BLK // Words

Fast Rapid Web Prototyping →

I recently needed a way to prototype fast, real fast. Two platforms I am comfortable with are Codeigniter and Wordpress. Inspired by some of the handy functions Wordpress has to offer I created a system in Codeigniter for rapid web prototyping.

I love it!

thedailywhat:

Book Excerpt of the Day: Vanity Fair takes a look inside J. W. Rinzler’s detailed, photo-heavy coffee-table book The Making of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back — out today from LucasBooks.

Above: “When Darth Vader (David Prowse) revealed his secret to Luke, Hamill was hanging onto a pinnacle above mattresses placed on cardboard boxes about 30 feet off the ground.”

[daringfireball.]

Related: 10 things you didn’t know about The Empire Strikes Back.

(Source: thedailywhat)

Inspiration from all things skate

I stumbled across a really talented individual recently. His name is Michael Leon and he has a truly powerful body of work. I connected with his story and work because of some personal life similarities. Namely, skateboarding. His biography on his Website states, “He has the know-how and discipline of a trained professional, but embodies the freedom of thought and Do-It-Yourself tenacity of a skateboarder.” This is very much where I have always felt I am coming from. It’s that understanding that technical skill and training are so valuable. But, at the same time you will approach it differently because you have this untamed spirit that refuses to be tied down. I love that.

Some of the impressive stats on Michael Leon include the following:

• Designed first pro model board while in high school (for New Deal)
• Designed for Girl, Chocolate and Fourstar
• Created Rasa Libre skate brand
• Design Director of Nike SB

When you look at the body of his work you see how versatile he is. It includes a lot of mixed media styles. Collage work, use of photography, illustration, found objects or use of objects. He even has a laser cut skateboard. I really like his design work using black and white photos and monotone illustration on top, like the following:

If you enjoy his work and where he is coming from, I encourage you to visit his site and look through more of his work.

-B

Harley Quinn… a new look?

Looks like the new Batman Arkham City game has a new look for Harley Quinn. I am not a fan of it, especially in comparison to her classic look. See the new look here. I much appreciate the work of Bruce Timm (creator of character) for an example of Quinn at her best:

Batman is pretty epic, here is one more gem before the night brings sleep. It is a movie poster for Batman Returns. I do not remember this poster, but I was pretty young when the film came out, like 6 years old. I do remember the film, however, and it is somewhat of a classic in my mind. The Penguin was so gross and unlikable it that film, DeVito was gnarley in that movie. Anyway, here is the poster:

Word.

-B

Sketching for my own sanity

I have been thinking a lot lately. Perhaps more than ever before which is crazy because I think a lot. I think about so many things constantly. I am a think tank… of EPIC proportions. Anyway, I have been thinking a lot lately about a comic I am working on. It is super fun, I am in the process of writing it right now. My plan is to write the entire thing before I begin actually making magic happen on paper, computer and so on. In the mean time, I am drawing a bunch of ideas for characters, settings and just whatever comes to mind and might make it into the book at some point.

I have a couple crappy shots (with ma camera phone, haha @_mcchris) because I need to get a scanner situation hooked up at my studio (apartment). Anyway, here is one of the winners:

The book is called FallGirl and that is all I will say for right now. Enjoy more pics on my site here too!

-B

I’m down with this :)

getexperienced:

Our new favorite fictional name: Paint Brandon.

CSS3 Gradients and rgba

So, I was hacking up some creative at work the other day and hadone of those really BIG realizations: I hate cutting out gradient image repeaters or 1x1 pixel semi-transparent PNG’s for background transparency in IE. But, you have to do what you have to do. I did discover a fun little trick to have in the bag and I cannot wait to stumble across more of these.

I had essentially a div that was 50% black opacity and some toggles that had a background gradient from full opacity black to transparent over the 50% transparent background. Initial thoughts are, “Man! Time to cut up some lame little images for this game show!”

Here is the screencap from Firefox (you’ll see why Firefox in a sec):

Well, I went the alternate route and wanted to test my options with some of the newer UI technologies such as CSS3. I used rgba for the main background fill, of course, but the tricky one was I didn’t know if I could use rgba for the gradient. Turns out, you can… but only Firefox currently supports this. I tested in Chrome and Safari and it was a no go.

Alas it seems we are so far along yet still a ways from full fledged badassness on the Web.

Well, I have some images to slice out :P

-B

This guy is a good specimen. A solid contribution to science… or whatever :P

Developing… a lot :P

I feel like I had a busy week. This could possibly be on account of the fact that I DID have a busy week. My brain has been scattered and I cannot focus. My work problems invade my personal life. My personal life cannot separate code from comics from crappy movie downloads. Perhaps the beer does not help to cleanse my palette so much as it makes it even more murky.

Here’s one: my iPod broke. The screen is nothing but a sea of white. If I tilt it just right I can see enough to navigate to the music I want. You know what this means? It means Apple sucks… at least for right now. This iPod of mine has a Wordpress sticker on the back of it (sorry Tumblr) and that means I REALLY fu#$ing love it!

My red beanie has a Nintendo pin on it. Right next to the NUFF tag. NUFF said :P

The thought of going back to school next week depresses the hell out of me. Something to do with just wanting to have a professional career I can focus on. Also something to do with being able to focus on the things I want to do aside from my career that ARE NOT homework. I hate homework these days.

So, I see all these things as ways in which I have developed a lot in many aspects of my life in these recent times. Look at this, we are ending on a somewhat good note.

P.S. The best thing I have ever done in my life is follow @TheRealStanLee on Twitter. That man is amazing, my hero and a true believer ;)

My First Web App: Web Code Ninja

I had the joy of getting into a slightly more serious look at HTML5 and CSS3. No, unfortunately I did not do anything rad with canvas, but I did make a fun little Web App that let’s you evaluate your Ninja level as a developer!

Check it out at webcodeninja.com