Posts Tagged ‘spotlight’

Spotlight: Chesley Andrews, The LAMP’s Web Designer

Monday, February 8th, 2010

Chesley Andrews

Chesley Andrews (photo by Spiffae)

This month, we interviewed our web designer Chesley Andrews, who took on the daunting task last summer of overhauling thelampnyc.org. She runs her own studio, Dossier, and happens to be looking for a few good interns–email her at chesley@dossierstudio.com for more information and to learn more about her work.

How did you get interested in design? Growing up I was always artistically inclined (lots of painting, collage, and drawing) as well as an avid reader. I was also super into my mom’s computer and would spend hours on KidPix, Microsoft Paint, and even Mario Paint (my one Nintendo game). It wasn’t until I met a graphic designer in college, that I realized there was such a profession and it that combined my love of art, typography, and computers. Everything fell into place after that.

What inspired you to start your own studio? Well, I spent a year or so working for James Ellis of Studio IV/Athletics. Athletics is a design collective in Brooklyn, made up of about 7 guys who all have their own studios but share studio space and collaborate on projects. They encouraged and helped me to eventually create my own studio, but it was always something I wanted to do, it just ended up happening a lot sooner than I expected! What I love about working for myself is that I get to work with so many different types of clients/businesses/styles, there’s always something to learn. Setting my own hours ain’t half bad either.

When a client approaches you for a project, where/how do you start? First I try to get a feel for who the client’s target audience is, and think about what would be the best way to communicate to them. This involves thinking about colors, typefaces, layouts, patterns, and weighing different web technologies. There’s always a lot to learn from the client since they know their industry and audience so well. I always ask them to send me examples (usually links and screenshots) of different “looks and feels” that they like, as well as examples of what their competitors are up to.

What changes have you seen in the web and print design industry since you started working? Well the web design industry is always changing, the languages that the web is built on are constantly evolving, so as a developer, you really have to be disciplined about learning and teaching yourself. Thankfully there’s a general culture of openness and sharing on the web, so there’s always a free tutorial, design element, or piece of advice to be found.

Who are some other artists or designers you’re interested in right now? Nathaniel Kerksick of culturegraphic.com has a beautiful design sense, but what I really appreciate about his work is how he continually strives to create ultra-friendly and intuitive user interfaces that push the type of communication you thought was possible on the web. The best part is that he works with really good-cause clients like: Green Reportcard, Transportation For America, and the Obama Campaign.

Jonathan Harris of www.number27.org is another amazing designer/developer working more in the art/anthropology world harnessing technology to tell stories. His work is unreal.

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Spotlight: Lorenzo Tijerina: LAMP teacher, father, former TV news editor

Friday, November 6th, 2009

Lorenzo Tijerina

Lorenzo Tijerina

Occupation: Currently, I am doing freelance videography and editing, working on everything from music videos to weddings to profile pieces. I’m also involved in some very rewarding work with The LAMP, teaching kids how to be more proactive when it comes to their media consumption.

Favorite blogs & websites: I use blogs to stay in the loop about what’s going on in Brooklyn and the rest of the city: Kinetic Carnival, McBrooklyn, Only the Blog Knows Brooklyn, Brooklyn Vegan. TheSkint is a great place to find great deals around the city. I have an electronic subscription to The New Yorker and I’ll also turn to the New York Times Online and the Guardian for news. The Onion has a great website and I enjoy checking out their A/V Club. Sites like Gawker, Geekologie, and Videogum keep me hip. My son and I spend a lot of time together on YouTube not only posting our own content, but watching old music videos. Another favorite site of his is Sploder, where we can make our own video games. And with Netflix and Hulu it seems there are less and less reasons to turn on the television these days.

What got you interested in media literacy? I would have to say my interest in media literacy began with watching television as a child and recognizing patterns in the shows and commercials. I began asking myself why these patterns existed. Why, for example, did cartoons like He-Man always go to a commercial about eight minutes into the show and how did that effect the structure of the show?

