shannon farrell

cracked in the cranium

Shannon Farrell — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 14:46:03 +0000

I had a dream one night. Like most of my dreams, it was a little strange. It took place a few years ago while I was in college at NYIT. My dream included my typography professor, who was a strict but very knowledgeable and talented typographer. In the dream, he basically bashed my work (as he did to students daily) and told me that the only school I could go to was the school of Cracked in the Cranium. He then said that in a few years I would improve as a designer and be able to attend a better design school, which had made me extremely excited for some strange reason.

When I woke up, I immediately remembered him saying Cracked in the Cranium and found it really funny. It stuck with me ever since. I always thought it represented me in a way and what I would want as a future company: crazy & fun at times, and always striving to be better (with design and everything else in my life.)

In came Sonny Gill. I met him at work and we got along right away. We had the same sense of humor and he happened to be even crazier than me at times. More than that, he had some of the same goals that I had and even though he was in digital marketing, he had a huge passion for design. I would share design links with him and ask him for his thoughts and ideas on many of my design projects. I thought we made a good team and soon we started having “CITC” (Cracked in the Cranium) meetings at Panera Bread to discuss the future of my idea.

After about a million redesigns, we finally came up with one that we liked and are finally launching Cracked in the Cranium, our new design company dedicated to fulfilling your web and graphic design needs – in a funky, fresh and creative way. We’re super excited that it’s live and are ready to take on new adventures and projects.

Also, you’ve probably noticed that I haven’t been blogging much as of late. What’s been on my mind is the direction and focus of my blog. I originally liked the idea of having a design blog on my personal site but lately I have been thinking of keeping my personal site as strictly a portfolio and starting a separate design-focused blog. Having these ideas running in my head made me take a step back from shannonfarrell.com and think of next steps and where that next level of inspiration and design was going to be for me but also my community here.

So, as I continue to sketch out my ideas for the future of this blog and other design ventures, let me know what you think of CITC and what you would like to see more of from my blog. I would love your feedback!

photographer spotlight – darrian amaker

Shannon Farrell — Thu, 28 May 2009 12:14:50 +0000

I just wanted to share some amazing photographs from a 17 year old. She could definitely be included among the other amazing young talent I posted in designers, developers, and bloggers under 18. She is also my cousin so maybe I am biased but I think her work is awesome and I can’t wait to see where she’s at in 10 years. I think she has great composition and has a knack for capturing “the moment” in many of her photos. Feel free to check our her flickr.

demographics – portfolio of david orellana

Shannon Farrell — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 18:44:42 +0000

David is actually one of my very good friends from college in NYC. We had tons of design classes together and were even in a band at one point. Not only is he a friend, but he’s honestly a very talented individual. I taught this kid everything he knows. Ok not really, but I did help teach him Illustrator and that makes me feel special He’s a seriously fast learner. I used to try to talk to him about web design and coding and he wasn’t too interested. Print was his passion, but just a few months ago he decided to spend more time getting into web design and learning code.

He learned CSS in about a week and built his site incredibly fast. I can say that I’m definitely impressed with his site because of his use of jquery and other elements. This from a guy who was just using tables two weeks before designing his new site :p

Aside from web design, he does killer illustrations and I think he has a unique style. The majority of the time his designs are full of bright colors which totally fit his crazy personality. He’s an all-around cool guy. He’s also a guy that is looking for work or freelance opportunities. If you like his work then let him know – info [at] demographicsonly [dot] com.

Enough of that – go see his site! (refresh for different quotes)

and the man behind the art…

clean and cool twitter backgrounds

Shannon Farrell — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 16:24:50 +0000

There are a ton of cool Twitter background designs out there now. I have listed a few that caught my attention from either their creativity or very simplistic design.

@betterinpink

@cdharrison

@chadengle

@benek

@johnonolan

@bleau

@frankidurbin

@nathansmith

@robertbanh

@chrisspooner

@msilveruk

@sonnygill

@mypantone

@antonea

@briancray

@danijanev

@missneela

@nnes

follow friday – sonny gill

Shannon Farrell — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 16:00:46 +0000

If you are a frequent user of Twitter, then you probably know what Follow Friday is (or #followfriday). Every Friday twitterers recommend people that they think others should follow. It’s a nice idea, but lately it seems as though people recommend everyone on their follow list. I feel as though Follow Friday has lost some of its value and I value the ones that give reasons as to why the person should be followed. I know it’s hard because there are lots of people that I would suggest others follow but if people have no reason to follow they are likely to just not bother. Half of the time I am suggested as someone to follow, it’s by someone who is not even following me. So doesn’t that defeat the purpose of this whole Follow Friday thing? Last Friday I thought that maybe I should do a weekly post on who people should follow and why. Last week I did one for designers, developers, and bloggers under 18 but I wanted to start to focus on one person each week. I will still list people on Twitter but this weekly post will give an in-depth reason to follow a particular person.

