Recently in MIT Category
Today I'm responsible for the design of the MIT homepage again. The MIT homepage changes design every day, so if you want to see it, go now!
The design is an evolution of what I posted earlier this summer, with a couple of changes – or, if you will, Easter eggs. First, note the MIT letterforms in the buildings on the upper right corner of the globe. Second, you'll see that the MIT homepage folks wanted something a little 'gamier' than my original design, so I made the aircraft circling the globe into Player One and Player Two. This led me to replace the airliner in the lower left of the original with a second airship in order to avoid 9/11 imagery. Finally, if you look carefully at the scores of Player One and Player Two, you'll see they're actually dates – the start date and the finish date of this summer's program. This was Philip's idea, so my hat's off to him yet again.
I'll add a version of this to my portfolio here sooner or later – I need to dedicate a good, solid weekend to updating this sucker across the board. I'm still trying to figure out the best way to rework this site's architecture to accommodate a new section for 'Academics', and what all that section should entail. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Stay tuned!
Someday, when I have an entry in the IMDB, it will include something like:
Oozerts (2008) (VG) (voice: English version) .... Scoop McGoop
Yes, it's true. I have made my voice acting debut as an irascible Irish monster with a jetpack. And it was awesome.
David Hayter, I'm coming for you.
For those of you not following my Twitter stream, I have just posted a short essay featuring my (bemusement/excitement/fascination) that Warren Ellis is writing G.I. Joe webisodes over at the C3 blog. The article also features Joss Whedon's new project Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog and Seth MacFarlane's upcoming Seth MacFarlane's Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy. Check it out.
Man, I gotta learn to pace myself. In addition to my own entry this morning, "On Maps and Legends," I also posted two more essays on the MIT blogs: "WiiWare, PSN, XBLA and the Long Tail" on the GAMBIT blog and "The Dangerous World of a GPS That Does Not Exist" on the C3 blog.
Hey, when you're on a roll...
I currently have an essay up at the GAMBIT blog called The Pros of Cons, wherein I discuss the philosophical issues plaguing the Game Developers' Conference, Wondercon, Comic-con, SXSW and so on. In it you'll get to hear me liken conferences and conventions to libraries and amusement parks. I even have a somewhat witty closing line, as is always good to have in such essays.
Another work-related blog note: my artwork and design has just gone live for the upcoming MIT CMS/C3 Futures of Entertainment 2 conference. We've got some cool people showing up from Heroes, The Rocketeer and Yahoo!, so if you're going to be in Boston Nov. 16 and 17, c'mon down. Registration will open soon, and if it's anything like last year, it oughta be one heck of a show!
It's nice when I can make a little art over the course of my workday, such as the new illustration for the MIT Convergence Culture Consortium: Affiliations page.
Some kind words from my friend and boss. I share almost 100% of his sentiments – my only divergence might be the circus music. For my part, I am learning the joy of the Chemical Brothers in my headphones.
But seriously – at what other job can you host a comics artist one day, literally crack a whip the next, and spend whole evenings playing video games on huge screens and call it work?
Damn, I love it here.
Hey, I got a hat tip from Henry on his blog entry about Pirates of the Caribbean 3:
The secondary characters rely heavily on what my former student Geoffrey Long likes to describe as negative capability -- they are well enough defined that we can imagine who they are, what they want, and why they are doing what they are doing, but much remains for the audience to flesh out from their own imaginations.
Very, very cool.
...You spend all evening recreating Spacewar! in Adobe Illustrator.
My reasons for doing so will be revealed as soon as the paperwork is actually done.
