Colin Harman

Ah yes, Christmas. Another season of frenzy and togetherness come and gone. I spent today with my roommates Wade & Andrew and had my Mia over as well. Wade provided quite the spread of a Paula Dean inspired French toast casserole, eggs, bacon, and biscuits. All was delicious. I am so thankful to have such great people to share the holidays with right in my own house.

I’ve sort of felt like a Christmas putts this year, meaning I am just not very good at giving gifts without being able to focus time on it. The sad part of that is that I control my time. I can say all day that I’m subjected to my schedule, that my work is delegated to me, that I have no say in what I work on and don’t work on, but that’s not entirely true. I could say no. I could risk my job, by doing so, but I can still do it. It’s easier to be the victim, but it’s better, more rewarding, healthier, and more fun to be in control of your time and priorities. I just didn’t do a good job with gifts this year, and I know that’s not what it’s about, but I do enjoy giving gifts that meet needs for people, not just “stuff”. Never again will I let myself be victim to my circumstances that I have the potential of influencing. That kind of gift giving takes quality time with people, research, listening, and good note taking to recollect what it is people desire, need, and enjoy. I’ve been really intentional about this in the past, but I’ve let other (less important but seemingly urgent) things get in the way of what matters.

This is a large portion of my life that I’ve let control me as of late, in large part because beforehand it managed itself. It’s time to take action. No excuses. I regret letting it get to this place as it is, because it’s much harder to backtrack try to change the course of something already in place than to just implement a course of action from the get go. Alas, I’ve dug this hole myself, and it’s up to me to get me out. God help me. I digress.

Christmas was a great day, and though I of course wish I could have been around my family, I know that day will soon come. I spent the afternoon with Mia opening gifts at her place, and then watching Elf, which is of course hilarious. It snowed most of the day and got continually whiter throughout the afternoon and into the evening. We went to a Japanese hibachi grill for dinner with Chad, and after going back to Mia’s place and watching a few episodes of season one of The Office I am now out at BRCC for the night so I can rest assure I can be here for tomorrow mornings services (though first is cancelled because of the snow). I look forward to this upcoming week that I will be forcing myself into cashing in some of my unused vacation days and taking some much needed time off.

I’ll leave you with a couple random photos from today’s festivities, how was your Christmas Day? What are you learning?

Our Christmas Breakfast crew (not including Wade who is taking the photo)

The Christmas Tree at Mia’s place.

Dave (the Despicable Me Minion), the latest addition to my life.

Complaining is silly. Either act or forget.
– Stefan Sagmeister.

Stefan Sagmeister is my foremost design hero. His functional, eye-catching, controversial approach to design and typography is epic. Born in Austria and a graduate of University of Applied Arts Vienna and The Pratt Institute (which I would love to attend someday), he came to the U.S. in 1993 and later established himself with his design firm Sagmeister Inc. He has created album artwork for a plethora of artists you’ve heard of (such as: Lou Reed, OK Go, The Rolling Stones, David Byrne, Aerosmith, Pat Metheny, and many more) in ways that pushed the envelope of utilized the utmost in creativity in everything from the typography to the printing.

In this video he talks about his need for a sabbatical from his design work and how it has been immensly beneficial for his desire to continue designing, pushing his creativity, and allowing him time to work on personal projects. I can’t imagine the things I could accomplish in “a year just to create and be”. I aspire to have his mind and eye for creativity and design, and to be surrounded by people who not only desire to have the same thing, but to follow through and see them to fruition.

In this second video, he talks about the learnings of his first sabbatical and the projects he came up with and created. He assembled a book with these creations and the stories behind them called “Things I’ve Learned in My Life So Far” which you can purchase here.

