The Hello!Project

Adobe Bridge

2007-03-22T15:19:00.000-04:00

I constantly am organizing, specifically files on my computer. Being a graphics designer causes image files specifically to flood my computer. Organizing my designs has always been an issue for me. For instance I would create a few folders to categorize my images: Graphics battles, Vectors, Tech, Grunge, Print, Web, Abstract, Minimalist. I constantly ran into problems though. Some graphics battles included vectors, tech, grunge, abstract, and minimalist designs. Some Print was also grunge, minimalist, vector, or tech. So on and so forth.

Sorting thru and finding these images has always been a pain, some were in folders specifically for clients, some were in random folders i made and forgot about. I've been using web programs such as Flickr and Delicious for tagging items of mine. Flickr for a limited 200 photos/images, and Delicious for bookmarks and Favorites. Tags are the best way i have found to organize thus far. One item can have 10 tags, when one of those tags is searched for, it'll pop-up along with every other file, site, image that also fits under that tag. Search for multiple tags to get more precise results. Start/Search/All Local Drives, how i hate you! Much too time consuming and not nearly as effective as the tag method.

Recently i started using Adobe Bridge. Now Adobe Bridge has hundreds of features from starting meetings based around images, to comparing images side by side 'with magnification', and even tagging where a photograph was taken, with what camera, when. However the feature that has hooked me to the program is the 'keyword' feature. I have recently gone through my entire computer and tagged every single image or psd i could find. Now i can tag so to say my images, designs, and photographs. Organization just got a little easier!

I am using Adobe Bridge Cs3 for anybody interested in testing it out. This program is in a public beta phase and can be downloaded at the Official Adobe lab website, it comes bundled with the Cs3 beta of Photoshop.

Photoshop Tennis With The Wife

2007-03-15T08:19:00.000-04:00

Cecile and I were playing in photoshop when we decided to have a very simplistic concept Ps Tennis match. I designed the pink one, Cecile Designed the yellow one. It wasn't till near the end of each volley that we decided to integrate a 'concept perfume/cologne' into the design as an advertisement, however, we threw it in and here is what came out on the other side.

The Voice

2007-03-15T07:27:00.000-04:00

Reading is one of my favorite hobbies. Books, magazines, blogs, forums, instant messenger conversations, even MIT courses, i simply enjoy reading! I have kept a blog on multiple different websites for four or five years. I occasionally read my thoughts, ideas, and concepts from when i was much younger. It's quite interesting honestly to watch myself progress with time; watching my morals change as my experiences do, my fascinations break off as my ignorance becomes knowledge. Reading my blogs sometimes reminds me of a mystery/action novel. The type you enjoy profusely and have read several times over, but keeps pulling you back.

Something dawned on me the other day. I was reading blogs and photo descriptions on Flickr. I stopped while observing a design displayed, when something hit me like a sack of bricks. While i was reading these blogs and descriptions, i had assigned a voice to the writers of such. I have never once seen the authors, i know nothing about them other than the text on the web and the pictures displayed, yet somehow, i had created an identity for them. Each post had a unique voice, a tone, and a pitch. Where does this come from? How have i assigned a basic identity to someone whom i have not seen, heard, and know nothing about? If i were to hear that voice, how would i react? Would i feel familiar with them as if I'd known them for years, or would i never put the two together?

Everybody has certain habits. Some of which are fairly ordinary, putting on your seat belt for instance, and some that are specific from person to person. For instance, i have several habits that come to mind immediately: I smoke, I watch my speedometer as often as i do the road, i put my sunglasses on top of my head when inside, i change my voice tone when using a sales technique. Those are all 'habits' that i have and portray on a regular basis. One habit in particular however, is a bit different. I analyze. In fact, it has become an obsession. I analyze you, i analyze my client, my customer, my boss, my friends, my co-workers, and finally myself. At one point in time I would analyze myself on a fairly shallow level: how i look, is my hair combed correctly, is my skin dark enough, are my clothes ironed well enough, do my sun-glasses go with my shirt?. Time progresses though, and so does the depth of my analytical behavior. I have found, upon repeated analysis, i can trace everything that has ever happened to me or because of me to one night at a roller skating ring in 9th grade. I'm sure i can move even further past that day, however for some reason, that point pulls at me. Every decision i made, every phone call i dialed, and every friend i befriended, from that day forward, i can explain how, and why my mindset allowed those decisions to be made. Time moves forward once again. Not only do i analyze my appearance, my lifestyle, my career, my ambitions, my colleagues, i analyze my thought patterns. Several times i have caught myself mid-stream analyzing how i came to be thinking the current thought that was going through my head. It has become a gift and a curse, from the moment something is said, seen, heard, pausing time, i can accurately predict an advanced thought, action, idea.

Reason I have divulged you into my habit of analysis is because the voice that we associate with the text on a screen, in a book, over a video game. Is devoid of my analysis, even while purposely attempting to connect a voice that i have associated with an individual reading, to the reason for that, i can not. It simply intrigues me.

Who I Am

2007-03-15T06:40:00.000-04:00

Let us get to know each other. Starting it all off, my name is Chris Healey. I am in my early twenties newly married and an expecting father. Currently i reside in Zamboanga, Philippines, where my wife was born and raised. I have thus far been a computer salesman by profession, and may be one of the best in the South-East United States. However, that job is only a stepping stone towards my goal of owning and managing a large Design & Marketing firm.

My design inspiration includes, but is not limited to: Eric Jordan, Matt Riddle, Ts7, Mr. Grumpy. Some of you may be familiar with those names. Eric Jordan is the CEO of 2Advanced Studios, Matt Riddle has been featured in several design books and works out of chicago, Ts7 & Mr. Grumpy, both, are the founders of the former hit design forum "Were-Over-There".

Without further delay, let's get this started shall we?