http://louderthan10.net/index.php News and happenings in the world of Travis Gertz & Louder Than Ten. en trav@louderthan10.com Copyright 2008 2008-03-08T01:59:00-07:00 http://louderthan10.net/index.php/LouderThanTen/comments/good_evening_sxsw/ http://louderthan10.net/index.php/LouderThanTen/comments/good_evening_sxsw/#When:01:59:00Z Just a quick post from Austin before we grab some grub: As a total conference noob, this year’s SXSW will be my first. We’ve been here about an hour and I’m already completely overwhelmed. Just a few quick notes: I Got Buttons! That’s right, I’m going to be trolling the halls of SXSW with a sack full of Louder Than Ten buttons. If you see me, just ask and you shall receive. News, Social Networking, Technology 2008-03-08T01:59:00-07:00 http://louderthan10.net/index.php/LouderThanTen/comments/angela_and_steve_take_on_south_america/ http://louderthan10.net/index.php/LouderThanTen/comments/angela_and_steve_take_on_south_america/#When:06:42:00Z This is what you get when you have two enthusiastic speech class graduates that just met with an itch to get out of the country. My brother and best friend Steve, and his friend Angela are taking a ten week adventure in South America starting next month. They’re going to keep a record of their travels on their blog. It looks like it’s going to be an amazing trip and I’m super excited for them. I look forward to the updates and so should you. Good luck guys, keep us posted! Angela and Steve Take on South America Personal 2008-01-16T06:42:00-07:00 http://louderthan10.net/index.php/LouderThanTen/comments/11_most_influential_albums_of_all_time_to_me/ http://louderthan10.net/index.php/LouderThanTen/comments/11_most_influential_albums_of_all_time_to_me/#When:07:36:00Z While design may be my first passion, music is a very close second. For many of us, it influences the way we live, the way we think, our social and political views, and even the trends we subscribe to. It's silly for me to think what my life would be like without music because it is such a huge part of me and a major influence on my life and my design. If there was no music, there would probably be no Travis. Although I only listen to a few of these bands still, they are still the albums that made me what I am today: MC Hammer -- Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em This was the first album I ever owned. I got it for my ninth birthday in 1991 and wore the cassette out. Love for music begins. Art, Creativity, Music, Personal 2007-12-03T07:36:00-07:00 http://louderthan10.net/index.php/LouderThanTen/comments/be_kind_please_rewind/ http://louderthan10.net/index.php/LouderThanTen/comments/be_kind_please_rewind/#When:07:18:00Z It may have taken a couple months Paul, but you were absolutely right… This version of Louder Than Ten is far superior to the ”Black Bar” variation that has been live until tonight. I’ve rewound, and here’s why: The black gradient bars were far too heavy. The original stark, desaturated design is closer to my initial vision This design is all about the grid and the typography. The extra visual elements devalue the whole concept. Pretty is really not my goal here. I may work that in down the road, but not at the expense of my initial intentions of a clean and usable site. I actually really like the starkness. It’s a contrast to the bubbly, vibrant sites more commonly found (though I still love them). Creativity, Design, Grid Systems, Typography 2007-11-28T07:18:00-07:00 http://louderthan10.net/index.php/LouderThanTen/comments/its_my_rock_and_roll_duty/ http://louderthan10.net/index.php/LouderThanTen/comments/its_my_rock_and_roll_duty/#When:06:24:00Z Here’s a short one to tide ya over for a bit more. It’s right in the heat of tour season for a lot of my favorite bands and I’ve had the pleasure of seeing some great shows over the past two months including the likes of: Mute Math Pilot Speed The Spill Canvas Ted Leo and the Pharmacists Henry Rollins (spoken word) Armed with the wonderful little Panasonic DMC-FX30, I had the chance to capture some great video. If your a fan of Mute Math or Ted Leo, feast your eyes on some exclusive shaky-cam footage from yours truly. Hosted on Virb°, Vimeo, and You Tube. Use whatever you fancy. I will also upload some footage of The Spill Canvas, Pilot Speed, along with a few other entertaining nuggets in coming weeks… as soon as I