jim thomson | freelance design | portland, or

We are just about finished with a little redesigning of my condo. I'm really happy with the results. The main goal was to get rid of the germ filled carpet. We repainted the walls and cabinets. And added new hardware to the kitchen and bathroom cabinets. New faucet in the kitchen. The floor we installed is IKEA's Tundra laminate. I was a little worried about the durability of the flooring but have been very surprised with the results.

The IKEA Expedit desk shelf system I already had and bought it to help divide my large living space in my condo. It ended up consuming the space more then dividing it. I was able to take it apart and push the pieces flush against the wall plus Jen's extra shelf of the same brand completed this wall of books and work space. I added short legs to the shelves so they could sit above the baseboard heater. My tabby spends most of her time in the bookshelf and now that it has 'central heat' she isn't going anywhere.Before

After



Before

After








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What I'm listening to right now:
Lady Sovereign - So Human

Labels: Design, Remodel

I've never been much of a photographer. I have always just done my best in post production to make the photos I take a little better. I also found that having an extremely large memory card for the camera helps. If you have a trigger finger, you are bound to have some great shots out of the mess.

I've been especially disappointed with any landscape scenery photo I take. It never compares to the vast scene I experienced with the full spectrum of my own eyes. So I've often taken panoramic pictures and stitched them together. It used to be a painstaking process in photoshop back in the day. Since Photoshop CS, a new feature called Photomerge has been added to get past most of the rocky steps. I also found that Panoramic Factory ($80) works really well for a fully automatic method with some touch up in Photoshop.

To create panoramics for free, you can also follow this handy tutorial at Lifehacker.

Plaza Mayor, Madrid

Museo del Prado, Madrid

Parque del Retiro, Madrid

Atocha Railway Station

Alcazar-Gardens, Seville

Port de Alcúdia, Mallorca

On Top of Sagrada Familia, Barcelona

Barcelona From Park Guell

Labels: Design, Panoramic Photography, Software, Stitching

Objectified is a new documentary about relationship between manufacturing and design of everyday objects and the people behind the design. I am very excited for this film but will sadly be out of the country during its showing at Cinema 21 in Portland, June 9th. As a designer I wonder how much of deign of an object is overlooked. I hope this movie will have people taking a second or third look at their stapler.

You can also check out the director, Gary Hustwit's, last documentary celebrating the history, impact and praise of the type style, Helvetica

Labels: Design, Documentary, Film, Objectified, Portland