Interweb Innovation

Today, I was streaming a new track on Pitchfork that I fell in love with and, as I continued reading the article, found was not yet released for downloads… WHAT A TEASE. In the past, I’ve used various mp3 grabbing browser extensions, so I searched around for one that works for SoundCloud—but had no success. On the edge of defeat, I remembered my favorite internet tactic of them all: throw it into google and hope someone else figured it out already. Success! And a beautiful one too—SoundDrain was exactly what I was looking for, and it not only met but far exceeded my expectations due to it’s beautiful design and UI/UX. Seriously, I want to meet whoever made this website and shake their hand, give them a bunch of high fives, and then buy them a beer so we can cheers to good design. 

It’s things like these that keep me forever impressed with the ingenuity that has come along with the internet. Especially when things are done in a pro-bono way, of bettering the internet and the global community while not directly making any profits. Another example I found recently and fell completely head over heels for is CreativeRoots.org. Creative Roots is a curated inspiration blog of art and design from all over the world, which is already such a great thing to be putting out there when we can often get stuck within certain design aesthetics. Of course, the website itself is designed nicely and intuitively, but neither of those things are the best part. The best part is the “Find Creatives” feature—a tool that lets you look up creative shops, agencies, and individuals by location and expertise. Additionally, on the other end of this, you can put yourself or your company into that listing, allowing you to reach out. This is the coolest thing I could possibly find at the moment, due to the fact that I’m harboring a dream of working in Central or South America in a creative field. The way that this website connects creatives to each other fosters a global community of creatives both online and in real life is so simple and beautiful that it’s almost unreal. 

I could really list a million more websites and experiences that blow my mind, both in mobile and on traditional browsers, but I’ll spare you the scrolling and clicking (Well, wait. NASA:Prospect is definitely worth a click.) The point is that the internet is still a crazy thing that’s inspiring different kinds of innovation and creativity every day, and it’s worth it to poke around and find these things as much as you can. 

… aaannnnd that’s how I justify spending so much time on it. 

El Toolbox

One thing I’ve learned being in journalism school/advertising major that crosses my mind quite often, is the idea of being a T-shape. What, you say? Walk around with your arms outstretched? Is this a yoga move? No, it’s not…but maybe I’ll incorporate that into my sun salutations to remind me daily. Being a T shape is about having a broad range of skills and interests and knowledge (the arms at the top) and then having your specialty, that branches off of all this wide spread interesting-ness. I believe whole heartedly that this is insanely important to creativity and being inspired in whatever you decided your specialty to be—you’ll never think of anything new if you just keep yourself in that one narrow line. 

This being said, I try to constantly work on the top of my T. I set aside time to play with my watercolor paints, take my Spanish classes even if they sometimes put me to sleep, and constantly shell out money for rolls of film for the love of my analog camera collection. However, I’ve lately been thinking that I want to expand my abilities more. If the point is to stretch yourself and gain new insights and experiences, why ever stop adding on new things to try and do? 

There’s a million things I’m always saying I want to do, so now I’m making a commitment to doing them. I’m going to sign up for drawing classes, finally learn web design code better, read books I wouldn’t usually pick up, watch more documentaries…etc. 

Cheers to making things.

(High up on the list: Make this DIY photo projector for my phone)

Updates!

Thinking I did not, in fact, neglect this blog when I obviously have (maybe I dreamed it or something? Made a draft and forgot about it?? I don’t know…) has led this to be stagnate for quite some time.

On the contrary, I am anything but stagnate!

Currently….

I’m in Spain!

Spending a semester abroad in Sevilla, Andalucia, España. Therefore, I have left this address for a moment and will be posting about my adventures at my specified “study abroad blog”, which can be found HERE !

Once I return home in December, and especially when I return to my other home-away-from-home in Eugene in January, my ad student musings will be here once again.

Besos de España!

Staying Interesting: A To-Do List

1. Listen to NPR more. New favorite discovery, Tiny Desk Concerts.

2. Actually go to the museum when I walk by it and want to go inside, even just for a minute. I need to take advantage of the freeness of the JSMA while I can…

3. Watch all those movies everyone’s been telling me are so good. First up: Lost in Translation.

4. Get some more use out of these babys and learn how to use them better:

5. To Be Continued

25. Happiness

Happiness…Everyone wants it. And in college, when you’re constantly bombarded by all kinds of stress, sometimes it’s hard to find it. There’s countless studies on it, since everyone wants to know what the secret is.

However, while I have had my fair share of bad days and stressful moments, I can safely say that this term has been my best so far.

Coming into college, I didn’t have the slightest idea of what I wanted to do. I took classes in Sociology, International Studies, and countless other subjects that, while I enjoyed learning what I was learning, actually doing the work was painful and I couldn’t imagine spending three more years completely immersed in that subject.

This term, while I was incredibly excited to start in on my first advertising class, I was also worried that I would be greeted with this same feeling again. But I wasn’t. Doing something that you have to do sucks, but when you’re enjoying it, it’s awesome. I still can’t wrap my head around the amount of work I have to do in the next two (!!!!) weeks of the term, but the fact that it’s enjoyable to hunker down in the library and work on makes it all okay.

That being said, cheers to the next three years ahead of me and everyone else in Creative Strategist.