Special Projects

From National University to Northbridge University: My Work and Journey Through the Rebranding

2026-07-03T12:27:32.562-07:00

Since 2024, I've been doing contract work for National University. Among the many projects I've worked on there, one of the biggest was the transition of its pages, content, and branding from National University to Northbridge University, a recent development in 2026.

The process involved some grueling hours to pull together all the elements and coordinate everyone's efforts toward getting the bulk of the work done by February 4th. It was a great success, and the team celebrated with a party. As a remote worker, I couldn't be there in person, but I watched the live unveiling on YouTube and chatted with some of the people involved. It was truly a historic event.

I've worked with this institution on and off for more than 15 years, so this one hits differently. I've watched it grow from its humble beginnings into the powerhouse it is today.

Some projects I've been working on since I got into NUC/NU back in November 2024 include:

LibGuides Modifications

LibGuides "guides" aren't much to look at. Most of the time they resemble pages from 1994. However, they provide a structured way to enter information, data, images, and content. With some creative integration of CSS and JavaScript, they can look much better. The images here show some of the guides I worked on and improved, including making them responsive.

Building on a previous project, I developed a way to load YouTube videos in a player directly within the same page, so users can stay focused on their assigned content instead of navigating away. This also adds richness to the pages. I made this and other elements responsive and accessibility-compliant, as I try to include accessibility when optimizing processes for any client or office I work with.

LMS Login Customization

This was a special project to customize the login page for each school's branding. Using the unique Instructure URL for each named school, I changed the look and feel of the login so students and faculty could immediately identify where they were. The pages are also mobile-friendly and lightweight: I optimized the logo images and used SVG files to keep them full-quality vector graphics that load quickly.

LMS Modifications: Course Gamification

This specialized sciences course needed to be developed both graphically and functionally to engage students visually and promote game-style learning. It was a pilot program, and it was well received.

LMS Modification: Microlearning

This was another pilot course, in which information was delivered in bite-sized pieces and incorporated different strategies for learning and retention. In both pilots, I had to learn a new platform, CidiLabs, which supports the design and implementation of course content in a more dynamic and workable way. It expanded how content can be designed and delivered within Instructure Canvas courses.

CTL Bulletin Integration

This is an RSS integration for the CTL WordPress site in which all the fields are pulled into the page content and updated dynamically. The articles come from a Mailchimp RSS feed, and the thumbnail is brought in as well. I modified the script to look for the first image after the two logos that usually appear in the header of the templates. If no other image is found, it falls back to the first logo, which is the institutional one. The integration is also responsive and mobile-friendly.

Educational Week 2026

I developed custom scripts to integrate videos and a YouTube channel and playlist directly within the page content. I also developed and implemented the page itself, along with a special previewer for the PDF presentations.

My goal with every project is to make sure it is long-lasting and maintainable. I often encounter pushback from people who don't see what goes on behind the scenes and don't realize that improving maintainability and optimizing processes takes analytical skill, time, research, and a tremendous amount of effort. Ultimately, my real client is the end user, and my aim is to make platforms and interfaces easy to use. I also work to ensure that people with accessibility needs can use the tools effectively, and that users on remote or mobile devices can work with them just as smoothly.

I am currently developing, on my own initiative, an application that simplifies generating PDF certificates for courses. The goal is for each certificate to be secure, official, and resistant to falsification, with a trackable number that adds greater value to the certification. The program will also send the documents and maintain records of them, building accountability, recordkeeping, and sustainability into the process.

Book Covers for Author

2024-03-06T14:11:00.000-08:00

As part of my services as a graphic designer and artist, I'm especially proud of my work for author Dr. Rafael Batista.

He entrusted me with the concept and design for several of his books, resulting in a variety of book covers that are available for purchase on Amazon as each title is published.

All of these book covers were designed to the author's specific instructions, and I'm glad he was quite pleased with the results.

More works as a Remote Graphic Design Service for SBD and their clients.

2024-02-28T20:36:00.000-08:00

For many years, I have provided design services in one capacity or another to Solutions by Design (SBD). Most of this work involves web administration and design, working directly in WordPress and adding client-specific features that sometimes require a bit more creativity to accomplish.

These features may include a complete site redesign, rebranding, and in some cases reprogramming. Some clients prefer simple solutions, while others want fancy, extravagant interactive elements integrated into what might otherwise be a static informational site.

