Book of Lorem Ipsum

Last.fm wallpapers

2012-05-15T14:32:05Z

Here are some wallpapers made from my Last.fm album covers. Enjoy!

Using the iPad as a creative tool

2011-04-04T13:32:24Z

Although everyone seems to regard it as a bigger iPod touch, I don’t. As a matter of fact, since day 1 I saw the real potential of this device. Having a touch surface that can be used as a music controller is huge. There used to be a touch based music controller called Lemur, which did cost way over a thousand bucks. Guess what: now it’s not selling anymore. Why? Because the iPad can do that, oh… and much more because it’s “a bigger iPod touch” too :D

So I’ve bitten the bullet and bought one too. And I really love it. I can carry it around with greater ease than my Macbook, and the best thing is I have Garage Band installed on it. That means I have a small DAW in my backpack all the time. It’s great to be able so sketch musical ideas while on the go, and finish them later in the studio.

I’ve sold my MIDI keyboard and use the iPad as a wireless one instead (see article photo). It doesn’t compare to the real thing, but since my main instrument is guitar and I’m using the keys just for chords, it does the trick for me. Oh, speaking of guitar, I bought an Apogee Jam, and using Garage Band and other two cool apps I can turn the iPad into a guitar effects processor with built in looper, drums, instruments & shit and use it for practice, or recording sketches.

I can also use it as a touch turntable to lay down scratches on my beats. Really helpful. You should definitely check out DJay if you’re into scratching and have an iPad/iPhone.

So there you have it. The iPad is not “just a bigger iPod touch used for consuming content”.

UPDATE: Here are some songs composed and arranged entirely on the iPad: Modjo - Lady (cover) and Retro Electro

Walking on Lipscani

2011-02-12T10:17:04Z

I really love the old city center of Bucharest. It’s full of life now. Enjoy !

The beginning of a new beginning

2011-02-01T15:32:54Z

Hi, long time no see. Well… I’ve been busy. And a little stressed. Oh, blame Twitter for that.
Anyway…

I decided to change some things in my life to lose the stress and I started with my job. Yup, many probably know, many don’t, that starting today I’m no longer Creative Director at MB Dragan. I needed a change of direction, a breath of fresh air from all that clientwork-feedback-clientwork-morefeedback-moreclientrowk stuff.

An opportunity took chance in the first week of 2011 and I’ve decided to take my chances. I’ll cut the bullshit and skip to the point. I didn’t leave for another agency – as a matter of fact I’m still a partner at MB Dragan – I decided to work with Bullguard as an UX Designer. I’m part of a small team of professionals and I’m pretty excited about the cool stuff laying ahead.

What I’ll miss

The people I’ve met and had the chance to work with at MB Dragan. In 3 and a half years I had the pleasure to share my second home with a bunch of the most wicked, creative, crazy dudes & dudettes a person can wish for. They were funny – way to funny, dude –, hardworking and good teammates, and most of all my second family.

I’ll miss you guys! Dizzu, Maria, Cezara, Flori, Boar, Alex, Cristi and the rest of the gang !!!
I hope our paths will cross somehow in the future, but until then our food paths will surely cross at lunch !

Stay hungry, stay foolish!

Yo Dawg ! We’ve heard you like glossy

2010-11-25T08:31:39Z

Yo Dawg, we’ve heard you like glossy, so we’ve put a glossy LCD inside a glossy iMac so you can curse the reflections while you curse the reflections while trying to work!

I tried to remove the glossy screen on my iMac so I could work with the sun behind me. Although the system is nifty – it has magnets – I was very disappointed to find out that the actual LCD is glossy too…

Connect your guitar to your iPhone

2010-11-02T14:20:10Z

So now there are a lot of iPhone apps like Ampkit or iRig that simulate guitar amps. And you’re dying to connect your guitar to the iPhone and play some licks…

Problem is those “interfaces” are quite pricey and hard to find – at least here in Romania. The Ampkit Link, which is supposed to be a battery powered preamplifier and impedance matcher, is actually great, but its build quality is desirable… way to desirable.

