Not every pixel lives to see the light of day and not every design ends up the way we want it to. There are bosses to please, project managers with deadlines, and those pesky clients that need to be kept happy. Even with the best of intentions things don’t turn out the way we would like, but it’s important to take pleasure in the little things. Enjoy the process. Enjoy the iterations. Make the most of the cards in your hand. Here is a little detail from a project that didn’t turn out as well as I would have liked.

A nice Processing/Java applet that detects and tracks your mouse path. Here is my day doing some prototyping in Fireworks.

If media publishers are going to have the opportunity to integrate their content on the device, the experience should be marvelous. I would love to design a magazine experience for this medium. Check out this conceptual video is a corporate collaborative research project initiated by Bonnier R&D into the experience of reading magazines on handheld digital devices. It illustrates one possible vision for digital magazines in the near future, presented by their design partners at BERG.

While studying abroad in college, I had the opportunity to hold a sketch from Michelangeo in my own hands. A study for Adam in the Sistine.

People strive for happiness in most, if not all of what they do. Love and relationships are conditional on being happy. People create in order to be happy. They expand their mind, discover new things, indulge their intellect to be happy. Some people even believe money can buy happiness. Happiness is paramount in so many of our actions, but it also lives and acts independently of other emotions. The are no pre existing conditions or requisites to live happily. Although sadness may build a frame of reference in which to gauge happiness, it is not vital in the appreciation of experiences.

Falling in love is often referred to as the happiest moments of people’s lives. There is no reason for someone to suffer from heartbreak in order to be loved. A first kiss, a loving glance, that indescribable feeling comes from deep within us. In a way we can all relate. Storytelling and sharing messages of love and happiness has existed since the beginning of civilization. The warmth of those message transcend time and culture. One can appreciate the happiness of another without feeling that individuals sadness. Happiness acts independently of other feelings.

People follow artistic pursuits, strive for knowledge and enjoy private indulgences to grasp moments of happiness. The satisfaction of creating can be a catalyst for happiness, an equation that has nothing to do with sadness. An artist does not have to be sad in order to pick up a paintbrush. Happiness comes from doing it comes from completing. Happiness can also come from learning and discovery. A mathematician who solves a problem is happy because that have completed their work and made a discovery. A wine connoisseur can indulge in a fine glass of Pinot and enjoy that sublime moment regardless of sadness.

Sometimes a struggle occurs on the road to happiness. An obstacle can delay happiness. Extra work and diligence may be required to reach happiness, but none of those are not essential to experiencing happiness. The axiom, “it is always darkest before dawn” may hold true, but that does not mean we need the night to enjoy the day.

The are no pre existing conditions or requisites to live happily. Happiness is the acme of our being. It is something we can all understand. There mustn’t first be tears in order to have a smile. Go ahead. Try it now.

When I first start a project, I like to create a Keynote presentation of design inspiration and my initial creative thoughts. Sometimes that document becomes the keystone of my upcoming work, and other times it is never opened again. Nevertheless, it serves a valuable exercise for me to get my thoughts out.

This presentation was the first pass at a design for an internal review at work. The beginning reiterates some strategy points as well as my own insights into the brand. Then explains the site objectives and challenges and provides examples on how similar problems have been approached. Next some high level design inspirations are shown to help capture the intended “vibe” for the project. The presentation concludes with my two initial design concepts, annotations and some take away comments from the meeting. Your can see the final results of the project here.

Not that anyone really wants to see their favorite social network littered with advertisements, but as the inevitable happens, Foursquare offers a benefit to advertisers and users. Using the location information available from both their own database and your phones GPS, Foursquare can now offers “Mayor Deals.” These deals act essentially as a location based coupon system, giving local users a benefit for using their service as well as frequenting a location. A nice way to encourage participation from both business and Foursquarers. If anyone wants a free cup of coffee, just let me know. We’ll hit up Aldo on Washington Road.

Here are some logos for a start up sports management agency in Las Vegas that I’m doing a bit of work for. These are some of my favorites that didn’t make it through.

Primitive and ancient Greek artists used pottery and architecture to tell stories to the people. By explaining the history of their Gods on the frieze in the Parthenon and the tales of their past on their vases, the understanding by the masses was paramount in all of the artists objectives. The artists were not attempting to express their own feelings, but rather pass on cultural knowledge. Great artwork then was understood by the masses.

The mass understanding of an artwork by no means reflects the greatness of an artwork in today’s society. As movements in the art world have evolved, so have its purpose and function. Artists have gone from using art as a means to tell ancestral stories, document spiritual rituals and preserve knowledge to now externalize and manifest internal thoughts, feelings and expressions.

