Free Vector Downloads

I found some great (and FREE) vector assets this week and thought it was my duty to share. Click on each image to go to the download page.

iPhone 4 GUI PSD + Vector (Retina Display)

Vector + PNG Social Media Icons

Filed under: Design, iPhone, Vector

Success & Failure

Another advertising campaign that has stuck with me through the years.

I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career.
I’ve lost almost 300 games.
26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot
and missed.

I’ve failed
over and over and over again in my life.

And that is why
I succeed.

Filed under: Advertising

Movie Review: Art & Copy

I went to college to get a degree in Business Management. One of the required classes was Advertising. It turned out to be one of my favorite classes during all my years in that Business building (I still have the book to this day).

Before heading off to college, I worked a few years doing prepress for a local print shop. It was my first introduction to the Macintosh work environment, but it was love at first sight. When I started, Freehand and Quark ruled the day and Photoshop 2.0 was all the rage. As a result I was also there at the ground level when Illustrator and InDesign came around. A coworker and I would come in early and do the tutorials just to learn what was possible. At the time I wasn’t even a designer, just a production artist.

Back to college. It was my Senior year and I was doing interviews with companies that came to campus. During every interview I can clearly recall thinking to myself, “What am I doing here?” One company flew me down to Dallas for a next level interview, and it was the last time I ever interviewed for a Management position. It was an extremely beneficial experience, but when I returned I immediately signed up for another couple of years of college. I needed to add a minor in Graphic Design to my degree. It only took me four years, but I now knew that my life’s calling involved a Macintosh computer and some Adobe programs.

Flash forward to today. I now work in the Marketing department for an international organic food company doing graphic design and social media. I’ve been able to design everything from a frisbee to trailer graphics, and everything in between. Advertising is part of my everyday thought process. So it was with great anticipation that watched Art & Copy recently, and I wasn’t disappointed. Much like Helvetica before it, this documentary tickled my funny bone and reminded me why I made that decision back in college to get into this industry. Advertising gets a bad rap most days, and with good reason. We are inundated with horrible and constant advertising. But advertising will always be a part of our life, and when it’s done well it can change the world. Literally.

Art & Copy is a powerful new film about advertising and inspiration. Directed by Doug Pray, it reveals the work and wisdom of some of the most influential advertising creatives of our time. These artists and writers all brought a surprisingly rebellious spirit to their work in a business more often associated with mediocrity or manipulation: George Lois, Mary Wells, Dan Wieden, Lee Clow, Hal Riney and others featured in Art & Copy were responsible for “Just Do It,” “I Love NY,” “Where’s the Beef?,” “Got Milk,” “Think Different,” and brilliant campaigns for everything from cars to presidents. The social and cultural impact of their ads are brought to light in this dynamic exploration of art, commerce, and human emotion.

I think it’s ironic that the movie I watched right before this one was Pirates of Silone Valley, a docudrama about how Steve Jobs got his start. Sandwiched together they gave me a renewed sense of purpose regarding my future.

Some of my all time favorite ad campaigns are covered in this documentary, such as Nike’s “Just Do It” campaign. Pictured below is an ad from that campaign that I could look at every single day. I still have a cutout of the original ad laminated at my house.

What are some advertising campaigns that have moved you?

Netflix Rating: ★★★★★

Filed under: Advertising, Movies, Reviews

Politics & Humanity

Over 8 years ago, in an attempt to curb my road rage, I made a decision to stop driving to music like One Step by Linkin Park, and started listening to the local easy listening station. While that worked quite well, I also decided to take it up a notch by visualizing that the driver getting on my last nerve was actually my sweet grandmother. That does the trick. Every. Single. Time.

A couple years later the local High School football coach started attending our church. He was such a nice guy, and you couldn’t help but root for him, and the team. Then we started losing, and my first instinct was to blame the coach but it wasn’t that easy anymore. I now knew the coach, personally. Everything changed.

Do you ever notice how after someone gets sick or loses someone they know to a certain disease they always get heavily involved in finding a cure? Up until that point they really didn’t pay much attention to it, but now that it effects them personally their eyes are completely open to the issue.

I say all that to say that I think politics lacks a heavy dose of humanity. When we take the time to realize that not everything is cut and dry, and that there are actual human beings involved in politics, I think a lot of our perspectives will change. Sure it’s easy to say “capitalism at all costs” but when we know someone that didn’t get the same start we have, or that struggles every day to make ends meet while doing all the right things, we start to realize that sometimes there needs to be compassion as well.

