GASP!!!

Hello all. I’ve just finished up a big week month of work for the launch of Rockwood Church. There are still things to be done but the GREAT BIGGIE part of the project (which would be all the signs/banners) were delivered today save one banner. I plan to prepare some posts showing off these pieces as promised. I’m very excited about what these banners will do for the overall presentation of the church. I’ll get one or two things posted over the weekend and then more as the week progresses leading up to the big LAUNCH!

written by JM

One of the many things that occupy my time when I’m not working is the design work I get to do for my church. This fall, my church will be launching, or more aptly re-launching, as Rockwood Church. It’s an exciting time but also a bit stressful because there is a lot riding on this in a practical sense. A good deal of what goes into making this work is developing a new visual identity that will introduce people to the church.

Some of the things that are being developed are; stationery, business cards, postcards, advertisements, website, and somewhere in the neighborhood of 20 different banners or signs that will be used in the school we’re meeting in. Whew!

I’ll be posting some of this work in the coming weeks as the time draw nearer to the big day, 9.28.08!

written by JM

Well, here it is. The new look of defycreative.com. Due some technical difficulties over the past week, it’s a little later than I would like and almost where I want it minus a few details. I’ve gone to a 3-column design for a little more flexibility and to make better use of the real estate. The sidebars can be collapsed by clicking the button on each window pane. In addition, the panes in both columns can be moved vertically for a bit of rearranging.

Because of said difficulties, the “new feature” I mentioned last week will be a bit longer in coming out than I had wished. I’m still gunning for week’s end though.

So, kick back and relax in the new digs and stay tuned for some good stuff.

written by JM

“The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry”

How true. At the start of this year, I had planned on being more diligent in the posting and maintenance of this site, only to end up neglecting it more than ever. A number of things have affected my work on the site. That’s life in the real world I guess.

In about a week, June 10, 2008 to be exact, will be the 1-year anniversary of the first post to this site. To mark that milestone, I will unveil the new design and a new feature that I have been knocking around. Be sure to subscribe to the feed if you’re new around here because you won’t want to miss it.

written by JM

Hey there, I’m back. My apologies for falling off the grid there for a while. There has been lots going on and I’m trying to get back in a groove.

I wanted to talk about the newest addition to the sidebar of the site. There is a new icon for LinkedIn, the business oriented social networking site. You may recall my tirade on social networks not long ago. So have I changed my tune? Not really. I have contemplated what LinkedIn has to offer and want to try to make an experiment out of it.

For the most part, social networks seem to be more about entertainment than anything else and that’s fine. For me, I want to see what is possible with a site like LinkedIn and how it can help grow what I’m doing here. I see it as a perfect opportunity to use such a service to it’s potential. Taking something relatively small and making more out of it.

So, if you interested in adding to your own business circle, hit me up on LinkedIn.

written by JM

If you’re reading this, that means that the moving of the blog from the old address (blog.defycreative.com) to the main directory of the site is complete. This is something of a consolidation from my original plans but I think the move makes a lot of sense. The next step is to continue with the redesign which is underway. For those who have me bookmarked, you may want to update that. It is my hope that the RSS feed will stay intact and I will let you know if I find that it’s not. There is a redirect from the old address in the event there are stragglers.

UPDATE: It does appear as though the old RSS feed will no longer reflect new posts. My apologies for the inconvenience.

UPDATE2: It seems I spoke too soon. My own subscription to the old feed eventually showed the new post. Shows what I know.

written by JM

I mentioned in my previous post that I would give you more info on Expanse and here it is, as promised.

Expanse Volume 1 is a collection of 20 looping background videos that offer a more immersive experience to your presentations. Expanse 2400×600 pixel background videos are designed for use with multi-screen setups that span the width of the screens with a single video. The videos in this set are in the MOV(H.264) format and are compatible with most presentation software that support this format. As I said in my last post, these can now be downloaded from MediaShout’s online store in the .wmv format.

written by JM

Some cool news to report. Now the Defy Creative releases of Luminous motion bible background videos and Expanse super-wide background videos are available for download from the MediaShout® online store shoutable.com. The files are in the .wmv format natively supported by MediaShout® worship presentation software. Of course, these are available on disk from the Defy Creative Store. The disk version includes .mov versions of the videos as well.

You can find out more about Luminous here. More info on Expanse is still to come.

written by JM

Well here it is, the last day of 2007 and I thought it would be a good idea to write a post. Posts have been sparse over the holidays but that will hopefully be changing. Since stepping on this soapbox in June I have posted 43 times, although it doesn’t seem like it. It has been enjoyable sharing some of the things that I am passionate about or that interest me. It’s been a cathartic experience getting some of these things off my chest.

I want to thank the people that have stopped by to read my ramblings and I hope to see even more people happen by in the new year. I’m still finding my voice in this whole thing and I want for it to be interesting.

In 2008, there will be some changes here that I think will be good. First off, these pages will become the main entry for defycreative.com. I will be moving everything there and have defycreative.com/blog forward to that page for those that might have it bookmarked. I had always expected to have the main site be somewhat of a separate entity that directed visitors to all my endeavors but it just make sense to use WordPress to manage it all. Along with the move will be a redesign of the site. Yes, I’m making a lot of work for myself.

If that weren’t enough, THERE’S MORE! There will be more activity on the much neglected Defy Creative Showcase front. In addition, there are some other goodies that I’m not going to tell you about just yet. After all, I’ve got to keep you coming back for more.

JM

written by JM

As I have mentioned, one of the facets of what I do is book design. Recently, Co. Aytch, First Tennesee Regiment, or a Side Show of the Big Show was published by Providence House Publishers. I had the distinct privilege to be able to design what I believe to be the definitive edition of this book.

For those who are not familiar with Civil War history, Co. Aytch is considered to be THE memoir about the common soldier’s life in the war. It has been published numerous times over the years but never with the detail and added features to be found in this version.

Joe Avalon over at Civil War Interactive has reviewed the book and given it his blessing. If you’re a Civil War history buff, check out his review and also pick up a copy of Co. Aytch. In the coming days, I’ll have an in depth case study about the challenge that this new edition presented and how those problems were resolved. Stay tuned.

JM

written by JM