Pineal Media

Wow, hi.

This is my first blog entry for Pineal Media, I have a few things to say, but I have to get back to work on some of the pages that need finishing.

I have been working really hard to get this site to look half way decent, there are some CSS crossbrowser functionality bugs that I need to work out. I don’t really remember some of the CSS things that I learned in college, but browsing around some CSS sites have really helped me out. For those of you who I asked for help (Chris), I really appreciate it!

I know this is about a week old, but I wanted to comment about the recent 2012 Olympic logo and the effects it’s had on people around the world. To think that such a graphic campaign had so much power, albeit negative power, is amazing. Apparently, the advertising committee failed to cooperate with certain guidelines and passed the commercial anyway.

I will post more on this blog when I get a spare minute, but this is the first one and I just wanted to see how it worked out!

Finally, I have this WordPress blog all figured out. I would have liked to use it as some sort of a plug in to get it on to my own CSS and HTML formatting, but what can you do, this is a little bit easier.

Fortunately, I was able to fix the CSS using the internets as a helpful little resource tool (as it is commonly utilized)! Although it took me a few days, I conquered the problem. It’s that cross browser functionality.

Anyway, enough nerdspeak. Pineal Media is going public very soon, and we may have our very first legitimate client, “Sunshine Alpacas.” They are based out of Maine and we look forward to helping their business expand!

This is what a group of alpacas on the prowl look like:

Keep reading for updates and whacky adventures (possibly some tips too!).

It is my job as a natural observer to equate one thing with another, or just find similarities between certain things. I was studying recent Web 2.0 web trends and styles.

From a designers point of view, most of the Web 2.0 websites have a really bubbly, rounded edge, jolly rancher feel to them. With this new emergence of Web 2.0 (which I, personally, dig quite a bit), it reminds me of looking at a world molded for safety. We don’t want to bump too hard into these hard corners, everything has been softened because we are still in the infancy of this internet transition.

There will always be people (myself included) who remember hideous, square edged tables, gaudy blinking banners and texts. Those were the days, right? I had a few plastic, round edged toys as a kid, but was still forced outside into a world of bugs, sunburns, poison ivy and critters.
This communication and design of the internet has come a long way in a very short time!

To learn more about this Web 2.0 emergence, have a look at this inspiring vid :

Summer’s go by fast, don’t they? Try to enjoy the rest of the nice weather, especially if you live in New England. It won’t be long until we are wearing 5 layers, reaching for that extra blanket or spending half of your weekly check at the local coffee shop.

Ah, Pineal Media, right! We are slowly starting to get off the ground. The alpaca farm website never went through, but we have a new prospect in the works involving a farm museum in Maine. The design is going to be stunning, believe me. As you may have noticed, we got a new website! It has been submitted to numerous CSS showcasing websites! Hopefully that will garner some attention!

We’re gonna have some cool media and freebies to give away very soon, so keep your eyes peeled!

In the mean time, check out our PORTFOLIO, especially the video section (I highly recommend the Portland Pirates “Noise-O-Meter” that Chad did).

Well today was semi-productive. Thanks to the crazy thunderstorms rolling in overhead at around 5:30 this morning, I was up and ready to go to town on some Pineal Media! It’s time to get this company off the ground and we pretty much need to make the first move…

Several coffees and Tom Waits songs later, I figured that we obviously need to advertise DIY style and start handing out business cards. Yes! I worked on some designs by manning up and opening up Illustrator.

Here is the final result :

not too shabby if I do say so!

Next step is to find paper that actually looks like a burlap sack. I’ll be making a trip to the nearest art supply store to scout around. Also, that leaf is going to be a totally different texture, something good, I haven’t decided what yet.

In other happenings, I have not seen it yet, but go out and see the new Simpsons movie! The lighting and shading in the trailers looks very promising!

EDIT : it seems as if I had forgotten one of the most integral parts of a business card and that is COMPLETE contact information!  I accidentally left out the phone number!  There we go, much better!

What’s up Pineheads (Pineheads?) eh, nevermind, that will never stick.

I just did an alumni interview with the editor of Johnson & Wales University Magazine. The topic of discussion was Pineal Media! The questions were basically about why I wanted to create a start-up company directly out of college and what my inspiration was. I’ll have the entire interview posted here tomorrow sometime.

We are going to be doing the Maine Gymnastics Academy website very shortly, I will be starting on it next week! Business cards are still in the works, they will be here soon! I may or may not have won a logo contest today for Dedham Public Television out of Massachusetts. I think I did, I’ll let you know!

when you get a free moment, please watch the video below! (It might only be funny to designers, but either way it’s glorious!)

edit (03/04/08)

here is a small version of the cover of JWU Alumni Magazine, we are on page 28 under the title “Manifesting an Entrepreneurial Dream.” I’ll see if I can get a scan of the article up on the front page of the site sometime this week!

The business cards are at the printer as we speak, thanks to the fine folks and services at 4-Over. We are getting 2,500 of them for under $40! I’d say that’s a sweet deal. The should be in either this week, or early next week. If you want one, let me know, i’m sure we can work something out.
We are diligently working on the Maine Academy of Gymnastics website…here’s a little taste of one of the sample layouts :

oh yes…there WILL be flash. (among other things)

more updates sooooon (including some videos)

2,500 of them!

well holy smokes, a new blog post!

The Pineals have been hard at work developing/designing the new website for the Maine Academy of Gymnastics for the past few days! We are very happy with how it is turning out. Their old website from another company is a little outdated for the new internet standard, and can be viewed here : http://www.maineacademy.com/.

In speaking with the owner, we have decided to make it more youth oriented with some better animation and design. This is just a demo of what is to come of the new Maine Academy of Gymnastics website:

http://www.pinealmedia.com/newer.html

comments and complaints are welcome! This site will most likely be live at the official address within the next few weeks!

keep you posted!

Well it’s certainly been a bit since I’ve written a blog update!  Hopefully you are all having a great holiday season!  As far as client base and contact goes, Pineal Media has slowed down considerably.  This is not because we aren’t able to receive clients, but because we haven’t been really pushing the issue.  Chad and I have been busy with life outside of Pineal Media.

The situation basically boils down to Chad living in Maine and me living in Massachusetts.  It’s not easy to sit down with each other and plan out exactly what we want Pineal to be or what we want to do.  When we visit each other, it’s more of a relaxed family visit than anything.  Whether it’s the holidays or someone’s birthday, we really enjoy the relaxation.

Next weekend, I will be going up to Maine to visit and we will be discussing our vision and standards for Pineal.  Hopefully we can get the train chugging!  We do have plans, but we need to refine some things!

Thanks for your patience and interest!