#they are a reference and focal point for being a person and navigating the world

[pyreshe]

I thought about vincent and "bigger than the whole sky" and tbh taylor swi.ft has made an enemy of me for fucking life how dare she.

[star444xo]

I have created and coined a psychological based theorem called “The Red Door Phenomenon”.

TRDP* is the phenomenon in which something is made exactly like the rest of its kind, yet contains a unique key feature that separates it from all the others.

I originally applied this in reference to houses and infrastructure, however it can be applied to human beings just the same.

Humans are created essentially from a multitude of “cloths” giving us all respective “patterns” and traits similar to others cut from the same cloths. My cloth may differ from another’s, yet another may relate eerily close to my cloth.

Cookie cutter (like cookie cutter houses) yet what makes us subjectively unique regardless of uniform creation within our respective cloths or molds, is our red door. 🚪

It's an intriguing way to explain the balance between individuality and commonality in both human beings and physical structures. The idea of uniformity being interrupted by a "red door"—a unique, distinguishing feature—presents a clear metaphor for how small but significant differences can define us despite the overarching patterns we share with others.

This concept opens up so many avenues for exploration. For example, TRDP could be used to describe how individuals in society are shaped by cultural, familial, or environmental "cloths" (patterns), yet their personal experiences, decisions, or even traits that might seem small or unusual (the "red door") set them apart.

It also resonates with philosophical ideas like the self and identity, suggesting that even in the context of shared human experiences or biological structures, there is room for individuality to emerge.

It's essentially a "cookie-cutter" development, where most homes might share a similar design, but one house stands out because of that garage. That small feature becomes a focal point of uniqueness, making the house distinct, even though it's part of a larger, uniform plan.

This idea could easily translate into the human experience. How many of us share certain traits or upbringings with others, yet it's our personal quirks, choices, or values—the metaphorical “red door” in our lives—that give us our individuality? It’s the one feature that doesn’t conform, yet it defines us in a way nothing else can.

How people navigate the world through the lens of their unique experiences. It might be something as small as a single decision, a memory, or a talent that makes them stand out in a sea of similarities.

Do you think the "red door" is something inherent in us, or is it a result of choice and external factors?

Could be interesting to consider how much control we have over our own red doors!

[mrmallardsmobileposts]

How I Think The Star Wars Sequels Should Have Happened: Another MrMallard Nerd Moment

(MAJOR SPOILERS)

The Force Awakens:

fine jumping on point. Not perfect, but honestly a return to form in regards to making Star Wars movies fun again. Keep TFA as-is, warts and all - the trick is paying this movie off by the end.

The Last Jedi:

Less faux-Guardians of the Galaxy humor. That's not to say "no humor", I honestly thought Luke Skywalker had the best jokes of the movie, but less "your mother" and less "Finn wakes up from a coma and drips IV fluid everywhere, Wakka Wakka!". The former is corny, the latter is undignified and actively cheapens character development from the prior movie.

Cut the stampeding race-beasts, because it reeks of Disney's "fuck you we're Disney" money, but keep Canto Bight as a whole. The alien designs are charming - it's a nice moment of fanservice, along with the Jizz music. It also serves as a nice character-building exercise for Rose and Finn.

Ultimately, I think it might have been a better idea to kill off Leia in this movie considering Carrie Fisher's passing. I don't dislike her in this movie, and I honestly enjoyed the scene of her in space - my first thought was "holy fuck she can use the force!!" - but I think it would have been better for her to pass on in this movie, both logistically and for her character. That, or they should have scaled back her cobbled together Frankenstein-performance of CGI, cut lines and recontextualised footage in TRoS. Either/or.

Keep the mutiny plot with Poe, but something has to be done with how they treat the secret plan. The resolution to the mutiny plot was the thing that bothered me the most with TLJ, but it's pretty much the only thing for Poe to do in the movie and it adds conflict to the main story I guess. Making the Holdo/Poe seem a little less personal might help? idk. honestly a lot of this storyline felt forced.

Don't try and resolve Rey's backstory in this movie. Keep it as a running mystery. I understand that they were trying to go for a clever subversion in this movie, but it just added another stupid thing that TRoS bad to address and it honestly kinda ruins the trilogy.

Honestly, either cut Crait entirely and make it the beginning of the next movie - bc the movie's already two hours long and it feels like the final battle stretches the movie out beyond its natural ending point - or shorten it a bit and make it a bit more functional. It looks cool, but at that point it's like tacking an extra mile onto a marathon.

Also, don't shoehorn a failed heroic sacrifice with Finn imo. That, or give him more screentime and character development to build up to that moment. Post-TFA, he's really half-baked, and I honestly think he should have been more of a focal character next to Rey. The heroic sacrifice felt like it came out of nowhere, and by thwarting it and adding the Rose Tico scene, it felt like a waste of time even having it in there. It comes and goes with no fanfare.

Honestly, I would have preferred if Luke stayed alive at the end of the movie. I think his death was a movie too soon. Saying that, I think they nailed his death in this movie - if they were gonna kill him off, I think they did it right. Also, don't kill off Snoke. It's a cool scene, but it fucks up the next movie.

Re: Rose Tico - she's not my favorite part of the movie, but I don't actively hate her and I think the response to her character that Kelly Marie Tran had to face was absolutely disgusting. I think her plotline with Finn was a little underbaked, and that scene at the end where she prevents his heroic sacrifice just kinda sidelines them both. I think making her a navigator would have helped her character in TLJ and TRoS.

In short: trim a few excessive CGI scenes, cut a few cornball jokes out, play around with the characterisation and tone of the mutiny plot, dignify Finn's character instead of reducing him to a rehashed coward, comedic relief character and pointless failed Rebel martyr, and maybe keep Luke Skywalker alive at the end. Bring the movie in at around 2 hours max.

Keep Luke Skywalker as-is, bc his character is a highlight of TLJ.

The Rise of Skywalker:

Kill off Luke Skywalker in this movie. Seriously, just cut and paste his death at the end of TLJ into this movie. Work him into a reduced role when Rey junks her ship, like the force projection messed him up and he doesn't have much longer to live, and have him help her when she returns to his island planet instead of adding a phoned-in Force Ghost appearance. Maybe have her there when he passes?

Reduce Leia's role in this movie instead of stitching together a Frankenstein's Monster of a performance. Not to be morbid by that reference - it's just that everything she says feels so stilted and wrong, like you can definitely tell they've thrown all the scraps they have left into her character in this movie. It doesn't feel natural or respectful for her character to spit out non-sequiters for the characters to respond to in an equally unnatural sort of way.

Honestly? Canonise Fey/Rinn, however you want to portmanteau Rey and Finn's ship name. If you give Finn more of a character arc in TLJ instead of side-lining him, and establish that he and Rey are particularly close - which they are IMO - and then pay off that "I have something to tell you" beat with a confession of love. This isn't a stab against Reylo, though I've certainly had words to say about Reylo, I just think Finn/Rey is a more wholesome ship and I prefer this dynamic to the fuckin dark side/light side paradigm of Reylo. I Just don't care for it. Kylo Ren's conflicted nature doesn't have to resolve in romance. Gimme Rey/Finn.

Snoke gets offed by Palpatine. There's no breeding vat for Snokes, but if the movie wants to suggest that he's still just a puppet or a creation, that's fine. That, or build Snoke up as the bad guy, and either follow through on that or have Palpatine be a twist halfway through the movie.

Maybe make Palpatine a Sith Ghost? They do exist to some degree. Or have him stuck in some other limbo that requires him to hijack Rey. Anything is better than that "if I do this you do this, but then I'll do this so you would have to do this, but really I'm going to do this so either way my entire plan was completely unnecessary lmao" clusterfuck where he's a living corpse impaled on a robot arm.

Cut out the macguffins, or make them feel less inconsequential. Okay, so the dagger storyline involves rebooting C3PO. It has stakes and gravitas to a degree. Cool - keep that. What the fuck is up with the wayfinders though? Why are there only two? Why do they need to be so convoluted?

Maybe have Maz Kanata talk about Luke's lightsaber, and/or have her involved in finding a way to Palpatine. It would pay off her appearance in TFA and explain her importance to Luke.

By making Rose Tico a great navigator in TLJ, her role on the team can be expanded in TRoS and she can do like star charts and stuff for all the different worlds they're going to - she can come along instead of being fucked over by JJ Abrams in this movie. She can even help with Maz Kanata's wayfinding plan. In short - make her a part of the team.

Honestly, fuck the Knights of Ren right off. They're a waste of time. That, or set them up in TLJ - hell, have one of them on Canto Bight and another one on Snoke's ship. Maybe even retcon Phasma into being a Knight of Ren. Anything but bringing them back as a mook squad in this movie, with no weight or character.

Honestly? Show Palpatine surviving the Death Star crash. The retcon is all the more painful for being completely and utterly unexplained. Doesn't matter if you have to touch the source material to do it, CG in a force shield as Palpatine falls through fire and have him hobble to a life support pod that takes him to where he is in TRoS. Literally anything is better than "Somehow, Palpatine returned".

Either cut the healing powers, or leave them in sans Reylo kiss.

In short: reduce Leia's role instead of using cut content and a CGI puppet to stitch together a performance, leave Luke alive until this movie, kill Snoke in this movie OR have him be the big bad, make Finn/Rey a thing over Reylo - again, no hate, I just prefer this pairing over Reylo - write more details about Palpatine's survival, either put some Knights of Ren into TLJ or don't have them at all, get rid of the Wayfinder macguffins and/or work Maz Kanata and "master navigator" Rose Tico into a plot to find Palpatine.

At the end of the day, there should have been a planning committee for the Star Wars story, not for the merchandise. You can see from how the sequel trilogy crammed out merchandise that Disney was clearly asking for marketable merch, but the story is a trainwreck - there was a Star Wars committee, just not where the property needed one.

The sequel trilogy was a worthwhile experiment imo - it didn't pay off, but it was worth doing just to see if it was possible. But even then, I would prefer three decent movies over a couple of experimental trainwrecks retroactively ruining one decent movie.

This post was mostly trying to work with what the movies already have, though by TRoS you really do have to start overhauling shit to make it work. In my eyes, the longest that these movies should run is two hours - any more than that is a slog, especially when the movie feels like it takes two hours. The Last Jedi felt like two and a half hours. The Rise of Skywalker felt like a two hour movie crammed into 80 minutes, despite the fact it was longer than 2 hours. The best way to make these movies more watchable is to make them shorter - cut out superfluous money shot scenes like the Canto Bight chase, have more efficient scenes to balance out the stylish scenes. The sequel trilogy is short on efficiency imo, and without a movie where it feels like progress is being made, the style doesn't work.

