It’s incredibly difficult to find people with just the right measure of ambition.
“We cannot seek achievement for ourselves and forget about progress and prosperity for our community… Our ambitions must be broad enough to include the aspirations and needs of others, for their sakes and for our own.” — Cesar Chavez
Ambition is the cornerstone of my personality. It serves as the foundation to my career, my personal development, and my desire to become a happier, well-rounded person. But like everything else in life, it’s something I strive to keep in check. …
Grad school is making me realize that I’m at a creative crossroads.
When I was 9, I wanted to be a mangaka—even though I lived in the backwater part of New Jersey and had no idea how brutal the actual work schedules of manga artists in Japan are.
When I was 10, I said I wanted to make video games. But I had no idea what that entailed and I Googled colleges (I know, I was a ridiculous child) within two hours of my home but Computer Science was the closest thing I could find. But that required a lot of math and you should try being homeschooled by two C and…
Before you know it, being a “writer” becomes a dominant part of your identity.
Being a writer has been a part of my identity for most of my life, which is pretty strange to think about. I started writing for fun when I was a child and even wrote an absolutely terrible novel when I was 11, but I didn’t talk about being a writer back then. Ironically, I only felt comfortable defining myself as a writer after I finished my undergrad degree in literature. But that was a very stiff and unconfident way of thinking.
If you write, then you’re a writer. If you think there’s some kind of rite of passage you…
I set out to read as many big names in writing and publishing as possible.
I picked up an audiobook of Neverwhere and decided to dive into my first reading (or listening to, if we must get technical) experience with Neil Gaiman’s work.
After seeing his Masterclass advertised a dozen different times and reading excellent pieces of writing advice from him, I knew I had to properly sit down and read his work.
As soon as I finished the book, I decided to do some Google creeping, and I made some interesting discoveries.
Gaiman started out in the world of comics.
While this is certainly common knowledge to many, I had no idea that he was a titan in the comics industry and…
This story will scratch your sci-fi itch, but it does have some weaknesses.
I was in desperate need of a space opera after reading a lot of fantasy. As much as I love both genres, I needed a little sci-fi palette cleanser. After months of seeing it recommended on Audible, I picked up Black Sheep, the first book of Rachel Aukes’ Flight of the Javelin series.
Book one was a fun, easy read.
The scenario hooked me from the start. The crew is cycling between cryosleep cycles to make an agonizingly long journey through space to find a planet to colonize. …
I’m a writer figuring out the best multimedia applications of my ideas.
As a writer studying Integrated Digital Media, I come to most projects with an agenda in mind. How can I integrate the written word with digital media in new, exciting ways? How can I create visualizations or experiences that relate to the written word somehow?
I really do believe that combining the written word with digital media might just be the key to getting people to read more, to engage with valuable stories more often. …
I’ve always been active in online social communities, but the dynamics are changing for me.
In the past few weeks, my social calendar took a hit in favor of focusing on final projects. I’m wrapping up my first year of grad school. After spending three long application cycles trying to find the right grad school, working hard on what I create is a very big priority for me.
Nevertheless, with one class done, another almost done, and just one big project left to conquer, I took a step into VRChat again. Back in March, I had a pretty ridiculous tale of fail in VRChat, so I wanted to give it a whirl again and iron…
In an odd way, it feels like a rite of passage.
“My father taught me that you can you read a hundred books on wisdom and write a hundred books on wisdom, but unless you apply what you learned then its only words on a page. Life is not lived with intentions, but action.”
― Shannon Alder
In the unlikely setting of a community college, gen ed history class, I got some of the best life advice I’ve ever had. My professor was an older gentleman who served in the army before walking the path of academia and becoming a professor. …
Putting type in motion is an exciting jump into the world of visual storytelling.
“Kinetic typography can be seen as a vehicle for adding some of the properties of film to that of text.”
— Johnny C. Lee, Jodi Forlizzi, Scott E. Hudson
When I started my grad school journey in the Integrated Digital Media program at New York University, I said that I was interested in visual storytelling. That interest remains true and I was really excited to learn motion graphics with a focus on putting type in motion as a part of my Visual Design course this spring. I’ve been chronicling my progress in my A Designer’s Diary publication throughout the semester.
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I’m starting to make decent headway on my first kinetic typography project, but I still have a ways to go.
I’m starting to make decent headway on my first kinetic typography project, but I still have a ways to go. This week, I got into the nitty-gritty of really bringing my storyboard to life with transition animations
When figuring out my accent text, I initially just used different colors of Rick and Beth’s respective fonts. However, this was just a simple way to create contrast and I didn’t really think about the thematic value of the contrast formatting. …
Leigh Fisher
Writer and poet from Neptune. Instructional designer in NYC. Grad student at @NYUTandon studying Integrated Digital Media.
