I truly wish I knew why I’m so on edge all of the time these days. I used to be so laid back, though, now it seems it only takes me a few minutes of something not going smoothly before I want to rip out my hair, scream, throw a tantrum, cry and break things.
I recently spent $1,200 on a new computer. I spent an additional $250 on a video card. The video card arrived yesterday while I was still at work and I was looking to be able to go home, install my video card and relax.
Come to find out, the video card requires additional power from the power supply to run properly and after nearly a half hour of looking around inside my computer, I realized that there weren’t any additional power cables. This of course threw me into a contained frenzy (ie. I started to sweat, my hands began to shake and I wanted to break something). It felt like my insides had just drifted away in a plume of smoke and I was left trying to hold myself together while floating around in a zero-g atmosphere.
…and I’ll finish this post later as I’m at work and things are getting hectic.
This is specifically for Keith, but the rest of you can read it because I’m too lazy to make it otherwise 
)
So the overall idea is to have a design (and I will continue to refer to designiskinky.com) that I can add/remove content to as I see fit without causing too much of a disturbance in the layout.
HOMEPAGE:
- The obvious stuff like links to the other pages.
- Contest link (maybe using an image as the link) see: nerve.com for examples
- Featured artist link (complete with pretty picture and brief description)
- News?? Or put news on its own page. INPUT??
- I’d like a random image on there somewhere too. Something that randomizes on refresh (pulled from a directory somewhere)
- Some sort of promotional space for things like when I get stickers made (I’d probably use an image link)
- Link to ‘random headshot’ <--- a feature that I'd like to steal from the designiskinky website (also an image link with maybe some text saying "random headshot")
NEWS PAGE:
- If we decide to go with an individual news page, I’d need some sort of ‘featured news’ spot in addition to an archive of some sort.
ABOUT PAGE:
- LINKS (see below):
- FAQ’s
- Project Stats (check out this for an example). The stats would be slighly different than the ones in the example. Most of them would be manually updated but there may be one or two that I’d like to have dynamic (ie. number of registered persons, number of cities/countries the heads have been… though I don’t know how possible that is)
- Room for additional content.
- There would also need to be either a link to the ‘perks of registering’ page or some information on the about page.
FAQ’s PAGE:
- Well… uh.. frequently asked questions?!
From this point on I’m just going to write random thoughts and they can all be fleshed out later.
I want a contest page of some sort.. I have no idea what kind of contests I’d run but they’ll be GOOD ones. Themed photo contests. I don’t know. But a contests page.
A featured artists page. Every month or so I would have a featured artist take part in the project. When it started, I had a number of really amazing photographers want to join on but it never made it that far. The featured artists page would have a ‘current artist’ complete with bio and an interview or something. Even before I saw designiskinky, I attempted something like this with the four-square sample of work.. and every time I look at their site, I think “God I hate them for designing it first (because of course I want to steal every dribble of their layout)” :pp
But yeah.. the featured artist page would have the same sort of content as the link. I guess if you checked out any of the sites I mentioned, they all have the same sort of content.
Obviously there would be galleries on the site. When it started, I only had one head so.. one main space for the photos with links to each of the artists galleries. With this version being bigger/better I am torn between maintaining the one main gallery section vs. individual sections for each individual head. I’ve had a dream that it would be possible to ‘track’ the journey of each head around the world but again, not sure if it’s possible. If it’s something that COULD be done in time, it would be nice to have a main gallery section with a ‘random gallery’ image in addition to some sort of link to each subsequent head gallery. So the user would go to the gallery section, click on “Gaylord” and it would load a page dedicated to Gaylord and his travels, complete with some made up storyline and whatever other nonsensical content ended up there. It would be GREAT (and this is where I’d need to find someone with Flash experience) if on each of the heads personal pages, there would be a flat, plain map of the world <--- this was my 'dream.' When you moved your mouse over the map of the word, some cross-hairs would follow your curser around (vertical/horizontal) and a little 'blip' would occur when you landed on a country that head has been. Obviously to start out with, a map with some red dots on it would suffice but that's something I'd pay to have created.
In the end, the galleries would all be linked very similar to the way they are on 1000journals mostly because of ease of use and jumping around. The information would be slightly different, but the idea is the same as the projects tend to mirror one another in design. This aspect of the site would need to be discussed and fleshed out further before it’s set in stone.
I also want some sort of “where it’s been – overview” page (look here for example). As the project grows, I want to be sure that people have a few different means of seeing the galleries (ie. by user, by location, by journey etc)
Are you starting to wonder what you’ve gotten yourself into yet?! lol. I realize that this is a huge undertaking and will probably take MANY months if not a full year to see the site/project realized to its full potential but I truly believe that it will be well worth it in the end.
The last few things I can think of for the time being since I’m losing track of what I’ve discussed is a ’shop’ of some sort.. or at least, the framework for a shop, the ability for users to create a profile (doesn’t really have to be too involved.. again, look at designiskinky) and a forum where people can discuss the project etc.
There’s the “headshots” section that I talked about earlier but that’s not anything that needs to be discussed in detail at this point. Just another aspect of the site.