I thought the most appropriate person for the first week would be my good friend Sonny Gill. I found it funny that he separately came up with the same basic idea last week with his Follow Friday on Steroids. Sonny is the one who introduced me to Twitter. I had my doubts about it because the only updates I had seen were ones about what people had just ate or what they were going to go watch on tv. I didn’t really understand the purpose of Twitter and didn’t bother with it. He explained that it was much more than just “stupid” updates. It’s a place to build connections and get to know people who are into the same things as you. In my case, I have gotten to know some really cool design people because of Twitter. People are always ready to help with any design or development questions you are having a problem with.

Sonny has built up quite a community and it continues to grow. He is more known among his marketing and social media friends, but he is a cool person for anyone to follow. He’s funny and crazy at times but he’s also available to help you with anything you may need help with. If you’re a person who likes to excessively talk about sports (:D) then he’s also a good person to connect with. He also has a good eye for design and I usually ask him for feedback on designs I make. Also, f you need some help with Wordpress (as far as installation and some trouble-shooting), he can usually give you a hand.

If you’d like to learn more, visit his site at www.sonnygill.com

If you’re already convinced, follow him @sonnygill

designers, developers, & bloggers under 18

Shannon Farrell — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 19:39:16 +0000

Recently, I was followed by a few young designers on Twitter and I was impressed with what I saw. I decided to do a post featuring a few of them but when I started researching I was surprised at how many young, inspiring entrepreneurs there are out there. I wish I had been that motivated and created things like they have that when I was that young. Not only are they talented, but they have great social skills and are eager to learn. Many of them have built up a pretty big Twitter community and I was surprised at how they are utilizing it to better themselves and others. I remember starting out when I was that age with free angelfire hosting and creating some really horrible sites. These young entrepreneurs will only get better with time so feel free to chat with them and give them some words of encouragement. I’ve compiled a list with their Twitter addresses and a link to their personal site. Let me know if there is anyone that I have missed and add them to the list!

9miles Media is graphic and web design studio run by a group of 9 young and talented individuals from all over the globe. You should definitely check them out! Here is a list members.

@9miles – 9miles Media (9milesmedia.com)

@gotmelik – Melik Yuksel | age 14 (gotmelik.com)

@jylan – Jylan Wynne | age 16 (jylanwynne.com)

@hayespotter – Hayes Potter | age 14 (hayespottercom)

@ben_armstrong – Ben Armstrong | age 14 (ben-armstrong.com)

@JoelDrapper – Joel Drapper | age 15 (joeldrapper.com)

@sodevious – Nicole Dominguez | age 14 (sodevious.net)

@WDC – David M Lemcoe Jr. | age 14 (lemcoe.com/phpsysinfo)

@DonaldHarvey – DonaldHarvey | age 14

@ColtonCockman – ColtonCockman | age 14

Here are some other impressive young people.

@teenproblogger – age 16 (www.blogussion.com)

@AlexFraiser – Alex Fraiser | age 15 (www.blogussion.com)

@farrhad – age 15 (www.letssermo.com)

@lewisking – Lewis King | age 15 (lewisking.net)

@joshbuckley – Josh Buckley | age 16 (www.joshbuckley.net)

@ganeshsrinivas – Ganesh | age 15 (www.onlinebull.com, www.teenblogger.net, www.blogsmartly.com)

@AravindJose – Aravind Jose T. | age 17 (aravindjose.com/blog)

@jakemates – Jake Mates | age 11 (www.jakemates.com)

@MeghnaK – Meghana | age 13 (meghnaspages.blogspot.com)

@kidblogger – Carl Ocab | age 15 (www.carlocab.com)

@ShaneHudson – Shane Hudson | age 15 (successcircuit.com)

@lukeanderson – Luke Anderson | age 11 (lpanderson.net)

@SamAsante – Sam Asante | age 17 (www.asantedev.com)

@scottcampb – Scott Campbell | age 13 (netnewsdaily.com)

@stanleytang – Stanley Tang | age 16 (www.stanleytang.com)

“The Teens in Tech Conference is bringing youth and technology together in San Francisco. Learn from teenagers what they think about the current trends of teenage technology. Feel inspired to create technology, at a younger age all the Teens in Tech Conference. From developers, to entrepreneurs, to video-blogging, find it all the 2009 Teens in Tech Conference. The conference idea came to teenage entrepreneur, Daniel Brusilovsky and his business partner, Sam Levin. After numerous weeks of planning, the Teens in Tech Conference came to life!”

