Weblog on the beach fire
Part III in our continuing series of intros…
Introducing “Pimm”, Animator & Renaissance Man
Just leap in. A decree that sounds enticing to these ears o’ mine. For me, it’s reminiscent of a hot summer’s day when that phrase would be declared as a dare to all others as my 10 year old self would blaze across the local beach’s dock, picking up every possible splinter in my feet and clambering to hold onto my brother’s 2-sizes-too-big hand-me-down shorts. A dare I’d still be screeching out as I’d spring out into the air over the surface of the cool water. Of course, then there would come that Wiley Coyote moment where I’d hang in the air, my skin involuntarily goosepimpling, bracing for the irrefutable icy shock to come. The next instant, plunged beneath that frigid water, the effervescence of bubbles from impact massaging my tantalized skin, the sensation of refreshment and weightlessness as if in some mouthwash-seltzer solution. And as I’d drift up toward the shimmering surface, I’d realize the leap, the risk of what I’m sure I thought would be me inside a giant ice cube bobbing in the water the moment I resurfaced, was worth every splinter.
No need to worry though.
Just Leap In isn’t asking you to risk hypothermia. Heck, not even hyper-extension. Mouse manipulation isn’t quite that straining. And it’s not water they’re asking you to leap into. But let me tell you, it is refreshing.
I’m the kind of person who wants to play a video game this second, have my own soundtrack playing, chat with my buds, be browsing for a new dinner recipe, have at least 4 blogs and/or entertaining websites open, all the while checking out what new bicycles are cool yet affordable (because I swear I’m going to buy one this time). But the next second I want to shut it all out for “just me” time. Time I need to keep the sanity and let me absorb the extravagant prices of a decent bike. JLI is on the DL to habits like mine and is maneuvering to indulge my tendrilous reaches into the deep corners of my myriad preoccupations while letting me have most of the control. They’re creating a sort of a combo package combining a bunch of the things I listed above to give you and I something we’ve been expecting to show up sooner or later on the web. Something you and I are going to be be able to use, and, yeah, enjoy.
JLI is a company I have chosen to work for, so they haven’t just sold me on their charms alone. They’ve got a solid grasp on where you and I want to be and what we’d hope to accomplish when we’re traversing the web as our digital alter-egos. Just Leap In’s concepts for the what could be conceived as an advancement in the evolution of the individual’s online “presence”, once explained to me, seemed, well, obvious. Obvious in one of those epiphanic, wish-I’d-thought-of-that kind of ways. The kind where, say, you’re struggling for a new graphic design and your 2 year old shows you the wall mural she just made out of peanut butter and bananas and you think, “Of course!” Creative uniqueness achieved and you’ve got your choice of sandwich made for next day’s lunch! Yup, a double whammy. That’s how Just Leap In does it. When you get a chance to experience what Just Leap In is, as the end user, you’ll understand that as much as you’re a part of them, you’re all you. You, your friends, your music, your interests, your own virtual hangout. You, just hanging, chatting, or exploring the virtual world out beyond your space.
The ideas Just Leap In has are great ones. I can’t unveil the intimates of everything that you’ll be able to have and do, but soon. And, unlike that cold lake water back home, you’ll definitely want to just leap in.
C U there.
-Pimm
Team Intros, Part II: Introducing "Alegna", web designer & usability consultant
Continuing our series of team profiles with a new Q&A…
Q: So, madam, what do you do here?
“Alegna”: Ask a million questions, make things pretty, harass developers about typography, and learn something new everyday. They call me “Web “Designer.”
Worst usability examples: three bullet points, ascending importance.
- • bullet points (kidding!)
- • devices that don’t work when charging
- • having to drill down a million levels to get a single piece of punctuation
(see my cell phone)
Facebook: will it change the world?
Hasn’t it already? Where else can you find your Egyptian pen-pal from your preteens and all your ex-boyfriends in the same place?
Give us some examples of great web design.
Here we go (like everything, they’re open to debate…)
- • Best architecture/search engine: www.imdb.com (a classic)
- • most interesting experimental (in the social realm):
www.jonathanharris.org - • simplest: www.rethinkadvertising.com
- • best student portfolio: www.okaydave.com
Describe your fashion sense in a few words.
Depends on the day: somewhere between “lazy street sense” and “pretending to be a grown-up”
If you weren’t working here, why would you join Just Leap In?
So I can throw blocks at my friends’ heads without legal intervention (and I get to keep my friends). [Beta testers: this will make sense… soon. –ed.]
Three blogs you can’t live without?
I’m not really a blogger… but:
Favorite world city?
Seeing as “world travel” is on top of my list of life goals, (right after trying every sushi place in Vancouver and saving enough money to go somewhere cool) I can’t speak to this question just yet but will report back soon… I do have a distant affection for New York…
Favourite beverage?
Anything with Rum… Vodka… Red Wine.. Beer… but not at the same time… on the lighter side I seem to need at least a liter of Sun-Rype juice a day (no endorsements here)
“Another unsettling element in modern art is that common symptom of immaturity, the dread of doing what has been done before.” —Edith Wharton. Discuss in your own words.
I’m going to paraphrase Aristotle here.. and say that every new idea is found in the unique combination of things already discovered… do I believe this completely?
No. only about 98.7%...
Good design rarely occurs in a bubble, but is inspired by the people, objects, and experiences we encounter everyday. Meeting someone new on the street, a shiny bicycle, a rusty bicycle, a disturbing story on the news…or just the way the light shines through your blinds in the morning
Moral of story: doing something completely new is courageous… but improving on the past is probably a more practical way to change the world. I don’t think I said anything new there.
