8 steps to a better computer workspace

Our friend Scott Condray of Visualville offers some sage advice on the best way to set up your system for optimum viewing and color correcting conditions, as well as some tips that can help increase your computer speed. Scott has spent years teaching Photoshop classes, calibrating workstations, and creating printer profiles for output. Suffice it to say, he knows his stuff.

8 Easy Things You Can Do To Improve Your Workplace & Workflow

Making improvements to your “workplace” also improves your "workflow".

The following will improve the quality of the product you produce and make your life a little easier at the same time.

1. Always have your monitor desktop set to a neutral color. Preferably a medium gray. Screen Savers don’t really “save” your monitor. If you are concerned about extending the usable life of your monitor simply turn it off when you are not using it.

2. Consistent subdued lighting in your workplace is a must. Avoid strong directional light whether artificial or natural.

3. Use neutral colors in the workplace. No bright yellow, (red, blue, green, etc.), colored walls. They may look cool but will definitely impact your ability to accurately color adjust images.

4. Wear neutral colored clothing when processing images. Your clothes reflect color onto your monitor screen.

5. Use monitor hoods. Monitor hoods block directional light and help improve the consistent subdued light environment mentioned in step two. In a perfect world, a monitor hood would come with every monitor.

6. Always view your print outputs in the same viewing area. This area should be as close as possible to your monitor. What is the correct light source for your viewing area? In a perfect world you would view your print outputs under the same light source they will be displayed under. Obviously that isn't practical.

A good all around color temperature for a viewing source is 5000 degrees Kelvin. There are several manufacturers who make lamps in this color temperature.

7. If you don’t do anything else on this list, CALIBRATE YOUR MONITOR! Adjusting Images using an uncalibrated monitor is like shooting a film camera without knowing what kind of film you’ve loaded.

As the old Chinese Proverb warns, “ If you don’t know where you're going any road will take you there.”

You can purchase a very accurate Calibration System (Hardware and Software) for about $250. It will pay for itself very quickly.

8. Work on the most powerful workstation you can afford. A powerful computer, properly configured, is the heart of any successful digital workflow.

No more naked walls!

Naked? Bueno! Naked walls? No bueno!

As you know we here at Mighty Imaging love BIG PRINTS. We love making photographs in to really large (huge) prints of astounding sharpness and clarity. With that in mind, we set about the mission of dressing up one of our favorite customers.

Global Spectrum; a leader in sports, entertainment, and facility management, is in charge of operations for the award winning state of the art University of Phoenix stadium. Like many things in the Vally of the Sun, the stadium is brand spanking new. That means that Global's offices were nothing but naked walls. The first thing that we thought of was what a great place for large images. Just imagine how cool a bunch of big prints custom framed would look. Since everybody from the Arizona Cardinals of the NFL to the Rolling Stones have played there, how about tying it in to a theme of the company and the events that take place? Talk about inspiring interest!

Making a great first impression is always a good idea, and these exciting and vibrant event images make the office look fun and creative. Not only do our prints tell the Global Spectrum story to their customers, but it also creates a strong statement and fun work environment for their own people as well.

If your company's walls need to get dressed up here are a few ideas. First pick a theme, whatever you think will make the statement that you want. Not only will this unify the look of the images on the walls, but it will also unify the workplace. You could hire a photographer and have them find quirky abstract shots around the company plant or office. Then make huge prints that would attract attention by being familiar, yet not so easily recognized. Another idea is to collect a group of snapshots from the company picnic or holiday party and make a collage out of them. Your 30x40 lobby print can show that your company is proud of its employees and that you are a close team of workers.

Either way, the walls of your business should never be bare, so let's dare to dress them up!

Coming to the surface

Microsoft released their newest innovation in computer technology today. Their Milan surface table top computer is run entirely on touch manipulation. There is no mouse and no keyboard. It looks very similar to what Jeff Hahn demonstrated at the TED convention earlier this year. Read our write up on it here. The implications for the creative market are endless with a tool like this, but without a keyboard how do you blog?

