Ok. I’ll admit it. At times, I can be somewhat of a podcast junkie. So much, that I usually prefer to listen to podcasts in-place of music, on my 45-minute commute to and from work.

There’s something great about podcast that NPR (another love of mine) and other radio stations just can’t offer. That “something” is niche conversation. While NPR does a fantastic job bringing me the world and local news, they’re probably not going to talk for hours on end about topics like design trends, home theatre upgrades or Macintosh computers. So what I do is balance my listening between talk radio, podcasts, and music. As I wrote about a few months ago, music is very inspiring and effects all of the design work that I do.

In no particular order, here are a few of my favorite (audio) podcasts:

TWiT (This Week In Tech)
By many he’s considered the grand daddy of podcasting, Leo Leporte. Leo and a revolving panel of guests serve up the latest news in the world of technology every week.

Freelance Radio
John Brougher hosts this roundtable discussion that focuses on freelance design, development, creative writing, dealing with clients, billing and more.

MacBreak Weekly
Another of Leo’s podcasts. Here it’s all about Apple, Inc. News, rumors, product releases and events.

The Force-Cast
Ok, I’m showing some of my super-geek side here. The Force-Cast focuses on George Lucas’ world of Star Wars. Movie, TV, book news and reviews.

Net@Night
Leo Laporte and Amber MacArthur (and occasionally Sarah Lane) discuss the latest and greatest on the World-Wide Web. Cool new sites, viral videos, and guest interviews.

HDTV Podcast
Ara and Braeden have been discussing the world of HDTV and home theaters for almost 400 episodes (378 as of press time). A great friendly discussion about the latest advances in home theater technology, thoughts and opinions.

Got a favorite podcast? I’d love to hear about it. Leave some suggestions in the comments!

That’s right! The Photoshop World Expo is open to the public for two days of the conference – March 26th - 27th. If you are interested in mingling with the biggest names in the industry and seeing the latest in Photoshop-related technology, you can sign up for a free Expo pass over at: http://www.photoshopworld.com/freepass.html.

The free pass doesn’t include all of the workshops and classes, but hey, it’s free.

Web Design

I designed the branding along with elements of the U/I for Gravity College. This website launched in the Summer of 2008, and made over a million miles of hiking, skiing, and biking trails available for its users.

Web Design

NECW, a highly respected regional wrestling promotion, was in need of a complete website overhaul. I designed and developed this content management system, built on WordPress.

This past week I was interviewed by the good folks over at Spicy Web Designers. Luc Arnold and the rest of the SWD crew run a fun little site where they interview designers from around the globe. SWD features some of the hottest web design talent around the world and strives to showcase them and inspire others with what is possible in the world of web design. I thank them for the opportunity. I posted a transcript after the jump, but be sure to check them out at spicywebdesigners.com

1. How did you first get started in web design?

I’ve always been interested in art. My parents were both heavily involved in art while I was growing up. My mother worked in photography and my father worked as a designer at Wang Laboratories. He would also do these huge murals in his spare time. Being constantly surrounded by creative people, I started drawing before I could walk. I took art classes through school and had some big aspirations of becoming a comic book artist. Sometime in 1997, I began experimenting with web design. Back then, I began playing around with basic HTML code along with creating and designing what would look like archaic images, now.

2. When did you design your first website? Was it for a client or a personal project?

1997. It was a self-promotional website where I’d scan in pictures from my life and write about them. I guess it was my first exploration into blogging. [Laughs] I wish I still had some of those old files to look back on. It’s been 12 years since then? Man, I’m getting old.

3. What do you think is important to becoming a great web designer?

It’s a constant evolution. Just keep in mind that your design style evolves in the same way that you do as a person. So, take from your experiences in life, learn who you are as a human being and also as a designer.

4. Where did you go to school? Did your education help you land a job in the web design field?

I graduated from UMass in 2006, but I also attended the Art Institute of California for a year. Education definitely helps you smooth out some of your rough edges. It also teaches you the correct way to use these programs. But you have to love what you do. That’s most important. For every hour I spent in a design class, I spent 5-10 at home playing with different techniques. I’ve been out of school for a few years now, and I still learn new techniques almost every day.

