Polytechnicast - Art Geek Zoo Comics + Interactive Storyteller + More

Polytechnicast - Pure vs. Applied Journaling

rob@artgeekzoo.com (Rob Stenzinger) — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 06:16:23 +0000

Polytechnicast - Recursive Journaling

rob@artgeekzoo.com (Rob Stenzinger) — Thu, 27 Dec 2012 05:01:02 +0000

In this episode of the Polytechnicast I reflect on journaling, personalities well suited to journaling, and how my end of the year planning process is affecting the projects I'll be tackling in 2013. Not the least of which - the Polytechnicast itself.

Links Mentioned and Related Links

Follow Rob on Twitter or his blog at Interactive-Storyteller.com and workshops at Lean Into Art

Polytechnicast - Jawa Detection Kit

rob@artgeekzoo.com (Rob Stenzinger) — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 04:42:35 +0000

In this episode of the Polytechnicast I share how I've been pondering an old talk by John Gruber and Merlin Mann and how it relates to focus and creative voice. They recommend obsessing on something specific versus general to blog about, then let that be a guiding focus. Like having a blog about one particular Jawa instead of all of Star Wars.

Links Mentioned and Related Links

Follow Rob on Twitter or his blog at Interactive-Storyteller.com and workshops at Lean Into Art

Polytechnicast - More than Creating Stuff

rob@artgeekzoo.com (Rob Stenzinger) — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 04:35:13 +0000

In this episode of the Polytechnicast I share some thoughts on the question: Why be concerned with more than the making-stuff aspect of a project?

Links Mentioned and Related

Resident Evil the Video Game "Resident Evil (video game) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia")
Design as a System
Creative Process
Business Process
Mousetrap the Game "Mouse Trap (game) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia")
Rube Goldberg Machine
Leo Laporte
Twit.tv
About the Creative Commons Licenses
User Centric Design
Don't Call Me A User

Follow Rob on Twitter or his blog at Interactive-Storyteller.com and workshops at Lean Into Art

Polytechnicast - Pop Culture Hangup

rob@artgeekzoo.com (Rob Stenzinger) — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 04:37:00 +0000

In this episode of the Polytechnicast I ponder a creative hangup/goal/opportunity about how I tend to work-around specifics in pop culture instead of embracing them in my comics work.

Follow Rob on Twitter or his blog at Interactive-Storyteller.com and workshops at Lean Into Art

Polytechnicast - Street Fighter II Vertical Stretch

rob@artgeekzoo.com (Rob Stenzinger) — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 02:14:59 +0000

In this episode of the Polytechnicast I share how I’d been avoiding fixing a mild video problem with my SFII machine. Thankfully it turned out to not involve soldering and electric shock.

Follow Rob on Twitter or his blog at Interactive-Storyteller.com and workshops at Lean Into Art

Polytechnicast - A Return Visit with Jonathan Rector

rob@artgeekzoo.com (Rob Stenzinger) — Mon, 13 Aug 2012 04:28:28 +0000

In this episode of the Polytechnicast I’m joined once again by comic artist extraordinaire Jonathan Rector. We follow up on our talk last year about Manga Studio and delve into Jonathan’s latest projects.

Follow Rob on Twitter or his blog at Interactive-Storyteller.com and workshops at Lean Into Art

Polytechnicast - Self Education via Creative Projects

rob@artgeekzoo.com (Rob Stenzinger) — Fri, 03 Aug 2012 13:00:00 +0000

Polytechnicast - Self Education via Creative Projects
Polytechnicast - Self Education via Creative Projects

In this episode of the Polytechnicast I give an overview of how I approach learning via creative projects. Along the way I draw connections to how some of the functions of classroom based learning relate to this project centric approach.

Links Mentioned and Related

Follow Rob on Twitter or his blog at Interactive-Storyteller.com and workshops at Lean Into Art

Polytechnicast - Adding Audio Sprites to Guitar Fretter

rob@artgeekzoo.com (Rob Stenzinger) — Wed, 01 Aug 2012 13:00:00 +0000

In this episode of the Polytechnicast I share some thoughts on improving Guitar Fretter. I have a theory that when Guitar Fretter crashes when playing high levels it’s due to there being so many audio resources for the game to manage.

