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Southlake Town Square
181 Grand Ave, Suite 206
Southlake, TX 76092

817 428 4248
design@firewheeldesign.com

Copyright © 2001-2006
Firewheel Design Incorporated
All rights reserved.

June 2006

Sparkplug : June 2006

The Wheel Keeps Burning

2006 June 27 by Josh

Comment Icon 1221 Comments

As evidenced by the last couple blog posts here, there's a lot happening right now at Firewheel. This is a big week in particular. First, I'd like to officially welcome Scott Raymond and Keegan Jones to the Firewheel family. Every time we've had the opportunity to hire new talent here, I'm am overwhelmed with gratitude than I am privileged to work with such wonderful, amazingly talented individuals.

Scott's arrival is almost more of a formality. Many of you know that he has been our lead developer on Blinksale and IconBuffet since each of their respective launches, and while Scott has been working with us on a contract basis for over a year, we're thrilled to have him join us as an official Firewheeler today. Scott lives in Kansas City, and is will continue his work as our Rails guru-extraordinaire.

Keegan joins us from outdoorsman-mecca Springfield, MO, and will be investing his talents heavily on several internal web design projects, as well as working with a handful of our clients. You might be familiar with his previous work from his own website or the wonderful Big Noob. Keegan is probably the brightest young star on the web design scene, and we're thrilled to have him join us here.

When I started Firewheel over five years ago, my vision did not extend too far beyond my apartment walls, and now I am blessed to work everyday with my beautiful wife and five of the most remarkable gentlemen in the world. It's been an unbelievable amount of hard work, sweat, and even a few tears, but I feel like the most blessed businessman in the world. I live a charmed life, and wake up every morning getting to do something that I love.

There's a lot of fun that lies ahead at Firewheel. For the first time in our recent history, I no longer have a feeling that we are "missing a piece." All the parts are accounted for, and I expect you'll be seeing some great work from us in the days ahead. To Scott and Keegan: Thank for believing in Firewheel. And to our clients, customers, readers, and friends: We're glad you can be a part of our ride. Thanks for believing in us.

Brian Gets Threadless

2006 June 26 by Josh

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Sasquatch Redux Peace Out It's taken a lot of effort on my part over the last couple of weeks to keep this quiet, but since they went on sale today, I'm guessing it's safe to let the general public know that Threadless has just released a new t-shirt designed by our own resident, nature-loving, pop-culture inspired illustrator, Brian Brasher.

Brian has submitted a plethora of designs over the last who-knows-how-long, and unfortunately his advanced humor is often lost on the crowd. Well, no longer. when space aliens, bees with guns, and Walt Disney won't cut it, you can always count on a Sasquatch to hit a home run.

Seems Jack Link's Beef Jerkey is also showing the Sasquatch some love these days. Anyhow, Brian's Sasquatch Redux Peace Out is now available at Threadless in limited supply. Buy it now, before your friends do.

The new guy

2006 June 24 by Keegan

Comment Icon 22 Comments

Hello internet, my name is Keegan. Coming monday, I'll officially be a proud member of the mega-talented Firewheel Design team. Some of you may know me from Neubix, others from my personal site, and maybe a few from the coffee aisle at Walmart. Either way, I wanted to introduce myself on this blog and say that I'm excited to be onboard.

Adieu, app.

2006 June 1 by Brian

Comment Icon 34 Comments

The news that Adobe is discontinuing FreeHand (which it acquired upon purchasing Macomedia) comes as no surprise. And I'm happy to report that no one here is weeping nor gnashing his teeth. Both Josh and I were once dedicated FreeHand users - me, I'm certain, much longer than he since my experience dates back to when "FreeHand" was preceeded by "Aldus". Today we are happy as larks using the best app available for doing what we do. However, even though Illustrator is firmly ensconced in our workaday world, we wouldn't mind, if you'll pardon a gruesome metaphor, a few organs being harvested from the FreeHand corpse and grafted into Illustrator. C'mon, Adobe, give us Paste Inside!

June's Plugs

DRM is like paying for ice

2006 June 30 by Brian

The THING will generate and stimulate interest in YOUR business! Get attention. Stop the crowd with INFO-TAINMENT. .......... weird.

2006 June 30 by Brian

One of these days I'm gonna muster the guts and shoot impromptu street portraits.

2006 June 30 by Brian

How much would you pay for an nPod?

2006 June 30 by Brian

How to do a pixel head. Via SimpleBits. Very nice work. And enlightening too!

2006 June 29 by Josh

Magritte meets Mac.

2006 June 29 by John

I really have tried to avoid topics concerning my beloved Dallas Mavericks since they we're robbed by the refs last week, er, I mean lost to Miami in the NBA Finals. But this is simply too good to pass up. A man who calls himself Handsome Tom vowed to blow up his XBOX if Dallas lost. Well, the time has come for him to settle up. See the video.