@teensintechconf – Teens in Tech Conference (www.teensintechconf.com)

@danielbru – Daniel Brusilovsky | age 16 (www.danielbru.com)

@siyab – Muhammad Siyab | age 16 (www.puttingblogsfirst.com, www.listfied.com)

@Gloson – Gloson Teh | age 11 (www.glosonblog.com)

abdulrehman | age 16 (www.3arn.net)

@jshmrsn – Josh Rosen | age 17 (www.licentiasoftware.com)

@mike868y – Mike Martin | age 16 (mikemartinracing.com)

Like I said, there are many talented young entrepreneurs out there and I am sure many of them are missing from this list so feel free to leave a comment and let me know of any others.

As pointed out by Glosen, there is also a big list of young bloggers at http://www.youngestblogger.com

beautiful march photos

Shannon Farrell — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 19:07:06 +0000

“In like a lion, out like a lamb.” That’s definitely the case for Virginia Beach. I grew up in Rochester, NY where there is excessive amounts of snow but I haven’t seen much snow since I moved here. This morning I finally woke up to see the ground covered with snow and ice (even though just a few days ago it was 70 degrees). March is one of those unpredictable months and I thought it would be interesting to show photos of what March looks like in different parts of the world. What does March look like where you are?

Ft. Lauderdale, Florida

France

United Kingdom

Ontario, Canada

Florida

Brunnen, Switzerland

Oakville, Canada

Poland

Teijo, Finland

Rome, Italy

Røsholmstranda, Tyrifjorden, Norway

Spain

Poland

Earth

Latvia

Bergen, Norway

United States

Australia

Amsterdam

New York City

North Berwick, Scotland

Hilton Head, South Carolina

United States

horror, humor, and heroes

Shannon Farrell — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 16:29:48 +0000

The book cover I designed for my brother-in-law Jim Bernheimer has finally been published. It’s called Horror, Humor, and Heroes and it is a collection of short stories and a novella. The cover design is based on the novella in the book called “Confessions of a D-List Supervillain” which is about a supervillain who is the only one able to save the world. If you’re interested in science fiction with a humorous twist, you can find it here on Amazon. Here’s the back cover text in case anyone is interested:

Meet Calvin Stringel, also known as Mechani-Cal, in the novella “Confessions of a D-List Supervillain.” He’s a down on his luck minor league bad guy, who just happens to be the human race’s last hope. That’s assuming he even wants to save it.

Watch how far a producer will go to televise the first live, pay per view werewolf hunt. Of course with live television, anything can happen.

See an Earth, much like our own, where the most dangerous job on the planet is capturing zombies…for profit! It’s a “green” energy solution like you’ve never imagined.

Laugh as a vampire tries to convince his life insurance company to pay up. Will his vaunted powers be enough to overcome bureaucratic red tape?

Attend a different sort of political rally and decide whether you would
vote for the first zombie to run for Congress. No matter what, always
vote for BRAINS!

Imagine what happens when science goes awry and Mother Nature unleashes her fury. Get to know a draftee forced to fight against giant creatures in the dangerous Midwest Quarantine Zone.

These are just some of the stories you will find in Horror, Humor, and Heroes. This collection includes twelve of Jim’s finest short stories, a novella and a preview of a forthcoming novel. So sit back, relax and enjoy the ride.

stefano maggio site redesign

Shannon Farrell — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 00:57:56 +0000

I’ve finally finished a site redesign for a friend of mine and made it live – www.stefanomaggio.com. I’ve been wanting to update it since it was originally made with tables (I know, eww) and I also wanted to give it a more modern and professional look. Because it had a set height, it was impossible to add new information without having a scroll bar inside of the design. This version uses more CSS and less images so it should be much easier to update. I’m pretty embarassed by the old design now but I’ll share it anyway…

Here is what the original site looked like before the redesign.

And here is the redesigned site…

angie n evan

Shannon Farrell — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 04:03:15 +0000

With Valentine’s Day around the corner (“yay” for some… not so much for others), I thought I’d make a wallpaper with my latest illustrated couple – the exclaimators. I will be using them more often for upcoming holidays and random occasions. I always thought !_. was a cool face to type (cuz I’m weird) and so I turned it into some characters. Meet Angie and Evan.

Below, I have included a variety of wallpaper sizes for you to download.

800×600, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1920×1200