A Blogs Life

Jack Roush plane crash at the EAA – exclusive video

2010-07-29T10:01:00.000-07:00

Video showed Roush and another passenger, identified by the Experimental Aircraft Association as Brenda Strickland of Plymouth, Michigan, walking away from the crash. Roush, an aviation buff, was attending the Experimental Aircraft Association’s annual Air Venture in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, this week.

Watch the Video

NASCAR Team Owner Jack Roush Seriously Injured in Plane Crash

2010-07-29T09:37:00.000-07:00

NASCAR team owner Jack Roush was in serious but stable condition after walking away from a plane crash in Oshkosh, Wisconsin at 6:15 p.m. (CST) on Tuesday night.

Video showed Roush and another passenger, identified by the Experimental Aircraft Association as Brenda Strickland of Plymouth, Michigan, walking away from the crash. Roush, an aviation buff, was attending the Experimental Aircraft Association’s annual Air Venture in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, this week.

“There are injuries. Possible surgery,” Roush Fenway Racing president Geoff Smith said in a text message to The Associated Press. “But he walked out of the plane.” Smith confirmed that the plane belonged to Roush, and he was flying it. Smith said Roush’s injuries include facial lacerations.

Read full article here

Steven Adler Has New Appetite for Life

2010-07-27T11:45:00.000-07:00

“I’M JUST an underdog who wants to get his life back together and fulfill his dreams before he dies,” says Steven Adler , original Guns N’ Roses drummer, who played on the best record of all time, “Appetite for Destruction.”

Adler, who was kicked out of the band when his heroin problem got out of control, is now clean, thanks, he says, to Dr. Drew Pinsky, on whose VH1 show “Celebrity Rehab” Adler has appeared. The rocker and his new band, Adler’s Appetite, play July 27 at the Mill Creek Tavern (4200 Chester). From 6 to 7 that night, Adler signs copies of his new memoir, “My Appetite for Destruction,” at the Barnes & Noble on Rittenhouse Square.

Post your Complex Tattoo here

2010-07-26T11:18:00.000-07:00

Share your cool tattoos here

Print vs. Web Design

2009-05-17T19:47:00.001-07:00

Anything that is a great print design is likely to be a lousy web design.

here are so many differences between the two media that it is necessary to take different design approaches to utilize the strengths of each medium and minimize its weaknesses.

* Print design is based on letting the eyes walk over the information, selectively looking at information objects and using spatial juxtaposition to make page elements enhance and explain each other.
* Web design functions by letting the hands move the information (by scrolling or clicking); information relationships are expressed temporally as part of an interaction and user movement.

Dimensionality

Print design is 2-dimensional, with much attention paid to layout. It is obviously possible for the reader to turn the page, but substantial interplay between different spreads is rare. Typically, each view is a design unit created for a fixed size canvas - often a big canvas when designing newspapers or posters.

In contrast, Web design is simultaneously 1-dimensional and N-dimensional.

A web page is fundamentally a scrolling experience for the user as opposed to a canvas experience. A small amount of 2-dimensional layout is possible, but not to the extent of creating a pre-planned experience with a fixed spatial relationship between elements. Users often begin scrolling before all elements have been rendered, and different users will scroll the page in different ways throughout their reading experience.

Precise placement of elements on a web page goes against the nature of HTML and can only be achieved to an approximation for pages that are able to adjust to different window sizes. Thus, 2-dimensional relationships between page elements are less important than 1-dimensional relationships (what's early on the page; what's later on the page).

Navigation

The N-dimensional aspect of web design follows from the hypertext navigation that is the essence of the Web. Moving around is what the Web is all about. When analyzing the "look-and-feel" of a website, the feel completely dominates the user experience. After all, doing is more memorable and makes a stronger emotional impact than seeing.

