Brisk Studios » Articles

Web Designer Magazine portfolio article

mikeb — Wed, 26 May 2010 18:48:41 +0000

I recently had a chance to submit my web design portfolio to a very well known and well designed magazine called Web Designer Magazine. A couple a months ago I recieved an email from them saying I got accepted. I was thrilled and super excited. My article is in May magazine, Issue 170. Here is a screenshot from my iPad.

Custom Photography Blogs

mikeb — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 05:24:49 +0000

Custom Photography Blogs is going live on Aug. 31st and I can’t wait to proudly announce it on Monday. CPB is started by Jane Johnson who is a creative and passionate photographer who knows that every photographer wants their own person blog that they can express their photos and creativity. Just like she does.

I’m the other half of the project, I build what she designs, see my other post on the process we go through to build these custom blogs. We use WordPress for all of the photography blogs. We want people to be able to afford a custom blog so that’s where we come in, we design custom photographer blogs each with their own personality at a price that they don’t have to break the bank.

Preview of the home page:

Jane is a great person, has a passion for perfection and knows what she wants. She has made me a better designer and coder because of that. If you’re interested in a custom blog please check out Custom Photography Blogs.

You can also follow Jane on twitter.

Open Apps on Startup

mikeb — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 05:58:34 +0000

If you frequently listen to music, surf the web, get your email, or chat with friends, you may want your computer to open those applications every time you start up. On a Mac, it’s simple to do. Select System Preferences from the Apple menu, then:

Click Accounts (in the System row of the System Preferences window).
Click the Login Items tab.
Click the Add (+) button.
Scroll down and click Applications
Select the app you want to start up and click the Add button.

The next time you start up your Mac, iTunes will start up, too. In addition to opening applications at Start Up, you can have Mac OS X open documents and Network drives.

Are You Pushing Me?

mikeb — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 17:46:40 +0000

Part of my passion for design is being challenged and pushed beyond my current abilities, whether it’s in design, coding, or typography. I think we’re at our best when we’re inspired by a challenge or stretching. There are several influences in my life to that effect. One is a very talented designer and photographer, her name is Jane Johnson from Jane Johnson Photography here in Central Oregon. First, she is an amazing photographer, you can see her work here. Second, she has an amazing talent for designing personal, outside of the box, and unique custom WordPress blogs. The challenge to me was to take her photoshop mockups and make it a WordPress blog. This is pretty much a PSD to WordPress process, but because of her very custom ideas for the blog it becomes a challenge. Now through this process I’ve really advanced my knowledge in several areas like PHP, CSS, and JS. So, despite being challenging it has really helped me to grow as a designer and coder. I always look forward to the next project that we do because of the end result. You can view some of the work here: http://www.customphotographyblogs.com

Another influences for me is the design community as a whole. Each day I wake and check my twitters and RSS feeds, and each day there’s something the really grabs my attention or I just find amazing. I always find myself looking and wishing I could do those things. Well, thanks to the design community I can. People are willing to share there projects and knowledge and for that I am very thankful.

My question for you is, are you being pushed? Are you ready for a challenge? or are you just stuck in the same old ways and never growing or developing a passion for your career.

Who or what pushes you?