A Little Bit Of Nonsense By Catharine Graff.

hitRECord

2012-02-02T10:54:00.000-05:00

I am totally getting addicted to hitRECord. What is that, you say?From the website itself, "an open collaborative production company, and this website is where we make things together. "

Since I'm freelancing, I look at it more as a place to go and take a mental break and just let my creativity fly. It's also great for getting inspiration. I love just taking some text from someone and creating something from it. It really feels like a warm community as far as I have seen and incredibly encouraging.

Here are a few things I have created specifically for it, the links below are who I got the text from. Fun!

Fireflies

http://hitrecord.org/records/431952

Paranoid Elephant

http://hitrecord.org/records/454130

Gone

http://hitrecord.org/records/564993

This is where you can find me on there: http://hitrecord.org/users/HelloCat

Let's make something together!

Running With Scissors

2012-01-31T09:20:00.002-05:00

I cut my hair and gave it away. Find more information about it here.

Mr. Graff Cooks.

2012-01-30T13:23:00.000-05:00

Oh me, oh my! I've started another blog about hubby's adventures in cooking and my adventures in eating.

Lots of yummyness happening there:
http://mrgraffcooks.blogspot.com/

Store!

2012-01-27T10:33:00.000-05:00

I have opened a store! I'm trying out Zazzle so we'll see how that goes. Mostly postcards of my random creativity. Enjoy!

Come visit me:

http://www.zazzle.com/catgraff

iPad Fairytale: The Princess and the Pea

2012-01-16T10:50:00.002-05:00

What is my favourite fairy tale? I actually had to think about it, but I always loved that story about the princess and the pea. Maybe because I'm the sensitive type too. ;)

Enjoy my iPad sketchiness. I set the type in Photoshop since SketchBook allows for PSDs and layers. I may just refine this more and do it all in Illustrator at some point. Though I'm kind of digging the messiness of this version. Totally addicted to SketchBook! Enjoy...

New Year? New Site!

2012-01-03T11:48:00.000-05:00

It's a New Year, and I've decided it's time for a new site! I know, I know, I go through sites like I go through socks but I just felt the need to simplify what I had going on. Fundamentally it is a landing page to access my various online goings-ons as well as an easy way to view my creative things along with some information about what I do.

Would like to give a shout out to the hubby who made it possible to import my Picasa albums into my site while using Lightbox. Until next time...

Hmm... looks like I may just have to create some new business cards now...

Wishing Everyone A Happy New Year!

2012-01-02T09:30:00.002-05:00

Cheers!

Happy Christmas Everyone!

2011-12-24T16:36:00.000-05:00

Our Awkward Space

2011-12-21T14:13:00.000-05:00

This is something I am tinkering with. Hubby and I have an awkward space on one wall in our living room... we've never been able to really figure out what to do with it, though after a few sarcastic conversations this is what I have come up with to fill this void.

Done in Illustrator, I would actually do this on 3 canvases most likely by masking and using some acrylic paint. That is of course if I can pull myself away from the digital world I live in and get my hands dirty... it's rare these days. It's the thought that counts right? (Not if I actually want something on that wall... erm.)

This is becoming a tradition...

2011-12-20T15:59:00.002-05:00

This is still my all-time fav: http://catharinegraff.blogspot.com/2008/12/merry-christmas-from-babes.html

Enjoy!

Getting in the Christmas Spirit...

2011-12-09T11:08:00.001-05:00

A few instagrams of some of my favourite decorations... mostly home-made from about 7 years ago...

This little guy had to have some re-constructive surgery, but he made it through A-Okay!

Also, if you're curious as to why we don't have a tree, it's because of this little darling...

Don't worry, we keep the most delicious ornaments up high.

Mad Men Yourself

2011-12-08T15:04:00.001-05:00

I must be missing Mad Men because I just Mad Menned not only me but the hubby too...

And no, I don't smoke, but back then I wouldn't have known any better... get into character! ;)

You can do it too, enjoy!
http://www.amctv.com/madmenyourself/

A few sketches from the iPad.

2011-11-21T09:55:00.001-05:00

Really missing my Cintiq...

You can however do some pretty sweet stuff on the iPad,

I deflated my stylus making these... though I think it was worth it.

New site in the works!

2011-11-07T16:18:00.001-05:00

So this mockup is a little tighter than my last.

This is what I'm planning on for my new site. Very simple and to the point - just like me. ;)

iPad Mockup

2011-11-05T12:12:00.001-04:00

Hey Folks,

Yes, I may be redoing my site yet again and changing the focus more to doing creative freelance and also a bit friendlier for my social connections.

Where to begin... well this my awesome iPad mockup:

Kerning.ca

2011-10-30T20:35:00.000-04:00

I know I have been mentioning Kerning lately. What is it? (A few have asked me.)

Kerning is a pet project from Thalion (Hubby) and I where we'll explore anything and everything creative we find along the way. It is meant to share inspiration and information. I hope to include a few tutorials and any tidbits that I find useful. Hopefully you enjoy our comings and goings. Have a question? Ask away. We'd love to hear from you.

We're currently available on the following sites if you'd like to connect with us:

Official: kerning.ca
Twitter: twitter.com/kerningtogether
Facebook: facebook.com/kerningtogether

Or you can also contact us the new old fashioned way via email: hello@kerning.ca

More than one Twitter account? Facebook is useful afterall!

2011-10-20T16:09:00.000-04:00

I was shocked to find out in my integrational search, no I have no idea if integrational is a word, but I consistently add new words to the Catharine dictionary all the time - I know that you know what I meant and isn't that what communication is all about. Distracted. Okay back to it. The thing with messing around somewhat aimlessly is I tend to learn more and surprise myself. I only really tried out Facebook Pages (not Profile) because of helping out with some online marketing for Small Cakes (which I have been having way too much fun with by the way).

