This past Friday, Derek and I, had the pleasure of attending the Front-End Design Conference is St. Petersburg, FL.

This was one of the first design conferences that we had been to, so we weren’t sure what to expect. We arrived around 9am and were greeted by a slew of friendly people.. not to mention free coffee and breakfast too! After getting our name tags and swag bags, we made our way into the main room. I sat down in my chair, opened my laptop and noticed I only had about an hour of battery life, and 20% battery life on my iPhone!!! So I was that guy scouring for an outlet and ran his charger across the walkway…

Dan Denny, Front-End Design Conference Founder, kicked off the day by introducing himself, explaining what the conference was all about, and thanking the sponsors. The format of the day was basically two speakers, break, two speakers, lunch, etc…

There were a number of great speakers that were crazy informative and extremely helpful. I’m only going to cover a few, but all were great.

The first one up was Larissa Meek, from AgencyNet, who gave a great presentation on  brainstorming. She covered the difference between idea storming and brainstorming, the pros and cons of individual vs. group sessions, and gave a few great techniques to help you generate ideas. You can view her slides from the presentation here!

Next up was the comical Niki Brown from Metropolis Creative. Niki discussed the importance of of details in design including: Color Schemes, Typography, and PLAID!

Lea Alcantara started off her presentation, ” The Art of Self Branding,” with an audience exercise. She instructed us to switch seats and sit next to someone we didn’t know, introduce ourselves and take two minutes to get to know that person. Afterwards, we wrote down three adjectives about the person we just met and disclosed them to each other a little later. I got, ” personable, proactive, and central florida haircut!” Not sure what that last one means, the girl I said it was a good thing, so i guess I’ll take it. The purpose of this exercise was to find out how others perceive us. This was my favorite presentation, because I just finished reading ” Celebrity Branding You,” by Nick Nanton, and could really relate to everything she was saying.

The next presentation was on taking your designs from wireframes to finished products. But, I was too busy staring at Meagan Fisher’s unbelievable slide designs to remember what she talked about (jk)!!

Meagan broke her process down into four categories – Get to know the project, Develop the strategy, Bring it to life, and Make it shine.

Next on the agenda, LUNCH BREAK! Lunch consisted of White Russians, Bloody Mary’s, Burgers, and running in the rain.

When we got back, Jina Bolton, from Crush + Lovely, was setting up for her presentation on CSS Organization & Workflow. My background is primarily in Print Design, and I just started diving into code. Jina was extremely knowledgable, but most of what she covered was over my head. Hopefully next year, I’ll be on the same page!

Sarah Parmenter was up next with a presentation on the Principles of UI Design. I think everyone fell in love with her accent, as soon as she started talking! Sarah discussion was focused mainly on iPhone App design. She went over both good and bad design and showed examples of each, as well as showing us some projects she had worked on.

After the conference was over we headed to the “After Party!” Free appetizers and drinks.. count us in!

Overall, the conference was AMAZING!! Dan and Cherrie you all did a very impressive job putting it all together! We met a ton of great people including Vishal from GrooveShark, and Mitch from Freshbooks. Everyone was soo friendly and you could tell they were actually interested in what you had to say! We look forward to staying in touch with everyone that we met and attending next year’s conference!!

Front-End Design Conference Recap is a post from: MAKEMEALIVE

Impressto.com, an online buy and sell marketplace, is about to open it’s doors to a select few Creatives to help with Beta testing! If you’re a designer, photographer, developer, artist, or any other kind of creative that would like a FREE storefront to sell your work, Impressto is for YOU! Interested in becoming a Beta tester… Email doug@impressto.com

Impressto.com looking for Beta testers! is a post from: MAKEMEALIVE

Hey Everyone,

So, every month we do a spotlight on talented artists from around the world that are pushing our industry.  People that inspire us and spark creativity in our own world.  We really appreciate all the great support and interest in the MakeMeAlive Spotlight.  Through it we have met some really cool people.  If you would like to see your work on MAKEMEALIVE.com. Hit us up!  We would love to check it out.