In school I gravitated toward whatever audio/visual options were available, even if it was just operating the projector on movie day. By the time I was in high school I was very aware television was always trying to sell something and viewed even my favorite shows with skepticism.

In college I studied radio, television and film and that took my media literacy to a whole new level. We studied mass communications and learned the techniques used by broadcasters to manipulate their audience. When you think of what the average young person is up against when they turn on a television or, now, their computer, the need for media literacy is more important than ever.

You used to be an editor at Fox News. How does that experience change the way you look at media? I worked at several news stations. It was a great experience and I would be less than honest if I didn’t admit that I absolutely loved it. The pace and the excitement of live television is undeniable. Working in television you see that there is no grand conspiracy. The higher ups are driven by ratings and everybody else is just trying to do the best job they can. It’s very competitive. A great deal of what you see on television is motivated by stations just trying to keep up with one another. A lot of the theory I learned in school went out the window and it all became a matter of trying to outdo what the other guy’s where putting up. I did, however, see the answer to my He-Man question first hand. News has a very strict format dictated by commercials, i.e. all the real news is in the first block while the last block is reserved for the kicker (a fluffy story about water skiing squirrels or whatever).

You’re also teaching one of The LAMP’s workshops at Brooklyn Prospect Charter School. What has surprised you the most so far in working with the students? Working with the kids at Brooklyn Prospect, the biggest surprise was how aware so many of them are about things like target audience and viewer tracking. These kids are very cognizant of their value as consumers and as the children of consumers. It was just below the surface, but once we started asking them questions their response was immediate. You could literally see the realization on their faces when they were asked to think about why their favorite websites are set up the way they are. (Click here to see pictures from this workshop and others!)

We know you do a lot of video projects with your young son. Tell us more about that–why do you think that’s important, and what do you hope to impart? For us it’s mostly about having a good time, exploring ideas creatively. I want my son to be able to express himself any way he sees fit, so that’s part of it, too. I also try to pass on whatever knowledge I have about technique and get him to think about the ways stories are told, but mostly it’s just a way for us to spend time together.

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Spotlight: Claire Mysko, Co-Author of “Does This Pregnancy Make Me Look Fat?”

Thursday, October 1st, 2009

Claire Mysko (photo by Kate Glicksberg)

Claire Mysko (photo by Kate Glicksberg)

This month we interviewed author Claire Mysko,  co-author of  “Does This Pregnancy Make Me Look Fat? The Essential Guide to Loving Your Body Before and After Baby.” Available online and in bookstores starting today, the book tackles the body image issues many women experience before and after pregnancy, some of which are exacerbated by a baby-crazed media. An expert on body image and self-esteem, Claire is also the author of “You’re Amazing! A No-Pressure Guide to Being Your Best Self.” This self-esteem guide was named to the 2009 Amelia Bloomer list, a project of the American Library Association which recognizes empowering books for girls and young women.

Occupation: Writer, speaker, consultant

Favorite blogs: Glossed Over, BlogHer, Jezebel, Salon’s Broadsheet

Favorite websites: girlsinc.org, about-face.org, adiosbarbie.com

What inspired you and Magali Amadei (co-author) to write “Does This Pregnancy Make Me Look Fat?”, and how did the book come into being? Magali and I had been working together for years to raise awareness about body image issues and eating disorders. We first started talking about the idea for this book when Magali was pregnant with her daughter. Her recovery from bulimia had been all about shifting her focus away from the numbers on the scale. Then suddenly, it was as though everywhere she turned people wanted to talk about weight. During pregnancy, everyone wanted to know how much she had gained. After she gave birth, every other new mother she encountered wanted to commiserate about how she was planning to shed the pounds. We realized that pregnancy and new motherhood bring up huge appearance-related anxieties for women–nearly 80% of the women we surveyed for this book admitted that they have concerns about the body changes that come with pregnancy and motherhood. Yet women don’t have much support to deal with this pressure in a healthy way. Instead, we get loads of tabloid stories about celebrity new moms who lost their baby weight in five minutes.

