Well, I didn’t get too far down the “new” hobby path without finding a shortcut back to my previous one. After spending some time digging around the recent changes in Penultimate (a great sketching app for the iPad), I had an idea to create some importable papers and images that can be used on many sketching apps for laying out paint scheme or modification ideas. Below are a variety of flat PNG files that you can use while sketching with your favorite tablet device or desktop design software. I’ve also included a series of Penultimate “paper” files as well if that’s your sketching app of choice.
With the project board pieces complete, it is time to put the elements together and apply the finishing touches. To get things moving, I set the board up to run on my office’s 40” TV. From there, I went smaller. Much smaller.
The big screen.
Making a digital project board is quite easy, if you’re only planning on having it used in one location. Since my plans called for the board to be displayed on a TV, laptop, Cinema Display, iPads and an iPhone, I had to set up a few stylesheets to cover all of the bases. The first implementation that I had set up was for the TV in my office. On the surface, this appeared to be an easy task, but after tossing a few variations of sketches up onto the screen I realized I needed to modify my approach. After playing around with the font sizing using standard Web fonts, I made a few trips past the TV to make sure I could easily read my project list at-a-glance.
After a few passes I changed my typography plans for the board and went the Web Font route. FontSquirrel.net carries a font by the name of Chunk Five, which has become my font of choice for my site headers and that remained true for this project. I finally had things set up for the TV display and could shift my focus to how the status board would appear on other devices.
Templates
When people ask why I like ExpressionEngine, one of the first answers I give them is “templates”. Templates are, by far, the best asset of EE (in my humble opinion). They’ve allowed me to quickly create a mobile version of my site, create and test different layouts and design options, and give clients quick previews of site adjustments without much time investment (or headaches). My project board relies heavily on them, specifically around the stylesheet switching for desktop, iPhone, and iPad viewing.
To assist with the user agent detection for style sheet and other functionality switches, I installed the MX Mobile Detect plugin. I recommend this plugin for anyone needing to handle mobile devices in various ways. It’s easy to implement and can be used in a variety of situations. In addition to controlling the specific stylesheets, I used this plugin to control certain interface and layout elements.
Holding my project list in my hands.
A breakthrough moment came when I began reviewing the project board on my iPad and iPhone to determine what changes needed to be made to the stylesheets. Although the main intent was to build a display for large-format viewing, being able to easily glance down at my status list from smaller devices quickly became a priority. After much experimenting and real-world testing, I found layouts that worked for me on every device that I had. I also noticed the potential for expanding the status board into a project management tool.
To streamline the appearance of the project board on the iPad and iPhone I set the page up to use the “apple-mobile-web-app-capable” meta tag to eliminate the address and Mobile Safari navigation bars.  This not only maximized my screen real estate, but it cleaned up the overall look of the project board and eliminated unneeded distractions.
Making it Fluid
This project was a perfect application for Fluid, a great app with which you can run any Web site as a standalone Mac OS X app. Not only can I have my project board open when my laptop or desktop start up, I can run the app in full-screen mode and also take advantage of Spaces within OS X.
A few weekends ago I found myself getting ready for another work-week and started thinking about how I had spent those two, precious “off days”. While most of the time was spent with my family, there was a large chunk that had been devoted to work, either by thought or by action. I’ve often said, half-joking, that my hobby is doing the same thing that I do for a living. The thing is, that’s the truth. I love what I do, the creative process, the technology angle, helping better my clients. But although I love it, I’ve come to the realization that I need a new way to spend my down time. I need a real hobby.
Searching for something offline.
It didn’t take me long to run through a list of things that I’d like to do. It took even less time to start crossing most of those items off the list. Finally an option came to the top that would fit the bill. R/C cars. I’ve always been fascinated by radio-controlled cars and have longed for one since my days in elementary school. Sure I’ve had an assortment of R/C cars in the past, none of them could be customized or tuned (easily). This hobby would also allow me to scratch my itch for racing that I’d been left with since I stopped kart racing back in 2000.
A chance to recharge, in more ways than one.
While I haven’t begun my foray into the R/C world (yet), I’ve started researching and reviewing, and hanging out at hobby shops. It’s fun and a welcomed escape from my other hobby. Here’s to hoping it provides some creative benefits too. What can I say, I’m a creature of habit.
Posted on 12/16/11 at 11:03 PM by Tim - Categories:
DesignInspirationPersonal
Tags: R/C Cars, Radio-Controlled, Hobby
No matter how many iPad sketching and note-taking apps I may download, I always find myself coming back to Penultimate. I fell in love with this app about a year ago and it has replaced my once-trusty paper sketchbook. A few updates ago, the folks at Cocoa Box gave Penultimate the ability to have custom papers imported into it and I’ve finally gotten around to kicking the tires on that feature. I know, I’m a little late to the party, but I have some interesting contributions that I’ll be taking the wraps off of soon.
Posted on 12/13/11 at 10:52 PM by Tim - Categories:
DesignWorkflow
Tags: iPad, iOS, Penultimate
