digisqueaks

portfolio redesign is officially up

// May 29th, 2009 // No Comments » // miscellaneous

On a personal note, the 2009 redesign of my portfolio is officially up at mepriestley.com . Complete with portfolio, services, a short bio, twitter updates, social networking links, and a contact form. Oh, and of course links to both a web and print version of my resume.

I guess that’s all on that for now. It’s been full steam for two days getting it where I wanted it. Time for a breather.

my take on video games

// May 11th, 2009 // No Comments » // applications, design, gadgets, gaming, mobile, online, tech

I’m in a habit of sharing articles on Delicious, Twitter, and every now and then, on Facebook. The design specific ones I always share with the design group at LSC. From time to time I come across articles that I think friends would like, so I post them on their walls. Sometimes I come across something that I just think anyone who’s interested would love to see, but I don’t necessarily have anyone specific in mind.

The other day, I watched the trailer for the new game, Red Dead Redemption. It’s a Rockstar game that is set to be released some time this fall. From what I’ve read, it is basically Grand Theft Auto, but set in the West during the late 1800s. Usually I’m not into stuff set in the “old West,” but the graphics caught my eye right away. If the graphics are already that good in the trailer and it’s supposedly a huge, open world game from Rockstar, I couldn’t help but be excited. I posted it on Facebook and hours later I get the comment, “You spend so much time in worlds that don’t exist.” Of course it was a joke, not a jab or anything, but I started thinking about why I instantly felt like I had to defend myself.

I’m surprised that given what a digital world we live in, video games still receive such harsh stigma. I’ve loved video games since the first time I played the text game, Zork on our first computer, a tiny Apple II when I was 5. From there I went through several gaming systems including the Turbo Grafx 16, several Game Boy models, several Nintendo models, a Sega Genesis and every one of the Playstation models (PSX, PSOne, PS2, PSP, PS3).

I think the reason that I love video games so much is the challenge. I think another big part of the appeal is that it is the perfect blend of art and technology. Two things I’m very interested in. As time goes on, the challenges get harder and the graphics only get better. The art is no good if the programming isn’t smooth, but even that is making huge leaps. Last year produced some of the best video games I’ve ever seen (Little Big Planet, Bioshock, Metal Gear Solid 4, Grand Theft Auto 4, Fallout 3, SKATE, Burnout Paradise, Uncharted, etc.). This year is supposed to be even better. When you think about how much time and work goes into creating a game, I don’t see how anyone couldn’t appreciate it. (more…)

a few useful sites for free fonts

// May 11th, 2009 // No Comments » // miscellaneous

Having both a business for digital design, as well as graphic design, fonts certainly are a necessity. There’s always a need for fonts of all shapes and sizes. While my favorite site was always dafont.com, through reading various RSS feeds and such, I have come across quite a few resources to find just the font I need for any project.

dafont.com – Not only are the downloads PC/Mac friendly, but each font is categorized based on its look and feel. I really like the Eroded, Distorted, and Destroy categories. The one downside to the site is that more often than not, the search is broken. Usually it’s not too big of a deal because of the categories.

fontsquirrel.com – This is an excellent site that I somehow came across. Every font is free and is licensed for commercial use. The administrators of the site hand-pick the fonts that they deem especially great which is greatly appreciated since one of the downsides of trying to find good fonts is weeding through all of the not-so-great selections. The site has a featured section right up front and from there you can also select a style and format to browse.

myfonts.com & fontfont.com – Great sites, but only a select few are ever free. If you need to locate a specific font for a job or such, I’d start here, if not at Adobe or Fonts.com. Just be prepared to pay a bundle.

smashingmagazine.com – Smashing Magazine is just awesome, all the way around. Not only are they a great resource for free images, fonts, icons, etc., they have awesome tutorials and articles on everything from XHTML tactics to how to improve your tweeting habits. There are three great articles I’ll mention, but there’s a whole slue more if you search for the tag “fonts.”
15 Fresh High-Quality Free Fonts
15 Beautiful High-Quality Free Fonts
40 Excellent Free Fonts For Professional Design
More (Fonts tag)