Now, hopefully I can explain this with some clarity why it's so functional:

Step 1: I created two "Pages", one for me Catharine Graff and one for the pet project I share with the hubby Kerning. (Feel free to "Like" me, at the moment I think I have like 4 people, and it's all family... )

Step 2: I set up both of these accounts to publish to my Twitter pages including my @designcrimes and Kerning's @kerningtogether.

Why is this great? If you have more than one Twitter account (I hate to say it but I think I have around 5, let's not even go there) you can set up Pages in Facebook so that you no longer have to login and logout of each account to post something that is relevant to which Twitter you're using. You can just post to your Facebook pages which is a bit of a less pain in the old *** (yeah, I said it... stars). So I can keep my legitimate design tips to Kerning and my silly, fun little digs to my Design Crimes... Though who am I kidding, I'm pretty much silly 99.99% of the time.

That's all folks!

P.S. I apologize for the amount of spammy test posts I have been sending out - it's all in the name of learning!

P.P.S. Or you could just use the Twitter iPad app that allows multiple sign in. ;)

What a tangled web we weave...

2011-10-20T10:56:00.003-04:00

I belong to a lot of social networking sites such as (but not limited to) Google+, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and so on, not to mention my secondary ones that I may have created for projects I might be working on with the Hubby (plugging my kerning.ca site now).

None the less, I've been looking up how to integrate these services which generally means tricking their system or adding 3rd party services. It's easy enough to get feeds, but really, I know for me, and I doubt I'm alone, I have a preference for one site over another, but sometimes I'd still like to get at the content that is somewhere else or at least know that it's there.

I know that you can set up a Facebook Page that will publish to Twitter. Then I wondered, what about Blogger and hooking that up? So this is my test post for that actually, I'm trying out twitterfeed.com, which if it works will appear on my Twitter feed which will then post to my Facebook... There must be a simpler way, if I ever figure that out... I will make 1 million dollars... just kidding... or am I? Too bad you can't just email to post to all of them, hint, hint, networking sites... Google+ allows you to send posts to an email and Facebook allows you to receive posts through email, but not the other way around.

Anyone know of any simple ways to connect all these bad boys? I am open to ideas... What a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to use internets.

Small Cakes

2011-10-18T21:32:00.000-04:00

I just finished up doing some creative work for Small Cakes, an up-and-coming cakery! (My fav flava is the Mocha!)

Hubby did the photos and some of the trickier scripting and I handled the rest. What a fun project to work on. I think this is probably one of the most colourful brands I've made - definitely a breath of fresh air.

Go visit the site and maybe even order some if you're in the Niagara area: smallcakes.ca

When it rains...

2011-09-24T11:55:00.001-04:00

When it rains... SING.
(And dance!)

Toot toot!

2011-09-15T22:25:00.001-04:00

After all is said and done, she reminds me a little bit of Popeye. Perhaps his Grandmother?

When left to my own devices

2011-09-08T15:58:00.000-04:00

Updated: Sometimes I forget there's no undo button in real life. Though, I do think this one is a bit more balanced and still dreamy...

Before: Not sure if I'm quite finished with this yet... I can get a little heavy handed when it comes to ink.

Five Fingers Review

2011-09-06T19:31:00.001-04:00

I've had my Vibram Five Fingers since just before the summer began, so now that I'm an expert (yeah right, I'm a computer geek who likes to go outside once in a while)... let me tell you about my experiences with them.

First things first, I got the Treksport ones which means "It’s designed with rugged, high-performance materials to help maximize your outdoor experience." This is actually quite true, considering my usual summer footwear would be $3.00 flip flops from Old Navy - FF has definitely helped in maximizing my experience outdoors, in other words, I don't flip then flop right into trees when I'm walking down a gorge.

Now, being vegetarian, it also thrills me that these shoes do no harm to any animals (though not all Five Fingers are actually vegan-friendly, so buyer beware). The ones I got are made out of some sort of coconut concoction which is very breathable.

Mainly I just started out walking in them. Very comfortable once you actually get used to putting them on - that is the trickiest part but well worth the toe scrunching. I've also made friends wearing these, which is weird to have strangers feeling comfortable enough to come up to me and chat about footwear, or to just have strangers stare at my feet as they walk by in bewilderment shaking their head. Being the shy, said computer geek, it's slightly disorienting (especially when they think I'm sporty/adventurous and start talking about running/portaging - the most I do is walk briskly/drink tap water - sometimes). Just smile and nod.

I also started biking this year (not cycling, because I think cycling means that I would spend at least 10 hours a day on my bicycle, which because of the humidity over the summer, I have avoided it for the past month). Biking in these shoes is amazing, no slipping, good grip. Love it!

By far, hiking has been the best in these shoes. I never realized that I actually do have balance and this is the perfect cross between a bulky hiking shoe and a crappy sandal. It gave me more confidence and definitely gave me more speed (according to the Hubby anyway).

So was it worth the $100? For sure, I love these bad boys! I would definitely purchase another pair in a heartbeat! They do get kind of rank, but the nice thing is, they're machine washable! (Which I have tested and it was totally safe.)

Peek-a-boo! Why did I get these in the first place? I think they're cool looking and sort of make me look like a ninja - who doesn't want that? Go get yourself a pair here.

Business Card

2011-09-03T12:08:00.000-04:00

Fiddling around with ideas for a business card. I'm leaning towards this one:

Everytime I think about business cards it makes me think of this scene from American Psycho:

Also, trying out the new Blogger interface. Haven't gotten into the nitty gritty, but it's looking a lot like the rest of Google's products. It's about time.

