2 posts tagged “design”
Vox has done it again, and it's pretty awesome this time around. Vox is currently helping to host the HP Themes Contest, an event that's being shared between some of the biggest (and best, in my opinion!) blogging sites around: TypePad, Vox and LiveJournal.
I got pretty psyched when I heard about this event because it reminded me of past contests Vox has hosted. Back in late 2006, we hosted our first banner contest, and the winners of the contest got the chance to host their winning banners on Vox so other bloggers could use the designs on their own blogs. I wasn't yet a part of the Vox team then so I was legible to win-- and I did! Two of my banners were chosen ("Beads Love" and "Bubblegum Skies" as seen below) to be used by other people, and I have to say: knowing that other people appreciated what I had to offer, both artistically and bloggingly (tee hee), made me feel pretty awesome. In fact, Team Vox back then liked so many of the banners so much that the team extended the winning number! That just shows how many talented people we have here at Vox. And now that the site is even bigger than before, I think we can expect even more spiffy entries. ^___^
Like I mentioned above, the HP Themes Contest at Vox is a little different. Not only will the winner get his banner chosen to be used on TypePad, Vox and Livejournal, but cash prizes are going to be given out to the three favorite banner winners-- $1800 worth! *dances* If this event would have happened back in 2006, I think I would have been antsy with anticipation to see how my banner was doing with the votes, haha.
Here's a confession. One of my favorite things about blogging at Vox is visiting the Design page. Even though I often host my own banners for my own blog, it's fun to see where Vox likes to go with the designs it hosts. Plus, I get pretty inspired by other peoples' banners, which sparks a lot of creativity with my own designs. Some things that I'd really like to see pop up on the Design page someday are:
- More banners containing photography (we have so many talented photographers here)
- More banners made with homemade art, like drawings and paintings
I guess what I'm really looking forward to seeing is the raw art that people can come up with. I like knowing that something digital like a blog banner can be made using tools that are both modern and traditional. I think a lot of people might immediately jump to banner ideas with fun ideas involving work done in Photoshop and Illustrator, which are great programs to use for something like this contest. Something that we don't see very often though are the talents found outside of the computer world, like using stencils or paintbrushes. As long as you have a scanner and a simple image/art editing program then, you can crop the images down to the right size.
I think what matters most is the inspiration that comes out of whatever a person enjoys doing. For instance, I'm fascinated with color-- how colors work together, how lack of color exists, the brightness or dullness of colors, etc. Being able to experiment with with my hobbies for a contest like the one going on for HP Themes is not just fun to do, but it's an opportunity for me to play with new ideas. I've used my photograph, my love of kawaii and even my favorite hamster ever, to create pretty banners. Some of my favorite hobbies have produce really wonderful results:
Of course, anyone who wants to enter will probably want to read the rules before entering a banner. I'm not sure if any of these would work because of the credit (kawaii.vox.com) I put on each of them. ^o^ The ones above are in my private little Kawaii at Vox database, but I'd still love to create a new banner (even though I can't win since I'm a Six Apart employee...) just to show how much I love the contest idea.
If anyone who reads this post submits a banner to the contest, please, please, please let me know. I'm anxious to see what my friends are coming up with. Also, if anyone needs help with any design ideas, I'd be happy to throw some ideas out there or give my personal feedback. And if anyone has questions about the HP Themes Contest, definitely submit some feedback by contacting the Vox team.
I guess the thing I really wanted to say about the contest is that winning something like this really is possible. Whenever I see a contest, I get pretty overwhelmed with the possibility of not winning but knowing that I've won something like this in the past, and seeing a lot of my friends win at the same time, makes me realize how possible winning this contest really is. If anything, have fun when you submit a banner entry. I can't wait to see what everyone makes!
November has included one of my longest absences on Vox, and after all this time has passed, I'm starting to wonder what even happened to November. It was here and now it's almost gone.
I have a lot to catch up with and a lot to say, so I thought I'd sum up how my month has been going through a series of little snippets from my life. I feel like I often share huge chunks of my life at Vox, and switching a post around to a small medley of events might be fun for a change.
Kawaii design. I thought I'd start off by introducing my new banner. Kawaii (at) Vox (dot) com finally has a new look and feel to it. I've been struggling with what kind of banner I wanted my blog to have. I'm extremely picky and very obsessive over the appearance of my Vox. The content is important, yes, but the whole look of my personal space at Vox is just as essential as the rest of it. The usual routine for making and choosing a banner for my Vox usually consists of: having a photoshoot, editing old photos, experimenting with color schemes, finding fun brushes to use (if needed), and then either trashing the results or actually settling on using a banner. The entire process usually takes a couple of days. I don't like switching around my banner a lot, so whatever I decide on means that it will be around for a while. After a lot of work on this last banner, I finally decided on Kawaii Pink Medley:
I wanted to include a lot of the elements in my life, especially ones that I love right now. I figure that Lola the fawn stands for my plushies; Yukimo shows for my love (of Yukimo!) of pets; and Plum represents my adoration (for Plum!) for dollies. Being the narcissist that I am, I like including a photo of myself to kind of, I guess, represent my blog as a whole. (After all, I'm the voice, tee hee.)