So tweak some things to make each movie more efficient.

[sweet-star-storybook]

OC Design Talk - Episode 1: Perseus [Starglass Zodiac]

Kicking off one of the things I made this blog for: Character design talks! 

I absolutely LOVE talking about character design and the thought process that goes into all of my original characters, so I hope to make a series out of it! I’ll be talking about visual design as well as backstory and personality for the characters, and the general intent behind their concepts. Over time I’ll have links to different characters and their talks in each post, so you can go exploring if you want. :D I might make an archive page or post somewhere too for navigation purposes. I’ve got a lot of characters I want to talk about, past and present, but we’re actually starting off with a brand new one today! 

As of writing this post I just finished this design today / yesterday, but it’s already gotten so much love and I’d really like to talk more in depth about it. Plus I love how it came out anyway. ;u;

If you’d like to share this art without the talk, go to this post from my art blog.  Alright, on to the discussion! :D

Presenting: Perseus! He is one of the zodiac companions from my webcomic series, Starglass Zodiac. 

In this story, zodiac companions are essentially the “children” of the zodiac. While not all of the companions are the age of a child necessarily, they generally have less experience than the main zodiac, and thus look up to them as mentors / role models. Any of the constellations can be chosen as a companion, and it is a mutual decision, leading some to try for the position directly (like Centaurus to Sagittarius). 

Constellations in this universe go through different incarnations, and thus have varying personalities and appearances depending on whose spirit inhabits them at any given time. Every star has a set amount of energy, and every incarnation has their “time” before they eventually die, leaving behind black holes. Some are lost in deliberate usage of energy, such as in combat, while others die out naturally. As new stars are born, previous constellations have a chance to be reincarnated, and new constellations can form from these as well. There is a chance, however, that they will not return at all.

For Perseus in particular, I liked the idea of previous incarnations of the constellation being more like the character upon which it is based. Mythologically speaking, Perseus was a famous hero known for slaying monsters, similar to Hercules. With this incarnation, however, I thought it would be interesting if he actively fought against what his name is famous for. Or more specifically, used his skills in combat to fight for better things. This Percy does not fight for glory or fame, and does not possess the ego of a typical hero. But despite his change in motive, he still has to carry the burden of his “monster killer” title, as if he himself has become the monster instead. He views this as punishment for the misdeeds of the others who bared his name, ashamed of a past that wasn’t really his own.

Perseus is a companion to Aries, and the two are almost polar opposites (outside of being skilled on the battlefield), with Aries being the most volatile and aggressive between them. That said, Aries did recognize Perseus’s desire to redeem his name. Aries, being the least agreeable of the signs, has similar goals when it comes to keeping his aggression in check and upholding his role as a sign and co-protector of the Astral Plane. In his words, “if I can do it, you can too, kid.” 

From a visual standpoint, I wanted Perseus’s design to be somewhat chimerical (as in, made up of seemingly unrelated parts), but with a unifying colour scheme to tie it all together. In this case it would be different parts of monsters that, presumably, his previous incarnations had slain. Arguably Perseus’s most famous kill, Medusa, is referenced here, particularly with the snake-like elements of his skin and hair. Demon-like horns, claws, a tail, and a cat-like animal hide are also present. He likely has sharp teeth too, even if they aren’t drawn here (I will do follow-up drawings later).

Like all of the other constellation designs, his symbol (designed by these lovely folks) is incorporated into several aspects of his design. How often a symbol appears in a design can vary greatly depending on how well it can be incorporated, and sometimes its inclusion is more subtle as a result. We have a good mix of that here with Perseus, with his belt, cape and shield being the most obvious uses of the symbol, but it’s also present on his chest plate underneath the animal hide. His shield specifically is a reference to the mirrored shield that was used to turn Medusa’s glare against her. His sword exists for similar reasons, and is his weapon of choice in combat. The rest of his attire is Greek and Roman inspired, like his mythological counterpart.

I came up with the blue-yellow-pink dynamic with the colour scheme starting with his eyes, and went on to develop it from there. I knew I wanted either blue or green as a main colour, as those are common for monsters, and the brightness of the pink and yellow made for a bold colour scheme. I did try a bright orange instead of pink a few times, as that is blue’s complimentary colour, but I found the contrast was not strong enough between it and the yellow. Having a bold colour scheme matched with a quieter personality creates the kind of contrast I want in his character as a whole, implying that he is easily misunderstood by others. I also wanted the eyes to be a focal point both in the line work and the colour, so the contrast had to be striking. Admittedly I use eyes as a focal point a lot in my designs (looking at you, Cassie), but I wanted that to add to the strength of his concept rather than just be a preference of mine.

Perseus is incredibly self-conscious of his eyes, believing that his monstrous appearance will scare others merely by looking at them. This is another nod to Medusa, though Perseus can’t turn anyone to stone (much to his relief). This makes him more reserved and reclusive as a result, averting his gaze where possible and quietly keeping to his own business. Even his fighting style is very understated, favouring precision over strength. When he meets others face to face, he closes his eyes immediately, claiming they should not be seen by the faint of heart.

Functionally, Perseus’s eyes move and dilate normally, but appear slightly further apart than a more focused gaze would be, creating a more eerie stare. He may be looking at you, but he’s also looking through you. I hoped this would make him look a bit more pensive as well, and prone to staring while lost in thought.

When he meets Cassie for the first time, Perseus mistakes her for Cassiopeia* and kneels before her like a knight would to a queen.

*Cassiopeia is the mother of Andromeda, who was strapped to a rock to appease the sea monster, Cetus. True to form, Perseus rescued Andromeda by killing the creature.*

After Cassie explains that she has an unusual eye herself, Perseus finally opens his, giving in to his curiosity. He is grateful, if a little confused, for her positive reaction to them. Eventually Cassie convinces him to meet Orion, another zodiac companion. Orion, being blind, will never see Perseus, thus negating his appearance-based fears. Orion also understands Percy’s desire for redemption, being on a similar quest himself as a once-famous hunter. The two quickly become friends, with Perseus offering to “be his eyes” when needed.

Overall I’m very satisfied with the design and concept as a whole. The zodiac companions are minor characters in this story, but I’ve always like stories that have a lot of interesting characters to fill out the extended world, and the Astral Plane is perfect for that. Characters like these are also great for supplementary comics and short stories, and I’ve got some ideas for those later on. :’D

—————

And there we go, Episode 1 of my OC Design Talk is complete! :D This was super fun to write, so I hope you found it interesting. More will follow in the future too, so thanks for reading folks! <3

[queerasfilm]

Hoje Eu Quero Voltar Sozinho ( The Way He Looks) Review

What does Hoje Eu Quero Voltar Sozinho mean?  The Brazilian Film Hoje Eu Quero Voltar Sozinho ( The Way He Looks) is depicting the coming of age story of the blind teenager Leonardo who is struggling for independence while navigating his awakening sexuality after meeting the new boy in school named Gabriel. The name of the film means translated today I want to go back alone which refers to the short film of  which this film is the full length cinema version.  Hoje Eu Quero Voltar Sozinho ( The Way He Looks)  is such a refreshing and wholesome story as it tells the blossoming relationship between Leonardo and Gabriel without much drama, frills other fanciful stuff that is often placed upon more indie or queer film. In many areas of representation and diversity, LGBTQ themes Films still need to catch up but this film does a remarkable job of keeping raw honesty, sensitivity but also boldness without turning to cliches or harmful tropes. This film does not only portray the discovery of one’s own sexuality but also normalizes the experiences of a young queer blind boy growing up in Brazil. The glimpses and impressions that the viewers get from Leonardo’s life seem mundane but at the same time quite utopic as he is a queer blind boy. Is Film Hoje Eu Quero Voltar Sozinho ( The Way He Looks) a utopian vision in terms of society or is it showing us our future if we just dare to be brave enough?

Even though the film is a coming of age story which includes several small hindrances and problems it never seems to dramatise or exaggerate. This is a refreshing take on the themes that have been prevalent in any story attempting to depict teenagers, their struggles and their life including romantic relationships, friendships, want for independence.  As the film is straying from many of those conventions established in the many teenage films produced by Hollywood there is space for so much more authenticity, real emotions and real teenagers. Also as the main character Leonardo is blind in many cases this would become the focal point of the story and might even lead to some dramatic plotlines involving a lot of bullying and rejection. But in the story that The Way He Looks is telling there, fortunately, no space for such ostracizing storylines. As mentioned before Leonardo’s life while being blind is being normalized so that there is no need for dramatisations or overused tropes.

When watching the film and one gets to experience the tentatively developing romantic relationship between Leonardo and Gabriel it is such a beautiful and life-affirming story that unfolds. The world needs to see more of this kind of films that are daring to dream and visualize what the not so distant future could look like and how many positive changes we can make if we just try all together.

In the end, the film is both and neither because there is so many positive changes that has been achieved. One of them made it possible for this film to exist in the first place which would have been unimaginable decades ago. Film Hoje Eu Quero Voltar Sozinho ( The Way He Looks) is portraying this uplifting tale of two boys just falling in love and nothing is stopping them. That message is giving me personally faith in humanity as long this hope exists.

[lati-will]

The Three Layers Of Your Reality Construct

Whether you know it or not you exist within something akin to a super advanced virtual reality. One where your every thought, belief, and emotion is selecting what appears on the screen you call your reality. Understanding how your personal reality, and the collective reality you are part of, is generated has profound implications. And one of the most important of these is the complete liberation from your fears.

Before diving into how your reality is generated, and it’s three layers let’s do a quick review of the true nature of yourself and your reality — what you are and what you are a part of.

The Ultimate Nature of Existence

The ultimate nature of existence is that there is a singular consciousness which presides over a singular, yet multidimensional, field of energy that it can mold into any patterns it wishes by the exercise of its thoughts, intentions, and desires. And these patterns are everything seen and unseen. This consciousness has been referred to as universal consciousness, or cosmic consciousness, or source consciousness. And Source consciousness not only creates patterns of energy but it can also perceive and experience them.

Another way to think about these energy patterns is as information. Source consciousness can create, manipulate, navigate, and perceive information in the field. This allows it to create information that represents complete experiential environments or “reality constructs” and then dive in and experience them. There is only consciousness, information, and the perception of information and this allows for the creation and experience of “realities.”

The world that you think exists outside of you is essentially an illusion — it is a purely perceptual experience of consciousness. The experiences are REAL, but the props are IMAGINARY. All the information that represents your reality was imagined into existence and is essentially just imagery that your consciousness is perceiving — very much like a virtual reality. There isn’t anything out there; it’s just an incredibly convincing perceptual illusion.

