Brandon Leedy

A special hello to any Back To Work listeners who have made...

Fri, 04 May 2012 13:49:00 -0400

A special hello to any Back To Work listeners who have made their way here via today’s inaugural issue of the “BULK Bag!”

You can check out said inaugural issue and subscribe to their weekly newsletter here! (Did you notice that the banner above is emblazoned at the top of said newsletter?! Yeah!)

If you don’t listen to Back To Work, you should! It’s a show about being a better person and a better creative, whether that’s at work or just being inside your own head. It’s full of a lot of insight and fun, so give a few episodes a listen.

Also, a big thank you to Merlin Mann and Dan Benjamin, who are generous and wonderful people for allowing a little of my design work to be apart of their awesome empire. Between Merlin’s honesty, advice, and help during my thesis and some guidance from episodes of Back To Work, I would say they’re doing god’s work, those two.

And finally, if you liked the banner I did and want to see some of my finished work, check out my Portfolio. [Author’s Note: It’s currently in a bit of decay as I rebuild my site (on SquareSpace!) and add my graphic and interaction work.] For snippets of more recent work like that, as well as fun stuff I do (like hand-lettering), check out my Dribbble page.

I’ve always loved the opening titles to Charade. Of...

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 22:43:00 -0400

I’ve always loved the opening titles to Charade. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that this movie is fantastic. Cary Grant -AND- Audrey Hepburn? How can you lose?

Maurice Binder’s opening titles for Charade (1963).

(via: ckck)

via curiositycounts: Every single day…

Tue, 10 Apr 2012 09:17:38 -0400

via curiositycounts:

Every single day…

Focus, not focus groups.

Fri, 06 Apr 2012 19:20:00 -0400

(This post is apart of a much larger thought I’m working on… just wanted to get this train of thought down. So take my two cents as one does.)

Focus groups create mediocrity because everyone in them is grossly aware of the present. The things they’re reviewing in the present, their lives, and what they are thinking/feeling right now. Why give the opportunity of tomorrow to people like that? They are nothing if not burdened with the present, it’s problems and all it’s reasons to not do something.

Designers are people who are able to see what isn’t there yet and make it real. They have the ability and foresight to imagine tomorrow without the constraint of today. If they want to design well, they have to forget today and live almost solely in the future. In that future, designers can see the product as a part of a completed system. They can see the problems they set out to solve, as well as the solutions to problems they (or the focus group) didn’t even know they had.

There may be problems inherent to not remaining grounded as a designer when one ignores the focus group. Designers can get too far in their own heads, ignore constraints, and ignore the user in the name of “vision”. But more often than not, taking the risk of making something new and proactively solving a new problem, rather than reactively fixing an old problem will always be better for the user and more fulfilling in the end.

Late night donut run to Busken with @claireashley!

Sun, 01 Apr 2012 01:49:15 -0400

Late night donut run to Busken with @claireashley!

Thanks Internet.

Mon, 26 Mar 2012 11:38:37 -0400

How did I know the internet would deliver an animated gif of 4 of the greatest seconds in last night’s episode of Mad Men? Peggy and her boyfriend Abe dancing are almost as good as Pete and his wife doing the Charleston a few seasons back…

- AND -

Where are -our- generation’s organized dance moves? Who is -our- Chubby Checker and subsequent dance making brethren? If we don’t have one, I’m commandeering this one from Peggy’s boyfriend. Now I just need a girl who can pull off this subtle version of the twist while making just a hint of “duckface.”

If that doesn’t work… I guess I’ll just be taking my dance cues from Ron Swanson.

CommonPencil: The Amazing Spider-Man // Brandon

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 12:10:00 -0400

CommonPencil: The Amazing Spider-Man // Brandon:

On Monday, I drew this for the CommonPencil daily sketch blog:

I had a ton of fun with this little hand-lettering exercise, hearkening back to the days where I would draw Spider-Man for fun. You can read the full post on how I got the comic-book-paper look -here- on the CommonPencil blog.

“See if you can guess what I am now… *jangle...

Sun, 11 Mar 2012 21:30:00 -0400

“See if you can guess what I am now… *jangle jangle*”

The Avett Brothers - “Ten Thousand Words” - Live at...

Sun, 11 Mar 2012 17:34:28 -0400

The Avett Brothers - “Ten Thousand Words” - Live at the Paradiso in Amsterdam

Whiskey Barrel Sunglasses by Shwood. So cool.

Sat, 10 Mar 2012 23:38:55 -0500

Whiskey Barrel Sunglasses by Shwood. So cool.

"Women designers make 76 cents to the dollar men earn doing the same job. That’s a disgusting..."

Thu, 08 Mar 2012 23:26:57 -0500

“

Women designers make 76 cents to the dollar men earn doing the same job.

That’s a disgusting statistic. For an industry so far ahead of others in terms of technology, community, and sharing, the fact we’re not even close to the national average, let alone the ultimate goal of income equality, is absolutely not acceptable.