I couldn’t play my guitar because it had a faulty cable. The tech support were kind and I guess they’ll replace it.

Anyway… the problem is I REALLY WANT TO PLAY my guitar. So I found a solution.

I bought a used iPod AV cable, and converted it to a guitar cable with no hassle. Click on the photo to view it large.

You can find a tutorial here. The problem is that without a preamp, the guitar sounds a little muffled, and you have some noise when you use distorsion pedals. But it works very well.

Update You have to attach a 1kΩ resistor on the guitar jack in order to match the impedance with the iPhone’s. I must say, it works damn well now.

I heart autumn 2010

2010-09-27T07:01:02Z

Call me bohemian or romantic or whatever, but I love autumn!
It’s the season that makes me feel like a kid again – no worries, no nothing. Yesterday I visited my grandparents, the grapes were ripe and this beautiful late autumn sun was flooding my soul with its warmth.

So… I decided to pull out my camera and grab some shots. These are the results.

What I’ve been up to lately. Future thoughts

2010-09-24T08:24:44Z

Missed me ? ... Aw… C’mon, not even a little ?
Well, I’ve missed you guys!

I’ve been busy like a bee with office work, and some personal work.

The big thing is I’ve been designing two iPad apps that will come out in the near future, and I’m very excited about how they look and feel. But unfortunately I can’t tell you anything yet.
I’m beginning to like this stuff more and more. Unlike web stuff, you get to design apps that are more engaging and interactive than a webpage.

I’ll keep you up to date and believe me – I can’t wait to show you guys what I’ve been working on!!!

Meanwhile, if you would like to build an awesome iPhone or iPad app and need some brute design force, let me know. I’ll be more than happy to help you out!

Cheers !

Brit pop - late night jamming

2010-09-16T20:02:09Z

Brit Pop by alexbuga

Did this while jamming on my Maschine to clear my mind and forget some stuff that’s been bothering me for a while… now going to buy some beers to finish what I’ve started.

I know, I know I’ve promised you a cool slider, and you’ll have it soon. Need more polishing, and it’s yours.

iChoice – An iPhone fan thoughts on Android

2010-06-30T14:00:06Z

First of all, a little bit of history.

I was and still am an iPhone fan. I had a 2g iPhone wich now resides in my fiancee’s purse, then upgraded to a 3G and was very happy with it. Then I started to get pissed by various limitations. I know it sounds silly but I had to jailbreak the damn thing in order to put on a fuckin wallpaper.

So I’ve decided to try the HTC hero.
I loved the damned thing but Android needed a little catching up and the screen was too small for my fingers. So I sold it and returned to the 3g. But Android got me thinking with all those sweet features like replaceable sd card and battery, widgets, better home screen and notifications… etc, and I still kept an eye on Google.

Meanwhile

Android evolved real quick and it gained my attention again. So I sold the 3g and got an HTC Desire and then the Nexus one (don’t ask why, but Nexus is more awesome). And boy I don’t regret it. It’s packed with features, it’s open and to my surprise Android it looks very polished since my last encounter.

Although I still admire the iPhone for the beautiful desingn and polish of the iOS4, I love the Nexus. Like… wtf do you need folders on iOS4, if you only can put 12 apps in them. Like WTF ?

Anyway… As a designer I love the iOS look, feel and user experience, but the power user in me loves the pack of features on Android.

But what I don’t understand is why the hell I keep getting replies from Apple Mactards (there’s a huge diff between fanboys and mactards) like “Oh but they copy Apple, oh but that’s stolen from the iPhone”.

You know what? I don’t give a shit! They did it well! And you know what’s funny?

Take a car for example. It has 4 wheels, 4 doors and you drive it with a steering wheel. But I don’t hear Opel fans bitching at Toyota fans with stupid phrases like “Oh but Opel invented the steering wheel. Opel invented the injection engine.”

So going back to smartphones. they all have a touchscreen and a soft keyboard now. Ok, Apple did it first, but I’m sure everyone else had something up their sleeve waiting for one company to take the chance and release a product like that and see how the market responds.

