Thrilled

Today I write at 1:00 AM AZ time as I cannot sleep. Though, my insomnia is not without reason. Today I was ecstatic to see that my first eBook cover had been formatted and uploaded, meaning you can now see my design in the Amazon Kindle store and wherever else Jeffrey Mariotte is selling his books.

This is exciting to me. My previous projects include mostly web work. This is a new market. A new medium (sort of). While it's still digital, it's an entirely different process and mindset than that of a website.

This little endeavor was a success as well. Not only did it seem the author enjoyed my work, but he has expressed interest in working more with me in the future. As a bonus, I've already been working with another client on two short story covers, both of which I'll be sharing on here when those have published as well.

It took a bit of hard work to get here, but I am happy with where I am going. I have many projects on the horizon, personal and professional. I look forward to pursuing the literary design passion further as well as continuing in my web ninja skills (of which I'm counting the days on launching another musical group's website).

Just thought I'd share the thrill quickly. More updates soon as the projects keep on rolling!

Busy year

I almost forgot I built my own blog.

That's how busy I've been.

Personally, I'm now married and more recently, I have a kid on the way!

Professionally, I've seen my busiest summer of freelance, added responsibilities as a project manager at EdOptions, and help co-found a game design company here in Arizona.

That's where all my time has gone.

But I do need to keep up on my own updates, so simply put, I'm going to put two of my summer projects here.

First of which, has been more of a year-long project, is the start-up game company: Hunger Interactive. Since joining, I've helped launch their Web & Mobile ambitions, with a Web site that is ever growing with articles, games, and more, and we're on the cusp of launching a Facebook game, a mobile app, and beginning a new mobile exclusive game.

When visiting, don't forget to check out the about page and my Getting Comfy with ActionScript 3.0 series of articles that I wrote.

My other summer project has been working for a couple musical groups in Kansas City, MO. I designed logos for both groups, both are related and wanted a similar style. The first site launched in August, the other is still being finalized. Both are done using WordPress's powerful tools so each group will be able to adjust content on their pages.

I have many projects still popping up and I still want to do freelance tips and tricks related posts here as well. Either way, you will be able to see articles by me at Hunger Interactive. But, hopefully it won't be nearly a year before my next post here. :P

First thing first

Ah, my first blog. What do we expect of first blogs though? Is this the post in which I am to set the pace for my entire blogging future? Do I just start with how I plan to blog later? Or is this more of an introduction to me and what I do?

Bah, who cares?!
I'm a designer, I do things the way I want. Hasn't led me wrong yet, why stop now (after all, it is: world by my design).

For those interested in knowing, I'm Cory Van Note. A Graphic and Web Designer based out of Phoenix, AZ. I've been in the freelance web and graphic business for the better part of a decade. I now lead a highly qualified team of designers at online educational company EdOptions. I also taught web and game design at ITT-Tech.

This blog will be my portal to you all. Whether it be production journal, tutorials, or simply a creative outlet.

Since this is the first one, I figured why not start off with a topic relating to how I first approach design work... by starting up music to work to. I have over 25 gigs of music I let run while I work. But, after much deliberation with myself, I do believe there are only a few albums that truly inspire me while I work. It took a while, but I do believe I have narrowed down that list to only five. I call this list:

My Top 5 Albums to Design to!

Before getting into it, I must say this was a hard contest and must honor a few that narrowly missed the list with an honorable mention.

HONORABLE MENTION:
THE RACONTEURS CONSOLERS OF THE LONELY

Jack White is an incredibly talented man. That said, his work in not only the Raconteurs, but the White Stripes and, most recently, the Dead Weather, is always inspiring. And as much as this album is one of my highest rated and most listened too, it's variety and rock out moments tend to get me momentarily distracted.

HONORABLE MENTION:
VAMPIRE WEEKEND VAMPIRE WEEKEND

Another highly rated album. Actually, in my iTunes it is one of the only album I have given 5 stars to all of the tracks. But despite it's incredible playability, if in the groove I can get pulled out of it by the rather unique sounds some of their songs have.

5  THE VILLAGE GREEN FREEING THE FALL

While this band never rose to limelight, this album still ranks in at number 5 on my list. The entire album has a fairly familiar tune to it. The band does not conceal the hippy influences from the 60s and 70s as many of their songs share the grunge garage rock of the classics. But the melody of it I find I can relax and sit down to get some work done while still tapping my foot to the bass lines.

4  QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE SONGS FOR THE DEAF

Queens of the Stone Age is one of those bands that never disappoints. I like a lot of their albums and quite enjoy playing their singles on Rock Band. The creativity in the Songs for the Deaf album is part of why I like it so much. The album packs a variety from track to track and smooths the transitions with an overall album motif of surfing the radio. There are a few fictional station identification breaks to help give that feeling. And even though it rocks quite a bit, the songs manage to spur me on rather than distract me.

3  AUTHORITY ZERO STORIES OF SURVIVAL

Authority Zero still remains as my favorite band. I can easily listen to any of their four albums, cover to cover. Still, the last two have managed to surpass their previous albums in quality. I've listened to 12:34 probably more times than I can count and was nervous when Stories of Survival came out that my expectations would be way too high. Well.. they were.. but once I got over the fact that my mind would not be blown with one play, I started to listen to it more and more. Since then this album has grown immensely on me. I love the punk/rock/reggae infusion that only Authority Zero can supply to my satisfaction.

2  SILVERSUN PICKUPS CARNAVAS

Silversun Pickups has a sound that I just can't get out of my head. The heavy grunge guitars and strong drums are combined to a spacey, laid-back kind of rock. The closest band that people often compare them to is the Smashing Pumpkins. And while I like the Smashing Pumpkins, I think the Silversun Pickups do it way better. It's smooth and can almost leave you in a dreamlike state. This one is not an album to be taken lightly. Their second album just as good if not better, yet I like the longer more instrumental songs of this album to work to.

1  THE VON BONDIES LOVE, HATE AND THEN THERE'S YOU

The Von Bondies have been together about as long as I have been doing Web Design. I've liked their Garage Rock tune since I first heard them in 2004. Not a weak track on this CD. They're all great. The lyrics are all well written and the amount of emotion in some of these tracks really gets you into it. I still cannot figure out why this one makes my number one spot, it just is catchy and has gotten me through a lot of projects. This one doubles for me as a nice break to sit back and listen, then come back with a clear mind and attack whatever problem has been bothering me.

There you have it, those are the albums that inspire and encourage me to keep doing great work. What gets you in the groove? I'd love to hear comments and perhaps find more albums for my list :P