New and Exciting: GoRedbirds.com (12.18.09)

After a great performance by the Redbirds on the gridiron during the fall, freshman quarterback Matt Brown was named Missouri Valley Conference Freshman of the Year. Brown, a redshirt freshman from Marion, Ill., stepped in for injured starter Drew Kiel in the first game of the season and helped guide the offense to new heights in 2009. To honor Brown, we decided to design a masthead to go on all the football pages at GoRedbirds.com.

I saw something similar to this in ESPN the Magazine's Next feature on Jake Locker and thought it was really neat. I like typography and using words as design elements, but I haven't really done a whole lot with it. I dug up some old quotes from Illinois State head coach Brock Spack about Brown prior to the Southern Illinois game, then created a mash-up of sorts, along with his yardage from this season - a new freshman record. I was pleased with the final product.



We're also working on a launch of the Redbird Athletics Video Vault on Vimeo. It's an effort to provide fans with the ability to fast forward or rewind through old games - something not available currently on the CBS All-Access player. We're also looking to improve the quality of the video beyond what CBS All-Access streaming allows. I created the following graphic for our Redbird Athletics Video Vault Channel on Vimeo and a channel badge. I found an old film strip graphic and a picture of an old film reel and grunged it up a little with photoshop filters and brushes.



That's what's new and exciting right now.

Winged Birds (10.09.09)

I made a to-do list this morning while waiting for the bus. I had a little extra time since I missed my first option, the Red-B at 8:20. It seems I was hesitant to buy into the department's jeans day declaration. It just didn't feel right and I had to change. Regardless, I missed the bus and had a half an hour to kill while waiting for the Yellow-G (You'll learn a lot about Bloomington-Normal Public Transit throughout this blog - but more on that later).

I rarely make to-do lists but it felt good to identify and knock out some little projects today. It seems lately I've been so swamped with big items, it's hard to see any progress. I knocked out five of the six tasks before lunch and was fired up for the last item, some graphics and a static html page for the ISU men's basketball virtual media day.

Next Thursday (Oct. 15) we'll have our second virtual media day, to which the entire world is invited via the web (GoRedbirds.com). We did our first for football this fall and had some great questions and feedback from the fans. The page is set up to host a live chat, while also broadcasting live video in an adjacent box. I start with an introduction for a player or coach to be interviewed, then ask an opening question, before the readers take control with their questions. Pretty fun idea that we picked up from the Portland Trailblazers. It puts the fans in control, and gives them access to an event that used to be for media only.

Anyhow, the exciting part part for me was creating these graphics. I was messing around, trying to emulate a Lebron poster when I accidentally used one of the wing brushes on the page instead of another ornamental brush. I think it worked out pretty well. Of course I had a great shot of Osiris Eldridge to work with from the beginning.

Translate That Beard (7.30.09)

Alright gang, we've been stuck on $425 in pledges and $155 in actual funds received for awhile now. We need to wrap this up soon so Jordan and Nikki can get started with the program. I'm setting an August 12 deadline for the Translate That Beard campaign. If you've pledged and haven't sent your check, please do so as soon as possible. Also, if you know anyone who might be interested, feel free to let them in on this opportunity to help a couple friends out.

We're just over 77 percent of the way towards the final goal of $550...I'm way excited about our progress and really appreciate your contributions.

Please make your checks out to me (I'll make the purchase and have the software delivered) and drop them or cash in the mail to my address:

Kevin McCarty
1408 Kurt Drive #21
Bloomington, IL 61701


If you're checking the Translate that Beard progress for the first time and have no idea what we're talking about, check for older posts with a description of our mission. Also, make sure to check out Jordan and Nikki's official website (http://makeyourmarkinmanila.com/) or read their blogs to the right.

Just for fun, a quick look at where the pledges are coming from:
Illinois (1)
Kansas (2)
Missouri (1)
North Carolina (1)
Oklahoma (1)
Texas (1)