2006 June 29 by Josh

Captain Jack Sparrow copyright chaos!

2006 June 29 by Brian

Superman Returns .......... to Turkey.

2006 June 29 by Brian

Would you believe that video game "piracy" began with the Atari 2600?

2006 June 29 by Brian

While here last week, Keegan grabbed a few choice photos of us in our natural habitat. The office walls are actual more green in person, but it really depends on the time of day you visit. We really love it here.

2006 June 28 by Josh

Cathay Pacific sports a new website. Probably the best designed airline site I've come across. Doesn't hurt that they worked with AdaptivePath on this one. Good stuff.

2006 June 28 by Josh

"I pity the fool who don't take this off ramp," might soon be heard via Tom Tom's celebrity voice navigation enhancements.

2006 June 28 by Brian

I doubt most adult DS-ers would want one, but it's neato nonetheless: Super Mario Hat DS Carrying Case

2006 June 28 by Brian

Most Annoying Terms and Phrases in the Workplace

2006 June 28 by Brian

Sega celebrates Sonic the Hedgehog's 15th anniversary by cutting and pasting, so to speak.

2006 June 27 by Brian

AOL hates losing customers, even when they're dead.

2006 June 27 by Brian

"Late night legend. Wild animal beast. Who will win?" ... Huh?

2006 June 27 by Brian

3.5" floppies, the thankfully derelict media, put to creative use.

2006 June 27 by Brian

Ouch! Corporate branding old school.

2006 June 26 by Brian

Using a bit of paper to hear what's on the old man's 33 and 1/3's.

2006 June 26 by Brian

Why? Why not. Banana cell phone holder.

2006 June 26 by Brian

While we wait for the live-action Transformers movie, here's... a live-action transformer.

2006 June 23 by John

If you have an ad-free blog and feel strongly about it ...

2006 June 23 by Brian

Pirate Flags ... for pirates that sail on ships, not those people who duplicate compact discs containing audio or Adobe Photoshop.

2006 June 23 by Brian

Compartmentalized and Remote "The imagery of Josh Keyes' artwork is a response to the endless storm of information, events, and visual phenomena that we encounter in today's culture." Looks like escheresque surrealism in the style of retro textbook illustrations to me!

2006 June 23 by Brian

File Sharing Takes 5000 Lives Every Year.

2006 June 23 by Brian

An impressive proof-of-concept file manager based on piles, physics and pen input.

2006 June 22 by John

Cat meets flying icons.

2006 June 21 by John

On February 25th, 2001 the Fallen Rapper Pez Prototypes were sent to Pez Candy Inc. president ..."

2006 June 21 by Brian

A nice selection of criminally cute, bitmappy Flash games are here - and you can even play the page banner - but the instructions are in Japanese, which, sadly, I can't read.

2006 June 21 by Brian

Trade your CDs for other CDs. The artists get paid, yet it probably won't be long before the RIAA releases its undead vampire lawyer minions.

2006 June 21 by Brian

Marlon Brando needed to reprise his 1978 role as Jor-El for the upcoming Superman movie. Unfortunately, Brando passed away about 2 years ago. Problem? Not really.

2006 June 20 by John

"Think of Genpets as living dolls. Genpets are designed to move more like a newborn human child, thus their range of motion is rather limited." I'm pretty sure this is satire or some kind of viral marketing campaign, but if this ever really comes to pass -- *shudder*.

2006 June 20 by John

You'll likely find this phone conversation with a well known American ISP quite amusing - unless, like me, you've been through a very similar experience. When I cancelled my own account I managed to not use an expletive, but I think I bent the handset.

2006 June 20 by Brian

Stuff made a lot more happy happy fun fun by having been made cartoony, from print ads to atomic energy. Gee!

2006 June 20 by Brian

No! You are NOT taking my iPod in there.

2006 June 20 by Brian

Who knew? JARED (your atonal amigo) for Mac OS X!

2006 June 19 by Brian

Toho may have retired Godzilla, but an independent filmmaker - with CG as its modus operandi - is keeping the giant monster dream alive! It's coming to North America this summer! The film ... not the monster.

2006 June 19 by Brian

Regarding John's post below, I must agree with this fellow's quasi-rebuttal of the lambasting of the lowly ZIP drive.

2006 June 19 by Brian

PCWorld's 25 Worst Tech Products of All Time is certainly good for a laugh. Sony's rootkit CDs come in at a very impressive 5th place, but you'll quickly recognize many of the other miscalculations as well.

2006 June 16 by John

I question how long a person can maintain a blog dealing solely with a certain long-extinct flightless bird, yet someone's giving it a go.

2006 June 16 by Brian

Bang! Bang! is the sound of net neutrality being shot down.

2006 June 16 by Brian

Even though Sony has gotten a lot of flack over rootkit, UMD for the PSP, and their forthcoming con$ole, I'm hanging onto a hope that they get it right with the fiery motorcyclist.

