Cameron Moll's Blog, page 11

Ideas of March

There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are.

–W. Somerset Maugham

Pressing 'Pause' on this site for a while has afforded me time and distance to realign my writing objectives. An invitation from Chris Shiflett to join today's "Ideas of March" has afforded me an opportunity to break the silence.

Successful blogging, much like Maugham's quote about novel writing, is largely a mystery. While there are certainly foundational principles that can increase our chances of success, we've all seen articles and posts that break all the rules and go on to receive extraordinary traffic, comments, and retweets.

But if our definition of successful blogging — nay, let's say successful writing — is measured in terms of audience reach and grammatical proficiency, we're measuring the wrong things. Letters of Note, for example, repeatedly proves good writing does not necessarily equal grammatical proficiency. Additionally, I've read plenty of beautifully written pieces that may have been seen by only a handful of eyes beyond my own. (Many of these have been written by my wife and sons.)

Writing, at its core, is a means of personal expression. The greatest measure of its success lies in what it returns to the author. Consider this: I've handwritten — yes, with ink — many pages in my personal journal that have been read only by myself. But I consider this some of my most successful, and meaningful, writing because it comes from the heart, allows me to ponder what I'm doing with my life, and encourages me to be a better person.

For those of us who are creative professionals, there are few exercises more beneficial to our profession than writing; persistent writing, to be specific, as the act of writing does more for our ability to think creatively than just about anything else. It forces us to synthesize our thoughts and opinions on paper, which in turn yield an opportunity for critique by ourselves and by others. Synthesizing, as I'll share in my presentations at DIBI and Interlink in the coming months, is simply the act of organizing unorganized matter — a fancy way of saying create.

And that's the hope for Ideas of March: a rededication to creative, persistent, meaningful writing, specifically in the form of blogging. If you'd like to participate in Ideas of March, please see Chris Shiflett's post.

Gridiron League

Gridiron League:

Wes Kull:

This is not an exercise in nostalgia but an interpretation of the league's founding principles through the symbols that we, as football fans, identify with most.

Many NFL franchises — Patriots, Broncos, Rams, Lions — have updated their uniforms and logos to a swooshed-out, dropped-shadowed, and more commercial-ready image, ignoring a good deal of their team's heritage and the original rough-and-tumble character that the league stood for.

Of Mice and Markets

Of Mice and Markets:

Zeldman:

In the short run it's going to be hell, just as the browser wars and their lack of support for common standards were hell. But it is the short run….

When I see fragmentation, I remind myself that it is unsustainable by its very nature, and that standards always emerge, whether through community action, market struggle, or some combination of the two. This is a frustrating time to be a web designer, but it's also the most exciting time in ten years. We are on the edge of something very new. Some of us will get there via all new thinking, and others through a combination of new and classic approaches.

Well written, well said.

Lighting Techniques for Video Interviews

Lighting Techniques for Video Interviews:

This is an excellent tutorial that answered a lot of questions for me regarding how to light an interview properly, as that's something I'm still experimenting with.

Hero

Hero:

This is a really fantastic, well-shot piece. And the resulting portrait definitely wasn't what I was anticipating.

Update: The process of creating art with small dots is called stippling. Had no idea. (Thanks @signalnoise.)

/via @jontangerine

Letterpress Tuesday

Letterpress Tuesday:

A brief hiatus from hiatus-ing to announce Letterpress Tuesday, a one-day holiday sale exclusively for letterpress goods made by yours truly and a few other vendors.

As for my stuff, this is final promotional sale of 2011, so if you'd hoping to receive or gift one of my posters at a discount this Christmas, today is the day to pick one up.

Happy holidays, all.

Hiatus

It's clear by now dust is gathering at this domain. I've been okay with that, and will continue to be okay with it, but only a little longer. I've been swamped with obligations on my current projects and have traveled much more than usual. I'll visit NYC for the third time in a month starting next week, for example.

More importantly, I've realized I need to realign the focus of this site. The tumblog, light-narrative format is definitely enjoyable, and it's helped me blog more frequently, as well. But I've realized it's not entirely what I wanted to be when I grew up.

Without doubt, linking to and editorializing others' articles takes just as much skill as writing one's own. However, I find it doesn't challenge me creatively as much as authoring my own stuff. I progress most efficiently as a designer and thought leader when composing and criticizing my thoughts rather than others'.