Blue Heron

2011-09-02T13:05:00.002-04:00

This morning I went for a walk to the beach with my special little guy, Mister Chu. It was my favourite kind of weather, foggy, dewy... the kind of weather you know is going to bring in Fall; my most favourite season. We take a seat on a couple of rocks and a beautiful Blue Heron glides across the lake above all the ducks and geese that are more common to see.

I actually felt very emotional when I saw it, like we had some sort of connection. It looks so incredibly powerful when it is flying despite how fragile it can look when it is standing on its long, thin legs. This was a quick sketch I did when I got home.

On a tech note, this is what I used:
> SketchBook Pro
> SGP Stylus Pen Kuel H10
(First time I used this. In comparison to my finger and a cheap foam stylus, it is much, much more fluid.)
> iPad2

Inkling by Wacom

2011-08-30T18:19:00.008-04:00

Would love this for all my sketches and scribbles! Thanks to Andie for sharing this:

Click me for the link for this from Wacom. Looks like it is $199 and available Mid-September.

Steno Book Scribbles

2011-08-26T20:57:00.003-04:00

A dreamy little thing I may just have to do something more with...

Tablet Sketches

2011-08-21T21:38:00.001-04:00

I've been messing around a bit with SketchBook Pro on my tablet. I enjoy it and I mean for $4.99, there's some pretty good options on there, the full version is definitely for someone who enjoys the likes of layers and a variety of toolbars. I did buy a two dollar stylus, which honestly, I got my money's worth. I'll probably get one that's a bit better than that and see if it helps with the feel of it. Here are a few of my doodles, my "real-life" notebooks are full of round-faced, malnutritioned ladies (possibly holding more tiny ladies) and scribbles of trees... now you get to enjoy them as well.

Google+

2011-07-12T20:01:00.002-04:00

I've only been using Google+ for a few days, but I am enjoying it. G+ is just so integrated, I mean I am already a pretty big fan - afterall this blog is on Blogger which is a part of... you guessed it: Google. I won't get into all the nitty gritty, but it's basically like Facebook and Twitter combined. I'd definitely give it my +1 - don't know what that is? You will soon.

I heart melting rocks!

2011-07-06T08:45:00.003-04:00

I am always interested in new web browsers and I was recently told about RockMelt (rockmelt.com) which I am now really enjoying.

The low-down:
"RockMelt is re-imagining the browser for how people use the web today by making it easy to stay in touch with friends, search online, and get updates from your favorite sites."

In other words it basically integrates Facebook into your browser as well as other feeds such as Twitter so that you know when you have updates instead of having to have notifiers for everything. It also has your Facebook contacts on an "edge" for easy chatting. The only downside: it only has Facebook, I would have preferred having more chat options like Google Talk and Windows Live, but there's room for improvement (*hint, hint, RockMelt) or perhaps there might be a little work-around I may have missed.

It's also based on Chromium which I love and if you enter "Quiet Mode" it will turn everything off and be bare bones - a nice option at times.

Overall, I have to say, I'm diggin' it, though there are some tweaks that could help - like I think having some sort of genie effect on the "edges" would be an awesome option to make it look a bit less clunky.

P.S. I chose the Chuck Anderson theme, it is fun and whimsical!

*UPDATE: After using this for about 2 months, I grew tired of how laggy it made my computer. Possibly, if I had a better computer I would have a more enjoyable experience. I think it's a great idea, but has a way to go before I'll be using it consistently. Back to Chrome for now. /wave

Letterpress

2011-05-17T22:02:00.005-04:00

Letterpress from Naomie Ross on Vimeo.

Had to share. Enjoy.

Design Do-Gooder

2011-05-10T07:00:00.000-04:00

Not only is my hubby a great designer but he also puts it towards do-gooding. Love this design.

Buy the print here.

Cintiqetches

2011-05-02T18:26:00.003-04:00

New Profile Pic = Fail

2011-04-29T12:00:00.007-04:00

So apparently, I cannot use an animated gif for my profile on here. Oh well, what's a girl to do? Well, I shall just have to post it here. Was in a "Singin' in the Rain" kind of mood... really? When I am I not?

Props to hubby for the sequence.

I heart Gene Kelly. Insert photos here:

Harder to read, better to remember?

2011-04-26T08:40:00.002-04:00

Who knew? There might be a use for Comic Sans after all! (Other than the obvious annoyance to graphic designers everywhere.)

"If a piece of information is very easy to process (e.g., in large Arial font), we may be over-confident in how well we've retained that information—and more likely to skim it—, while information that's presented in a more challenging fashion (e.g., small Comic Sans MS font) forces us to read more carefully and think more deeply about the material."

Read the full article here.

My thoughts are represented here:

Looking back...

2011-01-21T20:38:00.006-05:00

I hate to admit it, but the experiment that Hubby and I had been doing, "Design a Word a Day", has ended, actually for quite some time now. The words tended to get really repetitive, which really, the reason we were doing it was to try and stay fresh. Our little pet project can still be viewed here: designawordaday.blogspot.com.

I believe we made it to 237 days (what a number, I know!), but work and life just got in the way. I learned a lot actually and really enjoyed it. The reason I'm bringing it up now is that I had been looking through all my old stuff and I think this is one of the more fun "projects" I've ever worked on. Most likely because of the time limit we put on ourselves and also just the bursts of creativity, although, trust me, there were days when neither of us felt like working on it at all, and we both know it showed (haha). Anyways, here were a few of mine that I really enjoyed making...

P.S. Look forward to new and exciting experiments from us. We're cookin' up ideas as we speak. ;)

What inspired me?

