BMTV-001 Illustrator CC Pencil Tool

This is my first try at using Google Hangout to make a video and share my graphic design and illustration tips and tricks. BMTV-E001. This time it is about Adobe Illustrator CC Pencil Tool. I even show a great way to manipulate fully rendered objects on the fly with a single path. 

Over the years I have watched many training videos on how to use the tools that illustrators and graphic designers use everyday. I find it humbling to realize that now I am starting to make these videos and show everyone that is eager to learn. 

I also am still watching and learning all the time. The software, and even tradition techniques, are always changing. I watch many different podcast on how to achieve greatness with these programs. A few years ago I got an apple TV and it has links to apple iTunes podcast as well as the wealth of show on youtube and vimeo. I love them all. 

Also over the years I have taken classes and watched many paid video selections. Some are accredited teaching institutions and others are online training of the same caliber. The point is to always keep learning and growing with your creative knowledge and skills in the software of your choice. There was a saying that went something like. You can learn Photoshop in a day but it takes a lifetime to master. Of course you can swap out Photoshop for your favourite software and it still probably rings true. Remember to learn the basics and then add on as your experience grows.

Privacy Issue?

These days many of us are concern about our privacy. It seems we want to keep the information about ourselves to ourselves. People tend to get defensive, mad, and even upset over the wanting of our personal information. I take the opposite approach. Marketing is companies trying to understand you and trying to get you to engage with them. The hope is, this engagement makes them money on a product or service they are providing. People feel some companies are manipulating or taking advantage of them. I understand this but take a unconventional look at it. I feel as a consumer I should let the marketers engage with me so I get a better unaggressive, experience. This openness on my approach lets the marketing giant understand me better and in turn engage with me better. This provides lots of advantages for me as well.

If a car manufacture has research that it's customers like red cars, so they make red vehicles. You as a consumer may like red as the car research suggests, but it turns out in this example you prefer a deep dark red, burgundy.  This is not the bright fire engine red that the manufacture made. If people could be more open with there information it would have saved the car company money and saved you some frustration. You would be happier. You would get the car colour you wanted. Not the car colour you kind of wanted do to your lack of openness on who you are and what your likes and dislikes are. This is a hypothetical that I hope demonstrates my point.


The perfect example of this is with the data Netflix collects on people that use their service. Some feel this is an invasion of privacy and should not be allowed. Their research shows that many viewers like political dramas, and government dramas. Viewers also like and watch movies with Kevin Spacy and Robin Wright in them. So Netflix goes to these actors and make a show based on a political government drama. The public gets a great show called House of Cards. They do not get a show maybe with Kevin Spacy in a political comedy or Robin Wright in a government medical show. The people get the perfect show based on the openness of the data that Netflix was able to collect.

I am not saying open the fluid gates and give up all our information. Banking info and other security style personal info should be, just that, personal. Still consider the next time you get a survey on some crazy thing you think is silly, fill it out. They take only minutes and allow companies the ability to give us more of what we want. This creates a win win situation. Be careful, but opening up some of our internet searching habits may not be as damaging as we may think. Many browsers have tools to hide your surfing and we should use them when entering banking sites for added security. Remember to turn them off again so you do not louse features of your browser and effect your experience. Also keeping open internet use can allow sites to get your info to better their site, including products and services.

Let me know your thoughts on the issue of privacy and if you will be more open in the future. Looking forward to your comments.

Hackapalooza - Ladies Learning Code

Spent Saturday at hackapalooza an event with Ladies Learning Code. This is my third time mentoring at Ladies Learning Code in Toronto. They are an organization that is supporting the development of women in the tech industry. I’m mentoring on the graphic side and learning a lot about coding. I am even stepping in with some code help when needed. Mostly I am the Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop guy. I try and squeeze InDesign into the conversations when I can, usually I am mentoring in a design and graphics capacity. Saturday was a great day of a two day event. Many students had great questions. Thanks for keeping us mentors working hard. Thanks to all the mentors for working together and helping the ladies learn new things. Even the mentors learn some new things at theses events so they are good all around gatherings. I had a great Saturday, and wish I was there Sunday. I am sure it was just as good. To everyone at the event remember you can contact me with any graphic questions, I am happy to help.

Passions and Pathways

Erin Centre Middle School - Passions and Pathways Fair, I volunteered and taught grade 6, 7 & 8's about creativity. Trying to inspire them with how creativity affected my life. It's an event for encouraging, and motivating things in your life. I found it educational and fun. I learned so much as well. I was nervous and excited at the same time. I presented my life of graphic design and creative history. I presented three times to three different groups. They watched my slide show accompanied with my discussion. We followed the  presentation with questions from students and overseeing teachers. It was a great morning and thanks to Erin Centre Middle School for having me. Thanks to my friend and teacher Scott Kelly for recommending me and getting me involved. I would do it again. 

This is a link to the Passions and Pathways presentation on Apple iCloud Keynote software. You can view it here. Unfortunately you can not see the accompanying presenters notes that I used on my iPad when presenting but it should give you a little bit of an idea. I wish I could show you more. Enjoy.

Ladies Learning Code Photoshop

Volunteered for Ladies Learning Code Photoshop in Toronto. This is part of Learning Labs. This section finds that most of the tech industry is dominated by men and they want to get women involved. So they made courses for women to learn with instructors and mentor driven classes. I had lots of fun meeting new people and mentoring ladies with the Photoshop basics. Thanks for the experience. Thanks to all the ladies who came out. Thanks to all the mentors for a great day. The experience for me was great. I like to train people in tech along with creative ideas including graphic design. Most of the time it is with Adobe products, including Photoshop, InDesign, and Illustrator. It is fun and exciting to see the progression from a junior understanding to a more advanced one. Even the ladies at this event, most learning Photoshop for the first time, have great new unseen perspectives on how to do things. It is fun to see their eyes light up as they see the potential of what they can do. I also find it important to let them know that there are many ways to accomplish a task and in many case there is no wrong way. The truth is there are standard practises in the industry that work best. Thinking outside the box and finding how to do things a faster better way is great. This is how I continually analyze most of my projects. When starting out it is best to learn the fundamentals and the standards to produce great creative the way it is intended. Thanks again to everyone involved.

Balconies with Swimming Pools

This is a interesting link, for crazy architecture involving pools on balconies. Very cool, but I would take some time to get use to it for fear of its safety. What is your favourite over the top design project that you have come across? Are you involved in something radical? Let us know in the comments.