In print, navigation mainly consists of page turning: an ultra-simple user interface which is one of the printed medium's great benefits. Because page turning is so limited, it is often not even thought of as a design element. In contrast, hypertext navigation is a major component of web design, requiring decisions like

* appearance of links
* how to explain where users can go and where each link will lead
* visualization of the user's current location
* information architecture

Response Time, Resolution, and Canvas Size

Print is immensely superior to the Web in terms of speed, type and image quality, and the size of the visible space. These differences are not fundamental. We will eventually get:

* bandwidth fast enough to download a Web page as fast as one can turn the page in a newspaper
* screen resolution sharp enough to render type so crisply that reading speed from screens reaches that of paper
* huge screens the size of a newspaper spread - in fact, I think that newspaper-sized screens are about the limit where it may not make sense to make screens any larger

For the next ten years or so, the differences will remain and will dictate restrictions on web design: less graphics, smaller graphics, shorter text (since it is unpleasant to read online), less fancy typography (since you don't know what fonts the user has installed), and less ambitious layouts.

Even when we get perfect hardware in ten years, it will continue to be necessary to limit the word count since users are more impatient online and are motivated to move on. It will also be necessary to design web information for small-canvas layouts since portable devices will retain small screens even as we get huge screens in the office.

I predict that new, non-window-based screen management techniques will appear that will allow more interesting utilization of the future huge displays. A bigger display doesn't simply imply larger windows, even though some systems currently promote the notion of "maximization" as the ultimate user goal.

Multimedia, Interactivity, and Overlays

Print can stun the reader with high-impact visualization, but the online medium ultimately wins because of the user engagement that is made possible by non-static design elements. The Web can show moving images under user control and it can allow the user to manipulate interactive widgets. In the future, it will also be possible to use alpha-channel blending and overlay multiple layers of information.

Basic web technology easily allows an interactive map of Chile where the user can click on a city or region to go to a specialized page with more in-depth information. An even greater amount of engagement follows from a more closely integrated interactive visualization where pointing to objects results in explanations or expansions in context, possibly using pop-ups, overlays, or voice-over. Such highly interactive information graphics require the use of non-standard technology and are therefore not currently recommended on mainstream web pages, but they can be used in specialized services and will hopefully become a common part of the Web's future.

With better hardware, differences in terms of appearance and layout may diminish. At the same time, more powerful software and a better understanding of interactive information objects will increase the differences in terms of interaction and user control. Current web designs are insufficiently interactive and have extremely poor use of multimedia. It is rare to see a web animation that has any goal besides annoying the user.

Print design is highly refined, as evidenced by glancing through the recent book of award-winning designs. Web design is impoverished because too many sites strive for the wrong standards of excellence that made sense in the print world but do not make sufficient advances in interactivity.

MS Design Studios Launched Great Creative Online Presence!

2009-05-11T05:52:00.000-07:00

--
Manila, Philippines, May 11, 2009 -- MS Design Studios, a talented web design firm has recently came up with a creative Designs - both on web and print!, an "out of the box" design and development firm. MS Design Studios delivers once again, producing a vibrant and functional site that embodies what GREAT! is all about. The California-based Mortgage Specialist known for its powerful forms and "Do-it-Yourself" kit campaigns, Helping home owners preserve their property.

"Empower Forms" Team enjoyed working with MS Design Studios," Empower Forms! Chief Executive Officer JP Quintana. "I appreciate the great design, your organized workflow, meeting deadlines and how responsive your team is to our input."

Constructed on a PHP base platform using lightning fast table-less CSS techniques the site comes alive with minimal download time. The site also uses various aspects of advanced jQuery techniques giving it the interactivity and user engagement that met all of Client's expectations.

MS Design Studios
MS Design Studios has become one of the leading web design and development firms in Philippines. While their client list includes international companies such as Washington Property Capital and MJM Premier, they are still able to meet the needs and budgets of small businesses. They are able to provide all of the services of a web solutions company, as well as the expertise and creativity of an advertising agency. From the web to print, MS Design Studios has built a reputation based on its quality and timely delivery. Visit us online at http://www.ms-designstudios.com.

MS-designstudios.com - Version 5.0

2009-04-09T05:47:00.000-07:00

Just launched the new version (v 5.0) of ms-designstudios.It is still in the development stage but i'm almost done. Just some more few pages to go and some dynamic contents and API's. This is the first time that i think i'm actually going to complete my portfolio website in terms of functionality. The last four versions didn't reached the final stage due to some reasons during the development stage some areas didn't meet my standards or i tend to dislike the design or the structure. But i'm convinced that i'm satisfied with this new design, structure and approach. As always i used a tableless xhtml/css structure with ajax and jquery apps. So Please check it out.

