Goodies

• I've loved The Great Discontent and have read almost every interview that they churn out. It amazes me how Tina and Ryan do all of this. They've been releasing an interview every week since 2011 and they do this because they admire these people and because these stories inspire so many of us. But it's a lot of work to do for a side project. This week they've taken the leap and are dedicating their time to TGD full time. I think the community is happy to support them. I know I am and I wish them well. Check out their kickstarter campaign and if you love TGD as much as I do, consider supporting them. Also, follow Ryan as he documents their journey here.

(image: The Great Discontent)

• I love swissmiss' (Tina Roth Eisenberg) friday link pack posts and every now and then I'll check in and see what's she's got in store. This post is inspired by her link pack as it helps me share what I've found this week and keep a record of all these great links, projects, resources, etc. for later reference. If you've never checked out www.swiss-miss.com, check it out. Now. Go.
• Today I found this wonderful video via swissmiss...

• I went to a talk earlier this week at OCADU and was introduced to Jaymie McAmmond's work. I've actually seen her work but didn't know much about her. How have I not known about this local Toronto talent? I have no idea. But if you don't know, now you know. Here's some of her illustration work:

Starbucks Typographic Mural (image: Jamie McAmmond)

Mountain Mural (image: Jaymie McAmmond)

• If you're looking into using SVG graphics for your site–really great for responsive sites and scaling simple graphics–Daniel Mall's post on how to create SVG graphics will help you. Also helpful is Chris Coyier's post on how to use SVG.

• I've recently discovered Type Camp. Where have I been? I dunno, but I was ecstatic to find it! I've been looking for ways to learn more about typography and lettering and this is one fantastic way to learn from some incredible people, in a fun setting, with like minded people. It's also in Toronto. I've found it difficult to find opportunities to learn about type in Toronto, but if you dig, you'll find it! I'm signed up for the Toronto single day camp in April. They're offering the camp on two days and I'm signed up for Friday April 25th. If you're interested sign up soon to get the early bird pricing–hope to see you there!

Onwards

Last friday was my last day at ComQi. I had made the decision late last year to leave a position that I have learned so much from. I will miss the team most of all. Everyone is incredibly smart and are amazing collaborators. I had the opportunity to work on large, complex software products that served many clients and users and I got to advocate for the user. I was also involved with a large product design from initial concept to delivery. I had never been involved with a web product of that magnitude before. 

Product design is extremely challenging. You strategize and make quick decisions to release early and release often, as they say. It's very exciting when you get started because you are still conceptualizing it and trying to make the pieces work together. As you build your product, you find the gotchas and you make defined architectural decisions. You're constantly designing a solution to all these little parts that need to work together. Then you release it and you hope for the best. It can be immensely gratifying to see everything work together the way you hoped it would. But then you learn from your users and you find that your old assumptions were wrong, so you revisit them and you change them. Then you iterate: you solve issues, fix bugs, etc. Products become this massive beast of their own and the challenge is keeping it all clean - your code, the designs, the workflows. It's a challenge for any one no matter the role- designer, developer, project manager, etc. And I would recommend anyone to try it. You learn so much from the process and you're always on your toes.

I'm taking everything that I learned with me as I go back to full time freelancing. I'm not sure if this will be temporary or long term, but I'm excited. I decided to go back to freelancing because I missed working on a variety of products and projects. I wanted to have the flexibility of being able to work on an illustration project one day and a UI/UX design project the next. I also want to work with other designers and agencies. I've been a one woman designer for a long time and I hope to have the opportunity to work with other designers and art directors. I think learning from your peers is essential to growth. I've learned a lot just by being involved in the community, attending conferences and meet ups and being involved online, but I want to collaborate with more people and on different projects. I've always been interested in design as a discipline and have been fascinated with it's varying application from graphic design to illustration to industrial design to web design. 

I'm also excited to work on more open projects. Two years is a long time to work in a closed, private company where competition is fierce and NDA's are common. I'm not saying I don't believe in NDAs. I think for many companies they're essential. But freelancing gives me the opportunity to work on those projects as well as open projects that I can share with the community. I think sharing and learning from each other is one of the greatest thing about the open web. Of course, I'd also love to include more projects in my portfolio and working on open projects is one way I can add to it. It can be unfortunate to know that you worked on a really challenging project that stretched you but you can't show it. 

