andrew dodson

My co-worker at 524concepts, Chris Thurman, has launched a new creative media blog – Visual Swirl.  Be sure to check it out.  The blog features articles on video, web, print, and more.  It’s a must-read for all creative types.  There is also the possibility that I may contribute from time to time, which may or may not help in getting traffic to the site!

Just wanted to check in and say hello. Haven’t been blogging much lately, I know. So, we’ll go with some rambling, random thoughts.

Did anyone catch Josh Hamilton in the Home Run Derby? Wow! What a story. I haven’t had a “favorite player” in baseball since Eric Davis & Nolan Ryan, but this guy would come close. If you haven’t caught up on this guy, please, please, please Google him and read up. I don’t know if his Home Run Derby highlights have made it onto YouTube yet, but you could check there too.

John Piper is doing a sermon series right now on the importance of church membership – specifically how it relates to baptism. It’s an interesting subject. It’s hard to disagree with Piper on much because we all know he’s searched the Scriptures on pretty much every topic far more than any of us. But, I will say, even after reading his first sermon, I haven’t landed on how I feel about the matter.

I’m spending this week recording the band Altered Worship at Georgetown College. They are the worship band for the Centri-Kid camp hosted by Georgetown this summer. It’s all very similar to my experience recording the Crossings bands last summer. The band is great, and I’m praising God for yet another opportunity to record something like this. So far, so good.

BADmedia has been busy in the past couple of weeks. I’m praying that work will continue to come in and the business will grow. I’ve had a good time getting it off the ground over the past few weeks. It’s the first time I’ve really pushed the business and advertised for it, and I’ve been encouraged by the response.

Here’s to hoping there are more frequent posts coming soon!

At last!

After months of kicking around design ideas and finding time design a site for BADmedia, the task is finally complete.  If anyone out there needs design work, recording, or the like, please head over to the site and contact me!

> Visit the BADmedia site

I’m often asked what type of software I use to create my websites, logos and the like.  Everyone knows I’m a Mac guy, and they assume I use the Adobe Creative Suite.  Not so fast!  Assumptions can sometimes be wrong.

Yes, I’m a Mac guy.  Love ‘em.  Used a PC for years before finally using a Mac at work.  Hands down, Macs are far better machines.  Trust me.  PC users are scared to switch because they’re afraid a Mac can’t do what a PC does.  Wrong.  Not only can it do everything a PC does, it can do it better and you won’t be pulling your hair out all the time.

Anyway… on to the real topic.  What software do I use?  My general rule of thumb is easy – find something that does what I want for free.  The glory of humanity is this – there are people willing to donate their time and effort and ability to create a nice software package for free.  This is called Open Source.  When I simply can’t find a good open-source (free) program, I find one for cheap.  I try to keep my overhead as low as possible.

General Graphic Art

For my general designs, this is where I don’t skimp.  I use Adobe Illustrator a lot.  I’m currently looking into open source programs (Inkscape), or cheap programs (Vector Designer) for my vector art needs.  Until I decide if those programs are viable, I’ll use Illustrator.

Photo Editing / Raster Graphics

Photoshop?  No.  I use Gimp.  It’s a wonderful, free program.  For all of you out there using pirated versions of Photoshop because you can’t afford to buy it yourself – please try Gimp.  There IS a learning curve, but it can do everything Photoshop can do.  I’m very impressed with it.  Not to mention, it’s more streamlined that PS and runs much faster on my computers.

Web Editing – HTML

These days, I don’t do a whole heck of a lot with HTML.  When I absolutely have to code something with HTML, I use Nvu (there is also a version called Kompozer).  It gets the job done and is free.

Web Editing – PHP, XML, General Coding

I’ve fallen in love with Smultron.  A free, powerful text editor that plays nicely with PHP, XML, CSS, and HTML files.  A nice, multi-purpose program.

Web Editing – CSS

There is a free solution here that some people might enjoy.  Simple CSS.  I’ve tried it and it does get the job done.  But, it has some quirks that I don’t like.  So, I use CSSEdit.  It’s not a free program, but is in the “affordable” bracket.  It’s a pretty slick program.

Wordpress

These days, I design all of my sites around Wordpress.  I love the ability to maintain my sites from any computer with an internet connection.  There is a learning curve to designing custom themes, but once you figure it out, it’s a breeze.

Word Processing

Sometimes, clients send me Word documents with their content.  Mac does have a version of Microsoft Office, but it’s not cheap.  So, I use NeoOffice to read Word & Excel files and more.  A truly wonderful, free word processing program.  They are constantly updating it and improving its features.

So, there you have it.  If you’re looking to save some money, but still be productive, I strongly suggest looking into open source options.  Small businesses, schools, churches, governments, civic groups and non-profits could benefit greatly from saving money and using these types of programs.  You should at least look into them and give them a chance.

I found this on Justin Taylor’s blog and it really hits home with me. Sort of shapes how I should view my work as a graphic artist.

