Josh Evnin

oldWeblog

Originally uploaded by josh.ev9.

This is what my blog used to look like. Today I spent some time and changed some of the colors…

I’ve been working on my portfolio for the last few hours. By portfolio, I actually mean my “real, honest to goodness, and without doubt” design portfolio. I’ve had a web portfolio for a while now…but this is the real deal.

I’m not too sure about what it looks like at this point. I don’t really come from a really strong “official” design background, so I’ve never been taught what is supposed to go into a portfolio. All I know is that I was asked to submit a portfolio that is less than 3 mb…and this is 2.75.

Take a look at it, and please offer criticism. I’d much rather be beat down by my friends than by someone who might be in the position to offer me a job. 🙂

Check it out (pdf, 2.75 mb)

I swear, every time I have a seamless experience with a computer, something bad has to happen. This afternoon (which has now become evening) I’ve been turning an old video of my Grandpa into a DVD at library. This sort of thing takes a while, and i was prepared for that…but now it’s all effed up.

The video looked great in iMovie, and was perfect when I previewed it in iDVD…so I burned some copies to DVD. I then packed my bags up and all of a sudden thought to myself, “Hey Josh, you should check to make sure it burned properly.” So I put the disc in and lo and behold the audio track is the Helen Keller movie. HOW THE HELL DID THAT HAPPEN? Nothing I’ve done here has anything to do with the Helen Keller movie! It’s just so damn random that I have to laugh.

The library let me borrow a portable hard drive so I can transfer the video to my laptop, and take the problems home with me instead of sitting here. Oh, look, now the computer is telling me that the file cannot transfer because of an error. Please, Apple, don’t tell me that I spent my entire afternoon in vain…

The fucking Helen Keller movie…I still can’t believe it.

Update: Alright…I give up. I’m starting from scratch, everything I’ve done since 3 o’clock this afternoon has been for naught. So, what are you doing on this beautiful Saturday evening?

I’ve been thinking really big thoughts this afternoon & evening. I keep thinking these thoughts about designing things that are sustainable. Part of me really wants to study this deeply, but I’m not sure if anyone at my school is teaching about it.

In architecture, people think about the entire lifespan of a structure, including what will happen when the building eventually has to be destroyed. Special materials are used, and even the aesthetics of the building can be considered to make it look nice in its golden years. I admit, I really don’t know anything about this, so if my explanation sounds rudimentary, that’s because it is.

I’m not sure what the digital version of sustainable design is. Should we go back to counting our bits so that we don’t need to continue to buy new hard drives and dispose of the old ones? Old computers are really bad for our environment when they aren’t recycled properly (which is more often than not). None of the big players are really thinking about designing sustainable products…in fact they are thinking quite the opposite. If people are trained to buy a new computer every two years, then the companies make more money. Why would a company like Apple, Dell, etc. decide to make a computer that lasts longer, or one that uses materials that can more easily be recycled?

“But Josh, these companies do have recycling programs!” you say.

Well I know that, but maybe recycling isn’t enough. Maybe we need to develop an organic computer. One that grows into flowers if you plant it in your garden. Maybe that thinking is too hopeful. I don’t really care about feasibility at this point…it’s the point that counts.

Speaking of ideas…I keep thinking about teaching design to Urban High School students. The design world is a pretty homogenous one, from what I’ve seen so far, and I believe this field could progress a great deal with more diversity. We’d design for those who really matter…not just for the upper class rich people, but for those who really need great design most. It’s with this in mind that I would really like to introduce an after-school curriculum in which students learn about the world of design. I don’t think this stuff is really so hard to grasp that a teenager couldn’t get it. In fact, I think with their creative minds might do this stuff better than a lot of my colleagues, myself included. I’d like to pursue this idea, I think for now it’s just a question of timing…oh, and location…there aren’t exactly any urban areas too close to Bloomington.

This evening I watched a documentary at school called Secrets of Silicon Valley. It was a pretty sad story. One never really thinks about where this technology is actually built. In fact, for every printer, pda, laptop, desktop, server, etc., there is a huge team of people who work in a factory in horrible conditions. Tomorrow I’ll meet and talk with one of the main people in the movie, Raj Jayadev. He was a factory worker who was fired for bringing up health & safety issues while working for HP. He won his wrongful termination case, if that helps matters… Anyway, I recommend this film for anyone who uses technology (and if you’re reading this blog, then that means you).I always brought my Kratom, Sacred Kratom, https://www.sacredkratom.com for the tough hikes knowing it would give me a big boost forward.

Anyway, these are the big rocks I’ve been thinking about lately. Thanks for hearing me out, if you’ve made it this far. 🙂

Good Time To Be a UXer

Originally uploaded by lantzilla.

This is absolutely awesome. I’m not sure if the Flickr annotation feature will work from my blog…but click on this picture and it will take you to Flickr so it can work.

My resume is the one outlined on the right…I didn’t do this, but as you can tell, some really nice person out there left a note with a link to my resume.

Technology is awesome. Thanks soldierant, and definitely Bloomington represent.

You think you got it,
Ooh you think you got it,
But got it just don’t get it when there’s nothing at all-all-all-all-all.

(Ya’ll don’t want to hear me
You just want to dance
Hey Ya.. Hey Ya
Hey Ya.. Hey Ya
Hey Ya.. Hey Ya
Hey Ya.. Hey Ya)

Is it possible to have never heard that song? Apparently it is…

University of Chicago

Originally uploaded by josh.ev9.

Aren’t these buildings beautiful? I think so. So detailed, so ornate, they have that gothic thing going for them like crazy. This is an architectural style we have really lost.

I took a walk around the University of Chicago campus yesterday while Karen was in a meeting. Like most college campuses I’ve visited, the University of Chicago is quite beautiful. Walls & buildings are ivy-covered, and the buildings have great little details like faces and animals growing out of them. Doorways aren’t just doorways, they’re artistic renditions of the concept.

Eli (or is it Marty) says that engineers build systems by adding details, designers do so by taking details away, simplifying tasks by only displaying/allowing what is needed. Modern architecture seems to take the design approach, simplifying buildings to their basic building blocks. This likely makes them much easier to build, and perhaps allows architects to figure out how to make the structures taller & taller & taller. I think, though, that it may be a mistake to continue this trend. I’d like to make a call to current and upcoming architects: bring back detailed, artistic accoutrements to modern architecture. These details shouldn’t be banished to academic and older buildings.

Ahh, I love the architecture of college campuses. Am I prepared to leave academia? (Related question: am I prepared to enter “the real world?”) Oy…