Send in work to: HELLO@MAKEMEALIVE.com

Let’s dive in….

First we have, HandMadeFont.  Founded by Vladimir Loginov and Maksim Loginov out of Estonia.  We came across their work on Behance.net and were instantly intrigued!  They specialize in making and creating unique fonts.  The reason we were so interested was because of the detail and creativity behind the font.   They have created anything from realistic grass looking font to a font that looks like legos topped.  I love the approach of using tools and things we use everyday in creating text.  Their work can be purchased right on the website handmadefont.com

Next,  I want to talk about Zim and Zou from Nancy, France.  Their creativity and skills are unbelievable.  Who would ever think to create a paper Gameboy that looks so incredibly real?  Their approach to the end result of a project is so great!  From start to finish it is intriguing.  Utilizing physical art to and transforming it into a digital masterpiece is something we are beginning to see more of in our industry.  Zim and Zou are definitely amazing at that.

Check them out at http://www.zimandzou.fr

Were going to talk about an agency now.  Momkai out of Amsterdam, Netherlands.  Momkai was founded in 2002. They possess a clear, uniform and pleasing result in all projects.  They are a truly talented agency and any brand should be honored to work with them.  They are a full service design and media firm (web dev, advertising media, mo graphics, UI design, photography) Something that is truley interesting and unique about Momkai is that they have shown there dedication to outdoing the normal graphic design or media studio.  They have created there own content management system (CMS) called Mimoto CMS.  It allows the user a simple and easy solution to keeping there project up to date.

Check out Momkai @
http://www.momkai.com

I personally LOVE this one!  Filter017 from Taipei Taiwan.  They are a group of artists Nick, Enzo and Wen joining together in 2004. Graffiti and urban style artist doing everything from fonts and illustrations to actual toy figures.  They are making some serious moves.  Developing everything from clothing brands to products and full apparel.

They have a unique style and amazing attention to detail.  There creativity and product creation is so fresh! We would love to have them on our MakeMeAlive show starting this month!!

Check them out @ and buy some of there amazing goodies!
http://www.filter017.com

Lastly this month, we have Damian Liñeiro hauling from Comodoro Rivadavia, Argentina.  He is a young graphic artist with a great imagination and presentation.  I love his illustration of Homer Simpson the terror (below).  He is working with some large name clients and coming through big.  I think we are going to begin to see more of Damian in the future.

Check him out @

http://www.behance.net/delodeliraunflash

That’s all we have for this months edition.  Let us know what inspires you and keep making great work!

Holla!!!

Creative Artist Spotlight JUNE 2010! is a post from: MAKEMEALIVE

The day has come…. it is Quit Facebook Day possibly attempting to overshadow the day americans are respecting our troops!?
It started a few weeks ago when facebook privacy settings and user capabilities became a larger issue then before. Privacy issues have slowly been an ongoing concern but now it may be crossing the line for some users.  When we look at facebooks future goals, user privacy becomes a major concern. I am all for other social networking options and believe facebook is developing a strong hold on our socializing thru the internet. Especially, because of there recent patent filings (i e newsfeeds).
Let’s be serious though. This boycott isn’t going to make even a small dent in facebook users today. There are way to many sheeps with blinders on these days. If you can reach a majority audience, there are so many who follow without question. I am willing to explore other alternative social media options, although as of now nothing compares to Facebook.
What do you think about this facebook boycott? Is it necessary?
Do you feel facebook cares about your information?

Quit Facebook Day is a post from: MAKEMEALIVE

So I love all the Magic banners hanging on all the high rises downtown, so I decided to take some photos and make a couple of desktops. Here are the first two!

Click here to download the first one!

Click here to download the first one!