1. Christian artists should view their talent as a gift from God and see its use ultimately as worship to God.
2. A Christian artist should have a sober assessment of his gift and neither
   over-estimate the opportunities it should given him or undervalue the
   contribution he can make with it.
3. The most authentic Christian art results from our joy in Christ overflowing
   into Christian art, not our strategies to do art that is Christian.
4. Creating art is an expression of faith and obedience, not of compulsion or identity.
5. The Christian artist should see his art as a way to love God, his people, and the world.
6. The Christian Artist sees the sovereign hand of God in both his opportunities and his obstacles.
7. The Christian artist is committed to truth in the way he lives and what he creates.
8. While the Christian artist is under no burden to make all of his art
   explicitly Christian, it would be an unbiblical use of his gift to
   intentionally create a body of work without reference to Christ.
9. The Christian artist rejects the worldly concept of artist as an outsider
   and embraces his place among God’s people in the local church as
   essential to his life and gifting.
10. The Christian artist should not ignore his personal responsibility to evaluate the theological soundness of his work.
11. Because the Christian artist trusts God, he will battle selfish ambition,
    competition, and any pretense of entitlement in regard to his art.
12. The Christian artist will see the evaluation of others as an essential help
    in both growing in their art and assessing its fruitfulness.
13. The Christian artist will resist elitism and care about the accessibility
    of his art to the average Christian in the congregation
14. The Christian artist must never confuse the joy of creativity with the joy of knowing and pleasing God.

So, I’ve got graphic design on the brain. I’ve had a creative spurt lately, which has led to some new and different designs for me. I figured I’d showcase some of them here, mostly done for The Point:

We’ve broken fresh ground.

I’ve partnered up with someone to do some graphic work, in exchange for some promotion of BADmedia.  One thing they want is animated GIFs for their website.  I’ve never created animated GIFs so I figured now was a good time to learn.  Also, I’m working on a website for BADmedia to get ready to start promoting my business some more.  Why not create an animated GIF for the BADmedia site?

I couldn’t live with a simple animated GIF.  I wanted something more along the lines of Flash (another web animation I’ve never learned).  After reading a bit on the net, I learned you can turn an AVI into an animated GIF.  Cool!  I dropped a background graphic and some animated text into iMovie HD, exported as an AVI, dumped it into ImageReady and voila!  My first animated GIF.

Howdy y’all (That’s Kentucky for “hello”).  It’s Derby Week here in the Bluegrass, and to be honest, I don’t care that much.  I always hate to say “I’m busy” because everyone is busy this day and time, but that would be more true right now than any other.  Seems like spring time is always my busiest time of the year.

I’m working on several recordings right now.  I recorded a southern gospel concert a couple of weeks ago, so I’m moving on to the mixing stage of that project.  I recorded last week’s Georgetown College Symphonic Band concert.  That recording should be wrapped up this weekend, since it was just a few mics.  Mixing will go quickly on that.  But, I turn around on Sunday to record the Central Kentucky Concert Band’s spring concert.  On top of all this, I’m beginning the process of picking songs for The Point’s first worship album.  It’s really more of a glorified “bootleg” concept.  I plan on recording all the services from now on, and every few months, making a low-budget CD of 10-12 songs.  I’ll manufacture all of them myself in small runs of about 100.  It’ll mostly be a good outreach tool, I think.  We’ll see.

I’ve been digging in to some new graphic design techniques as of late.  I’m a self-trained artist, so I still have a lot to learn.  Mostly, I’ve been digging into Photoshop a bit more to create stuff for web and print.  The majority of my time is usually spent in Illustrator designing shirts.  But, I’m doing more graphic work for The Point these days, and I’m looking to expand BADmedia some more.  So, I think learning more in Photoshop will help.  Mostly, I’ve been playing around with new brushes and the like to create the ever-so-popular grunge and distressed looks that are “all the rage” right now.  I feel like I’m jumping on the bandwagon, but I’m learning new stuff, so that’s always good.

I’m not doing a whole lot of web stuff for the time being, but I think that will change as I move into the summer months.  I have a few sites in desperate need of redesigns, and as mentioned, I’m working on getting some more clients.  I’ve struck up a small partnership with another local business that might lead to some new web clients.  More on that to come.

Tonight was PCG night, and our group went through the study fairly quickly.  It was a good study and I think we were all surprised that we hammered through it in under an hour.  So, I find myself with some free time that I don’t normally have.  Hence, this novel of a blog post.  I’m off to enjoy the rest of the evening…

Instead of a YouTube video this weekend, I’m posting an interactive tour of Sweetwater’s new facility. They are a musical instrument and audio equipment dealer, based out of Fort Wayne, IN. I actually applied for a graphic design position with this company a long time ago, but didn’t get it. Part of me is glad because I’m not sure I would’ve liked moving to northern Indiana. But, after seeing this facility, it might be worth it!

> Tour the new Sweetwater facility

(p.s. – this is my first post using Wordpress 2.5 – I really like it!)