’ll let Bliss tell you her story herself, but I’d like to just describe what it’s like to have a treatment from her. It’s an inspirational experience.
She brings along her own special chair, fragrant scented oils, towels and some special charms to make the place her own. With some incense and ambient music, suddenly my living room is transformed into a warm, relaxing place of healing. For the uninitiated, she take a moment to explain the treatment and then does of a prayer of intent to the goddess of love and quietly begins. This is an interesting and key part of her treatment: intent. Her treatment, though physical, is also very much about aligning your energy centres (chakras) and purging the negative energy that we build up and hold in our back, neck, shoulders and head. This is not New Age hokus pokus.
Her name “Prema”, which means “universal love”, was given to her by a Swami in India as she travelled and learned this 4,000 year old trade from the masters. And she is now a master herself, able to use her hands and energy to cover you with warmth and tenderness as she releases tension and moves energy down and away from your head. She begins by rubbing your back, shoulders and arms and does this for what seems an eternity before moving to your neck and head. As her hands follow the structures in your back and up to your shoulders, you can feel tension you may not even have realized was there just melt away.
As my hour long treatment progresses, the distractions of reality begin to drift, leaving a dreamy state of mind. I feet like I am in a different place. A place where I can be quiet and reflect. As Bliss taps, scratches and rubs your scalp, the sounds inside your own head merge with the rhythms of the soft music. The tapping she does with the fingers of both hands simultaneously begins to sound like galloping horses and visions of a group of stallions running floats through my imagination. The strength of that image and power of the situation becomes a little intoxicating as I drifted deeper yet into something near a trance state.
Later, as Bliss supports my head from behind and applies pressure to key energy points on my forehead and face, I almost imagine harmonic tones inside my head as connections were being made and reactions were occuring. Many times during the treatment, Bliss very softly circles my head with her hands, gently tousling my hair or caressing my face. This really reminds me of the loving touch of my mother when I was a young boy lying on her lap falling asleep as she played with my hair. And isn’t everyone’s mother the embodiment of the goddess of love? It’s a special feeling - the feeling of being safe and loved. To this day, if someone I trust touches my head I quickly become soothed and eventually fall asleep. Thankfully I didn’t fall out of the chair in my near slumber.
There’s another aspect of a visit to Bliss that I enjoy very much. She is so humble and grateful. And it’s contagious. Humility is intoxicating and a rare trait indeed in the world of creative professionals. To plug into that and sit quietly for an hour and reflect gratefully on what you have, where you’ve come from and where you’re headed feels very therapeutic and inspirational. After the session slowly ends and you emerge from this almost meditative state (and I’ll admit, it’s hard to come out of) it feels like something has been reset - both physically and mentally. Like you have purged some negative energy and thoughts and replaced them with good ones. And that is exactly what has happened thanks to Bliss Prema’s gifted hands.
I think the bottom line is this: life as a creative person can certainly be difficult and filled with distractions. Sure, there are may ways and places we can turn to recharge and find the fuel to drive our creativity. But inspiration can also be found by just taking a quiet time out, focussing inward and letting go of negative energy. I have friends who claim they don’t have the time, can’t afford it or don’t buy into the whole massage thing, but I say hogwash. It’s an investment in yourself and your health. Do it now. Call her or email her and book yourself and appointment. You won’t regret it. In fact, I invite any who visit Bliss to come back and share their experiences here. Hopefully others will discover inspiration in something as simple as a head massage.
If you are in the Vancouver area and would like to try Indian Head Massage for yourself, Bliss Prema can be reached at blissprema@hotmail.com or you can read more at her website: www.blissprema.com
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