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Astro Thoughts

Design Blog 

I Love Adobe XD, I'm not afraid to say it!

8/28/2019

 
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I am an Adobe guy, I love their products and have been using them for the last 15 years. Recently, I've been doing some web development with UI/UX functionality . I've always used Photoshop & In-Design for layout but it was suggested to me to Try out Adobe XD. I am totally impressed with the ease of use. It was fun designing in the software. I am far from a power user, i still have to wrap my head around the plugin library. Here are some prototypes Ive been working on. 

It was the holy trinity of Photoshop, Illustrator & In-Design but there is a new kid on the block with Adobe XD.

Adobe XD is a vector-based user experience design tool for web apps and mobile apps, developed and published by Adobe Inc. It is available for macOS and Windows, although there are versions for iOS and Android to help preview the result of work directly on mobile devices.Start a free trial, visit https://www.adobe.com/products/xd.html
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Coronado Island

4/3/2019

 
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One of my favorite places to shoot is Colorado Island in San Diego.  You get an insane view of down town. I got a new lens for my camera and I was testing out some accessories. Here are a couple of photos & videos of the trip.
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I purchased a Movo, it is a motorized pan head for time lapse. As your time-lapse goes, it gives you a great panning sweep and gives you a great cinematic look. Below is what I captured. I am really excited about using it more.

Hell Shirt

1/10/2019

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Last year was HellBoy's 25 anniversary. HellBoy is a character created by Mike Mignola, HellBoy fought Nazis occultists. Comic Con San Diego was celebrating by showcasing the character in their Souvenir Book and had a contest for artist to do their renditions of the character. My son who was 13 years old at the time, entered the contest. It was a proud Dad moment.  I grew up reading and drawing comicbooks. I took his artwork, created vector artwork and made T-Shirts for us. Being in the creative field I love encouraging kids to express themselves through artwork. I think the shirt was bold and keeping the illustration red made it really stand out.
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Fishing for Photos

2/14/2018

 
Catching a great sunrise in San Diego is not to difficult, we have amazing days. My good friend and long time mentor/partner Neil Brouillette and I got up extra early to shoot and record the San Diego sunrise at Spanish Landing and Harbor Island, both locations by the airport. I am obsessed with timelapse so I would set up my GoPro Hero 4 and capture the sunrise behind downtown San Diego. Neil is working on Panramic HDR's and testing how his equipment handles low light. It is always great to go out and work on the craft. Here is what I caught!

GoPro Hero 4 Timelapse with extras
Still Photography Canon Rebel/ GoPro Hero 4

2018 HERE WE GO!

1/28/2018

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Mike Matamala
GoPo Selfie time!
It has been a great start to the year! Yesterday I was out before dawn shooting and filming the sunrise in San Diego. I was at Spanish Landing  by the airport with long time friend Neil Brouillette using my GoPro, Canon and even broke out my IPAD. It is so interesting to see the differences in quality and range. I was able to capture a timelapse of the sunrise with the GoPro that I'll be posting soon.
I've already earned some frequent flyer miles, I visited Atlanta for Drupal training and a week later I was in Chicago reviewing a tradeshow booth I helped create. I can't say I miss the snow! I walked the show to do a competitive analysis and I was impressed by some of the larger manufactures but there were many booths that lacked design and missed the opportunity for branding. We revamped the way we showcased the products and gave a modern twist in how we showed plumbing behind the wall.
AHR Tradeshow Booth
With Chris at the AHR Booth!
I recorded a Facebook Live for AMA San Diego Content Marketing Special Interest Group. Frank Cowell of Elevator was the moderator and there was so much knowledge shared by the group. I picked up a couple of tips. It was fun to learn and network. The AMA San Diego is a great group! 
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AMA Content Marketing SIG. Two of my favs, Darlene Byrne and Frank Cowell.
Check Out AMA Events
Whew! I plan on staying in San Diego for a bit, keep my feet on the ground and start building campaigns. I get my media calendar for the year next week so time to enter creator mode! 
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    Mike Matamala

    Mike Matamala

    Creative Director,
    Digital Designer,
    ​Content Creator, Marketer

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  • Design Work
    • Holdrite Design
    • Wine Cabana Design
    • Volvo Cars Design
    • Urban Plates Design
    • Realist Clothing Design
    • Zodiac Pools
    • Logo Design
    • SAS Apparel
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Blog