20 Tweetable Truths about Magazine Media 2012

I love magazines. They helped me to cultivate my own design aesthetic by finding what I find visually appealing and digesting the proper way (or improper way) of executing those designs.

They are great to grab when you are going on a flight or road trip -- or when you need some viewing material while in the seated position. They are my go-to when I need to be visually stimulated or ingest complete and utter nonsense because my brain needs a break from the more intelligent stuff.

So, if you are a magazine reader like me, you may also enjoy this quick 3 minute youtube video.

"Magazines drive web search more than any other medium. More than internet advertising and twice that of social media."

Blog Header

When I first created my blog header, I was aiming for something simple. After looking through all the blogs I've bookmarked over the years, the ones with a large volume of followers had a very sleek, clean design. Given this, I chose to add just a cream textured blog background to compliment my header. During the brief blog crit, Amy said the overall design was nice but the header looked a little sparse. By simply adding a colored background to the header, I think it punched it up and gave it a better feel. Throughout the semester, I've found I often focus too much attention on the foreground and don't give enough attention to the background. Another lesson learned.

Recipe

Glad you all enjoyed the dessert I brought in on Saturday! There are a ton of variations you can make of those things. In the past, I've mostly made Oreo Truffles which have a much different consistency than the ones I brought to class. This is the recipe for the ones you all had which taste more like cake. My favorite combination is red velvet cake with white chocolate coating. Enjoy!

Austin

When I am fortunate enough to travel somewhere, there's always this moment in the airplane when I'm high up above and about to land in a new city -- or when I'm in the middle of nowhere on a long road trip -- when I feel inspired. It's the realization of how big the world is, how much left I have to explore, how many people I still have to meet, and how much I still hope to accomplish. 

One of my favorite places to travel within the U.S. so far has been Austin, TX. I absolutely love the culture and atmosphere. I love going from place to place knowing that I'll encounter live music. You really can't beat it. And I love the mix of people. I'm heading back for the third time in January. Here's just a couple of pictures I took during my last visit. 

The Artist is Present

Just curious if anyone else has seen "The Artist is Present", a documentary about Marina Abramovic. She is a Serbian performance artist and art-world icon who uses her own body as a vehicle...as art. I remember being so fascinated by the film which focuses on Marina as she prepares for a restrospective of her work at MOMA. Marina is as seductive in her story-telling/artistry as they say.

 

Pay it forward

I love the idea of paying it forward. And when you can be a part of one of these moments, no matter how brief or small, I feel inspired.

There are about 25 people in my office. We sponsored a family of three (mom and two kids) as part of the UB Neighbors in Need holiday giving drive. I offered to be the lead coordinator, so over the past few weeks, we've been collecting money and shopping for presents. I was amazed at people's generosity when it came to giving their money and time. There was no pressure to be a participant but every single person stepped up. One co-worker spent several evenings shopping for the family and would come in each day with yet another thoughtful gift. The picture doesn't do it justice but we had so many presents to give the family by the end of it.

Earlier today, two co-workers and I went to drop off the gifts to the mom. They are living with a relative in a not so great area of Baltimore in a house with no heat ... and prior to that, they were homeless. When we arrived, she was extremely grateful and overwhelmed. Seeing the team effort on behalf of my office to make Christmas possible for a deserving family was truly inspirational.

Gift Checklist

One of my app proposal ideas for Project 5 was a Gift Checklist, so that all year-long I could log ideas for people I knew I'd have to buy birthday and holiday presents for (take pictures of items, include prices and store info., etc.). I scrapped that idea and went with another one but today I discovered "The Christmas List" app. I decided to pay the $0.99 for it so I could really take it for a test-drive and compare the app functionality with what I had in mind.

One thing this app has that I was not going to include is a budget. Practical, yes...but I personally prefer not to track that as I buy for my loved ones. I'd much rather shop in denial. While you can choose "No budget" for each recipient, you are still often reminded about the money issue which is something I'd like to turn off. However, this would be great if you were doing a Secret Santa with friends or co-workers and are forced to work within a budget.