A quick episode follow-up note: I do some quick multiplication in my head during the episode, which was off, 13 x 6 = 78 (not 84). :-)

Links Mentioned and Related

Follow Rob on Twitter or his blog at Interactive-Storyteller.com and workshops at Lean Into Art

Polytechnicast - Constant Education with special guest Marshall Couture

rob@artgeekzoo.com (Rob Stenzinger) — Tue, 31 Jul 2012 00:40:00 +0000

In this episode of the Polytechnicast I am joined by special guest: Comic Artist, Musician, and Podcaster: Marshall Couture. We chat about being self-taught and how study topics can come up as response to a need on an existing project or inspiration to try something entirely new.

Links Mentioned and Related

Follow Rob on Twitter or his blog at Interactive-Storyteller.com and workshops at Lean Into Art

Polytechnicast - Business Choices for the Underwater Tomato Ninja Game Workshop

rob@artgeekzoo.com (Rob Stenzinger) — Sun, 29 Jul 2012 19:23:00 +0000

In this episode of the Polytechnicast I share some planning and business choices as work-in-progress. I have an online workshop ready to launch and I’m considering ways to improve how I package and sell.

Links Mentioned and Related

Follow Rob on Twitter or his blog at Interactive-Storyteller.com and workshops at Lean Into Art

Polytechnicast - The Golden Axe II Arcade of KRC Wrapups

rob@artgeekzoo.com (Rob Stenzinger) — Mon, 16 Jul 2012 13:03:00 +0000

Polytechnicast - The Golden Axe II Arcade of KRC Wrapups
Polytechnicast - The Golden Axe II Arcade of KRC Wrapups

In this episode of the Polytechnicast I share a full-spirited report of my adventure going to the magical arcade of Pinball Pete’s in Ann Arbor Michigan. No wait! I mean: Kids Read Comics 2012! Lots of reflection on a great weekend celebration of comics with a bit of exploring how my workshop Underwater Tomato Ninja - HTML5 Game Development went as well.

Links Mentioned and Related

Even though this episode clocks-in at 1 hour 5 minutes I didn’t directly shout out to all the great artists I met or had a chance to see again at KRC 2012. This list is an attempt at covering both the artists mentioned and the artists I wanted to mention and I hope I got everyone. If I missed you - please ping me via email, twitter, or comment!

Follow Rob on Twitter or his blog at Interactive-Storyteller.com and workshops at Lean Into Art

Polytechnicast - Podcast Pen Pals

rob@artgeekzoo.com (Rob Stenzinger) — Sun, 15 Jul 2012 13:46:08 +0000

In this episode of the Polytechnicast I share some reactions and follow-up from the Art Journal Workout eposode. I also share a bit about my adventure going to Kids Read Comics 2012 and how I’m practicing capturing more memories.

Links Mentioned and Related

Follow Rob on Twitter or his blog at Interactive-Storyteller.com and workshops at Lean Into Art

Polytechnicast - Creating on a Calendar

rob@artgeekzoo.com (Rob Stenzinger) — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 12:45:23 +0000

In this episode of the Polytechnicast I examine creative project schedules. Calendars are important to me, but they’re not the only thing I use to inform the scheduling of my projects.

Links Mentioned and Related

Follow Rob on Twitter or his blog at Interactive-Storyteller.com and workshops at Lean Into Art

Polytechnicast - Art Journal Workout

rob@artgeekzoo.com (Rob Stenzinger) — Fri, 29 Jun 2012 04:34:00 +0000

In this episode of the Polytechnicast I reflect upon the effect that listening to other's art journal podcasts has had on me and why I make this show.

