GabrielMathews.com | Biological Log

As I’ve said in the past couple posts, I’ve been doodling a lot lately. I’ve also been coding, rendering, modeling, dreaming, and listening. My ears have been taken over by a lot of ambient songs; mostly Tycho’s- Coastal Brake, Solar Fields, and Carbon Based Lifeforms. Mix this with lucid nights thinking of how your eyes really see blurred lights vs the recent trend of ‘bokeh’ in every media channel, what does music look like to a baby in utero, stalking my passions like a lion in tall grass.

I’ve taken it upon myself to really assess what my temperature levels are on any given day as far as temperament and emotional symbiont balance. The other day I was on a conference call with a dozen or so people and wound up blowing up at a co-worker. I was able, at the same time , to watch my physical change as this was happening. My body got so tense, that I had to stand up and walk around the office while on the call. Normally, as far as being prompted to explode, I am like a grass reed that just flexes with the wind. It could be chemical, it could be intolerance for disrespect, or it could just be my own disability to put things into context. I’m not sure. I did feel bad though after all was said and done. I don’t like loosing my cool…especially when I do it and direct it at a fellow human being. We’re all just trying to live, yeah?

On a more positive note, I got the Sprint production photos back from the photographer – Michael Floyd. Super cool dude. We met up, along with the Sprint account manager at the store and I directed the shots. Some will be posted shortly on www.idlww.com. I’ll make a case study in the next few days for my website. Stay tuned for that.

Today, in a bit, I’m going to run over to Goodwill to buy some shitty art. My airplane friend Rachel is holding a ShArty at her house. Shitty Art Party-You buy shitty art, and try by whatever means to make it worse. My good friend iLan lived at a house where they did this up in Seattle. I love the idea. It is probably the only kind of party that I could go to and not feel socially awkward. I will be sure to take photos by the end of the night…some before and after pictures for sure.

Reader Poll-Do you drink hot tea at home? If so, what do you dislike about your kettle design? What do you like? Do you drink tea for some sense of comfort, medicinal, nostalgic reason? Let me know!

~G

I’d like to take a moment to talk about this awesome ambient musician who goes by the nom de plume of Solar Fields.
You should really really really consider going over the the site and checking it out. www.solarfields.com

Great music. I’ve mentioned him/her/them before as they performed the Score for Mirror’s Edge (a parkour based video game).

Check them out. Send them a line letting them know how awesome they are. Buy their stuff!
~G

I love Sony.

I am a very loyal customer with the majority of my PCBs being encased in some sort of Sony enclosure. My VAIOs are awesome. My DSR-42 is amazing, my Walkmans worked all the way up until they were stolen, and I love my Cyber-shot DSC-P200. This week has, however, challenged my love for the brand.

The week really started Monday at 4pm. One of the account managers asked me to pull together some renderings for concepts we had shown the week before. This was quite a tall order on multiple fronts.

1. I wasn’t familiar at all with the program except through hear-say and passing open doors of conversation.
2. No initial geometry had been built so I was really starting from scratch.
3. The designer on this project, John Schreiber, was out of town and I had no context for materials, finish, or messaging.
4. The only imagery I had to use was from the brand guidelines book from 2007.
5. It was 4pm.

With the oversight from my CD, Jeff Brummer, I pulled together quite an awesome set of renders for 6 hours worth of work. I compiled the deck and sent it out. It was quickly followed by a distinct feeling of angst as with every program that leaves late in the evening. I just felt there would be a fire storm in the morning. I was right.

Internally, we really want to put our best polish on the work so we ‘gained’ an additional chunk of time to pull together some refinements on the renders. As there was no time to rerender anything, it all had to be done in post production. So with John back in town, we sat and redeveloped the family look and feel as well as increasing the call-outs.

I’m happy to say that the verdict is still out because it bought me some time to focus on Hoopfest deadlines. So through the week I worked on that, some SBUX madness, and a few clients I can’t mention here.

In the off hours-

1. Finally got a copy of the OST from Mirrors Edge by Solar Fields…AMAZING ambient songs. Oh and Lisa Miskovsky…stick to making melodies because your voice is good for nothing but car commercial singing. Sorry but it’s true.
2. Got my faculty ID card for The Art Institute of Portland. I start July 15th. Free coffee!
3. Watched the video for T-Splines 2.0 whoa! I can’t wait to use my teacher ID for software discounts.
4. I think my favorite part of the week was either when I went out for a night bike ride while listening to M83 watching downtown glow with the Rose Festival lights or getting hammered by rain while riding home listening to 01 Liquid Love [RHC Mix] [Caspar Pound Secret Life of Trance, Vol. 1 Disc 2.wma]

This morning I got up and went over to the CDs house to help him move. He has good karma going his way, but damn does that man have a lot of stuff! It is good though, I love actually getting to use my van.

Tomorrow I run.

This was quite a week! Very busy. And I still LOVE Sony.