In your book, you talk about the power of tabloid magazines and the “baby bump watch” stories they run on celebrities, and you research and interview celebrity moms like Bridget Moynahan about how they handle the pressure. What surprised you the most in your research and in talking to them? Women tend to feel insecure when they compare themselves to the stars’ “perfect” bodies. But all the workouts, diets, and glammed up photo shoots don’t add up to happiness and fulfillment for celebrities. In fact, a lot of them regretted the amount of time and emotional energy it took away from them at a crucial time when all they wanted to do was bond with their babies.

How do you want women to respond when they see magazines telling them how to “get your body back?” The media term “get your body back” is a setup for disappointment. Even if women are able to get back to the same weight they were before pregnancy, they need to understand that there are some things about their bodies that will be permanently changed. Not only that, but a child permanently transforms your entire life. New motherhood is a time to focus on moving forward.

Tabloids report on Nicole Kidmans post-baby body.

Tabloids report on Nicole Kidman's "post-baby" body.

You also mention that the number of People magazine stories about pregnancy, babies and postbaby bodies more than doubled between 2003 and 2005. Why do you think there has been such a recent surge of interest on the topic? There is a huge profit web attached to celebrity pregnancy and baby fever, and with the proliferation of online media, including celebrity gossip blogs, the potential for profit keeps multiplying. The problem is that these images and messages are selling the Mommy Brand–the must-have maternity and baby gear and the designer diets and workout plans. None of that has anything to do with the real work it requires to be a parent.

How would you suggest women balance the value of tabloids as items of entertainment, as opposed to prescriptions for the “perfect” life and being a “perfect” mommy? It can be fun to escape into the glossy world of celebrity entertainment sometimes, but it’s important to keep a healthy perspective and look at those stories with a critical eye. Most women we talked to were well aware that the stars have teams of nannies, chefs, and personal trainers, and even that images are routinely retouched. And while that awareness is certainly a step in the right direction, it doesn’t necessarily protect women from feeling the sting of comparison, especially during pregnancy and after childbirth–times when we are more vulnerable and prone to self-doubt. When we asked women to describe their feelings about the media’s coverage of celebrity pregnancy and motherhood, some of the most common words we heard were “ridiculous,” “unhealthy,” and “frustrating.” If you are consistently feeling bad about yourself when you read those articles or look at those pictures, the best way to take care of yourself is to limit your exposure. We also encourage women to use their voices to talk back to the media. Too often we internalize the negativity and assume there is something wrong with us, when really the problem is with the media we’re consuming. If you see or read something that irks you, send an email, make a comment, or write your own blog post about it.

Of course, there’s so much more in your book about the importance of and challenges to maintaining a healthy body image. Where can we find the book? The book is available in bookstores October 1st. It can be found online at Amazon and Indiebound.

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Spotlight: Writer & Producer Daniela Capistrano

Tuesday, September 8th, 2009

Daniela Capistrano

Daniela Capistrano

Occupation: Freelance Multiplatform Producer/Writer (and new guest blogger for The LAMPpost!)

 Favorite Blogs: Uncensored Interview (music & pop culture),  Mexico Reporter (culture, travel and society in Mexico, using multi-media), SheGeeks.net (reviews, tips, and technology insights on the best gadgets, services, and mobile applications), Ypulse (Youth marketing to teens, tweens & Generation Y/Gen Y), CinemaTech (focuses on how new technologies are changing cinema), The Kaos Blac Blog (tastemaker), BushwickBK (hyperlocal news site for Brooklyn neighborhood)

Favorite websites:  In order for me to visit a website, it needs to offer amazing features that don’t translate on a mobile phone and that I prefer to use on a desktop or laptop. When I visit these sites, I spend a significant amount of time focusing on their content and exploring different sections. Here are some examples:

NEWS: I love the NYTimes.com “Living-With-Less” hub. It aggregates all of their related news stories, videos, reader contributions and tweets. It also has cool multimedia features.

FILM: indieWIRE is a great site to find out about independent films, festivals and opportunities for filmmakers. IFP’s member site acts as a hub of info where you can find out about film events in your area, their conference and industry news. I am also currently exploring Massify, which markets itself as a a production network for people who make film possible.

