KevinKeeganPro.com Blog

Last quarter I took my first Illustrator class at Chattahoochee Tech.  First off, AWESOME PROGRAM.  Now, for our first project we were required to take a photo of our choosing and turn it in to a vector graphic with color.  Ok…so I decided to propose a challenge to myself and do a self-portrait.  Self-portraits have always been something that I veered away from, but this seemed to be a good opportunity to face that fear head on…when else was I going to.  I was also inspired to do so after seeing my friend Tracy’s self portrait vector project she completed at the Art Institute of Atlanta.

So here it is…I think it is pretty decent and also hilarious…a true representation of the goofy side that only a few people in my life get the privilege of seeing.

Wrecked Vol. 2 Issue 6 is out.  This issue was dubbed the “Champions” issue, to coincide with the 2 year anniversary of Wrecked Magazine.  We finished just in the nick of time before SEMA ’09.

Can’t think of anything too notable in the issue, but there was one goal that Joey mentioned he wanted completed this time around. He wanted the cover to look like a magazine cover, like something you would see on a rack at the news stand.  So apparently I’ve been doing something wrong…and I was aware that covers were not my strongest feature in past issues.  So I went down the the local Barnes and Noble and perused the magazine isle for inspiration.  I saw exactly what I expected to see, a central and purposeful photo surrounded by bold faced, easy to read headlines that were strategically placed in the negative space of the main photo.  So…

I think I did better this time around and with virtually no revisions from my editor…done.

Well, my family and I have just ordered the family pack of OSX Snow Leopard. I’m very excited about the slight speed bump and extra HD space but will of course be holding off on any production machines at home or at work. Too many pieces of software are still unproven with it and it’s just smart to wait a few weeks for all developers to work out the kinks. Happy upgrading.

Update: All computers at the house have been upgraded to Snow Leopard. All apps passed the compatibility test and I’m good to go. Still need to investigate the changes to Quicktime and how to continue to use QT7pro efficiently.

Update 2: Okay so I’ve found a few bugs. One documented and one not so much.

First, I can’t turn on airport on my iMac. There’s a fix involving deleteing preferences, but that does some weird stuff with the way the computer shows up as a shared volume.

Second inside illustrator, when you high-light text, the high-light box flickers like crazy. Not sure what’s going on here, but that doesn’t affect any functionality. It just looks sketchy.

The last four weeks have been a real test of my creative endurance. Each of the weeks has been a different project. And each one requiring a different slice of my skillset. Here’s a quick summary:

The first project was an unfortunate one. I was asked by some very dear people in my life to put together a memorial picture tape for their father’s impending funeral. I was truly honored to do it but this was just the first project of many.

After that I had to start on our video at Millenia 3. It was our first full blown promo piece that explained to clients exactly what it is that we can do for them. My boss wanted to go all out. We rented a doorway dolly and also hired voice talent Brian Dennehy (from “Tommy Boy”). I was able to pull it off with three days of shooting and 2 editing and finishing. That includes reshooting an entire scene. The video came together perfectly and truly showcased our talents as a company in both the trafficking business but also the video production business.

Immediately after that I had to begin the next issue of Wrecked Magazine. We had a week to finish it and I ended up going over another 3 days. But all is well, it came out great.

Now the focus has shifted back to school work. Working on our logo design project.

After this, it’s time to rest…

Just to get it down. While I may be completely off, I believe Apple is holding off on releasing the Facebook 3.0 update for the iPhone for a specific reason. They want it’s release it along side with iTunes 9′s new facebook social networking features.

This is probably way off especially with all the griping about apples app approval process coming from facebook this week. But we shall see. It’ll probably come out tomorrow.

Update: Guess I was sort of right…

2 more issues have been done since I last posted regarding Wrecked Magazine. Many great sections and some mediocre covers. One good thing that came out of this last issue is the K&N ad that I did. While simple, it definitely nailed what they wanted I think. All I have to go on is the fact that they approved it on the first proof. (Which brings up the point that criticism is a great thing, so at least you know where to improve.) I’m sure the design could be better but how would I know. Well the client appears happy, so you can’t ask for much more than that.

Update: It’s live!

I started off using “Brushes” for iPhone, a very capable app. But coming from a photoshop background, I was still missing a few features that would make painting on an iPhone an easier transition for me. “Layers” brings some of those features to the platform at long last.

The next tool is the eraser tool. Erase on any layer, with full access to the different brushes and sizes and a transparency adjustment slider. Finally! Like I said, I come from a photoshop background where I can erase something or even better, mask it out. But with “Brushes”, I was not able to do any erasing only additive corrections meaning if you went outside the lines so-to-speak, you’d have to re-paint what you screwed up with a similar/identical color. Seemingly “adding” paint strokes on top of paint strokes. Since you’re currently limited to five layers, there is still the possibility that you might need to re-paint or paint over something on one of those layers. Regardless the eraser tool is a very welcome addition.

Much of the same tools and utilities from “Brushes” have been used in “Layers” as well. Color sampling by holding your finger down on the color you want. Also an eyedropper tool that can sample all layers or your current one. Pinch to zoom, and also double-tap to zoom to a specific area (at 200%), and 1000% max zoom (over “Brushes” 800%) allowing for pixel specific painting.

Export settings include email as flattened JPEG, PSD (yes, a photoshop document) with layers, send to your photo album on your device, or save as duplicate. So you can take you’re layered painting and edit it right into Photoshop.

While this app won’t make you magically have talent (as I was hoping for), it will give you a greater tool set in which to create your next mobile masterpiece. Add a Pogo Stylus and you’re good to go.

I’m back in school again. I ran into my editing instructor at Wendy’s a few weeks ago and we started talking about how everything was going on campus. He mentioned that there is a new program at Chattahoochee Tech in Digital Media Production/Arts. I asked if an Illustrator class was included in it and he said yes, so I was sold. Also I’ve already completed about half the classes when combined with my other degree, so this one shouldn’t take more than 3 quarters to complete. In addition to Illustrator, the degree will also require classes in Cinema 4D, Maya, Dreamweaver, and Flash. Very exciting stuff.

Today, I was locked in on the live blog of Apple’s keynote at WWDC. What I was listening for was the realization of rumors that I’ve been following for 3 months now. The specific rumor I’ve been waiting for was a new iPhone handset. And today it was finally announced. The iPhone 3GS!

The are a few reasons that this particular version of the iPhone will be the one that makes me switch.

In no particular order:

• Capacity – For the first time, the iPhone has reached a capacity that can hold my entire itunes music collection plus several movies and tons and tons of apps.
• New camera with video – As a photographer and even more so, video editor, the iPhones new 3 mp camera is a welcome feature. Increased still image resolution and also the ability to shoot 30fps VGA video, edit it down to the exact moment you want to show, and upload it to youtube is just plain cool. Or as a buddy of mine would say, “Deluxe!”
• iPhone OS 3.0 – Copy and paste, search, push…all features my blackberry has had and one of the biggest reasons I couldn’t make the switch before.
• Battery life – This is just speculated as Apple generally pads their battery life numbers a bit. But it’s supposed to be better. And even currently, my long trusted blackberry curve has to be charged every other day or sometimes every day.
• It’s an apple product – I’ve used a mac for my home computing for years and it will always be simpler from Apple product to Apple product, to sync my contacts, calendar, aswell as music and movies because of this fact.

Icing on the cake:

• MMS (eventually)
• Voice Control
• Faster 7.2Mbps data connection
• Awesome apps, that do very specific things that I need done. Like track my hours for freelance video and graphic design or tons of awesome games.
• Fairly early release date