I’ve had the opportunity to work with some amazing female designers, whose work brought the same value if not more than the work of their male counterparts. We need to fix this issue as an industry.

”

- (Via Narrow the Gap | Pat Dryburgh)

I couldn’t have said it better than Pat Dryburgh does here. I agree with every sentence.

Design is universal and ultimately it is a meritocracy. We should be treating each other in the same manner. Man or woman, the pay should be based on your skills as a designer. Let’s work to fix this.

ckck: Wile E. Coyote’s scheming schematics.

Wed, 07 Mar 2012 18:17:01 -0500

ckck:

Wile E. Coyote’s scheming schematics.

Hop up out the bed. Turn my swag on. Took a look in the mirror...

Wed, 07 Mar 2012 18:02:00 -0500

Hop up out the bed. Turn my swag on. Took a look in the mirror said what’s up?

That’s right Tom.

Can’t. Stop. Staring.

Mon, 05 Mar 2012 23:34:38 -0500

Can’t. Stop. Staring.

Some, Simple, Fun, Color, Words. Messing with India Ink &...

Sat, 03 Mar 2012 15:39:51 -0500

Some, Simple, Fun, Color, Words. Messing with India Ink & Watercolor. (Taken with instagram)

Cinemagraphs 101

Sat, 03 Mar 2012 00:09:00 -0500

So I’ve been sitting on some videos that I took back on a sunny day in… August. So I’ve been sitting on them for A WHILE. The reason I held onto them was to turn them into “cinemagraphs.” You know, cinemagraphs… animated gifs that are photos that sorta move. Here’s an example of a good one:

So after reading some guides online I attempted to make my own using Photoshop. They came out okay but I learned three things:

1. Film With A Tripod

One of the key things with cinemagraphs is that 80-90% of the photo is stationary. So make it easy on yourself and shoot with the camera as stationary as possible. I held the camera and while I was relatively stationary, it wasn’t still enough.

2. Film More Than You Think You Need

You need to make something that loops easily and shooting for a little bit may not get you a smooth and quick loop in the least amount of frames. In my instance, the clouds moved while filming and caused the lighting to change so the loop jumps in color ever so slightly.

3. Learn How To Mask

If you take my first two tips to heart, your masks will be simple. You basically take the last frame, put it as the top layer, and erase where the motion occurs. In my instance, I couldn’t mask a lot because the whole frame moved. But hey, this is a learning experience!

So after sharing those teachable moments, I’ll let you see my rough first tries at cinemagraphs… thoughts?

PS. If you want an easy way to make cinemagraphs on your own without Photoshop, you can try the iOS app “Cinemagram” for the iPhone. After this experience and using the app, I may just make my next ones exclusively on the app, considering how nice the iPhone 4S camera is. More to come…

As a product designer it’s kind of wonderful to see dust...

Fri, 02 Mar 2012 17:41:55 -0500

As a product designer it’s kind of wonderful to see dust and wear on these old cameras… makes you wonder how they got so much wear. Who was the photographer who put this 30-inch lens through it’s paces? No doubt he/she got their use out of the lens.

Be sure to follow the link below to the behance page of all the photos, they are impressive and show more details, including the box case and all its weathered details.

circumpunktdesign:

Detailed photographs of an old, massive, 30-inch (762mm) Taylor & Hobson (Cook Apochromatic Process) camera lens.

http://www.behance.net/gallery/Camera-Lens/227857

"The Quiet World" - By: Jeffrey McDaniel

Sun, 19 Feb 2012 15:47:00 -0500

“In an effort to get people to look into each other’s eyes more, and also to appease the mutes, the government has decided to allot each person exactly one hundred and sixty-seven words, per day.

When the phone rings, I put it to my ear without saying hello. In the restaurant I point at chicken noodle soup. I am adjusting well to the new way.

Late at night, I call my long distance lover, proudly say I only used fifty-nine today. I saved the rest for you.

When she doesn’t respond, I know she’s used up all her words, so I slowly whisper I love you thirty-two and a third times. After that, we just sit on the line and listen to each other breathe.”

—

This rather modern poem was written in 1998, but it seems even more fitting and beautiful when read today.

Sometimes a situation deserves the many words we use to surround it. But sometimes I wonder if we just need to repeat the shorter words that mean a lot more. In either scenario, it really isn’t about the amount of words we say, it’s which ones we use that matters.

A fantastic talk by Bret Victor, “Inventing on...

Sun, 19 Feb 2012 12:18:41 -0500

A fantastic talk by Bret Victor, “Inventing on Principle.” I’ve watched it twice this weekend.

Made a “neato” logotype of my last name. Ha,...

Sat, 18 Feb 2012 21:02:51 -0500

Made a “neato” logotype of my last name. Ha, sometimes you just want to get something out of your system and then you get on a roll.