The way source consciousness experiences a reality construct is by creating a sub-thread of its consciousness, which has its own focal point of awareness and perception, and put’s that focal point within one of these “reality constructs” and experiences it. Source consciousness is multi-threaded, and you are one of those threads — pure consciousness, non-physical and formless. And you have put your focal point of awareness and perception into this space-time reality to have this experience.

How Your Personal and Collective Reality is Generated

The way information is presented to your thread of consciousness is much like how a film projector displays the frames of a film strip. Every billionth of a second or so, a frame of information representing your reality is presented to and perceived by your consciousness (more about this in The Illusion of Time and Space). Unlike a film strip which has frames with content that was determined when the movie was produced, the movie that you call your reality contains some information that is pre-created and some that is created on the fly and then dynamically composed into final frames on the fly.

Conceptually, frames of reality are generated as three layers of information; foundation, background, and foreground and these then get combined into one cohesive picture. The information in each of these layers is produced in different ways, and understanding how this works has great relevance to understanding and mastering the creation of your personal reality. Using the metaphor of a stage play these three layers might be considered; the stage, the setting, and the story. And make no mistake, your reality is your story, and you are the lead character as well as the director.

Surprisingly, even though it appears that you are a part of a singular collective reality with many players or actors, something a bit different from what you might have imagined is going on behind the scenes.

What’s really going on is that each thread of consciousness (e.g; soul) is experiencing its own separate reality in which they are both the lead actor and director of their own stories. All the other actors in your story are just other souls playing stand-in roles in support of your story. You have agreements with many other souls to play parts in your reality — but it’s your story, and they are all walk in cameo appearances.

Those souls playing roles in your story may or may not be engaged in their own version of the earthly reality. And you may or may not be reciprocating and playing roles in their realities. But there are tons of souls playing parts in each other’s realities. Each soul is having its own independent experience in its own separate version of reality. How the reality of a soul, who might be playing a part in your reality, plays out will likely be different from your own.

The way a collective reality experience is generated is that the beings that share roles across the various individual realities agree to share information that represents some elements of the reality — specifically, information representing the foundation/stage layer and the background/collective layer.

The process which generates each successive reality frame perceived by your thread of consciousness seamlessly combines this shared information with the information from the foreground layer (information created, and selected, and produced by you) into a seamless whole. The details of how this works are not entirely certain, but this is how it works in general.

Let’s explore how the information that represents each of the three layers of your reality construct is produced and what degree of creative control you have over each.

The Foundation Layer – The Stage

The first layer of information that is included in the frames of reality that your consciousness is perceiving and experiencing might be appropriately called the foundation layer. This is the layer of information that represents the planet, and the elementals it’s composed of, and the biosphere. It includes everything that supports human life and the human experience. This layer acts as the stage on which the human drama is played out on — both collectively and personally.

All the information (e.g; energy patterns) that makeup everything in this layer were created and are maintained by the intentions, thoughts, and imagination of non-physical beings (e.g; consciousnesses). These beings have dedicated themselves to creating and maintaining the major elements that make up our reality, and multitudes of other realities — a role often referred to as “construct holders.” All the information that represents the foundation layer of our reality construct was imagined into existence by these beings!

The most important implication of this is that our threads of consciousness are not creating this information and so we cannot ourselves change the nature of the stage through our own conscious thoughts and intentions. You are not directly creating the stage environment, our world, with your thoughts. You don’t have any direct power to alter the information that represents it; you can only choose to explore and experience different parts of it by your choices and intent. This layer is part of the information that we all agreed we’d share across all of our individual realities to create the experience of a collective reality.

The Background Layer – Collective Reality

The second layer of information that is included in the frames of reality that your consciousness is perceiving and experiencing I call the “background” layer. This layer is the collective story/drama that’s playing out on the foundation layer (the stage). These are the global and collective events and circumstances. It’s all the stuff that you hear about happening in the world but doesn’t necessarily directly touch you. It’s the state of the world, the state of human society; it’s what you see recorded in the history books, and discussed in newspapers and magazines. It’s everything that’s supposedly happening in the world, and everything that supposedly has happened in the world — most of which you never directly experienced — it appears to have happened to someone somewhere, but it didn’t happen to you.

This layer of your reality construct is co-created by all the threads of consciousness (e.g; souls) participating in the collective reality construct. And we all agreed that it would be shared across all of our individual reality constructs — it is the backdrop to your personal reality — this is how collective reality experiences are constructed. The information in this layer is co-created by the collective — it is the average of all the thoughts, intentions, emotions, choices, actions, etc of all the souls involved in the collective reality construct. If we assumed that every soul’s level or frequency of consciousness was the same, then each player in the collective reality construct would be equally contributing to the co-creation of the information in this layer.

Your power to shape the collective reality, to steer the course of collective events, with your own thoughts and intentions is limited. For example, if there were five billion people on the planet then your influence would be 1/five-billionth. But of course, not everyone is at the same level or frequency of consciousness. And at each higher level of consciousness, you have an exponentially higher degree of influence in the creation of the collective reality — the higher your state of consciousness, then the greater proportion that your thoughts and intentions influence the creation of the collective reality.

And here’s the great thing, even thou you can’t change the collective reality you do control which parts of the collective reality that touch you — the parts that you directly experience are completely up to you! Using the stage play metaphor, the collective reality is the backdrop to your personal story/drama. Which parts of this backdrop directly touch you depends on your thoughts, beliefs, intentions, desires, choices and more. Nothing from the collective reality can touch you unless you invite them into your direct experience with your thoughts! More on this very important point in a bit.

The Foreground Layer – Personal Reality

The 3rd and final layer of information that is included in the frames of reality that your consciousness is perceiving and experiencing I call the “foreground” layer. The foreground is everything that you directly experience. This is your personal reality, and you are 100% responsible for creating it. Everything you directly experience is either newly created by you or invited into your reality from the collective reality by your thoughts, beliefs, desires, etc! So even though you can’t single-handedly change the collective reality (because it is co-created collectively), it doesn’t really matter because you control which parts of it that you draw into your personal reality and directly experience.

You are essentially immune to any danger or peril or whatever that is out there in the collective reality if you don’t buy into that it can affect you. And of course, the fastest way to draw stuff from the collective reality into your personal reality is to fear and worry about how the state of the world might affect you! Because as a creator, what you focus on you attract especially when it’s combined with a strong emotion like fear. And don’t kid yourself, if you are worrying about stuff that’s fear.

So no matter what is happening in the collective reality, none of it can touch you unless you invite it. As an example, let’s say that some calamity occurs in the collective reality that effects your home town. With the right “attitude” the Universe might arrange for you to be out-of-town when the calamity occurs. Or if you are home, you will miraculously remain unscathed or spared from the worst of it.

The right attitude to avoid directly experiencing events in the collective reality is to absolutely believe that you are creating your reality and to absolutely believe you are always safe — that nothing can harm you! If you fall into fear, worry, or doubt all bets are off!

Summing It All Up

You are creating your reality with your thoughts, beliefs, desires, and more. The backdrop to your story, the collective reality and the stage that it plays out on, are just there to create a context within which to play out your story and create your personal reality. You can create whatever you like in your life, and it is not limited to what’s out there in the collective reality, but it does provide a grab bag of options to select into your life. But they are all truly optional — they can’t become a part of your direct experience unless you invite them in with your thoughts. The collective reality is a distraction that lures you into focusing on what is and what was instead of what can be.

Knowing this enables you to stop worrying about what you can’t change and start focusing on what you can — namely where you put your focus and attention to, what beliefs you hold, what thoughts you entertain, and what you imagine and create for yourself.

By deeply understanding how your reality construct is generated and that you are the one who controls the process you can experience a profound liberation from fear. And once you transcend your fears, especially if you master the other skills of deliberate creation, you will find that your life experience will begin to improve dramatically.

Be fearless, dream big, and expect wonderful!

By: Jeff Street

[jadeduck]

Chapter #6 - Who Am I

Well, if you are tuning in again, after reading chapter 5, then you know that I owe you something special in this chapter. If you haven't read chapter 5 yet, please go and do so before continuing here, these secrets are only for my avid readers.

As promised, an embarrassing fact. When I was just a wee little tyke, I asked my mom when my period was going to start through a face of tears. What not juicy enough for you? Fine I'll give you another one, but you owe me at least another two chapters after this. When I was first asked to do the laundry, I came running up to my mom and asked her, “where are the dirty laundry tongs?” When she asked what I was talking about, I ran downstairs, pointed at a pair of underwear, and started started crying because I didn't want to touch them.

Now enough about me, let's talk about me for a bit. See what I did there, I made it sound like I wasn't being narcissistic, even though all I'm doing is talking about myself.

So I had just been given the green light to get my transition underway. I had support that I needed from my fiancee. With that support behind me, I could achieve anything that I put my mind to. Who was I though, with this transition underway, it was the perfect time to find myself. I was going to be going through an awkward part of my life with this transition. I might as well take advantage of one awkward part of my life and layer it with another. I did the first thing, that I imagine logically anyone would do, I got a makeover.

The best place to start a transition makeover, is of course an LGBT friendly place. That's exactly where I went, a local place by the name of Diva Daves. I gave the head stylist Dave and his co-stylist free rein to do what they think would look best. I explained my situation to Dave and he was in his glorys. I got an amazing cut from his best stylist, followed by a killer brow waxing from him.

Literally killer, if you have never had your brows done before, let me tell you, it hurts about as much as you think it does. Don't ever let that stop you from getting it done though. The pain gets less and less with each time you do it.

I also bought myself some “accessories” from his shop to help with my appearance. The great thing about LGBT friendly shops, is that they have things that most shops wouldn't; this specifically catered to trans individuals. With new hair, new eyebrows, and my lovely new accessory keeping everything hidden, it was time to show the world who I was.

As luck would have it, it also happened to be my birthday. I had made plans to meet up with a large group of friends and my parents at a local sushi shop. The only thing was, that I hadn't really told anyone about my transition. This was going to be a fun dinner, both a birthday party and a coming out party. I was so excited to show my true self to everyone I loved and cared for, but I was also terrified. What if they didn't accept me? How would I go about explaining it to everyone? I was full of questions, and fears. I wasn't going to let anything stop me though. I booked the reservation under my new name and then went out to do some mall wandering. It was all a game of waiting now.

The time was finally upon me, everyone should be showing up within the next half an hour. I waited out front of the restaurant until the first guest arrived. To my surprise, there was no reaction to the change. Then the next person, and next, still no reaction other than the off “looking good”. Was this really how easy it was to come come out as being trans? We all walked into the sushi parlor and I said, “reservation for X please.” 

I’m going to use “X “instead of my actually name here, as i would like to keep my identity private for my own safety.