2011-01-16T16:50:00.010-05:00

Every time I redo my site, I generally do it on a binge - meaning, I can't stop until it's done. I'm sure I'll find little tweaks to do here and there, but overall I'm pretty happy with it. What inspired me to revamp everything... again? Two band posters I stumbled upon actually. I also tried to incorporate little bits of art that I have used throughout most of my websites over the years. Here's a screenshot of a part of the finished site and said inspirations...

The new site is here.

If you're feeling nostalgic, the old site is still kickin' it here.

I'd also like give a shout out to the people over at Huddletogether for the functionality of my gallery with the use of Lightbox 2.

In the middle...

2011-01-16T13:57:00.004-05:00

So I am just about to update everything... this blog, my twitter and then I think I will take on the actual update of my website! If things seem glitchy, just bare with me, I think it's been worth it. ;)

Creating...

2011-01-14T22:36:00.002-05:00

Another piece to my puzzle...

Fiddling

2011-01-14T08:48:00.010-05:00

Last night I started on an idea I had for my website so I thought I would share... So far it's all been done in Illustrator, I'm not sure if I'll keep it this flat but I'm enjoying the flow so far... and I do love my vector arts. I'll try and post updates as I go...

Starbucks Siren

2011-01-10T21:11:00.009-05:00

Because of my love... ugh... addiction to Starbucks lattes, I thought I should do a quickie about their new logo. Seems like there's a lot of interwebuzz about it, both negative and positive. (Hey, there's no bad publicity!) Anyhow, judge for yourself. I feel a little indifferent about it. I think maybe it's because of how large it is on the cup and it's throwing me off, though the siren graphic is great. I'm all for the whole minimalist/simplistic thing but I have a soft spot for retro and I'm kind of diggin' 1987. Honestly, they could put a picture of a goat on there - I'd still drink it.

At least it didn't look like what GAP was trying to do with theirs... "Hey Uncle, you can do really cool stuff these days with Microsoft Word..."

Really Rough Randoms

2010-12-23T14:42:00.009-05:00

Just because I haven't picked up a pencil in ages...

Because I am a product of the 80's...

2010-12-21T13:19:00.007-05:00

Wishing everyone a Happy Christmas! Hope the New Year is full of much nonsense. Cheers from Cat & Fin.

What am I listening to?

2010-12-21T11:16:00.006-05:00

So everytime this song comes on the radio, Little Lion Man by Mumford and Sons, I just want to get up and Riverdance... err.. or just do a jig of some sort... or go to a pub and have some beer (and I don't even like beer). It's such an energetic song and I absolutely love it... I cannot help myself from singing it at the top of my lungs everytime I hear it... Enjoy!

Vavoom!

2010-12-08T20:06:00.004-05:00

So, I admit it, I play World of Warcraft. I think I have even posted about this before. But it's a funny kind of 'relationship' I have with it. We've seen each other on and off for about 6 years. I am always amazed that this game can draw me back in... But I mean, taking a look at my new, fancy, little goblin, how could I not? It's the value added details like skull earrings and barrettes that get me... Okay, okay... that's enough nonsense for now... Until next time. /wave

Happy Hallowe'en!

2010-10-30T21:43:00.006-04:00

I know it's not quite yet Hallowe'en, but it will be soon enough. I promised to help out with my brother's pumpkin this year and create some art for it. Both him and the hubby did an amazing job of cutting it out...

Getting ready to go, plans in hand...

Hubby chiseling away...

Seeds toasting...

Me sampling the goods...

Pretty close to the picture, with a few additions...

All lit up! Way to go team! ^_^

Grape and Wine Festival

2010-09-25T18:42:00.007-04:00

Being from the Niagara Region, we have a yearly festival celebrating getting sloshed... okay actually it's more about the wine and just hanging out with awesome people. And I have to say... the Samosas that Spice of Life had there... SO amazing and served with a Peach Chutney... obviously I had to have more than one.

Nonetheless, among the many festivities was the Grande Parade today (which I haven't been to since I was a little girl) and the main highlight for me was The New Orleans Spice Jazz Band, I only wish we could have seen more of them. Anyhow, here are a few of hubby's photos from the day. Enjoy! (I did!)

"News"

2010-08-14T09:56:00.003-04:00

I was reading through all my news this morning, and I use the term "news" lightly, since it consists of all things design related, random creativity, nonsense, animal humour... the list goes on, but I digress, I was reading one of my fashion blogs (I used to dream about being a fashion designer many moons ago) and I see this post about styles coming back from the 50's and 60's eras. I really do hope this is true as style back then actually made women look like women and not adolescent boys. I know this may be shocking but we do have hips and ALSO waists. Nonetheless, this is the image that caught my eye, I still remember having paper dolls I used to dress up that looked like this (including Princess Diana, so random!).

For the actual post, click here!

What are the Origins of the World's Most Important Typefaces

2010-07-07T08:58:00.001-04:00

Love this...

Where I found this and a few more tidbits about type: http://www.chacha.com/content/infographics/Origin-of-important-typefaces

We ♥ Choice

2010-05-13T08:31:00.015-04:00

Dear Adobe,

I enjoy your little **** you to Steve Jobs (firstly, excuse my stars, and secondly, click here for his thoughts on Flash if you haven't heard already).

From Adobe:
"At Adobe, we believe that the open flow of creativity, ideas, and information should be limited only by the imagination. Innovation thrives when people are free to choose the technologies that enable them to openly express themselves and access information where and when they want. Everyone loses when technological barriers impede the exchange of ideas."

For more about Flash and creative freedom click here.

I ♥ Adobe and to those of you who may be surprised, I use a PC.

P.S. I'm not even that particular to using Flash, but I do want to have the option.

How trustworthy is your beard?

2010-04-26T20:17:00.004-04:00

Glad hubby upgraded to a full beard...

Designed by Matt McInerney. Stumbled upon it here.