This is one of the sites that went from its old version (the first image on the left) to the new redesign, built according to the branding book the client provided. I integrated their new branding into our template and modified the menu structure to accommodate the site's many features and levels of separation. I also built their curvy footer with its off-center, semi-transparent logo.

In addition, I used scripting to keep the branding working in specific elements, such as the hexagonal list items and the hexagonal gallery images within the articles. The goal was to preserve the client's branding while keeping the site responsive, with mobile access and adjustments happening on the fly. I consider this one of the hardest yet most satisfying implementations I've done.

This other site has modifications for translations, including image swapping, and a nice script for "anonymous" case reporting that fills in the corresponding form fields before sending. The site also includes animated elements within some of the headers to give them additional depth.

It also features one of the first versions of my interactive map, which became quite popular with their government clients and has since been used in more advanced versions in other designs.

This is one of the hardest projects I've done so far. It is a large, complex site with a dynamic design, which I assembled from a teammate's design along with an array of complex elements the client needed. These range from moving elements and interactive SVG to an additional backend, separate from WordPress, that loads certain objects such as quick articles, PDFs with descriptions, and images. WordPress can handle all of this, but some clients want things done a certain way.

The site also features the most complex version of my interactive map. It is a fully SVG-based map that generates location pins and filters the TablePress table based on the region clicked, a filtered dropdown list of regions, or a search. A script converts the table into content blocks (cards) instead of a plain table, for aesthetic reasons and to give it more of a directory feel. Originally, I was only going to assemble the website, but for unforeseen reasons I ended up building the map implementations and modifications as well.

There was a lot of CSS, HTML, and jQuery that I had to experiment with to make things work. I pride myself on getting things done. As I tell my friend, "I'm not a programmer, I'm a graphic designer." He laughs in my face, because whenever he brings me hard tasks, I make every effort and get them to work.

I have learned to use templates to my advantage, and with Elementor, Enfold, and other tools that let me integrate custom scripts, I have been fortunate enough to accomplish many things that were once considered impossible or improbable. I use JSFiddle to "fiddle" with my implementations. It has been a godsend, since I can modify ideas and scripts and save what I make for later use. Perhaps playing around with AI will add even more oomph to my sites in the future.

A year and a few months at ICC Thermal

2020-05-05T12:42:00.008-07:00

During my time at ICC so far, I've been doing some serious work. ICC is an analytics company that specializes in detecting moisture intrusion and helping clients save money by pinpointing the problem areas on their building roofs, so they can repair rather than replace the roof insulation. The company shows clients where the problem areas are, if any, how large they are, and whether to repair or replace. It uses a forensic method to assure clients of the accuracy of the information provided, and clients can in turn use it as evidence to support claims to insurers and agencies like FEMA. I have learned a lot about a topic I never expected to find so interesting to work with.

I worked on their reports, assembling the imagery and the report itself. During this time, I optimized processes and enhanced the imagery so the product looked its best and was completed faster each time. I also implemented tracking sheets and processes so we knew which stage each project was in and how long it generally took to finish.

I reviewed their dated website and developed a newer version that meets their needs while keeping up with today's technology.

I did the same with their web reports, though for those I used a web template that I modified with PHP and other scripts to meet their needs and enhance the user experience.

I've learned some interesting things about thermal analysis and moisture intrusion while implementing modern methods to aid production at a company that has been in the market for more than 20 years and needed some updates to keep the momentum going.

I also made an experimental flipbook for marketing. I designed some of its elements and the magazine itself, wrote some of the articles, and modified scripts to load a separate HTML file into the front page for special effects, such as an animated cover.

This is a sample of the interactive magazine with the animated cover page. It has links to the articles within it, and you can zoom and scroll to navigate. This is not the production version or size, so it may have some slight inconsistencies.

Open in new window

Here are a few video promotions I was working on as well. I used Photoshop, Illustrator, After Effects, and Blender, depending on the materials needed.

Single small project.

2019-01-02T08:18:00.000-08:00

CHEMOLEE LABS CORPORATION WEBSITE

Added this one to my repertoire of works rather recently. Designed the logo and website to have their old website remade as it was pretty outdated. This was a quick job thanks to the team as they provided the needed assets quickly and sped up the process quite a bit.

SBD Remote

2018-08-10T13:34:00.006-07:00

This year because of hurricane Maria I had to forcibly make the decision to move out of PR. This made a severe dent in my ability to work in PR with my former employer or rely on my usual contacts, however, I was blessed enough to be able to work remotely with Solutions by Design. I used to work with them and have kept contact for many years.