Links Mentioned and Related

Follow Rob on Twitter or his blog at Interactive-Storyteller.com and workshops at Lean Into Art

Polytechnicast - Juggling Part 2, De facto Hiatuses

rob@artgeekzoo.com (Rob Stenzinger) — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 13:00:00 +0000

In this mostly "art journal" style episode of the Polytechnicast I reflect on how I’ve been applying something I learned via juggling to my creative projects. I also share how that relates to which projects are getting my time and attention.

Links Mentioned and Related

Follow Rob on Twitter or his blog at Interactive-Storyteller.com and workshops at Lean Into Art

Polytechnicast - Juggling Metaphor and Actual Juggling

rob@artgeekzoo.com (Rob Stenzinger) — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 13:28:05 +0000

In this episode of the Polytechnicast I share a few observations about why juggling interests me and a basic overview of how to juggle a three ball cascade.

Links Mentioned and Related

Juggling for the Complete Klutz (affiliate link)
Charlie Dancey’s Encyclopaedia of Ball Juggling (affiliate link)

Follow Rob on Twitter or his blog at Interactive-Storyteller.com and workshops at Lean Into Art

Polytechnicast - Comic UI with guest Krishna Sadasivam

rob@artgeekzoo.com (Rob Stenzinger) — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 03:40:00 +0000

In this episode of the Polytechnicast I have special guest, cartoonist and art instructor, Krishna Sadasivam of PCWeenies.com.

I’ve always found Krishna’s continuous refinement of the PC Weenies comic user interface very informative. Krishna and I talk about some of his recent UI updates and what constraints and goals he had in mind when revising the site.

Links Mentioned and Related Links

Follow Rob on Twitter or his blog at Interactive-Storyteller.com and workshops at Lean Into Art

Polytechnicast - Interactive Empathy

rob@artgeekzoo.com (Rob Stenzinger) — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 05:00:00 +0000

In this episode of the Polytechnicast I share some thoughts on using empathy as a way to guide design choices in interactive projects.

Links Mentioned and Related Links

Follow Rob on Twitter or his blog at Interactive-Storyteller.com and workshops at Lean Into Art

Polytechnicast - A One-Off Solution

rob@artgeekzoo.com (Rob Stenzinger) — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 04:23:00 +0000

In this episode of the Polytechnicast I share an overiew of the technical details of my move from Google App Engine to Squarespace. It’s a bit about RSS, XML, why text formats rock and how web browsers are a fantastic place to build a little one-use data transformation.

Links Mentioned and Related Links

Follow Rob on Twitter or his blog at Interactive-Storyteller.com and workshops at Lean Into Art

Polytechnicast - Moving Away from Google App Engine

rob@artgeekzoo.com (Rob Stenzinger) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 22:04:00 +0000

In this episode of the Polytechnicast I share an overview of why I moved my comic to Google App Engine and how things evolved to considering moving away from that platform. I’m leaning toward moving to S3 or GitHub, using a static generated blog styled as a web comic approach. Then again, Tumblr is a pretty tempting option!

Along the way I give an overview of why I chose a cloud computing platform, my initial move from Wordpress and shared hosting.

I haven’t made my final choice, feel free to tweet, email, or comment your recommendations!

Links Mentioned and Related Links

Follow Rob on Twitter or his blog at Interactive-Storyteller.com and workshops at Lean Into Art

Polytechnicast - Hunting for and Interviewing with Clients

rob@artgeekzoo.com (Rob Stenzinger) — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 17:00:00 +0000

In this episode of the Polytechnicast I share thoughts on seeking a job doing what I love, serving a community I care about, using tools and methods I believe in, to engage in a fair and sustainable trade.

Along the way I share observations on the process of job/contract hunting and some of the tools I find helpful.