Google Analytics

2010-04-19T08:15:00.005-04:00

Since I have 2 blogs, a website, Twitter account...(and a MySpace page which really, who cares about MySpace anymore?)... I figured, hmm... I wonder WHO is visiting any of my sites, if anyone? So I installed Google Analytics (which actually I'm not sure if I can add it to my Twitter, I guess I'll need to google that - side note, I hate Bing, it makes me think of Chandler from friends, yes I watch way too much crap on television).

ANYWAYS, back to my Google Analytics, which I just installed around February this year; finding out people actually do visit my site! Now, it doesn't give me names but it does tell me things like how many visits I get, page views, how long they spend there, etc... I keep finding more fun little tidbits as I go along. Nonetheless, for what I use my sites for, it's really not that useful, but at least it's kind of neat to see all these stats popping up, even if my artist brain can't really understand all the numbers - yeah, I've always really sucked at math...

So, if you've got a website and are dying to know this kind of thing check it out here: www.google.com/analytics

And, thanks to all of you who actually spend some time observing my nonsense.

Enjoy!

Favourite New Song

2010-04-18T15:27:00.002-04:00

Crash Kings: Mountain Man

If only I could find the sheet music...

LOVE this...

2010-04-10T22:00:00.005-04:00

May have to buy this book, "REWORK" (http://37signals.com/rework/).

This is what caught my eye, love the illustrations:
"Illustrations from REWORK, the new business book from 37signals. Illustration by Mike Rohde". Visit http://www.flickr.com/photos/37s/sets/72157623458720373.

New photo for my site...

2010-04-10T10:52:00.006-04:00

Hubby has been getting back into photography again, which is actually pretty entertaining. We wander around while he snaps shots of just about everything, including me...

Yeah... I can be a bit of a ham at times despite my shyness, but it was raining and I had an umbrella - how could I resist? Plus, Singin' in the Rain is one of my all time favourite movies - too bad I wasn't near a light post. Anyways! I liked it so much I even updated my catharinegraff.ca website with it, I think it gives a much happier vibe. Enjoy!

Thanks hubby!

'Pixels' Short Film

2010-04-08T19:15:00.004-04:00

As a graphic designer who works with pixels on a daily basis and who has been called "Pixel Raider" in the past, this really made my day...

PIXELS by PATRICK JEAN.
Uploaded by onemoreprod. - Arts and animation videos.

Plus, I really dig the retro vids.
For more info click here.

A few photos...

2010-04-04T11:15:00.005-04:00

We went to Toronto yesterday with family just to walk around, shop and what not. And of course hubby finds Batman! Although, I'm pretty sure it wasn't the real one, since I really don't think Bruce Wayne needs tips. Nonetheless, after I told him I didn't have anything, in true superhero fashion he said let's give you a better shot anyways...

So after he did all that, I check my wallet and all I find is a lousy nickle. I give it to him and say it's all I've got if I had more I would give it to you. He really didn't look too impressed... and who could blame him? Next time I'll have to remember to bring some cashola for the buskers in Toronto as I think they bring such a good vibe to the city. Thanks for the pick me up Toronto Batman (literally)!

*Update: Feeling about as bad as could be about that tip, I decided to create a Toronto Batman symbol, how's that for a barter? Besides, I'm pretty proud to be Canadian. ;)

We also ate at "Green Jeans" which was nice and relaxing after a really long, beautiful, warm day... I had a delicious veggie burger (and ever important Raspberry Daiquiri)... Hubby got some sort of fish taco thing which I at least had a taste of the guacamole...

Flash is so 2009.

2010-03-29T08:49:00.012-04:00

Just a quick little post about how the interwebs may be changing:

"The iPad doesn't run Flash. If your website uses Flash, it won't play well on the iPad. Turns out, a lot of people want their sites to look pretty on the iPad. So the internet's already starting to look different."

Read the full article here on Gizmodo.

"Design is thinking made visual." - Saul Bass

2010-03-24T20:12:00.006-04:00

Because of my love for old movies... I do enjoy some Hitchcock. The first thing that popped to mind for my word of the day design was the poster from Vertigo created by Saul Bass. This is my small homage...

Clearly Contacts

2010-02-27T21:46:00.018-05:00

When I really love something I can't stop talking about it... and I love Clearly Contacts.

I ordered new prescription glasses from them at a fraction of the price and they came in about a week and are absolutely great. You can even use their "Virtual Mirror" to try on frames (although luckily I found my pair in a store to try on first).

I was really worried about how the lens quality would be so I ordered one of the thinner lenses (Thin Light Edidon Lens 1.61 Index) and they are very clear - no reflections. The hubby got a pair and was also really impressed.

Their customer service has been really good - they are great about responding to email - and I had a lot of questions. Would definitely order from there again, perhaps a pair of sunglasses...

The only drawback - no pushy salespeople.

Check it out: www.clearlycontacts.ca

Posemaniacs.com

2010-02-24T21:40:00.003-05:00

Hubby found this and I am really enjoying it: www.posemaniacs.com

A site where you can find poses and even do timed gesture drawing. Very different from life drawing with an actual model, but still pretty cool and makes me realize how much I miss it. A sketch from tonight just for fun:

What a wonderful world it would be...

2010-02-05T11:12:00.004-05:00

I am super into wearing anything cozy, so this sounds really appealing to me, not sure if a crackdown is really necessary:

Shanghai's Crackdown on... Pajamas, Read the article here.

I truly believe the world would be a better place if we had a universal PJ day (my family has generally done this on Christmas Eve, trust me, it's awesome.). Who's in?

Also, a book I may just have to buy.

design a word a day

2010-01-26T20:14:00.010-05:00

Hubby and I are starting a fun little hobby - we both had a similar idea at the same time and figured why not try and bring it together? The challenge? Take a random word of the day (from Dictionary.com) and create some sort of graphic design from it. We've made it three days so far, so check out our experiment and expansion of our vocabularies:

designawordaday.blogspot.com

Hope you will enjoy!

