— Indirect Inspiration

I started playing Oblivion again to get ready for skyrim. I have to say that game really is made for players who like to explore. There’s a strong suggested linear track, but the game also says “or just you know, have fun.” A game that lets you just have fun is surprisingly unusual. Terraria after the 1.7 patch for instance became harder, but not more fun.

Harder does pose more of a challenge sure, but the developers acknowledge that they meant to slow the pace of play down. So what they did really, is steal player’s time needlessly. Time is a greater cost to us then any price a game would have. They say in writing never use a paragraph when a sentence would do. Why don’t more games do this?

Maybe I am a little envious of cosplayers. I can only imagine what my brothers would think of that if I did it, or my sisters in law. But I bet that’s a lot of fun. To wear something you’re proud of making, to hang around others with a shared sense of craftsmanship earning them the reward of masquerading as someone else

Just began reading the Artist’s Way. So far its sort of, not the usual fare we’ll say. Takes a rather spiritual approach, we’ll see how that turns out

Going to a couple festivals this weekend. One a crazy art market and the other a Japanese culture celebration. Now I just need to make sure I talk to some of the artists about their work!

One of the most annoying parts of creating an app is where to get the data. It’d be nice to screen scrape or use an api but the most reliable is to have someone enter it. But how do they know to maintain it?

Also, email registration with a verification link seems the best way to launch an unofficial app in house. It verifies the person works for the company which is great.

What better way is there to foment revolution, then by establishing competencies in new technologies and at the same time bringing the mission, into our personal lives.

There’s definitely something to be said for books having become true commodities in today’s market. You can literally get them anywhere, and the prices online are always superior to in store. On top of that, no matter how good the channel suppliers shuffle around books, you’re never going to be able to compete with the internet in terms of choice, especially with on demand e books. But the same could also be said of Victoria’s secret and other stores that manage to distinguish themselves. I see Border’s as a marketing failure more than anything else.

My view of Border’s main marketing problem was that, like I said, a book at Borders was just a book. We don’t go to physical bookstores for just the books; there was also the experience of being in a book store and instant gratification though thats died down with the kindle. Beyond that though Border’s had a lot of programs for kids which was amazing. In the networked social age there was a lot of opportunity lost though for Borders to support a mission bigger than selling books.

Near the end I noticed some nice socially responsible efforts like “buy a book for a preschool program.” It would have been nice to see this taken to the next steps of fully engaging the company in making sure every child had access to books, things like book circles, and could learn to read. And something I feel they missed out on entirely was the social aspect of books. Plenty of people are friends of or know people who have written a book. Why couldn’t we find those books or ebooks for sale in the store. Why couldn’t we have a borders digital library for friends to view our buys or read our reviews on. Some theaters are trying this marketing technique with an online ticket stub program. The Border’s brand has always been about books, and really, we expect more these days.

I was reading over some of the comments on developing and designing the Alice video game sequel. It was sort of underwhelming how little the designers had experience with Surrealism or Victorian Design. Also, looking at some of the concept art, it felt like direction was really lacking. Like there was a huge creative force but it didn’t constrain itself enough. That’s why the game feels less like a Wonderland game, and more like a Victorian Inspired world.

Before you get creative, you have to limit yourself smartly

Background

http://media.onsugar.com/files/2010/05/19/3/443/4436373/image.jpg

I liked the pink textured pattern on the cushioning. A light pink pastel background with very subtle curving diamonds lines could work well for a victorian site.

Lines

http://www.furnituredesignideas.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Victorian-Furniture-Designs.jpg

I like the curves broken up by very ornate and unexpected hand crafted designs.

http://img1.classistatic.com/cps/po/091109/016r5/0925kia_27.jpeg

I love the unexpected, very natural feeling flaring curves at either side. Also the lyre design is interesting as the base of one of the tables. Its a throw back to a much earlier era but stylized.

Font

Handwritten is very Victorian. I love some of the handwritten letters from the period. “Ever your friend” was how love letters ended. Why not create a site thats crafted from sheets of handwritten paper. A seal with the site logo can be in the upper right corner. I’m thinking red. Nav is to the right of that. The sheet of paper with the side nav and top nac is the same and offset up and to the right of the main content sheet. A very stylized curving first letter could work, perhaps a more readable font after that. Id be great if there was a way to make it look like pencil.

So, what makes the Victorian aesthetic? It seems like such an overused term that I wonder whether it’s an aesthetic or whether anything stylized and old fashioned falls under it.

Tomorrows Project!