YOUTH CULTURE/TRENDS: EPIC FU is a weekly show, guide to the web, tastemaker and community site. I love to explore their archives. They are currently working on a massive redesign.

PBS’ “Digital Nation” is a new, open source PBS project that explores what it means to be human in an entirely new world — a digital world. The site documents the evolution of this multiplatform project that will manifest next year as an aired documentary, but also lives as an interactive, collaborative component online. Viewers are encouraged to contribute their stories.

We talk to a lot of people who are overwhelmed by all the content on the Internet, and don’t know where to start. How do you find and manage all of your online resources? I have accumulated over 300 feeds in Google Reader, however, for over two years, I rarely check them or visit a blog directly. It’s too much noise and so much great info is lost to me (many sites using the same source, copy/pasting directly from other sites, etc.).

It can be difficult for me to find quality posts in a waterfall of redundant information, but I’ve found a solution that works for me:

I depend on a filtered system of social groupings to share links with me (that are relevant to my life) to update me with useful info. I follow specific friends, colleagues and industry leaders on Twitter and other filtered streams like FriendFeed because they consistently share links to content that are similar to my own search patterns. In turn, I also share links on a daily basis to contribute to the feedback loop that I am trying to cultivate.

I think of my filtered system as a garden. When I want to “grow” more or less info about a particular topic, I pare down contacts or add more who contribute news and ideas about that topic. It’s a malleable, personalized way to quickly access information. For example, I will need to know more about the Seattle music scene for an upcoming project. To aid my search, I will start to follow several Twitter accounts that promote local Seattle bands, local music/nightlife writers and subscribe to local music blogs. I will also use music sites like Meebo, Pandora and Last.fm to find communities who track and promote Seattle bands and subscribe to their updates. In this way, the news and info I want will come to me at a consistent stream, through tweets, email updates, SMS and specific Google Alerts (keywords Seattle, bands, nightlife, culture, etc.). After the project is over, I may choose to remove these accounts from my filtered system or keep them, depending on how much I enjoy/appreciate the chatter.

I check these social groups (usually through my mobile phone, on the go) and their updates before I spread my focus to actual sites. For me, it’s all about being efficient with my time. I don’t want to be stuck at a desk or even a laptop, when I could quickly check a recommended link on my way out the door. I am a multitasker and enjoy learning about different topics, so a constant stream of compelling data that I can access “on-demand” is great. I respect the tastes and views of my peers and have learned that I can find out about much more focused, relevant info (and much faster!) by tapping into their own link sharing habits.

I hope that more teachers and parents develop their own filtered system. It makes it a lot easier to stay “plugged in” to what young people are interested in and provides a way to quickly send feedback to those in your system.

You’ve recently returned from the Blogher conference in Chicago. Can you tell us more about BlogHer, why you were there and what happened? I was invited to be a panel speaker at this year’s BlogHer conference. It was my first time speaking, so that alone made the trip pretty significant.
I was on a panel that covered the “transformational power of blogging” and I shared examples of how I used blogging and other blogs as tools to assist me in my career and personal transformation. Through blogging, I identified mentors who I met IRL, discovered internships and job opportunites and helped others with their career goals. Blogging also opened up my mind to new ideas and experiences which have increased my quality of life OFF the web, so it was great to share my story in person.

BlogHer was a conference comprised of many women (and some men!) with many different interests. It was fascinating to see groupings and “tribes” around topics such as parenting, technology, education and media. There was a lot of information being shared.

I met several great people at BlogHer who I would like to collaborate with someday, such as Ramona Pringle, the Interactive Media Producer for “Digital Nation.” She interviewed me at the BlogHer conference and we were able to briefly chat afterwards. I’m inspired by her work and looking forward to learning more about her different
projects.

We know you fulfilled a life-long dream of being interviewed for PBS…where can we find the interview online? You can see a clip of that interview on the PBS YouTube channel http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2R88bkESazA

In July, you were one of the very generous and talented people who helped make our LAMPcamp such a success! What was your favorite part? I enjoyed assisting the students in stepping out of their comfort zones, while enjoying their collective and individual learning process. For example, students who appeared to be shy were, by the end of the week, able to approach strangers on the street to gather interviews for their video projects. These are small steps that, in the long run, are going to help them achieve their dreams. Being able to overcome discomfort and fears is a huge deal and often the biggest barrier.

