I'm hoping to have the GFXmonkey store up soon too. Look for more information to come.
posted by Daniel Weimann at 1:23 PM
posted by Daniel Weimann at 6:28 PM
posted by Daniel Weimann at 10:54 AM
Here is the basic rundown on what is happening with GFXmonkey.com. Basically, the original goal of the site was to use it as a way to show of my abilities and find employment as well as the occasional freelance job. Well, after weighing my options very carefullly, I decided that the site will still act as a showpiece for myself, but it won't be used to look for an employer. Instead, my girlfriend and I decided to start our own company.
Whoa...say what?
Ok, I know that sounds weird, but here's the ideas behind this: I really wanted an alternative to driving 80-90 miles one way for my commute. Since, I'm now living fulltime out in the Central Valley, this is a very big issue. I knew that such a commute, day after day would really stiffle me. It is a really good way to make someone tired and drain their creativity, not to mention that there would be no spare time left over to work on freelance or personal projects. I wanted more time to work on my own projects and to work on things that will personally affect me and influence the advancement of my career. In other words, I need time to work on my own gigs - I don't want to always be stuck to some company, potentially doing not-so-interesting work that doesn't directly relate to me. I really want to advance my 3 themes... I've decided that is a critical point. It's just something I have to do. The other good thing about us starting our own company is that Nancy can work with me. It allows her to work on a variety of projects and our skills complement each other. Plus, its a better way for us to balance the kids, since we won't be so far away and inaccessible to the kids. This was an important aspect to Nancy. And both of us agree that we don't want to work for someone else. We want to run our own show and we don't want to commute on the awful Bay Area freeways.
We were able to lease office space in Modesto for a very reasonable rate compared to the absolutely ridiculous Bay Area rents. This allows us to work close to home (Patterson) and have an easy commute. We are getting a high speed internet connection, and I must say the wiring in this building is top notch - very fast transfers. We have 1000 square feet of office space with dedicated heating and cooling, cetainly a plus for those hot Central Valley days. It is also a plus for us, because the house we have in Patterson, is not suitable for running an army of computers. So the office is very convient in that regard and helps us get around the technical issues we were having in Patterson.
Our new company is called Cube 216. The name is derived from the Web Safe Color Palette of 216 colors which form a 6x6x6 matrix; better known as a Color Cube. The company's focus in primarily new media design complemented with original content for the Web. We want to provide intelligent design solutions as well as offering illustration and animation abilities. We will continue developing our personal projects because we believe that they hold future, long-term commercial applications.
Ok, that's all great, but what about GFXmonkey?
GFXmonkey is not dead. In fact, I think these new developments will fuel the resurrection of GFXmonkey.com. I believe that now Cube 216 can act as the commercial presence, which leaves GFXmonkey free to be my personal site, showcasing my work and ideas. Eventually, this will let me truly develop the jungle theme. I think this seperation will keep things much cleaner and save me a few headaches.
The other day, I rolled out the Beta version of the site. Now when you go to www.GFXmonkey.com you will see the new site. I think the new site is progressing fairly well. The initial feedback has been overwhelmingly positive and I think the design makes quite a statement. The content is paritially in place, and the majority of the portfolio is linked up and working. I am trying to fill in the gaps in the content as quickly as possible. I should have the site together for a 1.0 rev by next week.
Check out the site and email me with any feedback or suggestions.
posted by Daniel Weimann at 6:37 PM
posted by Daniel Weimann at 2:35 PM
posted by Daniel Weimann at 2:25 PM
Right now I feel very, very tired.
posted by Daniel Weimann at 3:22 AM
Just for fun, check out my first fan piece.
I'm still sorting through and looking for inspiration in the roughly 400megs of digital photos I shot on our Mexican gettaway to Puerto Vallarta. Plenty of Jungles and ocean/beaches. The images fit well in two of my themed sites, GFXmonkey (Jungle) and eGLUB (underwater). Incidently, it also fits pretty well in another site that I'm working on, Changunga.
posted by Daniel Weimann at 5:07 AM
The current state of the logo has made me wish for more simplicity in the design especially when it comes to space efficiency. I started to think of the idea of logo that could be inline with the lettertype in a horizontal format that would save space and allow the logo to be used other places much smaller. The current logo is much too complex and big to use effectively at small resolutions for things like my partner sites that fall under the GFXmonkey network. Taking this into account I came up with a couple ideas of other ways to approach the logo - logo_idea7.jpg and logo_idea7-copy.jpg. Also see the original sketches of some of the design ideas.
The current layout comp has also been progressing. The design is now taking into account the modifications of the logo and has stuck with the bolder look. Here is the latest progression:
posted by Daniel Weimann at 4:43 AM
posted by Daniel Weimann at 12:41 AM
