Monthly Archives: October 2008

The Week in Pictures: 10.24.08

October 24, 2008

week in pictures nubby twiglet typography

week in pictures nubby twiglet inspiration

Welcome to the Week in Pictures! This is some of the inspiration I keep posted above my home desk. Underneath all that imagery is a magnetic board by Three By Three.

week in pictures nubby twiglet headphones nemo

At Nemo, we just finished a project that’s stretched over the last few weeks. If you have the opportunity, I always advise working with people way more skilled and talented than you because you learn so much more that way!

nubby twiglet grandpa grandma

Tuesday was a bittersweet day as I said goodbye to my Grandma, but my Grandma & Grandpa from my dad’s side showed up and kept us company. Can you believe that they’re 80?! It totally blows me away.

nubby twiglet grandpa

My brother and Grandpa showed up separately, both wearing black hats. Everyone calls my Grandpa ‘Sharky.’ He got the nickname back in the 80s on a plane ride to Reno!

nubby twiglet mom

My Mom was in town from Phoenix so we got to spend a ton of time together. I’m looking forward to seeing her again in December. Sounds much more inviting that freezing to death in Portland!

nubby twiglet art show nemo design portland oregon

In other news, it’s been so nice walking down the Nemo hallway every morning with the walls covered in my art. I’ll be sad to see it go at the end of the month!

nubby twiglet art show nemo design portland oregon

Are you also addicted to the Polaroid Image Maker? I can’t stop…these are some of my favorites so far!

How was your week?




Link Love: 10.23.08

October 23, 2008

1. Do you wonder what some of your favorite blogs looked like back in their humble beginnings? Royal Pingdom covers a visual history of 11 successful blogs.

2. Smashing Magazine has the ultimate collection of useful Photoshop actions that can help save tons of your time! (An action is a recording of a sequence of commands and operations that you can save and then access later on.)

3. FreelanceSwitch has a helpful list of 50 ways to improve your productivity as a freelancer.


4. You MUST try out the amazing Poladroid image maker! I can’t believe how authentic my attempt looks!

5. Graphic designers and typography lovers rejoice at this collection of vintage posters!

6. I never realized that famous French lifestyle boutique Colette has a blog.




Ask Nubby #13: Choosing a Blogging Platform

October 22, 2008

“I’m wondering, what blogging software do you use? I’m just trying to toss up between different ones and I’m not sure which one I should choose.”

…

It’s great that you’re giving your software options some forethought. By determining your blogging goals, deciding what you want to gain and what kind of community you want to build, you should get a better idea of which platform is best suited to your needs.

BEFORE GETTING STARTED, CONSIDER:

a. The maturity of the software: Has the platform been around for a few years? Is it upgraded regularly? Chances are that if it’s more established, there will be a bigger selection of themes, plugins and a larger developer community to back it up.

b. Your skill level: Are you savvy with basic HTML and PHP? While WordPress is revered for its user-friendly interface and is perfect for entry-level bloggers, Textpattern is aimed at more skilled users.

c. The level of community interaction: Do you envision yourself managing a single author blog or a huge community? If you’re leaning towards building a community, platforms like Drupal and Nucleus might be better options.

…

WORDPRESS LOVE

Over here at Nubbytwiglet.com, I swear by WordPress, a stable, state-of-the-art blogging platform that provides thousands of free customizable themes and plugins.


Nubbytwiglet.com relaunched in a blog format in Fall 2007

WordPress was founded in 2003 and since then, it has grown into the largest self-hosted blogging platform in the world. WordPress is the perfect choice for first-time bloggers who want to install their own software. Likewise, it’s also a fantastic option for advanced users who want to modify the code into something that’s more customized. My free theme was completely revamped by coding genius Star, who managed to merge my website with the existing template.

If you decide to use Wordrpess, you’re in great company. Some household names that use the platform include The New York Times, Ford, People Magazine, Delta Airlines, The Wall Street Journal, Time Magazine, BoingBoing and Xerox. And, the list of big-name adopters is constantly growing.

WHY SHOULD YOU CONSIDER WORDPRESS?

Why do WordPress users preach on about it like it’s the gospel?

1. The install is fairly quick and painless. Simply download the newest version of the platform here (it’s constantly being updated) and follow the steps in the install guide.

2. There are over 2,000 free plugins available from the WordPress site that allow you to customize your experience down to spam filters and comment formats.

Some of my favorite plugins are Akismet, which cuts spam comments down to an almost nonexistent level and ShareThis, which allows users to click on a list at the end of your post and submit it to popular social networking sites.

3. The admin panel in WordPress is web-based so as long as you have an internet connection, it’s possible to update from anywhere in the world. Additionally, the interface is streamlined and uncomplicated.

4. If you’re wanting to manage multiple blogs, WordPress MU (multiple user) is for you. It allows you to run an unlimited number of blogs with a single install of WordPress! It’s ideal for magazines, universities and blog networks.