Links Mentioned

Comic - Independent Voice (the first place I published my “do what I love mantra”)
My Illustration Portfolio
My Interactive/UI/UX/Game Design Portfolio
Prezi - a good tool to rapidly create interesting looking portfolios for online and print.
Prezi Portfolio of Sample Work Products (available on request)
Rob’s Video Application to Lullabot on Vimeo
Search tools:
- Combine Google with Glassdoor
- Break out of your search bubble via Duck Duck Go
Tools I use to manage reusable email sections and templates:
- NvALT
- TextExpander

Follow Rob on Twitter or his blog at Interactive-Storyteller.com and workshops at Lean Into Art

Polytechnicast - Preparing and Topic Potpourri

rob@artgeekzoo.com (Rob Stenzinger) — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 03:19:00 +0000

In this episode of the Polytechnicast I have “preparing” on the mind. Working on a few projects simultaneously I find myself in the cycle of preparing, making, and finding useful connections between my projects quite often.

In addition to "preparing", this episode is also a bit of Topic Potpourri!

Links Mentioned and Links That Came to Mind While Writing These Show Notes

Oxford Notecard Pocket
Notecards
Hipster PDA
Moleskine Plain Reporter
Web Comic Alliance
Ira Glass on the Creative Process
Ann Arbor District Library Comic Artist Forum
Mac Power Users Podcast - Automating
Sikuli - open source/free deskop automation via screen capture
Rube Goldberg

Follow Rob on Twitter or his blog at Interactive-Storyteller.com and workshops at Lean Into Art

Polytechnicast - Service of a Game

rob@artgeekzoo.com (Rob Stenzinger) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 08:00:00 +0000

In this episode of the Polytechnicast, I delve into some behind the scenes planning and development I do to support Guitar Fretter.

Recently I received an email from an Android user who is rather good at the game. On her Android device once she gets past level 12 or so the game has problems. I share details on how I’ll tackle that issue, ponder the complexities of the Android market, future updates for Guitar Fretter and behind the scenes thoughts on Guitar Fretter’s game design.

Links Mentioned and Links That Came to Mind While Writing These Show Notes

Follow Rob on Twitter or his blog at Interactive-Storyteller.com

Polytechnicast - Jumping into Clojure with Special Guest Craig Andera

rob@artgeekzoo.com (Rob Stenzinger) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 03:44:00 +0000

Polytechnicast - Jumping into Clojure with Special Guest Craig Andera
Polytechnicast - Jumping into Clojure with Special Guest Craig Andera

In this episode of the Polytechnicast I’m joined by special guest Craig Andera for a totally unscripted tutorial session on programming Clojure. Clojure happens to be Craig’s programming language of choice.

Clojure is a very different coding experience for someone like me who’s into Lua, Python, JavaScript, and ActionScript. Before this podcast I hadn’t written a single line of Clojure - now I feel I have a grasp on the basics.

This is an episode I hope will be interesting whether you’re curious about getting into coding, familiar with coding and are wondering about Clojure, or curious to see how I explore an unfamiliar coding language.

Links Mentioned

Clojure - a Lisp-like programming language
Craig Andera on Twitter
Craig’s Blog
Think Relevance Blog and Podcast
Try Clojure - used this for the demo
4 Clojure - almost used this for the demo, requires signup
Craig’s Clojure Tutorial (available for free from Pluralsight)

Follow Rob on Twitter or his blog at Interactive-Storyteller.com

Polytechnicast - Making Comics in Adobe Illustrator w/guest Javen Ackerman

rob@artgeekzoo.com (Rob Stenzinger) — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 02:59:00 +0000

(#comics, #adobe illustrator, #art process, #making comics)

In this audio+video episode of the Polytechnicast I’m joined by special guest Javen Ackerman, creator of the comics The Winchcombe and Q Burger! In recent years, Javen has made Adobe Illustrator the main tool he uses to produce comics. We chat about his process and in the video you'll see him demonstrate his techniques and get a glimpse of how he takes full advantage of Adobe Illustrator to work quickly and efficiently.

Links Mentioned

Follow Rob on Twitter or his blog at Interactive-Storyteller.com

Polytechnicast - Keep Moving

rob@artgeekzoo.com (Rob Stenzinger) — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 00:44:00 +0000

In this episode of the Polytechnicast is more art-journal than art-thesis. I share how I’m feeling good-yet-still-recovering from 30 classes in 30 days, some reflections on 30 Classes, and other November-timed art challenges.

