Design and Commercial Art

So I've been spending my time reading because I'm in a bit of a lul productivity wise. And gladly I found a host of interesting articles specifically around design as a production system:spitting out steams of high quality work, and generally appreciating design as an art form. I personally do try and work with clients that understand this, give you time to work, understand some of the hardships and appreciate it when they are pleased. But this isn't always possible ofcourse when bills have to be paid, and as a growing business, this is always the case. Anyhow, on with the articles:

http://www.eleven3.com/freelance/good-cheap-and-fast/

http://veerle.duoh.com/blog/comments/deadlines_kill_inspiration/

http://www.eleven3.com/web-design/avoiding-the-designers-crisis/

I know there's heaps more. But this is where I started and links from both those sites are really interesting. Maybe one day, when the self-loathing is at an all time low, Ill find the time to actually write...

All Dynamic Random Lines

So.. we're live with a new site.
And as has always been the case, there is even more random in this one.
I messed with a good amount of php to get this going and the biggest addition is the Add Folio section. This allows members to add and manage their own folios. A practically seemless CMS environment. It's powered in the backend by PIcasa Web Albums for images. so thank you google. As is this blog.
All feels good. Everybody involved can start adding their folios, and hopefully, the world will be a better place as we go along.

New Random Lines coming...

So I finally put my head down and started working on a new site. As always, there'll be a host of new features from my various learnings since the last site. This time though I want to do as much as I can for the artists, so this site will have individual portfolio's and stuff like that. It's already awesome fun working on; dabbling in php and the like.
So hang on... and wait for it!

Happy Dipavali

शुभ दीपावली
Random Lines wishes you a very happy Diwali!
Blow up some of our floating boxes in celebration. (hit space to turn on the crosshair).
I miss being in India...

Maths can be fun

Seen on a Mathematician's shirt sometime in the recent past:- "God is real unless proven to be an integer."

Railway lines have an ambiguous familiarity I can't seem to completely account for. The journey's themselves; across the country; always meant you were heading for an exciting holiday or finally making your way home after one. Using one out of necessity is alien to me, and I presume it stems from that. But looking at the track itself today, with its assortment of anonymous rejects: bottle caps, expired tickets, a multitude of cigarette buds, well, I'm roughly amused. Nostalgia is just as new to me, and although I don't particularly condone the memory of India based on garbage and inefficiency, it is the little things that I notice, and that I take away from as memories.
The 11:44 train back home is an empty one. It's the last train. In comparison, my stint in Bombay saw me using trains as everyday transport, and the last train there (roughly 4AM) is absolutely packed. This city really seems to shut down comfortably before midnight. . So what's mindless banter doing on Random Lines... what its supposed to.

Between the odd and the same; you've gotta be rooting for the odd, don't you?
- Spanglish

No Great design is realised without conviction. Conviction my friend, is the absolute unwillingness to succumb to chains, constrains and mindless conventions. A "No-trade offs" mindset is the single biggest attitudinal driver in breakthrough success. A problem is not a problem but an opportunity to find a solution, it is a juicy challenge and not a reason to give in and settle for less.
Humm... I read this somewhere...

6 months

He walked over to the sink and poured himself a glass of water, downing it in two gulps, as if it had been beer or whisky.
- Neil Astley

It's been 6 months. 6 really diverse and terribly exciting months. And funnily it seems almost in vain to try and sum it up or anything. I really miss my bike though. Figured it would be nice to have a picture on the front page of the site. Make me feel better for a while. Need to get back on the open road though. And can feel the blood in my veins, disappointed as they return to the heart. But alas, it shall be a while.

Got heavily into 3D again. And completely blew everything I'd done before haywire. Working with the unreal engine to produce a mod. Potential is huge and much seems to be working out. So all feels fantastic.

The future looks full.

Artificial Intelligence

Everytime I sit down with Flash and try and push it around and try something new, I'm joyfully surprised. Flash is such a fascinating software. I wish Macromedia were paying me to say this but it really is a great product and a couple of days ago I went down the rabbit hole of Mathematics. I attempted (and succeded) in creating boids. Artificial Life. Well a start anyway.
Boids were developed by Craig Reynolds and I haven't done anything revolutionary. Its based on the flock motion of birds and simulates basic desires and purpose. my attempt is at http://www.therandomlines.com/boids.html
The great part about Flash is the fact that it handles advanced graphics. And the maths is only the beginning. Actionscript is a powerful language; object orientation is slow; but it has its moments and all in all it's a beautiful ride.

Reach out... say hello.

Language is such a beautiful thing!

1984 (George Orwell) was a revealing book to me. Its been so long since I've read it and I keep seeing so many things around me that represent that suppression of idea. One of the most striking to me is language. I don't speak too many languages, but English is as good an example as any. SMS has required that this shrink to some extent. Efficiency is the call of the generation and everything to prevent loss of precious time.

But interestingly, there is a movement that strives on; its ages old but it cant really die - slang. Oh glorious slang. Slang has forever existed to prove that it really doesn't matter what you say so long as your message is conveyed to the listener: its perfectly alright! Isn't that good shit. Doesn't it beat the crap outta the chicken. Being able to rock up, shout a round of drinks and camboosle your way through the day, simply means that every word can have infinite meaning. Even made up ones. In person ofcourse body-language makes this even more so!

So say hi, talk to people, stop being rigorous and clinical, talk a walk and chat when you're bored. Make life interesting.

