New Roundbottom: The Escape
Filed Under: My Writing, Photography
Because I’m going to be in an airplane when I would normally post the new Roundbottom, I’ve decided to post it this morning so I can make sure that nothing buggy happens. This post kicks off a new multi-part storyline involving the supernatural that I think you will enjoy. Right now, memberships remain closed and the only prints you can buy are the first series images. The new series of photos will be available as limited edition, signed prints, but I haven’t quite worked out all the kinks there so it’s not open. I hope to have it open soon. I’ll have the membership option open after I get back from Connecticut. I just didn’t want anybody to have to wait too long for their goodies.
If you know of a zine or news site that might be interested in the new Roundbottom, please feel free to
forward the link on at this point. I haven’t found any major bugs that weren’t expected at this point. By the way, if you use gravatars, they will show up in the comments there. I highly encourage you to make a steampunky icon for yourself when commenting there. Feel free to comment in character. Create your own persona, as many have done in the past. It’ll be fun! The Dr. will respond to you in character as well.
We’ve got some fantastic audio engineering going into the first podcast as well. I hope to put those out, after an inital roll-up, about once every two weeks. They’re primarily going to be Miss Watkins narrating, with the ocassional grumble from Roundbottom himself. Remember that Mutual of Omaha show? Same dynamic in the podcast. It’s going to be a blast.
So to recap, the new Roundbottom story is live. Tell you friends.
Clockpunk.com Open for Beta Viewing
Filed Under: Graphic Design, My Writing, Photography
The new Roundbottom site is now complete enough that I have taken it live on the domain. I’ve been at work on this redesign for quite some time now. There are probably bugs… and don’t even bother looking at it with anything less than IE 7. Also, the site requires Javascript and Flash.
Bang away on it, and let me know what seems weird. I’ll try to get it fixed.
New content will go live on Sunday, and will continue to go live with new posts once a week until I run out again, but I have a nice storyline ready to go that should last into August.
Explore, and let me know what you think.
Three Design Business Concepts
Filed Under: Web Design
I am reaching a point where I think I need to brand my creative services with its own website, portfolio, and so on. So I’ve been trying to brainstorm some business names and concepts I can design the site around. I haven’t really hit on anything solid yet, but here are some of the ideas I’ve bounced around on my IM list and in my own head. Sarah’s tired of hearing about them, so now you get to instead!
“Monster Stomp Studios”
Logo Concept: A daikaiju monster from a low angle, lifting a massive foot to DESTROY!
Tagline: “Small Studio. Big ideas.”
Disadvantages: I am not the world’s greatest illustrator, and I want a cartoony illustration for that logo, I think. Like a chibi Godzilla knockoff. So I’d probably have to outsource the illustration to another designer and that doesn’t look good on my main work site to have done that. I need the design to be completely my work. So if I stick with this one, I’ll have to really work hard in sketching and illustrator to create a good logo. I need to learn to draw better anyway!
Write Design
Site Concept: Natural media, paper, pencils, inks. Lots of editorial style marks on things, correcting typos. Focusing on the written word. Great typography, lots of handwriting.
Tagline: “Design solutions for authors and publishers.”
Disadvantage: My concept is meaningful, but there are a million Write Design websites out there. It’s too common of an idea, and I almost certainly won’t be using this one, which is sad because I like the idea of making a website with real paper. Which leads me to the next
Little Fish Big Pond Studio
Logo/site concept: construction paper! Blue sea background, stylized fish and other sea cutouts here and there. Maybe some javascript animating a few moving around. Masthead involves a bunch of little fish in a school, with one solo fish a different color out leading the pack.
Tagline: “How do little fish survive in the big blue sea? They stick together.”
Disadvantages: A few other design companies out there using a similar concept. This one positions me specifically as being a small business designer, which may be a niche I don’t want to put myself into. I really like the design concept though, and now I just cannot help but want to build a site out of construction paper cutouts. It would look awesome!
Other ideas/concepts that aren’t ripe yet:
- something that can play on science fiction
- something spinning off of Roundbottom?
- something super grungy and crunchy
- something that I can use my photography skills for
- Something about Kansas, using the tall grass prairie as a design element
- dinosaurs! (no, I don’t know what that means)
It’s hard work being a creative genius, but someone’s gotta do it. Eventually, I’m going to hit on the perfect concept that’s going to show my skills at their best. I know it. I just need a bit more time and thought. Advice is gladly accepted.
Jay Lake’s New Site
Filed Under: Web Design
My latest client project is complete. Jay Lake, a SF/F author published by Tor Books, and winner of the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Author approached me with a desire to have a personal website that would be easy to maintain, incorporate his podcast, and allow him to crosspost blog content to his LiveJournal. For a design, Jay wanted something with a decayed industrial feel, imitating some of his photography and invoking the feel of some of his fiction.
This is a standard WordPress set up with about a dozen various plugins installed from Latest Comments to podcasting enclosures. No real problems presented themselves in its construction. Jay was a delight to work with and the site went very smoothly. These are the kinds of sites that I love to make.
