Jackie Jakob Design

I'm trying to learn javascript, jquery and html5 canvas animation all at once and it might be variable overload. But it reminds me how much I enjoyed computational mathematics and kinetic motion in physics. I'm trying out Hype and Adobe Edge, and after first use, Hype definitely stands out. But I was also trying to animate and add video clips, which Edge didn't allow. So it goes.
Animating again has also given me a better outlook on creating storyboards for work. Just that subtle perspective change makes all the difference when trying to get your (or your author’s) point across to an outside vendor.

The weakest link between two objects breaks to create two forceless points. Dots without movement or substance.

Proud of / expected to / insignificantly relevant / words and actions / no big deal.

Exciting news to share with you! I've accepted the position of Associate Content Producer with Pearson Education in SF, and will be starting in just over two weeks. I am excited for this venture, everyone I have talked to has been really nice and helpful and I can't wait to get started. As some of you know, I'm a nerd at heart and love learning, and love helping people learn even more. I'm hoping this position will satisfy both of those loves, and that I will be able to help the team as much as I can. I will miss making ebooks, though. I have uploaded a few of my favorite projects to the Work section of my website. Most recently, I've finished the digital version of Flora and the Flamingo, and as soon as it is live, I will post some screenshots of the process.

My fellowship has ended and the future is in the wind. It’s a scary place to be, no matter how many people tell me it’s exciting to have so many options open to you. It is exciting, don’t get me wrong, but I like knowing what 3 steps ahead look like, and at the moment I can only see the steps I have already taken.

Things are wrapping up in my fellowship, only one month left. I have no words to fully express what this {almost} year has done for me and I would without a doubt say that this was the best decision I've made thus far. But what now?

I’ve been stress-eating myself through this decision. Stay tuned. I’m sure it’ll surprise you and me both.

We got some new devices in the office, including Nook HD, Kindle Fire HD, and soon the iPad Mini. While I wasn’t as excited as others to get new devices (how different could they be than the previous generations—code-wise?), I am glad that we have them. I just deleted a lot of lines of geek talk about screen resolution, but the point is that when designing ebooks (and of course all screen-media), you have to be aware that there is a variety of screen resolutions you have to consider. You have to be smart about image constraints, and especially about percentages. There’s nothing I hate more than a pixellated image. Am I right?

“Work is most fulfilling when you’re at the comfortable, exciting edge of not quite knowing what you are doing.” -Alain de Botton

I recently went almost two months without a computer and it made me feel more put together as a person but more disconnected from everyone else. Now that I have a computer, however, I feel less together, and find it even harder to connect with people. Correlations will exist, and they won't in this matter, but there's a balance to find on how much you need technology in your life and how much you rely on having it there to feel as if you're using your time wisely.

My first fellowship round is coming to a close and, with that, reflection on the past six months and preparation for the coming six, i.e. Holden asked me to make a list of what I've learned and what I want to learn. I came into this fellowship not knowing what to expect. I knew I would learn how ebooks were made by a publisher (and not by one person in her bedroom), and I had hoped to learn and explore how the reading experience could be different in digital versus print. Past expectations aside, what more could I expect to learn in this ever-changing landscape of design? I can't predict the future, I can only hope to continue learning and not settle for what I know to be the end of the line.

On a differently similar note, I am very thankful that I am here. I recently was asked what my best decision in life was, and while a lot of decisions have influenced where I am today in small ways, my answer was taking this fellowship. I feel like I have a purpose, which is what we all strive for, right? And I couldn't have asked for a better mentor. Holden and I get along very well, and luckily aren't afraid to tell each other when our ideas are ridiculous. And also aren't afraid to continue with them anyway. Our viewpoints run parallel on many things but tend to zigzag a lot. Ask us the same question a week later and our opinions have unknowingly switched places, almost word for word.

