Michael Jackson was an artist

I can’t believe it, but I did watch the Michael Jackson Memorial on TV. I can’t believe it because I usually don’t watch stuff like that. But, I started watching it, and started to evaluate everything that was going on as far as Graphic Design was concerned. Here again, this has nothing to do with Philadelphia Graphic Design per say, but I gotta tell ya, this guy was big. He touched an awful lot of artists in the Philadelphia Area. It seems like lately, every time I turn around I hear another story of how he touched someone’s life here in Philadelphia.
Ok, so I’m watching on CNN. CNN has this logo in motion box going on throughout the entire ceremony. I’m wondering what was used to create this video. The first thing I noticed was it was a video of using still photographs. I’m thinking Premier PRO, or something equivalent. It was very simple, and did not take much time to make I’m sure.
Next, I’m checking out the advertising outside the Staples Center. How many companies had the sense at the last minute to purchase those banners hanging from the light poles? Talk about exposure! Do I even have to mention how much exposure Staples got from this entire thing? During the entire ceremony, I’m looking out the one single red Staples sign over the exit arch.
So the program begins. How about the huge videos and photos being shown throughout the entire ceremony. WOW! I’m telling you, someone had to make this stuff up. Of particular interest was the montage of him dancing. Unbelievable. Top notch stuff as far as I’m concerned.
What I kept hearing from everyone was the dedication this man had to his industry. He live slept and ate to entertain. It was his life. This is what an artist really does. He sacrifices his life and does what he loves to do. Now, we can get into the Philadelphia Graphic Design portion of this article. How many people have you met in your lifetime that have dedicated their life, no, gave up their life for the love of Graphic Arts. I have met a lot of Graphic Artists, but most are doing it as a career. I don’t think I can put myself in this category. I find more and more I am evaluating everything I look at. I’ll be at a baseball game and be evaluating the best placed ads and things like that. I don’t think I produce enough product, or results, to be considered the best in my field. I do admit I live it though. Like I said, I am constantly evaluating designs. I have had the pleasure of meeting one person that might fit the best in the area category. But, even at that, they are the best in a couple of areas, not all areas. Has anyone worked with anyone in the Philadelphia Area that they would consider to be a true artist? Someone who has truly given up his life for Graphic Design.

Great Powerpoint Presentations in Philadelphia . . . not!

Gotta love it! PPP - Powerpoint Presentations in Philadelphia. I just made that up. It's a shame this article isn't about Powerpoint. I create presentations on a daily bases. I also know a little bit about creating web pages. So I said to myself. We can't I combine the two processes. Let's see would that be web presentations. I mean I don't use the internet when I do these presentations. I didn't realize right away what a fantastic idea I just had. If you know anything at all about web pages, you know satisfying all the operating systems and web browser possibilities out there is a pain. Think about my situation. I could all of a sudden choose what web browser to use. I mean, I use Firefox now and love it. Probably just because I can use the web developer add-on.
Then I had the great idea to investigate to see which web browser is the best to use for my presentations. Or better yet, what would be the best browser to use if I was using web pages generated on my computer. Of course, this has nothing to do with Philadelphia. Hey, it's my blog and I'll do what I want with it! Ha Ha! Boy was I surprised. Doing a search on web browsers I was directed to wikipedia (of course!). I'm thinking there are maybe six or so browsers out there. WOW! There are a lot more out there than I thought. Wikipedia gave a great comparison an all the web browsers. I quickly picked three I thought looked interesting. I selected Opera, Safari and Midori. No scientific reason. Just did a quick visual on the possibilities.
Well, I made the furtunate choice of checking out safari first. What an eyeopener. Animation built into the browser? Are you kidding me? With that and my newfound love of jquery, I think we may have something here! I have a feeling I won't be using Powerpoint for my presentations anymore.
I started laying out a couple of presentations, and the idea looks very promising. Ready for this. Guess what I'm using for my great presentations. I am using frames. What I noticed right away is that I can add chapters, or keep all my related presentations together. Kinda like a Table of Contents. I can immediately refer back to a point I made in past lessons. It's hard to make great presentations like this using Powerpoint. I would have to wait for the entire program to open up with the proper presentation I need. Not to mention having to go through the file system to find the Powerpoint file.
Of course linking is what web pages and browsers are all about. I can link to web pages that containg Flash, Video and images to just name a few. My mind is going crazy here. I'm thinking Photoshop Slideshows. Can you imagine? Complete control of a presentation.
I kinda got sidetracked there. After seeing what was built into Safari I didn't even bother to look at the other web browsers I was looking at. So, I downloaded the open source program. No problems so far. Well, when I went to install I got an error message. Figures. Details to follow on that my friends.
So, even though this is not about great presentations using Powerpoint in Philadelphia, maybe I can help some people make better presentations without the cost. Oh yeah. Maybe I forgot to mention. Both the web browser Safari and the Javascript Library jquery are free. Gotta love it! Time to go make some great presentations. Oh, and of course since I am here, they will be great presentations in Philadelphia. There, I tied it into Philadelphia. Would love to here some comments on this.

Graphic Design Philadelphia

Needless to say, I was pretty happy to see this domain name was available. I believe this blogging format can be used as a gather place for all Graphic Design related people and products in and around the City of Philadelphia. There is an awful lot going on in Philadelphia as far as great designers and associations. Not to mention the fantastic schools available here. This city is full of great Design Schools.
I am not saying, or I guess, publishing much this message. I have to figure out all the options available for this blog first. Like I said before, I was pretty happy to see the domain name available, and wanted to grab it right away. I'd like to say I knew what direction this is going, but, the plan is in the works. All things would have to figured out. Should I allow guest posts? Is this about graphic designers in Philadelphia, or about the businesses that offer Graphic Design in Philadelphia.
I guess that's about it for my first post. Details to follow as they say. Of course I'm open to any suggestions for this domain. Did I mention the great associations available in Philadelphia. I myself happen to belong to a Meet-Up group. One of the best things I did.
OK, enough. Would love to hear from anyone at all. Whats your thought?