I work for College of Life Sciences at Brigham Young University. I'm part of the web design/graphics team along with my fellow design nerds Hannah Hillam and Kristin Gulledge. We're responsible for making the Life Sciences website look pretty. :)Recently we started using a site our web team created called SciNet for computer support and employee management. Given my experience with code and design, I was tasked to create the skin for the site. I was thrilled about it since it was my first chance to really try my hand at interface design, (which is one of my design obsessions.) I started off taking all kinds of liberties and when I first showed my coworkers they were blown away. My boss even commented on it looking LCARS-esque, (which was not quite what I was going for, but flattering nonetheless.) Unfortunately I soon learned there would be a public-end to the site, so the skin would need look clean, professional and normal for the faculty and staff who would be using it, too. So I reworked and finished the skin modeling it after Kristin's design for the main Life Sciences site. I haven't been able to work on the old skin since. :(Despite the change of design focus, the creative explosion that happened inside my head was so thrilling that I haven't stopped thinking about it. While making tweaks to the skin, I haven't been able to help thinking "oh! on the other skin I can design it like this!" I almost compulsively want to design things in the style of the other interface so that they'll be more easy to "read" and look cooler while they're at it.
Recently I was changing the style of a text field that displays a ticket's priority. I originally picked some bright colors for the design, but after finishing the new skin it was obvious that wouldn't work. Rather reluctantly I found some pastel colors I could live with. As I did so I kept thinking about how cool they would be if they had the glowing look of a light on a car dashboard. I was thinking about it the whole day.The next chance I got I mocked-up an example of what I was thinking of for the heck of it. It turned out better than I thought and I loved it so much I wanted to post it. So there you go.
A month or so ago there was an unfortunate incident. While reaching over the bathtub to turn the water on, my beloved iPod Touch slid out of my breast pocket and into the water below. I immediately rescued it and dried it off hoping that I had acted quickly enough to spare its little electronic parts from being flooded. In my exasperation I clicked the home button (certainly sooner than I should have) to see if there was any life left. To my relief, the iPod lit up immediately and I assumed my little friend had once again been spared the damaging effects of my carelessness. Satisfied, I returned the iPod to my pocket and carried on.Several hours later I pulled my iPod out of my pocket to check on something when to my dismay, my iPod did not turn on. Hoping it was just a dead battery, I plugged it in but there was no response. Fearing the worst, I did what I should have done in the very beginning. I found our container of rice and buried him in it. Having witnessed similar disasters with electronics and water, I knew that a nice, dry place was my best bet for restoring my iPod to it's functional state. It was not to be however, and 24 hours later there was still no pulse. Heartbroken I laid him to rest on my desk, where he would remain for the next few weeks.With the semester coming to a close and finals just weeks away, it was NOT a good time to be without my iPod. I knew I relied on him to perform certain functions, but I didn't realize it was that much. I was quite dysfunctional; it was almost like I'd lost my right hand. EVERYTHING was on that iPod, and getting to the information I needed through other means was a pain. My lovely sister, Josie, was kind enough to let me use her laptop during those few weeks and put up with quite a bit as I hauled it to and fro, fumbling to keep my life in order. Since my birthday and Christmas were coming up soon, I made sure to drop a LOT of hints about how nice it would be to get a replacement iPod. I'm sure everyone around me was quite fed up with my whining about it, but I was serious: I needed that thing.
On the morning of my birthday I received a series of texts from my girlfriend, Hannah, wishing me a happy birthday and telling me to hurry in to work. When I finally walked in i found her beautiful, beaming face almost giddy with excitement about the present she'd got me. We promptly went to lunch and as were sitting down she handed me a card and a small package. As soon as I held it I knew what it was. Amidst my heartfelt protests to her spending so much on me she sweetly insisted that I open it immediately. And there, smiling back at me was the shiny, pristine face of a brand new iPod Touch 4G. retina display, front and back facing camera, A4 processor, bluetooth, microphone, external speakers! (Needless to say it was a MAJOR upgrade from my old 1st-generation iPod Touch.)So now, to my utmost delight, (and with many thanks to my wonderful girlfriend,) I'll try my hand at theming iOS 4 and the retina display on my new iPod. :)
Recently I was changing the style of a text field that displays a ticket's priority. I originally picked some bright colors for the design, but after finishing the new skin it was obvious that wouldn't work. Rather reluctantly I found some pastel colors I could live with. As I did so I kept thinking about how cool they would be if they had the glowing look of a light on a car dashboard. I was thinking about it the whole day.The next chance I got I mocked-up an example of what I was thinking of for the heck of it. It turned out better than I thought and I loved it so much I wanted to post it. So there you go.
