Controlling Social Media

I think it is silly and sad that larger companies are trying to "control" social media through fear and intimidation in this day in age. It really shows that they are afraid of this new world where they are not in control. I say it's about time!

I can understand trying to protect your corporate image or intellectual property. But really Nestlé, threatening your Facebook "Likers" with post deletion just because they did a mashup of your logo is just petty and wrong.

And the whole thing about people losing their jobs just because they posted a comment or had the wrong photo on their Facebook page is pathetic.

If companies think they can control people's personal Facebook pages: good fucking luck. It is the 21st Century and "power to the people" is the new standard in this, the Information Age. Facebook is simply a tool for sharing our personal photos and comments with our friends and family. Yes, these comments can be seen on the internet and depending on your privacy settings, possibly by people other than your family and friends.

Complaining about your boss and bitching about work are as old as jobs themselves. We all do it or have done it. That's how some folks deal with it and relieve the stress of their day, and these days we are all more stressed. I don't know about you, but I'd prefer this to hearing of another worker going out with a gun and shooting people.

And thinking you can control what photos people post to their profiles, again: good luck. Just because I have a drink in my hand in a photo doesn't mean I have a drinking problem. The fact that I have friends and enjoy my free time with them should be a plus, not a minus.

While what we post to the internet is "forever", just remember that my personal comments and photos are just that, even if the distribution is public. My comments represent me, not anyone or anything else. I don't represent any company or entity except for me.  Photos and comments from 10 or more years ago may not reflect the person I am today.

Maybe you should try and talk to the me of today to see what I'm like now, you might be pleasantly surprised. And, more importantly, get the hell off of Facebook/Twitter/whatever and go out and live your life. There's more out there than these few pixels on the interwebs.

M ssing Posters

Just a fun little idea that popped into my head for a missing poster. I wanted to see how legible it would be with the letter "i" missing. My original concept was the white type on black, but then I thought it might look interesting to make it look more like it was on the stereotypical milk carton...

Moonlight Movies Poster

My buddies and I started grilling and watching movies outside on the deck a few years ago when we were on vacation in Virginia. We named the evening "Sunset Cinema" and really look forward to grilling season so we can see movies outside.

One of my buddies decided to build a cool movie theater in his basement and keeping with the theme named the theater "Moonlight Movies". He made a special request for his latest birthday gift: he'd like me to design a custom poster that would be the first thing visitors see upon entering the theater.

I couldn't say no to such a fun project. Luckily my friend had a good idea of what he was looking for, so while I did my research and some mind mapping, I really just listened to what he was looking for and used that to build some quick mockups in Photoshop.

Unfortunately, due to my hectic schedule near the holidays, I warned him that I wouldn't be able to complete the poster until after his birthday. He was fine with this, since he was still putting the finishing touches on his theater. I couldn't just not give him anything on his birthday, so I worked up a large "movie ticket" to build up the excitement of the poster to come:

After working up some quick thumnails and doing a very quick flat color application in Photoshop, I emailed my friend the proofs, 2 of the concepts presented shown below:

My friend liked the ideas but wanted to merge the "farmscape" and "theater curtain" versions. While I was skeptical of this move, I went with it and ended up with this:

Whoa, pretty garish, right?! But after a few tweaks, some textures, and some lighting effects, this was the final result:


Personally, I still prefer it without the curtain and seats, but I think it did turn out well and really works with my friend's new theater room.

Orange barrel season.