We got brought to our tables and sat down where we felt most comfortable. Then I got the first question of the night, from my dad, “who is X?” I calmly took a deep breath, looked and my parents, and said, “I am, this is my new name.” I don't think that they really grasped what was happening at first, but they also didn't seem to care much. I was relieved, no one was making a big deal out of any of this, it was going so smooth. It wasn't until a few weeks later that I realized, no one was making a big deal out of it, because no one really knew what was happening. It turns out that it's not as easy as just “being yourself” around people that knew you prior to transitioning. I was going to have to explain,  and re-introduce, and explain again until I was exhausted and on the verge of breaking down with almost every person; I’ll get more into this next chapter.

This was still the time in my life that I was trying to figure out who I really was. At some point, very early in my transition (i can't recall if it was before or after the dinner previously mentioned), I was feeling very down. It seemed like nothing could pick me up, and I hated it. My fiancee and I decided to go to the mall, as a little bit of shopping tends to help cure a case of the blues, even wandering the mall didn't help though. Suddenly she garbbed me by the arm, pulled me into LaSenza , looked me dead in the eye and said, “we are going to get you a nice, good quality, push-up bra!” It was very awkward being in this store for me, as I was still so new into my transition. She did all the talking and navigation through the store, since she knew I felt uncomfortable. Finally she opened up a drawer of bras and said, “choose on of these.” I sorted through the selection, until I found one that resonated with me. I grabbed it in my hands, and just started admiring it. I was in love with this bra that I had found. We took it up to the cash desk, bought it, and then continued our journey through the mall. The only difference was that now I was happy, I couldn't stop smiling and laughing. I very quickly realized what my cure for the blues was, it was pursuing my transition. I realized at this point in time, just how important this transition was for me.

The infamous bra shopping adventure was the focal point of my transition. It was what really made me realize that it was something I needed to do, to be happy.

I want to take a quick moment here to do a shout out to my wife. If it wasn't for her breaking my comfort zone and pulling me into that LaSenza, I don't think I would be where I am today. The uncanning support that she has offered me throughout everything has gone a long way in helping me find myself. You are my pillar of strength, and I will never forget how much you have done and continue to do for me!

From this point onward, I kicked my transition into top gear and went full force into it. I sat down with my doctor and explained what I was going through. She immediately told me that she had never dealt with this situation before, but she was going to help me in every way that she possibly could. She got me referred to the specialist in our city, and I went through the medical process that I needed to (I will put this in more detail in a later blog for anyone who is interested in all the things that trans individuals have to go through). With my transition in full force, it was time to deal with everyone that knew me before the transition. I was in for a bumpy ride

[swamiamarjyotievents-blog]

Swami Amar Jyoti Ji Palampur

Others could take a look at sunlight and finally start to discover the planet as it is. There are several free writings and resources within this website for you personally ( recorded to the left), as well as this MiracleSelfBooksONLINE resource that allows you to learn new Miracle self-help novels and pocket book books completely entirely free and unabridged on the web along without being in a position to purchase the paperbacks out of Amazon and classic publication stores. Most individuals will opt to stay in community.

Inside this specific way, it's said that consciousness may not be defined because once it is it's now not pure. You're able to understand the entire spectrum of feelings. In terms of the paranormal experiences that a lot of people undergo this has been demonstrated to be a result of a psychological need ( reconciliation with deceased family members, by way of example), that may explain why even atheists announced it.

What the In-Crowd Won't Tell You About Truth Consciousness

The section was translated in many diverse manners as it's so abstract. Individuals which aren't permitted to live with their fullest scope is just going to reach a little percent of their capability they be able posture to reach when these were permitted to venture upon their road less traveled their private travel. You won't ever comprehend a balance between both if you should be wishing to draw a line.

Truth Consciousness Explained

You never need to spare yourself! That is an element of what's going to be asked to alter Earth's awareness. Proverbs in the world are distinctive and full of significance.

In to the Wild It plays on the full notion of an person's role in society. Yechida Yechida contrasts to the quantity of Adam Kadmon. It Is a Sort of the ego.

Ask the appropriate questions as well as the prospect will let you understand what they desire and the manner by sold. The discussions that are currently happening between conformists and non-conformists echo a instability brought on by the conformist that is just going to exacerbate with time. Additionally, there are false awakenings.

Yet the crucial focal point of this intellect here is contemplation so as to provoke the emotions, Despite the fact that the wisdom might be used on this degree of soul. The exact same team utilizing the specific same technique will get results which are internally consistent. The character of this info can fluctuate between experiments.

Ok, I Think I Understand Truth Consciousness, Now Tell Me About Truth Consciousness!

You understand what's in your understanding. More comprehensive information about are available online by looking for kinesiology'. Because of this it's extinguished as the brain ceases working.

The matter with mental performance debate is people are not going heavy enough epistemologically. So long as his needs are satisfied, he doesn't ask questions. A different way activate the Ascension method is by way of information disclosure and knowledge.

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You're not daunted with it, although Ofcourse your body stays in the world and of Earth. An individual can say it's God's mind. http://www.u.arizona.edu/~jforster/TheTruththatFreesUs.htm Furthermore, you are able to really comprehend truth.

Truth Consciousness Options

Because vain it's to be mentioned that this is among the very intellectually difficult novels to learn and exceptionally tough to narrate due to the syntax and the inability. According Greyson, there certainly are certainly always a lot of potential explanations to. This subject is one which must undergo doubtful review.

Truth Consciousness and Truth Consciousness - The Perfect Combination

To the Wild It plays on the complete thought of an person's character in society. Yechida Yechida contrasts to the quantity of soul termed Adam Kadmon. It is a type of the ego.

Physics continues to manage issues that are unresolved, today. Keep in your mind, armchair philosophy will remain masturbation. While the mind ceases working, it's extinguished.

The Pain of Truth Consciousness

It's the state of discovering the universal truth by completing the Ascension in the same manner Jesus Christ did. Stream of consciousness gives an perspective into the subtle and occasionally rapid shifts while going about daily in a personality thinks. There's a subtle but inevitable link between the sacred' attitude and also the approval of a person's inmost self.

Withdraw your belief and it'll dissolve being a fantasy. "There is not such a thing to get a deficiency of faith. Whatever is time-bound will not have any reality and is short term.

The Truth Consciousness Trap

There are philosophic and scientific ideas in regards to the type and range of cognitive ability and exactly what represents awareness. The specific team utilising the same technique may get results which are internally consistent. The character of these info can fluctuate between experiments.

What to Expect From Truth Consciousness?

For what's a start and a finish doesn't need any middle. You believe your brain and mind are all created of forms of stuff. Everything is some thing that we can over come, it overcoming punctually and that it was it really is intended to be.

Others start to discover the world as it is and finally might review of sunlight. These tips are tested and tried shown to work with organizations across a diversity of industries and in geographical places that are a number of. Individuals will choose to remain in community.

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The department was translated in diverse methods Just because it's so abstract. Individuals which aren't permitted to call home with their fullest degree is going to reach a percent of their capability they'd otherwise be able position upon their road less traveled their private travel. If you're wishing to draw on line you won't ever comprehend a balance between both.

Things You Should Know About Truth Consciousness

Inside this specific way, it's stated that understanding may well not be defined as once it really is it's no longer pure. You're able to know the entire spectrum of feelings. It's not possible to love the truth of it if someone doesn't have the fundamental idea of understanding then.

Truth Consciousness: No Longer a Mystery

Some folks are just not curious. There are numerous free writings and tools within this website for you ( listed to the left), in addition to this MiracleSelfBooksONLINE resource that lets you see new Miracle Self books and pocket books completely entirely free and unabridged on the web along without being in a position to purchase the paperbacks out of Amazon and classic publication stores. How Life Imitates Chess offers more than ample information for this to be well worth the price, and it gives a good deal of grist to your mill not just Swami Amar Jyoti for people to ruminate upon, but more to the point, for the incisive maturation of the person.

What to Expect From Truth Consciousness?

For without memory and anticipation there may well not be at any time. You think that brain and mind are created of exceptional types of substances. Everything else is some thing which we can over come, it overcoming punctually and that it was that it really is intended to be.

Introducing Truth Consciousness

Depression or Balance Let us look at every category. The Universal mind produces Truth and is wisdom that is absolute. Truth of course say can be discussed by folks.

The body will go on to rapidly recover and come back to muscular tension. This individuation of awareness is called the Primordial Nescience that was phenomenal. This activity produced by the brain, also referred to reflect our mind-set.

Top Truth Consciousness Secrets

That you never need to free yourself of a universe that doesn't exist, but in your imagination! That is an element of what's going to be asked to alter the understanding of Earth. Proverbs in the world are identifying and full of significance.

The Tried and True Method for Truth Consciousness in Step by Step Detail

Many believe it is a statement about people who don't overtly find knowledge or truth, but alternatively accept what they are able to immediately experience or what they're told. Our will, however, wo foil God's revealed plans notwithstanding the fact that we're free of charge to proceed and act volitionally. There exists a subtle but inevitable link between your holy' attitude and the endorsement of a individual's inmost self.

Using Truth Consciousness

There are philosophic and scientific ideas concerning range and the nature of cognitive ability that is human and also what constitutes consciousness. The exact same team utilizing the specific same technique may get results which are internally consistent. To be able to play with the GBG, then therefore that it is possible to hire your resonance to navigate the 5-D game field, you ought to enhance your frequency.

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{Swami Amar Jyoti|Prabhushri Swami Amar Jyoti|Sacred Mountain Ashram|Desert Ashram|Truth Consciousness|Ashram Retreats|Satsang of Swami Amar Jyoti|Swami Amar Jyoti Palampur|Swami Amar Jyoti Ji Palampur|Yogiraj Swami Amar Jyoti Babaji}

http://www.ustream.tv/embed/recorded/121302725

{|Swami Amar Jyoti {https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5q8L9Zd8x55_xBwWfiS_qA|https://www.thriftbooks.com/a/swami-amar-jyoti/602043/|https://www.linkedin.com/company/swami-amar-jyoti|https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/318352.Swami_Amar_Jyoti|https://www.facebook.com/swamiamar.jyoti|https://www.e-sentral.com/book/info/7541/Immortal-Light-The-Blissful-Life-and-Wisdom-of-Swami-Amar-Jyoti|https://www.bookganga.com/eBooks/Books?AID=5074735506152246990|https://www.amazon.in/Blissful-Life-Wisdom-Swami-Jyoti/dp/093357276X|https://www.amazon.com/Swami-Amar-Jyoti/e/B001KCF3S6|https://twitter.com/swamiamarjyoti?lang=en|https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/swamiamarjyoti2|https://myemail.constantcontact.com/Satsang-of-Swami-Amar-Jyoti.html?soid=1102423619143&aid=dx4fwyyK7xI|http://psy1.psych.arizona.edu/~jforster/TheWorkofSpirituality.htm|http://light-of-consciousness.org/current-issue-satsang/|http://hinduism.enacademic.com/380/Jyoti,_Swami_Amar}}

[absolut-maenaiac]

Dark Matter (Mörk Materia) - Aase Berg

In a repertoire of enigmatic, post-cataclysmic passages, her audience are hurled violently within and out perspectives to explore Dark Matter from a metaphoric sense to the concept of its very molecular structure. An intensely bleak and delightfully exhausting hallucination to immerse one’s self in, Aase Berg has provided an escape from the accepted human perception of existence.

