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Link Digest for Creatives and Creators 11-23-08

November 23, 2008

Welcome to the first of many weekly link digests. Every Sunday, I will post a weeks worth of interesting, inspiring, and creative links that I have come across and found useful.

Make sure to check out my friend Trevor’s weekly link digest at Almost Effortless. His first edition was what inspired me to start these posts.

Iphone GUI Mockup PSD
This iPhone GUI file came in handy having recently been mocking up iPhone Application ideas.

Vintage Photos on your iPhone
We all know the quality of the iPhone isn’t that great. Its plastic lens does not produce a hi-quality image. What it IS good for however, is emulating cheaper cameras. Erik Pettersson’s Apps Vint Green and Vint B&W process your iPhone photos into Lomo style, vignetted and color shifted masterpieces. Perfect solution.

Nate Ripp Design Portfolio
Great illustration and design work from Nate Ripp. His portfolio is a good example of how creatives should display their work. Very simple. One problem though. His website doesn’t allow me to link directly to specific projects. So now, instead of simply posting a link, I have to say “Check out the “Shook One” gorilla in the Design category”. Make Projects Linkable!

Twelve Virtues of Rationality
It’s a little academic, but this article explains how to embrace your ignorance and pursue absolute truth and knowledge. Great read for the forever-curious types.

Frankenstyles
I love Frankenstyles’ quirky illustration work and his enthusiastic home page slogan, “Open for busy-ness.”

Six Things I wish I knew on My first day at Berkley
Inspiring as HELL! A great speech from Derek Sivers (Creator of CD Baby) about how to get the most out of your learning years. Not just for students or musicians, this video is a must watch for all creative types. Seriously, go grab your coffee and take ten minutes to watch this now.

It’s Not How Good You Are, It’s How Good You Want To Be
Finally, a book that I read this weekend. This inspiring read for creatives and creators is all about how to become successful in a creative field. Topics such as “Don’t Be Afraid To Work With The Best” and “Do Not Put Your Cleverness In Front Of The Communication,” confirm and concisely enforce things that I have been saying for years. Fifty Percent Validation + Fifty Percent Inspiration = 100% Recommendation! Buy it!

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Job: iPhone Application Developer

November 22, 2008

I’m looking for a iPhone developer that would be interested in working on some small simple photo-based applications for the iPhone. I have a few apps that are designed and ready to be coded. I have a budget. You will be paid. Please email me your info to thegorilla at greyscalegorilla.com. Include links to applications or other projects that you have previously worked on.

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Greyscalegorilla Print in the White House?

November 21, 2008

My Comic Book Poster was featured on today’s Coudal Holiday Special. They said that they should send one to our comic-loving President Elect. I would LOVE to see my print hanging in the Oval Office.

EDIT: Missed the Special? Thats OK. You can Buy one Here.

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Ray Ring Flash and Nikon 85mm 1.4

November 20, 2008

I just bought two new toys. The Ray Ring Flash and the Nikon 85mm 1.4 D Lens. I will have full reviews up soon. Many photographers are wondering if the Ray Ring Flash is worth it. So far, I think it is. I have a pretty big shoot with it tonight though, so I will have some “real world” pics to show soon. Stay tuned.

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Invest in Yourself

November 19, 2008

How is the economic downturn affecting you? Is work slow lately? Do you find yourself with more free time then you used too? This is the perfect time to go start a new project.

Downturns and lulls are the perfect time to invest in yourself. Have you always wanted to learn that new piece of software or have you wanted to work on that photo project you have had in your head for years? Now is the time. Invest in yourself and learn something new. Then, when things pick back up, you will have new marketable skills and a great new piece to show of in your portfolio.

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Every Single Photo From My First Month With a Camera

November 18, 2008

I totally forgot about this 1st month archive page that i made about one month after I started Greyscalegorilla. It made me quite nostalgic to scroll though about six thousand of my very first shots. I just wanted to share this with everyone again. Do you remember your first month shooting?

Also found in the archives - One Year Of Greyscalegorilla video.

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Michael Stahl David Dot Biz

November 18, 2008

I just finished helping design a site for the subtle yet ridiculously over the top comedy series michalstahldavid.biz behind the star. He just wrapped up filming and the show has gotten funnier every week. Make sure to start from the first episode if you’re new to the series.

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Stop Watching and Start Doing (No More Cooking Shows)

November 17, 2008

Photo by Here’s Kate

I used to be a tutorial Junkie. Especially as I was learning Cinema 4D. Tips, tricks, and how-to tutorials were everywhere. I watched them all. I felt like I was learning a TON about the application. I would even open the program and play around to try out what I learned. It wasn’t until I tried to use Cinema 4D in a REAL project at work before I realized that I was practically clueless on how to actually use the software. It wasn’t that the project was difficult… it wasn’t. The problem was this:

Watching or reading about someone doing something is not a replacement for doing it yourself. Working from scratch gives you real problems to solve and real things to learn. Sure it’s fun to just read about techniques, or just play around, but why run into problems or try to solve a difficult technical issue when you’re “just having fun?”

There are never problems to solve with tutorials. Usually the “instructor” runs though the tutorial step by step with no missteps or blunders. The proverbial cooking show cake is already cooked. He is just running through the recipe. Yea, you can replicate his exact tutorial but what if you want to make it slightly different? Usually you’re stuck.

Try this instead. Make your own small project from start to finish. Try to replicate something that inspires you. Now there are real problems to solve. How do I render for widescreen? I need to make that spin around. I want to make the material reflective. How do I do that? I need the timeline twice as long. How do I cut this out of the background? How do I make this go backwards? Go look for the answer. Now we’re actually cooking instead of just sitting on the couch watching a show about it.

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