“You don’t write because you want to say something, you write because you have something to say.”
— F. Scott Fitzgerald

I’ve been wondering a little about why I haven’t blogged lately, nor even felt the true compulsion to get at it. I’ve lost my rhythm and my routine was royally screwed this past year so it’s no great surprise. Mr Fitzgerald has said it quite nicely. The bulk of the starkness (and patronisingly easy image/music posts) is that I don’t feel like I have very much to say. This of course is probably wrong when I really assess things…

What I haven’t said is…

Lots about work. It’s tricky you know, because I do work on some quite interesting stuff but I can’t really talk about specifics online. Work needs to get seen by the client first. Fortunately the folio, long overdue for a refresh is in the works of a facelift which shall include more work and possibly some of what I’ve done. In general terms some of the exciting/sometimes intimidating stuff I’ve done includes:

• Full building signage, we’re talking large format, stuff I haven’t really done before and it came up pretty well (not a sign, like a whole building wrap and frosted glass areas etc)!
• An exhibition stand. More large format, and a tricky client topic. It amuses me no end this client, it really does.
• Web. Doing more of web has further encouraged the little burn of happiness that comes when the code just works and your <divs> can magically make a structure as fast as you can type. I have also learnt much about Adobe Business Catalyst, which is a CMS/eCommerce solution > not always the solution but is pretty darn nifty. Lets just hope they keep developing it further.

I have loved being part of a small workplace where I can have interesting conversations, am treated (although I am technically a junior designer) as an equal where my input is valued and where I genuinely enjoy the company of the people I work with. We also play Triple J, Indie/Folk, The Smiths (a lot) and have MegaMix Fridays. There is the additional bonus of being within throwing distance of a superb cafe, props to Pat and Toby throughout the week and the Monday guy/girl team (I’ll get around to asking names).

I have said something about how the first two and a half months of full time work left me wrecked and incapable of normal function most evenings. Good news is that I’m getting used to it.

I haven’t said much about Missio Dei, and the community of new friends, the openness, the great food, girls group and the inspiring people who encourage me to live a better life… and join with me in making that happen.

and I haven’t said much about theology and God lately. This is not due to the fact (upon initial suspicion – my own) that I am thinking less about that stuff or am ‘less into that stuff’ etc. – however you might put it. But more that I have come to the conclusion (or rather the inkling) that God is teaching me in a different way at the moment and it’s more to do with my living than with my head. This is indeed a good thing although a monster to deal with at times. How to communicate that just yet, I’m not quite sure. Perhaps I will have to have a little think…

On the same lines as Missio etc and even theology/God/life stuff we have talked a fair bit (we had a camp you see) about the Enneagram, as many of may know I’m a bit mad keen on anything personality and so I jumped at it (and I am going to talk about it because I find it interesting)… Interestingly the Enneagram has actually genuinely helped me recognise certain responses in myself that are very ‘oneish’ and not always positive, and consequently I can change my response or attitude. Steve asked (I think… I could have this totally wrong) way back if I – as a one, clenched my jaw a lot – I said no at the time, but it’s currently freaking me out how much I am catching myself doing it, as a natural physical response I never really noticed to indicate something such as stress or the glorious ‘internal critic’. There’s something for you to chew on if you’re interested in blackboards, about as interesting as chalk – still, very helpful. I don’t think I really fully ‘get it’ yet in regards to helping me connect better with God – but I reckon we’re getting there slowly.

Love books, still do, always have. Bookclub is going great guns, we’re up to our 13th book – I think and have a regular tribe reading the Popular Penguins. We’ve had two engagements (Ana to Blake, Amanda to Tim) and there’s a baby on the way for lovely Cat. Currently we are lacking in the boy department and are working hard (if you’re reading this Norman) to get Norman back and suss out any prospectives. Harsh but true, most of the guys we all know don’t seem to be so inclined to read a book (even in the likes of Dracula or In Cold Blood) and discuss it with great food and wine. Society lacks. Society lacks.

And friends. It has been interesting looking at the past year and what our move North has done to friendships. Proximity is a grand thing. Thankfully many of our friends are above and beyond proximity or we would be dastardly lonely (apart from the new friends… but yeh, we’re still getting there). I went to a friend’s engagement party the other night and caught up with my lovely housemate (where proximity is a geniune issue and not just because we’re lazy about it)… but it reminded me of all the truly wonderful people I know and the richness of those I know who are encouraging and so distinctly themselves. It is so ridiculously good, seeing so many of my friends truly happy at the moment.

