Larissa Meek

Just about everyone I know hates working out and so I do. Why? It takes time and like you, I’m busy. Other things in life are just more enjoyable than getting sweaty – like watching ‘Dirt’ on FX and eating French fries. But take what Nike says, “Just do it”. That isn’t a secret. You HAVE to push your self even if you’re not in the mood to get moving. The biggest hurdle is motivation.

As a designer, I sit at my desk for about 8-10 hours a day and then I come home and sit some more (as I write this post). For me, it’s really important to stay active because I want to handle stress better, feel good about myself and stay healthy. That’s what motivates me. The bottom line – it’s not about dieting, it’s not about being skinny and there’s no such thing as a quick fix. It’s about feeling good. Staying active is a lifestyle. Make it just as important as catching your favorite TV show and you’ll start seeing changes. Heck, a lot of gyms have TV’s on the cardio machines.

I’m not a nutritionist nor a trainer but I want to share my personal knowledge from respected fitness professionals whom I’ve had the pleasure of training with. I highly recommend doing your own research and contacting your doctor before you start a major routine.

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Entry Filed under: Personal

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I’m trying to figure out if I like Twitter. I heard about it at SXSW. It’s an interesting concept and the most valuable aspect to me is that it’s live and really easy to update. But does it really have value? What do you think? In Fullman’s words; “who needs to know if your friends are at the drive thru?”

Entry Filed under: Web Design

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Some of the panels were a bit unorganized. Overall, I found it very inspiring and empowering. Here’s a breakdown of South by Southwest interactive 2007.

Outta Control: Does Education Matter Anymore?

We have summer vacations because it was originally used for harvesting your crops - How many of you still harvest in the summer? Overall, the biggest caveat of our the system is the lack of individuality.

Grids Are Good and How to Design with Them

This panel gave me an awareness of how to use the grid as a logical tool to handle content heavy layouts.

Lonely Girl Case Study

After walking out of the Design Workflows panel, I joined the last part of the Lonelygirl15 Case Study. Lonleygirl15 is a true innovation of how to use video on the web. It’s even more popular even after it was revealed that Bree was an actress. It’s now looked at as a new way of filmmaking.

Designing for Convergent Devices

Did you know that 1/3 of the world’s population has access to the mobile web and more people have access to the mobile web than the traditional Internet? This was my favorite panel overall. The presentation was well organized and taught me a lot about what the future may hold.

Create a Campaign in an Hour

This panel was more entertaining than educational. This panel asked the audience to choose a brand for this challenge and the winner? Well, I now know what a Banana Guard is. You can imagine where this conversation went. And no it doesn’t come with batteries. It’s to protect your banana from bruises.

What was the biggest disappointment for me?

Design Workflows at Work: How Top Designers Work Their Magic. This panel included Bryan Veloso, Jeff Croft, Veerle Pieters and Kelsey Ruger. I truly admire each of these individuals but the discussion had no organization and was completely mis-titled. There was no conversation about workflows in the sense of the process they go through from start to finish of a project.

Keep an eye out for podcasts of the panels here.

Entry Filed under: Web Design

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Last night AgencyNet snagged the award for best Business: Green/Non-Profit site for OwnYourC.com! And then we cheered when Best in Show was announced. OwnYourC.com was the judges’ favorite finalist website from the competition! The 10th Annual SXSW Web Awards uncovers the best new websites and celebrate those who are building and implementing tomorrow’s online trends. Check out the winners in every category.

Entry Filed under: AgencyNet | Web Design

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Weather you’re an artist, a programmer or a plastic surgeon you’ve experienced a Brain Fart. What’s a brain fart you ask? Unlike a Duck Fart, it’s a lapse in the thought process; an inability to think or remember something clearly. The good news is that I’ve found several sources to clear a specific type of Brain Fart also called Creative-ites. Ceative-ites is known to attack when you least expect.

Symptoms include: color indifference, loneliness, frustration, not knowing where to start, and resolving to use a pre-designed template. Here’s some cures to the common creative Brain Fart.

COLOR:

Looking for the right palette? You’ll find it here.
1.0. Colour Lovers

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Entry Filed under: Funny | Web Design

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