Ryan Toyota’s Blog

Well, I had hoped to have something of substance up by now, but alas I haven’t found the time to gather together the pieces. I do have some ideas in mind for what I plan to post in the near future, which is dangerous for me to say, since after mentioning them there’s a good chance I won’t be able to follow through, and thus potentially dissapoint. That being said, I thought I’d mention them just so anybody who’s interested can get an idea as to what this blog is actually going to be about.

I’m working on a larger format brochure at work, something with a more high-end feel to it, that I’m starting to get excited about. It’s been in progress for quite some time, but just today it started coming together as I combed through our massive library of unsorted trip photos on our server, searching for some shots that would work well in the brochure. I’d like to post some in-progress imagery of it, when I get a chance.

I recently threw together a logo for my sister. She’s traveling to Uganda at the end of this week to take up residence and set up a child sponsorship program. She needed a logo to put things under, so I designed the logo currently viewable at hishope.org. I thought I’d post some of the initial sketches and a bit of the process in case anyone was interested.

Jenn and I have been living in our new townhouse for nearly a year, and we’re still lacking photos on most of the walls. The main reason for this is my perfectionistic nature when choosing art and photos for our walls. I have this need to overthink everything and try to consider every option, as this is something that I’m going to be looking at on my wall for years to come. It drives Jenn nuts. We’re finally making slow progress (but at least it’s progress) with an idea I had to adorn our bedroom walls with color-graded photos from our Hawaii trip. I’ve done four test shots, which turned out pretty good, and now I just have to do five or six more, order them and hang them, after which point I’ll take photos and post them for the world to see, with a bit of insight into the process I used to get the duotoning the way I wanted it, for those who are interested.

For the non-design geeks out there, I also plan to post some music and movie reviews, as well as some spiritual thoughts or thoughts about life in general in the midst of the design stuff. A website is only as good as its content, so hopefully I can get moving on these things pretty soon.