Microsoft hopes 'Milan' table PC has magic touch: by Ina Fried for CNET News

At first glance, Microsoft's secret project looks like a 2007 version of the sit-down arcade game Ms. Pac Man.

But if this machine were running the game, you could just take your finger and flick away the monsters chasing the heroine.

Microsoft on Wednesday is taking the wraps off "Milan," five years in the making and the first in what the company hopes will be a long line of "surface computers." The Microsoft Surface tabletop PC, for which the company has created both the hardware and software, offers shades of the technology seen in the sci-fi thriller Minority Report. The whole unit is controlled entirely through touch; there's no mouse or keyboard.

To paint, people can pick up a paint brush or just dip their fingers in virtual paint cups. Sharing photos is similarly intuitive. A stack of pictures can be easily sorted through and shared. To resize a photo, just stretch two fingers apart. Pivot the fingers and the image rotates. More than one person can be interacting with the computer at a time.

Queen Creek murals leave a Mighty big impression

What was once the quiet, rural, country Town of Queen Creek Arizona is growing so fast that the staff at the City Hall are having a devil of a time just keeping up. The Town wished to purchase three new wall murals that depict the current Town limits, the Town's planning area, and outlying areas. Accuracy was critical since everybody from the Mayor on down would use these murals on a daily basis in assisting with the future build out of their little town.

Brian Sovik, GISP of AMEC Earth and Environmental, Inc. (a worldwide leader in design and project management infrastructure) headed the project with aerial imagery provided by Air Photo USA. Working closely with Ms. Shawny Ekadis, GIS manager of the Town of Queen Creek, Mighty Imaging produced and installed all three 72"x91" murals. These murals, printed on our LightJet were accurate within one millimeter per eight foot of paper and were mounted on 1/8" masonite. After applying a luster laminate we built a bolt together museum back for easy installation.

The vibrancy of the images were incredible and the graphics identifying the Town's limits and future planning areas seemed to jump off the wall. If you want your town to grow start with some Mighty Big Images. Put them out front and center, then watch as one person after another marvels at the future opportunities that become apparent with a large wall mural.

Creative is NOT a Department

For those of us that work in the photography or graphic design field you know how hard it can be to be "creative" all the time. Anthony Mikes has an article in the Spring issue of Southwest Graphics magazine that acknowledges how important it is to integrate everyone in the office to a imaginative mindset and offered some ideas to keep the creative juices flowing.

Creative is NOT a Department; by Anthony P. Mikes

Not long ago, I did an in-house seminar for a midsize agency. During a discussion of their core strengths, one of the account supervisors said to me that she felt the agency would be a lot better if the creative department could actually meet a deadline and bring forth more economical solutions to clients' problems. Just as I was about to answer, a thought occurred to me...as enlightened a thought as I've had in the past few years.

"Creative" is not a department. Creative is an agency way of life in the 21st century.....

How do you turn your department-oriented agency in to one big creative entity? It's easy. Just follow these steps.

1. Meet regularly to discuss the agency's work.....

2. As you develop your agency's mission and vision, make sure you include points about being a creative organization.....

8. Make your environment creative. What does it hurt to decorate the agency in a creative way? Colors, posters, banners, open space and collaborative areas all inspire your entire organization to be creative, not just the few people in the creative department.

The full article can be found at www.secondwindonline.com, but you have to register with them to read it.

Workspace inspiration

Even if you are looking at the clock right now calculating how many seconds until you can start your weekend, this compilation of 10 seeeeeriously cool workplaces put together by The Chief Happiness Officer may inspire you to remodel your office so that you'll never want to leave.

What I noticed through out most of the offices featured is their use of large prints in their space to bring more color and energy in to the rooms as well as illustrate past and future projects for that company. I also particularly liked Pixar's idea to use cottages with addresses instead of cubicles with name plates.