At the end it’s a matter of choice for everyone. If you want to pay a shitload of money for a phone that works the way one person at Apple wants then be my guest. But competition won’t hurt anyone.

UPDATE: I played with the iPhone 4 recently, It’s pretty amazing and all, but I still don’t like the limitations.

So, in conclusion, I would like to say something to all those people: “Get on with your lives! It’s my phone, my choice, my money. So I decide what is best for me.”

PS: This post was written entirely on a toilet using the trusty Nexus One. So… I guess the keyboard is pretty good

iOS 4 metallic wallpapers

2010-06-21T21:14:04Z

The iDots Wallpaper set for iPhone OS 4.

Now that you can actually put on a wallpaper on your iPhone without jailbreaking it, I’ve decided to relaunch the iDots series.

Enjoy it !

iPhone 4 Wallpaper

2010-06-21T11:43:38Z

Random iPhone 4 wallpaper to ease the waiting
Photoshop CS5 source is zipped for your pleasure.

Summer office

2010-06-18T14:55:04Z

Since it’s so bloody hot in the office and we have a great deck and view, I decided to move my shit outside.

Good music, the best coffee I can make and fresh air are fueling my creativity.

Let the pixels pour in!

Hit or Shit

2010-06-11T11:19:22Z

Roton in collaboration with MB Dragan proudly presents Hit or Shit, a cool contest for indie musicians.
Design is signed by me, so feedback is welcome.

Enjoy ! http://musicnonstop.ro/hitorshit/

Some updates

2010-05-24T18:24:50Z

I know it’s been a while since I’ve posted anything on this blog, but things have been really busy and I decided to post only things that worth posting. The rest goes on Twitter

Anyway, I’ve done a lot of jQuery stuff in the last months and I’ve developed some libraries that I use on a project basis. I promise I’ll share those with you.
If you’re a designer with XHTML + CSS Knowledge, jQuery is not that hard.

Adobe Photoshop is turning 20

2010-04-12T10:29:18Z

Adobe Photoshop is celebrating its 20^th anniversary.

I don’t know if anyone has noticed this, with all the fuss about Apple not giving love to Adobe lately, but today, with the launch of Adobe CS5 – which in my opinion adds a lot of features to the already packed CS4 – Adobe Photoshop is turning 20.

That’s kind of huge for a software application if you’d ask me, so I just wanted to write this down and wish them a warm Happy Birthday, and for one day to put aside all the divergences with Apple and celebrate !

iPhone theme

2010-04-11T23:06:52Z

You can view it here if you’re on a desktop browser, or if you visit my blog from an iPhone of iPod touch, you’ll be automagically redirected :D

Thank you, and enjoy !

iPad Analog Edition

2010-04-08T09:46:32Z

I present you the iPad Analog Edition. Now featuring Braille Display.

iCan haz Portfolio section

2010-04-08T09:07:50Z

After 2 versions of my website and almost a year, I finally managed to make a portfolio section.

Yeah, yeah, I know… “Dude, why did you used an iPad?”

Because it’s so fuckin cool! That’s why. And because I wanted to test my skills in drawing a native iPad app :D

At the moment there are only a few items in the Portfolio, but I’ll add more soon.

Enjoy them !

O hai! Long time no see !

2010-04-06T12:36:48Z

Hi there folks! I’ve missed you so much!

First of all I’d like to thank all those visitors that kept coming back to see what’s up with my new blog.
Well, I’ve got good news: You’re all invited to my “Livingroom”. This is the new concept of my website.

But there’s a catch

At the moment, some sections such as Portfolio, Music, don’t work partially or completely. That’s because I have a very tight schedule and I didn’t wanted to postpone the site’s launch anymore.

Also, I used a lot of Javascript and CSS3 techniques which makes this version kind of experimental, so if you’re using Internet Explorer < 8 ... I’m sory but we’re in 2010, so you need a normal browser )

I’ll keep you posted with more news. Meanwhile I’ll leave you to explore my Livingroom.

PS: There’s a little bonus for you in the music section