To this end, I plan to author more original content soon, but it'll take a while to figure out the right approach for that. Hang tight, and follow me on Twitter, Google+, Dribbble, and Instagram in the meantime.

Build Icon Set, vol. I

Build Icon Set, vol. I:

This is just neat. Adrian Pelletier, recently married and not in a position to donate as much as he'd like to our charity: water campaign, contacted me to offer his Build icon set as a free download for those who donate. It's what we call an in-kind donation, and it's very kind of him.

So, first donate to charity: water if you haven't already, and then download the icons.

(Also, anyone donating $20 or more will be included in a draw for one of my limited edition Colosseo posters. Offer expires tonight.)

Twelve Days

I'm blessed to have remarkable parents who created opportunties for unforgettable experiences during my childhood. This is one of those experiences.

Leading up to Christmas one year, my parents gathered the family together and announced that we would be helping another family in need. This wasn't foreign to us, as we had not only done the same before, but we had also been the recipients of similar giving during lean Christmases as a family.

The plan was simple: For 12 days leading up to Christmas, we would deliver a package with food, toys, and essential supplies. On the 12th day before Christmas, the package contained 12 items. On the 11th day, 11 items. And so on.

However, the package was to be delivered at night anonymously without the recipient family knowing who made the delivery. And there the fun began. Each night one of us was assigned to sneak up to the front door, place the package on the doorstep, pose in a runner's stance with one finger on the bell, and then run like crazy after ringing it. The getaway car, cleverly disguised as a minivan, was just around the corner.

On Christmas Eve, I was entrusted with delivering the final package. We safely assumed the family was on to us by now, expecting a delivery sometime that evening. No tomfoolery this time, no sir. Thus, I was extra cautious as I approached the doorstep. Quiet as a mouse.

But to no avail. They knew we were coming. For there on the doorstep stood, not a person, but a card. It was placed atop a plate of homemade cookies. Essentially the card said this:

To our Secret Santa: Thank you. We can't express enough gratitude for making Christmas wonderful for our family this year.

Years later, when the impact of that one night finally registered in my mind — and more importantly, my heart — I realized that we weren't delivering packages that Christmas. We were changing lives. Real people with real needs and genuine gratitude for our family. (I have a hard time even typing these words, much less sharing the experience vocally, without getting a little emotional.)

I share this story as I request your help one final time to contribute to the Authentic Jobs charity: water campaign. Almost a billion people on the planet don't have access to clean, safe drinking water. Real people with real needs, and I'm confident they possess genuine gratitude for those of us who can help.

Many of you have already made very generous donations: Myles Grant, Stefan Hartwig, Ryan Essmaker, Stefan Velthuys, Nate Tharp, Elliot Jay Stocks, Jeffrey Snider, Christine Rondeau, Mark Wyner, Sarah Fraser (on behalf of Jenna Dixon), Grant Hutchinson, Jason Ferrell, Veerle Pieters, Jesse Bennett-Chamberlain, Neutron Creations, and many more of you too numerous to mention here.

Our campaign concludes Monday, October 3. We've got a long ways to go to reach our goal. Give $3, the cost of a plate of cookies, if that's all you have to spare. Or the $20 you would have spent on a shirt. Or $100 or more if your finances are healthy. Please, donate now.

HTML5 Whiteboard Magnets

Last Friday I posted a photo of these magnetic HTML5 elements from part of our homeschool curriculum, and several of you expressed interest in knowing how I made them.

It's pretty simple: magnetic sheets that are compatible with any inkjet printer. I've used Avery magnet sheets satisfactorily for similar projects. For this project, however, I used Office Depot magnet sheets. They have a glossy finish, whereas the Avery ones have a matte finish. Comparing the two, the ink seems to be more durable with the glossy finish.

We're lucky enough to have a really big whiteboard (like 8' x 4' big) in our school room, which provides plenty of space for hands-on HTML5 instruction, in addition to writing actual markup. I'm sure the magnets would work just fine on a smaller whiteboard or printed at smaller sizes.

If you'd like to download my .ai files, have at it. Add your own elements as needed. After all, wouldn't the web would be a much better place if we all taught our children the fundamentals of good markup?

Download html5-magnets.ai