Tuesday, August seventeenth, twenty ten

I'm slackin' a bit on this blog guy...

But I've been super busy. I'm really proud of the last two Sitely projects we've churned out. I can't show you guys a super secret moodboard we put out for our latest pitch, but you can definitely check out the revamped Francesca Joy site mockups. Joel and I are coding and contenting the layouts this week, trying to launch it as soon as possible.

This week is the last week I have at the school too, so I get to finish up a few cool things for the Student Union at RIC. I just sent out that t-shirt design on the left there to the company last week, I'm hoping they come in before my last day! Is there anything cooler than a box of freshly screen-printed shirts? I think not. I've also got some things to update the portfolio with: just took some shots of some other examples of the Student Union re-branding campaign I've worked on all summer: the external door graphics for the building, the SU brochure, some wayfinding signs and posters, etc. I'm going to miss the job working with Jimmy, Kayleigh and Liz. Working under SU brass Kristen and Marissa has been a dream too; they've given me a lot of awesome projects and have granted me a lot of creative control.

I've also got some hours the next couple weeks at the print shop in Putnam while Senior Designer Kathy is on vacation in Montana. This timing ended up being perfect because Kim from Bryant University Dining Services just met up with me to place her yearly cafe menu projects. In addition to the normal price changes, she got me the chance to make some menus for the concession stands for Bryant's athletic department. I've got some pretty cool proofs going so far and you'll definitely see some pictures of the finished product here within the month.

In other non-sitting-in-front-of-the-computer-screen-for-15-hours news, my baseball team with the grossly un-updated website (sorry, guys) won our first playoff game a couple days ago. We played some good baseball: didn't have any errors and put some runs up. More importantly (just kidding), I had a great game: went 1-3 with a double that one-hopped the fence and scored a run at the dish and threw out a basestealer late in the game behind the dish. The championship weekend is coming up, I think we've got a good shot at it! Come watch the game next Sunday the 22nd at 10am at the Pomfret Recreation Center near the intersection of routes 44 & 97.

Tuesday, August third, twenty ten

So I missed an update...

But in my defense, there's really not much to update about. New things in the life of Alan:

1. 'Dispicable Me' was hilarious.
2. I cleaned my room.
3. I really want these shirts to be made.

Saturday, July twenty-fourth, twenty ten

I'm on a roll here...

So here we are on our fourth post and I don't really have anything exciting to write about. To be honest, I've had better weeks. I'm behind on my bills (most notably: rent), the Sunday baseball team I've played on/run for four years is also in a monetary debt to the league and, if people don't come up with some dough soon (like, tomorrow) we might have to forfeit the season, and, more generally, everything seems to be stalled for me. For years I've been saying (mostly to myself) that the only thing holding me back from being a wicked cool and ultra successful young man was the pursuit of my degree: but here we are, months after the most expensive piece of paper I've ever bought was mailed to me and my goals seem to be just as far away. What's worse is that it's almost time to start paying for that foil-stamped piece of paper (it's not even Arches or Finch for crying out loud).

This is turning into a depressing update: things aren't so bad, really. Doug from Dragon's Blood has one official new product (a very tasty spicy mustard) and he let us in on two of his in-the-works sauces which is pretty cool. I've started a few new drawings in my sketch book that I'm secretly excited about and I've been playing my guitar on the porch a lot these past few overcast and cool nights. Also, after seeing Inception, I've decided to get every Nolan film ever (so I need to buy Insomnia and The Prestiege). I really love how Nolan's work bridges the gap between entertaining blockbusters and intellectual films. He's always weaving a great story together both through stunning visuals and aesthetics and through thought-provoking narrative. His work appeals to everyone, and that's something designers need to harness as well. Maybe I'll have a Nolan-night soon. Drop me an email if you're interested.

Saturday, July seventeenth, twenty ten

The third consecutive Saturday post...

So Laur and I just got back from our little camping trip to Freeport Maine, and I'm a little beat, but it was fun! We made a few friends on our trip: we met the very nice Steve and Shannon at Brown Goldsmiths, and as Lauren was discussing their unique metalsmithing workshop/storefront with co-owner Steve, I tried to explain how to boost their search engine rankings without mindlessly adding meta tags with Shannon. I left my business card (which they loved) with them and told them I'd have my techie partner Joel suggest a few things for better Google results when I got back. They were also nice enough to invite us back to get a full tour of the shop when the whole staff was working, so we'll definitely stop in later in August when it so happens that our friend Barrett will have a gallery opening in Portland.

We also stopped to check out the cool little port town of Portsmouth New Hampshire on our way back to Providence, and managed to make some more friends in Samantha from Gus & Ruby Letterpress. This awesome letterpress print shop had note cards and posters for sale in their store front, and of course I had to get a quote for some new Sitely business cards. Co-owner Samantha hooked us up with a bunch of work samples and I've definitely decided that our next batch of cards will letterpressed by these guys. I've got the wheels in my head turning for our next batch actually: they'll truly be works of art (hint, hint).

Pictures are coming soon!

Saturday, July tenth, twenty ten

Here's another update/post/blog/thing...

I did a few hours worth of work on the portfolio page today, and with a few more hours worth of work and you'll be able to click those thumbnails to see the full-size version of the pieces with descriptions.

Last week I mentioned my fourth of July plans. My girlfriend and I decideded to just stay in Providence: it was such a hot day and my car doesn't have air conditioning so driving was ruled out. We went out to a bar named Hot Club downtown, and as awful as that sounds, it turned out to be a pretty awesome place. The bar is half on a dock on the Providence Harbor. This allowed for an awesome view of this beautiful mill-like building on the opposite side of the harbor and, as you can see from the picture on the left, we had a pretty nice view of the Providence fireworks once the sun went down.

This weekend baseball is back from the 4th break and the expos have a doubleheader against the Brewcrew at 10 & 1 in Pomfret, CT.

Saturday, July third, twenty ten

Welcome to "Entertainment and Earth Invasion Tonight". Across the galaxy, my people are completing the mighty space fleet that will exterminate the human race! But first, this news from Tinseltown...

I'm very excited for where Sitely is after a couple of months of hard work from Joel and I. We've nearly completed renovating the office that Jim & Deb of Chase Graphics hooked us up with, and, as you can see from the pictures, things are looking great. In addition, it feels a bit like NASA HQ with all the launching going on in the office. We've launched two sites for up-and-coming Providence artists last week: metalsmith Lauren Cummings and sculptor Barrett Kern. There's some notable sites on the tail end of their countdown also, including photographer & author Jeremy Pollack's pair of sites and Forest Edge Landscaping's internet debut.

As far as un-Sitely related Alan Duda news goes, there's not much. I've been super busy juggling the three part-time gigs I have for the summer with Sitely work. Baseball on Sundays has been a good escape from the various computer desks I've become attached to. I've actually managed to schedule in 18 holes with my buddy Andrew today, so that's a plus too. As far as plans for the 4th go, since there's no baseball of course, my girlfriend and I are planning on either spending the day at Newport Rhode Island or maybe heading down to my Aunt's in Milford Connecticut. Either way, it'll be a nice, relaxing day off.

I'm planning on actually updating this 'news' page in this informal blog-esque style more often now that it's in a layout I don't loathe, so stay tuned!