Rick Howard

Design Float pointed me in the direction of Over 35 Different Styles of RSS Icons. A very useful article for seeing the different ways people have customized the RSS Icon while keeping that basic shape.

It also points to a couple tutorials on the topic, unfortunately it does not point to some generic files for the purpose of customizing. Sometimes it is easier for someone to be creative with just the bare bones version.

I have uploaded a zip file containing a PSD and 2 Vector files (One CS2 and One compliant with older versions of Illustrator).

These files should make it easier for anyone to customize their RSS Icon while being able to skip the step of creating the basic shape.

Enjoy.

Last night, my boss Ryan joined in my weekly Soccer game and am pleased to announce showed great natural ability.

While most of us play a tentative defense, he went at it with reckless abandonment, perfect for a good defender.

Next week, Adam, the other boss will possibly be joining in.

Here at ARC we aren’t just about design, we are also about staying healthy through good excercise.

This is also the reason we go up and down the stairs to move our cars every 2 hours.

On a side note, the Gas house aka Festival Park Place burned the other day. Unfortunately, a local free daily newspaper, Smart News, was working out of offices in that building. So ARC is lending some of our office space to them so they can get back on their feet.

If you are looking for the next big thing in news, Keep your eye out for these fledgling news services that are giving the news without the fluff.

Also if you would like to help them out, they always have advertising space available. You can get more information on their Advertising Rate Card (PDF).

Today I was thinking back to some of my old site ventures.

I was only interested in frequenting sites with great looking images that would influence my own design. I remember the big sites back then were Infinitefish, Phong, and Doc Ozone. It made me attempt to be creative with my website names like “Qrazy Graphx” and “Track 3″. It was as if the only way to be seen or found was to have a design site with a WWF-like (pre lawsuit days) moniker.

Now a days, it isn’t as much about photoshop and cool images online. It is about blogs and blogs have changed the way site names are created. Look at the most popular design blogs like Shaun Inman, Jason Kottke and Cameron Moll. Simple blogs with simple names.

This either represents the minimalistic approach to design that has been taking place or perhaps it goes deeper.

In the late 90s (meaning 96 and on), when I frequenting the internet, most people saw it as a passing fad or delved no deeper than AOL. Internet attention spans were at an all time high due to the fact that broadband was not readily available or even affordable. This has changed significantly over the past few years. Children, Teenagers and adults are now blessed with instant access to endless amounts of information. This change has caused us all to inherit IADD, “internet attention deficit disorder”.

Those names above know that their own names are just as identifiable as an obscure one. While some blogs still go the rout of creative names, Mezzoblue and Smiley Cat spring to mind, they are generally group driven.

So if you are new to blogging and want a name for yourself, don’t hide behind some crazy name, come out and be yourself.

I am Rick Howard and this is my blog!

So you have an old PC laying around and need something to do with it.

Lifehacker pointed me to an article with different technical uses like a file server or a firewall.

So put that old computer to good use.

I am sure there are a thousand uses for old towers outside of the computer realm, like a flower pot or a doorstopper.

Perhaps someone can point me in the direction of a web site like that.

Just a couple links to lists of Creative Ideas courtesy of Tutorial Blog:

Creative Business Cards

Creative Advertising

Cool Workspace

When i wrote the title I remembered the McDonald’s moon guy. He was like a Ray Charles mixed with a moon head. Youtube saves the day.

Anyway today in Ad Age I read 2 interesting article.

The first dealt with Burger King adding Apple Fries to the kids menu.
I hate that for some reason they add this to the kids menu but not the adults. At least Wendy’s has side options that include healthy alternatives. I wouldn’t mind having an option other than fries. It’s probably bad enough I consume the burgers and Chicken sangwiches, perhaps a healthy alternative to the fries wouldn’t hurt. Kids love to imitate their parents, so if the parents are eating delicious hot fries, the children will soon follow. Congratulations at accomplishing nothing BK Lounge.

The Second was Jones Soda hires first advertising agency.
I have been drinking Jones Sodas since 1996. My first year in college, the local drug store also named Jones, carried them. I was intrigued by the label then captured by the taste. After Jones Drug Store closed, I hadn’t seen Jones Soda until 2005 when I went to Kansas. I introduced my brother to them and he was hooked. They never advertised and didn’t need to, the grassroots campaign had gotten them that far.
Now I hear they have hired an Ad Agency which is great news. I hope they can grow and compete with Pepsi and Coke. They are definitely a far superior brand when it comes to flavored sodas and their lowbrow artsy image. So GO JONES!

Strike That. Reverse it.

The above is courtesy of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory which is a wonderful movie. I love everything about it. There is much wisdom to be found in watching it and a lot to laugh at as well.

This week flew by due to the holiday, already it is midweek and several sites must get moving. We are dealing with definitive deadlines on a few projects and I would like to project that we can project them out of our possession this week.

Gotta love english.