the digital haze.

i'm going to frame this post around something i'm pretty familiar with, and what a good amount of my time on blogger is spent doing--style blogging.

it may seem a little silly at first, but blogging is a great way for those interested in fashion to connect and share ideas, inspiration, and thoughts on anything new coming down the runways.

most of the posts generally consist of a combination of text and images, with the images being the focus of each entry. the blog posters typically include things like photos that inspire them (like this one from sea of shoes):



or feature outfits assembled by the posters themselves (like this one from karla's closet):



style blogging has really picked up momentum and with magazines like teen vogue and glamour featuring stories on it, will likely continue to rise in popularity. it gives people from all over the world and of all ages a place to discuss something that interests them and that they deal with every day--fashion.

one of my favorites to read is a blog called style rookie. it's written by a 12-year-old girl named tavi, and she puts together some of the craziest and most interesting get-ups. here she is (she's adorable!):



young creativity at its finest.

this social phenomenon is great way for people to connect and gives those who don't live in fashion capitals like new york or l.a. a chance to take part in the world of fashion innovation. it's particularly useful for anyone interested in diy fashion (such as myself) since many of the bloggers are extremely creative with the shapes and combinations they create.

overall, i think the future is bright for style blogging, and i think it will continue to garner attention as the fashion world becomes less about trends and more about innovation.

Image via Wikipedia

last blog, i talked about the effect of technology on the world of photography, and this time i'd like to continue on the topic of technology and art. another area where art and technology have merged is in the development of graphic design.

the number of people involved in the graphic design community has increased steadily over the past few years. companies are becoming more and more reliant on graphic design as they begin to emphasize marketing and promotion. but along with this string of creative professionals comes a new breed of artsy imitators. it seems like every teenage kid with a copy of adobe photoshop is now a "graphic designer", and i think it really takes some of the credibility away from the real artists.

along those lines, i wanted to discuss the issue of vector images. vector images are images created using mathematical formulas to generate shapes and designs that are easily manipulated and re-sized in graphics programs. they make designing layouts and images with multiple layers much easier on the designer. however, there are many instances of graphic designers who use only vector images and don't utilize drawn images at all. in fact, some graphic designers don't have artistic drawing skills at all!

personally, i feel like a "graphic artist" should be just that. an artist who works with graphics. while i understand that utilizing vector images is a huge benefit to most graphic designers, i think that a certain level of artistic skill should still be necessary. when graphic designers no longer need this level of skill i think it undermines their importance and talent.