279 Days to Overnight Success

http://chrisguillebeau.com/3x5/overnight-success/

Recent grads, and anyone who wants to create their own success should definitely read Chris Guillebeau's latest manifesto. Who is Chris Guillebeau you ask? He runs a great web site and blog called the Art of Non-Conformity and is all about making your own way in the world, especially if you don't quite fit in with the standard expectations of western society.

When reading 279 Days I felt like Chris was speaking directly to me. I am at a crossroads in my career and this manifesto has come to me at a perfect time and I am grateful for that. The design of this e-book makes the content very accessible. I’m a big believer in the value of good design. And with respect to the content, the specific information and resources are invaluable, as so many online freebies are full of self-marketing hooey.

If you like 279 Days, then you are sure to love A Brief Guide to World Domination.

Best in Class

Every week in my ACAD Photographic Design** class this semester, students uploaded one photo to a website. The photo had nothing to do with any assignment, instead, it was something they thought was interesting from a compositional point of view, a new technique they were trying out, or a different subject matter they were researching. This gallery is a collection of the BEST of those photos. (Other work from these students may be viewed in this post from February.)

I have always encouraged picture making as opposed to picture taking. These 4th year students learned photography quickly as they all understood composition and colour really well. My job was to teach them how to use their cameras, how to "see" light, and how to post process raw images to make them "sing".

These students are all graduating soon from the VC Design program at the Alberta College of Art + Design. Their GDC Portfolio Show is April 23, 2009.

**Photographic Design is a course in digital photography for the designer with little or no experience in photography including photographic design fundamentals, optical visualization, photographic processes and workflows, and working with professional photographers.