Usually we do consulting and design for government or private clients.

I'm proud to have been working in many of our island's public service's pages, their design and the development behind some or all of the applications that make them work (mostly made with WordPress and custom design and coding by our team).

I was able to participate in the design and see the progress of a project for a back to school program sponsored by the Canóvanas Municipality and several other agencies.

Here are some pictures of that specific project as it developed from concept to reality.

Initial concept.

3d test of location.

Work at location.

More Work at location.

Final setup at location.

Red Dog

This was a request from a client through SBD. They were attempting to make a commercial with their logo. This was my take on it at the time.

Personal app for kids.

2017-08-31T10:13:00.001-07:00

I usually post here works I've done for others, however, I'm making a really nice app for kids.

I'm taking my time making it right and cleaning up details one by one but the sum of it is it's an activity app with 3 basic but entertaining and repeatable activities.

Here are some screenshots. It's a work in progress but I'll make this a finished product soon.

It's based on a "farm" and helping the farmers with some basic chores.

Chores include matching shapes and colors. The shapes and the colors are random so every
time it will be different.

The app includes a memory game, a shape/color match, and a coloring book with images specially made for the app.
The memory game has 3 skill levels increasing the amount of cards. Placement is also random every time.
The game is based on re-playability and short bursts of play.

I'll add the finished product's link as soon as the product is finished.

Some works while at WAPA.tv

2015-01-08T14:03:00.001-08:00

Here I'll be adding some of the work I've finished while at WAPA.tv

I'm working in the interactive department as their web architect. Among my responsibilities, besides maintaining the web applications and sites, I have to develop new site scripts, some interactive applications and, in some cases games.

WBC webpage project for Wapa.tv

Made a WordPress theme template modifications.
Added some external data integrations (json and xml)
Kept the site up and running with the most recent data until the WBC 2017 ended.
Made some modifications so that those interested could see the historical data.
Managed the site and the implemented widgets so that they adjusted to the responsive layout.

Several scripts integrations

I managed to integrate several scripts that were needed into the main website design.
Custom script solutions were created and implemented into the site so that they worked with its overall look.
I also took some ideas and scripting I've developed over the years and integrated them into some of the main site's areas so that we can custom change backgrounds or call special elements into view that were previously "impossible" to accomplish.
There have been changes made to the overall look and feel of the site.

Mobile web

Adjusted the old mobile site and implemented the new design provided by the designer.
Included new features that were previously unavailable.
Created a weather widget that takes the data from the provided xml weather data as needed.
Implemented a solution to sort some specific content and display only the desired amount of items,
Included special views for live events and live audience participation. (these features were made on the main site and included on the mobile version as they were not previously available in either version)
This site is actively being maintained.

Trullas de Wapa

This project was especially painful to make in my case. There was a short development time period and a lot of content to be included, coordinated, synchronized and optimized. The object of this is an application which lets a user take a picture of his/her face after choosing the character's gender. Then they choose their preferred program from a menu and there is an avatar created with their face which is in turn placed on a scene with the crew from the chosen program. They are singing a "bomba" and dancing to music. The end result is an animated post card they can share on Facebook or Twitter. The animated final post card also re-directs whoever is viewing it and clicks on the "make one" button back to the creating site. I'm happy with the final product although I'm not happy that there was so much work put into something that was not advertised as much as it could have. Such is life.

Noticentro América press release webpage.
This webpage had to be somewhat responsive and adapt to a mobile format. Includes video a small gallery and some document. It also contains a small form and a switch link from Spanish to English which swaps English and Spanish content of the webpage. I didn't make the graphic design however I translated it to the actual webpage and made the webpage keep the overall design through its responsiveness. I regard this web page as quite a feat because it had to be made in record time with little or no data to use all the way up until the very last minute in which I had to add all the actual text into it.

Basketball Challenge game /app:
This game app has proven challenging but with the research I did for the Christmas postcard app and some of the plugins I used the process of setting it up was a bit more straightforward. I had to do some last minute changes to the final layout, fonts and details but the whole thing was done and working on time. The art and design was made by the team designer. I did the backend programming and webapp setup and functionality.

Features:

Uses Parse to create and maintain user accounts and data.
Gathers user basic information.
Can share your high score on Facebook.
It updates the user score if higher than previous.
Has a leaderboard.