Wow, this turned into a speech! Damn.

BLEDY Creative Heads get a "life"

man whats with creative heads and other apparent makeshift heads pressing their opinions or rather the client's "wants" down on us.... if you are above 38[playing it safe:)] please pretty please sit at home and design don't bring your stupid yesteryear inputs down on us like the ten commandments of design.... choots....
okay have a nice day everyone ;)

The All new...

So... finally. After being on a temporary site for a while, we've gone live. - if you're not reading this off there already - www.therandomlines.com
This is real exciting, cause this site takes quite a bit of the dream and makes it happen...
This site is the most dynamic we've had so far. This blog for instance, comes straight off blogger (thank you google). Which makes it really easy to add to and update. Thats great fun.
Also, I've delved a good amount into php and xml with flash so the work section is also drag and drop updatable. This feels good.

Its been 4 months is sunny australia, and its already hit 3 degrees. But all said and done, I really cant think of a negative thing to say at all. I love this city. I love Bangalore as well. And Goa.
But from the moment I walked in here, the city just seems welcoming. Free expression finds its way everywhere and everybody's just out to have a good time.

I've hooked up with Bliss Media. Great company. Which gives me something to do with my time - productively :D
And it helped me look into server-side scripting, which is really what random lines web was waiting for.

There's a lot that random lines can be. And it will, soon, slowly, but it will.

Cheers

The Best way to describe Life is "change". I guess one can never fully understand life because its always changing, and we are not casual observers of this change; we are a very small part of it.

when you do things right, people won't be sure you did anything at all.

Lets go...

OK, I'm not completely convinced about blogging, but I'm seeing its relevance as a historical cog. It definitely is a powerful medium of social expression. Anyway, that's a whole different discussion.
I'm reading about Philosophy in popular culture. Because 'philosopher' is not a profession, at least not a popular one, I think it's become merely an academic pursuit, as opposed to common sense. Philosophy is a little simpler than that.
In particular, the book I'm reading deals with Philosophy in Superheroes: their intent, controlling and misusing power, being able to wield it at all and a lot of different things.
What's a good thing to look at is the fact that we're talking about a fictional world here. So it was created by a person. And it's surprising how much real life wisdom you can draw from a story. Now, apart from obvious things like morals, the book delves into much deeper aspects of unintentional truths than can be drawn from the way a character acts under certain pressures, etc. I'm not going to go into it. But is it possible that we're ingrained with more knowledge than we know. And can we therefore find it within ourselves.
There's lots of implications. Collective memory for one.

Reference: Superheroes and Philosophy (edited by Tom Morris)

Blogging sucks...

Majorly presumptious this stupid blogging thing.
I don't feel like putting my thoughts online for the world to see. Whats the big deal. The damn thing is fooling me into doing it right now! bah!!!

Life is good....

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!
peace...
guess those should have been small letters...
aaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!

???????

If a person with multiple personalities threatens suicide, is that considered a hostage situation?

stuck!

hey ppl ..hows it goin? looks like no ones bloggin ..:( , neway am stuck in bangalore at he momen, cant seem to get outa here, shit luck! all me friends are leavin now to oz, I ended up workin for virgin comics..duno whether to be happy or sad..wish i were outa here , bangalore is gettin too suffocating figuratively and literally speakin..neway keep bloggin guys ..see ya ll around

over and out
ash

Happiness in anguish

It seems happiness does not need to be joy. I look around all the time and find people who live in their troubles, prolong their sorrow and simply keep their problems alive. I have not understood this but I see it more and more.
It's not fate; its not that you are cursed or have no way out of it. It's your comfort with grief. The world does not seem balanced if you're life is cheery and seemingly perfect. You create issues, turn easily solvable trifles into emotionally stressful mazes. For the people around, pity and empathy turns into disbelief and they become immune to hearing it. But is there a problem, or are you happy in your world of discontent. Happiness is after all a very personal sense of well-being; it doesn't mean you smile and laugh and play. Crying can be happiness. But somewhere along the line its a cry for help; or maybe it starts out as a cry for help. Difficult thing is when belief sets it. When you believe this is the way you must live. And you become terrifyingly happy. In that state a solution is unpalatable.

NO! How can it be that easy! NO! This is hard and I have to face this alone because nobody else understands and nobody else faces any troubles. Oh I wish my life were simpler... no you don't. You're happy.

first entry?

hi peeps,

dunno wat to say.....ummmz, whazzaaa..
sorry ashim :)

cheers

bye

The world is made up of this and that...

To begin seems almost an extravagant waste of time; thinking, re-thinking, pondering over things that would usually be running through your head anyway. Another blog. Yes, another blog. No different. Just another person's views, another person's philosophical overspill spewed over the internet. Like the cynic inside you express himself and let the world feel his wrath. There is joy in displaying your displeasure and arrogance with everything. You could say its 'cool'; but you can't do otherwise. Sure there are people out saving the world and its nice to see. But they can't do it without the help of the rest of us cause we don't do jack and sit here reading and posting blogs. We'll its nice to see one thing though - the truth is finally getting the respect it deserves. I see people everywhere realising that niceties and euphemisms aren't really aiding the collective growth of anything and we're heading toward a place where knowledge is king.

Look forward to one thing here on this blog. That everything will be straight from the heart of a person. We're not reporting, not displaying cool new things or telling you how our days were. We're talking. And that's a lie.