Geoff. He’s the best. Marriage is grand.

and now, I have said something. Throw some curlys my way and I might just say more.

On a slightly related note I just finished a website today www.samoasunsetview.com I wish everyone used macs, things always look 80 times more brilliant on a mac, cleaner web fonts and I’m far too used to it now.

I particularly like this one on moodboards, it’s pretty much common sense but a good reminder and nice to see a particular working style.

…the only thing I don’t like about their site is their logo, it unfortunately kinda looks like warped boobs. :\

(Another little fun thing is this copy/paste site where you click on the character to auto copy it! Handy! ☂ How else do you get umbrellas!)

Today – finally – is the launch of the new MECS brand. Initially the project was part uni assignment that I coupled with a pitch and managed to get the job! For the last little while I have been working on their signage and stationery and as soon as I get given copies, and the signs are put up – I will share some photos. Note to the locals: I’m not responsible for the car stickers or the open day signs… just the other stuff.

This is the logo, by way of explanation it is:

• An abstraction of three people in conversation, this ties in with both a community focus and home-school partnership.
• A tree, representative of growth and suitable for the Yarra Ranges environment.
• Pathways, indicative of MECS providing direction and leading students through their time at school.
• And to a lesser extent the addition of five colours is reflective of 5 values (which I cannot pull off the top of my head at this very moment).

The logo has undergone several transitions from where I left it and a huge number from where it started. The one submitted to uni used an entirely different typeface and was one-colour, the placement was also closer to the secondary vertical version. The typeface in use now is Fontin it suits the school better than the previous one, it also makes my life easier because it is of superior quality and can be used more widely.

Secondary vertical version:

This morning the school had a brief morning tea to officially kick off the branding. I am really happy with the outcome, it feels right for the school. Here’s to hoping I get to dig my hands into their website in the next few months. In the mean-time I have picked up another job doing a website revamp for a pharmacy.

I am not sure if I have talked much about concluding my time working at Ergo Consulting. I am in the handover process and will be finished by the end of March it seems the timing is really good. I’ve loved working with Ergo and learnt a huge amount while I’ve been there – not only in administration/design but about the business world. They are exceptional people to work for. This year however, I need to focus on uni a bit more and want to keep doing this freelancing stuff to get some experience under my belt.

On the design note, I have also just finished the Business Sustainability Round Table website (Work through Ergo) – the focus of all my IE complaints via Twitter of late. The fun area is in the member section (Which you aren’t allowed to go to!) and I got to dig around and make useful various plugins and php. I also created the BSRT logo – the pyramid is to do with some business model/a leaf shape for sustainability, the ’round’ bit is quite literal for ’round table’, you could say it is globe’ish too, but that could be taking things a bit far. A brochure is currently getting printed, photos to come of that too.

The bain of my existence at the moment is degbugging WP Themes for the various ugly versons of Internet Explorer. I have been working on a site for work as well as my own personal theme and have consquently learnt a lot in the past little while. The work related one is much more CMS (Content Management System ie. normal website) based and so it’s learning how to get plugins to work effectively for you, using php and wordpress codex to modify what the loop outputs and creating all kinds of member protected areas etc. A marvellous exercise really because all the things it has forced me to investigate. I will share the link once I get it running smoothly in IE. However,

An honorary mention must be given to:

WordPress Download Monitor Plugin – Very useful for cutting out a step and keeping things somewhat organised for those uploading pdf’s (and other) that members can access. It has some limits – in that I can’t get the formatting to work when it populates a list via category – but it’s not half bad. WordPress still lacks a really good free document management plugin.

*Wordpress Download Manager – Seems to a be a far better option than Download Monitor. Organise, upload and output categorical (or otherwise) lists of pdfs and other such uploads. Formatting works a charm. I cannot at this stage get the search to work for me, but one thing at a time.

How to use WordPress as a Member Directory – This article got me both started and then back on the right track. I tried a couple of things but this was the closest and that which worked best. Again there are a few things – that if I knew php better I would alter and it’s a bit of a pain that it leans on two plugins and there isn’t just something that will do it all for you, but hey there’s some scope for some handy programmer out there.

Smashing Magazine

What I love about Smashing articles is the wealth of information that comes with each post. They, (Un-surprisingly really) use the web as it was intended to be used – to network information. This is certainly something I could do better on this blog. However as it’s purpose waxes and wanes so must it’s content. After all, All Said & Done began as a personal blog and needs in many ways to remain the same.