Downtown Orlando Magic Banner Desktops! is a post from: MAKEMEALIVE

Paramore performing, “The Only Exception,” live on Ellen yesterday!! Haley Williams, the lead singer, is amazing… the pipes on that girl are unreal!! Not to mention she was sick for this perfomance.

Paramore performs live on Ellen! is a post from: MAKEMEALIVE

This past Monday one of my favorite bands, Thriving Ivory, released their latest single, “Where We Belong,” via their Twitter. It’s one of those feel good, uplifting songs. I’m a sucker for strings and piano… And I especially love the line, ” Somewhere down the line, I lost that part of me that’s pure.” At least that’s what I think he says! These guys are currently recording their sophomore album, still yet to be titled, in NYC. They don’t have a release date for the new album yet either. So for now, head over to their website and listen to the their new song!

I’ve been listening to this band for awhile now, since their first self-released EP… and unfortunately have yet to see them live!!! I first fell in love with their single, “Hey Lady,” it was basically my anthem for the past 7 or so years. Check out the video for “Hey Lady,” below!

New Single from Thriving Ivory! is a post from: MAKEMEALIVE

Mac users will be getting a treat later on today. Software company, Valve, is releasing their online game platform, Steam, for Mac today!

Basically, this service is the equivalent of iTunes for gamers. Allowing users to download games directly to their computers, as opposed to buying a physical copy  and having to install it.

Think of it like this… When was the last time you bought an actual physical CD??? I can’t remember the last time I did. Apple’s iTunes eliminated the need for me to get up off the couch on Tuesday to go a buy a new album, bring it home, and import it into my iTunes. I think Stream is going to have the same effect on the Gaming Industry. Why wouldn’t gamers rather download the latest games directly to their computers and be able to play them instantly.

Stream has a bunch of other awesome features too. It’s not just a place to buy your games, you can also chat with your friends / foes and join tournaments / matches. Personally, I think the best feature is automatic game updates, which brings me to my next point…

Web-based applications are the future for software companies! The days of spending $500 for Adobe’s Photoshop or Microsoft’s Office will soon be behind us. Well, that’s if those companies want to survive. The automatic game update feature in Steam is what makes web-based apps so appealing. Currently, consumers spend a small fortune on software applications, that take up a ton of memory, and slow computers down. Then a year or two later, the software company releases a new version, making the version you just bought out-dated. Imagine, if you could pay a monthly subscription fee to use that same software! And get software updates and bug fixes automatically, ensuring that you always have the most updated version. We recently made the switch from Quickbooks ( physical ) to Freshbooks ( web-based ) and couldn’t be happier! Whenever they add new features or updates to their app, it automatically updates on our end and we don’t have to install a thing!

One company that really embraces web-based software is 37 Signals and they’re CRUSHING IT! Companies like Adobe and Microsoft had better follow suit, in order to keep up with the competition!!

Hey Apple… how about a MacBook App Store!

Steam for Mac = iTunes for Gamers! is a post from: MAKEMEALIVE

What’s up!  Here is the makemealive MAY calendar!  Hope you like it.

We posted it in a bunch of dimensions.

DOWNLOAD HERE: www.reampentertainment.com/desktops

May calendar desktop available. is a post from: MAKEMEALIVE

Don’t have the money or time to make it out to a conference? Well, you’re in luck!

Think Vitamin, presents “100 Things,” an ONLINE business conference. On May 11th, ten extremely successful web entrepreneurs will be discussing ten different business topics and breaking them down into ten steps. I like the idea of broadcasting conferences over the internet for those of us that can’t make it to every conference we would like. Although the cost of a ticket ( $300 )is still a little high, you’ll be saving money on travel, lodging, and eating out! Bringing the conference online allows for unlimited attendees. Hopefully, after a few online conferences, the hosts will realize they can cover costs with a lower ticket price and higher number of online attendees.

What do you think about online conferences? Will you be attending 100 Things?

Online Conference about Business & Startups is a post from: MAKEMEALIVE