There goes a couple months of my life…

My latest contract was allll consuming, and one of the first things to go was blogging time.  So sad.  The good news is, I’m launching the thing, I’m proud of it, and the client seems pleased as well.  You can’t ask for more than that.  There is that list of revisions they’ve requested though…I’ll get on to that after I’m done here.

The two biggest technologies employed by the project I’m wrapping up are Drupal and PHP…both of which I was relatively new at and both of which I now know much, much more.  Drupal’s been a real pleasure to work with, and I anticipate doing most of my work through it in the future.  Themeing was relatively simple and I added custom PHP code to it without too much trouble.

Anyway, I’ll do a post-mortem when the thing is actually up.

The really important tidbit of information is that Bethesda announced another expansion for Fallout 3.  Be excited.

Here’s the skinny.

Killing aliens…America’s other favorite sport.

Ok.  Back to code.  Nerd points etc.

From designer to developer: a logical leap

What goes on in my mind is comparable to stew. There is no recipe for stew, really. You just sort of throw a bunch of crap you think might work well together in a pot over medium heat and hope for the best. More often than not, the result is delicious (or maybe I’m just always hungry). One of the great strengths of stew is its improvisational nature: you can hit on unexpectedly great flavor combinations by combining “incompatible” elements. Unfortunately, the flip-side of this strength is that it’s incredibly hard to discern how you arrived at that amazing flavor, should you try to reproduce your legendarily tasty stew.

In terms of my brain, I like to pour in whatever interests me at the moment, let it simmer in there for awhile with everything else I’ve been thinking about for awhile…and then do something. It’s incredibly hard for me to separate all of the individual influences on an idea or experience, or obtain a “recipe” of any sort whatsoever. All I know is that I’m having quite a bit of fun at the moment, and my current direction is a culmination of years of disparate interests coming together.

It’s strange to me how we label ourselves in order to try and achieve some idea of an identity. For me, I’ve been wandering around as a “creative.” I’m not arrogant enough at the moment to call myself an artist, but I’m certainly artistic, have a keen interest in art (of all forms) and have occasional bouts of self-expression. This label has its origin in my high school experience of social and micro-cultural ostracism. I was an “art guy.” A select few fellow bizzar-o friends got it, and everyone else just knew me as the dude who drew pictures and produced the weekly school news program.

There’s an incredibly self-limiting stereotype that goes along with being a “creative.” It’s born out of a paradigm that came about in the era of corporate vertical organization and has been dead for years now. Ready for the lie I told myself for years? “I’m a creative. I’m a designer. I don’t do code.” This is a ludicrous statement that I subconsciously absorbed and believed until very recently. In truth, a designer (and especially a web designer) that “doesn’t do code” is akin to an architect who “doesn’t do floor plans.” The deeper I delve into code, the more I realize it’s a tool every bit as vital as Photoshop, and I regret not starting the journey sooner. If you desire to do any work online the bottom line is you must learn code.

For me, my quest to learn code began from a purely economic standpoint. There’s far less competition for jobs involving code, the jobs pay better, and much back-end functionality is similar enough that if you’re doing similar projects you can build on and improve existing work you’ve done in the past. Sold. I started adding developer sites and blogs to my reading alongside my ramblings on design blogs. I also took a trip to the book store and purchased some books (I still love margin notes too much to do everything online). To my unexpected delight, I found that creating code is actually incredibly creative! My brain loved it! The stew got tastier.

One of the most intimidating aspects of getting started with code is the sheer number of languages you can learn. As a designer, I already had a working knowledge of HTML and CSS, and I did a lot of work with WordPress and Joomla. Both of these technologies are open source (free) and driven by PHP, which is also open source. Therefore the next logical step for me was to learn PHP. This gives me the capability to create advanced applications for clients, such as custom e-commerce solutions, or Content Management Systems (CMS). The next language I plan to learn is Flex, which in an open source development environment for apps that run in Flash Player and AIR (desktop applications – ex. Tweet Deck). This would allow for the creation of gorgeous interactive interfaces and media presentation methods. Do you see the logical progression of creative capabilities by taking this path? Let me break it down:

• HTML : contains a page’s core content  (examples: every web page ever.  resources: W3 Schools )
• CSS: controls the presentation of that content (example: CSS zen Garden.   resources: site point)
• PHP: allows your pages to communicate with your web server and prepare HTML in a manner customized to individual users’ needs.  In other words, allows for interactivity.  (examples: Facebook, WordPress.  resources: php.net , Learn PHP 5)
• Flex: allows for the creation of dynamic and elegant interfaces etc.  (examples: Adobe Official Site.  resources: learn Flex in a week)

So there you are.  My path from designer to designer/developer was a kind of unintentional flow, a mash-up of  “conflicted” interests, and now makes for a very tasty stew.

WETA…how do you get paid to build toys this big?

Check out this full scale Warthog WETA built for the scrapped(?) Halo movie:

For all you uninnitiated and/or socially well-adjusted readers out there, WETA is Peter Jackson’s nerd paradise out of which the Lord of the Rings movies were born.  More pictures are available here.

There’s also a brief blurb on Newsweek’s blog about the abandonded movie that honestly makes me hope that Halo stays a game.  Maybe it could be done well…maybe.

Happy Sunday everyone.

Terminator:Salvation & Watchmen

If you haven’t taken a look at these two upcoming movies yet, do it now.  They both peak my interest for two very different reasons.

Terminator: Salvation looks incredible visually.  The lighting and production design look like they finally bring this franchise into the 21st century.  And Bale as John Connor?  You simply can’t do better.  Chills man, chills.

Watchmen interests me for another reason.  As stated in the “journal” trailer: This seems like an “unfilmable” graphic novel.  I sort of agree.  The Watchmen graphic novel is quite good. It’s a rare and undeniable classic as well.  It also happens to be self-cousciously campy and intentionally over-bizarro.  Parts of it would work very well in film.  An example would be Rorschach’s storyline.  The over-arching story remains decidedly comic book, and I fear it will translate poorly on the big screen.  Contrary to popular belief, this is my opinion on Sin City.  The translation to screen was too literal and it should have stayed a comic book.  If I wanted to read my comics on a big screen, I would scan them and project them on my livingroom wall. If you’re going to make a comic, make a comic.  If you’re going to make a movie, make a movie.  Movicomics suck.  Never forget your medium.  We’ll see how they do with this one.  Fingers crossed…

P.S.  The Watchman site is pretty cool.  WB dropped some dollars.