So… I think you have your hands full for the next year or so 
)
My final words are… as I’m sure you’re already discovering, the site design needs to be something that can grow with the project without too much difficulty (which is why I love.. argh.. I’m saying it again.. designiskinky). Once the framework has been figured out, the rest can come over time but the future plans are good to have now so months into the project, we don’t need to worry about some grand redesign to make room for some other aspect of the project.
So um.. lemme know what you think :pp
my new computer just arrived :p
Dell. 160GIG hd. 3.4mhz. 3GIG RAM. I have NO idea what I’m going to do with it all.. but I’m drooling.
Guess I should go hook it up now eh?! hehe.
I’ve known for a while but couldn’t say anything. I won second place in the SXSW competition on threadless.com.
Click here for my winning design.
Thanks to all who voted!!
On a sidenote, my silkscreening screens came today so I’ve just got to get the screens made-up with my “cloud/hearts” design and I’m ready to print.
Lastly, for those of you who mentioned you were interested in a shirt but needed XL, it’s going to take a bit more time to get my hands on them. The distributor with whom I do business doesn’t have any in stock so I’m going to have to order them from another branch and this won’t happen until I’ve sold my first batch of shirts. This is a shame because it seems American Apparel makes their shirts quite a bit smaller than you’re average company so the smalls are REALLY small.
I can see now why so many people become cynical in their old age. I think I may join them.
I’ve been doing some reading on the two satellite radio companies XM and Sirius and it’s my belief that I should really think about investing in Sirius. Although neither company is making any profits as of yet, both have grown in leaps and bounds when it comes to subscribers.
I have enough money that I’m heavily thinking about investing in about 100 shares of Sirius to see where it goes. Right now it’s around $6 per share but it’s a good bet that if XM doesn’t somehow force Sirius into bankruptcy in the next few years, the value of the stock is going to go up
Let us share a moment of silence.
Why? The answer is below:
“A colleague of mine just pointed out that Nikon UK has posted a press release here indicating that they are all but ending production of their 35mm film cameras, medium- and large-format lenses and enlarging equipment. The F6 35mm SLR will remain in production and be available in Europe and America, and the all-mechanical FM10 will be available outside of Europe. A handful of manual lenses will remain in production as well. Film in general isn’t going away any time soon as digital cameras cannot replace medium and large format cameras, but this is clear evidence that the resolution and popularity of the digital medium have surpassed that of the 35mm format. 35mm took another step into the grave.”
-Slashdot.com
The complete article from the Nikon website is as follows:
“Following the success of our digital line-up over the last seven years, which has resulted in more than 95% of Nikon’s UK business being within the digital area, Nikon Corporation has made the decision to focus management resources on digital cameras in place of film cameras. This decision will allow Nikon to continue to develop products that match the demands of an increasingly competitive market place.
Despite this growing competition Nikon Corporation has continued to outperform the market, and has recently reported positive financial results which saw group net profit climb by 20% in the fiscal first half which ended in September. Group sales also increased by 9.8% to 342.85 billion yen in the same period. Sales of high end digital SLR cameras and the success of products like the D70s and D50 have helped contribute to these positive figures.
As the film camera market shrinks and the popularity of compact digital cameras increases, demand for products that offer advanced features and extra value is continuing to grow. High performance digital SLR cameras are performing well as users shift from film-based SLR cameras or upgrade from compact digital cameras to digital SLR cameras.
As a result of the new strategy Nikon will discontinue production of all lenses for large format cameras and enlarging lenses with sales of these products ceasing as soon as they run out of stock. This also applies to most of our film camera bodies, interchangeable manual focus lenses and related accessories. Although Nikon anticipates that the products will still be in retail distribution up to Summer 2006.
In recognition of Nikon’s commitment to professional photographers we will continue to manufacturer and sell the F6, our flagship film model, as well as a number of manual interchangeable lenses. Sales of the manual FM10 will also continue outside Europe.”
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And so it has begun…
Checking $129
Savings $483
Still need to pay $250 for Jeep repair. $292 for Auto Loan. $140ish for screens. Make sure to have enough money!!
T-Shirt update is as follows.
I spent a little under $100 on American Apparel tees a few days ago which should get me through my first small run. I’ve gotten my Happy Clouds design output to film and tomorrow I’m ordering three brand new screens which should arrive by the end of the week. All I have left to do is have the screens coated and burned (probably the wrong term) with the design as soon as they arrive.
I’m ordering a small amount of ink to get me through the first few runs and so by midweek next week if all goes well, I’ll be printing my very first batch of shirts!
I’m excited and scared. I spent way too much money to get the x-mas cards made and I still have more leftovers than I’d like to admit (to anyone). I’m going to be taking this t-shirt thing in baby steps so I don’t end up spending more money than I make.
I also need to make a few hangtags for the shirts as I’m planning on selling them at the coffee shop and the Cigar Shop on Channelside. Both places are right on the corner next to the cruise terminal so they get a LOT of sidewalk traffic. I’m pretty sure I can sell a few shirts to passengers on their way to a sunny destination or on their way home.
