Ideas, Money & Art

Sometimes you don't feel creative V.1

Slogging through emails, keeping clients happy and watching cash flow does not lead to bursts of creative inspiration. Nevertheless, IMA is a creative company founded by two creative people who want to do great work. So what do I do when the spark is gone but a creative project needs to get done? Or worse, a concept needs to be birthed?

Find inspiration and watch how quickly you shift into that creative space. I use books, magazines and the Magic Box to get inspired (and sometimes envious). If you can use the existing art of the world to focus you on your own you'll be making pretty pictures in no time.

This website is one of my favorites. Art of the Title
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Don't Bite Me

We ask technology to save us all the time; airbags, spam filters, geo-engineering. Now we have something to keep the sharks away. It's called the Shark Shield. I saw an article about it on SFGate yesterday. Needless to say, as someone who surfs in the Red Triangle, I am open to any solutions that will keep my body in one piece. The Shark Shield appears to be that solution. If you watch the video you'll see that the guy testing the device is VERY confident it will work. That is one big Whitey he is swimming with.

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New iPhone Apps V.1

Here are some of the new apps I've found on the App Store. These are some of the basic ones. Next time I'll get into some of the more ridiculous ones. The screen captures are taken from the iPhone itself which is a great new feature. All in all, I'm truly impressed by new functionality of my Gen 1 phone (even if it took a while to update last Friday).

This one is Vicinity. It finds your position and tells you where the cafes, restaurants, bars, banks, grocery stores, etc are nearby. It also tells you how far away they are (in meters, no less).

The New York Times app lists the top news stories in a very iPhone friendly format (and they've already figured out how to make money on it).

One Tap Movies finds your location and shows you the nearest theaters and showtimes. You can then get directions to the theater and you can watch the movie trailer to see if you really want to see Hancock.

Last for today is the Pandora app. The beauty of this is the best internet radio stations are now available to you where ever you go. The sound quality is a little disappointing but the ability to listen to my Pandora list anywhere makes up for it. A great way to find new music.

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iPhone 2.0 test

Testing TypePads new iPhone app from the app store. So far, so good.

Soma Grand San Francisco Video

A few months ago we produced a testimonial video for the new, sleek Joie de Vivre condo Soma Grand. The Video is now live on their new website. Check it out. We think it turned out pretty well.

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Go Away

Malibu (not me)

I went on a brief vacation at the end of last week. I only missed 3 days of work and even then, with the iPhone, didn't really miss any work at all. However, I was able to relax and recharge. What a difference a couple of days make. I feel revitalized and very focused on what the company needs moving forward. Often times we lose focus on the grand plan when we get lost in the day to day. Nothing like a couple of days of surfing and playing golf to separate the forest from the trees. To everyone out there who is considering a trip, even a quick one, I say Go.

If you still don't believe me here is some science for ya.
Study says vacations make us more productive

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