BradPhillips.org

I was recently involved in a contest, hosted by The Open Clip Art Library, in which members of the Community were issued the responsibility of designing a new logo for the annual Free Culture Research Conference.

During the contest, I was tasked with the duties of spreading the word. Beginning, I created an official press release that called for submissions. Next, I was asked to style and fill the official announcement page on OCAL’s main site with content.

Submissions were trickling in, but the floodgates didn’t fully open until a link was placed on the home page of the Library. As the contest drew to a close, we had received over 240 submissions!

After a 2 week judging process, hank0071 was announced as the winner of the contest! The heading graphic of this entry is the winning selection.

Up next for my work at OCAL, I’ll be organizing the new 2.4 Release, in which we’ll be included a Sports-themed clip art collection. Make sure to contribute your sports clipart, and tag it appropriately (sports2010). I’ve been surprised and encouraged by the turnout of this contest, and I’m very much looking forward to future Open Clip Art Library Community Contests!

My free time, of late, has been spent absorbed in books. Most have centered around Stephen King’s epic Dark Tower Series. There’s something very essential and brave about a storyteller who’s willing to go “all-in” with his work and put it out into the world, for better or worse.

It’s this feeling that each page is written with the deepest conviction and desire to convey a larger concept and/or belief system to an audience that has enveloped my conscious mind, while greedily plowing through stacks of fictional tomes.

“It’s a long walk back to Eden, dear, so don’t sweat the small stuff.” – Insomnia

This month in Open Clip Art Library events, I’m in charge of organizing the next package release. In previous 2010 releases, the new original works have all dealt with Seasonal themes. For this new batch (to be released on Monday, August 2nd), however, the Community have agreed upon a game-changing Sports theme!

Work within the Community has already begun, so if you’d like to contribute to this new release, please register and upload any original work to OCAL by Sunday, August 1st.

Have a look at our Fabricatorz blog post for more detailed info!

In 2010, I have been actively involved in promoting the expansion and development of The Open Clip Art Library. I believe some key things are being set in place to exponentially increase the potential of this platform. Last month, the Spring 2010 Release set a new precedence, by incorporating a themed clip art package.

This month sees the arrival of The Open Clip Art Library: Version 2.3. This release continues building off of the last release, by including a Summer 2010 Clip Art Package. Version 2.3 also expands on it’s predecessor by adding a fresh Logo Design Contest into the mix.

The inclusion of these new elements are a great start toward really encouraging users of OCAL to register and contribute original works.

To learn more about Open Clip Art Library: Version 2.3, head over to the public wiki to read the latest official announcement.

Roger Ebert, an industry-respected film critic, has shocked the gaming community for the second time in 2010; He’s cried “uncle.”

In a surprising turn of events, Ebert posted a brand new blog entry stating that his position on video games was one of ignorance and bullheadedness.

I should not have written that entry without being more familiar with the actual experience of video games.

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This passed weekend, I had a chance to record the first bit of an idea that had been playing, on repeat, in my mind for nearly 2 weeks. The song, tentatively titled “The First Dance,” is about a child’s first contact with another being that sends sparks their way. It’s not meant to be gender specific, only to comment on the first glimpses of lust/love & how exciting and confusing the whole things is. Check it out below:

This song is a part of a larger project, one I’m calling “The Road.” I want to write & record a record that describes the journey we all take, from childhood, through adolescence, and into young adulthood. It’s a walk we all share. Each song in “The Road” will be about a very specific & personal moment in my life that I feel is representative of the journey, as a whole. I’ve got roughly 5 songs sketched out & will be bringing you more updates as they are recorded. Wish me luck. The 2nd half of 2010 will see me working on some very exciting content! Please check back for more updates as I take my walk along The Road.

This month’s package called for Spring flavored clip art, and our Community answered with some dynamic and elegant work that can be downloaded in it’s entirety or individually, using the key term spring2010.

The images found peppering this article are all works created by me, specifically to be included in this awesome set of work. My Open Clip Art Library username is pianoBrad. I’ll be creating around 10 new images each month for these themed releases, so check my OCAL account often, if you like the work, to see what’s new!

As always, The Open Clip Art Library is reaching for higher ground with a new release targeted in one month. Any artists interested in contributing to a summer package release should register and upload their work tagged with “summer2010.” The Librarians send out a special thanks to all involved in this incredible Spring 2010 Release and look forward to the fun and creative new work underway for the next one!

For more information, please have a look at the official press release.

On March 8th, 2010, the web graphics community was pleasantly surprised with the announcement of Open Clip Art Library, Version 2.0. Following the release, OCAL experienced a creative Renaissance, posting some of it’s best numbers ever, including 1300 new registered users and nearly 1000 new clip art submissions!

Building off of the success of the new format, The Open Clip Art Librarians have quickly followed up with The Announcement of The Open Clip Art Library, Version 2.1!

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Recently, Chicago-based critic Roger Ebert has revived his now-infamous claim regarding the state of video games in our artistic landscape. As a gamer who also values Ebert’s critical opinion, I feel the need to respond.

After reading Roger’s most recent support for his claims, I went back to have a look at a post from 2007, where he first defended himself. It’s clear, upon reading, that Ebert needs some serious time behind a controller before he can fully understand the argument he’s presenting to the world. How can anyone propose to judge a medium they don’t actively experience?

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I never expected a few innocent comments Elton John made, during an interview, could make me reevaluate what my thoughts on the state of our modern world are, but that very thing has happened.

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