Statuses '09

2010-01-26T08:15:00.004-05:00

Yes, I Facebook too much. And yes, I still hate wallpaper.

Ecofont & Ink Usage

2010-01-23T11:56:00.005-05:00

This is kind of a neat idea: Put holes in a font to save ink. Supposedly when printed it bleeds together so you don't notice. I haven't tried printing it yet so I'm not sure if it will actually work but here is more about it from their site which features a FREE download:

- A green font that uses up to 20% less ink
- The Ecofont is based on the Vera Sans, an Open Source letter
- Works best when using font size 9 or 10

Learn more: http://www.ecofont.nl/ecofont_en.html

Also on a side note, someone had fun with measuring type and ink usage by way of Bic pens... Enjoy! (Who knew Garamond was so eco-friendly?)

http://www.matthewrobinson.co.uk/projects/measuring-type/

The Thalion Graff Experience

2010-01-22T21:30:00.007-05:00

Hubby updated his site... I'm sure he'll be experimenting with it for a while because that's just how he rolls. Definitely enjoying the simple look and smooth animations.

PHAT!

2010-01-14T18:18:00.007-05:00

I so need to replace my scale with this, plus it looks so cuddly and inviting.

Made by Marilyn Wann. Find it here.

What type are you?

2010-01-09T12:06:00.005-05:00

I am...

Emotional
Understated
Traditional
Disciplined

I am Marina Script.

Find out what type you are here. The password is "Character".

Turquoise & Nina

2010-01-05T07:01:00.010-05:00

Hubby just sent this to me as he knows it's my favourite colour (red being a close second) - apparently Pantone likes it too announcing "PANTONE® 15-5519 Turquoise, an inviting, luminous hue, as the color of the year for 2010". I personally think it's timeless.

Read more about Turquoise here.

Hubby has also started using his blog again with stuff like this added - I had to reblog it because it is just that good:

His site is a wee bit under construction at the moment, can't wait to see when he has it all put together!

Enjoy!

Happy New Year!

2010-01-01T10:03:00.005-05:00

Don't stop growing! Oh, Brother!

More neato ads.

Design Crimes

2009-12-31T11:28:00.002-05:00

I have attempted Twitter before and it failed miserably as you can see here. Lately I've been blogging much about things that erk me regarding design so I've decided to dedicate a Twitter page just for them! I've also attempted this on MySpace, but that is crime of a website in itself. (Obviously both are old as I was in my fuchsia phase.)

Enjoy my themed Twitter page while it lasts! twitter.com/designcrimes/

Just beautiful

2009-12-15T19:27:00.002-05:00

I'm a vegetarian, I don't know if I've mentioned that before but I've been one for about 10 years. I have a variety of reasons why which just tend to accumulate over the years and I've never regretted it. Watching this video, I almost feel bad even eating plant life... just beautiful.

Why trusting your designer is so important...

2009-12-04T18:51:00.004-05:00

Learn something about how to make a website go straight to hell... Click here.

Dark Side

2009-11-30T12:30:00.004-05:00

As soon as I saw my "Jos" with "Dish" basically wrapped around his neck like a scarf I couldn't resist trying my hand at making them into lolcats... enjoy!

moar funny pictures

It's always someone's nephew...

2009-11-25T20:16:00.008-05:00

From my new favourite website "Clients from Hell":

Prospective client: $400 for a logo?! Why are you so expensive?
My nephew has Photoshop—I can just get him to do it.

Me: Does your nephew have Microsoft Word?

Prospective client: Yes.

Me: Then have him write you a novel while he’s at it.

Enjoy this feel good site for designers here.

Eclipse Partition System

2009-11-25T19:55:00.005-05:00

I think I have found a solution to the office cube. Since I sit in one roughly 8 hours everyday I feel I can recommend this without even trying it. Besides I just think it would be fun, almost like a hamster wheel! You know you want one too!

Facebook Cloud

2009-11-25T19:44:00.003-05:00

I enjoyed this app on Facebook, it takes the words mostly used from my status updates and creates a cloud, this was from the past year...

I actually LOVE cheesecake.

Happy Christmas!

2009-11-18T21:42:00.005-05:00

So it's a bit early but I love Christmas! I admit it, I'm already listening to my Christmas tunes and trying to wait a little while longer to watch one of my most favourite movies, White Christmas, at least until it snows. I would probably be putting up my tree except that my kitten has taken a liking to scaling things, I really don't think she could resist it.

A few photos of the kids...

2009-11-03T21:15:00.004-05:00

Today we went to Winners - mostly I wanted to go shoe shopping (which side note, their selection is growing increasingly poorer and poorer)... instead Hubby found a Christmas ornament he knew I'd love and I couldn't resist purchasing it, not because it's very Christmas-y at all but because it's an owl and it also looks like my kitty Miss Grey - both of which I have a soft spot for. Enjoy!

Miss Grey, Miss Dish and Mister Jos...

Mister Chu pooped on a pillow...

I use so much white space it's racist.

2009-10-15T07:20:00.001-04:00

I really do love white space. Check out the link for this over at College Humour: http://www.collegehumor.com/article:1792273

Fotobounce

2009-09-27T17:40:00.005-04:00

If you're like me, you have tried various web photo galleries. My personal favourite is becoming Picasa, mostly because it's associated with Google and integrates with everything else I use - like this blog from blogger.

Anyways, onto the real reason I'm mentioning this. I've been trying to find a way to download all my stuff from Facebook and Flickr - and not by clicking one by one through all of it. After a quick search for something like this, I found Fotobounce... it is a little buggy - on my computer anyways, but amazing that I can pretty much select all of my photos from those sites and download them for FREE... try it for yourself...