Links Mentioned

Follow Rob on Twitter or his blog at Interactive-Storyteller.com

Polytechnicast - Jonathan Rector on Exploring Manga Studio

rob@artgeekzoo.com (Rob Stenzinger) — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 05:14:00 +0000

In this episode of the Polytechnicast I’m joined by comic artist Jonathan Rector. We chat about his recent delving into Manga Studio, how he used it for his 24 Hour Comic, what it’s like when you’re coming from an Adobe Photoshop background, and about using only digital tools to make comics.

Links Mentioned

Follow Rob on Twitter or his blog at Interactive-Storyteller.com

Polytechnicast - Manga Studio First Impressions

rob@artgeekzoo.com (Rob Stenzinger) — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 06:10:40 +0000

In this episode I reflect on my first few weeks of using of Manga Studio.

Adobe Photoshop
Manga Studio
Bizarro
Krishna Sadasivam of PC Weenies
Jonathan Rector
Bryon Wilkins
Web Comic Alliance - Getting Started With Manga Studio
Rob’s 10 Finished Pages on 24 Hour Comic Day, All in Manga Studio
Google Sketchup
Export Sketchup to Obj (normally a Pro feature, this is a Ruby script work-around)

Follow Rob on Twitter or his blog at Interactive-Storyteller.com

Polytechnicast - High Adventure Crossover with Kevin Cross

rob@artgeekzoo.com (Rob Stenzinger) — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 22:58:00 +0000

In this episode I’m joined by illustrator, musician, and teaching artist Kevin Cross. We discuss various aspects of making art for the all ages market.

We ponder what styles and stories tend to reach all ages markets and which presents multiple challenges as a creator. Also: how to face the doubt that some parents have when some things seem on-the-surface not as kid friendly while those same factors (like monsters, vampires, or talking fish) are genuinely appealing to the intended kids audience. Pushing buttons takes risks, how do you keep the exciting fun and fantasy in your all ages story without alienating the parents which are also your clients?

Part 1 of our talk is in this episode of the Polytechnicast. Part 2 is (or soon will be) available at High Adventures In Illustration!

Kevin Cross Illustration
Kevin Cross on Twitter
Kevin’s Countdown to Halloween
Childrens Book Market Thoughts by Morrie Sendak (creator of Where the Wild Things Are)
TV Tropes Rebellious Spirit
Nihao Kai Lan (educational cartoon targeting a young audience)
Wendy and Marvin from the Superfriends (A surprise I learned while assembling show notes: evidently they’ve re-appeared as caretakers in Teen Titans?!)
Classic series pushing the envelope of “safe”: Jonny Quest
Kate Shields Stenzinger (childhood development specialist)
Spongebob Squarepants: successful at serving all ages humor
List of Sesame Street Monsters

Follow Rob on Twitter or his blog at Interactive-Storyteller.com

Polytechnicast - Expanding My Workshop Repertoire

rob@artgeekzoo.com (Rob Stenzinger) — Sat, 24 Sep 2011 07:01:00 +0000

In this episode, I share my work in progress plans on adding 6 more art/code/comics/UI workshops (in a fairly short timeframe) to my 3 workshop repertoire.

Links Mentioned

Follow Rob on Twitter or his blog at Interactive-Storyteller.com

Polytechnicast - Building on a Hunch

rob@artgeekzoo.com (Rob Stenzinger) — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 22:26:00 +0000

In this episode I reflect on how I started out making an experiment in HTML, CSS, JS, and jQuery just out of curiosity. I was wondering if it would feel fun to have a gallery style User Interface for browsing the art posted at 30 Characters. Also: How much time and effort it would take? With a little time and curiosity I set out both to see if it was feasible or if it’d be a giant project in itself. After a bit of exploration, coding, and playing I found out the answer and discovered that it would be a rather handy bit of code for a couple other projects on my list.

