2008 August | Sliver of Ice Design

August 25, 2008

The Measure of a Man Woman: Prosumer Success

Success in the prosumer world has somewhat moved beyond what you own. Consumers must have the newest and greatest thing, bigger and shinier than the Jones, as a measure of their success. Or as Iggy Pop sings in his song Success, “Here comes my Chinese rug.”

So what do is success in the prosumer world measured by? Satisfaction, plus a steady income? (Because you can’t be a prosumer without your income keeping up with cost of living and inflation.) Is that satisfaction just in your career or is it in all aspects of life? Is it that mythical job/life balance we all try so hard for?

As a prosumer, what do you measure your success by?

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August 21, 2008

Back in Action

Filed under: photography — Tags: family, photography — Erica @ 5:28 pm

Now that the gray cloud a la Eeyore has passed, I feel rather back in action. Or maybe that’s the comfort of pho and bubble tea. Perhaps they put happiness in every bowl.

Here’s my favorite photograph of Rob and my mom that I took during their wedding extravaganza. (This was the night of the Groom’s Dinner.) We used this photo for the picture frame they had everyone sign, instead of the traditional guest book.

Nancy and Rob Daiker

And because I had to get all dressed and lovely for the thing, here’s a picture of Jason and myself taken by my second cousin Barb.

Erica and Jason

You can also see my other photos from the Groom’s Dinner and the wedding itself. Since my mom and Rob wanted to upload all the photos to my Flickr account, all photography taken by me is marked in the description.

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August 20, 2008

On Being Tired

Filed under: work processes — Tags: personal goals, work processes — Erica @ 3:26 am

I’m rather tired. Just a deep bone-tired. I get why bears hibernate.

I have dreams, but they stay vague. I try to tease them out. I had this art professor who used to say that your most frustrating days in the studio, where you don’t get anything, turns into the ideas that flourish.

It’s interesting when I go on vacation. When I come and everything’s still there. I still need to call Comcast about my bill. I still need to go to work for my paycheck everyday. I still have a fridge full of vegetables from my grandfather’s garden to turn into food.

But then everything just kind of means shit.

Maybe it’s just the rain talking.

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August 14, 2008

No Dogs in the Grocery Store

Filed under: writing — Tags: Earth is my home too — Erica @ 2:09 am

A month ago, I was standing in Safeway, buying my tofu and potato chips, and a woman walked in carrying her lapdog. Freshly bronzened and wearing track shorts, I guessed that she was a high schooler. I glared at her.

She walked passed the deli — all the fresh meats and cheese out on display — and toward the freezer section. I kept glaring.

Clearly, her soul reflected my evil eye. Some fairy must’ve blessed her at birth.

So instead I said, really loudly, “Who the hell brings their dog into the grocery store?”

My words reached her ears and she quickly left with her dog and let her friends pick up her groceries. I could tell that the grocer, who was ringing up my food, was relieved.

Why can’t you bring your lapdog into a grocery store?

Because it’s unsanitary.

Because it’s a health code violation.

Because the store could be shut down because of your dog and then you couldn’t by your energy bars and laxatives anyway.

Why don”t the store employees say anything?

Because the customer is always right. The grocery store clerk knows that one bad complaint equals the end of his/her job and the ability to pay for rent, cell phones, or electricity.

My mom manages a salon with a retail store inside. I asked her what she does when someone brings his/her dog into the store: Nothing, she said, not unless a fellow customer complains. This is despite that fact that my mom’s work would be shut down if a health inspector found a dog in it.

So don’t be a jerk. Leave your dog at home or in the car. Take your dog to a dog park. Your dog will like it more than waiting for you to choose between no fat or low-fat yogurt. Don’t ruin someone’s livelihood because you don’t think Cuddles is a bother in your handbag.

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August 6, 2008

To Boldly Go Where Only Fandorks Will Still Go

Filed under: marketing — Tags: geekery, marketing in the 21st century — Erica @ 4:37 pm

Finally, someone has decided that it’s time to capitalize on Star Trek again. (J.J. Abrams is pushing out a new Star Trek movie, which the movie posters look fabulous, and hopefully, Abrams can follow up with a suitable plot ending for it.)

Despite the rampant cult following, Star Trek has failed to gain a new audience in the past years with the infamous what-was-that Enterprise. Some argue that the Utopian ways of the Roddenberry-created franchise doesn’t fit a post-9/11 War on Terror world. I tend to agree that the new Battlestar Galactica fits the energy and mood of this decade much better than Star Trek ever would. Heck, even the Star Trek: Experience in Vegas is closing.

But that doesn’t mean there aren’t still fandorks out there who wear their red Uhura uniform almost every Halloween. (It looks way naughtier with fishnets and knee-high Doc Martens. Trust me.) They still come in droves to conventions and attend Reading Rainbow readings at local libraries just to see LeVar Burton. (Seriously, Burton is the nicest celebrity ever, even if we did kind of scare him.)

And finally, someone has decided to capitalize on the die-hard fans by combining Star Trek role-playing into a World of Warcraft-like simulator with Star Trek Online. I won’t be joining it as role-playing, either online or live action, has never been my form of geekery, and I still haven’t moved beyond my original Nintendo when it comes to video games. I’m just really surprised that no one has done this before.

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August 5, 2008

Lessons in Design: Redneck Wedding

Filed under: web design,work processes — Tags: web design, work processes — Erica @ 6:00 pm

My mom’s getting remarried in two weeks. I like her fiance Rob, so that’s all good. The only not good part has been that I’m not a fan of weddings and all the heteronormative activities surrounding them, and I’m my mom’s maiden of honor.

Of course, I’m a good daughter, and my mom may have pulled the “I gave birth to you and supported you through your expensive private liberal arts education where you majored in creative writing and then you stayed so far away in Seattle, don’t you love your mother?” But I don’t remember as this was back in January.

Instead of buying them something for their wedding, I agree to build them a wedding website. Now while, they never managed to provide me with a lot of content for it (and the Big Day is fast approaching), I did manage to bring together what I consider a pretty solid design. And I pulled off some Photoshopping that might have gone a little too far since I removed some of Rob’s childhood scars. Who knew?

As with any new web site, I made some inquiries to friends to view the site on their computers and their browsers. (There’s only so many times I can open it in Firefox, IE, and Safari on my Windows XP PC at work and at home.) And everyone’s comments were: OMG, the colors! They burns us!

Belatedly, I realized I should’ve put the disclaimer that those are the wedding colors. Those are what my clients wanted. While, they wouldn’t be the colors I would’ve chosen, they were the requirement. I tried to put as much white space as I could to rest one’s eyes.

Compared to other wedding websites, it’s definitely brighter and less somber/classy. But this is my mom’s second wedding (and she’s had three children), so we’re dropping all the virgin-white subtext, and Rob wants to basically have a big party. Heck, the best man and my brothers, who are giving away my mom, are wearing Wranglers. Yeah, did I mention there’s a cowboy-theme underlying all this and how the reception is going to be in my mom’s new barn?

Design isn’t always what the designer thinks is best, even though we push our ideas, outlines, and platforms. Oh, don’t worry, there are always some client ideas we stop before they get out of control. Sometimes, it’s all about the client, the context, and the product. Especially if I’m building a wedding website for my mom as a gift. I’m just going to bite my tongue and ask her if she likes it. Which she does.

Now if I can get out of e-mailing her back over if she should get hot pink and black cowboy boots or hot pink camouflage-print cowboy boots to wear under her wedding dress.

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