Designs on CafePress.com

Is it possible to earn money online and bring attention to some important issues at the same time? We decided to find out if there is more to the online t-shirt hype than just the hype. We've uploaded two designs to the CafePress.com store to bring attention to some important issues.

The Oil is an Addiction design focuses on the ever growing problem of oil consumption. Science shows that the pollution caused by the burning of fossil fuels will be the most serious problem facing the human race in the near future yet our consumption of fossil fuels is on the increase. This design visualizes the problem to make people understand what we are doing to the world and ourselves. To view and buy producs with this design click here.

The This Side Up design focuses on the problem of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. Research shows that by having your baby sleep on it's back the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome dramatically decreases. This design uses humor to bring attention to the issue and ensures that the baby slees "right side up". To view and buy products with this design click here.

DELL Battery Recall Program

This is not design related but it's important enough that the information needs to be made widely available. This is a clipping from a security advisory from Dell regarding their exploding batteries:

"Dell has identified a potential issue associated with certain batteries sold with Dell Latitude™, Inspiron™, XPS™ and Dell Precision Mobile Workstation™ notebook computers. In cooperation with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and other regulatory agencies, Dell is voluntarily recalling certain Dell-branded batteries with cells manufactured by Sony and offering free replacements for these batteries. Under rare conditions, it is possible for these batteries to overheat, which could pose a risk of fire.

Potentially affected batteries were sold with the following models of Dell notebook computers or provided or sold separately as secondary batteries:

Latitude: D410, D500, D505, D510, D520, D600, D610, D620, D800, D810
Inspiron: 6000, 8500, 8600, 9100, 9200, 9300, 500m, 510m, 600m, 6400, E1505, 700m, 710m, 9400, E1705
Dell Precision Mobile Workstations: M20, M60, M70 and M90 and
XPS: XPS, XPS Gen2, XPS M170 and XPS M1710

In addition, these batteries may have also been provided in response to service calls. The batteries were shipped to customers between April 1, 2004 and July 18, 2006. The words "Dell" and one of the following are printed on the batteries: "Made in Japan" or "Made in China" or "Battery Cell Made in Japan Assembled in China".

If you are using one or more of the notebook computers and/or battery packs affected by this recall, you should immediately discontinue use of the battery. You may continue to use your notebook computer safely by turning the system off, ejecting the battery, and using the AC adapter and power cord to power your system until your replacement battery is received.

Please go to www.dellbatteryprogram.com to determine if you have any batteries that are subject to this recall."

Bellevue Gallery Site Launched

After months of meticulous programming and design the Bellevue Gallery web site is now on line for the world to see. The site posed some interesting challenges because of the need for constant updating and large quantities of image material.

The overall design of the site was inspired by the gallery logo which consists of two interconnected "L"s on a green background. We incorporated the logo in the site and stayed true to the clean, sleek and modern layout of the gallery itself to create this site. To solve the issue of constantly updating images in the "Gallery Artists" section we used the SlideShowPro application - an extension to Macromedia Flash.

The launch of the site coincides with a large ad campaign in several local and national art and gallery magazines. In designing the ads we incorporated the overall look of the web site to keep the visual profile of the gallery consistent.

Visit the new Bellevue Gallery website by going to www.bellevuegallery.ca

Cyoob - a new web 4.0 application asks for your help

"Little Help?" asks former Spreadshirt and now Cyoob main man Mark Seremet on his new blog. Basically Mark and his coleagues are looking for about 1000 people to test out and comment on a new "web 4.0" application they are working on. There is little if any information out there on what exactly this project called "Cyoob" (pronounced "cube") is but as more people sign on to be part of the beta testing they promise to release more information.

If you are interested, go to the blog and send an email to Mark. You can also watch mark talk about the project on this YouTube video.

Adobe Lightroom Beta for Windows and Mac

Project: Lightroom™ is Adobe’s effort to engage the professional photography community in a new way, giving you the opportunity to kick the tires and shape the feature set of a new tool being created just for you.

After the merger of Adobe and Macromedia the graphics giant has started a series of new projects - and from a photographers perspective Lightroom is definitely one of the most interesting. The program is an effort to simplify the RAW workflow for digital photographers. There are obvious similarities between this new project and the file management system Adobe Bridge that ships with new Adobe products but instead of being a general program for all types of media files Lightroom is aimed only at digital photography. As such the functionalities are more advanced and the workflow is better.

What makes this project so interesting is the open invitation for photographers to download the unfinished beta version of the program so that the company can shape the program perfectly to the end users.

Downloading and using the beta version of Lightroom is free and gives everyone a chance to have an input on a program that will probably become a standard in a few years.

Download Adobe Lightroom Beta here.

Affordable Colour Correction for Your Screen

Ever noticed how websites, graphics and pictures look different depending on what screen you are using? Or that the colours of your graphics and photos are all wrong when they get printed? It's because your monitor isn't properly calibrated. Until now there has been no cheap way of fixing this problem and the colour correction software that comes with your graphics card and your monitor is heavy and ineffective.

Enter the PANTONE huey. This tool is a lot cheaper than it's competitors and works without stealing performance from your computer. At under $100 it's definitely worth the money for anyone who works with design, photography or video. It's not professional grade but you really don't need professional grade unless you run a print shop or something like that.

The PANTONE huey is carried by Amazon.com and Amazon.ca

Pink & Yellow Media - Blog Edition

I finally realized that creating a blog for our company would probably be a good idea. People are always asking us what we are up to and we don't always have time to update our website. At the same time I need a place where I can share all the interesting information about design I stumble across on the web. Putting it on our website just wouldn't work so a blog is the perfect sollution. On this blog you will find updates on our current and upcoming projects, links to anything design, photography or videography related I find interesting enough to share, some comments on whatever is going on on the web and whatever else I feel like writing about.

For those curious about how I got this blog to look the way it does:

The layout is based on Dan Cederholm's TicTac (Blueberry) - one of the standard layouts on Blogger.com . This new look was achieved by creating new graphics and making alterations to the layout script.

Enjoy your visit and come back often. We'll make a valiant effort to update this blog as frequently as possible.

For more information on Pink & Yellow Media visit our website at www.pinkandyellow.com