Scripting and modifications:

Developed a script for the galleries template so when a client hosts a specific gallery we can place their logo in a cool background thus branding that particular gallery.
Did the same for the programs template this way they can be branded and we can even add a poll for each program without making a separate page for each program. I'm trying to keep things as simple as I can and as reusable as possible.

Miscellaneous work:

There were many miscellaneous images, sliders, banners, transnationals, that had to be created. We are a skeleton crew so I had to perform such tasks on many occasions, which is good since it serves as a respite from all the scripting and coding which at times tends to become tedious. This also helps take the mind off the code and rest so when you hit the code again you may have a different solution to a previous issue that you didn't think of before.

Some projects for SBD while I was still there.

2014-12-11T11:15:00.001-08:00

Here I'll add some images and information about some projects I worked on while at SBD.

Aside from working with their webpage, optimization and programming I was part of several other projects that varied in difficulty and proved challenging either because of the time they needed to be completed on or due to some complexity that added to the usually short time frame made them rather difficult.

Political promotional material concepts and design:

This is one of many projects that required me to work on political campaign graphic design. The challenge here mainly being that I'm a completely apolitical person and it tends to go against my nature to actually help such efforts. My professionalism and my conscience were constantly at odds on these projects because as a professional I like to make quality products that take the message and gets it to the people however as a person I am completely against political campaigns and how they are aimed at manipulating the ideals and minds of people for the benefit of a specific group. Which in turn gets me pleased at the quality of the work I made and displeased at the use it's being given. I have very strong ideals of how things are, should be and I can see past the shrouds placed in by people with my own skills who are also paid to create images that display a "controlled" image of reality.
During this period I made several products which include but are not limited to:

Campaign and group logos
Social webpages
Banners in different formats for several groups (3x6, 6x3 3x12...)
Promo brochures
Id cards
Stationery
Video and sound editing
3d placing concept for a big event.

Program user interface and design:

Services Application

This was a particularly challenging thing to work on. It had many "moving parts" to apply design to and to make work. I even went as far as to directly program some of the applications functionality myself along with the programmer whom I worked with hand in hand to make sure every part looked as good as it needed to and kept a level of consistency and efficiency for the client and users not to get lost in the many depths of the program application itself. Achieving this was very challenging while keeping aesthetic values in check because the time frame and the complexity of a completely new product were keeping tensions rather high. Everyone had to take part in one way or another on this product and the end result is a combination of the efforts, ideas and coordination from all the team members involved.

A similar product was developed later which required some adaptations as well. Fortunately the experience from the original product helped speed up the development cycle.

Skills used during this product development:

Concept design
Interface design
HTML/CSS and Jquery programming
Programming logic (used to interpret the lead programmer's code to implement modifications as needed for performance or aesthetic optimizations)
Graphic design
Digital image optimization
Mobile interface design and prototyping.
Project management and tool development. (made a change and bug tracking sheet in excel to simplify the process and quantify progress)

Progressive development and design:

Here I'll include some projects that were a bit too advanced for the time they were considered. These projects usually require higher amounts of research and development time for the concept to be finalized.

Augmented Reality:

I had the opportunity to research and play around with augmented reality as a marketing, educational and informative media. This allows for a simple product like a bottle of water, a postcard, a poster or even a sticker to be able to expand upon itself and the information it provides by adding digital elements to the physical world. You could say I was able to work with interactive enhancements to the real world that are rendered in the digital world. As abstract a concept as this is, it's also a very real and useful tool. Some museums, advertisement agencies and even educational institutions are testing, implementing, and innovating in this field. This is what I call experience that will be really useful for the near future that I wish most designers got a chance to be able to work with.

Game Application:

Project Freefall Bird:
Yes it came to be that as a special project I managed to develop my own game under the SBD name. The process took me a while to get the kinks out but the end result was a fully functional game app that you can download for free from the Google Play Store. This project involved many hats:

Character Design
Interface Design
Game environment design
Game assets design
Level design
Concept art
music and sound effects (the music was composed by a co-worker but I was involved in the creative process and the final decision as to which music was applied to which stage)
Database and MySQL setup(this is for further expanding the capabilities of the game)
Beta testing(lots of bug hunting and squashing)
Prototyping, Social webpage design, and website inclusion in the SBD main page.
3d design to get the character prepped for promotional 3d animations that are still in development.
Lots and lots of research and development including lots of forum diving in the development community.
Documentation and project management.(made a modified version of the excel sheet we made for the Cidra product so that we could track the changes and progress of this product)

I did not get much sleep time or time to make the game gather hype, though. Eventually I'll have to make a publicity strategy to make the game more known.