Primitive and ancient Greek artists used pottery and architecture to tell stories to the people. By explaining the history of their Gods on the frieze in the Parthenon and the tales of their past on their vases, the understanding by the masses was paramount in all of the artists objectives. The artists were not attempting to express their own feelings, but rather pass on cultural knowledge. Great artwork then was understood by the masses.

Art’s purpose stayed consistent through the ancient world into medieval times. Now artists were tasked with sharing the stories of the bible with the illiterate masses. Again, having clarity and understanding were supreme to individual expression. Artists were not striving for exact physical representation in the works either. Again, their focus was on storytelling.

Things began to change during the Renaissance, or the “enlightenment.” Artists had now mastered the skill of physical representation along with storytelling and could now begin to focus on self expression. The artists were not just showing the details, but adding their own insights and opinions to their work. For the first time in history, they had the technical skills to accurately show human emotion. The Mona Lisa asks viewers to step inside her mind and imagine her thoughts to see what is causing the enigmatic smile. Michelangelo’s David does more than represent the young boy that triumphed over the giant. We are expected to look at the furrow of David’s brow and imagine ourselves in his shoes. Does David exude confidence, or is there some apprehension in his eyes? For the first times in history, artists could force the viewer to look into themselves for explanation.

Impressionism was no longer about the literal representation of anything. It was the external manifestation of the artist’s internal feelings. Money did not paint London to accurately depict the city, but rather to capture the essence of a sunrise over the Thames.

As abstraction in art evolved, art became less about technical aesthetics and more about conceptual exploration, thus shifting the role of art in society. DuChamp and the Dadaists recognized this first. His “Fountain” took the notion of art from a storytelling medium to a fleeting abstract thought. Questioning precisely what is art.

The abstract expressionists threw away the accepted notions of physical representation. DeKooning, Pollack and Rothko represented their feelings, not objects.

For the viewer to understand modern art’s relevance, that requires a deep inner monologue. Only after much introspection can a view experience the depths of the artwork to the degree intended by the artist. They type of appreciate takes work not suitable for “the masses.”

Rather than judging the success of an artwork by it’s understanding by the masses, we should place it’s success on the depth of understanding by an individual.

At my previous job I was fortunate to work with some remarkable brands, one of which was Coca-Cola. We did a lot of work on some things that I can’t really talk about (lots of internal marketing strategy and such) but the results were always awesome.

Reading this months issue of Fast Company, with David Butler and other “Masters of Design” on the cover, I noticed he mentioned a few of the projects I’ve had a part in. Now I don’t want to brag, my roles in these projects we’re pretty small (they are wonderful business cinema animation videos, and I only helped with some of the concepts and art direction) but it’s great to see this stuff being talked about.

I didn’t do much with the above video, but its great to see the hard work of my good friends getting some recognition.

Early sketch for the installation I’ve been working on for the G20 Summit. Things are coming along rather well. Still lots of debugging and testing, but the framework is in place.

Squatting the art loft in Carnegie Mellon’s School of Fine Art building rocking out some G20 work on a lovely Saturday afternoon.

So here is the requisite cocktail napkin of creative brilliance for the August Wilson Center project. Its always interesting for me to look back at the process for a particular project and see its evolution. I see the start of the final idea here.

Since the inception of this project, I’ve held the President as the archetype for this project. The folks at the August Wilson Center are hoping President Obama stops by during the Summit, which means he will engage with this project. I’m excited to see the wants and the needs of our President and hopeful that he will do his best to make ours come true.

I have always wanted to build a digital installation as a public art piece, and the Summit has proven to be a fertile ground for the idea. I took an extra hour one day for lunch and walked through the cultural district looking for an available “canvas” for the piece. As I turned the corner on Liberty Avenue, I saw the construction underway for the August Wilson Center for African-American Culture – beautiful modernist structure built right across the street from the site of the Summit.

So as some of you may know, Geoff, Dana and I are working on some projects centered around the G20 Summit coming to Pittsburgh.

I have always wanted to build a digital installation as a public art piece, and the Summit has proven to be a fertile ground for the idea. I took an extra hour one day for lunch and walked through the cultural district looking for an available “canvas” for the piece. As I turned the corner on Liberty Avenue, I saw the construction underway for the August Wilson Center for African-American Culture – beautiful modernist structure built right across the street from the site of the Summit.

Now with an excitement about the space, the realization of the likelihood of making this all happen began to weigh upon me. I neither knew anyone at the Center nor knew if the construction would be completed in time for the Summit. After sharing my find with my boss and others at work, we realized we did have a contact at the Center. A few calls were made and the meeting was set.

With our rough plan in hand, we strolled across the bridge into town and entered our meeting. They loved it. We got the space, no questions asked.

Now with the perfect canvas in place, the real work is ready to start.