Links Mentioned

My Portfolio. Image slides in a gallery w/thumbnails (HTML,CSS,JS,jQuery)
Earlier Draft 1 and Earlier Draft 2 - Deciding if if was feasible
Kevin Cross’s Illustration Portfolio
Lean Into Art and 30 Classes in 30 Days
30 Characters Challenge
SuperSize jQuery plugin
Thumbs jQuery plugin
ZRssFeed jQuery plugin

Follow Rob on Twitter or his blog at Interactive-Storyteller.com

Polytechnicast - Lean Into Art Announcement and Behind the Scenes

rob@artgeekzoo.com (Rob Stenzinger) — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 07:00:00 +0000

In this episode I share the news of that “secret project” I’ve been working on most all of 2011. It’s Lean Into Art! I also share a bit about the tech we’re using to launch this virtual center of learning visual and interactive arts.

Links Mentioned

Lean Into Art
The Big LIA Podcast Feed (LIA, Thunder Punch Daily, Polytechnicast, Fabulous Secrets)
Art & Story
Mark Rudolph
Kevin Cross
Jerzy Drozd
Chosen Tech for LIA’s Release: Adobe Connect as our main classroom meeting software, Vyew as backup meeting software, Squarespace for hosting, Wufoo for sign-up forms
30 Classes in 30 Days

Polytechnicast - Code Sketching for Artists and Programmers

rob@artgeekzoo.com (Rob Stenzinger) — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 15:54:00 +0000

In this episode I discuss how I believe code isn’t just for people with a computer-science background and that no matter your background it can be helpful to draft your code by sketching it out.

Links Mentioned and Useful Resources

Rob’s random-sort jQuery plugin at Blog of an Interactive Storyteller
Coding languages/environments mentioned (though there are many, many more worth checking out based on what tools you use and prefer) Python - a beginners guide, Lua (note: I didn’t find a solid introduction to Lua useful for programmers and non-programmers in the time I had… which means perhaps I should write one. Stay tuned.), JavaScript via jQuery for Designers JavaScript - at w3 Schools
ProcessingJS - a programming tool and language great at visual tasks and for visual thinkers (easiest in some ways to get started with Processing JS, though you can do even more with Processing)
Psudocode

Polytechnicast - Building the Making Videogames from Comics Presentation

rob@artgeekzoo.com (Rob Stenzinger) — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 15:56:00 +0000

In this episode I share some thoughts that went into making the presentation Making Videogames from Comics (as presented at the Nordeast Comics Summit on August 4th 2011).

Links Mentioned in this Episode:

Scott McCloud
Google Webfonts
Blambot Comic Fonts
Nate Piekos
Site Fight Site
Dotcom-Monitor
Prezi
Scott McCloud Pondering Prezi and Webcomics
Making Videogames from Comics – as presented at Nordeast Comics Summit (interactive “Prezi” with no audio)
Making Videogames from Comics – as presented at Nordeast Comics Summit (video screencast with audio)
Jerzy Drozd – 30 Seconds or so Per Slide Example
IXDA – Minneapolis

Recent Workshop Sampler: Joke Comics and Comic UI

rob@artgeekzoo.com (Rob Stenzinger) — Sun, 10 Jul 2011 09:31:00 +0000

In this episode of the Polytechnicast I reflect on two workshops I presented recently, share a sampler of each, and delve a bit into why I chose those the topics behind each workshop. The titles of the workshops are:

Using Storytelling to Make Your Comic User Interface Awesome
Turning Jokes into Comics: Laughing Yeti Monkey Spaghetti

Links and Resources Mentioned

Polytechnicast - Art Geek Zoo Reading and Commentary pt1

rob@artgeekzoo.com (Rob Stenzinger) — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 06:14:00 +0000

As followup to the prior episode, I share this extra experimental Polytechnicast wherein I both perform a reading of the first 5 Art Geek Zoo comics, then share some thoughts on making them.