As of March I moved to another job as a web architect which will prove challenging as well however the experience and acquired knowledge will be useful for the challenges ahead.

[update: 4/2017] I did however keep contact with them and some freelance work has been done after the date.
I'm currently working on implementing an online course platform for them.

New webpage for SBD

2012-09-13T15:38:00.000-07:00

I recently switched working places and re-joined a company I've known for over 10 years. I've been harassing them to make a new webpage since their old one was quite outdated. After joining them again and a few projects we finally had some time to work on the page design. Here's a sample image of the change. On the left you can see the previous incarnation of the page. An outdated design with hard to update methods and rough graphics. The new one is using WordPress as a CMS and has a very flexible base template we purchased called Affinity. Of course being who and how I am I couldn't just leave the default styles alone so I messed with the whole colors, the backgrounds, generated tons of images and added a little more pizzazz with the help of animate.css so that the page content is not static and boring but responsive and dynamic. I will be tweaking the thing a lot more in the next few days by adding a map to the contact area and probably a form for contacting us instead of the basic "mailto" which always gets on my nerves. Hopefully I'll be able to work on some more tweaks and projects soon. I have some other pending articles and two books in the writing... and a baby coming... life just got a little more interesting :)

Team Docusign Training

2012-03-29T13:11:00.000-07:00

This is a short form training I gave to a small group of teammates that are going to be working with the Docusign service we use at our institution. The training was quick and to the point and it focused on how to upload, edit and send documents using the platform. I also added some best practices and at the end I stayed with the managers to explain and identify the different challenges they will be facing when sharing the service among some related departments that will be providing service to our students.

As to why I am dressed pretty... well I take pride in giving a good training and it helps give the message that this is serious business and it merits dressing-up for it. Plus I make this look good :)

Some numbers taken from the evaluation charts. I do wish some of the people that couldn't come did come... most of them really needed it.

Oh well... it probably means I'll have to eventually give another one.

9th SUAGM congress conference at Caribe Hilton

2011-11-21T10:59:00.001-08:00

Last Saturday, I was blessed to be able to participate in this congress. I learned a lot when working for SUAGM, and it’s only fair to give back some of that knowledge to the educational community, even if I work for a competitor university; the main goal is to educate. I also had the chance to share some information about copyright in the instructional and graphic design field.

My participation was focused on U.S. copyright law and its implications for course graphic design. It included some examples, a simple plea to the conscience of the educators to properly ask for permission to use content, and an explanation on how to obtain the proper licenses to enrich their courses without putting themselves or their institutions in legal jeopardy. All in all, it was a great experience! I was able to be part of a great team of professionals each with their own expertise and background in the field. My background flows along the lines of my own research as a designer, artist and educator: ensure that my work is not only compliant with the law, but also protected by it.

Here are some pictures of the presentation:

The auditorium was filled with many educators from different fields. At one point there were people standing because there was no more space.

That's me! Yes, I'm wearing a suit :) and I make it look good! Here I was explaining about the different licenses available, and how they differ from one another. I was also taking questions with my awesome finger gun. **pew pew**

This specific conference had 3 speakers, each an expert in their field with great passion for their profession.

From left to right:
Manuel Carrión (Instructional Content Editor), Bessie Rivera (Instructional Designer), Juan C. Peña (Graphic Designer).

This is me posing in the suit because it's a rare sight, and one worthy of keeping in the annals of history. :)

Google and the final frontier:

2011-11-03T14:42:00.000-07:00

Space, the final frontier... these are the goals of a great company, to seek out new ways to do your computing, to seek out new ways for our civilization to boldly go wherever they want to go.
Or, something like that...

Google has been helping users cast out the limitations of computers and porting most of the data and programs to the "cloud". Finding new freedom and new ways to interact while not worrying that the computer will be afflicted by lack of space since the important documents and files will be hosted, accessible and available in any and all devices capable of accessing the internet.

Before, they had added the Notebook (now unsupported though I still use it to write my stuff), The Google Docs, along with their whole "Office Like" program set which adds extra capabilities like multiple sharing, turning the documents into web pages directly and multiple "working" on the same document that lets teams work on concepts and projects.

They developed their Android OS and integrated it into their infrastructure to create a pretty solid system in which the user has little worry about where the document was or if it gets lost or if his hard drive dies because it's all in the clouds.