In order to depict the larger catastrophe at hand while also delving within micro storylines, her work integrates the source languages of; Geologic Taxonomy, English, and Astronomic Terms - particularly Quantum Physics to create a strata of allegories for the reader.

Berg offers the possible reality of the world as one organism overcome by sickness, depicted by a disruption in the space and time continuum and potentially caused by mankind’s own doing due to ravenous abuse of the land. A concept introduced to us in Shaft; where “ions get sucked loose” and “magnetism [can be felt tearing] cells out of their sheaths”.

From the most commonly recognised piece, Aniara, to The Lemur Hypothesis we notice a shift in context and perspective. Where beforehand the setting was more relatable to landforms contrasted by humans and machine, The Lemur Hypothesis - while also involving beings and landforms - lends itself more to the internal functioning of a body.

The first of multiple references to ‘glass animals’ is the lemurs; whether they be representative of positive or negative molecules, they are clearly in distress as their sounds are “as a whole deadly” and only appear at rare frequencies. The narrating character mentions navigating optical wavelength bands and locating the cornea where the “queen lemur” resides, which would suggest our setting is an eye. The result of the “concentrated spectrum[s]” and it’s “sharpness” is the melting point of Purgatorius, assumedly another 'glass animal’ within the eye, perfectly representing Berg’s ability to warp references to create a sense of surreality.

Despite the ever-changing contexts throughout the prose collection, the struggle to function against such a surge of dark energy is exhibited through organisms living amongst and on a larger terrain-like organism, and then further within an organism remains the focal point. Bleak political and moral views, or possibly even personal experiences of life are also represented through the experiences of characters; such as Ivo, Zachris, and Alexander.

Zachris most likely represents mankind, described as “born from the same mammalian egg” as the narrating character - a lizard-like creature - yet also “unnaturally older”. He is the one who “gave [the lizard] the name 'Amphibian’” as man has done so, and his descent within the shaft could be seen as the loss of hope for mankind. Supporting this theory is the interpretation of this name as 'Zachariah’ - “God has remembered” in Hebrew. The concept of a defined higher being is known to ease the human mind in the face of the uncertainty, where this piece lacks any assurance and therefore is intentionally unnerving.

The unique lingual amalgamation between organism and geology that attribute to this masterpiece can be best exemplified in Cathedral Forms. The chapter enters with reference to Palaeomagnetism, from a point of reflection on a fossilised aftermath such as the Kermadec Trench in New Zealand. Pre-context to this, “a contorted gene had travelled through chaos” and “epidemics rage violently though the world” which pertains to the post cataclysmic sense we are observing what once was, before destruction in the Kermadec “Grave”.

A delightful book that is best left to each individual to explore and discover themselves. The interpretations will surely flow and when they do, I would love a response to my general review so far, as it is one thing to refer to outer existing references for a surrealist piece, but another to share and describe opinions formed - as nothing is ever certain. That, I believe is the true beauty of this piece.

[butteryhauntedvoid]

Design Fundamentals

Colour Theory

Primary colours are colours that cannot be created through the mixing of other colours, this is because they are colours in their own right. Red, yellow and Blue are three primary colours

Secondary colours are colours that have been created by mixing primary colours together. For example, blue and red mixed together creates purple.

Tertiary colours are colours that have been created by mixing either a primary colour and a secondary colour or by mixing two secondary colours. When naming tertiary colours the primary and secondary colour names are joined together by a dash with the primary always being the first colour. For example, red and orange creates red-orange.

Colour harmonies/colour chords are basic techniques for creating colour schemes. For example, the complementary colour scheme. The complementary colour scheme are colours that are opposite each other on the colour wheel and considered to be complementary to each other (example: red and green).

Another example of colour harmonies/colour chords is the Analogous colour scheme. Analogous color schemes use colors that are next to each other on the color wheel. They usually match well and create peaceful and comfortable designs.

RGB stands for Red, Green and Blue. RGB should be used when dealing with anything involving the web. For example creating a website with Adobe Dreamweaver or designing a digital magazine with a software like InDesign. RGB is used every time you use the computer because computer monitors give off coloured light known as RGB.

CMYK stands for cyan, magenta, yellow, and black (In the printing press days when plates were being used the black plate was typically call the “key” plate because it carried the important key information relating to the artistic detail.). CMYK is used for printing material. This is because the colours printed will appear differently if printed in RGB. For example, if you were to edit a picture using photoshop and intended to print it off then you would have to work in CMYK conditions.

Hue is colour in it’s pure form ( colour without tint or shade, such as an added white black or grey pigment). A hue is an element of the colour wheel. For example, yellow is yellow, blue is blue etc.

Saturation is typically the depth of the pigment. More saturation means more pigment. Less saturation results to a tint or lighter shade of the colour. For example, if you decrease the saturation of the colour red, then the colour will begin to move into a lighter shade which would be pink. Luminosity is another term used for Saturation.

Value is essentially the darkness of the pigment. Less value results in a darker colour. If you take a colour and remove all hue, you are left with value - basically grey scale. Brightness is another name used for value. For example if you have the the colour orange and increase the value, the colour orange will begin to move into the yellow areas.

Colour is a very important aspect within design because it can sway the way someone thinks, it can cause reactions and change people’s moods and actions. The colours you use within design need to have meaning so it can express its true purpose. Because of this I will be carefully considering what colours I will use for my design.

Typography

Helvetica is the most commonly used typeface in The Western World, and almost certainly the most widely used sans serif. It was developed by Max Miedinger in 1957 with Eduard Hoffman. There are dozens of variations and numerous typefaces have been based on it. when computers first got developed they could only use a pixelated typography dure to primitive screen technology.

There are more than 150,000 typefaces available. This is because people are making new typefaces everyday.

Typography represents a mode/code in its own right, which interacts with other modes. Social codes within typeface are how people, who are creative, will often choose an intricate font. Social code is deconstructing the typeface to decipher what type of person is using it.

In typography, kerning (less commonly mortising) is the process of adjusting the spacing between characters in a proportional font, usually to achieve a visually pleasing result. Leading refers to the distance between the baselines of successive lines of type. Letter-spacing, usually called tracking by typographers, refers to a consistent degree of increase (or sometimes decrease) of space between letters to affect density in a line or block of text.

Typography is very important within design as it can change the look and feel of the design as a whole, as well as affect how someone reacts to the text they’re reading. I will be carefully considering what font I use, so that I can ensure that it fits within my design style.

Image Formats

The five most common image formats and types for the web and computer graphics include: JPEG, PNG, GIF, BMP,  and TIFF.

JPEG files are one of the most popular image formats used on the web. JPEG files are lossy, meaning information is lost when the original image is saved as a JPEG file. JPEG files discard a lot of the information in order to keep the image file size small, this then also decreases the quality of the image.

PNG (Portable Network Graphics) is a lossless image format specifically designed for the web. It is similar to the GIF format, as it is also restricted to the 8 bit palette and is saved with a maximum of 256 colours . However PNG formats save the colour information more efficiently and support an 8 bit transparency.

GIF (Graphics Interchange Format) is another popular image format. Its image size is quite small in comparison to other image compression types, which then makes it one of the more desirable image formats on the internet. GIF’s are restricted to the 8 bit palette, meaning it only has 256 colours. GIF is widely used for animation effects and is great for images with restricted colours.

BMP (also known as The Windows Bitmap or raster or paint images) files are image files within the Microsoft Windows operating system. BMP files are large and uncompressed meaning that the images have a very high quality, rich in colour and are compatible in all Windows OS and programs. BMP files are made up of millions of pixels, if you resize the image to make it smaller or larger, you are making the individual pixels larger and making the shapes look indistinct. BMP files are not ‘web friendly’ due to the fact that they’re oversized, they’re also not compatible in all platforms, nor do they scale well.

TIFF is an image format that gained recognition within the graphic design, photography and publishing industry. It’s also very popular among Apple users.TIFF can be either lossy or lossless and it has a very high quality image format, with all colour and data information stored. Due to the large file size, TIFF image formats have a long transfer and slow loading time and consume a large amount of disk space.

Grid Systems

A grid system is a structure that uses a two-dimensional framework to align and lay out design elements. Grids enable you to build a solid structure and form into your designs. It is important to make sure that your designs have a good user journey and user experience. Having a solid grid system will ensure this because it creates familiarity and consistency within the designs.

Grid systems allow you to design in proportions so that you can balance all of the different elements that may be in your design. They should be flexible so that you can manipulate it to your needs when designing the different parts of your work. When using grid systems in your design you should: set an overlay of your grid onto your design, create some guides to help you, aim to work with constraints and restrictions and you should pay attention to your spacing.

Visual Hierarchy

Visual hierarchy influences the order in which a person perceives what they see. The order is created by the arrangement of elements in the design. To create a visual hierarchy you will need to organize and prioritize your content by working with all your design tools, such as colour, typography, spacing and other basic design principles. The most important function

of a visual hierarchy is to help establish a focal point, giving users/viewers an indication on where to start navigating your design and showing them where the most important information is. There are multiple ways you can control the visual hierarchy, such as using size to enhance or reduce visibility, giving your layout balance, flow and focus using spacing, or using colour to strategically highlight important information or imagery etc.

Line

Lines provide emphasis and define a shape. Just like colour, typography and imagery, lines can be used to convey moods and emotions. A line connects one point to another point. Lines  can be thick, thin, long, short, vertical, horizontal, diagonal, solid, dotted, dashed, straight or curved. There’s an endless variety. Each of the different ways lines can be perceived as can convey a different meaning. For example thick lines can convey a different message than thin lines. Thick lines convey strength and give emphasis to elements, they are bold and create a statement, whereas thin lines are delicate and convey an elegant quality.

Lines can be combined to form shapes. Lines can be made up of type or any shape placed one after the other. A series of lines creates a pattern, which can also convey meaning. There are several types of lines that are defined by their use. Contour Lines are used to define edges, dividing lines are used to divide space, decoration lines are used to enhance an element or object and gesture lines used to capture form and movement.