5. What is your favorite web technology (PHP, CSS, XHTML, etc.)? And, why is it your favorite?

I love CSS. It’s just so powerful. The options it affords you visually are almost limitless.

6. What is the biggest challenge that you face as a web designer?

Designers are obviously creative individuals; sometimes we take on projects that, at first seem to limit our creativity. You have to teach yourself not too look at them that way. In some way, learn to love each project, make it important to you. Push down the barriers and let your creativity, and love for design shine through. It will show in the final product. Aside from that, never stop learning.

7. Would you consider yourself more of a front-end coder or a graphic designer when it comes to web design?

First and foremost I’ll always be a designer. Front-end coding has just become so important in what we do, as web designers; you’d have to go out of your way not to learn it. In today’s game they really go hand-in-hand. Each of them working together to enrich the end-users experience.

Web Design

Artist, Chris MacDonald needed a website that conveyed his creative ability to showcase his illustration, caricature, and mural work.

With this design I hoped to capture Chris’ creativity, mixed-media background and friendly personalty.

At 12:01PM EST Our country ushered in a new era of leadership. An era that a large portion of us feel very positive about. While this won’t be used to express my political views, you can’t help but feel a new vision, direction, and yes “change” is upon us. At the moment Barack Obama took his oath of office, a small part of that change was already taking place; when now President Obama’s (Man that feels good to say!) version of whitehouse.gov went live.

The new site has the same fresh, airy feel that both barackobama.com and change.gov had. The typography, imagery, colors and usage of whitespace allow the site feel very current and inviting, especially for a government website.

Here’s how the site looked earlier in the day.

Your thoughts?

Web Design

Ayotte Heating & Air needed a complete website overhaul. I designed and developed this site utilizing a clean color palette and intuitive navigation.

I bought my iPhone the first day it was available, stood in line, waited for the Apple Store employees to let us through the doors and plunk down (at the time) $599. When the iPhone 3G was released, I decided I’d stick with my original. It still works great, it hasn’t taken too many bumps, plus I prefer the silver backing over the black or white choices of the 3G.

Aside from the sexy UI and design of the phone, the thing that makes the iPhone a “must-have” was the introduction of the AppStore. Now, I’m not one to download hundreds of apps (I only have 3 pages). However, from what I’ve tested out here are some of my favorites:

Remote (free) My very first iPhone app, and still one of my favorites. Sitting back on the couch and being able to control my Apple TV with my iPhone is just too cool. You can also sync this app and control iTunes.

Shazam (free) A lot has been written about Shazam, and rightfully so. If for some odd reason you haven’t heard of it, Shazam is an app that “listens” to a song playing, fetches the information from a database and reports back the artist, song, and album title.  All this for free!

Last.FM (free) I love Last.FM on my Mac and now I can love Last.FM on my Phone. I’ve discovered a ton of new music. Access to over 5 million songs. Highly recommended.

Joost (free) With Joost and a WiFi connection you can stream over 46,000 videos right on your phone. Imagine in 1998 someone said you’d be able to do this in 10 years.

Urban Spoon (free) Hungry? Want to try something new? Just crank up the Urban Sppon app, give it a shake, and get asll kinds of foodilicious suggestions.

WiFinder (free) Quickly find open and non-redirected wireless networks. With this app, I’m usually able to find networks not listed under the usual iPhone Wi-Fi settings.

iLCARS ($0.99) If you’re a Trek nerd, this is a must-have. At just 99 cents it’s a steal, even for an app that doesn’t really “do” all that much. Who cares, you can still pretend you’re searching for subatomic particles and biological life forms!

Stanza (free) Stanza is a book reader for the iPhone. With a built-in library it allows you to download hundreds of free books from Project Gutenberg.

Poster Design

This poster was designed to help promote an upcoming performance by The Walkmen at the Middle East in Cambridge. Printed 11″x17″.