Merry Christmas

"The Ins & Outs of Self-Motivated Creativity"

This year at FITC Toronto, the Halifax Designer James White made a presentation called "The Ins & Outs of Self-Motivated Creativity"... I cannot add anything, you really all just have to see it.


Part 2 and Part 3

You can follow James White on his Website.

What Makes a Good IDE Color Scheme

Last night I posted what is my all-time favorite color scheme. It then occurred to me that not everyone knows what to look for in a color scheme. It’s mostly a matter of taste, but there are essentials.

Putty your IDE

If you’re a developer or programmer and have spent considerable time reading and writing code, you know how important it is to have a good color scheme in your IDE that’s easy to read and easy for your eyes.

There are a lot of different color schemes for different IDE’s. I’ve looked on-and-off for years. I stuck to Ruby Blue on different IDE’s for quite some time. I recently stumbled on one and have ported it to different IDE’s... Putty!

Design Specs - Knowledge Review 8

One important aspect of design and programming (development as a whole), game-oriented or not, is having your design-specs defined early on in the project and use the specs as a production-guide. If you want to suddenly make something, you need to see if it fits [support] your design-specs. If not you either drop the idea or implement it after the first version of your project is completed.

This allows for the development to remain focused and productive. If the team keeps straying on other details that are not part of the plan, the production will take a lot more time than needed, or more time than allowed.

I do think it's important for one to learn what are design specs—what they include, what they look like, how they work. That's why I'm going to show you the design-specs of Knowledge Review 8.

2010... Culmination & What to do in 2011

On this last day of 2010, it's time to look back on the goals I had set myself at the beginning of the year. This is essentially looking back at the three ((1), (2), (3)) posts I made in January where I noted what I wanted to accomplish during the year.

Edit CSS in Google Docs

Since I changed my email to Google Mail (GMail), I slowly started using the other Google applications. In time, they have become essential to the way I work and I organize my time. Syncing my Google Calendar to my iPod Touch is just awesome.

One of the things I've been using a lot if Google Documents. I love to be able to create a document at the office, perhaps just a brainstorm idea or a draft from something and without managing any files being able to continue from home. I also love the collab. features.

My favorite feature of Google Documents was the ability to edit the style of the document with CSS (Edit CSS).

When Google launched New Google Docs in April, their was an immediate uproar - they removed Edit CSS and Edit HTML. My favorite feature gone.

Recently, I was randomly searching to see if Google was turning back or if they explained why the removed it. Instead, I found a way to revert to the old Google Documents editor which includes the Edit CSS. Here's how to do it

• In Google Documents, in the top-right corner of the screen click on Settings then Documeent Settings.
• Click on the "Editing" tab
• Uncheck "Create new text documents using the latest version of the document editor"
• Save

There you have it. I posted this because it's not widespread knowledge. Some people are still complaining about the fact they can't edit their styles in an efficient way because of the lack of Edit CSS in New Google Docs editor.

Photography Frames Part 3 (of 3) - Final Action

As promised, here is how to put both Actions previously created (here (1) and here (2)).

This step is critical into making the frame and logo/signature placement truly automated for Batch Processing.

Photography Frames Part 2 (of 3) - The Signature

Here is the second part of the... uh... I guess you could call this a "tutorial"... Photography Frames.

This time, I'm going to cover the exact method on how to create the Actions that's going to insert a Logo or Signature and position it at the bottom-right corner of a photo.

Photography Frames Part 1 (of 3) - The Frame

As promised, I'm going to post an easy to make a frame that's a bit higher than wide in order to have some place for a signature or logo.

The basics of the method is borrowed from an old Layers Magazine tutorial. I'm just going to cover the bare bones of the technique. You will probably adjust the parameters for your own needs.

This post is only going to cover the actual frame. Following posts are going to cover the signature and then how to put it all together and why.

"Frame" Saga Success!

I've done it. Regardless if a picture is landscape, portrait, or a 4:1 panorama of any size, I have a set of Actions that, during a single Batch automation, creates the frame and place/position the watermark signature at the exact place it needs to be. The images above is the proof.

During the weekend I will post about how I made the frame and how I automated the whole watermark-signature placement.

Ongoing "Frame" Saga

Wondering what I've been cooking up for the last few days, read on...

And Now, A New Wallpaper...

While browsing old photos I took in the past, Stéphanie challenged me to make a wallpaper out of a picture I took in 2006... so I did...

It's available in a variety of fullscreen, widescreen sizes... including one in HD. Check out the DeviantArt Page to download it.

Not All Prisons Have Bars

Last night I went to bed early. I was proud of myself (I'm lacking a lot of sleep) until an inspiration flux woke me up in the middle of the night. I had to write, I had to design...

Here's the first piece. The one that woke me up.

Majestic Spirit

Out of the blue, I pulled a new composition (photo-manipulation).



I was vaguely inspired after staring at the cover art of [PS3] Resistance: Fall of Man. I didn't want to do something in the same style, but I wanted the dirty/grunge treatment in a landscape photo-manipulation. While working on it, the piece changed style entirely. What was supposed to be a dead/static piece somehow ended up with a life of its own.

Time for me to go out and shovel the doorway again. Damn snowstorms...

Where I'm Going in 2010... (Professional Life)

The first post of the year is something we ask ourselves every year at multiple times (relationships, finances, personal lives, professional lives, etc...) is where we want to go, what we need to do, or what we want to achieve during this brand new year. I will attempt to ask myself this from a professional side. Later this week I will cover the same topic from another perspective.

I think it's clear for everyone by now that masteringMaya hasn't only been put on ice, but has been shut in the freezer for a long time. I often get the urge to simply pull up Maya play around in it in order to re-familiarize myself with the application and maybe run through a few videos. But I don't do it. I hold back for a reason: I need to concentrate on a goal that I need for my profession. Work before fun, I guess you could say.

By the end of the year, I want to have fully dived back in Web Development. I want to become comfortable developing Web applications like I was back in College. For this, there are specific steps that I personally want have to take.

Art Therapy - Headache Spatter

A piece of "brush-work" driven by a nasty headache. I felt much better afterward.

Now I can maybe work on a second "Holiday" Wallpaper... maybe...

Penguin Stare - Wallpaper

My latest piece, a wallpaper. It's honestly my first 'real' wallpaper piece — Penguin Stare. I got inspired by a label while wrapping gifts. I loved the asymmetrical-shapes style and made my own character out of it.

It's available in a variety of fullscreen, widescreen sizes... including one in HD. Check out the DeviantArt Page to download it.

Album Insert Panorama WIP

I've been mentioning lately that I needed to work on the design material for the album of "La voix des jeunes" (The voice of the youth). In case you are curious, here's a preview of the work required for one of the many elements.

How Designers Feel...

Making good design is like giving somebody an orgasm: There's a lot of sweat and heavy breathing and sometimes you're totally in the dark. In the end, you just keep fiddling about until you get it right
---Stefan G. Bucher, 344 Design

I got this from a must-own book if you're a designer: 401 Design Meditations. It was way too good for me to not share it with you guys.