Shape

Shapes have an endless variety of characteristics, with each shape conveying a different message to your audience.They can be open, closed, angular, round, big, small, free-form or geometric and ordered. Shapes can be defined by their colour or by the combination of lines that make up their edges.

The same way that simple shapes can be combined to create complex shapes, complex shapes can be abstracted to make simple shapes.

The different characteristics of a shape can influence and portray different moods and meanings. Altering the characteristics of a shape can change how we perceive that shape and in turn, how we think about a design.

Shapes can be used to organise information, convey moods, emotions and different ideas, create movement, texture and depth and to lead the viewer’s eye from one design element to the next.

There are three basic types of shapes. Geometric shapes are what most people think of when thinking of a shape. Geometric shapes such as circles, squares or triangles, are made up of regular patterns that are easy to recognise/remember. Organic shapes are uneven and have more curves. They typically represent shapes found in nature such as trees, clouds and rocks and they usually tend to be fairly comforting. Abstract shapes have a recognizable form, but are not real. They’re the stylized version of organic shapes. For example, Icons are abstract shapes used to represent ideas and concepts.

[bmarines]

How do significant experiences warp one’s perspective of people, their memory of them, and their view of the world they live in today? 🔸 Does being raised around drug and gang culture, prostitution, and violence affect one’s moral compass? What are the lasting effects of poverty, domestic violence, and divorce on a person’s emotional coping and relationships? These are just a few of the questions that serve as points of departure in my work. 🔸 It is an exploration of the effects trauma has on the psyche. The references are family photographs, personal images from social media, and memory of context. It’s an emotionally-driven interpretation of the people in the photos and how I remember them or what I know about them now. 🔸 Symbolism is prevalent throughout the work. Sometimes in the form of color (yellow for divinity, red for power, green for greed, etc.), other times, in the form of imagery or material (syringes, hearts, crosses, etc.). At times, even the way a medium is applied, or the specific medium used, serves as a tool utilized to convey the reflection at hand. 🔸 It begins on a personal level, with people I know, or memories I dive into as the focal point. However, upon contemplation, it could serve as a catalyst between the audience and their view on how experiences and memories play a role in shaping their perspective of the world. My hopes are that it may even allow for the viewer to be empathetic and understanding to those who must navigate these realities.

[pawsforpaws-blog]

Documentary

Journal Post Production.

Post Production is an important part of producing a documentary as the way in which the footage is edited together becomes the final product. This is the time the director and editor work closely together, choosing the best footage to include to tell the intended story. The structure of the story will develop here and should become extremely clear. Filming documentary does not always run according to plan, so the story often lies in the editing Documentaries – improvisations about people improvising their way through life – seldom run as planned. Editing is your second chance to direct (Rabiger, p216). During the editing process, decisions about the story such as time depiction, music, length etc. These elements combine to create developments in the story to create an interesting visual for the viewer. Using visuals over constantly feeding the audience words, allows them to create the story themselves. The decision of how much speech or talking to the camera used determines the characters created and the world which the audience is transported to. Creating these worlds can be done through the use of voiceovers as the viewer can grasp both the audio and the visual at the same time. This gives a sense the documentary is an improvised piece that the audience is coming along for the ride with the characters.

 Point of View and the Storyteller

The way in which audiences perceive a documentary film is determined by the point of view used by the film maker. Documentary realism strives to make us feel we are seeing unmediated reality (Rabiger, p259) the reality created is based on an observational view or participatory, two popular used viewpoints. Observational viewpoint positions the storyteller on the outside, silently watching the action unfold. It often has no main characters but documents an event without any opinion. Participatory puts the storyteller in the action, responding to action or even being a catalysed. However, the storyteller must not become emotionally involved in the story as they are still an outsider documenting the human existence. Point of View can often be determined by a central or multiple characters. They begin navigating the story through their actions while narrating to the audience the experience. Cutting between these characters can give an interesting change to the documentary as the same situation is seen through different points of view. This adds to the credibility of the story as it continues to establish an unmediated reality. This new reality not only questions its self but the art of documentary which is a developed language used as an ongoing commentary of the world.

 Conducting and shooting interviews

Before beginning an interview, it is a good idea to put the interviewee at ease. Often when a camera is pointed at someone, they become tense and not themselves. To overcome this, speak to the interviewee and distract them from the camera. Shooting somewhere they are comfortable will help and also create a sense of camera during the film. Establishing what roles the interviewees represent in the film before shooting is wise. This is done so the interviewer knows what questions to ask and can guide the conversation appropriately. The interviewee should be encouraged to say what they want and for any length of time during the interview.

Shooting the interview can be done in two ways, on an axis and off-axis. On-axis puts the interviewee in the centre, meeting the eyeline of the camera. Off-Axis is to the side, speaking to the interviewer. Both methods are effective but choosing one will create a language within the film. As the interviewer asks questions, it is essential to let the person talk. The interviewer’s job is to listen but not rush to conclusion for the interviewee. Once they begin to talk, let them continue until they finish. The interview can be as long as necessary and any unwanted footage can be edited away in post-production where the interviewee’s character will form and their voice able to be heard during the documentary.

 References

Rabiger, Michael 2009. Directing the Documentary. Fifth Edition. Burlington, MA: Focal Press.

[theoveldsman]

MASTER OF THE LEADERSHIP UNIVERSE

Travel Guide for Leadership Excellence in the newly emerging order  

STOP-OVER 28 (Part 2)

Reflecting on our travels through the Leadership Universe 

At a Glance

We are in the process of distilling the insights, gained during our travels through the Leadership Universe, into a set of Travel Guidelines. The intention is to consolidate these insights into an all embracing, but simple and handy Travel Guide for onward, future travels by yourselves and other travellers in and through your Leadership Galaxies against the backdrop of the VICCASS world.

In this way you will be enabled to direct and guide your own future travels independently within the Leadership Universe and Galaxy in your aspiration to become masterful at leadership.

Part 1 of this Stop-over dealt with Travel Guidelines 1 to 5, namely:

Guideline 1: Acquire the master key to the Leadership Universe

Guideline 2: Chart a valid map of the Leadership Universe 

Guideline 3: Find an envisioned legacy as a quest to pursue  

 Guideline 4: Constitute a Leadership Galaxy within the Leadership  Universe 

Guideline 5: Craft a powerful, appealing Leadership Brand as promise

Part 2 of the Stop-over aims to address Travel Guidelines 6 to 10:  

Guideline 6: Construct a Leadership Excellence Model as reference  

Guideline 7: Grow the requisite, future-fit leadership capabilities  

Guideline 8: Convert stakeholders into genuine followers 

Guideline 9: Establish an enduring, productive and healthy Leadership Process  

Guideline 10: Engender a liveable Leadership Galaxy   

Travel Guideline 6: Construct a Leadership Excellence Model as reference  

During the journey through his Leadership Galaxy into the future, leadership needs to monitor and track his Leadership Excellence to know if he is on the right track or not, and need to take any corrective actions.  

Leadership Excellence relates to the degree of achieving future-directed, dream-related objective(s), in the process of actualising a sustainable, desired future state and outcome. 

The Leadership Excellence Model must match the current and expected organisational and leadership challenges, demands and requirements of the VICCAS world, and the organisation’s strategic response to them, all viewed from a future-centric perspective. 

Without the regular monitoring and tracking of Leadership Excellence, the attained Leadership Excellence remains a dark mystery, prone to invoke wishful thinking and unfounded speculation. The actual, regular measurement of Leadership Excellence makes its monitoring and tracking a factually based reality, engendering conversation, dialogue, course correction, and change.   

It can be contented that a future-fit, Leadership Excellence Model must be multi-dimensional in make-up; be pro-active, systemic and predictive in its measurement and use; address both the process of achievement and the actual results achieved; and cover all stakeholders. 

The figure below provides an example of what such a Leadership Excellence Model could look like.

                     As can be seen from the above figure, the proposed future-fit Leadership Excellence Model consists of five reciprocally and systemically interdependent Excellence Dimensions in the form of a balanced scorecard. The dimensions carry similar weight, and must receive equal, real time attention from a systemic, integrated perspective.

Excellence Dimension 1: Thriving, Responsible, Well Governed Organisation

This Excellence Dimension deals with the performance of the organisation itself. Increasingly the requirement w.r.t. this Dimensions is for the integrated, holistic reporting of organisational performance, operationalised in terms of three measurement facets, the so-called triple bottom line of Thriving, Responsible and Governance.  

Excellence Dimension 2: Effective Leadership Execution    

This Excellence Dimension pertains to the quality with which the Leadership Process – the leadership value chain - is performed in pursuit of the shared, desired dream and legacy. What is the impact of leadership on followers during the journey into the future?  This Dimension applies to all relationships in which leadership is embedded.   

Excellence Dimension 3:   Leadership Growth (Own and Others)

This Excellence Dimension encompasses whether the organisation is identifying, growing and developing the necessary leadership capability – now and for the future – at the appropriate rate with respect to its Strategic Intent within its Operating Arena.

Excellence Dimension 4: Stakeholder Goodwill  

Value unlocking and wealth creation by leadership are ultimately about meeting the diverse needs/ interests of multiple stakeholders in a balanced, fair and equitable manner.  By giving stakeholders a key place in Leadership Excellence, relationships become a core focal point of future value unlocking and wealth creation. 

In many quarters it is argued that relationship capital - goodwill earned with stakeholders - has become the most important asset of organisations.

Excellence Dimension 5: Personal Leadership Excellence

The foundation of Leadership Excellence is resident in Personal Leadership Excellence: how a leader is managing herself as a person during her unfolding career. E.g. Am I living my core values with integrity; Am I using my talents appropriately?

Travel Guideline 7: Grow the requisite, future-fit leadership capabilities  

Masterful leadership – as manifested in Leadership Excellence - requires leadership equipping himself in real time, on an ongoing basis with the right, future-fit capabilities relative to the present and future leadership challenges, demands and requirements of his Leadership Galaxy, as framed by his career aspirations.

The Departure Point

The Departure Point in growing the requisite, future-fit leadership capabilities, is that a leader understands himself as a unique, complex, multi-dimensional and –layered, integrated being, to be looked at in a holistic and balanced manner. 

The figure below provides such a picture of the leader as a person.

Relevant to this discussion (see figure above) are the five Capabilities Facets - sitting laterally across the Domains of Being and Becoming - with respect to which leadership has to equip herself.