I have an iPhone, and I have Flickr. The iPhone has a pretty dang good camera (in the phone camera world), and when coupled with a few extra apps to help with the processing and color correction, you can actually end up with some pretty interesting shots. It has forced me to start looking more meticulously at my surroundings, always keeping in mind that there could be something worth capturing. In the past I have used the excuse of lugging around my mediocre camera equipment as being too much of a hassle to be worth the shots I was able to capture with it.
However, now that I have my iPhone with me at all times, I really have no excuse to keep my eyes peeled for such photographic opportunities. It’s made me more aware of my surroundings, forced me to look for more creative angles, and has kept my mind-gears spinning even when I think it’s just sitting there idle. I plan to take at least one ‘iPhonotograph’ (I made this term up, because I’m a designer and I can do that) per day. I’m going to see how long I can keep it up. I have found a few apps to be really helpful in the processing of photos, which now I shall explain.

I have been using Camera Genius as my primary photo taking tool. It is, in my opinion, superior to the iPhone’s built in camera thanks to its “Thirds Rulers”, timer, picture stabilizer (helpful with dark or night shots), big button (full screen button for when your trying to take pictures with you in it), and in rare cases the zoom function can be handy.

For color correction, Mill Colour has some amazing features, and also some pretty great preset effects that prove to be a great place to start from in the editing process. The Mill Colour name has been seasoned with excellence over the years thanks to their stellar color correction techniques for photography and cinema.

CameraBag is another app that I have grown to love. Though it doesn’t have the flexibility of working outside of their presets, they too are a great starting place for some color correction options. There are options within the app to toggle whether or not you want the filter to add an authentic border to your photos that would match the development style/cropping of the particular filter preset.

For editing, I have had great success with PhotoForge. Some editing apps can only do a few things, some can seemingly do too much without keeping the interface understandable for the simple edits like cropping and rotation. Within the app you can actually do some pretty great things with color as well with the built-in curves, levels, contrast, and exposure adjustment features. It has been called “Photoshop for the iPhone”, and while that may be a bit of an exaggeration, it really does do a great job.

And lastly, of course, Flickr. This app didn’t exist for a long time, but it really has made the process of browsing and uploading to Flickr a breeze. You’d have to be a brain damaged moron to not be able to figure out their intuitive interface, and the functionality is effective for your simple tasks of flickr, but somewhat limited in comparison to the website itself. However, for uploading on the go, it’s a more than adequate setup.

That’s my process of photo capture and editing on the iPhone, and here are just a few examples of what will hopefully be a good size collection of photos taken.

My iPhonotography gallery on Flickr.

