Yes, that’s right! You can now call me Mark of the Yukon. My family and I have officially made the move to the great white north – Whitehorse, Yukon. We flew into town on Monday. Some have called us crazy, why move there. The winters are long, cold and dark. Indeed this is true, but the summers are long, warm and light. The longest days in the country. The land of extremes if you will.

We  currently reside in Porter Creek, a lovely community just north of the downtown core. It’s our temporary home for the next 3-weeks while we find a more permanent location. The housing market is very tight right now and homes are snapped up very fast. While the search continues, we are making ourselves ready for the coming week. Schools, childcare and work. It’s an adventure!! That’s what I tell my friends and family.

Camera Phone Lenses
The iPhone 4 might well be the best camera phone ever made, but even it can’t overcome the physical limitations of its built-in lens. Or can it? Camera Phone Lenses ($20-$40USD) attach to it or any other camera-equipped phone via an included magnetic ring, giving you wide angle/macro or fisheye capabilities that go well beyond your average fixed lens. Your DSLR will be jealous.

Description:
It’s hard to believe you were that Snobby McSnobberson of yore. You were dedicated to film 100%, cringing at the “D” in DSLR and the mere thought of shooting in JPEG. But then. iPhone happened. It was the readiness with which you could whip out this camera that made you fall in love. Yes, it had you at hello, and now your only wish is to bathe your beloved with lavish accessories. Well, your wish is granted! These high-clarity glass cell phone lenses are like pro lenses for your camera-phone, giving you crisp and clear shots every time. The two small yet powerful and finely constructed lenses, one fisheye and one combo wide-angle/macro, attach to your cell phone transforming your standard flat phone photos into wide and up-close wonders.

They work with any camera phone and attaching them is easy breezy! A detachable magnetic ring sticks to your cell, providing a sturdy, shake-free hold between the lens and your phone. Go with the combo wide-angle/macro lens for capturing sweet crowd shots at concerts or that awesome ally-way mural. When the same lens is set as a macro, you can really get in there to shoot a super-close-up detail! Meanwhile, the fisheye creates fun-tastic curved edges with its 180 degree angle whilst making everyone look like they live in a plastic bubble! Facebook camera-phone album, get ready for pics like you’ve never seen before.

Order online today!

Specs:
•    Detachable magnetic ring sticks with adhesive to your phone
•    Lens attaches to phone via magnetic ring
•    Compatible with any camera phone
•    Powerful macro lens focuses between 10-23mm from your subject
•    Wide angle lens 0.67x wide
•    Fish-eye lens 180 degree angle (0.28x)
•    Lenses range between 15.8mm-25mm diameter x 6.5mm-15mm length
•    Back and front lens covers to prevent scratching of glass

After the success of the Roger’s House Telethon, I was asked to breath new life into their next campaign – The Walk, Roll & Run Campaign for Roger’s House. Once again I donated my time and expertise in assisting these wonderful organizations with the layout and design of this year’s campaign. The campaign included direct mailers, letterhead, banners and newspaper advertisements and outdoor signage.  The Walk, Roll & Run Campaign raised $183, 654 this year!

The Ottawa Senators Foundation
The mission of the Sens Foundation is to leverage and provide both financial and in-kind support to registered charitable organizations whose programs focus on improving the quality of life for children and youth in eastern Ontario and western Quebec.

Roger’s House
The hockey world and countless others lost a beloved coach, friend and mentor in 2003 as Ottawa Senators assistant coach Roger Neilson passed away after a long-term battle with cancer. To honour Roger, and his lifetime commitment of helping others, the Sens Foundation, the Ottawa Senators Hockey Club and the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) forged a partnership to establish Roger’s House, Ontario’s first paediatric respite and palliative care home dedicated to enhancing the comfort and quality of life of children and families in a time of need.

I originally came across these guys when I saw a photo that a friend of mine took while she was visiting Vancouver. The photo was awesome, but the subject matter was just as impressive. I had to find out what artist was responsible for this mural. Turns out it’s a group that calls themselves Nomadic Alternatives. They are a talented group of artists from Vancouver that do films, murals, logos and graphic design.

This particular example is entitled “Under the Shadow of 10,000 Crows” and is the Nomads latest installment. The mural depicts the daily flight of the crows at dusk to roost as seen from Commercial drive. This wall is located at the corner of Commercial Drive and Venables.  Visit their website for more incredible samples of their work.

Hi folks,

I’m in the midst of adding a mobile version of my site for all those viewing my site on their phones or PDA’s. When you visit my site on your phone, this little plug-in automatically detects this and will present the optimized version. This plug-in gives my blog a mobile/phone/PDA- friendly interface with progressive enhancement for advanced mobile browsers.

Whether you are using a mobile phone such as a Blackberry or Nokia, or a smartphone like an Android or iPhone device with touch capabilities, this version will detect and display a different stylesheet for these two categories. This way, those with touch screens have nice big tap zones, and those with pointers or scroll wheels have shorter scroll areas.

