Archive for August, 2008

I didn’t go to college. I couldn’t take it, so I went to the next best thing. Art School. Now, I was nineteen and had no idea what I wanted to do with my life, but I knew I loved art. And I knew I hated school, so I started asking around about what Art School options were out there.

My Dad ended up setting me up with an interview with the people down at a local Design Agency in Downtown Sacramento. Two of the guys there told me that they moved to Atlanta to attend a small design school called Portfolio Center and that one of them had actually taught there for a short time. Now, at this point I was looking at all my options. I had looked into schools in Oakland and San Fransisco, but none of those schools really sparked my interest.  Plus, they were 4 year degrees, and PC was a two year specialized school.  In other words, you get a certificate and they help you get a job. Sounded good to me.

I moved to Atlanta in March of 2001.  I grew up pretty fast there as all my friends were four years older then me.  You see, most kids at Portfolio Center actually go to a normal college first.  They then graduate and decide they want spend more money on school.  But really, most people use PC as a graduate school, or finishing school.  I was the baby, yet most people I came across claimed they wished they had done what I had done and skipped regular college.  I guess I just knew what I wanted.  I just like to draw pictures.

So after being at PC for a while, I realized that I am one of about ten Illustrators.  Portfolio Center is a very small school made up of about 300 kids.  I would say over half are designers, a quarter photographers, and the rest are made up of Art Directors, New Media, and then Illustrators.  It was strange, but I ended up liking the fact that I was in the minority.  Plus, the designers were put through hell, and all we did was paint and draw all day.  I was a 19 year old stoner from California; I loved it.

Most of my friends were designers.  They were all very talented but had a lot more work then me.  I got the nickname “Danger” because I was such a bad influence on my overworked designer friends.  Now don’t get me wrong, I did work.  It was just that I was so talented, that I didn’t need to work that hard.  (sarcasm)  But really, I did learn a lot about drawing and painting.  Plus, I did take my first classes in After Effects, Flash, and Lightwave which I use on an everyday basis now.  PC was a great starting point for my career, and I loved every moment I was there.

Portfolio Center, with the help of my Illustrator instructor Gary Weiss, got me my first opportunity in the real word.  They set me up with an internship at Indigo Studios.  I have worked there ever since.  PC gave me the knowledge and professionalize that I needed to get a job in the real world and succeed at that job. 

And plus, if I hadn’t gone to PC, then I wouldn’t be here in Atlanta, and I would never have meet my beautiful wife Priscilla.  I can’t deny that PC was one of the best decisions I have ever made and It was a major turning point in my life.  I suggest that if anyone out there wants to be a designer, or wants to work in the creative advertising business, then Portfolio Center is the way to go.

My favorite argument.  I know I know, I’m a dork, but I think that everyone once in their life has discussed which type of computer they prefer.  I have had plenty of these conversations myself, after all the discussing, I think the whole thing is just stupid.  But I love it.  Here’s how each side pans out.

Macintosh aka The Mac is a solid computer with a great operating system that works exceptionally good most of the time.  It has iTunes, the iPod, the iMac, the iBook, and a bunch of other iCrap.  I don’t really understand the “i” hit, but that’s just me.

The one thing I truly love about Mac’s is it’s number one downfall.  The design.  The time and effort Mac puts into designing their machines and their operating systems is incredible.  But, it is also the reason they are so damn expensive. The main reason I have never gone Mac, is that they cost so much more.   If you compare the same specs on a Mac to a PC, you will find the same performance, the same capabilities, and the same power, but with a very different price tag.

One other reason Macs are so much more expensive is because they are the only ones that manufacture their product.  In other words, when you buy a Mac, you go to the Mac store and buy a Mac.  When you buy a PC, you can get a Dell, an HP, a Compact, or a custom built computer (like mine) from GinStar.  They all compete for the lowest price, thus cheaper computers for the consumer.  Apple has no such competition, so they can charge anything they want.

Now, I have always been a PC guy. From the beginning when I used to break my parents computer back in high school.  I learned on one , and I don’t think I will ever switch.  In saying that, Mac has come a long way since the 90’s.  Mac user’s have a lot more reason to be a Mac user nowadays, then they did back then.  And I say that because of one thing.  They are now using the same hardware.  They switch to Pentium chips and now they have the same firepower as a PC.  It’s amazing that they hadn’t done it earlier, because before they did, they STILL cost way more and they still couldn’t dish out the same power as a PC.  Back then there wasn’t even a question who was better, it was PC.  But this is the reason I loved to discuss it, because even back then there were a ton of people that still thought Macs were better.

You see, I’m in the creative industry.  And in the creative industry, people use Macs.  Correction, most people use Macs.  And this is the reason why Macs still exist.  They use creative ads to try to sell well designed computers to Creative Designers.  And go figure, they buy them.  The one thing Mac has is a grip on that industry, and because most people use them, most people buy new ones when they upgrade.  I don’t see this changing any time soon.  See, Big Ad Agencies find that they need 100 new computers, so they pay big money to buy a fleet of computers for their company.  They buy Macs cause they don’t know any better.  Apple gets paid.  They could have spent way less on PC’s and got they same machine.  The cycle continues.

OK, now PC’s aren’t perfect in any way.  They obviously have operating system problems, but that doesn’t mean much in the grand scheme of things.  They have more power, more software, and more choices.  They have more viruses only because they have more units to target.  They are cheaper.  They are more customizable.  They come with more options.  They cost less for the same power.  I’m not going to say you can get a better PC then a Mac because I could be wrong today and right tomorrow.  The technology is changing constantly.  But I will say this.  That new, top of the line PC is going to cost less then that new, top of the line Mac.  Enough said.