On that note, my new blog theme is almost operational, although I’m still in the process of dreaming up all the extra fun things I can implement before I go live. That and I am also intending to write up a second theme for www.becmatheson.com to match – despite serving very different purposes, and I as yet haven’t decided if they should come independent of eachother… that and I’ve just read an article that’s gotten me thinking.

image source

This is the nicest blog I have ever seen. Functionaly, navigation, interactivity (in how it draws you in) – it’s all superb. Naturally, it’s the guy who also designed the WordPress logo. I truly love web design and have a niggling regret now and then that I did the swap from multimedia to communication design. Yes the Deakin course was the wrong one, but I can’t help thinking I should’ve gone to Swinburne Multimedia over Swinburne Communication Design. At least my sideline love affair with CSS can continue and perhaps one day I will reach the point of worthy of making such a splendid website. For now I must continue to hack away and try things in my spare time. A little more injection of ambition and risk might be good too.

Jason Santa Maria

2009 came in moderation, not with a bang. There were no fireworks, but we had sparklers, music, champagne, a marquee and a few friends. I most enjoyed the early morning introduction to ’09. First up after a less than perfect sleep in a tent on less than flat ground, but there was an eggshell sky and sun, a silent field and moment of the same before it went to the crapper and the clouds and we got some rain.

The news continues to talk about 2008 as a non-highlight and begs hope out of the new year. I am inclined to disagree with the former statement however the word hope is a sweet one that should live on.

In a moment of introspection (aka. now) here are my highlights of the past and hopes for the present (with a few true aspirations and undoubtedly top shelf items that I won’t really reach, being short and all).

Highlights

• January 5th I married my best friend. And consequently spent the rest of the year married to him (to be continued…). It’s been interesting and fun! Needless to say, I really love being married and I really love Geoff! It’s certainly been a wildly contrasting year in regard to all previous years.
• Uni, second semester proved full of inspiring people especially in regards to tutors. I finally felt like I was pulling my weight effectively and got to try things like branding and animation. I have come to the realisation that I mightn’t fit the typical traditional stereotype of ‘graphic designer’ but can work from my interests and strengths and hopefully can levy more out of the web stuff and marry it with my ‘designish eye’.
• Frustration. It seems a weird choice to include it here, but God has increased my frustration with how I live as a Christian and how church can/could operate. It hasn’t gotten too far but there is room for movement and there needs to be room for movement. Some of this is tied up with finishing up with leading youth and being dumped in the deepend of doing nothing.
• And there are the miscellaneous things like: growing friendships with people like Beth and Bri, marvelous restaurants, some great movies  and books and some less than typical experiences – like seeing Wicked.

Un-Highlights

• A bodgy start to the uni year with some super low motivation levels in regard to particular subjects.
• Less investment in certain friendships and not because of want, but because I am a lazy and…
• Feeling so busy and unorganised

Idealutions, resolutions and hopeings

• A slower year, where priorities become priorities and the trivial things are thrown out with the bathwater
• Invested time and head space to enjoy and get the most out of uni
• To be more organised at home
• Eat better, cook nicer food – to be bothered
• Get more fit
• To continue to investigate, read more about, and live out some of the results of the aforementioned frustration
• More time for God…. listen more, write more
• Be less critical of things like traditional church and learn to love what is good and do differently instead of simply getting annoyed.
• Be a part of something that explores doing Church differently, try some things!
• To freelance for a while and to do well at it in terms of being self-disciplined and gain useful experience
• Put together a portfolio, get a design job
• More head in the blog. More faithful writing, less crap. Perhaps make something more of it.
• Release a WordPress Theme (and yes it is in production!)
• Learn to use the Wacom properly and work on practicing drawing/illustration etc.
• Learn more about Flash
• Learn more about Illustrator
• Learn some of the little extra things about webdesign and standards that I might otherwise ignore.
• Get my head around Javascript/PHP etc..
• Continue to work on building a really good marriage and be better at loving Geoff
• Be better at maintaining and developing friendships
• Invest in things like Soul Survivor etc.
• Keep track of the money I spend
• Spend less money
• Own less, give more
• Greater confidence and willingness to try things (especially re. design)
• Days of doing different things, like taking my camera out somewhere foreign or less than usual
• Finish uni, and do well in my final year
• Righteousness and peace… Isaiah 32, Romans 14

I am second.

I like it (I made it by the way) but it has let me realise that I still have a lot to learn about web design. Not sure if I’d do some things quite the same next time around.

It was an enjoying spare time filler … if only to have some of that now.

My most recent freelance ‘project’ is a resume unfortunately due to the confidential nature of resumes, it lives under wraps.