Enjoy: http://fotobounce.com/

Warning: Graphic Content (18+)

2009-09-25T22:53:00.005-04:00

If you're an 8 year old using Word, don't watch this okay? I don't want mean comments from your Mommy.

Sneak Peek

2009-09-24T19:19:00.007-04:00

It's fall! My favourite season... and I am so welcoming it... nice cool weather and... a new site. Things will probably be a little wacky for just a little bit so bear with me... but here's a little sneak peek of what's coming to my catharinegraff.ca site... so I'll have to do something to make my blog match a little bit more.

Smoker

2009-09-19T23:02:00.001-04:00

of ALL time...

2009-09-18T20:06:00.005-04:00

Now for some more nonsense... in Von, Two, Three...

I haven't seen Twilight, but I think Kanye was right about this one.

For more interruptions...
http://kanyegate.tumblr.com/

New Wacom Tablet...

2009-09-09T19:15:00.000-04:00

What a difference a new tablet makes - and a computer that can actually keep up with my brush strokes... this is my first attempt... hopefully this will motivate me to do more - I really miss life drawing.

8 Ways to Drive a Graphic Designer Mad

2009-09-01T11:28:00.003-04:00

Visit the original post here: http://ghislainroy.com/blog/2007/03/06/8-ways-to-drive-a-graphic-designer-mad/

Because I liked it so much, I actually pasted the whole thing right here! (Other than pictures... I'm way too lazy for that.)

As everyone knows, graphic designers are the reason there are so many wars in this world. They get inside our heads with their subliminal advertising, force us against our will to spend money on the worst pieces of shit, and eventually, drive us to depression and random acts of violence. And of course, most of them are communists.

So to do my part to save the world from them, i made a list of things you can do when working with a graphic designer, to assure that they have a burn-out and leave this business FOREVER.

1-Microsoft Office
When you have to send a graphic designer a document, make sure it’s made with a program from Microsoft Office. PC version if possible. If you have to send pictures, you’ll have more success in driving them mad if, instead of just sending a jpeg or a raw camera file, you embed the pictures inside a Microsoft Office document like Word or Powerpoint. Don’t forget to lower the resolution to 72 dpi so that they’ll have to contact you again for a higher quality version. When you send them the ‘higher’ version, make sure the size is at least 50% smaller. And if you’re using email to send the pictures, forget the attatchment once in a while.

2-Fonts
If the graphic designer chooses Helvetica for a font, ask for Arial. If he chooses Arial, ask for Comic Sans. If he chooses Comic Sans, he’s already half-insane, so your job’s half done.

3-More is better
Let’s say you want a newsletter designed. Graphic designers will always try to leave white space everywhere. Large margins, the leading and kerning of text, etc. They will tell you that they do this because it’s easier to read, and leads to a more clean, professional look. But do not believe those lies. The reason they do this is to make the document bigger, with more pages, so that it costs you more at the print shop. Why do they do it? Because graphic designers hate you. They also eat babies. Uncooked, raw baby meat.

So make sure you ask them to put smaller margins and really, really small text. Many different fonts are also suggested (bonus if you ask for Comic Sans, Arial or Sand). Ask for clipart. Ask for many pictures (if you don’t know how to send them, refer to #1). They will try to argument, and defend their choices but don’t worry, in the end the client is always right and they will bow to your many requests.

4-Logos
If you have to send a graphic designer a logo for a particular project, let’s say of a sponsor or partner, be sure to have it really really small and in a low-res gif or jpeg format. Again, bonus points if you insert it in a Word document before sending it. Now you might think that would be enough but if you really want to be successful in lowering the mental stability of a graphic designer, do your best to send a version of the logo over a hard to cut-out background. Black or white backgrounds should be avoided, as they are easy to cut-out with the darken or lighten layer style in photoshop. Once the graphic designer is done working on that bitmap logo, tell him you need it to be bigger.

If you need a custom made logo, make your own sketches on a napkin. Or better yet, make your 9 year old kid draw it. Your sketch shouldn’t take more than 5 minutes to make. You don’t want to make something that’s detailed and easy to understand, because the less the designer understands what you want, the more you can make him change things afterwards. Never accept the first logo. Never accept the 9th, make him do many changes, colors, fonts & clip art. Ask him to add a picture in the logo. Bevels. Gradients. Comic Sans. And when he’s at his 10th attempt, tell him that you like the 2nd one the most. I know, it’s mean but remember: graphic designers are the cause of breast cancer among middle aged women.

5-Chosing your words
When describing what you want in a design, make sure to use terms that don’t really mean anything. Terms like ‘jazz it up a bit’ or ‘can you make it more webbish?’. ‘I would like the design to be beautiful’ or ‘I prefer nice graphics, graphics that, you know, when you look at them you go: Those are nice graphics.’ are other options. Don’t feel bad about it, you’ve got the right. In fact, it’s your duty because we all know that on fullmoons, graphic designers shapeshift into werewolves.

6-Colors
The best way for you to pick colors (because you don’t want to let the graphic designer choose) is to write random colors on pieces of paper, put them in a hat and choose. The graphic designer will suggest to stay with 2-3 main colors at the most, but no. Choose as many as you like, and make sure to do the hat thing in front of him. While doing it, sing a very annoying song.

7-Deadlines
When it’s your turn to approve the design, take your time. There is no rush. Take two days. Take six. Just as long as when the deadline of the project approaches, you get back to the designer with more corrections and changes that he has time to make. After all, graphic designers are responsible for the 911 attacks.