They integrated speech to text technology to ease the pains of our aching joints and simplify the process of jotting notes for us the "lazy ones" who are full of ideas but have "no time" to jot them down into cohesive concepts and documents.

Also they are offering an onslaught of technologies like Google-powered TVs , Chrome OS laptops and other such products. Most of this technology if not "freely available" still costs a fraction of what we are used to seeing in the market.

It makes the geekiness rise a little with the similitude with Star Trek technology, tablets that wrote our stuff for us, with the knowledge of whole worlds available at the touch of a screen or the sound of our voice, wireless communication that can share different format media and "understand" it, multilingual translation, GPS and much more. Albeit I do not discount the strong influence of Apple and the now deceased Steve Jobs, who dared to think different, in this process. He who denies his influence shall be burned at the stake. However Google chose a different path, open source it and open end it... make it the people's and the people will follow, and so they have.

Then there is Google+, an interesting "attempt at face-booking Google?" I say there is much more to it than that description can ever say. It integrates the greatness of "social networking" and their own "everything for everyone everywhere" Philosophy at least in this humble viewer's eyes.

Don't get me wrong, there is much to still worry about like security issues, safety, and the impact on upcoming technology... however WHY focus on the possible negatives when there are so many possible positives.

Consider this:

A doctor with a handheld device is able to access complete medical databases with one "search" and able to come up with possible solutions for a problem... including treatments that when he/she was in school were not even available in fact when the books they use for reference were printed were not even thought of.
A Parent is able to access similar information to treat his child's illness or injury while the proper medical teams are made available.
A cook or a housewife have access to millions of delicacies to enrich their menu and change the routine, along with the techniques, ingredients and materials needed to make it.
A programmer or designer has access to millions of lines of codes, tutorials and programs that will make their product a much better product and in turn advance technology.
Technology which in turn will retroactively become part of the cycle and some day maybe take us where no one has gone before.

What is next... only time will tell and probably their business plan too :) I'll just say I wish I had the money to invest when I saw their stocks at $37 way back then, I wanted to, I saw their potential... such is life.

Miami Florida NUC-Online Promotions

2011-09-22T11:13:00.000-07:00

I made the design for the promotions now running in Miami FL.
So far they look very nice and the printers did a great job with the matching of the design and the colors. I wish the picture sent to me was better lit or from a few more angles though hahah... oh well I know what it's supposed to look like. Now if I could get my hands on one of the actual brochures for my portfolio it would be awesome. :)

Here are some of the Banners Used for the FL promotions.

This was used on some Nice T-shirts.

What? More work!!! Heck yes!

2011-09-01T14:18:00.000-07:00

I've been working hard on the current institution I'm in. Many promotional banners and gimmicks and web-modifications and designs among other things. Many of these works are kind of blue ... I've got nothing for or against the color; it's one of the main institutional colors and I kind of have to keep the "feel" for branding reasons.

Some promotional Brochure Design ... Barn door opening.

Triptych Banner Design for our FL incursion.

A Template for multiple promotional emails for our leads and student support.

Illustration and design for an institutionally hosted art expo.

There is no impossible just highly improbable or better yet... Dude! Wheres my flying car?