A Blogs Life: Easy HDR effect in Photoshop

2008-10-01T03:55:00.000-07:00

A Blogs Life: Easy HDR effect in Photoshop

Easy HDR effect in Photoshop

2008-10-01T03:44:00.001-07:00

I processed this images without the over, under and normal exposed photos or what is called bracketed Photos. And to top it, I didn’t use any third part software like photomatix or lightroom and etc…

read more | digg story

Auto Exposure Bracketing

2008-09-28T19:28:00.001-07:00

Auto Exposure Bracketing is a very useful option for taking HDR scenes. However, AEB was not really intended for HDR shots initially, but rather for ensuring that at least one of the shots will be as close to perfectly exposed as possible. This is probably why some camera models only make it possible to auto bracket three shots at a maximum of one

read more | digg story

Merging HDR in Photoshop CS3

2008-09-25T15:57:00.001-07:00

The solution is to take more than one photograph and bracket the photos. Shoot normal exposure, then under-expose a shot to capture highlights and over-expose a shot to capture shadow detail.

read more | digg story

MS-Designstudios || Creative Box || Web and Graphic Design

2008-09-25T06:40:00.001-07:00

Just launched this Version 4.0 portfolio website which showcases my recent works as a freelance web designer/developer. I targeting to finish everything within this year. This portfolio is a lot different that the previous ones. I might it's harder to configure compared to other sites specially having a different color scheme for every landing page

read more | digg story

High Dynamic Range (HDR)

2008-09-25T02:44:00.001-07:00

High Dynamic Range of popularly known as HDR is a method use by photographers and designers in post processing or enhancing images. The result is very moving and interesting. HDR is indeed a revolutionary means to enhance photos and images of all kinds. At some point HDR processed image helps to convince clients about a certain products or services

read more | digg story

Basic Typography Rules for Designers

2008-03-23T12:42:00.000-07:00

As a designer i have encountered many criticisms specially when it comes to typography. Since most
of graphic designers are focused on graphic aspectof the design, we often neglect this very important aspect - "typography". Most designers are not
aware that a graphic text is part of typography.

Graphic text:

Stop using drop shadow and bevel emboss if your design doesn't require it. It's a dead weight give away for an amateur. And please avoid rainbow gradient background.

*When to use it:
- If you're designing a 3D project
- If your design requires lighting effects.

Grunge fonts are great if you're designing a poster for a rock concert or a poster for a horror film. A word of advice, not everyone is fond of reading it.

Spacing & Alignment:

If you're not using an old typewriter for your document stop using extra space after every sentences. Gone is the old days. It should only have 1em not 2em. The fonts in the computer are all the same exact sizes and weight based on your settings.
Avoid center text alignment on your document and web pages. We all read from left to right - unless its Hiragana or Arabic. Use centered text alignment when doing wedding invitations or a title on a book cover.
Avoid to much vertical spacing or line spacing. Your document will look disconnected and not grouped. It will also confuse readers of the paragraph cue.
Always use the appropriate fonts. If you're writing a formal document don't use papyrus or comic sans.

*Here are some tips on what font/s to use based on the subject matter or design.
- Georgia, Times New Roman, Times Roman, Felix Titling - these fonts are perfect for a formal theme or document.
- Arial, Verdana, Tahoma, Trebuchet, Helvetica, Myriad - these are good for mainstream or contemporary themes.

There are lots of great font's out there. Adobe Garamond(Dreamworks used this on their typefaced logo), Formata, Impact, ImpactaBT, Futura, etc...
One last piece of advise in typography - don't mix sans with serif and don't use underline when it's in italic. It's redundant. Always check you're(intentional) grammar and speling(intentional). I'm trying hard myself on this part. Up until now i'm bad at it. Chow..chow....!!!

Watch out for my next article. Featuring "The Basic Characteristics of a good and working Logo.