| shablazm | personal playground of joshua mccowen |

Lofty Word Creative

Josh — Wed, 26 May 2010 23:48:47 +0000

Lofty Word Creative, my design company, has officially launched it’s new website and is ready for your viewing. Please head on over and take a look. If you have any projects coming up, let us know, we would love to discuss how we can help you accomplish them.

Lofty Word Creative

May

Josh — Thu, 06 May 2010 18:37:18 +0000

It’s May again, and if you don’t already know, that mean Moustaches. Moustaches of all kinds and shapes, grown by only the best of the best. Well, okay, maybe not the best of the best, but by a bunch of swell dudes. Head on over to the Moustache May webstite and take a look and some of the glorious facial hair!

Hangtown 2010

Josh — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 23:54:07 +0000

Was requested to come up with a new pinup girl for the Hangtown event this year, but unfortunately, it’s not going to be used. They were looking for a more classic pinup style and this illustration obviously isn’t. I’m pretty happy with the results though, so I’ve decided to post it up here for all to see. Enjoy.

Coming Along

Josh — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 23:32:49 +0000

Been putting some work into the new Life In Neutral system. I’ve started from scratch but it’s coming along nicely. It’s about 60% percent done and still needs some cleanup, there are quite a few holes, but overall it’s shaping up. Since I’m making everything specifically for this project, I think it will be a little easier for the users and should put an end to a few of the issues we had using the Wordpress framework.

Nothing is ready for viewing, I have to revamp the back-end and user experience still, but I hope to have a beta up here soon. This time around I’m going to be implementing a pay-to-play option as well. I’ve been putting allot of effort into the system, and have actually had quite a bit of interest in the concept. I’m thinking of having a free version with advertisements and a payed version with none. What is your take on that concept? I’m curious to hear how people think of those types of systems.

Is it Late or Early?

Josh — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 12:32:33 +0000

Been up for a few hours, it’s now 5:30 am. I wasn’t able to sleep with this stupid cold I have. I think it’s on it’s way out, but it’s been a crappy few days. Since I wasn’t able to sleep I figured I would try and catch up on some work. I’ve made a few tweaks to the website that I’ve been thinking about for awhile:

Removed Sifr – It was causing some slowdown on page load and just didn’t think it was necessary.
Logo Tweak – I’ve noticed a lack of color, or I guess only a slight tonal change. Wanted to expand the pallet a little bit. More to come on that front.
Misc other fixes…

I’m also thinking about changing the main font color, or background. I’m worried that the text might be a little bit on the “hard-to-read” side being white. Has anyone had any issues reading the content at all?

Anyway, it’s late, or early, so I’m back to bed for a little bit before work. Hopefully when I wake up, these changes will still make sense and look good. I’d be upset if they were simply cold induced decisions. We’ll see.

iStock Turns 10

Josh — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 17:55:14 +0000

If you haven’t used iStock before, you should check them out. They have a pretty good selection of stock artwork at very reasonable prices. We have used them for years. Obviously, I’m always pushing for custom photography, but sometimes budgets and time constraints don’t allow it. If your in need of some stock photos, you’re bound to find something that will work for you.

With their 10 year anniversary, they put out a call for portraits of their contributors and clients. Since I’m both, I figured “why not?”. That and any opportunity I can get to show off this years moustache I jump all over it. Go check out the stache in all it’s glory and don’t forget to browse their anniversary website. They have a cool photo collage going on and they are doing a few contests. If you happen to see my face as the collage, take a screen shot of that, I’d like to see it.

Also, if you happen to signup at iStock, let them know I referred you. That’s a $10 spot in my hand!