2011-06-30T07:26:00.001-07:00

by Juan C. Peña on Monday, April 11, 2011 at 4:06pm

A long time ago I heard a speech that stated that there's nothing impossible just highly improbable. I pondered the meaning of those words in my own field (Art - Education - Computers) One day I found myself watching a cartoon episode of the Jetsons and had the speech still lingering in my head. Shortly after while driving in a ridiculous traffic jam I said to myself... Dude!!! Where's my flying car!!!
It became painfully evident that this is 11 years past the year 2000 (which many movies and series depicted as this ultra advanced future) and still no publicly available flying cars. Do we lack the technology for it? ... hmm... possibly... I'm certain we do have enough tech for at least some form of flying car or at least a fully electric one... oh wait there's the Tesla(which is awesome but still pricey) never mind that one. Who cares right we want flying cars... however what does a flying car mean to us the common users?
Traffic jams in the sky, air crashes that end up in gravity based secondary crashes ... kind of scary. People required to take flying lessons, flying licenses and hopefully a checkup or two along a period of time to ensure the person is still able to fly it... unless they're automated which still leaves a bunch of questions in the air.
So, how are we to solve this economic crisis? When are we getting the flying cars? Why are the students able to read 500 pages of facebook and not able to read 3 pages of a real book? I kept musing and thinking and my mind working in its abstract form came to realize we have too many distractions and frankly our education is not the best. Education is something that never stops, most of our students just jump in the " oh when I finish high school I'll go work" or worse wagon. Individual issues aside, most of our educators are still living in the 40's (at least locally) and struggle with the constant bombardment of new technology. Those managing the education centers believe that eradicating access to social media will ensure the "proper use" of the "educational technology tools" they have setup.
I just wanna smack educators when I hear them say "I won't allow any quotes or citations from Wikipedia because it's not trustworthy" to which I reply "and a thousand(or two) year old compendium of multiple publicly available pamphlets and letters selected by a king and the religious leaders of an era where people would kill each other because of a difference of opinion with clubs and swords IS...?" Because we all know it, we were there right? ... with a smirk and a wink. Hey I'm just saying... and I know some people don't trust the info on Wikipedia either but I know for a fact that they check up on their information and put little tags about the matters being discussed and tweaked and cleaned up ... they are paying attention to it. It may take some time to get all the facts right but he who is without sin can try and throw the first stone here... I happen to have quite a few boulders for ye. I don't want this to turn into a religious bashing or inquisition so just take that as an example of what we are willing to believe in and what we are shedding doubts on proportionally.
Back from digression land... Where are our flying cars?, Why are we paying electricity TWICE in our bills? (yes twice because we pay for the kilowatt-hours we use and we are paying for the gas they're using to produce the energy consumption we are already paying for)
Why? Because the people in charge don't want us to... simple as that. We've given our decision making to them and they decide to flip us off and do whatever they want. Because the companies in charge are making millions of dollars daily from our hides and the use we give to fossil fuels. Because it's more expensive to buy a Hybrid than it is to buy a regular fuel drinking car. Because when in the Engineering schools someone comes up with the better electric motor that goes from 0 to 60 in 10 seconds they go and buy off the motor from the poor-now-rich-and-soul-less person and then vault it so that it doesn't come to market in at least 20 more years instead of developing it right away and out selling their competitors. Among many other reasons each of which will sound probably more like a conspiracy theory than the previous one.
True reason... Vested interests, and Greed.
So where is it then? My flying car is still in the vault waiting for revision... and we're already 11 years overdue...
About robots and mechas and other tech... well I'll leave that for another ramble. Try and think a little, look around you, don't get so involved in the game that you end up losing sight of the true goal. Making this a better world for all of us... not just for a few.
~JCP

Joomla NUC|Online Website Design

2011-06-30T06:49:00.000-07:00

This is the NUC|Online Website design. It's based on JSN Epic.-Pro template. With several customizations made by hand (Graphics, backgrounds, special positions and icon menus, not to mention the removal of their flash based image rotators for a more "friendly" CSS and JQuery version that is compatible with iPad and other like devices, it even has an iPhone and mobile device layout thanks to the JSN people including this functionality which looks awesome with my icon menu.)

Tools for Everyone

2011-06-30T06:40:00.000-07:00

By: Juan C. Peña Martínez

{This is one of the articles I wrote for the newsletter. It generally talks about the design improvements and tools I added to the online team's websites}

Implementing new tools and features helps us reach our goals and provide additional support to our community. New technology is constantly being researched and implemented on our pages. The modifications and fixes we integrate respond directly to the needs and concerns of our community (faculty and students). This additional line of support usually becomes visible when someone has a need and realizes that the tool to solve it is already implemented on the page they visit so often.

This topic was created to help identify and showcase these new tools and important changes. Changes in technology are sudden and fast-paced, and our goal is to bring these new technologies to our community, keeping our institution up to date.

Support Tools:

Compatibility Test: Little known by our community, but one of the most powerful tools we offer. This test checks your computer, especially your web browser, to tell you whether it is compatible with our educational platform (Blackboard). You'll find it on our platform's login page as the first button, called Compatibility Test. For your convenience, the test also tells you which of the required plug-ins you have installed and, in most cases, where to get them. Its goal is to keep users up to date and eliminate the most common problems our users run into when using the platform.
Technical Support Center: This tool lets you bring connection problems, platform, portal, or password issues, or any other questions directly to our technical support staff (Platform Administrator, Portal Administrator, etc.). It is the most direct way to get your concern to the right person. Since it was first implemented, this tool has provided support and has been key to successfully resolving many cases. You can access it directly from several places:
- NUC Online Page – Help Menu – Technical Support
- NUC Online Facebook - Technical Support Tab
DocuSign: This tool is a fairly recent addition to our repertoire. It lets us send documents (applications) to prospective students, who can fill out and digitally sign those applications and documents.
Chat System (LiveChat): To make it easier to communicate with our admissions officers and get questions answered. You'll find this tool throughout our pages. It is aimed at visitors to our pages and promotions, offering live, real-time information to users and prospective students.