        How many of us have been obsessed with something before? We think about it day and night, we make decisions based on our obsession, we talk to others about it constantly, and not a minute goes by that we don’t think of our particular obsession. I feel like we as people identify with people who are obsessed with something. Obsessed in the way that causes them to dive head first into whatever that obsession calls them to do. Obsession is often seen with a negative connotation, seemingly having to do with a sexual matter, or perhaps even another person. We have OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder) which causes people to be obsessed about things that don’t matter to other people in the greater realm of society.
        However, I am looking at a completely different type of obsessed. I am talking about the kinda that induces devotion. That drives a person, the kinda that demands excellence of someone in that particular category. If you’re obsessed with cleanliness, then vigorously clean. If you are obsessed with reading books, read until your eyes fall heavily limp in exhaustion from their repeated left to right, top to bottom cycles. Some are obsessed with a lack of clutter, and continuously they are looking for ways to minimize their collections of wares, toys, goods, and other sorts of items of which they feel only bring more distraction to their lives rather than assistance.
        Many out there are obsessed with the almighty dollar. This obsession can be quite confusing for some, as they tend to mask it with other obsessions. There are people who say they are workaholics, or seem to always trying to find that next get rich quick scheme. There are those who seem to always try to pinch pennies, and will scour the newspapers to find that coupon that will save them 8 cents on a can of generic brand snow peas. Though we call these people penny pinchers and bargain shoppers, they are truly people who value money so much that every moment spent delving into the periodicals looking for the deals is worth the pennies it helps them save.
        Yet we love people who are passionate. We love people who are so excited about something they can’t help but tell you about it. People who love their car, or who love dogs, clothing brands, sports, places, foods, God, religion, philosophy, art, drinks, deserts, etc. Whatever the particular entity that may be the object of your particular over-zeal may be, we as onlookers admire your unwavering commitment.
        At this point you may be pondering what your particular obsession might be, or maybe you are the one who is obsessed with becoming obsessed with nothing (don’t think i forgot about you now…). Well, while you mull over your particular infatuations I am going to reveal to you my own personal obsession.
        I am obsessed with great design and flawless typography. I am intrigued and drawn into a perfect letterform, or a beautifully laid out page spread. I savor every curve of a visually pleasing typeface and delight in the elegance of a seemingly perfect letterform. I scrutinize the color palate, and the fluidity of how they seamlessly work together in perfect harmony. As a perfect symphony is to the ears of a composer, likewise is the enchanting flow of the eyes across a delicately and meticulously created piece of artwork. My personal looking glass at which I observe these works are through the idea that details are the glue which hold together the focal points of a particular design.
        This is true to the core. 90 percent of people can look at an advertisement, and like it or not like it, but then not know why that is true. An understanding of how these things work, and what they are capable of conveying using their form and organization alone is astounding.Word form can convey emotion, it can take you to a place, it can communicate without defining anything. I love to stumble up on new work, and I marvel at the fact that there creativity and can exist after years of art being in existence. Yet with the bringing of new mediums and methods of communication, what was never thought possible, is now indeed possible.
        Many will never understand, appreciate, or care about type the way that I do. There are more out there who are overcome with glee when they cross paths with a type treatment they have never seen. My personal obsession was induced by a professor of mine which I encountered during my graphic design studies. He was my instructor for a handful or courses, as I tried to take him for every course i possibly could. Yet among these courses there was one that clearly stood head and shoulders above the rest. It was a class taught by an instructor who was some enveloped in the subject, that his entire life fell victim to the obsession he had subjected himself to earlier in life. Everything he saw from that point on was never same, and after this course, my looking glass is now properly focuses as well. My typography class literally changed the way I see life. My girlfriend thinks I’m crazy, my friends find me annoying, my comrades in school appreciated it more than some, but not like they should have. The bottom line is: I love type. What a weird obsession, and I thought it too at the beginning, but I got swooned in, and now I’m hooked.
        I love being surrounded in people who are passionate about something I am passionate in, I love being mentored, I love being discipled. It’s an incredible experience to meet someone who knows more about something than you’ll ever know, and as soon as you attain that level that they are at, They will have long and far surpassed their place as well.
        Sir Edward Edman, who is the man who can look at any typeface and tell you what it is in a matter of seconds. His brain has so memorized the curvatures of the letterforms at every weight imaginable that he cannot help but spew the knowledge so eagerly exploding from within him. I see type everywhere, we’re surrounded in it, yet I love to tear it apart in my mind, appreciating the great, and learning from the poor renderings of some. I want the knowledge to see the more that I don’t already see. I long for that. He has inspired me to be great, to reach a goal that, to most, is a goal not worth reaching. It’s a strange obsession I know, but an extremely useful one at that. In a profession like mine, where your job is to communicate using art, I need letterforms to reach the untrained eye, yet stimulate the eye which can appreciate it most. Having an arsenal of knowledge in the typeface department is unfathomably useful in every situation. I wish that there were more people like me that I was familiar with, I know they’re out there.
        I know they’re out there because websites like ilovetypography.com exist. Yet where are these people? Why am I not sitting in a pub sipping a pint candidly talking about the counters in the timeless typeface helvetica, the exact geometric symmetry of Avant Garde by Herb Lubalin, the sloppy yet genius kerning and inconsistency of Gil Sans, the often illegibility of script faces, the hatred of Times Roman and Papyrus, or the oversized X-height of New Century Schoolbook?! Where are these colleagues of mine?! The uniqueness of such a strange excitement over such an obscure nature leads me only to believe that there are very few of us out there, but when we find each other, it will be a beautiful thing. I look forward to meeting you.