Sometimes we get so focused on accomplishing a task in a said amount of time that we forget to stop and think about what it is we are doing to accomplish each step. Is it the smartest way of doing it? Is it what we originally intended to be doing? Is it the smartest thing to be doing, or just the easiest?
Standard operating procedures were established for a reason, but often they can be deviated from to gain a better end product. Times are a-changin' and we must adapt to design for a smarter audience, and at the same time, a not-so-smarter audience. Give them a little so they can gain a lot on their own, but give enough to make them want to make the effort.

I signed my name today on an important document.
Hint: Looks like I'll get to see what a full year of San Francisco and Chronicle Books has in store.

This has been a crazy eventful week, and possibly the best so far. One of the first things I did when I came out here was buy a ticket to see of Montreal. Though at times I am unconfident being so absolute, I would say they are my favorite band, and only burrow deeper into my heart after each live performance I attend. So, Wednesday night I saw what was yet again a spectacular show, and it also ended up being the first concert I attended completely solo. Great things! Then Thursday night was my first softball game on the Chronicle team. I forgot how much I liked being part of a team. We lost, but who's counting. Then, on to the midnight premiere of Hunger Games, which was good, but had some disappointing moments. And now, today Holden and I have finished our first audio recording for Chloe, Instead (for Nook Kids). It's going to be super cute. Recording is intimidating though, I'm glad I don't have to do it alone right now. But, as with anything, I know my confidence will grow.

How does a user/viewer experience your work? Not everyone thinks the same as you, but we have the responsibility to create a universal goal of understanding. As with anything, there is a margin of error and fluctuation of amount and quality of information or experience that is gained (by the viewer/user), but what can we do to ensure that our intent is satisfied? Or is it even relevant?

happy heart

Slow down and never let your journeys become routine.

I'm very prone to impulsive decisions, but I've learned that when it comes to big life moves, you should really sit down and think about all aspects of the decision. So after much deliberation (not really much, I kind of always knew), I have accepted a digital publishing fellowship at Chronicle Books in San Francisco! I'm really excited to be a part of such an awesome company, I just have to find a place to live now. Ahh!

Sarah and I drove all the way to Miami today for the last day of Art Basel. It was so crazy. It's definitely something you need more than one day to experience, I fell like we only got a small nibble of the adventure, but Sunday was all we could afford money and time wise. But every art lover should go at least once. You'll get to see so many great works all in one space.

We've been printing a few posters for Wilco at Lure this week. Today I pulled approx. 600 prints, but I like to refer to it as training for the gun show.

It's easy to be self-critical and let it ruin an experience. It's also easy to be judgmental and let that ruin an experience. Even worse, it's easy to be regretful and let that ruin a memory.

It's sad when the hype for something overshadows the bad design.

Remodel is complete. Well, some small details still need to be tended to, but here we are! I've been learning more about more web stuff from the guys at Drive New Media, and it's been reminding me how much I was interested in it during my last semester of college. I know what happened that drove me away from it, it's not a mystery, but I'm glad I've found my way back.

Figured out how to code an ebook this weekend! Just the basics for now, I'll have to learn how much styling you can use. I just took a free text of Animal Farm from Project Gutenberg and finally found some steps on the back end code and voila! Animal Farm E-book. I even figured out all by myself how to assign the book cover so it appears on my virtual shelf instead of some blank placeholder.

Is it weird that tutoring for the SAT is making me want to take the SAT? (It is, I know.)

My wrist is taking forever to heal. Or possibly just the normal amount of time, but longer than I want. I've been slowly getting back to screen printing, but Sarah's good about not having me overdo it. Which I need because I tend to not know my own limits. It was hard taking time off from printing, not only because I knew it hurt Lure's production schedule, but because without printing I felt so lost in what I was to do with my time. But it also helped me figure that out, and remember some forgotten goals.