In closing I am going to say this.  If someone asked me,”What kind of computer should I buy?”  I would say,”What kind of computer do you like?”  And that is your answer.  In other words, just go with what you know.  Some people like Pepsi, I like Coke.  It’s all the same.  You’re just going to pay alittle more for your Mac.

This is my salute to Sac Town.  Sacramento, California is the town where I was born and raised.  I lived there for 19 and a half years of my life.  I owe it a lot of credit.  It has molded me into the man I am today, and now I can teach the dirty south about all the hella cool things that come from Nor Cal.

You see, Sacramento is in Northern California, which is NOT Southern California.  Don’t make that mistake in Sac Town, cause they don’t like it very much.  See, Nor Cal is much better than So Cal.  So Cal is for stupid ditzy Hollywood hotties that care more about their looks then their actual personality.  Nor Cal is much better cause we have the true California laid back approach.  We are the home of Haight and Ashbury, Santa Cruz and Humboldt County.  Trust me, it doesn’t get any more laid back than that.  (if you know what I mean)

Sacramento is located just East of San Francisco and just West of Lake Tahoe.  It is in the center of California, thus no beaches, no surfing, and no snowboarding.  But, it is within two hours to the beach and two hours to the snow, which is pretty awesome. Not many places can claim that fact.  Sacramento is the home of the Kings, Blue Diamond Almonds, Tower Records, Cal Expo, The Capitol Building, The Sacramento and American Rivers, Old Sac, Sutter’s Fort and An old Railroad Museum.  It has about a million people living in it, and it keeps growing.

If you live in Sacramento…

You go to Gunthers for Ice Cream.  You go to the Holy Bowl every year.  You have been to the Capitol once, but have driven by it a half a million times.  You love the Kings.  You have party’s at the river.  You know what a Merlino’s Freeze is.  You support the River Cats.   You miss the little Lucky’s.  You Trick or Treat in the Fab Forties.  You’re Catholic.  You go drinking in Old Sac.  You have feed the ducks at Mckinley Park. You don’t surf, you snowboard.  You are a Forty-Niner fan.  You love to say “hella” every other word because “hella” is hella cool.  You still don’t know your way around downtown.  You’re STILL bitter about game 6 of the 2002 NBA Western Conference Finals.  You wish you lived closer to an In-N-Out.  You go to the Drive-In.  You go to the 2-me on Thanksgiving. You remember when there was nothing around Arco.  You stay away from Oak Park unless you are going to school.  Your Grandparents live in River Park and your Uncle lives in Land Park.  You know what a “Jesbian” is.  Back in HS you can remember at least 5 times going out for the night to party just meant meeting up with people at the river and standing around thinking of something to do and just never getting around to it.  You did earthquake drills in school.  You know that the Greyhound station is worse than the subway stations in New York.  You have never been on the Light Rail.  You listen to KWOD.  You enrolled at Sac State at least once.  You have been to a Surge game.  You know what the Darth Vader building is.  You live close to a Jamba Juice.  You remember that Warner Bros store in the Downtown plaza.  You’ve taken a tour of the Jelly Belly factory.  You thought that the water tower between south sac and elk grove was an alien ship.  You’ve hit golf balls onto HWY 80 from the mini-golf course at Scandia.  You think 90 degrees isn’t very hot.  You appreciate the crispy grill melted cheese of a Squeeze Inn burger.

(I got some of these from: http://www.facebook.com/groups.php?ref=sb#/group.php?gid=2234998145)

www.BETTERBASKETBALL.com

“The Better Basketball DVDs are widely regarded as the finest instructional videos in basketball. The DVDs are very easy to understand, yet full of extremely detailed techniques. Each video starts by clearly teaching the most basic basketball fundamentals for kids or their parents, then progresses to highly advanced concepts that will vault a serious player to the next level.”

The DVD’s include instruction and interviews from Jason Kidd, Chauncey Billups, Mike Bibby, JJ Redick, Jermaine O’Neal, Andy Garcia, Rick Barry, Nancy Lieberman, Tamika Catchings, Sue Bird, Rick Torbett and more.

Better Basketball is my biggest freelance client.  I have been doing business with them for over two years now and I love it.  I do pretty much anything creative for them.   I’ve done DVD packaging, Magazine ads, web flash banners, gif banners, website redesigns, DVD inserts, brochures and wall sized posters.  I love having a freelance client because it puts money in my pocket for doing the stuff I love the most.

On top of that, it gives me the chance to be my own boss. Now, don’t get me wrong, I still do plenty of revisions, I just do them for one person, not five.  At Indigo I answer to my boss, my coworkers, the clients, and the clients’ clients.  It can be pretty nerve racking at times.  So with Better Basketball, I deal with one guy, and one guy only.  It is refreshing.

Also, it gives me the chance to work my own hours, and get shit done when I can, not when I need to have it done. BB is pretty lenient on due dates, and I truly appreciate that.  Also, I get to work from my own computer, at my own house.

Now don’t get me wrong here, I love freelance, but I would never consider doing it full time.  It’s too much work.  To me it’s considered a hobby, not a job.  Being a full time freelancer, you need to constantly be looking for new work as you finish the work you already are doing.  It is a never ending process.  Also, if you get a great client, and you do constant work for them over a couple of years, then they decide to go with someone else, then you are royally screwed.  It’s like being fired.  I couldn’t handle the roller coaster.

All in all, I love to freelance and I hope to do more in the future.  You never know, one day 23 Designs might be its own company, with its own staff.