Web designers around the world swoon every advent season when Drew McClellan puts up his 24 ways and this year was no exception. With a sexy new design from Made By Elephant, 24 Ways was back with great new tools and an extra special gift under the tree for visitors to the site using a browser that supported the CSS3 spec — opacity.

The subtlety of 24 ways use of alpha channels combined with the release of Wordpress 2.7 (which proudly powers this site) inspired me to take a more comprehensive crack at a new blog design. Feed readers, I know you probably don’t care much about what I’ve done here, but it took me much longer than I had imagined. Converting those hex colors I wanted to use for my scheme into the more complex RGB colors was arduous, but if you visit my site now with a newer browser (Firefox 3 or Safari are preferred, although Google Chrome should work), you should get the full translucent experience.

I’ve also taken Derek Powazek’s advice to embrace my bottom by pushing some of that sidebar stuff to the bottom of the page. I’ve lost all the links from the sidebar…I plan on adding a page of just links to the blogs that I read, but for now, I hope you’ll manage without my referral links.

You’ll also notice at right the many other places you might find me online. I use Twitter more than any of them. Some of the others I’ve signed up for more with the intention of seeing what they were about than anything else.

Anyway, I’d like to hear your thoughts on the new design. Especially if they confirm my awesomeness.

Now, on to the next project…

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When referencing a graphic design program, please do not - under any circumstances - EVER use the following dialogue:

Jim: “I thought you were good at Flash.”

Pam: “I was. And then they changed to Acrobat and now it’s Quark and I’m just not good at this computer stuff.”

Unacceptable. UNACCEPTABLE!!!! There are so many things wrong with that statement. Graphic designers and people who work on the Web should share my outrage.

I expect a full written apology from Pam Beesley, Jim Halpert, Dunder-Mifflin, Ricky Gervais, Greg Daniels, Jenna Fischer, John Krasinski, B.J. Novak, NBC Universal, and Reveille Productions.

You have 48 hours to meet my demands.

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There’s an outside chance I’m going to redesign the old blog again this summer. The darkness is good and good for the environment and all, but I’m thinking we might need to be a little sunnier.

I am now taking suggestions on colors, but they must be given in HEX value.

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It’s been almost 8 years since I graduated college with an English degree.

I spent the first year or so out of college as a writer, but as the company I worked for grew, my role changed and morphed and in time, I became a graphic designer. I didn’t do it on purpose, it just kind of happened.

I enjoyed it for a long time because it made me feel creative, but over time, the doubts creeped into my mind because I wasn’t trained as a designer…I was trained as a writer. I have confidence in my abilities with the tools — I’m a proficient user of Photoshop, InDesign and the whole suite of Adobe products that designers hang their hats on, but I often doubted my ability to actually design.

I eventually (and maybe only recently) overcame that belief that I just wasn’t a good enough graphic designer. I know now that there were negative forces who caused me to feel that way and I’m fortunate that those forces no longer hold any power in my life.

However, as I’ve embraced my role as graphic designer, I’ve lost touch with my writing background. That’s what this blog has always been about, really &mdash an outlet for me to tap my fingers to the keyboard and see what comes out. And while I thoroughly enjoy the blogging process, I’m finding that in my new job, I’m being called upon more and more to develop content (which is business-speak for “write”). I still can write perfectly servicable copy, but I am struggling to regain my voice as a writer. It’s as if I’ve gone hoarse &mdash the words are there, they just aren’t emerging with a lot of clarity.

Lately, I’ve been working diligently on a couple of projects that are very important to me. Neither are work projects and both are requiring to write a considerable amount of content. I’m finding myself grossly inadequate right now of accomplishing that writing and it’s really frustrating.

If this post doesn’t make any sense, it only proves its point.

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Did you know that the translation of Beck’s title track from his last album is “What’s up honky?” At least that’s something I heard.

So…save a couple of random posts here and there over the last couple months, I’ve been absent from this here blog. I’ve been anxious to talk about lots of things, but I’m running into a couple problems.