8-Finish him
After you’ve applied this list on your victim, it is part of human nature (although some would argue weather they’re human or not) to get a bit insecure. As he realises that he just can’t satisfy your needs, the graphic designer will most likely abandon all hopes of winning an argument and will just do whatever you tell him to do, without question. You want that in purple? Purple it is. Six different fonts? Sure!

You would think that at this point you have won, but don’t forget the goal of this: he has to quit this business. So be ready for the final blow: When making final decisions on colors, shapes, fonts, etc, tell him that you are disappointed by his lack of initiative. Tell him that after all, he is the designer and that he should be the one to put his expertise and talent at work, not you. That you were expecting more output and advices about design from him.

Tell him you’ve had enough with his lack of creativity and that you would rather do your own layouts on Publisher instead of paying for his services. And there you go. You should have graphic designer all tucked into a straight jacket in no time!

Flash to Video Tutorial

2009-07-24T14:14:00.004-04:00

I didn't read through this whole tutorial, but I thought I would share what I found helpful within it... To start, the tutorial is here:
http://www.adobe.com/devnet/flash/articles/flash_to_video_print.html

In flash I was having problems exporting to anything other than swf - my animations/graphics just wouldn't show up. The problem was I had everything set to movie clips within movie clips (nested). In the tutorial above, I read this and my heart sank a little bit,

"Avoid movie clips. Avoid movie clips. Avoid movie clips! I can't emphasize enough the importance of avoiding the use of movie clip symbols containing content beyond the first frame. The movie clip in the exported movie will appear as a static image only. Did I say to avoid movie clips?"

.... not to worry, because there is a fix ....

"Exporting Flash projects to video format requires everything to be on the main Timeline. Graphic symbols are treated as part of the Timeline because, technically, they are in sync with it. So if you have nested animations, make sure to use the Graphic symbol type for all your symbols."

... It also goes into detail about how to convert a movieclip to a graphic and settings and such, so if you need help with that, visit the link above for more detailed instructions...

Enjoy!

Adventures in the Market of Fleas

2009-07-12T19:54:00.002-04:00

Hubby and I went flea market shopping this morning and this is what I picked up. Some old coins as I'm starting to collect stuff for possible jewelery ideas I have, an antique necklace and an irresistible drunk owl cookie jar that definitely needs a good scrubbing - I even bargained a little to get the price down. Other than that it was mostly looking through old toys that I used to have - nice to reminisce. I heart My Little Pony.

First Attempt

2009-06-28T18:56:00.005-04:00

I went bead shopping this aft and couldn't help myself in starting something (anything) - there is still a lot I need to learn and practice but it's a nice way to pass the time. Take a peek at my first bracelet...

Getting started with wire...

2009-06-27T20:34:00.011-04:00

So I'm trying to become more interesting and pick up jewelry making as a hobby, hehe... actually I just want to make my own cool stuff and search for gems, beads, etc. So I picked up a "Dummies" book about it and this is the result:

I have none of the right tools - just stuff out of hubby's tool box. Will pick up better supplies and books soon, but glad to use crap stuff to begin with anyways. Enjoy my rocky beginnings...

My Life is Average

2009-05-28T19:20:00.002-04:00

Hubby pointed me in the direction of this site: http://mylifeisaverage.com/

Here are a few of the ones I enjoyed and a few that have ran through my head at times, it's like they're reading my mind:

Today, Microsoft Word decided to shut down without explanation. I chose not to send an error report to Microsoft. MLIA

Today I received a text message. It wasn't funny, but I replied "lol". MLIA.

Today, I saw a boy I went to high school with in the movie rental store. We both pretended not to notice each other. MLIA.

Today, I couldn't hear what someone had said, so I asked them to repeat themselves. They did, and I still couldn't understand them. I just nodded and agreed. MLIA.

Today, I was wearing red while shopping in Target. Someone asked me where the video games were. I told them. MLIA

That last one actually happened to me at a Wal-Mart. MLIA

I looove this...

2009-05-26T18:55:00.007-04:00

Sooo goood... Alice in Wonderland remix/video...

You could watch this on regular old youtube, or you could watch it on yooouuutuuube, obviously I chose the latter...
http://www.yooouuutuuube.com/v/?rows=18&cols=18&id=pAwR6w2TgxY&startZoom=1

I like the tune, and even better you can download it for free here: http://www.last.fm/music/Pogo/_/Alice

For more visit Fagottron's YouTube Page.

I really need/want to watch this movie again...

My new favourite website...

2009-05-25T18:37:00.000-04:00

So much good nonsense:

http://www.goodexperience.com/tib/archives/just_for_fun/

A little sneak peak at the type of content, nothing like that big yellow taste... who knew colour tasted so good.

I wish I could do this...

2009-05-22T18:39:00.010-04:00

I decided to update this post to something else I wish I could do... the Daft Charleston!

These people are freaks of nature - in a good way!

What makes an adorable alcoholic?

2009-05-22T18:33:00.004-04:00

THIS!

Queen + Ancient Computer Equipment = Genius!

2009-05-07T22:04:00.006-04:00

There is something so sad/eerie about this old equipment "singing" Bohemian Rhapsody... though I have a feeling it won't be the last time I watch it.

Suite Stuff

2009-05-06T20:29:00.000-04:00

I heart Adobe! This shows how cuddly their products are...

Buy these softies here: http://www.mysuitestuff.com/shop.html

Edarem

2009-05-05T22:20:00.001-04:00

I just love 30 Rock too. Best old dude ever:

More of Edarem: http://www.youtube.com/user/edarem

Kind of neat if you have 20 minutes to spare....

2009-05-05T17:39:00.001-04:00

I still haven't seen The Curious Case of Benjamin Button but I have been waiting patiently for it to come out on DVD. I stumbled on this and found it interesting... digitized Brad Pitt...