FREE WORDPRESS THEMES

WordPress is an open source project; this means that hundreds of people around the world are constantly working to make it more efficient and it’s totally free to use. Nearly 200 themes can be viewed directly on the WordPress site. Some other personal favorites include:

1. Modicus Theme:



2. Futurosity Theme:



3. Overstand Theme:



4. Fontella Theme:



5. Modicus Remix Theme:




…

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

1. Some of these were mentioned above, but if you’re curious about other blogging platforms besides WordPress, popular options include MoveableType, Textpattern, Nucleus, Mephisto, Drupal, ExpressionEngine, Serendipity and Joomla.

2. Wikipedia has a helpful entry that covers almost everything you need to know about blogging software.

3. Smashing Magazine has compiled 100 free WordPress themes. Other resources for free themes include Free WP Themes, Skinpress and Fresheezy (and too many more to mention)!

What blogging platform do you use? What are some of benefits of using this platform? Would you change platforms now if you had the chance?




Nubbytwiglet.com 2008 Branding & Identity

October 20, 2008

Over the last few weeks, I’ve been tightening up my company’s identity. Usually, when you get busy with a job and freelance clients on the side, the first work to get tossed to the side is your own. I decided that it was time that all of my correspondence materials matched and since I already had the logo on hand, it went very quickly.

My identity features a standard invoice, letterhead, a CD label, a mailing label, a two-sided business card, a cover sheet and a presentation sheet.

At this time I have digital renderings instead of the real items because I haven’t had a chance to print them all up quite yet.

My business cards were already in existence, but I’ve decided to simplify the layout even more and to drop the rounded corners from the previous version. I think I’m officially over them!

This close-up shows the details of my invoice (top) and letterhead (bottom), both featuring Bodoni type forming the current year and my street address.

I’m the most excited about my new 11 x 8.5 inch cover sheet. I’ve learned the value of having one from working on presentations at Nemo. It lends that extra polish when you’re sending over a round of work. Here’s the details from the lower right corner:

It’s so nice to have everything comprehensive and matching for once! And, for 2009, I just have to change out that one number in some of the items featuring the date. The next task is to get a downloadable PDF portfolio uploaded by the end of the year. I’ll be sharing the above items again as they’re printed in the next few weeks! Stay tuned.




What I Wore: 10.19.08

October 19, 2008

I just got home from spending most of my weekend with family and it was so good!

This is what I wore on Saturday:

Dress, H&M
Shirt (underneath), H&M
Striped sweater, Forever21
2 necklace, Alex + Chloe
Socks, gift
Wedges, Dries Van Noten
Purse, Miu Miu

Thanks for all of your comments on the last post. Besides a cold, I am feeling so much better. We looked through old photo albums, retold all the scandalous family stories and laughed and laughed! Lee’s garlic mashed potatoes were a huge hit with my extended family and I got to spend some quality time with my mom and stepdad, who just flew up to Portland from Phoenix. Love all around!




The Week in Pictures: 10.17.08

October 17, 2008

week in pictures nubby twiglet typography

Even if I’m just gong to the grocery store, I try to infuse some style into the voyage. This American Apparel Cities Bag definitely makes a normally mundane experience much more pleasurable!

Two weeks ago, Lee and I found this pair of vintage night stands for $30.00 total. They’re aesthetically perfect. Right now, I’m very much into mixing super sleek space-age furnishings with chipped, worn white objects.

Yesterday I mentioned the white laser-cut cuckoo clock necklace that I recently bought. Isn’t it amazing? I love it when classic, old school items are redone with a totally modern twist.

Recently, Lee found this N on the side of the road in a trash heap, snapped in half and covered in chipped gold paint. After reattaching it, I painted it solid white and it’s taken on a whole new life.

My grandma gave me two of these red glass hearts earlier this year and now, they mean more to me than ever. A few days ago, I found out that she had unexpectedly passed away.

This has been especially hard because we were really close and though she was 79, she seemed half her age, was really active and had a very modern perspective on life. I’m thankful for the time we spent together while I was still in school earlier this year. I would visit her for lunch and we’d sit around, catching up.

It’s pretty rare that once you’re gone, people can only remember good things about your life. It usually seems contrived and less than accurate. But in her case, it’s true. She was the most honest, supportive person I’ve ever known and I’ll miss her very much. She never had a negative word to say about anyone, but when Smokey and I would say something terrible, she’d still laugh at us! Awww. There’s a huge void now that she’s gone.

Because of this news, I’ve been feeling somewhat out of sorts. At least I have a busy weekend ahead with family. I’m really excited to see my mom and stepdad, who arrive from Phoenix tomorrow. It will be a much needed change of pace.

There was a bright spot mid-week when my brother spent two days freelancing at Nemo, seated next to me! It was basically like school…but without the bad grades.

A few years ago, we took two different classes together with terrible results. During an HTML class, he walked out during the final and I followed (the teacher couldn’t stand us at that point anyway). During a pre-calculus class, he made me laugh during lectures. The only reason I passed was because he dropped the class!

At Nemo, it’s a much different story. When we’re both doing what we love (graphic design), the outcome is 100000% better! Do you know of any other brother / sister design duos out there? Surely, we can’t be the only ones.

This has been a week of big changes, but I’m realizing that you can never go back, so appreciate what you have right here, right now.

How was your week? Did you make any major changes? Did you have some huge breakthroughs?