1. I can’t figure out where to start
2. I can’t figure out what to leave out
3. I can’t find the time

As far as #3 goes…I have time this evening. I’ve been playing around on my computer with a new design for my blog…maybe I’ll start there. Check it out and let me know what you think.

OK, so that accomplishes #1 above. After looking at it a little closer, I recognize that it has some similarity to graphicPUSH, a deisgn blog that I admire very much…it wasn’t intentional, but you’ll see the similarity a little, I think.

Once I decide to make the switch, I’ll have to learn how to create a theme in Wordpress. That will be an interesting exercise, I think.

I’m about 2 weeks away from 3 months at my new job and I’m really starting to hit my stride. The other day, my boss complimented me on something I said in a meeting. He said, “I really was impressed by your understanding of the business when you said that.” Maybe not a direct quote, but that was pretty close. Anyway, that made me feel good and like I am contributing…something I certainly didn’t always feel at my last position.

So that is good.

I love my new home office. It is so awesome to have a great space at home to work in. I don’t have any pictures uploaded yet that have it with everything in it, but this should give you some idea:

That is also good.

February has not been the best month for Alli and me health-wise. I went to the hospital last week with chest pains - fortunately it was only Costochondritis, an inflammation of the cartilage that connects the ribs and sternum. That wasn’t fun, but it did impress me how quickly I was attended to by the ER doctors when I mentioned I was having chest pains. The following day, Alli spent another few hours at the ER with her sister and then unsurprisingly, caught what her sister had. She is just now getting over it. Unfortunately, she had to miss the church retreat last weekend where her dad was the guest minister. He did a great job and I know that the congregation was very appreciative.

I’ve been speaking out in the Mission Center quite a bit these day and it is certainly taxing. I’ll be off to Leavenworth this Sunday and next month, I’ll be taking a 2-hour trek to Holton, Kansas. I’ve certainly seen a lot of Kansas since I joined the ranks of traveling speakers, but I like it. Alli is always willing to go with me too, which is great.

I have lots more to say, but for now, I’ll sign off. I know that only, like, 5 people read this…I hope I didn’t lose you.

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The Cheese Monkeys: A Novel in Two Semesters
by Chip Kidd
RATING: 9 out of 10

Back in June when I was attending the HOW Design Conference with my colleagues in Las Vegas, I was fortunate enough to attend a session put on by the guys at 3Dogz Creative about humor in the workplace. It was a great session and I got to get up on the stage to draw a quick logo for “DJ’s Hooker Vending Machines”. It was a traumatic experience because (unlike most other graphic designers) I can’t draw very well.

However, my participation in the class worked out for the best. I either got $50 in chips or copies of 2 books, one being The Cheese Monkeys (the other being one I haven’t read yet, but that’s neither here nor there).

Now, I’m not a knowledgeable enough designer to have known who Chip Kidd was before I read the book, but afterward, I definitely wanted to. So here’s a minor biography: Chip Kidd is considered the best book designer in the world and is as close to a “rock star” as a graphic designer will get. He has designed several of the most famous book covers, the most recognizable of which was Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton, the artwork of which was subsequently purchased by the movie studio for use in branding the cinematic dinosaur franchise.

The Cheese Monkeys is Kidd’s first novel and is interesting from the outside in. Kidd waste no words or space in or out of the book. The edges of the pages even provide 2 messages that are key to the book: “Do You See?” and “Good is Dead.”

Kidd’s book is about a student who attends a state school to study Art, even though he has a large disdain from what is considered “art”. It is told in two separate semesters, fall and spring. The fall semester is used to introduce the characters and to start developing their relationships and the spring semester is the one in which we meet the craziest graphic design professor in fiction: Winter Sorbeck.

Many would say that the subject of graphic design probably doesn’t deserve a novel of its own, at least not one that would be viable to the public at large. Kidd does his best to prove that just isn’t true. Whether or not he succeeds is really up to the reader. I think this book likely resonates more with artists and designers than it would any other audience, but I could just be biased.