finish goofing around with Leopard and get some real work done. Creativity, Film, Music 2007-11-02T06:24:00-07:00 http://louderthan10.net/index.php/LouderThanTen/comments/tickle_me_pink/ http://louderthan10.net/index.php/LouderThanTen/comments/tickle_me_pink/#When:06:02:00Z As you can see, things have gone a little… pinkish around here. October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and I’m showing my support along with a whole army of dot comrades by making the interweb a little more pink for the cause. The Pink For October initiative is being organized by none other than usability guru Matthew Oliphant and has gotten a fair share of attention so far. After seeing the results, I actually kind of like the look. Maybe a little pink will find its way into the next revision. Want to get involved? Head over to Pink For October to see what you can do. Let’s keep this going! If you’ve pinkified your own site, please feel free to link to it from the comments here too. I’d love to see what you’ve done. Art, Creativity, Design, Politics 2007-10-03T06:02:00-07:00 http://louderthan10.net/index.php/LouderThanTen/comments/my_new_design_life/ http://louderthan10.net/index.php/LouderThanTen/comments/my_new_design_life/#When:07:52:00Z Last week I had the pleasure of beginning my new job with Boga Design here in Calgary. After working nearly a year as an in-house graphic designer at M Private Residences, I’m looking forward to working in an agency setting. The e-Grave/Louder Than Ten Years Before my stint at M, I had been running my own little sign and design shop. The problem I found with running a business is that it leaves very little time for actual creative work. I’m not even close to a point in my life or career where I’m ready to push design to the back of the bus for things like accounting or administration. I ran the company since age 19 before reaching major career burn out at 24 years old. My creativity and interest became more stagnant as I was forced to devote more time into business development. It was a very ominous and depressing time that prompted me to close up shop and find a career change where I could get back to focusing on what I love… design. Creativity, Design, Personal 2007-10-02T07:52:00-07:00 http://louderthan10.net/index.php/LouderThanTen/comments/a_slightly_prettier_version_of_me/ http://louderthan10.net/index.php/LouderThanTen/comments/a_slightly_prettier_version_of_me/#When:19:54:00Z As you can see, I made some minor appearance tweaks to the ‘ol site today. It’s really not much more than a little bit of a paint job to liven things up a bit. I gave the reds a little saturation and added a bit of dimension to the header and footer with a little gradient action. Other than that the layout is exactly the same. More of a 3.0.1 update if you ask me. I’m still working towards an even better looking design but this is just something to spruce up the joint a little in the meantime. Also for the meantime, here’s a nice little Friday video for y’all: Creativity, Design 2007-09-21T19:54:00-07:00 http://louderthan10.net/index.php/LouderThanTen/comments/louder_than_ten_rockin_with_subversion/ http://louderthan10.net/index.php/LouderThanTen/comments/louder_than_ten_rockin_with_subversion/#When:03:25:00Z Goodbye ftp, hello beautiful sexy Subversion. A Seed Planted Ever since reading Bryan Veloso’s article on using Subversion with Media Temple a couple years ago, I’ve been meaning to get svn set up on my own servers. It offers so many advantages over transferring files up to the server via ftp. Between the fantastic version control features, mega fast updates, and the ease of use once setup, it sounded like a dream come true. I’m not sure if it was because of the seemingly overwhelming amount of documentation, the plethora of terminal kung-fu, or sheer procrastination, but after all this time I avoided it. Design 2007-09-21T03:25:00-07:00 http://louderthan10.net/index.php/LouderThanTen/comments/shiver_me_timbers/ http://louderthan10.net/index.php/LouderThanTen/comments/shiver_me_timbers/#When:18:37:01Z Avast! Ya rotten landlocked lubbers. It’s Talk Like a Pirate Day fer all us here at Louder Than Ten (us being me, Cap’n Trav of the briny deep). In commemoration of this here special day, I’ve swashed up a wee marking for the occasion. Until next time… anchors aweigh! Creativity, Personal 2007-09-19T18:37:01-07:00