Social Tools:

Bulletin Board: This page is basically just that: a bulletin board. It is an additional feature of our site to help the hybrid and online community stay up to date on important activities and promotions from our various teams. It currently contains general and/or local promotions. To keep things simple, the number of promotions on the board is limited, with the most recent at the top; they move down as they expire until they drop off the board.
NUC Online Facebook: In addition to the official NUC Facebook page, we also have one for NUC Online. Become a fan to stay informed about activities and events. It lets you connect with the community and is an additional communication link with your institution.

Updates:

To improve our processes and give our institution a more professional look, a set of institutional pages is being developed using the content management platform Joomla. It will let us update the information on the site faster and expand what the site can do.

Researching technology is a never-ending process, since technology changes constantly, and that gives us the opportunity to experiment with and implement new tools to improve procedures, provide support, and increase communication, enriching our users' experience.

Presentation with the Design Progress

2011-01-20T07:53:00.000-08:00

A year of work and maybe some change. Now here I'll use this presentation to keep track of all of it. I originally wrote "Graphic Design department," however I'm the only graphic designer :P I just like feeling part of a team.

A year's work in Design at National University from Juan Pena

Many projects done while on National University College

2010-11-12T07:26:00.000-08:00

Web page Design

Designed the webpage and added some neat tricks to have it become a "desktop" with icons that help navigate the page and focus the eye of the user on the needed tools. There's an upcoming new design in the works.

Blackboard Login Page design and programming.

This was quite a challenge and had several previous versions until this one was perfected. Still now I'm working on a new version for it which I hope to have finished for the next trimester.

Promotional Designs at National College

2010-03-03T12:46:00.001-08:00

This one is an example in heavy photo manipulation. Used a few co-workers to make the Female with the Technology Orb.

Smaller Scale Manipulations adding the laptops and making it "online" This is one of my "cool-techy promotion pitches" ... they liked it.

Basic easy concept for a promotion. Used my ever useful 3D Studio-made laptop and cutout characters manipulated from photographs and rendered directly in 3ds Max.

Went kinda classic on my first promotion to make sure they didn't freak out too much. I like adding extra twists to the promotions since my target is the students not the teachers but decided against going too overboard on the first one.

Christmas at National College

2009-12-04T09:19:00.000-08:00

Christmas lights activation at National College

Graphic design for a promotional postcard about the Christmas lights activation activity. A new year at a new institution brings new challenges and new projects.

Captivate 4 Workshop

2009-05-11T13:51:00.001-07:00

May 8, 2009: I gave a workshop on Captivate 4 together with a coworker. I prepared the presentation and did the relevant research so the information would be as complete as possible. We first gave this workshop to our coworkers to see what was missing and what changes could be made, so that when we gave it to the professors, they could get the most out of it.

Captivate Workshop from Juan Pena

Thanksgiving

2008-11-10T09:26:00.000-08:00

Comment card, invitation, and program for the system's Thanksgiving event.

Humanities 101 - On the Air

2008-08-26T11:34:00.000-07:00

Today the first episode of Humanities 101 airs. I worked on the graphic elements, simulations, and animations for this program, including the "chroma key" sets used for it.

The team, together with the professor, has gone all out and fought against wind and tide so this project would come out with the highest possible quality and excellence.

About the program:
New Televised Course - Humanities 101 on NuevaVisión/Channel 40

The External University Education System (SEDUE) has completed the content review of the televised course Humanities 101 – Western Civilizations I. Now with updated visuals and topics, the course will air starting tomorrow, every Tuesday, Saturday, and Sunday at 2:00 p.m., as part of NuevaVisión/Channel 40's programming.

Prof. Sonia Cabanillas will discuss the meaning of the Humanities, The Prehistoric Prism, and other interesting topics. For more information about this and all the courses offered by the SEDUE office, call (787) 766-2600 ext. 6486, 6487.

You can watch NuevaVisión/Channel 40 through these cable TV providers: Onelink (Channel 3), Liberty Cable (Channel 40), and Choice Cable (Channel 26).