All About T-Rave

I have a good friend, Travis Geary. Many know him as T-Rave. In short, T-Rave loves tech stuff, loves multimedia work, and loves coming up with cool, new ideas. Seriously, if you've got a tech service needing done, he's your guy. Anyways, over time he's asked me to design some logos for some projects he has started up. Another thing about T-Rave is that whether he has a project that is big or small, he likes to go all out (because you never know what the next big thing will be, right?). Through working with him I've been able to work on project that are on both ends of the scale, but still equally awesome! Take a look at some of what keeps T-Rave busy-
                                          
Red Beard Brew:

One of T-Rave's more playful projects, Red Beard Brew is T-Rave's homemade brews! I've tried it myself, and its not bad :D

Content: The New Drug:

This is T-Rave's most recent project, and its definitely something you'll want to look into. The purpose of Content is to show aspiring bloggers/vloggers/ etc. how to effectively and creatively produce/learn about web content. Ultimately, the goal is to create a one-stop how-to place for all your content-related needs. You might say, "What is content? That's a big generalization." Exactly. This project aims to cover whatever your need might be. Here's a breakdown of the project from T-Rave himself:

 "We as humans make what the internet is. Yes, there is big business but for the most part we flock to our easy connectivity to view the content that our friends, family, and even strangers produce. Whether it's a product review, status update, blog post or other form we are contributing to what the internet is. We have the power to share. Some might not know how to do that or want to grow in how they share their world with the world, so that is where this project comes in.  

Follow me as I prepare, and live in Taiwan for 3 months producing such content and in turn I will take the view behind the scenes to see how it is produced. Sharing my experiences and techniques so others are encouraged to share their story as well. 

We are the producers of the internet and we all have a story. The purpose of this campaign is to produce content revolving around my journey in Taiwan but also encourage others to do the same by sharing their world with the world. "

Currently T-Rave is raising funds to help get this project off the ground. I'm sure he'd appreciate any donation you could give to help him out! Plus he's even offering perks for different denominations donated! To find out more info on the project and to donate just go to this site. There's only a few days left to donate so don't wait!

The 6th Degree

This is a little logo design a did for a site my friends and I are working on- The 6th Degree. Its a site dedicated to reporting on the lives of us and our friends (think The Onion, but more local). Its just a fun way to take the mundane events of our lives and making them funny and witty. There are news reports, a "Deep Thoughts" section, and even a developing dating section! Here's a couple of the logo banners i came up with- and check out the site too:
The 6th Degree

The Hair In Your Food pt. 2

Today's topic- Tips:

I could go on all day about tip talk. The fact is, many people just don't know how to do it right. As one who depends on others' tips to pay my bills, this is a hot topic for me. Here's some tips of how YOU can not be the person i'm about to write about. And btw, these complaints aren't just coming from left field because I'm some kind of bad server or anything. I would consider myself to be a pretty decent server, and tons of others servers will know what i'm talking about too.

1. Let's clear the air right from the start: tips these days should be in the vicinity of  20% of your total bill. As i said before, tips are my income. You know how much i make hourly? like 3.50. Do you think that pays my bills? I'll give you a hint: NO, it does not. Now that we've laid the groundwork, let's clear up the gray areas.
2. If you paid for some of your bill with a gift card, tip according to what the original bill was! Are you so cheap that you can't throw in an extra 5 bucks? Especially when you just saved like 50 bucks??
3. Yes, i just used 'cheap'. Not thrifty- cheap. I have little to no grace towards people who tip small. If you really wanted to save a few bucks, do everyone a favor and grab some fast food. I blame Oprah for this cultural disease. Apparently her solution to saving money is not to avoid going out, but to avoid tipping as much when you do go out! Jeez Oprah! You are an idiot.
4. Gospel tracts don't pay my bills.
5. Don't you dare tell me that you'll "take care of me" unless you intent to tip me like 30-50%. Really, was that your brilliant way of trying to get me to give you good service, or are you still stuck in the 50s where 2.17 got you a full tank of gas?
6. Please, i challenge you- prove me wrong about how i think you are going to tip me. I can see a bad tip the minute it walks in the door. However, i'm glad to say I'm not always right about it. People do prove me wrong sometimes and I end up getting a surprisingly good tip. But here's the thing: Servers don't stereotype the senior citizens, the old farmers, the family with 5 little kids, the hillbillies, and the "Canadians" for no reason. They call it a stereotype because the general populous of that group has given us reason to. Just sayin..

The Hair In Your Food pt. 1

I work at a certain popular restaurant that will remain nameless at this point in time. I've been there for quite a while, and lemme tell you, I've seen every kind of person come through, every kind of complaint, and every "special request" ordered. After a while, you even start to develop what my friend Chad says is "subconscious racism," which is essentially the same thing as profiling everybody (an act which fortunately proves me wrong from time to time-- but then again they don't call it profiling for nothing... :/)
This is gonna be an ongoing series of satirical/humorous posts dedicated to the little (and big) annoyances of the job. I realize more and more over time how nonsensical customers can be in the food industry, which makes for a good laugh some of the time, but mostly leaves me with a headache and an emptier wallet at the end of the night. You'll find this especially funny/relative if you yourself work or have worked in the restaurant biz. So here you go- funny for you, stress relief for me, and hopefully informative for the would-be committers of these heinous deeds.