I hope that this move opens up more avenues for me to work on a variety of design projects and to collaborate with other designers, developers and agencies. I need to constantly grow and I think my decision to go back to freelancing (for now) will help me to do that.

Mission US - learning through gaming

I've been involved with the Mission US project for a long time now and it always amazes me how amazingly innovative it is. The concept of gaming as an educational tool is still relatively new and there's few games who do it well. The strength of Mission US, in my opinion, is that it delivers educational material that can otherwise be very dry and engages kids while learning them. Not only that, they take a critical approach to history and are able to analyze it through their own lens. They can discuss their decisions and their perspectives with their classmates and they learn to do so with an open mind. No run of the game is the same, and each student makes choices that are true to their own analysis of the situation. They bring their own perspectives and approach the events in history as someone standing there at that particular time - not as an outsider looking in. They can do this all socially and collaboratively with their classmates rather than via an essay or report as is traditionally done.

Mission US launched with it's first mission, For Crown or Colony, back in 2010. But production began in 2008. It is funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the National Endowment for the Humanities. The project is produced by WNET Thirteen and developed by Electric Funstuff. There are a variety of partners that help make this project happen with their historical and educational resources. For a complete list check out the partners page.

The game was always intended to be public so that teachers from around the country (U.S.A.) could use the material to supplement their curriculum to engage kids in a different way. The project has become a great example of how gaming could be used effectively in education.

Mission 1 log in screen.

My role with the Mission US project has changed since it's inception. But I've always enjoyed creating the characters that make this game come to life. It's a challenge to design characters based on the needs of the game and on historical references. Some of the characters that you encounter in the game are historical figures and it's imperative that they look and feel like the real person. Even the fictitious characters carry with them a historical weight in terms of their appearance, their voice and their role which enables kids to really engage with them. Collaborating with the historians at ASHP teaches me more and more about history and I'm constantly stimulated creatively and intellectually by this project. I am thankful to be a part of it.

When I first started with the project I was a young illustrator and learned my process as I went along. You can read more about my role(s) on the project here, but I'd like to really dive in and take you through my process to give you a sense of the art work that goes into a project of this magnitude and significance. It's an ongoing project and it helps for me to stop and take stock of my own processes and art work and figure out how we can better it for the next mission.

Mission 1 is where it all started and when I began to dip my toes in character design. I owe a lot of this to James Cukr, who was the Art Director for this mission and taught me a lot about illustration and how to take your sketches and turn them into digital artwork in Illustrator. He really kickstarted the visual design for this project and I continued on where he left off.

Over the years, each mission has been different than the next and the artwork has changed. For Mission 2, I lead the entire game art design, including all characters and locations. In Mission 3, we introduced 3D locations and game environments. I continued to work as the lead character designer. This third mission had more cut scenes as the storyline expanded several years. Mission 4 will be similar to Mission 3 with a mix of vector characters which I am leading and 3D game environments. This next mission will also have a UI overhaul, moving away from the generic UI that we've seen to something that matches the style of that era as the game takes place in 1907 New York City. As a result, the map pins will also have an overhaul. Stay tuned for Mission 4 to come out later this year or early next.

Hold out for something worthy of what you can provide

“Don’t take just the next thing that comes along to get out of a place that you’re in that might not make you happy, because there’s always gonna be something that doesn’t make you happy but you have to really try to hold out for something that is worthy of what you can provide.”

— Debbie Millman on The Big Web Show

Preparing for Opportunity

2013 was a contemplative year. I thought a lot about where I was in life, what I wanted for my future life, and what I was prepared to do to make the changes I needed to. Reflection is good in doses, but a year spent reflecting can turn into a year of waiting. It seems a wasteful way to spend a year, and I wasn't at all comfortable waiting around.

What was I waiting for exactly? Well there was a lot of personal transitions - waiting for our home, waiting to take a long awaited trip to my birth place, and then waiting to make a career move. Perhaps I didn't need to spend the year waiting so much - I should have just done it. But life doesn't always allow you to throw caution at the wind and do what you want in a heart beat. Maybe it's being this grown up person that makes me want to plan things but maybe it's that we learn how to prepare for things better. The thing is, I'm not a big fan of plans, since life doesn't always go as planned anyway. But there's something to be said about being ready for opportunity. And that's what 2013 was - it has prepared us for opportunity and forward motion, so bring it on 2014!