The kitties. As I mentioned in a past post, Beth and I decided to keep our sister kitties. Falling in love with them took a little longer than usual-- a lot longer than it usually takes me to fall for a cat. Even though it took a while, the wait was worth it. Both Edgar (Ed) and Isis are pretty awesome companions, and although they're a little insane, I like their craziness around the apartment (sometimes). After all, unpredictability is priceless.
As much as I hate to admit it, Beth and I have had an easier time bonding with Ed. Even though the sisters were raised the same, Ed has a much more friendly personality, and she's a lot more willing to be happy. She's the only cat I know that will pur for no reason at all. I'll walk into a room and Ed will be purring so loudly that I can feel the floor shake.
Isis, on the other hand, has really stayed in her shell-- and not in a good way. An example of this is when I get up from the couch to go to the kitchen. I won't even be heading towards where Isis is laying down on the floor, yet she'll see me coming and run away and hide under the bed for hours. If I get up and go to the kitchen when Ed's around, she'll either follow me or affectionately rub against my legs. Beth and I are still giving Isis the same amount of attention as Ed, but it's hard having such an unfriendly kitty around the house, especially one that hates to be held and scratches. (I have some painful pieces of evidence on my stomach if there's any doubt about Isis.)
Despite their differences, Beth and I love Ed and Isis. It's great having built-in friends. ^__^ More of Ed and Isis can be seen in my My Kitties collection.
The work load. I wish I could say that the stress wasn't as much of a problem anymore, but to be completely honest, it's about the same. I've been working my butt off at school. On the days that I'm not in classes, I'm either working or doing schoolwork (projects, papers, presentations, etc.). On the days that I do go to school, I'm working in between the classes. This time of the year is always crazy, and this November is no exception.
Blog, blog, blog! One of the benefits of working and being a Professional and Technical Writing major is that I can have some fun by combining both worlds-- that of school and that of work. Throughout the semester, I've been doing a lot of interviews for papers and projects with fellow bloggers, friends and co-workers. Like a lot of the projects that I've chosen to do, one of the last projects I worked on focused on blogging. My Technical Writing professor assigned the class a huge project where each person had to write a technical description. I chose to focus my descripion on networking at Vox.
As long as I've been at Vox, I've noticed that a lot of the articles and people who help others expect the new people at Vox to be familiar with everything blogging has to offer. Unfortunately, this isn't always the case. A lot of new Vox members are often unfamiliar with what blogging is and how it can be used as a networking tool. They sign up for an account but then never return because no one explains to them what they can do to get their blog "out there." Bloggers not only want to write, but they want to meet people and share their thoughts with them. Because of new members' lack of networking know-how, I decided to create a description on how people can get to know the ropes of Vox for networking uses, whether it be for social or business reasons. Some of the results can be seen here:
Here are little pieces of my project. The entire technical description was several pages long, but as long as it took to create, I found that I really had fun when I wrote this. I'm a huge fan of screen shots and creating tutorials for helping people, so I guess that's why this project didn't seem as painful as some of the other ones I've had to do. Plus, I was able to focus on a topic that I love: blogging!
I'm currently working on an article that involves many Voxers and their thoughts on blogging. The article is for my Creative Nonfiction for Publication class. I'm thinking about posting it here once I have it completed (which should be sometime later this week).
Mapling it up with gaming. So after my long days of work, work, work, I realized that I needed some sort of release. I resorted to one of my on and off obsessions: Maple Story. I decided to pick up where I left off with my very first character, Minkka. Instead of going out every weekend, I've been sitting in my cozy apartment, zoning out by playing MS and finally leveling Minkka to 50. *grin* I couldn't be happier with her level right now. MS is great for not only relaxing, but for socializing as well. A lot of my old online friends started to slowly come back to the game, and I've been able to get a lot of energy out just by chatting with them through the game.
... And when I "socialize" on MS, that also means that I'm spending money on making my character super kawaii. I hate to admit it but I've spent a good chunk of change on Minkka-- her appearance, her accessories, and her pet(s). This last round of playing has resulted in a lot more clothes for Minkka. (I decided to go pink this time.) Her outfit includes: the Starry Pink Beanie, the Pink Sunglasses, the Pink Camo Hoodie, the Brown Plaid Pants, the Pink Ogg Boots, the Heart Tattoo Gloves, the Bunny Doll Cape, and the Seal Pillow Weapon.
The above screen shot shows Minkka in action: kicking some Master Chronos ass by using her Holy Arrow power.
My month. November has been a long month. The main thought that's keeping me going at this point is the middle of December-- when all of my classes end and some of the stress is gone. I'm so pumped for the holidays and my birthday right now. As much as I hate to admit it, I love this time of the year.