Capability Facets with respect to Domains of Being and Becoming

The Leadership Capability Facets to be grown - relative to his Domains of Being and Becoming as a person, and the Context  - are:

Abilities. The ‘Can Do’, hard and soft competencies to be a masterful leader in the VICCAS world. Some of the primary, required future-fit leadership abilities appear to be resilience, agility, responsiveness, risk taking, internal locus of control, change navigation, networking, collaboration. 

Intelligences. The capability to observe, think, judge, act, learn and reflect with a growing understanding as leadership engages – conceptually and practically - with the VICCASS Context. The total ‘intelligence’ (or meta-intelligence) of an excellent leader consists of five, interdependent, intelligence modes: Intra- and Interpersonal (including Emotional); Systemic; Ideation; Action; and Contextual (including Cultural) Intelligence. 

Maturity. The capability to engage consistently in relevant, productive, meaningful, constructive and uplifting ways with Self, Others, the Organisation and the World. At the heart of the life-long journey towards maturity is the shaping and crystallisation the leader’s identity as a person. Five progressive levels of higher maturity can be distinguished: from Stage 1 - Confident Able-ness to the ultimate stage, Stage 5 - Calling. 

Ethical. The capability to do the right thing for the right reasons in the right way in the right place and the right time with the right persons: the ‘Should Do’, the ‘Right”. The capability to be good, do good, and ensure good. 

Authenticity. The capability to nurture and affirm the dignity, worth and efficacy of followers, concurrently creating enabling, empowering and meaningful work experiences for all. The authentic leader is a leader who leads with identity, integrity, purpose, meaning, care, and balance.

Multi-directional growth for future-fitness

The above capabilities have to be grown multi-directionally to attain future-fitness:  

Horizontally:  cover all of the above capabilities comprehensively in their full range   

Vertically: the capabilities must be progressively, systemically and organically,  integrated into a single, overall meta-leadership competence 

Laterally (internally): the capabilities must be fully internalised into the very core of the leader’s identity 

Laterally (externally): the capabilities must ensure a good leader-context fit in terms of the leadership requirements of her Operating Arena

Career navigation

In the VICCASS world, a leader must realise and accept that he has to take charge of, and control his own career. The shift has been from career management to career navigation, regardless whether one is crafting a career within a single organisation in a single occupation; or, across jobs, occupations, organisations and geographical locations.

A successful, satisfying, meaningful and fulfilling career, requires the construction of an integrated, intelligence driven, personalised Strategic Career Navigation Process, enabled by strong career navigation abilities.  

Travel Guideline 8: Convert stakeholders into genuine followers

Leadership is about relationships. Stakeholders have to be converted into followers regarding an envisioned legacy. In this way they become co-travelers in the shared journey of actualising the co-owned envisioned legacy. The true strength of leadership is in the ‘Us’, not in the ‘Me’. Leadership hence must understand themselves and their followers equally well.

Leadership has to balance and fuse in a fair, equitable and even-handed way the often conflicting, opposing interests, needs, demands and aspirations of her stakeholders, turned into true followers.  In order to convert stakeholders into genuine followers, leadership must understand and meet them in their spacetime not only physically - their place - but especially:  

psychologically -  their perceptions, interpretations, thinking and feelings; 

socio-culturally - their deeply wired cultural ways of seeing, interpreting, thinking and doing; and 

spiritually: - their ascribed-to,  life meanings and purposes. 

All of these facets of the meeting in spacetime must be converged seamlessly by leadership in order to have a genuine, deep relationship with followers.   

In the final instance leadership excellence is the combined, synergistic outcome of leadership – the ‘flame’; followers – the ’combustible material’; and followership – the ‘oxygen’ (metaphor drawn from Pastor and colleagues). 

The Leadership-Follower relationship is anchored in a triangle made up of three critical success variables, the points of the triangle, namely Legitimacy, Expectations and Trust, represented by the acronym LET. Implicated in the composition of the acronym is a play on words: Stakeholders LET leadership lead them by becoming followers or not, because LET enables leadership to convert stakeholders into true followers, demonstrating genuine fellowship. Inversely, followers allow leadership to act as leaders. 

Hence leadership is a two-way process through which fellowship emerges.  Leadership attracts, nurtures and grows the followers they deserve, and vice versa.

Expressed as a formula:  Followership = f (Legitimacy, Expectations, Trust). This formula forms the proper foundation in understanding followers and followership in relation to leadership. 

The three critical success variables of genuine followership encompass the following:  

Legitimacy - the acceptance and endorsement of leadership’s right to lead – her leadership license - by followers.    

Expectations - the dynamic matching and balancing of reciprocal expectations between leadership and followers, finding its expression in a healthy, constructive psychosocial contract between them. 

Trust -  the ongoing validated, positive belief in the consistent meeting of mutual expectations. 

The more legitimacy leadership has with followers; the better matched reciprocal expectations are; and the stronger trust is, the more followers are willing to be led by leadership because fellowship becomes stronger. 

As legitimacy increases, expectations become better matched, and trust becomes stronger, the ‘bigger’ the relationship triangle of fellowship becomes. 

Consequently the corresponding size of leadership’s area of influence and action increases because followership grows in quality and quantity. Hence, more daring dreams, and greater legacies, can be idealised and pursued.

Genuine, true followership demands the demonstration of daring courage by followers inter alia to:

be active co-creators of a shared, desired future with leadership

diligently take up their work roles with their associated accountabilities and responsibilities 

engage critically with leadership’s points of view, decisions and actions      provide constructive, reciprocal feedback 

take defensible moral/ ethical positions in an uncompromising manner 

provide active resistance to unreasonable, unrealistic leadership demands and requirements

Travel Guideline 9: Establish an enduring, productive and healthy Leadership Process  

The bedrock of the leadership’s relationship with followers is the Leadership Process. Put differently, the ‘leadership value chain’. This process is embedded in all of the multiple relationships in which and through which Ieadership has to lead, e.g., superiors, his team, peers, and somewhat more removed stakeholders, like suppliers and customers.  

The process forms the action focus point of leadership’s persuasive influence as he enacts his relationship with followers. It is the means through which leadership creates and grows interpersonal value – relationship capital - with followers.  

It is imperative for masterful leadership that the Leadership Process is performed in a productive – it gets results – and healthy way – it comes across as caring and nurturing. Through a productive, healthy Leadership Process – i.e., building and maintaining relationship value and capital as outcome - leadership will transform mere Others into ‘We’, i.e., followers, through genuine followership. 

Seven critical actions make up the Leadership Process as shown in the figure below (adapted and expanded from Kouzes & Posner). 

These actions form a systemic, holistic, interdependent whole. All of them have to occur simultaneously in real time, all of the time, in a congruent fashion.

Power bases

Leadership’s influencing acts throughout the Leadership Process require a power base from which to leverage the seven leadership actions: from where does leadership derive its power (or authority) to enact the Leadership Process in order to influence followers regarding the dream, legacy and journey? And, is the power base used, appropriate to the followers concerned; the task at hand; and Context? Examples of such power bases are: Positional, Expertise, and/ or Reputational. 

Generally speaking, the more sources of power leadership has, and the stronger each source, the stronger her overall power base, and hence her ability to act persuasively as a leader.

Levers used to perform the Leadership Process

Leadership uses at least four key influencing levers in performing the critical actions of the Leadership Process regarding the different relationships in which she is embedded:

Lever 1: Leadership Roles - functions fulfilled (or parts) played by leadership in getting the work done 

Lever 2: Leadership Modes - what means leadership use to exercise her persuasive influence in order to mobilize and move followers, e.g., appealing to our Glorious Past, or a Dream/ Legacy   

Lever 3: Leadership Styles - the degree of empowerment given by the leadership to followers, e.g., Tell, Consult or Co-determine  

Lever 4: Leadership Life Cycle - the evolving stages of maturity level of the Leadership-Followers relationship

These levers supply the ‘torque’ leadership can apply in and to the Leadership Process.  

To be masterful at leadership, she has to be skillful at choosing and deploying the appropriate options associated with each lever in a fit-for-purpose manner relative to each relationship in which she stands as a leader relative to the Context.

Travel Guideline 10: Engender a liveable Leadership Galaxy

The manner in which leadership creates, engages with, and sustains his constituted Leadership Galaxy  infuses the Galaxy with a certain degree of livability for all stakeholders, in particular followers. The degree of livability determines:

the nature, features and magnitude of the shared dream and lasting, worthy legacy that are pursued; and 

the likelihood of undertaking a successful journey towards their actualisation, given the unfolding dynamics whilst journeying. 

A Galaxy’s liveability is first and foremost established by leadership who acts as a type of ‘chemical reagent’ through his manner of constituting and being engaged with his Galaxy - in particular with followers - infusing it with a certain quality of life. 

The liveability can vary from flourishing/ thriving to toxic/ impoverished. Since the Leadership Universe - and the Galaxies within - form a holistic ecosystem, the liveability of different Galaxies affect the overall liveability of the Leadership Universe.   

The liveability of a Galaxy within the Leadership Universe can be depicted as a three dimensional ‘Periodic Table’ expressed by the equation: Liveability = f (Quality x Intelligence x Energy). In short hand: Liveability = f (Q x I x E). 

The better the Quality, the higher the Intelligence, and the more the Energy, the higher the Liveability of the Leadership Galaxy, and by implication its continued sustainability. The lower the liveability, the greater the likelihood of the Galaxy imploding.

Important to note is the multiplicative - not additive - relationship between the ‘chemical’ elements of the Periodic Table – Q, I and E - making up the Liveability Index. When one or more elements is high (or low), it has a significant knock-on effect on the other element(s).   

Quality (Q) 

The level of excellence with which leadership is involved in the Leadership Universe, manifested in the personal leverage leadership uses to constitute, engage and maintain his Leadership Galaxy. 

A thriving Leadership Galaxy with a high Quality Liveability Index is infused into its very molecules by committed, competent, ethical leadership of integrity, embedded in genuine, caring relationships with followers.

Intelligence (I) 

Leadership who can observe, think, judge, act, learn and reflect with a growing understanding and insight as she engages – conceptually, emotionally and practically - with her Leadership Galaxy. This Intelligence enables leadership to transform Experiences into Information; Information into Knowledge; and Knowledge into Wisdom, and vice versa, at increasing deeper levels in his Leadership Galaxy. 

A thriving Leadership Galaxy with a high Intelligence Liveability Index is infused into its very essence by leadership who has deep personal and interpersonal insight; sees the big picture in the form of a dynamic, evolving pattern; discovers, through creative destruction, new dreams and legacies with deeper meaning and purpose; brings about lasting, meaningful change on a large scale; and ensures continuously a good leadership-context fit.

