Don’t take that tone with me

I hate to say it, but I completely regret upgrading to Snow Leopard on my main web development laptop. The issues have been pretty horrendous. The issues are so bad, I will either have to downgrade to Leopard or put certain programs on an older machine so I can still use them.

First, Fireworks no longer opens. This is a complete drag, as I use it for alpha transparency in png8 files. It’s a great trick that only Fireworks does (to my knowledge), but now I can’t use it.

If you double-click an .ai file to open the program, Illustrator always crashes. You can work around this by opening Illustrator first and them double clicking the file, but what a pain in the butt.

And now I’ve discovered a new issue. In Flash, many of my fonts are not recognized. I have an xml-driven site I’m developing, and Flash no longer can find an outline of the font I’m using. Therefore, the text no longer displays. So I either downgrade or start over on a client’s site. Arrrrggg!

The upgrade also has caused problems with Microsoft Word (albeit a very old version – Word:Mac version X… but one that was completely working). Old documents will not print. Oh it goes through the motions, but only a blank sheet comes out of the printer. Saving to PDF is also a problem. Once again, it goes through the motions, but sometimes the file just doesn’t show up. If I pull the .doc into Pages (Apple’s word processor), the layout is jacked to the high heavens. That never used to occur.

After quite a bit of reading on the Apple forums, it looks like I’m not the only one having major issues with Apple’s new operating system. It looks like maybe Snow Leopard doesn’t support Postscript Type 1 fonts. You gotta be kidding me. So now we designers might have to repurchase all of our older fonts? This blows.

Apple, you are better than this. Why did you have to go and pull a Vista on us?

I recently completed a site for Mike Christiansen (mikechristiansen.com). Mike is the head of the Utah State Guitar Program, an amazing player, and a really cool cat. Featured on his new site is a book Mike developed called “My First Guitar Book.” It’s the most innovative teaching book I’ve ever seen for young children. It utilizes a unique color-coded system to help young children make connections between notes and strings.

Because of my long history in guitar education and with the instrument, Mike hired me to lay the book out. It was a challenge, as it it needed to be very clear and easy to read for children. I’m really proud of it and, more importantly, so is Mike!

mikechristiansen.com - developed by FarisWheel Productions

We’ve been busy in the FarisWheel camp, lately! Here’s a quick run down of what we’ve been working on:

FarisWheel Productions – Graphic Design
I just finished a website for national singing sensation “The Cactus Cuties.” If you haven’t heard these girls’ rendition of The Star Spangled Banner, you are seriously missing out! The’ve gotten over 5 million hits on YouTube in 3 months!

I also just completed an album cover for Texas Country veterans, Honeybrowne. Fred Andrews, the band leader, songwriter, and singer, is a great cat to work with.

At the Amusement Park Studio
I’ve created a new track for Bobby Bookout that is a rendition of an old Frank Sinatra tune. I can’t wait to debut it… we’ve twisted and mutated it like only the Amusement Park can do!

I’m finishing up mixing The Archers. They are a screamo band based in Lubbock. I really dig these cats. Check ‘em out!

We’re also finishing vocals for the up-coming This Soul Divided EP. The tracks sound great and I can’t wait to start mixing them!

And, last but not least, we found a few spare moments to mix a tune by Amy and Scott called “I Forgot.” Those of you who know our past, the song is a continuation of the 100 Love Sonnets spirit. Look for a new musical project soon!

Visual Art

I had the pleasure of being included in a gallery exhibit of musicians who are also visual artists at the Buddy Holly Center in Lubbock, TX. I have two sculptures (Bite and Brian No. 3) and four photographs in the exhibit. Ben Mercado, the Chief Engineer at the Amusement Park Studio, also displayed his photography and painting. The show will be up for a month.

There’s an old quote that says, “A plumber always has leaky pipes.” That’s because they work so hard fixing other people’s problems that they never have time to work around their own home. Well somehow in between producing websites, album covers, music and graphics for countless others, we’ve finally upgraded our own pipes. FarisWheel.com is reborn! Please check it out and let us know what you think.

I’m at the SXSW Interactive Festival right now soaking up the good vibes. Just heard a talk by Josh Grober (Daring Fireball) and Michael Lopp (Apple). Inspiring!

I can’t believe I haven’t touched this in so long. I have a tendency to get too busy and lose track of time. So here’s an update on what I’ve done since my last post on Sep. 1.

Web Design
Shane Shepherd, my partner in the web design firm FarisWheel Productions, and I launched a major website rebuild for WestMark Realtorsâ„¢ and their sister site Pat Ham Realtorsâ„¢ in our hometown of Lubbock, Texas. Their original site design was very dated and didn’t function properly. We updated the graphics, navigation and developed a database application that searches over 50,000 properties. It was a huge amount of work and a really rewarding project. These are before and after screen shots of both sites.

I also built an initial .psd design for the Apostolic Orthodox Catholic Church, Western Rite. It was extremely well received and the site is currently under development.

I’m in process for another site, as well. Juanita Ulloa is a phenomenal singer whom the Hispanic press has called “The High Priestess of Operachi.” A unique stylist, she blends Mariachi and Opera in a stunning fashion. You can check out her current site, and here’s a shot of where I’m headed on it.

In some old web design news, Shane and I also built a new site for country music legend Johnny Lee. You might remember Johnny from the ’70s movie “Urban Cowboy” and for the hit he sang, “Looking For Love In All The Wrong Places.” We did a cool knob-turning effect with Johnny’s favorite amp, a Music Man, for the navigation. Check it out: JohnnyLeeFanclub.com.

Producing, Recording & Album Covers
Les Eason and the Steen Regime
At the Amusement Park Studio, I finished mixing Les Eason’s debut release, New World. We’re super happy with the record. Les is an great songwriter. If he plays in a town near you, don’t miss him. He’s got a great sense of melody and some really infectious songs. You can here them on his myspace page. Listen now! The CD was mastered by Jim Wilson at Airshow Mastering.

I also am finishing up Les’s album cover. I’m finishing the text layout tonight so we can press it. Here are some proofs (without text).

Bobby Bookout
I’ve been working with singer/songwriter Bobby Bookout on his debut disc. We’re working with Travis and Paul, owners of the Slanted Shack Studio in Austin, TX. I’ve spent several months (with me ferrying back and forth from Lubbock to Austin) in pre-production with Bobby, and he is so talented. He works until the song is right. He doesn’t give up on a line, and I’ve never heard him say, “Aww, that’s good enough.” His caring level about his art form is off the chart, and that thrills me. I got back from Austin last week where I got to track a couple of my fav guitarists: Keenan LeVick and Cale Richardson. The tracks sound stunning. Great songs, great players, great tones. Man, pinch me. I’m having fun! I’ll be posting some rough tracks in the future. Cale will be tracking more guitar and Hammond organ with me at the Amusement Park next, as the band he plays with (Ryan James) will be a guest artist on Thursday Night Live at South Plains College.

No Fences and some final thoughts
Finally, Ben and I tracked a quick demo for local Texas country band No Fences. They are super nice guys. A cool thing happened on this project. They came in, and in a week, we handed them a five-song demo (including 200 units… I now own a duplicator). Back when I was full-time at the college, I couldn’t do that. My schedule was too full to work on projects like that. As a matter of fact, I wouldn’t have gotten to do any of this if I hadn’t jumped off the cliff.

Thanks to everyone for supporting me in my leap of faith. Special thanks to all my friends out there who have and are praying for me and my family during this transition. I feel it, and it brings me closer. Next blog, I’ll finish with the David Brandon sessions… and I have a big announcement as well. Until then!