Lynne Hybels made this exact case recently while defending her husband’s choice to introduce President Obama at a recent speech on immigration reform:

“This is a difficult debate—we all know this—but for us it is no longer just about laws or policies or ideologies. It’s about the very real struggles of people we know and love, people desperately wanting to honor God and provide as best they can for their families. Knowing their stories doesn’t erase the complexity of this issue, but it certainly does reframe it.”

What a powerful statement. I think we could all use a little reframing, and personalizing, when it comes to our politics. We need to start taking off our partisan glasses and see the world for something bigger than what’s right in front of us.

“It’s not that Chirstians don’t care about the poor, they don’t KNOW the poor.” —Shane Claiborne

Filed under: Humanity, Perspective, Politics

Politicians

Politicians — Switchfoot

Everything is broken
Everything is broken
Everything is breaking down, breaking down

Everything is bleeding
Everything is bleeding
Everything is breaking down, breaking down

A pledge allegiance to a country without borders, without politicians
Watching for my sky to get torn apart
We are broken, we are bitter
We’re the problem, we’re the politicians
Watching for our sky to get torn apart
C’mon and break me

Entropy and Aching
Where have we been aiming?
Everything is fading out, fading out
We are the faded, splitted, and sedated
Everything is fading out, fading out

A pledge allegiance to a country without borders, without politicians
Watching for my sky to get torn apart
We are broken, we are bitter
We’re the problem, we’re the politicians
Watching for our sky to get torn apart
C’mon and break me
C’mon and break me

A pledge allegiance to a country without borders, without politicians,
politicians, politicians..

I am broken, I am bitter
I’m the problem, I’m the politician
Watching for my sky to get torn apart
C’mon and break me
C’mon and break me

“This song’s about the Kingdom of Heaven.” —Jon Foreman

Filed under: Lyrics, Music

July Debrief

As taxing as June was, July was the exact opposite.

On the 3rd we hosted our 2nd Annual Kenya Dig It 5K & 10K. Tanner smoked his previous PR with 27:24 in the 5K—not bad for a 6 year old.

On the 10th Tanner played in his last baseball tournament of the year. Travel ball was a lot of fun, but it sure can be a time-suck. Bittersweet memories.

On the 12th Tonia had knee surgery to repair some cartilage and a torn meniscus. As a result, she’s been off work and at home all month. Having her and Tanner at home during the day has been really nice! I’ve even been riding my bike to work, 6 days straight as of today.

On the 23rd Tanner turned 7. Crazy how fast time flies.

Most of the month was unscheduled and relaxed. We spent a lot of time at home, getting a few things done around the house but nothing too taxing. July actually felt like a summer vacation.

July Running Totals
8 workouts
3:37:24 duration
25.65 miles
8.29 per mile average
2903 calories burned

Tweet of the Month

That was a fun morning. Raccoon falls out of tree right in front of me. I watch raccoon for an hour. Dad kills raccoon w/ baseball bat.
— @mudpuppy July 24, 2010 12:38:26 PM EDT

Books Read in July:
N/A

Movies Watched in July:
Remember Me – 4/5
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly – 3/5
Jaws – 5/5
American Zombie – 2/5
Magnum Force – 3/5
I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry – 2/5
Legion – 3/5
Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead – 4/5
Michael Jackson’s This Is It – 5/5
Under Suspicion – 4/5
Hearts in Atlantis – 3/5
The Karate Kid 2 – 3/5
Extraordinary Measures – 3/5
The Outlaw Josey Wales – 4/5
Toy Story 3 – 3/5
Inception – 5/5
The Sorcerer’s Apprentice – 3/5
The Proposal – 3/5
The Vanishing – 3/5
Green Zone – 4/5
Surrogates – 3/5
Instinct – 4/5
Airheads – 3/5
Karate Kid 3 – 3/5
Despicable Me – 3/5
Fright Night – 2/5
Youth in Revolt – 2/5
Gamer – 1/5
So I Married An Axe Murderer – 3/5
Amreeka – 4/5
Manhunter – 3/5
The Wraith – 3/5
Pale Rider – 4/5
The Bounty Hunter – 3/5

Filed under: 2010, July, Movies