DRINKS

• If you order a tea from me, and I ask you if you would like sweetener with the tea, do NOT look to the back of the table to see if the sweetener is there. I assure you, its not. That is why I'm asking. In the same vein, do not say you don't want it only to tell me that you actually DO want it beacuse you realized it wasn't at the back of the table after I return with your drink. Like I said, I asked you for a reason.
• While I'm talking about sweetener- LEARN THE NAMES OF THE SUGAR PACKETS! Really, Sweet and Low is not "the pink stuff" and Splenda is not "the yellow stuff." You don't call ketchup "the red tomato stuff" or salt "the white grainy stuff" do you? No, you do not.
• If you drink alcohol, don't pick the day I'm serving you to decide you don't wanna drink that night. The other day I had a man order a Sprite, the result being his family looking at him in utter shock- "But Bill, you ALWAYS order a beer!" Of course, Bill, you would choose tonight to not drink, therefore resulting in a smaller bill, resulting in a smaller tip... ugh.
• Don't order multiple drinks at a time, its just annoying. And not just to me, to EVERY server. If you want a different drink, just ask for it when your first one is done. The only possible exception to this is water and alcohol...
• There are 3 types of people at my job when it comes to informing them about our alcoholic drinks: those who listen to what I'm telling them and then actually get something I suggest, those who listen to my whole deal and then say the don't drink, and finally those who laugh at my suggestion of alcohol as if to say, "oh wouldn't it be funny if WE got alcohol?" Ok, just a few things about these groups: to group 2, please just interrupt me and tell me you don't drink. Saves me time, and you look like less of an idiot pretending like you're interested in what I'm saying. Trust me, a won't think you're rude for cutting me off. To group 3- its really not that funny. At all. Get off your high horse and just say you don't drink without making it sound like its so beneath you.

More posts to come!

Best Advise Ever (so far)

I've been thinking lately about some of the best advise or phrases I've ever received or heard in my life. They may not sound so life changing at first, but if you really think about them and remember them as things come up in your life, they actually start to sound very spot-on. Some of these make me really wish that a lot of people would remember them too as situations come up it their lives*...
*Side note- one thing to know about me is that I consider myself to be an extremely logical person. Not trying to toot my own horn, but I feel like throughout my life I've had good reason to proclaim myself as such. The fastest, most condensed way is always the most logical way, in my opinion, and contrary to most of the world "following" your heart" is not the way I like to roll ha. I believe a lot of these pieces of advise to be pretty logical. Maybe they'll be a help to you, maybe not, but whatev...

1. Honesty is the best policy.
The classic cliche phrase, but so true. This rings particularly true when it comes to relationships...just sayin...

2. If everyone would be even a little less selfish, the whole world would be better off.
And it really would. I feel confident in saying that about 98% of the worlds problems come from the selfishness of every person. Sometimes everything just isn't about you. It pains me how tough it is for that fact to sink into some people's brains. And if you are rolling your eyes at this one, you are that person.

3. Cars are the worst investment you'll ever make.
Too freakin true. The things are a money pit, you never get back what you put into it. It sucks that we live in an age where most people need one. 

anyways thats it for now. I'll update this post when I can think of more. You got any good ones to share?

Package Design

Another recent project- package design! I found this one to be quite enjoyable- more so than I thought it would be. The fun part about it was that I picked one of the most boring things one could choose to design- meat packaging. Yes, you read that right- I chose this product to design. You might be asking why I chose such a mundane subject as meat packaging? I will tell you:
For one, there is virtually no legit designs for meat packaging ANYWHERE. So my options were limitless! One might see this as even more of a challenge than, say, another product that already has a certain feel or target audience to stem from, but I saw it as an opportunity to set my own bar for a field that has (let's be honest here) not been touched. Plus, if I just create an package design that merely stems from what's been done, where is the fun or originality in that?
Secondly, even though I whole-heartedly believe that my design is both visually effective and appealing, I could have done almost anything and it would have been a step up from current meat packages- which is essentially not much at all. Am I saying that I set my standards low so as to create a good design no matter what the outcome? Absolutely not! What I am saying is that I wanted to create the standard- I wanted to be the one to set the bar for this particular packaging field. I wanted it to be the idea that other people are trying to stem from to give them a direction to go.

So, as far as the design itself goes, I wanted it to be something simple, communicative, and also visually appealing, but at the same time fun and even educational. I realized there are so many elements to consider in something like meat packaging. For one, meat is a serious thing when it comes to consumers buying it- they want to know it is a quality, fresh product. However, that doesn't mean it has to look boring. If you see my design below, I added an "animal diagram". This I felt was an important design element because, being a meat eater myself, I have often thought, "I wonder what part of the animal this came from?" Well, with this educational and fun design, the curious consumer need question no more! I believe this particular design encompasses the revitalizing look that meat packaging needs, plus provides the consumer with some educational know-how. Any thoughts? I used the pig as my design example, but other animals can also apply.

Going verbal?

To put it simply, I've decided to expand my blog to more than just design work. I'm doing this for a couple reasons: 1. my new site will be up soon which will be completely dedicated to my design work anyway, so for those that want to look at my work without being polluted with other content, they will have that option there (plus there's no point having 2 places that produce the exact same content right?)  2.Without sounding like my thoughts are worth anybody listening to, I feel like i do have some interesting things on my mind from time to time, and it would just be nice to put them on some sort of platform so i can fully collect my thoughts and also so i can remember what it is i was thinking about haha. sometimes i think i'll be on a good train of thought, and when i don't write it down i forget it. Plus, some of those thoughts are things i'm learning, some truth i may have realized, or maybe even just funny ways of looking at things. whatever the case, i'd like to remember some of those things. The final reason for me writing content is simply to build relationships with you all. I feel like even though this is a blog dedicated to my design work, that is not all i am. I am not JUST a designer. There is a person behind all the layouts and ideas, ya know? My hope through writing is that maybe i can inspire you, learn with you, and even teach you something through the things i myself am learning. And in turn, maybe what i write will help you to teach and inspire me as well.

Here's to the future of this blog. Hopefully you continue to enjoy my work, and learn to equally enjoy the other various parts of my mind.