Links mentioned:

Reading and Commentary on Art Geek Zoo: The Way of Sound's first 5 comics:
Webcomics Weekly
Comics Are Great - Podcast by Jerzy Drozd (I was a guest on #15 with Tom Hart)
Tom Hart - Sequential Artists Workshop and the SAW Indie Gogo Fundraising Drive

Creative Reflection - Learning More From Recent Projects

rob@artgeekzoo.com (Rob Stenzinger) — Wed, 25 May 2011 04:52:24 +0000

In this episode of the Polytechnicast I share thoughts on reflection. I delve into how I'm working to reflect more on recent projects and how I'm working to add that to - not replace - my focus on finishing projects.

Links I mentioned:

Iteration to Break Through Creative Barriers (prior Polytechnicast episode)
How We Decide by Jonah Lehrer
Mark Rudolph's Dagon Project (his adaption of H.P. Lovecraft's story into a 60+ page graphic novel)
Art Geek Zoo Volume 1: Hidden Talent (print edition | ebook edition)

Jack of (Sustainable) Trades

rob@artgeekzoo.com (Rob Stenzinger) — Sun, 24 Apr 2011 03:09:00 +0000

In this episode of the Polytechnicast I share thoughts about being a "Jack of all trades", how I approach multiple hats/skills as a useful thing if it's managed in a sustainable way.

It's a highly extemporaneous episode of the Polytechnicast, inspired by the recent podcast High Adventure Daily #97 by Kevin Cross.

Links mentioned:

Krishna Sadasivam of PC Weenies
Kevin Cross
Art and Story Supreme
Update: Kevin Cross's podcast followup which is in part a reply to this podcast.

Games, Learning, and Inspiration

rob@artgeekzoo.com (Rob Stenzinger) — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 15:03:00 +0000

In this episode of the Polytechnicast I some inspiration I gained from a Games and Learning presentation and additional inspiration from playing some popular mobile games for the first time (Angry Birds, Cut the Rope, and Fruit Ninja).

Some links mentioned in this episode:

Seann Dikkers site Gaming Matter (his presentation Gaming Media as an Instructional Tool should be posted soon)
Cut the Rope
Angry Birds
Fruit Ninja
Guitar Fretter

Creative Voice, Tribes, and Sustainable Trade

rob@artgeekzoo.com (Rob Stenzinger) — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 17:44:00 +0000

This episode is a journal-cast sharing thoughts about three topics I find useful to ponder as an artist: Creative Voice, Tribes, and Sustainable Trade.

Topics and links mentioned:

Seth Godin's Tribes
Software Architecture
Rob's comic on Independent Voice (also seen in this post)

Iteration to Break Through Creative Barriers

rob@artgeekzoo.com (Rob Stenzinger) — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 21:19:00 +0000

In this episode of the Polytechnicast, I share the story of breaking through a 16 year long creative block and look forward at some goals I have for 2011.

Links Mentioned

Babies Love Comics: Baby Adventures of Zoe Zeus
Babies Love Comics: Article on Teaching Sleep by Kate Shields Stenzinger
Art Geek Zoo: The Way of Sound, my web comic
Raph Koster's Theory of Fun - (a book I enjoy about game design that's also illustrated with single-panel comics)

Jenhannu - IGF Entry
- http://www.igf.com/php-bin/entries2004.php?entry_id=77
- http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:j7PB8qFmVRYJ:www.igf.com/php-bin/entries2004.php%3Fentry_id%3D77+jenhannu&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us
Guitar Fretter's Blog
Art & Story Supreme
Mini Comics Dumptruck (members-only forum link... likely a public link will be available soon...)
Phone Gap - HTML and Javascript based platform for making mobile apps
Tuned for Webkit Animation via Javascript and CSS extensions
Corona SDK - Lua based platform for making mobile apps - very high performance for games

30 Characters Challenge 2010 - Reflection

rob@artgeekzoo.com (Rob Stenzinger) — Sat, 11 Dec 2010 23:20:00 +0000

In this episode first I share some meaning and context behind the name "Polytechnicast". Then I reflect upon various aspects of taking part of 2010's 30 Characters challenge.