My dad, brother and I drove up to New York to visit family last weekend. It was a good trip, and I learned and saw a lot of things that I wasn't expecting, and although I don't have any intentions of moving up there, I could see it as a possibility unlike my trip last year.
But besides that, I sprained my wrist this week, or maybe it's carpal tunnel? Not sure, but I've been wrapping it and trying not to use it, but it feels like I'm making it worse. I'm hoping it's one of those things that has to get worse before it gets better.

Paul gave me The Hunger Games to read, and I finally started it and couldn't put it down! And I'm a slow reader, but I finished it in a day and a half. Granted the first night I was up until 3 am reading, but still. I immediately went and got the other two books in the series and finished it over the weekend. Definitely a new obsession of mine.

I bought a new iMac a few weeks ago on impulse. I found a good deal on a 27-inch and thought why not? But adjusting from a 13inch laptop to this monster of a computer is taking awhile. And with it, my perspective on designing for web as well. Things that work for my laptop lack a lot of presence on my iMac. So consequently, I'm doubting my new website design. But in the meantime while I process this change, I've been working on new stuff which I'm really excited to share! So stay tuned, I promise not to spend all my time trying to figure out Google+.

New website is coming along. Not sure if I'll get it done by my deadline, but I'm trying! I want to try some new HTML5 tricks, and some javascripting. These next three weeks I'll be helping Lure get ready for the stationery show, so I'll have to be better about working in my offtime, and cranking out some sketches! We just printed my postcards, so expect pictures soon!

Made my first trip to SXSW/Flatstock last week. I lived in Texas about 8.5 years ago, so this was my first trip back since. I drove there with my friend, and was only there for two days, so no time to go back to my old town but it was nice to experience Austin as an adult. And Flatstock was amazing! I was so overwhelmed, there was so much awesome work and people there. I wish I had brought my camera, it's always the one thing I overlook.
I'll be having a lot of time coming up, so I'm hoping I'll be able to try out some of the styles and techniques that I saw, and up my illustration skills. And hopefully finish the new site. It's so close!

There hasn't been any updates lately because there hasn't been much to update on. I did go to New York in November, met up with some friends, had a good time and put some hearts out. I decided to keep the heart imagery because it most conveys the demeanor of welcoming this new place and people/experiences rather than being closed off to experiencing what it has to offer. But I'm finishing up the other images this week so they will be added soon enough for everyone to see.
Other than that, I'm tutoring a few high schoolers in math and, more importantly, busy learning proper web standards. It's interesting how the existence of web standards was never brought up in school. It makes sense that there would be guidelines, as there is with anything, but it's just odd that in all my searching of where to start, I never was directed here. So I am starting at the beginning so I will have no bad habits and can fix the ones that I do have on this site.
We exist in a constant state of fluctuation, hoping that one day we will land above the wave rather than under the swell.

Been busy keepin' busy these past few weeks. I think it's important to keep designing even when you don't have jobs or clients to do it for. So I've been making some care packages and practicing my hand lettering. Probably will be working on a new look to my website soon, I need to consolidate my assets and be more to the point. You'll see what I mean by this soon enough.
Also, a New York trip is in the works. And some more free art stacks, if time allows. Still working on the imagery, but I think I want a few different images versus one image. Tata for now.

So I've been interning at Root Design Co. and Lure Design, Inc. getting to do what I love and work with some great folks. I'm really grateful for both opportunities because they're fun and interesting and keep me learning.
And working and being home has also made me realize what things I miss and surprisingly don't miss. Now just need to figure out what's next for me...
I'm leaning towards a cookie.

Perec talks about the occurrence of a room without a purpose. I was thinking that I would like to make this happen in my future place of inhabitance, but then by giving this room the purpose of having no purpose, does it then gain a purpose?

I feel like a lost key. Or maybe just that I have lost a key. Or that I'm not sure if I need a key (does it exist?). But you know what you do when you don't have a key?
You break down doors. BOOM!
In other news, screenprints are in progress (aka idea formed) and are comin' your way (you know who you are).