All these past years I have read in many blogs and articles that freelancers and web workers choose various coffee shops as their makeshift offices. Starbucks is kind of a rage among designers in the US for this reason. I have been thinking how would it feel to work in such a bustling and busy environment. Ok writing a blog post or creating a document is one thing but creating layouts/logos etc. in such environments. Is it possible?

Couple of weeks back I had an opportunity to find out. I had a meeting scheduled with a friend of mine to talk about his personal website in a Coffee shop. I of course had my laptop and all my stuff with me but when I reached there my friend called up and said he would be delayed by an hour or so. So here I was, with almost an hour at my disposal with nothing to do. I was not carrying my data card with me and the coffee shop had no Wi-Fi, so I was without internet (To think of now it was a good I had no internet).  

So I though why not catch up on some of my backlog of work. So I ordered a Café latte and popped open my laptop. Since a past few days I had been stuck on this layout which I was unable to focus and complete. So I started working on that layout. The first thing I did was to crank up the volume on the iPod and I was able to block out all the noise around me. With a regular intake of caffeine and music I was able to finish the layout before my friend came (although he took around 90 minutes to reach there).

I was really surprised by the outcome of this experiment. I was in new place with lot of people and noise around me but still I was able to focus on what I had to complete (and without the internet).  I guess I would try to do this more often

Ok ! its still a big maybe. Since the past couple of years i have been thinking of getting some ink on my skin and have been saving umpteen designs from the net. I have dragons, hearts, pinups, skulls and of course Japanese Kanji. I have also been tinkering of getting my own design on my skin but have not been bal eto get something good.

Couple of months back i was in training and while in one of the lectures I pencilled some tattoos (of course not at the expense of the lecture). So here is plan of action.

• Convert the most liked pencil art into vector format.
• Improve/ modify the vector creations
• Think, Think and Rethink
• Decide which design to get inked
• Think, Think, Think and Think a little more
• Get it Done !

So here is the start of the process. I have finally taken pictures and captured the pencil art. Here they are. BTW this is my first time so you are free to laugh at the designs.

Now all i have to do is get the designs I like into vector format and then IM GETTING A TATTOO !

BTW did i add this before its still a big maybe.

What is the first item in the list of to-dos of a new company? Its the creation of a logo. A logo is a very essential part in the branding process and is also an integral part of the core values of the company. Does this identity remains the same throughout the business cycle of the company? According to Neatorama they do not ! Here are some examples of the changes in the identities of some stalwarts of the tech industry.

Apple Inc.

Adobe Systems

IBM

To view all the logos please visit Neatorama’s Blog entry