2006 June 16 by Brian

Sweden to close WiMAX citing health risk.

2006 June 15 by Brian

Using a Mac while on Her Majesty's Secret Service.

2006 June 15 by Brian

Heads up, fanboys and fangirls! Don't get tricked into buying bootleg DS games. Speaking of Nintendo, behold the evolution of the Revolution ... uh, I mean Wii.

2006 June 15 by Brian

"This really reinforces my theory that society is imploding." ... Large, living cockroaches implemented as fashion accessories.

2006 June 15 by Brian

50+ years after his death, a Frank Lloyd Wright island home is built - and apparently the occasion calls for hawking Macs.

2006 June 14 by Brian

Not one, but two hilarious Jedi GIFs (and another only marginally related but equally ridiculous).

2006 June 14 by Brian

The man with the musical suit.

2006 June 14 by Brian

Two groups I can't stand get chummy: Scientology is newest NASCAR sponsor

2006 June 13 by Brian

Build yourself a MintyBoost and charge your iPod any ol' place.

2006 June 13 by Brian

Art is what you make of it, or ... uh ... what it's made of!

2006 June 13 by Brian

It's the little things that further heighten one's fascination in the Wii (I hope they include him in the Brawl). And speaking of Nintendo, pass GO and collect $200.

2006 June 12 by Brian

Samuel L Jackson fan? Kindergarten teacher? Have we found a coloring page for you!

2006 June 9 by Josh

Million Dollar Homepage versus hackers.

2006 June 9 by Brian

For you Nintendo superfanboys, strange tales in all caps at eBay

2006 June 9 by Brian

This place has little to do with the clip art set bearing the same name. Or does it?!

2006 June 9 by Brian

Super nifty! "With a very little effort, you can take existing photographs of everyday scenes and make it look like they're actually of miniature models."

2006 June 9 by Brian

Feuding Brothers Make Legendary Sneakers. Wow, I never knew Puma and Adidas were came from the same line of kin (shouldn't be a shocker though). The rivalry heats up with World Cup 2006 upon us.

2006 June 8 by Josh

As a kid I owned a few Micronauts, but I never once had the pleasure of witnessing an associated prog rock TV commercial from outer space.

2006 June 8 by Brian

Disk Combobulation

2006 June 8 by Brian

"We are extremely excited to bring fans one of the most recognized, iconic characters who has spanned seven decades. Popeye is the only major theatrical franchise in film history that never received a legitimate home video release." ... Well, blow me down!

2006 June 8 by Brian

The Extreme Diet Coke & Mentos Experiment

2006 June 8 by Brian

Dyn-O-Gel: Super, storm stopping, substance.

2006 June 7 by JC

The good times will soon stop rolling: RIAA Targeting YouTube and Google Video

2006 June 7 by Brian

Neo-retro pixelled gaming goodness ... if you don't mind a 20 MB download and keyboard controls.

2006 June 7 by Brian

When looking for a realtor, don't forget that your home is your castle. Speaking of things medieval, would it have killed them to put an actual bishop into the game, or has chess now been politically corrected?

2006 June 7 by Brian

Buildings in the sky. Look out below!

2006 June 6 by Brian

The last time I saw Powers of Ten it was in a classroom and via a film projector (which means that the miniaturized YouTube presentation won't be making anybody throw up her/his hands for fear of crashing into the picnickers).

2006 June 6 by Brian

(Too) Much ado about (un)packaging: Unboxing.com

2006 June 6 by Brian

Stumbling over the Bob Ross Cult was, as Bob used to say, a happy accident.

2006 June 5 by Brian

What isn't on eBay?: Walt Disney Effigy Life Size Museum Wax Figure LE of 1

2006 June 5 by Brian

In the future your car will be funky.

2006 June 5 by Brian

When you heard about Sony's last-minute addition of motion sensing to the PS3 controller, was your first thought "Wii rip-off"? Well, Sony has some words for you (along with everyone else not actually on the Sony payroll). Hey Sony -- we're not the ones trying to pawn off a $600 movie player that might also happen to play games -- with a less developed online service than Xbox Live and a less interesting controller than the Wii.

2006 June 2 by John

Hitting you once, hitting you twice, hitting you three times with YouTube curiosities: 1) Fighting digital piracy old school. 2) When toys were kinder and gentler. 3) I'm thinking that Skittles commercials have gotten too weird even for me.

2006 June 2 by Brian

Peeping at the ancients.

2006 June 2 by Brian

The lack of a console racing game catering to the scarier people among us has been addressed.

2006 June 2 by Brian

Going once ....... going twice ....... sold to a Romulan!

2006 June 1 by Brian

Just think about it. If there were no world wide web you wouldn't, at this very moment, be one click away from squirrels snapping pictures with vintage cameras.

2006 June 1 by Brian

Free for your portable music whatever, the most powerful pop instrumentals you'll hear all day.

2006 June 1 by Brian