For all your listening needs…

By Dave Roach on January 5, 2009 at 1:22 pm in Hardware, Reviews

Sometimes I find the best way to concentrate on my work and get a lot done is to just put on some headphones and work in my own little world. This (hopefully) will decrease outside distractions and allow me to not only get work done, but get it done well. I find that music is is one of (if not the best) way to get some creative juices flowing. These are the main reasons I have decided to buy some new headphones!Sennheiser HD-280 Pro

All this being said, I first wanted to find some headphones that were comfy. If I’m going to be wearing them all day, I don’t want my ears to hurt. Also, I want them to be easily removable in case I need to take them off and put them back on a lot. For these reasons, I decided that over the ear headphones would be best. Currently, I have a pair of Sony MDR-V150 which are decent, but after a couple hours they kind of hurt because they are a tight fit. In looking for a new pair, I know Bose makes nice headphones, so that’s where I started. I actually listened to a pair of Bose around-ear headphones at Target, and they sounded awesome, but after some research, I found out that Sennheiser makes some of the best headphones out there.

After some more reasearch on Amazon.com and Headphone.com (which by the way has excellent reviews) I decided to go with a pair of Sennheiser HD 280 Pro headphones. I have to say that these are the best headphones I have ever used. They sound even better than the Bose around-ear headphones and are extremely comfortable. I got these $200 headphones off Amazon.com for about $75.

If you are in the market for some headphones of any type, I would recommend starting your search at Headphone.com, they know their stuff. I actually used this article that recommended the best headphones to use with an iPod, which is how I ultimately made my decision.

Design Block? Here’s Some Help…

By Dave Roach on August 1, 2008 at 6:30 am in Design

We all have on and off days, and as a designer, I can say that this is especially applicable to my design work. Somedays I feel creative and I can think of excellent ideas and can execute those ideas, whereas other days my mind goes blank and I just can’t think of anything good. That can be so frustrating!!

In order to get some ideas and get those creative juices flowing you can do many things. First off don’t forget what you learned in school. You need to find a process of design that works for you and don’t just start designing without a plan. Seriously think about steering away from the computer and go back to pen and paper and sketch out some ideas. Draw thumbnails and keep drawing them, you will be surprised at the things you start to think of. You can then combine/add/subtract ideas until you have a solid idea that works. Remember that you can sketch rough ideas out faster and more easily than if you tried to do it on the computer (for the most part).

Other ways you get thought going is changing your mood or your environment around you. Whether it be moving to a new location to work or putting on some headphones and listening to some tunes, it can spark your brain for creativity.

An almost foolproof way of finding inspiration is by going to design sites. Design Meltdown and Fuel Your Creativity are my favorites, and from there you can find links to more sites that can help spark ideas as well.

This is not an exhaustive list obviously, just something to help get you started for when you get stuck!