Energy (E) 

The manner in which leadership gets followers to move and act positively in his Leadership Galaxy, metaphorically related to the Spirit, Heart, Head, Hands and Feet, and Backbone of followers. 

A thriving Leadership Galaxy with a high Energy Liveability Index triggers and sustains positive Spirit, Heart, Head, Hands and Feet, and Backbone Energies in followers, such as Hope, Passion, Security, Confidence, Efficacy and Faith.  

Leadership Culture and Climate

Over time the degree of liveability in a Leadership Galaxy crystalises into a shared, unique Leadership Culture and Climate within in the leadership community of a Leadership Galaxy. Leadership Culture and Climate form respectively the ‘glue’ of and ‘atmosphere’ within the Galaxy. 

In turn, the Leadership Culture and Climate specific to the leadership community of a Leadership Galaxy provide the foundation for and sets an organisation’s Culture and Climate.   

Leadership Culture is the shared ways of seeing, believing, interpreting and doing active within the leadership community, and by implication the Leadership Galaxy of which they form part. These shared ways inform, frame and shape the leadership community’s perceptions, thinking, decisions, actions, relationships and interactions.

Leadership Culture as the glue that keeps the Leadership Galaxy together, gives it a certain’personality’.  Leadership Culture provides the leadership community with an identity; a place in the world; a way of interacting; an explanation, understanding and prediction of how things work; and a power deployment strategy.

Leadership Climate is the mood (or vibe) permeating the Galaxy of the leadership community. It is the atmosphere under which and style with which the leadership community works together. It is the spirit and atmosphere imbuing the leadership community.

Travel Guidelines

Ten Travel Guidelines – collectively forming an interdependent, systemic whole as a comprehensive Travel Guide to the Leadership Universe - can be distilled from our travels through the Leadership Universe to date, the first five covered in Part 1 of this Stop-over; the last five in Part 2:

           - Guideline 1: Acquire the master key to the Leadership Universe

            - Guideline 2: Chart a valid map of the Leadership Universe

            - Guideline 3: Find an envisioned legacy as a quest to purse  

            - Guideline 4: Constitute a Leadership Galaxy within the Leadership 

                Universe

             - Guideline 5: Craft a powerful, appealing Leadership Brand as promise

             - Guideline 6: Construct a Leadership Excellence Model as reference  

              - Guideline 7: Grow the requisite, future-fit leadership capabilities  

              - Guideline 8: Convert stakeholders into genuine followers

              - Guideline 9: Establish an enduring, productive and healthy 

                  Leadership Process  

              - Guideline 10: Engender a liveable Leadership Galaxy

The Travel Guide can be used for onward, future travels in and through the VICCASS world by leadership. The aim is to enable leadership to direct and guide their own future travels independently from me as guide through the Leadership Universe in his/ her passionate aspiration to become masterful at leadership. 

Next Stop-over in the Leadership Universe

Stop-over 29 – Leadership as Story Tellers  

[ardigtalmedia-blog]

WEB DESIGN TRENDS TO LOOKOUT FOR IN 2017 

Everybody is looking ahead what new design trends will dominate the market in 2017. The big question on every designer’s mind has to be: what will define design in 2017?

Here is what I thought of what will be the most important factors that will dominate the design aspect of websites.

·                    

“CONTENT FRIENDLY LAYOUTS “ – where content can be mainly visualize – graphics can be an added value to it !!!

Designers worldwide have realized that people visit websites for their content — whether it’s raging tweetstorms, thoughtful long-reads, or the latest “user-generated” meme — and that design’s ultimate role is to present content in an intuitive, efficient, and “delightful” way.

Trend is moving towards more flatter designs with minimalist design approaches , as seen in Googles Material aesthetic and also across the web and other various devices , but many designer’s feel that the flat design has taken the “heart and soul” out of design.

·                    

Statement – BIG AND BOLD –

The age has come where by your first impression or the point which you want to make should be clear , big & bold – not necessarily referring to the weight of Font !

It’s about emphasizing significant screen to a single, simple yet all encompassing statement about the product . service or Company . Make sure that this statement are fresh, clear and to the point, and also it should not look too much vague or extravagant . Be more specific and relevant to your industry / brand.

In a world that’s as fast, busy, and information-overloaded as ours is, these concise yet powerful statements will become bread-and-butter for companies of all kinds

·                    

Complex layouts rooted in graphic design principles

If we want to predict the evolution of web design (at least in visual terms), we should refer to the evolution of graphic design.

For the past few years, web design layout has been constrained by CSS’s limitations, but new tools like flexbox and CSS grid (coming in March 2017!) will allow for much more expressive layouts on the web.

Our main challenge now: understanding how these new web layout methods should work in the world of responsive design.

·                    

Scalable vector Graphics

SVGs (scalable vector graphics) present web designers and developers with a lot of advantages over more traditional image formats like JPG, PNG, and GIF.

The key advantages of SVGs come through loud and clear in the format name itself: scalable and vector. Instead of being raster or pixel-based, SVGs are composed of vectors: mathematical descriptions of the object’s shape. This means SVGs are resolution-independent, so they’ll look great on any screen, on any device type. No need to worry about making everything retina-ready.

But that’s not all. SVGs also rock because they don’t require any HTTP requests. And if you’ve ever run a page-speed test on one of your websites, you’ve probably noticed that those HTTP requests can really slow down your site. Not so with SVGs!

Plus, you can animate them!

·                    

Design tools – far from constraints

Responsive design has completely transformed how we browse and build for the web.

But, oddly, it hasn’t really changed how design tools work, in general. With obvious exceptions like Webflow, most of the popular design tools require you to simply rebuild the same screen over and over for different device sizes and resolutions.

In an industry that’s all about rapid development, ideation, and launches, that massive time sink just isn’t sustainable.

Hence a new wave of design tools (such as Figma) that use the idea of constraints to lessen the amount of repeated work designers have to do when building cross-device layouts. These tools focus on the spatial relationships between elements and strive to preserve them as composite elements are resized by devices and users.

Less work for designers for the win.

·                    

Bright – Brighter colours

As movements like minimalism and brutalism came to the fore in 2016, designers sought ways to infuse more personality into their design work that still worked within those stripped-down aesthetics.

And in at least a few cases, bright, bold color became the natural answer. There’s a sort of synthesized naturalism to this reemergence of bright hues and bold gradients, and I personally look forward to seeing more of it in 2017.

·                    

More focus on animation

Animation has long played a key role in our digital interfaces, and there’s no reason to think that’ll abate in 2017. In fact, as designers get more and more visual tools to help them build engaging and smile-sparking animations, we’re sure to see them become both more prominent and more refined.

The latter characteristic will become particularly important as it becomes easier to create animations. At 2016’s Design & Content Conference, animation guru Val Head stressed that designers should look to their brand voice and tone documentation when building animations to ensure that they reinforce the tone content creators are aiming for. This helps ensure that animations perform meaningful, on-brand functions for users, instead of just inspiring migraines.

·                    

BOTS – MORE OPPORTUNITY TO ENGAGE

The word bot is used to mean several different things. Gamers understand bots as AI characters in a game, while botnets are groups of hijacked computers which cyber criminals use for various tasks such as sending out millions of spam emails or even to attack and attempt to take down websites.

The bots we’re talking about here are essentially virtual assistants, much like Siri and Cortana. Only the latest generation of bots communicate via text rather than speech. Cortana already does this, both on Windows Phone and in Windows 10.

Bots let you use natural language to get tasks done. This is one of the reasons many people use Siri or Cortana to check the weather forecast, set a reminder or send an email: it’s just faster.

Static websites are leftovers of the past. Intelligence is presently the name of the game. Think talk windows, which are normally populated with bots. Nobody needs to explore a progression of menus to finish an undertaking.

The new generation of bots will be primarily text based. Unlike Cortana, you can’t type and get Siri to do your bidding, but typing is the preferable option in many situations. When you’re commuting or sitting at your office desk, talking into a microphone is less comfortable than typing on a screen or keyboard.

We all spend more time using messaging apps than pretty much any other these days, and it’s in these you’ll find the new bots. It should be no surprise that Microsoft is putting bots into Skype, and if you’ve ever used Slack, your first interaction is with Slackbot, which teaches you how to use the app.

But as bots increase in their capabilities, we’ll start to use apps less. Right now, you probably flip between a few different apps to book a weekend away. It’s the same if you’re search for something you want to buy locally: you might go to a website, search for a product, check stock and then get directions in Google maps to show you how to get there.

Bots will be able to do all this for you: no need to search Google any more, no need to launch the Uber app.

·                    

Animations advance

Animations are an awesome approach to show how something functions and they impart things less demanding and speedier than content or pictures. GIFs and animations are turning out to be more complex and more websites incorporate them in their real design. Animations, videos, and GIFs have turned into our regular day to day life. Everything is so zippy and attractive, so what else does a user require?

As browsers and languages become more advanced, we’re seeing more websites move away from the use of static imagery and finding new ways to engage users and be unique in their approach to communicating.

Story-telling and personality is something more and more brands are working on in hopes to capture their user’s attention, and animation, in part thanks to developments with HTML5, CSS and jQuery, is starting to play a bigger role in this.

Animations, following on from illustration above, come in all different shape, sizes and styles, and can all serve different purposes. Animations can range from tiny loading-devices which entertains the user while waiting for content to load, to an interesting hover-state used as a UX device to show a user they’re hovering over a link.

They can also be used on a much larger scale, as rich, full-screen animations, which can integrated to work with scrolling, navigation or be used as the focal point of the entire site. Animation is another useful mechanic for brand’s to create meaningful micro-interactions between themselves and their users.

·                    

SPEED AND PERFORMANCE MATTER

Users value high page speed over advancement. Page speed tight HTML, JavaScript, and CSS code are approaches to accelerate a site. Speeding up sites is essential, as speedier websites make happy users and visitors invest less time on websites that react gradually.

  SOME BONUS WEB DESIGN TRENDS / UX DESIGN TRENDS FOR 2017:

·                     Age Responsive Design

·                     3D geometric shapes

·                     Skeleton Screen

·                     Call To Action Buttons Animations

·                     Cinemagraph Hero Image

·                     Scrolling Trump Navigation

·                     Long scroll websites

·                     One-page websites

·                     Short movies

·                     Exit Overlay

·                     Bye-bye Home Page, welcome landing pages

·                     Bot engaging

·                     Shopping Cart Marketing

2017 marks the year design makes one more step again into reality. Whether it’s through shape, color decision or usefulness, 2017 is a year of hybrids, where reality and technology crash to make a consistent browsing experience.

Let’s update your website with the latest web design and development trends in 2017.

HOPE we at AR digital media  have suffice your findings for what Web design and development is meant to be in 2017 !!

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