What advice would you give to young people who want to become producers? Identify individuals who are doing things that interest you and reach out to them. Stay in touch and offer to help them with their projects. Most importantly, let them know what your goals are.
Even if you’re not sure if you want to be a producer but simply like the idea of shooting, producing and editing, share that. Be as specific as you can when you ask for help. (Most) people can’t read minds so don’t assume people know what you are seeking, let them know! You’ll be surprised by how helpful people can be.

Lastly, I would say don’t let the fear of “no” keep you away from your dreams. “No” sometimes just means “Not right now, but check back again at another time.” Prior to being hired by MTV News, I had to meet with people there over six times to finally hear a “Yes.” Don’t take “no” personally and always follow up. “No” is just a word and it’s not worth sacrificing your dreams to avoid it.

What are you looking forward to? This fall I am going to produce a short film about a group of teen boys in the South Bronx, who find friendship within the Afro-Punk subculture. It will address how music, popular culture and familial conflict intersect and how this impacts identity and self worth. The director, Bashira Webb, is from The Bronx and an ICP (International Center for Photography) fellow. She is the co-founder of The Bridge Project, a youth mentorship project providing photography skills, and was very active in the Afro-Punk scene for many years.

Our goal is to submit to as many festivals as we can, then attend screenings to discuss the issues addressed in the short. We also want to create an online platform that will empower young people to pursue their dreams, through workshops and supporting existing online communities.

We are currently raising funds and seeking to partner with dynamic organizations. If you’d like to contribute in any capacity and learn more about the project, contact me at daniela.capistrano [AT] gmail.com.

My work life is full of possibilities. I am excited about freelancing on projects that I can be passionate about, engaging with new colleagues and starting an exciting gig on September 15th.

In terms of my own education, I am also a recently elected Senator within The New School’s USS. My platform is to develop a student-to-student mentorship program for the purpose of collaboration and career advancement. I was never into student government in High School so I’ve been enjoying learning more about my school and contributing to projects that will benefit students and the community at large.

And of course, I’m looking forward to collaborating with The LAMP on upcoming projects, spreading media literacy goodness to as many parents, educators and young people as possible. :)

You can stay updated about my plans for world domination and media moguldom
here:
www.danielacapistrano.com
twitter.com/dcap

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Spotlight: Video Artist Kristin Trethewey

Tuesday, August 11th, 2009

Kristin Trethewey

Kristin Trethewey

This month, we interview video artist and LAMPcamp volunteer Kristin Trethewey. Read on to learn why media literacy and art are tied together…

Favorite Blogs: Thinkthinkthinkwhywhywhy (because a little self promotion never hurts) Cakewrecks (because I’m a bit of a foodie) and Kitschykoomag (this is a friend from Calgary who is a great advocate of young hip art and culture)

Favorite websites: Etsy, Moment Factory, Ubu, Rhizome

How did you get involved with LAMPcamp? Daniela Capistrano, a media savvy journalist in Brooklyn, put me in touch with the team knowing a bit about my own interest in media and video production.

What was your favorite part of LAMPcamp? Definitely the time we spent making the movies with the YMCA campers.
How would you describe your work as an artist? Interdisciplinary, collaborative, electronic, video, performance and installation would all be keywords in a tagline.

As a multimedia artist, do you think that your work is at all influenced by “big media?” That’s an interesting question that I think is hard to answer. I wouldn’t say on a conscious level that I am, but I also wouldn’t say politics influence my work. I think when you are talking about such large entities its hard to say that you aren’t influenced by them. You really can’t help being a product of them.
Do you think someone who has been through media literacy training would view your work differently from someone who has not? Sure. I studied cultural studies in my undergraduate degree and culminating an awareness of media literacy completely changes your perspective of visual, mediated cultural content.

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