The theme has been developed by the cool dudes at Crowd Favorite – developers of Wordpress plug-ins. Most of my pages are good, except my portfolio page. This may take a bit of time. lol

Keep your eyes peeled!

It’s always great to hear this.

“Mark’s keen design skills turned our prototype web-app into a professional looking application.  He spent time to really understand our customers and project goals, his ideas and concepts were top notch.  It was a big plus to have Mark working on our project.  I would feel very comfortable recommending his design services to peers and colleagues.”

J. Downton,
Director at ACN Property Pilots Inc.
http://www.furnished.pro

I was approached by the fine people at Furnished.PRO. They were in the final development phase of their reservations system for property owners. Their current look was put together ad-hoc during development and they felt their user interface looked inconsistent. The general consensus was that the public facing pages and overall company image needed a more polished and business-like appearance, giving visitors a stronger identity with which to associate the words Furnished.PRO.

Our first task to was to develop a strong identity for the company which would be the foundation for the branding of the website. Once that was established work began on the user interface and client side dashboard pages. Overall, the new interface gives them a professional image and lends creditability to the new start-up.

While looking for things all design. I came across this company that designs, manufactures and distributes simple solutions to daily problems with a drive to transform even the most everyday items into objects of desire. BlueLounge was founded by designers Dominic Symons and Melissa Sunjaya – a multi-disciplinary design studio located in Pasadena, California.

Refresh-Charging station
Refresh is a personal or shared charging station for three or more devices. Compact in size and compatible with most of the new devices hitting the market today, it can charge two iPod/iPhones simultaneously while also charging a Blackberry and a bluetooth headset for instance. In fact, using the two iPod connectors and two of your own iPod cords, you could even charge four iPod/iPhones at the same time. Perfect for the whole family!

Besides the two built-in iPod connectors, Refresh is shipped with the essential connectors needed for most new devices: Mini & Micro USB. These connectors are quickly becoming the standard for all mobile phones so Refresh is future proofed.

StudioDesk
Specifically designed for laptop users. A clutter free working environment while still connected to all your peripherals.

All peripherals and excess cables are hidden just under the sliding desktop surface. The storage compartment is therefore conveniently accessed from above. An elongated slot across the width of the desktop allows the necessary peripheral & power cables to enter/exit at any point, thereby keeping the desktop clear of clutter.

CableDrop
Fixed behind or on the desktop, even onto a facing wall. Anywhere in fact where you wish to have cables temporarily held yet easily removeable or extended. CableDrop gently grasps your power and peripheral cords so they do not fall off your desk every time you unplug your laptop.

CableDrop can really blend in with your decor, use them hidden under ledges with the muted colors to match your furniture or bring them to light by using the bright ones. Beyond just preventing cables from falling off a desk, they make great cable clips on furniture legs or walls to control unruly cords.

plastique – plastic jewelry with a graphic designer’s touch

Created by Jennifer Murse, the line of plastic jewelery with a graphic designer’s touch includes acrylic homages to Mac commands, the CMYK colour profile, Helvetica, Avant-garde and Kerning.

Command-Z
Ever just do something and think “man i wish i could apple/ctrl-z that like in photoshop”? if yes, then you know you have reached another level of design nerdom.

kern
Total typographic design nerd? This is the ring set for you! Inspired by the want, need, and love of kerning type, this ring set features 2 rings — KE & RN. wear them side by side and kern away.

helvetica
Total helvetica-phile? adhere to the mantra “give me good typography or give me death”? designers and type nerds alike — this is the necklace for you!

avant garde
Whether you are avant garde, love avant garde art, or use avant garde the typeface, this necklace is for you.

I was honored to have been asked to design the Spring/Summer promo for Concrete Indians 2010. Concrete Indians is a portraiture series and exploration of Indigenous collective identity in the Urban setting. I was approached by Nadya Kwandibens who is a very talented photographer from Toronto. Nadya Kwandibens is of Ojibwe (Anishinaabe) / French heritage from the Northwest Angle #37 First Nation in Ontario, Canada. She is a self-taught, dynamic photographer specializing in artistic natural light portraiture, fashion, promotional sessions, and event photography. Nadya is the owner/operator of Red Works Studio. Please check out her vast portfolio on her website.

Artist Statement

We, as Indigenous people, are often portrayed in history books as Nations once great; in museums as Nations frozen stoic; in the media as Nations forever troubled. These images can be despairing; however, my goal seeks to steer the positive course. If our history is a shadow, let this moment serve as light. We are musicians, lawyers, doctors, mothers and sons. We are activists, scholars, dreamers, fathers and daughters. Let us claim ourselves now and see that we are, and will always be great, thriving, balanced civilizations capable of carrying ourselves into that bright new day.