Links and people mentioned:

Tyler James
30 Characters Challenge
Art & Story - the podcast that delves deep into the craft of comics and the A&S Forum where many "Storriors" hang out.
- Bob Learned
- Kevin Cross
- Rene van Belzen
- @calmplexlocust (Marshall Couture)
- DungeonWarden
- Jahhdog
- KC Snipes
- Jose Gonzalez
Tool Force Software's ForeverSave (something I learned about from Krishna Sadasivam)
Art Geek Zoo (my comic about a penguin, his mystical guitar friend and their adventures in The Way of Sound)
The Baby Adventures of Zoe Zeus (a comic project I'm creating with my wife Kate)

Art Challenge Events

rob@artgeekzoo.com (Rob Stenzinger) — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 07:30:00 +0000

In this episode I think out loud about Art Challenge Events such as 24 Hour Comic Day and 30 Characters in 30 Days.

Miscellaneous + Project News

rob@artgeekzoo.com (Rob Stenzinger) — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 20:58:00 +0000

I share some news about the podcast itself, a new project I'm working on called Zoe Zeus, and a mention of my participation in the recent 24 Hour Comic Book Day.

Return of the Polytechnicast

rob@artgeekzoo.com (Rob Stenzinger) — Sun, 12 Sep 2010 05:05:00 +0000

Update - I'm having issues with my podcast recorder and getting Posterous to play the file it publishes correctly. The file plays fine on my desktop but not once it's uploaded. I'll get this fixed soon and update this post when it's working correctly!

Update 2 - It's now fixed! Yay!

This is the return and refocus of the Polytechnicast into an art journal style podcast. Also in this episode: Guitar Fretter! It's the game I recently released and it's a guitar themed action puzzle game where you learn note positions by defeating the flying minions.

\m/

--Rob

Art Geek Zoo Polytechnicast 3 - Books on Writing

rob@artgeekzoo.com (Rob Stenzinger) — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 23:29:33 +0000

In this episode of the AGZ Polytechnicast I share five books that I find useful, inspiring, and helpful in improving my writing practice.

Elements of Style by Strunk and White
Story by Robert McKee
The Hero's 2 Journeys by Michael Hague and Christopher Vogler
On Writing by Stephen King
Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg

Thanks for listening! .\m/

Rob

Art Geek Zoo Polytechnicast 2 - Podcast Playlist Recommendations (repost)

rob@artgeekzoo.com (Rob Stenzinger) — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 04:59:28 +0000

Comics

Art & Story
Mark Rudolph and Jerzy Drozt
http://artandstorypodcast.com
- Highly recommend: Your comic from the ground up series.

Art & Story Extreme
- Workday of two creative people
- Awesome intro songs/bits, especially "the lone cartoonist" version of TV's "The Fall Guy" theme "the lone stuntman".

Tech / Science

Security Now
Steve Gibson, Leo Laporte
http://twit.tv/sn
- Cryptography
- Rational rejection of security

Entertainment - Games

Rebel FM + Game Club
Anthony Gallegos, Arthur Gies, Tyler Barber
http://eat-sleep-game.com

Entertainment - Music

Requiem Metal Podcast
mark rudolph, jason hundey
http://cvcomics.com/requiem
- Highly recommend: Iron Maiden - Paul Diano Years

Contact Rob w/your questions for the podcast at rob@artgeekzoo.com or http://twitter.com/RobStenzinger

Thanks for listening! .\m/

Art Geek Zoo Polytechnicast 1 - Artrage 3

rob@artgeekzoo.com (Rob Stenzinger) — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 05:28:00 +0000

Art Geek Zoo Polytechnicast 1 - Artrage 3
Art Geek Zoo Polytechnicast 1 - Artrage 3
Art Geek Zoo Polytechnicast 1 - Artrage 3
Art Geek Zoo Polytechnicast 1 - Artrage 3 It's the first episode of the Art Geek Zoo Polytechnicast! I recently used Artrage 3 to produce AGZ episode 105 and share my thoughts on Artrage 3 on the podcast.