Problems and Solutions
Last night, I poked around the site a bit, making some changes here and there. Thought I’d share them with you, as well as the thought processes behind some of the updates. A great way to learn is simply to look at what someone else did and why they did it.
The biggest change is the new background. I’ve been achin’ for something to replace the pale beige tile I was using since this design, Sangria, launched last June. It wasn’t that I didn’t like the pattern I’d been using; quite the contrary, I liked it very much. It had a translucent, lace-like quality that I thought suited the other subtleties of the design quite well. However, I wanted something with more of a visual punch.
Over the past few months, I tried a lot of alternatives, but nothing ever looked or felt just right. Or, at least, nothing ever looked quite as right as the old pattern did. There’s no one, perfect answer to any design problem. There are simply solutions, and then solutions that are better. The tile pattern was the best solution I had found thus far. Still, I sought something better.
Last night, inspired by this post at Web Designer Wall, I went digging through Lightroom for some photographs that might work as a background image. I really like the texture and tonal variety that a giant, photographic background can bring to a website, so I looked for photos that were abstract and kind of simple: close-ups, long exposures, that sort of thing. I didn’t want images that were very representational because they would only distract from the website itself. After digging through thousands of photographs, this is the collection I had gathered.
I pretty much want to make love to this stunning macro photograph by Ryan Rahn. The pinks are spectacular and the shallow depth of field is out of this world. I love abstract shots like this. Just wanna blow them up and hang ‘em on my wall. Don’t miss his exquisite desktop wallpapers as well.
Vintage Car Logos and Typography
A few months ago I was at the Barrett-Jackson car auction in Scottsdale, Arizona and was drawn to all of the fantastic vintage logos. The shiny chrome typography truly evokes an era when cruising was a pastime and global climate change wasn’t a concern. I pulled out my iPhone and snapped as many of the logos as I could.
It’s no secret that iPhone’s camera isn’t the greatest — and iPhone 3G doesn’t bring any improvements — so many of the photos were pretty shitty (oxymoron). I did my best in Lightroom to polish them up for your viewing pleasure. The retro typography is quite nice to look at, and might be a source of inspiration for you designers out there. Here’s a couple of my favorites:
One Photograph, Five Color Schemes
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. Photographs are one of the best sources for color inspiration. Click through Flickr for about five seconds and you’re bound to come across a photo that has the potential to be translated into a different, but related, language: color. Oftentimes, in fact, a photograph will inspire not one color scheme, but many. Such was the case when I came across this striking image, captured by the talented Garrett LeSage.
I realized instantly that by focusing my attention to certain portions of the photo, I could easily pick out a handful of beautiful, organic color combinations. So, without further ado, here they are. Leave a link in the comments if you use one!
40 iPhone Wallpapers
So, I’m finally back from my seven-week journey through Europe. I’m hoping to write a post soon about all the places I visited (two continents, eight countries, around 16 cities), but that will have to wait seeing as I’m off to Los Angeles tomorrow morning to visit my sister, and when I get back move-in will take priority. This will be my last year at the University of Michigan — hard to believe, and very sad to think about.
Anyways, on a happier note, I’ve had a couple days now to play with my new iPhone. Hands down, it is the sleekest, most incredible gadget I’ve ever owned. The screen is gorgeous, rendering photographs beautifully with its 160 pixels per inch. I couldn’t wait to turn a bunch of my photographs into wallpapers, and following in the steps of Greg Storey and Garrett Murray, I decided to make them available to all of you.
40 iPhone wallpapers, each one a photograph, some from years ago, and a lot from my recent trip through Europe and to Turkey. Enjoy.
The Arrival of April
April is here, and already it has proven to be a beautiful one. Besides the to-be-expected spring showers, the weather has been mostly warm and partly sunny, allowing for some great photo ops.
Nature in bloom, I grabbed my Canon, slipped on some shoes, and wandered outside while the sun was closing in on the horizon. The setting sun threw some spectacular shadows and produced some really great, dramatic lighting. The result is five new photographs, beginning with “A Late Afternoon Shadow,” whose lengthy shadows were product of the low sun. Also new to the gallery is “Rejuvenation,” a macro photograph that includes a few sprouts of grass that, in actuality, were only a couple centimeters in length.
Anyways, enjoy the new photos (photography seems to be becoming the new focus of this site), and don’t forget to set your clocks forward an hour at 2 AM tonight!
The Return of 28MM
The most wonderful online photography magazine is back with a brand new design and eight new photo series. As in the past, the design is neutral and discreet, allowing the focus to remain on the photographs.
Some of my favorites are the very urban Downtown Laundromat, the gothic portraits of ARKHEE, and the exciting action shots of Pipeline. This shot from Coloring Between the Lines is also quite nice, with a very art deco feel.
I’m hoping to get together some of my best photos and send them in. I’m thinking maybe some of the tulip shots? I’m not sure if those are what they’re looking to publish to the magazine. 28MM says that “uninspiring nature shots” are not suitable for the site, and I’m unsure as to whether or not my tulips would be considered… uninspiring.
Spring Speaks French
The first day of spring is only a week away, so, in celebration, I went outside in jeans and a sweatshirt and shot some photos under the warm sun. There’s nothing like a photo excursion on a sunny day! Au revoir!