I really enjoyed the book, although I thought that the end was a little disjointed. Maybe if I read it more carefully, I would have appreciated it more, but I think that it was intended to be that way because of the narrator’s state of mind.

The book gave me a better appreciation for my craft and made me wish just a little bit more that I would have taken more graphic design classes instead of being a self-taught designer. Sure, there are benefits to being self-taught that give me certain advantages, but I’m at a disadvantage in other areas as well.

If you’re a designer or an artist, I would recommend this book. Otherwise, I’m not sure. Maybe if you’re interested in the insanity of creative-types. And you’re into really, really good writing and great book design.

To update you on my 2006 reading list, I’m up to 22 books now, but I’ve read 5 books that were off my list, so according to the list, I still have about 8 to finish, which would get me to 30 total for the year. That wouldn’t be too bad, in my opinion. It’s not Julie level, but it’s still pretty good.

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NOTE: For those of you who read this site via feed and do not visit, you can ignore this message…it has to do with presentation on the site side.

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Are they gone yet?

OK, so here’s the deal for those of you that actually visit the site instead of reading the feed: I’m messing with the presentation…it may be a while before I’m done. I’m adding some AdSense ads and stuff in the sidebar (which may or may not stay) and I’m considering working on my very own Wordpress theme. It might be a good exercise for me, but PHP scares me. It could be a big old mess.

I know I just redesigned, but after further exploration in a lesser browser (that doesn’t support PNG files…STUPID IE!), I realized it wasn’t displaying right.

I’ve said this many times, but I’ll have some time on my hands in a little while. More on that shortly. Have a great evening.

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Las Vegas is truly a spectacle.

The last time I was in Vegas was about 4 years ago with Alli, Rich, Sarah, and the Beckmans. It was a great time, the first time I’d spent multiple days in Vegas as an adult. I was anxious to come back because a lot has changed in 4 years. In addition, I had the excellent fortune of being a part of a conference where I got to stay at the gorgeous Mandalay Bay Resort, one of the newer (and definitely one of the nicer) resorts on the Strip.

Shortly after we got settled, we hooked up with the rest of our group and went to a fantastic dinner at the Red White and Blue Bistro in the hotel. I had this seafood dish that was absolutely incredible. It was albacore tuna, salmon, shrimp and scallops in a parchment bag with red peppers and seasoning cooked extremely well.

After a relatively painless flight, we checked into the hotel and got settled in. It was my first conference that I’ve been to in a while that I roomed with someone that wasn’t Kevin, so I was certainly wondering how it was going to go. The first night, we didn’t do much. There was an opening keynote speaker named Michael Moschen, who was, in a word - CRAZY. Moschen is a juggler and performance artist who has helped bring the explosion of circus performances to Las Vegas (read: Cirque de Soliel). Speaking of that, I don’t know if there isn’t a major hotel in Las Vegas that DOES NOT have a Cirque show. There are a bunch of them now…back when we came 4 years ago, the only one around was O at the Bellagio. The one that I really want to see is Love at the Mirage…it’s entirely choreographed to Beatles tunes…totally sweet.

What made Moschen’s presentation so crazy was that he didn’t really say anything…he just talked about his “studies” of circles and spheres and then would show us cool juggling “techniques” he had developed, but really there wasn’t a lot about risk, which was supposed to be the premise of his talk. He ran a half-hour over his allotted time, and by the time he finished, the room (which had been almost to its 4,500 capacity at the start) was at least half-empty. People clapped, but I think that they may have actually been slapping the people around them to wake up.

The Opening reception was just OK. Not much to it when your opening reception is just in a big convention center adjacent to the Exhibitor Hall. Afterward, we walked up the Strip a bit before turning in for a big first official day.

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I’m in a weird design funk at work.

I feel like my ideas are stale and everything that I do looks derivative. My wife, bless her, has given me some inspiration this morning that I am going to try and realize…we shall see what happens.

Anyone know what to do to get out of a funk?

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